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ACI Prensa's latest initiative is the Catholic News Agency (CNA), aimed at serving the English-speaking Catholic audience. ACI Prensa (www.aciprensa.com) is currently the largest provider of Catholic news in Spanish and Portuguese.

International pro-life summit: Faith isn’t imposed but doesn’t hide either
Wed, 04 Dec 2024 17:10:00 -0500

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

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

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

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

“They call us fundamentalists because we defend the foundations [of society]. But it’s the opposite, because we defend the regeneration” of the Western world, argued Mayor, who affirmed the group’s conviction of being “at the forefront of the debate of the future,” which will be characterized by being “between those who don’t believe in anything and those who want to believe and have permanent [points of] reference.”

“We don’t have to be afraid at all, even though the prevailing fashion is to be enraged,” Mayor said while proclaiming that “the defense of the right to life is the foundation, the pillar of all our positions within this cultural debate.”

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

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

José Antonio Kast: ‘They hate us because they fear us’

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

In the words of Chilean politician Jaime Guzmán, who was murdered by left-wing groups, Kast gave an explanation for the attempts to cancel, persecute, and disqualify this summit: “They hate us because they fear us. And they fear us because they know we can’t be eliminated.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Judge says New Jersey county can’t exclude churches from historic preservation grant
Wed, 04 Dec 2024 16:40:00 -0500

CNA Staff, Dec 4, 2024 / 16:40 pm (CNA).

Two churches in New Jersey have won a victory against county officials who were excluding them from a historic preservation grant program, a ruling that comes after a key Catholic religious liberty clinic backed their lawsuit.

First Liberty Institute, a Texas-based religious liberty legal group, said in a Monday press release that the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey issued a preliminary injunction against Morris County ordering officials to allow two churches to participate in the county’s Historic Preservation Trust Fund.

In her ruling this week, District Judge Evelyn Padin said the case “illustrates the inherent tension” between the First Amendment’s guarantee of religious freedom and its barring of government endorsement of religion.

The court determined that a “likely free exercise clause violation” stemmed from the county’s policy. The injunction does not order the churches to receive county funding but rather to make them eligible for it.

Jeremy Dys, an attorney with First Liberty Institute, said in the group’s press release that the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly “declared that all forms of religious discrimination by the government are unconstitutional.”

“We are thrilled that the court recognized that religious institutions cannot be excluded from public funding programs like preservation grants simply because of their religious character or religious activities,” Dys said.

The parishes, Mendham Methodist Church and Zion Lutheran Church Long Valley, were supported in their lawsuit by the University of Notre Dame School of Law’s Religious Liberty Clinic, which argued in June that the county’s barring the churches from the program “violates the law and harms congregations and their surrounding communities.”

The Notre Dame Religious Liberty Clinic had argued that barring the churches from the grant program “threatens significant harms that can never be undone,” up to and including church closures.

The county policy is “squarely unconstitutional,” the clinic said.

The county rule came from a 2018 New Jersey Supreme Court ruling that asserted that including the churches in the historic grant preservation program violated the state constitution.

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider a review of the state Supreme Court’s decision, though Justice Brett Kavanaugh said in a statement after that decision that the state rule appeared to be unconstitutional.

“Barring religious organizations because they are religious from a general historic preservation grants program is pure discrimination against religion,” he said.

Supreme Court seems skeptical of claim that Tennessee’s transgender law is discriminatory
Wed, 04 Dec 2024 16:10:00 -0500

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 4, 2024 / 16:10 pm (CNA).

Several United States Supreme Court justices during oral arguments on Wednesday morning challenged claims that a Tennessee law banning transgender drugs or surgeries for minors constitutes a form of “sex” discrimination.

The state law, which went into effect in July 2023, prohibits doctors from performing transgender surgeries on anyone under the age of 18 and does not allow doctors to prescribe them any drugs to facilitate a gender transition, such as puberty blockers or hormones.

Tennessee’s law is being challenged by President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) and by families who live in the state, who are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Tennessee.

The Supreme Court’s decision could have a wide-ranging effect across the country. There are currently 24 states that prohibit both transgender surgeries and drugs for minors. Another two states — New Hampshire and Arizona — prohibit the surgeries but not the drugs. Numerous state-level laws currently face legal challenges.

DOJ and ACLU argue ‘sex’ discrimination

United States Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, who made oral arguments on behalf of the DOJ, told the justices that the state law “regulates by drawing sex-based lines” and that this constitutes a “facial sex classification, full stop,” which implicates the equal protection clause of the United States Constitution.

Attorney Chase Strangio, who argued on behalf of the ACLU, built on that claim, stating that a male can legally access puberty blockers and hormone treatments if he has early-onset puberty to ensure he goes through puberty at a normal age. However, Strangio said, a biological girl could not access the same drugs if she desires to go through puberty like a boy would.

“It is clearly a sex classification on its face,” Strangio added.

Prelogar said that under the law, “your access to drugs depends on your birth sex.”

“The state has left no out for those patients to obtain those medications when there’s a showing of individualized medical need,” she added.

Many of the Republican-appointed justices, who make up six of the nine members of the court, appeared skeptical of that argument. They noted that the court ought to be cautious when ruling on questions when the medical standards are evolving and questioned whether this was a form of sex discrimination or simply a health and safety regulation.

During oral arguments, Justice Brett Kavanaugh noted that several European countries are “pumping the brakes” on transgender drugs for children with heavy restrictions. He said when medical standards are evolving, that should be a “heavy yellow light, if not a red light” for the court when deciding whether to weigh in.

Kavanaugh further disagreed with the sex discrimination claim, stating that “it prohibits all boys and girls from transitioning.”

Justice Samuel Alito went further, citing a comprehensive review in the United Kingdom that prompted a near-total ban on transgender drugs for minors and legislative actions in other European countries to restrict those drugs.

In response, Prelogar claimed “there is a consensus that these treatments can be medically necessary for some adolescents” but acknowledged there could be some room for regulations that do not categorically ban transgender drugs for children.

The ACLU and DOJ received more sympathy from the three justices appointed by Democrats, including Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who said “there are inherent differences between the sexes” but that “there are some children that actually need this treatment.”

Tennessee argues against discrimination claim

Tennessee Solicitor General J. Matthew Rice, who argued on behalf of the state, told the court that the law “protects minors from risky … medication” and is entirely based on “medical purpose — not a patient’s sex,” adding that the equal protection clause “does not require the states to blind themselves to medical reality or to treat unlike things the same.”

“These interventions often carry irreversible and life-altering consequences,” he said, claiming that there are “no established benefits.”

Sotomayor quickly interrupted Rice, saying: “I’m sorry counselor, every medical treatment has a risk.” She said that a boy with early onset puberty could obtain a puberty blocker to delay the growth of unwanted facial hair but that a girl could not access the same drug to delay the development of unwanted breasts, adding that one “can get that drug but the other can’t — that’s the sex-based difference.”

Rice countered, saying: “Those are not the same medical treatment.”

“I don’t think that is an example where a sex-based line is being drawn,” he said, adding that the only thing that matters is “medical purpose.” He noted that there are already other laws restricting the prescription of hormones, arguing “you cannot use testosterone for purely cosmetic reasons” regardless of whether it is for a gender transition.

“There is no medical treatment that boys can receive that girls can’t,” he said.

Rice added that giving testosterone to a boy with a “deficiency” is not the same as giving testosterone to a girl who has “healthy” hormone levels and that such treatments for a girl could make her “infertile and permanently damaged.”

What the legislation does

The surgeries prohibited in the legislation include operations to remove or alter a child’s genitals to make them resemble the genitals of the opposite sex. It further prohibits chest surgeries and other aesthetic surgeries that would make the child appear more similar to the opposite sex.

Under the law, doctors cannot prescribe puberty blockers to facilitate a gender transition, which are drugs that halt a child’s natural development during puberty. When prescribed to facilitate a gender transition, the children normally begin receiving them before they are teenagers. The law also prevents doctors from prescribing excessive estrogen to boys and excessive testosterone to girls when intended to facilitate a gender transition.

Doctors and health care providers who violate the law can be fined up to $25,000. Some states have stricter penalties, including six that make it a felony.

A report published in October by the medical watchdog group Do No Harm found that doctors in the United States provided at least 13,944 children with either transgender drugs or surgeries based on information that is publicly available — but warned that the number could be even higher. This included more than 5,700 children receiving surgeries.

Missouri attorney general defends pro-life abortion laws amid legal fight over new amendment
Wed, 04 Dec 2024 15:40:00 -0500

St. Louis, Mo., Dec 4, 2024 / 15:40 pm (CNA).

A new amendment enshrining a right to “reproductive freedom” in Missouri is set to go into effect Thursday as the state attorney general argues that certain pro-life provisions should remain in effect despite the new amendment.

Missouri’s Amendment 3, which passed narrowly Nov. 5, mandates that the government “shall not deny or infringe upon a person’s fundamental right to reproductive freedom,” including “prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion care, miscarriage care, and respectful birthing conditions.”

Although the amendment language mentions that laws could be passed to restrict abortion past the point of “fetal viability,” the amendment simultaneously prohibits any interference with an abortion that a doctor determines is necessary to “protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant person.”

On Election Day, a handful of the state’s most populous counties — which include urban areas such as Kansas City, St. Louis, and Columbia — carried the amendment to victory by an overall statewide margin of less than 2%. Meanwhile, over 100 of Missouri’s counties voted no.

Planned Parenthood asks judge to block pro-life measures

Planned Parenthood filed a 221-page lawsuit the day after the election asking a judge to block all of Missouri’s numerous pro-life protections in light of the new amendment, most notably the state’s 2019 “trigger law” that banned nearly all abortions in Missouri immediately after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Planned Parenthood went on to enumerate and challenge myriad other pro-life protections in Missouri, including the state’s 72-hour waiting period for abortions; the state’s ban on abortions done specifically for reasons of the race, sex, or a Down syndrome diagnosis of the baby; the state’s ban on “telemedicine” abortions; and the state’s requirement that only licensed physicians may perform abortions.

In addition, Missouri lawmakers in recent years have passed numerous laws designed to protect patients and limit the abortion industry’s influence, including 2017 regulations requiring that abortion doctors have surgical and admitting privileges to nearby hospitals; that abortion clinics must be licensed with the state; and that clinics must meet hospital-like standards for outpatient surgery.

By 2018, regulatory violations had shut down surgical abortions at all but one of the state’s abortion clinics.

In 2019, Missouri revoked the license of the state’s last abortion clinic, located in St. Louis, over safety concerns including reports of at least four botched abortions that took place there. The clinic ultimately won a 2020 decision from an independent state commission that allowed it to continue performing abortions until the overturning of Roe v. Wade allowed Missouri to ban abortion entirely, with a few exceptions.

Missouri attorney general argues some pro-life regulations remain law

In response to Planned Parenthood’s lawsuit, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed a legal brief in which he argued that Missouri’s regulations on abortion providers are consistent with Amendment 3 and are justified on grounds of patient safety and informed consent.

He also pointed out that Planned Parenthood has a history of violating Missouri’s abortion laws, many of which he said were passed in order to address specific problems that have occurred at Planned Parenthood facilities.

Bailey also referenced an earlier letter he wrote to incoming Gov. Mike Kehoe in which he acknowledged that Amendment 3 coming into effect would render the state’s gestational bans on abortion “unenforceable” in most circumstances but would not “remove these statutes from the books,” meaning they could come back into effect immediately if Amendment 3 is altered in the future.

Bailey noted that the amendment allows the state to “protect innocent life after viability,” about 24 weeks, a provision he said his office will “vigorously enforce.” In addition, Bailey said his office will continue to enforce laws designed to protect women from being coerced into abortion, as well as the state’s parental consent law that allows parents to prevent a minor child from getting an abortion.

Despite the setback that the passage of Amendment 3 represented for the pro-life movement in Missouri, some leaders have expressed optimism that the closeness of the vote and the unity displayed by pro-life advocates in the state suggest a repeal of the amendment in the future remains a possibility. A St. Louis-area Republican representative has already introduced a resolution that could lead to a stateside vote to overturn Amendment 3.

In a Dec. 3 press conference, Brian Westbrook of the St. Louis pro-life group Coalition Life urged Missourians to support Bailey’s efforts to keep the state’s regulations on abortion providers in place. He urged Missourians to oppose Planned Parenthood’s lawsuit, contact their representatives, and support Bailey’s efforts to hold Planned Parenthood accountable.

“We cannot allow these facilities to operate without regulations and protections that have been put in place over decades to protect Missouri women,” Westbrook said.

“Simply put, the public needs to be aware of prior unsafe practices by Planned Parenthood Great Plains and Planned Parenthood Great Rivers and the need to maintain commonsense safety standards that hold them accountable.”

The amendment’s appearance on the ballot was the subject of a protracted court battle earlier this year, with pro-lifers arguing that the final proposed language not only violated state law by failing to list which laws it would repeal but also misled voters about the scope and gravity of what they would be voting for. The Missouri Supreme Court ultimately voted 4-3 to allow the measure to appear before voters.

Pope Francis, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán talk Ukraine and family policies
Wed, 04 Dec 2024 15:10:00 -0500

Vatican City, Dec 4, 2024 / 15:10 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis received the prime minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, at the Vatican on Wednesday.

The meeting, which Orbán described as “an opportunity for peace,” lasted 35 minutes and took place in a room near the Paul VI classroom in the Vatican and not in the Apostolic Palace, as is customary, because it preceded the pope’s general audience.

Just prior to his meeting with the Holy Father, Orbán, a Calvinist, attended a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica.

In the traditional exchange of gifts, the Holy Father presented the Hungarian prime minister with a terra cotta work titled “Tenderness and Love” in addition to several volumes of papal documents, this year’s “Message for Peace,” and a book on the Statio Orbis of 2020.

For his part, Orbán presented Pope Francis with a copy of “The Life of Jesus Christ,” written in 1896 by French Dominican friar Louis Henri Didon, creator of the motto of the modern Olympic Games, “Faster, higher, stronger.” He also gave him a map of the Holy Land dated 1700.

After the audience with the Holy Father, Orbán met with the secretary of state of the Holy See, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and with Monsignor Mirosław Wachowski, undersecretary for Relations with States.

According to the Holy See’s press office, the meeting took place “in a cordial atmosphere” of “solid and fruitful bilateral relations.”

During the meeting, “deep gratitude” was expressed for “the commitment of the Catholic Church in promoting the development and well-being of Hungarian society.”

In addition, issues of international relevance were addressed, such as the war in Ukraine, with special emphasis on its humanitarian consequences and efforts to promote peace.

Pro-family allies

Other issues discussed in the conversations included the central role of the family and the protection of new generations.

Since taking office in 2010, Orbán has promoted various policies to support families, which have contributed to an increase in the birth rate and a reduction in the number of abortions.

Also addressed was Hungary’s presidency of the Council of the European Union, a position that the country assumed on July 1 and will maintain until Dec. 31.

During this period, under Orbán’s leadership, Hungary has worked to strengthen the EU’s defense policy, contain illegal immigration, and address demographic challenges, among other priority objectives.

The occasion marked the fifth time Pope Francis has met with Orbán. During a previous audience in April 2022, they also focused their conversations on the war in Ukraine and the Ukrainian refugees received in Hungary.

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

Palliative care doctors in UK say assisted suicide bill rests on ‘misconceptions’
Wed, 04 Dec 2024 14:30:00 -0500

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

New Orleans priest pleads guilty to 1970s kidnapping, rape of teenager
Wed, 04 Dec 2024 14:00:00 -0500

CNA Staff, Dec 4, 2024 / 14:00 pm (CNA).

A priest in New Orleans pleaded guilty this week to kidnapping and raping a teenage boy in the 1970s, heading off a long-delayed trial that launched with an indictment last year.

In September of last year, 93-year-old Father Lawrence Hecker was indicted on charges of aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, an aggravated crime against nature, and theft.

The sex abuse crimes are alleged to have occurred between Jan. 1, 1975, and Dec. 31, 1976, according to the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office.

His trial was repeatedly delayed this year amid Hecker’s ill health and uncertainty over his mental competency to stand trial. Orleans Parish First Assistant District Attorney Ned McGowan had promised to “roll him in on a gurney” to try him.

On Tuesday, meanwhile, the priest filed a guilty plea with the court, with his lawyer saying the priest “decid[ed] that he wanted to take responsibility for the crimes that he committed.”

“I think it was just a matter of, we were on the finish line, this was the day before the trial, I think he came to the realization of what that was going to look like, and he made the decision to enter the guilty plea,” Hecker’s attorney, Bobby Hjortsberg, said outside of Orleans Criminal Court on Tuesday.

Asked why the trial had been delayed for so long, Hjortsberg told reporters that Hecker is “an old, old man” who is “deteriorating.”

The trial “has been a long, difficult process for everybody involved, especially obviously the victims,” Hjortsberg noted.

Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams told reporters that when Hecker returns for sentencing, “the judge is going to sentence him to a life sentence.”

“I believe this investigation and this prosecution represents a critical moment for some little boys who are now men — some of them who are now grandfathers — who have lived with this horrific abuse for years,” Williams said.

The Archdiocese of New Orleans lists Hecker as among the priests who “are alive and have been accused of sexually abusing a minor, which led to their removal from ministry.”

The archdiocesan website says it received allegations against Hecker in 1996 and removed him from ministry in 2002. The archdiocese says the “time frame” of Hecker’s abuse spans the late 1960s and the early 1970s. The priest had in 1999 reportedly confessed to abusing multiple teenage boys during those years.

In a statement on Wednesday, the archdiocese said: “It is our hope and prayer that the court proceedings bring healing and peace to the survivor and all survivors of sexual abuse.”

“We continue to hold all survivors in prayer,” the statement added.

Mercedes-Benz presents Pope Francis with new modified G-Wagon ‘popemobile’
Wed, 04 Dec 2024 13:30:00 -0500

Vatican City, Dec 4, 2024 / 13:30 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis was handed the key to a new Mercedes-Benz “popemobile” on Wednesday by the CEO of the German luxury car brand.

Ola Källenius, the CEO of Mercedes-Benz, presented the pope with a white and chrome key fob inside a white box after showing off the new open-air vehicle in a parking lot inside Vatican City on Dec. 4.

The modified G-Wagon features a rotating heated seat and a heated hand rail to keep the pope warm while greeting pilgrims during winter rides around St. Peter’s Square.

The fully electric, white SUV is emblazoned with Francis’ coat of arms, has black detailing, and has chrome rims. Two small Holy See flags wave from the front hood.

The license plate of the papal ride is “SCV 1,” which is the Italian acronym for Vatican City State.

Mercedes-Benz has provided vehicles for the Vatican for 94 years. During the last 45 years, the pope has used “popemobiles” based on the Mercedes-Benz G-Class.

“With the new popemobile, Pope Francis is the first pontiff to travel in an all-electric Mercedes-Benz during his public appearances. This is a great honor for our company and I would like to thank His Holiness for his trust,” Källenius said in a Dec. 4 press release.

Pope Francis has been using full or partially electric cars for several years. In 2023, the Vatican also announced a partnership with auto manufacturer Volkswagen to introduce an all-electric, zero-impact car fleet in the Vatican by 2030.

Pope Francis: Preaching must rely on Holy Spirit, keep homilies under 10 minutes
Wed, 04 Dec 2024 13:00:00 -0500

Vatican City, Dec 4, 2024 / 13:00 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis during his general audience at St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday said all evangelizing activity depends on the Holy Spirit and not on “pastoral initiatives promoted by us.”

Continuing his catechetical series on ”The Spirit and the Bride,” the Holy Father spoke about evangelization and the role of preaching in the Catholic Church.

Stressing the importance of prayer, the pope said all Christians should ask for God’s intercession in the work of evangelization as it “does not depend on us but on the coming of the Holy Spirit.”

“The Holy Spirit comes to those who pray because the heavenly Father — it is written — ‘give[s] the Holy Spirit to those who ask him’ (cf. Lk 11:13),” the pope told pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square. “Especially if we ask him in order to proclaim the Gospel of his Son!”

Pointing to the example of Jesus at the beginning of his public ministry, the Holy Father said it is necessary to imitate his example and prayer: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor” (cf. Lk 4:18).

“Preaching with the anointing of the Holy Spirit means transmitting, together with the ideas and the doctrine, the life, and conviction of our faith,” he continued.

Emphasizing the need to prioritize prayer over “persuasive words of wisdom,” the Holy Father also told his listeners to be wary of the desire to “preach ourselves” instead of Jesus Christ.

“Not wanting to preach oneself also implies not always giving priority to pastoral initiatives promoted by us and linked to our own name,” he said.

A plea to preachers

Pope Francis also shared practical advice for preachers to “never go over 10 minutes” at the risk of their listeners losing interest in a sermon.

“Preachers must preach an idea, a feeling, and a call to action. Beyond eight minutes the preaching starts to fade, it is not understood,” Pope Francis said to applause from some pilgrims.

Final greetings and prayers for peace

In his final greetings to international pilgrims on Wednesday, the pope imparted his special Advent blessings. He encouraged the crowds to prepare well for the upcoming solemnity of the Immaculate Conception to be celebrated on Dec. 9 this year.

The Holy Father also extended his sincere greetings to Chinese pilgrims and their families at the general audience. Mandarin Chinese was today included among the official language translations of the pope’s weekly greetings and catechesis.

Asking people to pray especially for the people of Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, and “the innocent killed in wars,” the pope implored: “Please let us continue to pray for peace, freedom.”

“War is a human defeat, a defeat of humanity. War does not solve problems. War is evil,” he said.

21 new cardinals to reflect Catholic Church’s unity amid geographic expansion
Wed, 04 Dec 2024 12:30:00 -0500

Vatican City, Dec 4, 2024 / 12:30 pm (CNA).

The 21 new cardinals to be created by Pope Francis at the Dec. 7 consistory reflect the pontiff’s vision for a missionary Church that reaches out to the world’s peripheries.

Following the 10th consistory of his pontificate, Pope Francis will have effectively cemented the expansive geographical diversity of the College of Cardinals as well as chosen approximately 60% of all its members and almost 80% of the cardinals who will choose his successor in a future conclave.

While the College of Cardinals will still largely be European — with a high proportion who are either representing Italian churches or are of Italian origin — after the Dec. 7 consistory more than 90 countries will be represented in the college responsible for advising the pope in the care of the universal Church.

The December consistory will also see the College of Cardinals expand to a total of 253 members. Though the vast majority of cardinals are usually secular clergy, this year’s consistory will bring the number of cardinals belonging to religious congregations and institutes to 68.

The continued expansion of the college beyond traditionally Catholic Europe is also evident in the selection of cardinals belonging to missionary congregations in countries where Catholics are a minority.

Both Cardinals-elect Archbishop Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi, SVD, of Tokyo and Archbishop Ladislav Nemet, SVD, of Belgrade-Smederevo, Serbia, belong to the Society of the Divine Word religious congregation and represent the Church in countries where the Catholic population is at 5% and below.

According to Canon 349 of the Code of Canon Law, cardinals hold the duty to act collegially in choosing a pope’s successor should a conclave be convoked. However, not all cardinals hold the right to cast a vote in a conclave.

More than half of the college after the consistory is set to be “cardinal electors.” These cardinals are below the age of 80 and therefore eligible to vote for a new pope.

Among the 140 cardinals with voting rights, the highest representation by country is Italy with 17 cardinal-electors, followed by the U.S. with 10 cardinal-electors, and then Spain with six cardinal-electors.

The college’s remaining 113 “cardinal non-electors” are 80 years old and older. While they are eligible to participate in the meetings leading up to the start of a conclave, they do not have voting rights and so will not participate in the conclave itself.

Both the eldest and youngest College of Cardinals members will be created at the Dec. 7 consistory.

At 99, Italian Cardinal-elect Angelo Acerbi, the prelate emeritus of the Knights of Malta, will become the oldest member of the college. Having served the Catholic Church as a bishop for 50 years, he also has 40 years of experience working in the Holy See’s diplomatic corps.

Between 1974 and 2001, he served as nuncio to New Zealand, Colombia, Hungary, Moldova, and the Netherlands.

Bishop Mykola Bychok of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Eparchy of Sts. Peter and Paul in Melbourne, Australia, will become the youngest cardinal at age 44. His elevation as cardinal will bring the total number of cardinals from the vast Oceania region to four.

In an Oct. 6 letter welcoming the new cardinals to the “Roman clergy,” Pope Francis said membership to the College of Cardinals “is an expression of the Church’s unity and of the bond that unites all the Churches with this Church of Rome.”

The consistory for the creation of the new cardinals will take place in the Papal Chapel of St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday afternoon.

New Bible curriculum in Texas public schools faces scrutiny
Wed, 04 Dec 2024 09:45:00 -0500

CNA Staff, Dec 4, 2024 / 09:45 am (CNA).

The Texas State Board of Education has sparked renewed debate over the role of religion in public schools in the wake of the agency’s approval of a new language arts curriculum that includes the Bible.

The K–5 curriculum, which will become available this spring, features a cross-disciplinary approach that uses reading and language arts to reinforce other subjects. The Blue Bonnet Learning curriculum has come under scrutiny due to its references to Christianity and the Bible, including lessons from Genesis and Psalms as well as the New Testament.

For example, the parable of the good Samaritan is part of a lesson plan about the Golden Rule. The program is optional, though schools receive funding per student to cover the cost of the program if they participate. Participating schools will begin the program in the 2025-2026 school year.

According to a report by the Texas Tribune, critics of the curriculum cite fear it will “entrench religion in public life” and could “diminish the protections that are afforded to religious minorities.” Other critics fear that this could ostracize students of different faith backgrounds, while one parent called the curriculum “indoctrination.”

But Mary Elizabeth Castle, director of government relations for Texas Values, a group that supports the curriculum, pointed out that understanding the Bible helps deepen students’ understanding of Western history.

“These materials were attacked for no other reason but to completely erase any mention of religion or the Bible from the classroom, which would create a hostile environment for free speech,” Castle said in a statement.

Catholic takes

When asked about the Texas Bible curriculum, Father Steve Grunow, CEO of Word on Fire, told CNA that the goal of the curriculum — to stress “the cultural influence and moral perspectives of the Scriptures” — is “commendable.”

Grunow emphasized that the Bible’s vast global influence “is such that it should not be ignored in any academic curriculum.”

But he noted that this goal is difficult to implement. “The open and often volatile question has been how to best do this,” he pointed out.

“The Bible is not only culturally valuable but holds the status for believers to be revelatory of God,” he noted. “No interpretation of its meaning or significance can [be] characterized as neutral, and it is clear that the Bible itself does not present its purpose as relative — the text intends to convince us of the truth of its claims.”

Grunow noted that parish schools were founded with this concern in mind.

“Contemporary Catholics might not remember, but one of the contributing factors to the founding of parochial schools was that the public school curriculum was suffused with Protestantism, particularly in regards to presentations of the Bible,” Grunow explained. “The first conflict of Catholics with public schools and other institutions in this country was not that they were secular but that they were Protestant.”

Does the curriculum cross a line?

Weighing in with legal perspective on the curriculum, a professor at the Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America pointed out that proselytizing is unconstitutional, but education about religions is not.

Marc DeGirolami, co-director at CUA’s Center for Law and the Human Person, said that “from a constitutional point of view as the law now stands, in principle, there is nothing illegal about what Texas is doing.”

“What is not permitted at present is to ‘proselytize’ — to teach a particular set of religious views as true and other religious views as false,” he told CNA. “From what I could see in the proposed curriculum, though, this is not what Texas is now proposing. And teaching about religion, including the historical and cultural connections of the American republic to Christianity, is not forbidden.”

However, this can be a hard line to walk. “Of course, the line between teaching about religion and teaching religion can be gray. So much will depend upon the implementation of these curricular policies,” DeGirolami said.

When asked if he thinks the curriculum could be a violation of religious freedom, Grunow agreed with DeGirolami — it’s only unconstitutional “if its purposes were sectarian and to proselytize.”

“I do think that most Americans would not have an issue [with] the presentation of the Bible in the public schools; that’s not the point of contention,” Grunow said. “The issue is how to do this in a way that respects ... the Bible, those who hold it to be God’s revelation, those who ascribe to differing interpretations, and those who might appreciate its cultural significance but are wary of any encroachment of religion in public institutions.”

“The Texas curriculum is trying to navigate these concerns,” Grunow said. “I give them credit for their efforts, but time will show us the efficacy of this endeavor.”

Some critics have threatened legal action, but DeGirolami said objections like these “are on awkward footing.”

For DeGirolami, excluding a particular religion in education “seems discriminatory to me, especially in a world where what children are taught in public schools seems, at least to me, to be neck deep in moral and religious teaching.”

In other words, religious and moral values manifest throughout education anyway, so excluding Christianity would be discriminatory.

“School curricula are meant to develop in children certain civic, moral, political, and cultural views, together with teaching them certain basic skills,” he explained. “Those civic, moral, political, and cultural views presuppose answers to some very basic questions that are also questions addressed by Christianity and many other religions.”

For DeGirolami, Christianity should not be excluded from the civic and moral discussion.

“To say that Christianity, because it is ‘religious,’ is not to be included in that discussion, is to gerrymander a category (‘religion’) so as to exclude particular substantive positions that are unwelcome or that critics think are wrong,” he said. “But if they are wrong, critics should just say so and explain why, rather than excluding them from the get-go as categorically inappropriate or out of bounds.”

Central American bishops call for day of prayer for Catholic Church in Nicaragua
Wed, 04 Dec 2024 07:00:00 -0500

Lima Newsroom, Dec 4, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The bishops of Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala are inviting the faithful to participate in a day of prayer for the Catholic Church in Nicaragua on Sunday, Dec. 8, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.

“On ​​the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, Nicaraguan Catholics lift their voices in a great festival of praise known as ‘la gritería,’” the bishops of Central America said in a Nov. 29 statement. On this occasion, they pointed out, “in Nicaragua and throughout Central America, the traditional Marian devotion is expressed that is so deeply rooted in the piety of our people.”

The “gritería” (clamor) is celebrated on Dec. 7 in Nicaragua on the eve of the feast of the Immaculate Conception, when the faithful walk the streets and visit altars erected in honor of the Virgin Mary praying, singing, and lighting fireworks while shouting “Who causes so much joy?” and responding with “The conception of Mary!”

In their statement, the bishops expressed their “profound solidarity and communion with the people of God in Nicaragua, who often face a challenging reality.”

In their text, the prelates encouraged Catholics in each jurisdiction or parish to “join in prayer this cry of faith and hope, peace and freedom, which the faithful people direct to their mother and patroness. Our thoughts are with you, Nicaraguan brothers and sisters. We fraternally join your outcry, which respectfully hopes to find an answer.”

The bishops’ announcement came just prior to the Dec. 2 letter Pope Francis wrote to the Catholics of Nicaragua in which he encouraged them to be certain that faith and hope “work miracles.”

Relentless persecution

The persecution of the Catholic Church by the dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega and his wife and “co-president,” Rosario Murillo, seems to have no end.

A few days ago, the regime approved a reform of the country’s constitution that further restricts religious freedom and freedom of expression in the country, which are already quite limited. Among the most controversial measures is a provision that requires that “religious organizations must remain free of all foreign control.”

In mid-November, the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship expelled from the country the bishop of Jinotega and president of the country’s bishops’ conference, Carlos Enrique Herrera Gutiérrez, who had criticized a mayor, an Ortega supporter, who interfered with Mass by blasting loud music in front of the diocesan cathedral.

Herrera Gutiérrez and other bishops, priests, and religious have been subject to constant monitoring, persecution, and abduction as well as imprisonment in deplorable conditions.

Numerous members of the clergy have been deported from the country, stripped of their Nicaraguan citizenship and made stateless, as is the case of the bishop of Matagalpa, Rolando Álvarez, who was exiled to Rome in January along with Isidoro Mora, the bishop of Siuna; 15 priests; and two seminarians.

Under the socialist regime, Catholics have been silenced and public expressions of faith, such as prayers for the persecuted and other pastoral and spiritual activities, have been prohibited.

Between 2018 and 2024, 870 attacks against the Catholic Church were recorded in Nicaragua, as documented in the report “Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church?” by exiled lawyer and researcher Martha Patricia Molina.

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

A lagoon in St. Peter’s Square? Vatican Nativity scene set to make a splash
Wed, 04 Dec 2024 06:00:00 -0500

Vatican City, Dec 4, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

A small island town in northern Italy has put its heart into recreating a local lagoon in a Nativity scene for St. Peter’s Square — the first time the crèche will feature a large body of water.

“There’s not only the work behind it, but there’s the love, there’s the passion of everybody,” Andrea de Walderstein, the Nativity’s architect, designer, and construction manager, told CNA.

“We are the first to bring water to St. Peter’s [Square],” he said, explaining that the grandiose Nativity will feature the lagoon of Grado, a town of about 8,000 people located on an island and adjacent peninsula in the Adriatic Sea between Venice and Trieste.

De Walderstein said the ambitious display — which will be nearly 100 feet long and over 45 feet wide — is being assembled “like a Lego practically.” The embankment of the “lagoon” alone requires 102 Styrofoam bricks.

While not disclosing every surprise, de Walderstein and Antonio Boemo, the coordinator and leader of the project, told CNA that the replica lagoon will be set in the early 1900s and will feature a beach, islands, boats, animals, and representatives of the inhabitants of the town.

The scene, to be unveiled on Dec. 7, will also feature “casoneri,” the fishermen who used to live in huts on the islands of the Grado lagoon. According to information from the Vatican, the fishermen and women would traditionally only come into the village for three important holidays every year, including Easter and Christmas.

The traditional Nativity figures of Mary, Joseph, and the child Jesus will be inside one of the fishermen’s huts, called a “casone.”

“What we are interested in is that people will admire, become curious, and understand the feelings that we have when we go to the lagoon,” Boemo said.

But bringing a large body of water into St. Peter’s Square posed an important challenge — how to keep the seagulls of Rome from turning it into a giant birdbath.

This was a big concern for the Vatican, de Walderstein said. “So we came up with a system with ultrasonic machines to keep them away.”

Boemo’s idea for a Nativity scene featuring the lagoon of Grado first came to him years ago. He told CNA a proposal was sent to the Vatican in 2016 and he is so happy to finally be seeing his dream become a reality.

He emphasized that this project has involved the whole community of Grado, with 40 people being physically involved in the construction and approximately 500 from the town expected to attend the unveiling.

The architect de Walderstein, too, said after being originally brought on just to design the project, will also “do the workmanship, because I really like to touch it with my own hands and build it with my own hands.”

“I have to thank Antonio, who involved me in this adventure. I am really happy,” he said.

7 things to know about the last Church Father
Wed, 04 Dec 2024 04:00:00 -0500

National Catholic Register, Dec 4, 2024 / 04:00 am (CNA).

On Dec. 4 we celebrate St. John of Damascus, also known as St. John Damascene.

A priest and religious, he became a doctor of the Church. He’s also the last Church Father.

Here are seven things to know and share about St. John of Damascus.

1. Why is he the last of the Church Fathers?

We need to divide history into different periods. The age of the Church Fathers was not the same as the ages that came before it or the ages that followed it.

But to do this, we have to divide history at somewhat arbitrary points.

Thus, it is customary to regard the age of the Church Fathers as ending in the East with the life of St. John of Damascus, who died around A.D. 749.

(In the West, the age of the Church Fathers is commonly reckoned as ending with St. Isidore of Seville, who died in A.D. 636.)

2. Who was St. John of Damascus?

As his name implies, he was born in the city of Damascus, in the modern state of Syria, which is just north of Israel.

It’s the same city that St. Paul was travelling to when he experienced his conversion on “the Damascus Road.” (In fact, it’s quite close by modern standards; Damascus is about 135 miles north of Jerusalem.)

John was born in A.D. 675 or 676, and he lived to about 75 years of age, dying around A.D. 749. He spent most of his life in the Mar Saba monastery near Jerusalem.

He is also known by the Greek nickname “Chrysorrhoas,” which means “streaming with gold” or “gold-pouring,” indicating the quality of his writings.

3. Why is he significant?

Pope Benedict XVI explained:

“Above all he was an eyewitness of the passage from the Greek and Syrian Christian cultures shared by the Eastern part of the Byzantine Empire to the Islamic culture, which spread through its military conquests in the territory commonly known as the Middle or Near East.”

4. What happened in his early life?

Pope Benedict XVI explained:

“John, born into a wealthy Christian family, at an early age assumed the role, perhaps already held by his father, of treasurer of the Caliphate.

“Very soon, however, dissatisfied with life at court, he decided on a monastic life and entered the monastery of Mar Saba, near Jerusalem. This was around the year 700.

“He never again left the monastery but dedicated all his energy to ascesis and literary work, not disdaining a certain amount of pastoral activity, as is shown by his numerous homilies.”

5. What theological controversy made him important?

It was the eighth-century controversy over whether images should be venerated — the so-called “iconoclast controversy.”

Pope Benedict XVI explained:

“In the East, his best remembered works are the three ‘Discourses Against Those Who Calumniate the Holy Images,’ which were condemned after his death by the iconoclastic Council of Hieria (754).

“These discourses, however, were also the fundamental grounds for his rehabilitation and canonization on the part of the Orthodox Fathers summoned to the Council of Nicaea (787), the Seventh Ecumenical Council.

“In these texts it is possible to trace the first important theological attempts to legitimize the veneration of sacred images, relating them to the mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God in the womb of the Virgin Mary.”

6. How did St. John Damascene contribute to the discussion?

Pope Benedict XVI explained:

“John Damascene was also among the first to distinguish, in the cult, both public and private, of the Christians, between worship (‘latreia’), and veneration (‘proskynesis’): The first can only be offered to God, spiritual above all else, the second, on the other hand, can make use of an image to address the one whom the image represents.

“Obviously the saint can in no way be identified with the material of which the icon is composed.

“This distinction was immediately seen to be very important in finding an answer in Christian terms to those who considered universal and eternal the strict Old Testament prohibition against the use of cult images.

“This was also a matter of great debate in the Islamic world, which accepts the Jewish tradition of the total exclusion of cult images.

“Christians, on the other hand, in this context, have discussed the problem and found a justification for the veneration of images.”

7. What did St. John Damascene write about this?

As Pope Benedict XVI explained, John Damascene wrote:

“In other ages God had not been represented in images, being incorporate and faceless.

“But since God has now been seen in the flesh, and lived among men, I represent that part of God which is visible.

“I do not venerate matter, but the Creator of matter, who became matter for my sake and deigned to live in matter and bring about my salvation through matter.

“I will not cease therefore to venerate that matter through which my salvation was achieved.

“But I do not venerate it in absolute terms as God! How could that which, from nonexistence, has been given existence, be God? ...

“But I also venerate and respect all the rest of matter which has brought me salvation, since it is full of energy and holy graces.

“Is not the wood of the cross, three times blessed, matter? ... And the ink, and the most holy book of the Gospels, are they not matter? The redeeming altar which dispenses the Bread of Life, is it not matter? ... And, before all else, are not the flesh and blood of Our Lord matter?

“Either we must suppress the sacred nature of all these things, or we must concede to the tradition of the Church the veneration of the images of God and that of the friends of God who are sanctified by the name they bear, and for this reason are possessed by the grace of the Holy Spirit.

“Do not, therefore, offend matter: It is not contemptible, because nothing that God has made is contemptible” (cf. “Contra Imaginum Calumniatores,” I, 16, ed. Kotter, p. 89-90).

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register and has been adapted by CNA.

Traditional rite to demolish wall protecting Holy Door held at St. Peter’s Basilica
Tue, 03 Dec 2024 17:55:00 -0500

Vatican City, Dec 3, 2024 / 17:55 pm (CNA).

On the evening Dec. 2, the rite of “recognitio” (Latin for “verification”) took place in St. Peter’s Basilica. This is a traditional ceremony to verify and ascertain that the Holy Door, closed during the last holy year, is intact, sealed, and ready to be reopened at the beginning of the new Jubilee 2025.

The pilgrimage to the Holy Doors is a central act of the jubilee. Passing through them during the holy year symbolizes entry into a new life in Christ and the beginning of a journey of conversion.

The ceremony began with a prayer led by the archpriest of the basilica, Cardinal Mauro Gambetti. Then the “sampietrini,” employees of the Fabric of St. Peter’s who are responsible for the oversight and maintenance of the Vatican basilica, tore down the wall that seals the Holy Door inside the church.

Once the wall protecting the Holy Door was demolished, the workers removed a metal box that had been kept inside it since the closing of the Jubilee of Mercy on Nov. 20, 2016.

The box contains the key with which the Holy Father will open the Holy Door on the evening of Dec. 24. It also contains the handles, the parchment of the act certifying its closure, four golden bricks, and some medals, including those of the pontificates of Francis, Benedict XVI, and St. John Paul II.

Gambetti was in charge of leading a procession, with the singing of the litanies of the saints, from the Holy Door to the Altar of Confession, where he paused for a moment in prayer.

The participants in the rite then proceeded to the Chapter House, where the metal box removed from the Holy Door was opened. Present were Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, and Archbishop Diego Ravelli, master of pontifical liturgical celebrations, who received the documents and objects of the recognitio, which will be given to Pope Francis.

On Tuesday afternoon, the same ceremony took place for the Holy Door of St. John Lateran basilica. On Dec. 5 the rite of recognitio will take place in St. Paul Outside the Walls basilica and on Dec. 6 in St. Mary Major Basilica.

A ceremony full of meaning

The jubilee year, one of the most anticipated and important events of the Catholic Church, is marked by different solemn ceremonies with centuries of tradition.

In 1499, Pope Alexander VI wanted to define the ceremonial norms of the jubilee. He entrusted this task to the then-master of ceremonies, Johannes Bruckard, who established different rites that continue to be celebrated today, although with some variations.

From the Jubilee of 1500 until the Jubilee of 1975, it was the pope who began the construction of the wall that enclosed the Holy Door. With a hammer, made of gold and later of silver, he would symbolically strike the wall three times. Later, the masons would take charge of demolishing it completely.

The wall was usually covered in turn by a simple wooden door, which was removed and replaced at the beginning and end of each holy year. However, on Dec. 24, 1949, it was replaced by a bronze door blessed by Pope Pius XII.

In 1975, the rite of closing the Holy Door was modified, as the trowel and bricks were no longer used, and the panels of the bronze door were simply closed, giving greater prominence to the door than to the wall.

That same year, the tradition of including a metal chest inside the wall began, since previously symbolic elements such as golden bricks were inserted with the mortar with which the wall was rebuilt.

For the Jubilee of 1983, John Paul II did not use the hammer during the opening of the Holy Door.

During the jubilees of the 20th century, each of the steps that make up the rite of recognitio were consolidated. These include the demolition of the wall, the recovery of the symbolic objects, and the solemn procession with liturgical chants.

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

The conflict between the Carmelite nuns of Arlington and the bishop of Fort Worth: a timeline
Tue, 03 Dec 2024 16:35:00 -0500

CNA Staff, Dec 3, 2024 / 16:35 pm (CNA).

Bishop Michael Olson of the Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, announced on Monday that the Vatican had issued a decree of suppression to forcibly close the Carmelite Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity in Arlington, Texas.

For nearly 19 months, a dispute between the bishop of Fort Worth and seven women who are members of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of Arlington, Texas, a Latin Mass religious community, has played out in court papers and public statements.

Olson said the de facto head of the monastery, Reverend Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach, had admitted to engaging in illicit sexual activity with a priest and that he therefore removed her as prioress, in accord with his proper authority. Gerlach has denied the accusations and has claimed that the bishop has overstepped his rightful authority because he wants to acquire the monastery’s land. The bishop denies that claim.

The following timeline is based on court documents; news stories; public statements on the website of the Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas; and public statements on the website of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of Arlington.

1958: Discalced Carmelite nuns take up residence in Fort Worth, Texas.

1984: Discalced Carmelite nuns move to a new monastery (Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity) on a 72-acre wooded property in Arlington, Texas.

2013: Bishop Michael Olson becomes bishop of the Diocese of Fort Worth.

August 2020: Discalced Carmelite nuns ask permission from the Vatican to join a new association of Carmelites (known as the Discalced Carmelite Association of Christ the King), thus moving from the jurisdiction of a Discalced Carmelites provincial to the bishop of Fort Worth; in October 2020 the Vatican’s Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life grants the request.

April 24, 2023: Olson visits the Discalced Carmelite monastery in Arlington, Texas, saying he had gotten a report that the prioress, Reverend Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach, had “committed sins against the Sixth Commandment and violated her vow of chastity with a priest from outside the Diocese of Fort Worth”; the bishop takes Gerlach’s computer, iPad, and cellphone, according to subsequent court papers.

May 3, 2023: Gerlach and another nun, Sister Francis Therese, file a state lawsuit in Tarrant County district court in Fort Worth against Olson and the Diocese of Fort Worth, claiming the bishop has abused his power and overstepped his authority and calling his charges of misconduct against Gerlach “patently false and defamatory.”

May 16, 2023: Olson issues a statement saying that on April 24, 2023, he began a Church investigation of Gerlach after he received a report of misconduct by Gerlach; his statement notes that the Carmelite nuns filed a civil lawsuit against him.

May 31, 2023: Olson announces that the Vatican has issued a decree appointing him “pontifical commissary” of the Carmelite monastery in Arlington, meaning he is what he calls “the pope’s representative in this matter.”

June 1, 2023: Olson issues a statement saying he has dismissed Gerlach from the Order of Discalced Carmelites, saying he has found her “guilty of having violated the Sixth Commandment of the Decalogue and her vow of chastity”; Gerlach appeals to Rome.

June 14, 2023: Diocese of Fort Worth releases photos that diocesan officials say show marijuana edibles and marijuana paraphernalia at the monastery; the diocese says the photos came from a confidential informant. A lawyer for the nuns suggests the drugs in the photos were staged by the diocese.

June 27, 2023: A lawyer for the Diocese of Fort Worth plays in open court a recording of a conversation between Olson and Gerlach in which Gerlach admits to having had inappropriate telephone contact with a priest, at one point saying: “I made a horrible, horrible mistake,” according to The Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Gerlach has before and since the court proceeding denied allegations of misconduct — a lawyer for Gerlach says she has serious physical ailments and was suffering from the effects of medications designed to control seizures when she spoke with the bishop that day and that she underwent surgery the day after the interview.

June 30, 2023: A judge dismisses the nuns’ lawsuit, saying the court lacks jurisdiction.

Aug. 18, 2023: Gerlach announces that the Carmelite Monastery of Arlington is no longer under the authority of Olson and forbids him from coming onto the property.

Aug. 19, 2023: Olson issues a statement saying that Gerlach may have incurred “latae sententiae excommunication” — which canon law defines as automatic excommunication “upon the commission of an offense” (Canon 1314) — for what he calls her “scandalous and schismatic actions.”

According to the bishop, the statement Gerlach issued the previous day “publicly rejected my authority as diocesan bishop and pontifical commissary.” The bishop’s statement says the other nuns might have incurred the same type of excommunication, “depending on their complicity” in Gerlach’s actions; the bishop declares the monastery “closed to public access.”

April 18, 2024: Olson announces that Mother Marie of the Incarnation, a Discalced Carmelite who is president of the Discalced Carmelite Association of Christ the King but who does not live at the Carmelite monastery in Arlington, is now the “lawful superior” of the monastery; the announcement is accompanied by a decree from the Vatican dicastery that oversees religious orders.

May 22, 2024: Olson announces that the Vatican has overturned his decree dismissing Gerlach from the Carmelites on the grounds that she did not abuse her authority as head of the monastery because she had no authority over the priest who Olson says took part in illicit sexual activity with Gerlach; the Vatican on April 30 also issues a decree upholding the bishop’s investigation and another decree upholding the bishop’s suspension of Gerlach as prioress.

Sept. 14, 2024: The Discalced Carmelite Nuns of Arlington announce a formal association with the Society of St. Pius X, which will supply a priest for the nuns’ spiritual needs. (The Society of St. Pius X is a canonically irregular traditionalist Catholic association.) The nuns also announce that they reelected Gerlach as their prioress in August.

Sept. 17, 2024: Olson announces that the Carmelite nuns’ actions are “scandalous” and “permeated with the odor of schism,” and he warns Catholics not to partake of sacraments at the monastery or give money to the nuns.

Oct. 28, 2024: Olson announces that the prioress he appointed as what he calls the “legitimate superior” of the Arlington monastery, Mother Marie of the Incarnation, has dismissed the seven women of the monastery from the Order of Discalced Carmelites, returning them to lay status.

Oct. 30, 2024: The Discalced Carmelite Nuns of Arlington post a statement on the monastery’s website saying that “any ‘dismissal’ declared by Mother Marie of the Association of Christ the King is a moot point” because of the monastery’s association with the Society of St. Pius X. The nuns say their religious vows were “professed to God” and “cannot be dismissed or taken away.” They also say that they pray for Pope Francis and Olson every day and that “any claim that we have departed from the Catholic faith is ridiculous.”

Oct. 31, 2024: Olson announces that the Society of St. Pius X is “not in full communion or good standing with the Catholic Church” and that sacraments offered by the society under ordinary circumstances are valid but illicit.

Dec. 2, 2024: Olson announces that the Holy See’s Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life has suppressed the Carmelite Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity as of Nov. 28.

Pope Francis’ letter to Nicaraguan Catholics is ‘balm for our spirit,’ exiles say
Tue, 03 Dec 2024 16:05:00 -0500

Lima Newsroom, Dec 3, 2024 / 16:05 pm (CNA).

Catholics exiled from Nicaragua are expressing their gratitude for the recent letter of encouragement Pope Francis sent to the persecuted Church in the Central American country.

“In the midst of this wave of repression and religious persecution unprecedented in our history, his words of encouragement are a balm for our spirit and a reminder of the transforming power of faith and hope,” said Félix Maradiaga in an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

Maradiaga, a former presidential candidate and former political prisoner, added that “the Holy Father’s closeness to us as a pastor reaffirms our trust in divine providence, even when we face trials and challenges that seem insurmountable.”

For Martha Patricia Molina, a researcher whose reports have documented hundreds of attacks by the Nicaraguan dictatorship against the Catholic Church in the country in recent years, Pope Francis’ letter shows that “he follows up and pays attention to the serious situation facing Nicaragua.”

“At this time, anything written by the Nicaraguan Bishops’ Conference would be a reason for the Sandinista dictatorship to continue deporting bishops, and Pope Francis knows that,” Molina said. “I feel that’s why he sent us this beautiful message.”

“Our people are Marian, and during these days we are praying the novena to the Immaculate Conception. Receiving this pastoral letter from Pope Francis during this special time is a gift from God,” she added.

Industrial mechanic Pedro Gutiérrez, who was deported to Guatemala in September, told the Spanish-language edition of EWTN News that Nicaraguans and many other people in the world as well would like Pope Francis to take a tougher approach to the dictatorship, given the crimes that have been committed against the country’s Catholics.

After comparing Pope Francis to St. John Paul II, who “confronted dictators, great tyrants,” Gutiérrez called on the pontiff “not to remain silent about the injustices that these criminals are committing against the Catholic Church itself.”

“We would like a Pope Francis who defends the Catholic Church, who stands up for the Catholic Church,” he emphasized.

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

This is Pope Francis’ prayer intention for the month of December
Tue, 03 Dec 2024 15:35:00 -0500

CNA Staff, Dec 3, 2024 / 15:35 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis’ prayer intention for the month of December is for pilgrims of hope.

“Christian hope is a gift from God that fills our lives with joy. And today, we need it a lot. The world really needs it a lot,” the Holy Father said in a video released Dec. 3.

Pope Francis pointed out that “when you don’t know if you’ll be able to feed your children tomorrow, or if what you’re studying will allow you to get a good job, it’s easy to get discouraged.”

“Where can we look for hope?” he asked.

“Hope is an anchor — an anchor that you cast over with a rope to be moored on the shore. We have to hold onto the rope of hope. Hold on tight.”

He encouraged the faithful to “help each other discover this encounter with Christ who gives us life, and let’s set out on a journey as pilgrims of hope to celebrate that life. And entering into the upcoming jubilee is the next stage within that life.”

“Day by day, let us fill our lives with the gift of hope that God gives us, and through us, let us allow it to reach everyone who is looking for it,” he said. “Don’t forget — hope never disappoints.”

He concluded with a prayer: “Let us pray that this upcoming jubilee strengthens us in our faith, helping us to recognize the risen Christ in the midst of our lives, transforming us into pilgrims of Christian hope.”

Pope Francis’ prayer video is promoted by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, which raises awareness of monthly papal prayer intentions.

Franciscan monastery in Aleppo attacked; friars call for peace
Tue, 03 Dec 2024 15:05:00 -0500

ACI MENA, Dec 3, 2024 / 15:05 pm (CNA).

The city of Aleppo, Syria, has been under intense siege since Dec. 1, marked by the shelling of the Latin Holy Land monastery in the Al-Furqan neighborhood. While no casualties or injuries were reported, the attack caused extensive damage to the building.

A statement released by the Franciscan order revealed that a missile strike from a warplane hit the monastery, destroying one of its wings and setting its storage facility ablaze. Other areas, such as the sports center and chapel, also suffered significant damage.

The friars expressed in their statement that they categorically reject any form of violence, emphasizing their mission as one of peace and reconciliation wherever they are sent by God. They called on the international community to intervene and do everything in its power to protect the city’s infrastructure from further destruction.

Despite the attack, the monastery’s bakery and charity kitchen resumed operations the following day, preparing over 1,000 hot meals for free distribution, primarily to elderly residents. However, due to the scarcity of fuel and limited transportation, the church requested that recipients send representatives to collect the meals.

The Holy Land Monastery, built in the 1940s, originally housed a prestigious school, which, like many other Christian institutions, was seized by the Syrian government two decades later. In 2020, the expansive school grounds were returned to the Church. Until last Friday, under the leadership of Franciscan Father Samher Ishaq, the monastery was providing development services to the local community alongside its ongoing relief efforts.

Meanwhile, Aleppo has witnessed internal displacement within the city itself. Many Christians have fled homes near the Kurdish-controlled area, which still maintains a foothold in a small section of the city, seeking refuge with relatives in safer locations.

The proximity of Kurdish forces to Christian cemeteries has created additional challenges for burying the dead. Fear of jihadist factions reaching their positions has prompted Kurdish fighters to enforce strict measures, with reports circulating of a sniper targeting anyone attempting to approach the cemeteries.

The city also grapples with severe shortages of food supplies and an almost complete blackout of mobile communication networks. Landlines and internet routers remain the only reliable means of communication.

This story was first published by ACI MENA, CNA's Arabic-language news partner, and has been translated and adapted by CNA.

U.S. bishops launch Giving Tuesday campaign to support the Church’s global mission 
Tue, 03 Dec 2024 14:00:00 -0500

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 3, 2024 / 14:00 pm (CNA).

The U.S. bishops are once more teaming up with Catholic charity organizations to encourage the faithful to donate to Catholic causes on Giving Tuesday.

In partnership with #iGiveCatholic, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is inviting the faithful to support the Church’s efforts to “feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, and preserve our Catholic heritage for future generations.”

“You are an important part of the Church’s mission,” the USCCB states on its donations page. “Thanks to Catholics like you, faith communities and struggling populations in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, and other parts of the world can face their challenges and thrive.”

“Contributions are well-managed and put to use quickly,” the bishops added. “Every gift matters — by combining resources we make a tremendous impact and carry out more effectively our mission as Catholics.”

The #iGiveCatholic initiative is led by Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans; Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington, D.C.; and Bishop Joseph Kopacz of Jackson, Mississippi. It is responsible for leading the U.S. Catholic Church’s Giving Tuesday efforts.

The organization is currently updating its donations “leaderboard” on social media.

In its nearly eight-year existence, #iGiveCatholic has expanded to offer giving days year-round through its #iGiveCatholic Together platform, which hosts sites for charitable initiatives.

According to its website, the first #iGiveCatholic on Giving Tuesday was held in 2015 in New Orleans by Aymond, who was the USCCB secretary at the time.

“Orchestrated by the Catholic Foundation for the archdiocese for 112 of their parishes, schools, and ministries,” #iGiveCatholic was launched to encourage Catholic philanthropy and promote development throughout the New Orleans Archdiocese.

Now, bishops and their dioceses across the country unite every year to accept donations from the faithful to support initiatives in the Church at home and abroad.

Canadian priest assigned to Vatican’s Secretariat of State
Tue, 03 Dec 2024 13:30:00 -0500

Vancouver, Canada, Dec 3, 2024 / 13:30 pm (CNA).

Father Paul Goo, pastor of Christ the Redeemer Parish in West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, has been called to Rome to serve in the English-language section of the Vatican’s Secretariat of State starting in January 2025.

Vancouver Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, who recommended Goo for the role, made the announcement in a Nov. 30 letter sent to archdiocesan clergy.

“As you all know, loyalty to the Holy Father and the Apostolic See is a defining characteristic of our archdiocese, notably in the joyful gift of Vancouver priests called to serve the Church as bishops,” he wrote.

“We have now been honored with a different kind of request from Rome; namely, that one of our pastors be released for service in the English-language section of the Secretariat of State, the Vatican dicastery which works most closely with Pope Francis in the exercise of his universal ministry.”

The archbishop said the papal nuncio to Canada, Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic, had asked him to suggest a priest suited to the responsibility, and Goo was his choice. “I responded knowing that we would lose — for a time — a dedicated and zealous pastor but with confidence that this sacrifice would bring blessings to the archdiocese.”

The appointment is for five years.

In a Nov. 30 letter to his parishioners, Goo expressed his mixed emotions about the “surprising” news.

“While I am both happy and excited about this new chapter in my priesthood, I will miss all of you. Serving as your pastor has been a tremendous blessing and joy. From the moment I arrived, I have said that this parish does not belong to me but to the Holy Spirit. It is the Lord who has brought us together, and it is the Lord who will carry us through this change.”

Ordained to the priesthood in 2015, Goo was appointed as assistant pastor at Christ the Redeemer and named pastor in July 2023. He was vocations director for the Archdiocese of Vancouver from 2019 to 2013.

In his letter, Goo said he will be “supporting the coordination of the Holy Father’s communication in English-speaking parts of the world.”

Miller will appoint a temporary parish administrator to work with Goo in December and assume responsibility for the parish in January until next year’s pastoral appointments are named.

Goo reflected on the unexpected move, saying: “I know this news may come as a shock to many, just as it was to me. Transitions like these are always a challenge, but they also remind us of the mysterious and providential ways of the Holy Spirit.”

He asked for his parishioners’ prayers and, quoting John 3:8, he wrote: “The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

The Vatican Secretariat of State, historically the Holy See’s chief administrative and diplomatic body, has been undergoing changes under Pope Francis. Traditionally, the secretariat served as the hub for legislative, financial, and diplomatic matters.

In 2023, Pope Francis issued a new Fundamental Law to modernize the Vatican City civil constitution. Francis’ new constitution is the third Fundamental Law since 1929, when the Vatican City State was founded with the Lateran Treaty. It defines the role of the Secretariat of State, stating that “representation of the Vatican City State in relations with states and with other subjects of international law, in diplomatic relations and for the conclusion of treaties, are reserved to the supreme pontiff, who exercises them through the Secretariat of State.”

This story was first published by The B.C. Catholic and is reprinted here with permission.

Christians in Iran are ‘leaven of society,’ new cardinal-elect of Tehran says
Tue, 03 Dec 2024 12:45:00 -0500

Rome Newsroom, Dec 3, 2024 / 12:45 pm (CNA).

Cardinal-elect Dominique Mathieu, archbishop of Tehran-Isfahan and the highest-ranking Catholic authority in the Islamic Republic of Iran, discussed the situation of Christians in Iran, regional Middle East conflicts, and his personal life in a wide-ranging interview with EWTN News.

The 61-year-old Franciscan will be among the cardinals receiving their red hats from Pope Francis at St. Peter’s Basilica this Saturday, Dec. 7. The pope announced the names of 21 new cardinals from the Apostolic Palace window on Oct. 6 following the Angelus prayer.

“I trembled after the nomination,” Mathieu recalled. He was in a car in Rome with a fellow friar when the announcement came over the radio. Initially, he didn’t fully grasp the news until his companion’s phone began ringing with congratulations.

“I reacted with trembling at that moment. I’m diabetic, and I began turning completely white. It took some time to recover,” the cardinal-elect said.

“It was a surprise. But if you want, you could say that afterward, I realized there might have been signals from the Holy Father during some visits I had with him.”

Faith amid challenges

When asked about his past life and why he spent several years as a Conventual Franciscan friar in Lebanon — becoming a missionary in the Middle East when many were leaving — Mathieu explained that he first visited the “country of cedars” for the ordination of a priest in 1993. He saw Beirut in its post-civil-war state but was deeply moved by people’s devotion to their saints and the Virgin Mary, and their determination to rebuild despite everything.

There are nearly 2,000 Latin-rite Catholics in Iran among a population of almost 89 million people, the vast majority of whom are Shia Muslim. These Catholic Christians “can gather in churches that are recognized by the state. Only they can enter these places of worship,” Mathieu explained. “Generally, they can do this during services or during times that have been announced to the authorities regarding the churches themselves.”

“Our doors exist and are open for these people but are closed to almost everyone else. We, as Latins, also keep the doors open to our Assyrian or Armenian Church brothers and sisters — they can come, it’s not a problem, because we are not an ethnic Church,” Mathieu said. “We maintain a door, praying from within, hoping that one day perhaps the door can open to others.”

Living witness

“I am convinced, perhaps strengthened by the fact that I am Franciscan, of the importance of our witness, which is not verbal,” the Tehran archbishop said regarding Christians’ role in Iranian society. “Proselytism cannot be done, but we are not prevented from living in society and bearing witness.”

Unlike in Turkey, Christians in Iran can wear religious habits and pectoral crosses in public, Mathieu noted. He emphasized that he constantly reminds people: “The importance of our witness, of praying, of having a virtuous life, of working on our sanctification, because there we are truly also a leaven for the country. We can be that salt that gives life.”

The cardinal-elect also explained the openness toward Christianity from some Muslim study centers, such as the University of Qom. He noted that the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue maintains relations with Iranian state entities.

Signs of hope

Describing signs of hope among Iranian Catholics today, Mathieu said: “There is a great thirst for spirituality.” He explained that besides himself, the apostolic nuncio, and the nuncio’s secretary, there are no Latin Catholic bishops or priests in the country. However, there are five Daughters of Charity sisters, two of whom have worked for many years in a leprosarium in northern Iran.

Regarding the direct and indirect conflict between Iran and Israel over the past year and its influence on Christians in Iran, the cardinal-elect said: “I don’t believe there is a direct influence on Christians and the population, because their concern is really about the sanctions and embargo.”

Finally, addressing how to achieve peace in the Middle East as Christmas approaches, the cardinal-elect expressed sadness that, apart from Vatican diplomacy, peace and dialogue diplomacy seemed to be often lacking and replaced by threats and retaliation.

Trump could end Defense Department’s promotion of gender ideology, abortion
Tue, 03 Dec 2024 11:35:00 -0500

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 3, 2024 / 11:35 am (CNA).

When President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2025, the incoming administration has the opportunity to reverse the promotion of gender ideology and abortion at the Department of Defense (DOD), according to those closely watching these issues.

“[We hope] that President-elect Trump and his appointees will follow the law, promote health, and stop censorship,” Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel Matt Bowman told CNA.

“The Biden-Harris administration radicalized the federal bureaucracy to promote abortion and dangerous gender procedures and suppress opposition to their agenda,” Bowman said. “We hope President-elect Trump’s appointed leaders will restore the rule of law, respect biological reality, and stop targeting free speech.”

Under President Joe Biden’s administration, the DOD has used taxpayer money to fund gender transitions and abortion-related travel expenses for service members and their families.

During Biden’s presidency, the DOD also reversed a policy that restricted people with gender dysphoria from serving in the military. In addition, officials encouraged staffers to use gender-neutral language and pronouns that match a person’s self-asserted gender identity, even if they do not match his or her biological sex.

Trump announced he would nominate Pete Hegseth — a military veteran, Fox News host, and former executive director of Concerned Veterans for America — to serve as secretary of defense, which leads the DOD. This position requires a Senate confirmation.

Hegseth has frequently criticized what he calls “woke” policies in the DOD, including policies related to gender ideology. Trump has said he intends to fire “woke” military generals. Hegseth is also pro-life and has referred to abortion in the United States as “generational genocide.”

Promotion of gender ideology

Under current DOD policy, the Military Health System covers health care services through its TRICARE program, which serves about 9.5 million people, according to the Congressional Research Service. This includes service members, military retirees, and dependents covered through the health care program.

Both service members and dependents can receive some transgender services through this taxpayer-funded program, including transgender drugs. Although TRICARE does not cover transgender surgeries, the DOD can pay for such surgeries for service members through the taxpayer-funded Supplemental Health Care Program.

Biden’s Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ended a rule from the first Trump administration that prohibited most people with gender dysphoria from serving in the military. In 2023, he issued a rule that service members should be referred to with gender-neutral pronouns such as “themself” when receiving military awards, although he later walked back that policy.

Bowman said the incoming Trump administration should reverse the promotion of “dangerous gender procedures” and “mandating false pronouns,” telling CNA that DOD policies “should not be used to attack the life, health, and speech of innocent citizens.”

In 2019, the Trump administration issued a report on gender dysphoria in the military, which noted that people who identify as transgender “suffer from high rates of mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, and substance use disorders.” It also found that service members with gender dysphoria are nine times more likely to have mental health encounters and eight times more likely to attempt suicide.

According to the report, transgender surgeries will put a person on limited duty for more than five months while recovering. The report warned that allowing people with gender dysphoria who are seeking surgery or have undergone surgery to serve in the military would “undermine readiness, disrupt unit cohesion, and impose an unreasonable burden on the military that is not conducive to military effectiveness and lethality.”

Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, said in 2017 that “military readiness is of utmost importance to our servicemen and women” but went further, saying that the report did not “address the essence of the issue — the dignity of the human person.”

“Sexual orientation and gender identity issues reflect a rapidly increasing and incorrect societal attitude that individual behaviors in life should pursue immediate and personal choices rather than eternal truth,” Broglio said.

“In extending the maternal care of the Church to the faithful of this archdiocese, it is opportune to reaffirm that personal choices in life, whether regarding the protection of the unborn, the sanctity of marriage and the family, or the acceptance of a person’s God-created biology, should be made not solely for a penultimate reality on his earth but in anticipation of the ultimate reality of sharing in the very life of God in heaven,” said Broglio, who also serves as president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Funding abortion travel

Under Biden’s administration, the DOD also established a policy to pay for travel expenses and provide paid time off for members of the military who are obtaining an abortion. The policy also provides coverage for travel expenses for spouses and dependents of a military member who is seeking an abortion.

Although the Hyde Amendment, which has been in effect since 1980, prohibits the federal government from funding abortion in most cases, it does not explicitly ban funding for travel related to abortion or paid time off.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, told CNA that Trump should reinstate “the commonsense policies” of his first administration and reverse what she called “the Biden-Harris administration’s unprecedented violation of longstanding federal laws.”

“Among the actions he can take, we trust that he will stop the illegal funding of abortion through the Veterans Administration and Department of Defense, start enforcing nondiscrimination laws again so Americans are never forced to participate in abortion, reinstate the Protect Life Rule at home and abroad to stop funneling tax dollars to the abortion industry, and free the patriots unjustly put in prison for peacefully protesting the killing of unborn children,” Dannenfelser said.

Republican lawmakers sought to prohibit the funding of travel for abortions through the National Defense Authorization Act in 2023 but were unsuccessful.

In April 2023, Broglio called the policy “morally repugnant and incongruent with the Gospel, which the faithful are commissioned to share throughout the world.”

“I implore the faithful of this archdiocese to continue to advocate for human life and to refuse any participation in the evil of abortion,” Broglio said. “As Pope Francis instructs, our defense of the innocent unborn must be ‘clear, firm, and passionate, for at stake is the dignity of human life, which is always sacred and demands love for each person, regardless of his or her stage of development.’”

Trump taps Kash Patel to shake up the FBI
Tue, 03 Dec 2024 11:05:00 -0500

National Catholic Register, Dec 3, 2024 / 11:05 am (CNA).

The announcement of President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to nominate Kash Patel to become the next FBI director shocked the political world over the weekend, teeing up what is sure to be a fierce confirmation battle.

If confirmed, Patel, seen by many as a Trump loyalist bent on vengeance, will head an agency shrouded in controversy, including the targeting of traditional Catholics and pro-life activists in recent years.

Patel, who was born to Gujarati-Indian parents in New York, has served in numerous defense and intelligence roles. A former federal prosecutor, he was senior adviser to the director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term and a U.S. National Security Council official. In November 2020, he was named chief of staff to the acting defense secretary.

Patel was a strong defender of Trump during the “Russia collusion” controversy that engulfed American politics for the first three years of his presidency. While working as an aide to former Rep. Devin Nunes, R-California, he authored the “Nunes memo” that detailed errors made by the Justice Department in obtaining a FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) warrant to spy on Trump adviser Carter Page.

Some Catholic figures and groups hailed the selection, citing Patel’s eagerness to root out corruption in the FBI.

“Every intel official in D.C. who lied in court to illegally spy on Trump and Americans is currently panicking frantically right now. Justice is on the way,” the political advocacy group CatholicVote posted on X.

Conservative Catholic columnist David Marcus of Fox News wrote of the pick: “I feel confident that Kash Patel will not allow the FBI to spy on my Catholic Church. That alone is a massive upgrade.”

Former National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, Patel’s former superior, also hailed the pick.

“I was able to count on him to get any job done no matter how complex or difficult the task,” he wrote on X. “He handled some of the nation’s most sensitive issues with care and discretion.”

Democrats and “never-Trump” Republicans, however, reacted with horror to the selection.

“[Patel] has no other agenda but revenge,” former Obama administration official Juliette Kayyem told CNN. “I mean, it’s not like he has a theory of law enforcement, a theory of reducing crime or financial crimes. He exists for one reason, and he’s close to Trump for one reason, which is he will be the enforcer of what might be called sort of the revenge tour of this second term.”

Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, called Patel an “unqualified loyalist.”

Andrew McCabe, the former deputy director of the FBI who was investigated for making false statements during the Russia-collusion investigation, took aim at Patel’s qualifications.

“It’s a terrible development for the men and women of the FBI and also for the nation that depends on a highly functioning, professional, independent Federal Bureau of Investigation,” McCabe told CNN. “The fact that Kash Patel is profoundly unqualified for this job is not even, like, a matter for debate.”

Following his stint at the Pentagon, Patel remained a pro-Trump voice in the media, often making incendiary statements about seeking retribution against political opponents in government and beyond.

“Yes, we’re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections,” Patel said on a podcast with Stephen Bannon in 2023. “We’re going to come after you, whether it’s criminally or civilly — we’ll figure that out. But, yeah, we’re putting you all on notice.”

In 2022, Patel authored a children’s book called “Plot Against the King” that retold the Russia-collusion saga, with Trump cast as a king and Patel himself as “Kash the Distinguished Discoverer.”

Patel also authored the book “Government Gangsters” that argued for firing government employees who undermine Trump’s agenda should he retake the White House.

In February, Patel told the Conservative Political Action Conference: “We’re blessed by God to have Donald Trump be our juggernaut of justice, to be our leader, to be our continued warrior in the arena.”

Trump’s former attorney general, Bill Barr, a member of the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast and a former board member of the Catholic Information Center, wrote in his memoir that Patel had “virtually no experience that would qualify him to serve at the highest level of the world’s preeminent law enforcement agency. … The very idea of moving Patel into a role like this showed a shocking detachment from reality.”

Other prominent Republicans saw the nomination differently.

“I worked elbow to elbow with Kash,” said former U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy on Fox News. “He’s a former federal prosecutor, a former federal public defender. I think he’s been unfairly maligned. You would not know about FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) abuse, and you would not know about Fusion GPS had it not been for the hard work of a guy named Kash Patel.”

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

U.S. President-elect Trump to attend Notre Dame Cathedral reopening in Paris
Tue, 03 Dec 2024 09:05:00 -0500

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Catholic Church in El Salvador calls on president to maintain ban on gold mining
Tue, 03 Dec 2024 07:00:00 -0500

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 3, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The Catholic Church in El Salvador has asked President Nayib Bukele not to repeal the 2017 law that prohibits the mining of metals, including gold, following the president’s announcement of his intention to lift the measure in order to tap into those resources.

“We hope that our authorities will reconsider and not repeal the law that prohibits mining, protecting the health and life of our people,” San Salvador Archbishop José Luis Escobar Alas said in a Dec. 1 video statement.

The statement was issued after learning of Bukele’s intention to repeal the law, which the president announced in a post on X, stating: “We are the ONLY country in the world with a total ban on metal mining, something no other country has in place. Absurd! This wealth, given by God, can be used responsibly to bring unprecedented economic and social development to our people.”

In addition, Bukele said that “God placed a gigantic treasure under our feet: El Salvador potentially has gold deposits with the highest density per km² in the world.”

The Salvadoran president also noted that “studies carried out in only 4% of the potential area identified 50 million ounces of gold, valued today at $131.565 billion. This is equivalent to 380% of El Salvador’s GDP.”

The use of this wealth, Bukele said, “could transform El Salvador: create thousands of quality jobs, finance infrastructure throughout our country, drive the development of local economies. And all this with modern and sustainable mining, caring for our environment.”

‘Caring for our common home and mining’

Before reading his statement, Escobar recalled some excerpts from a message from the Secretariat of the Central American Bishops, published Nov. 29, which emphasizes the commitment of the Catholic Church to caring for creation, expressed by Pope Francis in his encyclical Laudato Sí’.

“We urgently call on governments to adopt responsible and sustainable policies that respect the dignity of peoples and our common home, and that don’t allow exploitation by mining, since it is necessary to prioritize human life and the environment over economic interests that perpetuate social and ecological damage,” the message states.

Returning to his statement, the archbishop of San Salvador warned that El Salvador “couldn’t sustain more pillaging through mining that would increase deforestation, erosion, and loss of fertile soil.”

Escobar warned that “the most serious” harm would be “water and air pollution, causing death and illness in an irreversible manner,” especially among the poorest people.

“Our people, already vulnerable due to the victimization to which they have been subjected by large national and international capital, would now be revictimized and in the worst way, since pollution from cyanide, mercury, and other lethal toxins would worsen health problems and premature death in an irreversible manner,” the archbishop continued.

The Salvadoran prelate also charged that “if a good part of our people are already suffering from kidney failure due to water pollution caused mainly by pesticides, the suffering would be even worse due to the serious damage to other vital organs.”

In conclusion, the archbishop asked for God’s light “to find ways to economic development without harming the life and health of our people, the Salvadoran people.”

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

Rome’s famous tailor prepares for the Catholic Church’s new cardinals
Tue, 03 Dec 2024 06:00:00 -0500

Rome Newsroom, Dec 3, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Close to the Pantheon in the heart of Rome, one of the city’s oldest and most popular ecclesiastical tailors is ready for Saturday’s consistory for the creation of new cardinals.

It wasn’t long after Pope Francis announced that he would be making 21 new cardinals in December that the Gammarelli tailor adjusted its window to feature the traditional dress of cardinals.

“It’s a bit of a historical showcase because not all of these items are still used,” Gammarelli manager Alessia Gammarelli told EWTN News. Gammarelli, with her cousins Lorenzo and Massimiliano, are the sixth generation to run the family business.

Gammarelli explained that while the black cassock with the red piping is still worn by cardinals today, the mantelletta, or knee-length cloak, has fallen out of use.

The red shoes worn by Pope Benedict XVI during his pontificate are also no longer in fashion, but Gammarelli said she likes to include out-of-use clerical wear in the window for historical interest.

Gammarelli tailor shop has made the ecclesiastical garments of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of priests, bishops, and cardinals since it was opened in 1798 by Giovanni Antonio Gammarelli as a tailor for Roman clergy.

The tailor has also sewn the garments of the popes starting with Pope Pius XI in the 1920s.

Today, Gammarelli’s most famous client is Pope Francis, who has chosen to simplify papal garb. The shop receives orders for the pope from his secretaries and the new clothes are completed and delivered to the Vatican in about a week, Gammarelli said.

In a Dec. 7 ceremony at the Vatican, the new cardinals will dress for the first time in the scarlet red cassocks that characterize these special assistants and advisers of the pope.

The red cassock, used for important liturgies and ceremonies, is accompanied by a shoulder cape called a “mozzetta” and by a white linen vestment with lace borders called a “rochet.” A red zucchetto, which is a small, round skull cap, completes the look.

The cardinals will receive their biretta, which is a square, red hat, and a ring from Pope Francis at the consistory.

For more everyday occasions, cardinals wear a black cassock with red trimming and a red sash.

Meanwhile, Gammarelli is working hard to fulfill any garment orders it may have received from the new cardinals, most of whom only found out they would be joining the College of Cardinals two months before the ceremony.

“It is still an artisanal company. We make all these clothes, they are all made here in the workshop by us, as well as all the sacred vestments that we cut and make ourselves,” Gammarelli told EWTN News, explaining that it is not easy to find skilled seamsters and seamstresses today.

“We try to continue this beautiful tradition. It’s not easy, though we try to do what we can,” she said.

Ditta Annibale Gammarelli, as the shop is formally called, was added to a list of historic shops in Rome in 2000. It is believed it may be the city’s oldest shop to still be managed by direct descendants of its founder.

Another important feature always displayed in the tailor shop’s window is a white papal zucchetto.

Gammarelli said “often people come here because they want to give the Holy Father a new zucchetto, to make an exchange with his [zucchetto]. And so they buy [one] from us, we put it in a nice little box and then they do it, always hoping to make an exchange with the pope when they meet him and get the one he was wearing.”

Remembering St. Francis Xavier’s missionary zeal
Tue, 03 Dec 2024 04:00:00 -0500

CNA Staff, Dec 3, 2024 / 04:00 am (CNA).

On Dec. 3, the Roman Catholic Church honors St. Francis Xavier, one of the first Jesuits who evangelized vast portions of Asia.

Francis Xavier was born in 1506 in the Kingdom of Navarre, a region now divided between Spain and France. His mother was an esteemed heiress and his father an adviser to King John III. While his brothers entered the military, Francis followed an intellectual path to a college in Paris. There he studied philosophy and later taught it after earning his master’s degree.

In Paris, Francis would discover his destiny with the help of his longtime friend Peter Faber and an older student named Ignatius Loyola — who came to Paris in 1528 to finish a degree and brought together a group of men looking to glorify God with their lives.

At first, personal ambition kept Francis from heeding God’s call; Ignatius’ humble and austere lifestyle did not appeal to him. But the older student, who had undergone a dramatic conversion, often posed Christ’s question to Francis: “What will it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?”

Gradually, Ignatius convinced Francis to give up his plans and open his mind to God’s will. In 1534, Francis Xavier, Peter Faber, and four other men joined Ignatius in making a vow of poverty, chastity, and dedication to the spread of the Gospel through personal obedience to the pope.

Francis became a priest in 1537. Three years later, Pope Paul III confirmed Ignatius and his companions as a religious order: the Jesuits. During that year, the king of Portugal asked the pope to send missionaries to his newly acquired territories in India.

Together with another Jesuit, Simon Rodriguez, Francis first spent time in Portugal caring for the sick and giving instruction in the faith. Then on his 35th birthday, he set sail for Goa on India’s west coast. There, however, he found the Portuguese colonists causing disgrace to the Church through their bad behavior.

This situation spurred the Jesuit to action. He spent his days visiting prisoners and the sick, gathering groups of children together to teach them about God, and preaching to both Portuguese and Indians. Adopting the lifestyle of the common people, he lived on rice and water in a hut with a dirt floor.

His missionary efforts among them often succeeded, though he had more difficulty converting the upper classes and encountered opposition from both Hindus and Muslims. In 1545, he extended his efforts to Malaysia before moving on to Japan in 1549.

Becoming fluent in Japanese, Francis instructed the first generation of Japanese Catholic converts. Many said they were willing to suffer martyrdom rather than renounce the faith brought by the far-flung Jesuit.

Francis Xavier became ill and died on Dec. 3, 1552, while seeking a way to enter the closely guarded kingdom of China. In 1622, both St. Francis Xavier and St. Ignatius Loyola were canonized on the same day.

This story was first published on Nov. 27, 2011, and has been updated.

U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear Missouri convicted murderer’s death row case
Mon, 02 Dec 2024 18:15:00 -0500

St. Louis, Mo., Dec 2, 2024 / 18:15 pm (CNA).

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a Missouri death row prisoner’s appeal on the eve of his execution date, while lawyers for the condemned man argue that he was a frequent victim of physical and sexual abuse in his youth and suffered judgment-impairing brain injuries as a result.

The prisoner, Christopher Collings, was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2007 abduction, rape, torture, and murder of a 9-year-old girl, Rowan Ford.

Police said Collings confessed to killing Ford after raping her in rural Stella, Missouri, in the far southwest corner of the state. Collings allegedly burned the evidence of his crime, including the rope used to strangle the child, and dumped her body in a sinkhole.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Collings’ case in a brief Dec. 2 order. Barring an intervention by the Missouri Supreme Court or Republican Gov. Mike Parson — who has never granted clemency during his governorship — Collings will be executed Tuesday by lethal injection.

Collings’ clemency petition filed with Parson states that Collings’ brain is “multiply injured” and “structurally abnormal,” which causes him to suffer from “functional deficits in awareness, judgment and deliberation, comportment, appropriate social inhibition, and emotional regulation.” It also relates in detail the frequent and often violent physical and sexual abuse that Collings allegedly experienced as a child.

The Missouri Catholic Conference, which advocates policy on behalf of the state’s bishops, had urged Catholics to contact the governor to express their opposition to Collings’ execution. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, reflecting an update promulgated by Pope Francis in 2018, describes the death penalty as “inadmissible” and an “attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person” (No. 2267).

“The death and other circumstances of Rowan’s murder are tragic and abhorrent, and though her death was a great injustice, it still would also be an injustice if the state carries out a man’s execution in lieu of confining him to life imprisonment,” the Missouri bishops said in a statement last month.

“The Catholic Church is strongly opposed to the death penalty because it disregards the sanctity and dignity of human life,” they said.

The bishops said that citizens can reach out to the governor’s office to express opposition to the pending execution.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey had in April announced that his office had requested that the Missouri Supreme Court set an execution date for Collings, claiming “no court has ever found any legal errors” with his conviction.

In contrast to the petition sent to Parson, the petition to the U.S. Supreme Court sent on Collings’ behalf did not mention the alleged abuse Collings endured, nor his brain development, but focused mainly on procedural issues.

Collings’ confession, which became a key piece of evidence at his trial, allegedly took place during an unrecorded conversation with now-deceased Wheaton Police Chief Clinton Clark. David Spears, the stepfather of Ford, the victim, also admitted to playing a primary role in the crime, though he was ultimately only charged with lesser offenses and eventually released from prison in 2015.

English seminary in Rome commemorates Martyrs’ Day on St. Ralph Sherwin’s feast
Mon, 02 Dec 2024 17:45:00 -0500

Rome Newsroom, Dec 2, 2024 / 17:45 pm (CNA).

For the English seminary in Rome, Dec. 1 is an important day: the commemoration of the martyrdom of some of the school’s former students — 44 priests who were killed during the English Reformation after returning to England to serve the persecuted Catholics.

During the dark days of the English Reformation in the 16th century, the Venerable English College was founded in Rome to form young English Catholic men discerning the priesthood.

Today, the seminary continues to educate English men studying to be priests. In 2024, the college’s commemoration of “Martyrs’ Day” was moved to Dec. 2 due to the first Sunday of Advent falling on Dec. 1.

In the 16th century, “the situation in England was grave for Catholics,” Father Christopher Warren, vice rector of the Venerable English College, told Bénédicte Cedergren of EWTN News on Nov. 27. “The Protestant Reformation, which we think of now very much as a historical fact, was a live one for them. Particularly for those who would celebrate Mass, for priests, and for those who would seek to aid them in their mission, it was a question of life and death.”

After their ordinations in Rome, the courageous young priests returned to England and Wales, where they served in secret, facing constant dangers of betrayal, arrest, and execution.

Over the next 100 years, 44 of the college’s students were martyred, most by being tortured and then hanged, drawn, and quartered.

The rector of the Venerable English College, Father Stephen Wang, recalled that the most important martyr for the seminary is the first martyr, and one of the first students, St. Ralph Sherwin.

“He was from the north of England. He was very much an ‘establishment figure’ in England,” Wang told EWTN News on Nov. 28. “He was at Eaton School, at Oxford University, but then he converted to Catholicism, and he was full of faith and longed to share that faith with others. He studied for the priesthood, lived here for three years, and then he went back on the first mission that was sent from the seminary with a group of companions to try and share the Catholic faith back in England and Wales.”

According to the college, during the Catholic persecution in England, students would gather around the “Martyrs’ Picture” in the chapel to sing the Te Deum — a Latin hymn of thanksgiving — whenever news reached Rome of the martyrdom of a former student.

This custom continues today on Martyrs’ Day, when the relics of the martyrs, preserved beneath the altar, are venerated by the students.

They also have morning prayer and Mass, vice rector Warren said. “And then in the evening after evening prayer, we have a public service of veneration during which the Gospel is read, but also an account of the martyrdom of one of the college martyrs. So that’s really a highlight because it sets before us the reality of their sacrifice.”

While much of the building of the Venerable English College had to be massively restored after being commandeered and ransacked by Napoleon’s troops in 1798, the Martyrs’ Picture by Durante Alberti, dating to 1583, was saved and still hangs in the sanctuary of the college’s church today.

The painting has “an image of the Most Holy Trinity with the blood of Jesus falling onto a globe, setting it on fire,” Wang, the rector, said. “That’s our motto, the words of Jesus: ‘I have come to cast fire on the earth.’”

He explained that in the painting, the seminary’s two patron saints, St. Thomas Becket of Canterbury and St. Edmund, king of East Anglia, are depicted gesturing toward the Flaminian Gate, “which represents the road going north. So it’s the road home.”

“Our two saints are saying to us and to everyone today who’s in the Church: Your destiny, your vocation is not to stay in Rome forever. It’s to remember that you’re here for a purpose. It’s to go home. It’s to be on mission. It’s to take the good news of Jesus and your experience of being here in Rome back home to those who need to hear the Gospel,” the rector added.

Wang noted that while Catholics in England no longer face the likelihood of a physical martyrdom, they still have to confront many challenges, and seminarians returning home often have to navigate shifting modern cultural realities and anti-Christian hostility.

The future priests of the Venerable English College continue to draw inspiration from the courage of the English martyrs, whose legacy drives them to share the Gospel no matter the obstacles.

“I think our seminarians are very inspired by the history here,” Wang said. “It’s so relevant, too, today as well, because today we need missionary priests, we need priests whose hearts are full of love, but also full of zeal and aware of the difficulties. The cultures are not always welcoming to the Gospel and to the Christian message. So, to be able to share your faith in a loving way but to have the courage and also the creativity you need to share that faith in new and difficult circumstances... The martyrs are such a model for that.”

As Aleppo’s Christians face new ordeal, Church leaders call for courage and faith
Mon, 02 Dec 2024 17:15:00 -0500

ACI MENA, Dec 2, 2024 / 17:15 pm (CNA).

The Syrian city of Aleppo, whose name has long been associated with war, began the Advent season under a new shadow. Jihadist factions, led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, advanced in the city, pushing Aleppo into a new phase, now with different rulers, ideologies, and flags.

Last week, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, a militant faction affiliated with extremist groups, launched its largest operation in nearly nine years against Syrian government forces in the western Aleppo countryside. The offensive claimed several villages and towns, blocking the main international highway between Damascus and Aleppo. The attacks also targeted Aleppo’s university dorms, killing four students and wounding 10 others.

Then on Sunday, Dec. 1, Terra Santa College in Aleppo run by the Franciscans was hit by a strike. No casualties were reported.

Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham is a jihadist faction often described as an offshoot of al-Qaeda in Syria. It was formed in 2017 from a merger of five groups, including Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, formerly Jabhat al-Nusra.

What does this latest outbreak of violence mean for Aleppo’s Christians, and how are their spiritual leaders responding? After years of relative calm, this renewed conflict deepens the burden of an already dire economic crisis.

Christians await their fate

Christians in Aleppo now anxiously await more information about the future. Most have chosen to stay in their homes, either out of resolve or because leaving is not an option. Blocking the main international highway has left only one alternative route, which remains congested and potentially dangerous.

The Armenians of Syria Facebook page reported that Dr. Arwant Arslanian, a respected local physician, was killed by sniper fire while attempting to leave Aleppo.

Caught between bullets and shelling, a bus carrying young Christians from Syria’s northeastern Jazira region was stranded on the Aleppo Road. After hours of waiting, the youth reached the Syriac Orthodox Archdiocese in Aleppo where they were provided with care and refuge.

There is currently limited movement in the city, marked only by residents trying to purchase essential goods. This activity halts by 5 p.m. due to a curfew imposed by the militants and lasting until 5 a.m. Bread shortages have worsened, with bakery production declining and long queues for what is available. Small vans were reportedly seen recently distributing bread and water for free in several neighborhoods, including Christian areas, where drinking water has been entirely cut off.

Churches reassure their communities

After the strike on Terra Santa College in Aleppo, the custos of the Holy Land released a statement reporting that the friars and faithful of the parish “are all well” and inviting everyone “to join us in prayer for peace in Syria, martyred by long years of war and violence.”

The Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan of Aleppo, Bishop Mor Boutros Kassis, stated that Christian leaders in the city have been in close contact and have decided to stay, continuing prayers and liturgies.

They have also strengthened communication with their communities through WhatsApp groups and Facebook.

Addressing his parishioners, Kassis acknowledged the shocking and difficult reality but urged them to face it with awareness, courage, and faith. He added that the dioceses across Syria are prepared to receive refugees.

The Maronite archbishop of Aleppo, Joseph Tobji, encouraged his parishioners to maintain inner peace, which he described as a source of strength for sound decision-making. He emphasized the importance of prayer, reminding them that “God acts, not man, for God is stronger than man.”

The Greek Orthodox archbishop of Aleppo, Ephrem Maalouli, appealed to his parishioners to remain committed to prayer and exercise wisdom by limiting unnecessary outings, staying calm, and being patient. He urged them to reach out to the church for any needs.

Meanwhile, the Latin Church leader in Aleppo, Franciscan Father Bahjat Karakach, expressed his thoughts, saying that there is no reason for panic.

“The Church knows no more than the people do,” he said. “The decision to stay or leave Aleppo is a personal choice, and no one can make it on behalf of another. We friars are staying and waiting to see how things unfold.”

The Middle East Council of Churches issued a statement recently addressing local and global policymakers as well as regional and international religious organizations. The statement urged them to exert pressure to spare civilians from harm in accordance with international humanitarian law.

Expanding territories

The armed factions have extended their control to new areas in Idlib province, west of Aleppo, and have moved southward toward northern Hama’s countryside. While they have captured some territories there, they have yet to enter the Christian towns of Mhardeh and Al-Suqaylabiyah.

Aleppo’s Christians, though spared immediate harm for now, continue to pray and brace themselves for an uncertain tomorrow.

Vatican suppresses Carmelite monastery following long-running controversy
Mon, 02 Dec 2024 16:45:00 -0500

CNA Staff, Dec 2, 2024 / 16:45 pm (CNA).

The Vatican has suppressed the Carmelite Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity in Arlington, Texas, following a long-running controversy in which the prioress was found guilty of having broken her vow of chastity.

Bishop Michael Olson of the Diocese of Fort Worth announced on Monday that he received a decree of suppression last week from the Holy See. The decree follows the dismissal of the former nuns in October by their superior after a series of disagreements with the local bishop.

The decree, dated Nov. 28, was signed by Cardinal João Braz de Aviz, prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, and Sister Simona Brambilla, MC, the secretary of the dicastery.

The dicastery found the community “extinct” and decreed the suppression of the monastery. The decree of suppression cited the “notorious defection from the Catholic faith,” which led to the dismissal of the five nuns as well as of the monastery’s only novice, amid the expiration of the vows of the seventh member, “thus, leaving the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity with no members.”

Olson announced the suppression on Dec. 2, emphasizing that the women at the monastery “are neither nuns nor Carmelites despite their continued and public self-identification to the contrary.”

He added that “the Holy See has suppressed the monastery, so it exists no longer, despite any public self-identification made to the contrary by the former nuns who continue to occupy the premises.”

In the letter, Olson reiterated an earlier announcement that Catholics should not attend Mass celebrated at the former monastery. He noted that any Masses or sacraments celebrated there “are illicit” and that “Catholics do harm to the communion of the Catholic Church by intentionally attending these ceremonies.”

The former nuns had not published a statement in response at the time of publication. Their website continues to identify them as “Discalced Carmelite Nuns.”

The controversy began last year when Olson launched an investigation into the monastery and Reverend Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach, who the bishop said had previously admitted to having conducted an affair with a priest.

The women in May 2023 filed a lawsuit against Olson over the investigation, claiming violations of privacy and harming the physical and emotional well-being of the sisters. Olson eventually dismissed Gerlach from religious life.

In April of this year, the Vatican declared that the Association of Christ the King in the United States of America would oversee the “government, discipline, studies, goods, rights, and privileges” of the Texas monastery.

The women, however, defied the Vatican order, going so far as to associate with the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), a traditionalist group that is not in full communion with the Catholic Church and has a canonically irregular status.

Mother Marie of the Incarnation, the president of the Association of Christ the King, who was appointed to oversee the women, announced in October that they were dismissed from the Order of Discalced Carmelites and “reverted to the lay state.”

“I wish to repeat that since this sad series of events began to unfold in April 2023 when the former prioress self-reported to me her grave failure against the vow of chastity with a priest, I was obliged to begin the search, in accord with canon law, for both justice and mercy for all involved,” OIson said in his letter.

Gerlach’s admission of “her grave failure against the vow of chastity with a priest,” Olson noted, “was recorded and entered into the public record at a civil court hearing” after the former prioress brought a civil lawsuit against Olson and the diocese.

During the June 2023 court hearing, Gerlach admitted to breaking her vows of chastity and said that the affair was conducted by phone. Gerlach’s lawyer, Matthew Bobo, said that Gerlach was under the influence of pain medication at the time of the hearing. Gerlach, who was hospitalized for seizures in November 2022, uses a wheelchair and feeding tube.

In June 2023, the diocese released photographs appearing to show cannabis products at the monastery. Bobo called the allegations of drug use “absolutely ridiculous.”

The former nuns’ most recent statement from Oct. 30 maintained that “these assertions are egregiously false.” The October statement rejected the dismissal by Mother Marie, citing their recent affiliation with the Society of St. Pius X as of August.

Olson maintained that the diocese’s “response to their disobedient actions and calumny has consistently been guided by charity, patience, and has been in accord with the instructions of the Holy See.”

Olson asked for prayers for the former nuns, noting that the event brought “great sadness” to the local Church and himself and “perpetrated a deep wound in the Body of Christ.”

“I ask all of you to join me in praying for healing, reconciliation, and for the conversion of these women who have departed from the vowed religious life and notoriously defected from communion with the Catholic Church by their actions,” Olson said.

“Now, as always, I wish them grace and peace in Our Lord, Jesus Christ,” he added.

In a Nov. 29 letter to Olson, the secretary of the dicastery assured Olson of the dicastery’s gratitude for his “heroic and thankless service to the local Church,” citing the “hardship and unwarranted public attention” toward the local diocese. The dicastery also called on the faithful to pray for the former nuns.

“This dicastery exhorts all the members of the Discalced Carmelite Order, as well as the faithful of the Diocese of Fort Worth, to pray earnestly that the hearts of such as have erred may repent and return to the unity of the truth bestowed on the Church by Our Lord, Jesus Christ,” the decree stated.

U.S. churches to ring bells for reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral
Mon, 02 Dec 2024 16:15:00 -0500

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pope Francis to Nicaraguan Catholics: Faith and hope work miracles
Mon, 02 Dec 2024 15:45:00 -0500

Vatican City, Dec 2, 2024 / 15:45 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis has written a moving letter to Catholics in Nicaragua to express his closeness, affection, and incessant prayer to the Virgin, imploring her consolation in the midst of the persecution of the faith that the country is suffering under the regime of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo.

In the context of the novena prior to the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the Holy Father wrote a Dec. 2 pastoral letter to the “beloved Church in Nicaragua.”

The pontiff professed the affection he has for the Nicaraguan people, distinguished by their “extraordinary love for God,” whom they affectionately call “Papachú.”

“I am with you,” the Holy Father assured, encouraging the faithful to trust in Providence, “the only sure guide,” especially in the most difficult moments, when humanly “it becomes impossible to understand what God wants of us.” In these circumstances, he reminded, “we are called not to doubt his care and mercy.”

Pope Francis emphasized that trust in God and fidelity to the Church are “two great beacons” that illuminate their lives. “Be assured that faith and hope work miracles,” he said.

He also invited them to turn their gaze to the Immaculate Virgin, referring to the title of his letter: “Who causes so much joy? The Conception of Mary!” This popular expression marks the celebration of “La Gritería,” a Nicaraguan tradition that fills churches every Dec. 7 in honor of the Mother of God.

The pontiff expressed his hope that this celebration will be a source of encouragement “in difficulties, uncertainties, and deprivations” and urged the faithful to abandon themselves into the arms of Jesus with the prayer “God first.”

“I want to really emphasize that the Mother of God unceasingly intercedes for you, and we continually ask Jesus to always hold you by his hand,” the Holy Father added.

He also encouraged the faithful to pray the “powerful prayer” of the rosary, where the mysteries “make their way through the intimacy of our hearts, where the freedom of the daughters and sons of God finds shelter, which no one can take away from us.”

Finally, he entrusted the people of Nicaragua to the protection of the Immaculate Conception and concluded with “that simple cry expressed with profound trust: ‘Mary belongs to Nicaragua, Nicaragua belongs to Mary.’ So be it!”

Persecution of the Church in Nicaragua

The Holy Father’s letter comes at a critical time for Nicaragua, shortly after the National Assembly approved a constitutional reform proposed by the dictatorship by which Ortega and Murillo will henceforth be “co-presidents” and will officially have total control of the government.

Among the most controversial measures is a provision that requires that “religious organizations must remain free of all foreign control.”

For years, the Ortega regime has intensified a systematic persecution against all expressions of faith in the country. Lay faithful, priests, and bishops are constantly monitored, persecuted, abducted, and even imprisoned in deplorable conditions.

Numerous members of the clergy have been deported from the country and stripped of their Nicaraguan citizenship, leaving them stateless, as is the case of the bishop of Matagalpa, Rolando Álvarez, who was exiled to Rome in January along with another bishop, 15 priests, and two seminarians.

Under the socialist regime, Catholics have been silenced and public expressions of faith, such as prayers for the persecuted or pastoral and spiritual activities, are strictly prohibited.

From 2018 to 2024, 870 attacks against the Catholic Church have been recorded in Nicaragua, according to the report “Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church?”, which documents how serious the crisis is.

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

Charismatic Renewal in Spain accepts bishops’ ‘intergenerational healing’ guidance
Mon, 02 Dec 2024 15:15:00 -0500

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PHOTOS: Holy Land Christians begin another Advent in the midst of war
Mon, 02 Dec 2024 13:45:00 -0500

Bethlehem, West Bank, Dec 2, 2024 / 13:45 pm (CNA).

For the second consecutive year, Advent and Christmas in the Holy Land arrive at a time of war.

This past weekend, the people in the small town where Jesus was born welcomed the friars of the Custody of the Holy Land, led by the custos, Father Francesco Patton, as it is tradition for the custos to inaugurate the Advent celebrations.

While Bethlehem is not directly involved in the conflict, it continues to suffer under the weight of economic crisis, violence from Israeli settlers, and emigration.

The city is not as empty as it was a year ago, but the atmosphere feels even heavier: Fear and a lack of prospects suffocate the hope of the people here. In pharmacies, anti-anxiety medications are in high demand.

After more than a year, “we are still afraid the war might reach us here,” numerous people who did not want to be named told CNA.

There is little desire to celebrate, even though this year the Christian churches of the Holy Land have encouraged their faithful to display public signs of hope — albeit with a sense of restraint.

“In these ways, we will echo the Christmas story itself, where the angels announced to the shepherds glad tidings of Christ’s birth in the midst of similarly dark times in our region,” the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem said in a statement released Nov. 22.

This year, the custos’ entry was festive. It was a warm winter day, and the entire route along Star Street was filled with children joyfully welcoming him.

The road runs through the town center and leads to the Basilica of the Nativity, which, according to Christian tradition, was traveled by the Holy Family. A large contingent of scouts also led the procession.

At the same time, it was impossible to ignore the war.

The war that Israel is waging in Gaza and in Lebanon (the latter of which now hangs on a fragile ceasefire) is reflected in the signs held by children along Star Street during the procession: “From the bottom of my heart, peace in Gaza and Beirut,” “Peaceful solutions are always better,” “From the cradle of peace, peace to wounded Lebanon,” and “Together we can create change” are some of the words displayed on the signs.

Then there is the conflict that has been reignited in Syria. Six friars make up the custody’s community in Aleppo. They immediately decided to stay — it is their vocation and mission, they said — even as the situation is escalating: On Sunday, Dec. 1, the Franciscan complex of the Terra Santa College in Aleppo was hit by a strike and severely damaged. No casualties were reported but panic has reportedly spread among the people.

Later that evening, the custos of the Holy Land released a declaration saying “our friars and the faithful of the parish are all well” and inviting everyone “to join us in prayer for peace in Syria, martyred by long years of war and violence.”

In St. Catherine Church, the Latin part of the complex, the custos venerated the relic of the Holy Cradle of the Child Jesus during the solemn celebration of first vespers of Sunday, marking the beginning of the Advent season and a new liturgical year.

The celebration culminated in a procession to the Nativity Grotto, where a 14-point silver star marks the spot where Jesus is believed to have been born. A few steps away is the manger in which Jesus was laid just after his birth. Here, the custos lit the first candle of the Advent wreath.

“In the Nativity scene, the angels sing outdoors and the star lights up the night. Our celebration should also have visible signs of hope,” the custos told CNA in an interview.

“I would like what shines to be the sense of solidarity, the ability for mutual hospitality, to forgive, and to offer reconciliation. I would like the meaning of Christmas to shine: that we are all loved by God and that the Child comes as God with us and our savior.”

On Dec. 1, the Church of St. Catherine was filled with local worshippers for the celebration of the Mass of the first Sunday of Advent. The theme of hope was the focus of the custos’ homily.

“In the midst of life’s problems we must never despair or let ourselves be overcome by fear, and we must not turn in on ourselves but raise our gaze toward Jesus. Indeed, we need hope precisely when things are going wrong, when it seems to us that problems are without solution, that diseases are without the possibility of recovery, and that wars are endless,” he said.

Vandals target Nativity scene in Lebanon
Mon, 02 Dec 2024 08:00:00 -0500

ACI MENA, Dec 2, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).

A gun was placed near a Nativity scene on Nov. 23 in the town of Faraya in the Keserwan District of Mount Lebanon in the country of Lebanon, sparking outrage among locals.

Residents gathered in the town square ringing the church bells in protest. Security forces have been assisting in efforts to calm the tensions.

The vandals acted at night, removing the statue of the Baby Jesus and leaving a handgun nearby.

Keserwan District is reputed to be the stronghold of Lebanon’s Maronite Catholics. It is home to significant landmarks such as the Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa and the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkerke.

Many see the act as an attempt to wreak havoc during the Advent season in a country currently hosting a large number of displaced people from war-torn regions. Others are awaiting the results of the investigation, according to ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner.

A parish priest’s appeal

Regardless of the motives behind the act, the incident provoked widespread anger.

Father Charbel Salameh, a parish priest, joined residents in the town square condemning the vandalism and reassuring locals at the same time.

In a brief video, he said: “We will remain vigilant in protecting our village. We hold on to preserving our unity and harmony, for the Lord brings us together. Perhaps this is an opportunity for all of us to gather here and pray in front of this Nativity scene for those trying to sow discord.”

He continued: “Let us not jump to conclusions: May God forgive those attempting to destabilize us. We are here to stay — this is our land, and this is our area. As children of the Church, we pray for whoever committed this act to understand that our sacred places cannot be easily violated.”

“What happened calls for great awareness because impulsiveness can harm us in circumstances as such. We pray that the Lord Jesus brings peace to the hearts and minds of the people and our country, Lebanon, in these difficult times,” he said.

Following the incident, Salameh replaced the missing statue of the Baby Jesus with another one from St. Charbel Church to temporarily fill the void. Security forces arrived on the scene, cordoned off the area, and launched investigations to analyze the circumstances and identify the perpetrators.

The statement of the municipality

The Municipality of Faraya clarified the circumstances of the incident in a statement:

“On Saturday, at 6 p.m., a citizen was taking photos of his grandchildren in front of the Nativity scene in the town square. Surprisingly, the children found a handgun lying on the ground. The man informed nearby shopkeepers. A municipal officer arrived at the square, inspected the site, and contacted security forces, who arrived promptly.”

The statement continued: “Upon investigation, the statue of Baby Jesus was found outside the Nativity scene, among nearby trees. Security forces confiscated the gun and began their investigation, concluding that the statue was not in the manger at the time children were taking photos. This proves that the incident occurred before the children and their grandfather arrived. The photos of the children in question confirm those allegations.”

“In light of these events, the Municipality of Faraya urges the residents and all inhabitants to remain united in brotherhood and love, as has always been the case. Faraya has long been a symbol of coexistence and a model for promoting peace, security, and hospitality,” the statement concludes.

A record of attacks

Last year, a series of attacks on Christmas symbols in Lebanon occurred, particularly in the northern region of Tripoli, home to an active Christian minority. These attacks ranged from dousing a tree with gasoline at St. George’s Church in Mina to throwing a Molotov cocktail at another tree in St. George’s Church square in Zaheriyah.

At the time, these unprecedented acts in the culturally and religiously diverse city were met with widespread condemnation from political, religious, and social leaders of various affiliations.

This story was first published by ACI MENA, CNA's Arabic-language news partner, and has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Republicans introduce bill to define ‘male’ and ‘female’ based on biological differences
Mon, 02 Dec 2024 07:00:00 -0500

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 2, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Several Republican lawmakers introduced legislation to clarify that the terms “male,” “female,” and “sex,” among others, refer to the biological distinctions between men and women when those words are used in laws.

The Defining Male and Female Act of 2024, introduced by Sen. Roger Marshall from Kansas, aims to prevent government officials and courts from reinterpreting those terms through the lens of gender ideology by identifying men and women based on self-identification instead of biological distinctions.

Marshall said in a statement that he “didn’t think we would need legislation to tell us that there are only two sexes, male and female, but here we are.”

According to a news release, the legislation would restore the legal right to reserve girls’ and women’s sports and scholarships for biological girls and women. The news release also states that the bill would restore the sex separation of restrooms, locker rooms, dorm rooms, prisons, and shelters for victims of sexual assault.

“As a physician who has delivered over 5,000 babies, I can confidently say that politicizing children’s gender to use them as pawns in their radical woke agenda is not only wrong, it is extremely dangerous,” Marshall said. “We must codify the legal definition of sex to be based on science rather than feelings. With our legislation, we can fight back against the Biden-Harris administration’s assault on our children.”

Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said in a statement that “men and women have biological differences that must be recognized.” He added that “women and girls deserve to feel safe and respected in all spaces, public and private.”

The legislation is designed to unwind policies that were enacted during the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Under the current administration, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reinterpreted the Affordable Care Act’s prohibition on “sex” discrimination to include any discrimination on the basis of so-called “gender identity.” The rule was blocked by a judge but would have forced health care providers and insurers to cover transgender drugs and surgeries for both adults and minors.

The administration also revised Title IX regulations to redefine sex discrimination to include any discrimination based on gender identity. This could have forced publicly funded schools and colleges to allow biological men in women’s locker rooms, dormitories, and athletic competitions. However, its enforcement is limited after multiple courts blocked implementation.

“Since taking office in 2021, the Biden-Harris administration has embarked on a radical transgender agenda, preying on vulnerable youth and endangering women and girls in sports and locker rooms,” Rep. Mary Miller, R-Illinois, said in a statement.

“This agenda was soundly rejected by the American people on Nov. 5, and we now have a clear mandate to stop this insanity,” Miller said. “The Defining Male and Female Act will prevent any future administration from ever again redefining Title IX, and I’m thrilled to work with Sen. Marshall in sending it to President Trump’s desk next year.”

The proposed legislation would declare that “every individual is either male or female” and that “an individual’s sex can be observed or clinically verified at or before birth.” It adds that “in no case is an individual’s sex determined by stipulation or self-identification.”

The bill would further clarify that laws separating facilities and athletic competitions based on biological sex “do not constitute unequal treatment under the law.”

Under the law, the following words would be clearly defined based on biological distinctions: man, woman, male, female, boy, girl, mother, and father.

The proposal adds that the word gender “shall be considered a synonym for sex” and “shall not be considered a synonym or shorthand expression for gender identity, experienced gender, gender expression, or gender role” unless the explicit definitions of that law indicate otherwise.

Military archdiocese launches initiative to build Catholic communities on military bases
Mon, 02 Dec 2024 06:00:00 -0500

CNA Staff, Dec 2, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Regina Fontana was in an airport on her way home from a pilgrimage to Italy when she realized she wanted to leave her job and pursue a calling from God — she just didn’t know what.

It was only in the weeks after she turned down a job offer as a flight attendant — her dream for many years — that she came across Team Saint Paul.

“I made this really big decision and I quit everything,” she recalled. “And here I am like, ‘What’s next, Lord? I don’t know what I’m doing here, so I need your help.’”

Team Saint Paul, a new endeavor by the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, places team members near military bases to help organize faith-based activities and build Catholic community in the area.

When Fontana came across the ministry, it seemed like an answer to her prayers.

Team Saint Paul is a new initiative of Archbishop Timothy Broglio, head of the USCCB and the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA. Modeled after FOCUS’ work on college campuses, the archdiocese sends several young adults to organize faith-based opportunities for service members at military bases.

“I ended up applying and prayed about it a lot,” Fontana told CNA. “And it was a really good fit. The rest is history.”

Fontana has now been working for Team Saint Paul for almost a year at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. She helps organize Bible studies, adoration nights, and community-building events.

“What was really attractive was that our daily lives are rooted in prayer and Jesus,” Fontana told CNA.

“Our day-to-day changes a lot,” Fontana said when asked what an average day looks like. “Every day we have Mass and Holy Hour. Those two things are always set.”

In addition to a daily structure of prayer and worship, Fontana organizes frequent events for the service members.

“One of the first things we started implementing when we got here was adoration. We held adoration twice a week for the soldiers,” she said. “That was just something that we really saw they needed. We’re going to be starting a Bible study finally in January. We meet one on one with them. They have questions; we respond to them.”

Team Saint Paul also coordinates activities on the weekends, from rock climbing to line dancing.

“We’re really close to the Nashville Dominicans [the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation], and so one of the things … is we’ll go pray vespers with the sisters, and then go line dancing afterwards.”

“They love it so much. They do it on their own,” Fontana said of the service members. “If we’re busy, they’re like, no, we’re just going to go.”

McKenzie Mauss, the program’s organizer and the associate director for Missionary Discipleship for the military archdiocese, told CNA that the goal of Team Saint Paul “is to minister to young adults in the military and form missionary disciples.”

“I think the greatest effect of Team Saint Paul has been cultivating authentic Catholic communities at the installations they currently serve that invite young adults to draw closer to Jesus Christ,” Mauss said.

Father Lukasz “Luke” Willenberg, a military chaplain for the 5th Group Special Forces (Airborne), noted that Mass attendance has been up by 50% since Team Saint Paul came to town.

“Seeing more active-duty members in uniform attending daily Mass brings great joy to our hearts,” Willenberg said. “It is wonderful to observe how Caroline [McDermott, another Team Saint Paul member] and Regina use their gifts to personally engage with random Mass attendees, creating moments of encounter and bringing them closer to the Lord. After Sunday Masses there is a circle of young adults chatting, getting to know each other, and making plans to keep each other encouraged in the faith.”

When asked about the response of military members, Fontana said “many of them were just really hungry for community, authentic community.”

“This has been the first thing that we did when we got here was really just start fostering that community, meeting people, hanging out with them, introducing them to their peers who they didn’t know,” Fontana explained. “And through that, they’ve built close friendships with each other.”

“We got here and we met people so quick, and they were just so eager for that community that we couldn’t even keep up with [it],” she recalled.

Fontana said one of the biggest challenges is navigating it as a pilot program and “figuring it out as we go along.”

Currently, there are programs at Travis Air Force Base in California and at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, but the team is hoping to expand to a third location.

One of the most memorable events for Fontana was attending the National Eucharisitc Congress with a group of soldiers.

“Almost every single one of them had some just crazy encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist,” she said of the service members. “One of them was like, I think he had been praying about whether or not he wanted to reenlist, to continue or to get out of the Army. And he just heard God being like, ‘No, just stay where you’re at.’ And so he got a huge answer there.”

When asked about the lasting impact, Fontana said she hopes that other service members will be inspired to lead ministries when they are transferred.

“It’s so hard because the nature of the military is so fluid,” she explained. “People are always moving. People are in and out. So even when you have those good leaders who take initiative to do things, you have them for maybe two years, and then they’re gone.”

She said she hopes service members will learn to build community as they go to new areas.

“Then they can take it to the next place, even if there’s no missionaries there and they can start their own community,” Fontana said.

5 Italians to be elevated as cardinals by Pope Francis at Dec. 7 consistory
Sun, 01 Dec 2024 09:30:00 -0500

Vatican City, Dec 1, 2024 / 09:30 am (CNA).

Five Italians have been chosen by Pope Francis to become cardinals at the Dec. 7 consistory, four of whom are under 80 years old and therefore have voting rights to elect a new pope at the next conclave.

In total, 21 cardinals — representing the Catholic Church’s geographical diversity — will be created at the upcoming consistory.

Metropolitan Archbishop Roberto Repole of Turin, who edited the series “The Theology of Pope Francis,” is a theologian and former president of the Italian Theological Association educated at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. The 57-year-old prelate actively participated in both plenary sessions of the global Synod on Synodality that took place in the Vatican in 2023 and 2024. Repole also participated in the 2024 theological-pastoral forums, created by the Synod of Bishops, to deepen study and reflection on the missionary action of the Church.

Archbishop Baldassare Reina, vicar general of the Diocese of Rome, is the youngest of the Italian prelates to be elevated to the cardinalate on Dec. 7. In 2024 alone — in addition to being chosen for the College of Cardinals — the 54-year-old prelate was appointed by Pope Francis as vicar general for the Diocese of Rome, archpriest of the Basilica of St. John Lateran, titular bishop of Acque di Mauritania, apostolic administrator of Ostia, and grand chancellor of the Pontifical Lateran University.

Father Fabio Baggio, CS, is the only one of the five Italian cardinals-elect who belongs to a religious congregation. He will become titular archbishop of Arusi. Baggio, a priest of the Missionaries of St. Charles (also known as the Scalabrinians), has worked in the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development since 2017. With the appointment of Canadian Jesuit Cardinal Michael Czerny as the dicastery’s prefect in 2022, Baggio was subsequently promoted to be the dicastery’s undersecretary. From 2017–2022, Baggio was head of the dicastery’s Migrants and Refugees section.

Metropolitan Archbishop Domenico Battaglia of Naples, known for his love for the poor, led a drug rehabilitation center in Catanzaro, Calabria, for over 20 years during his priestly ministry. Appointed by Pope Francis as archbishop of Naples in 2022, Battaglia — also known as “Don Mimmo” — had previously served as bishop of Cerreto Sannita-Telese-Sant’Agata de’ Goti in Italy’s southwestern region of Campania from 2016–2020.

At 99 years old, Archbishop Angelo Acerbi will become the oldest member of the College of Cardinals at the upcoming consistory. Having served as a bishop in the Catholic Church for 50 years, Acerbi also has 40 years of experience working as part of the Holy See’s diplomatic corps. Between 1974 and 2001, he served as nuncio to New Zealand, Colombia, Hungary, Moldova, and the Netherlands. From 2001–2015, Acerbi was prelate of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Due to being over the age of 80, he will not have voting rights at the next papal conclave.

Following the Dec. 7 consistory there will be a total of 253 members of the College of Cardinals. Among the 52 Italians, only 17 will have voting rights at the next papal conclave.

‘Raise your heads,’ Pope Francis tells faithful in first Advent message amid multiple conflicts
Sun, 01 Dec 2024 08:25:00 -0500

CNA Newsroom, Dec 1, 2024 / 08:25 am (CNA).

Pope Francis welcomed the recent Lebanon-Israel ceasefire while urging the faithful to “stand erect and raise your heads” amid global turmoil during his Sunday Angelus address.

Speaking to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the first Sunday of Advent, the pontiff expressed hope that the diplomatic breakthrough between Lebanon and Israel could spark similar ceasefires elsewhere, particularly in Gaza, while delivering a powerful message about maintaining spiritual vigilance in times of tribulation.

“Jesus’ invitation is this: Raise your head high and keep your heart light and awake,” the Holy Father said, addressing a world grappling with what he called “cosmic upheavals and anxiety and fear in humanity.”

The pope noted that many people today, like Jesus’ contemporaries, faced with “catastrophic events they saw happening around them — persecutions, conflicts, natural disasters — are gripped by anxiety and think that the end of the world is coming.”

“Their hearts are weighed down with fear,” Francis observed. “Jesus, however, wants to free them from present anxieties and false convictions, showing them how to stay awake in their hearts, how to read events from the plan of God, who works salvation even within the most dramatic events of history.”

Diplomatic breakthrough offers ‘glimmer of peace’

“I welcome the ceasefire that has been reached in recent days in Lebanon, and I hope that it may be respected by all parties, thus enabling the population of the regions involved in the conflict — both Lebanese and Israeli — to return home soon and safely, also with the valuable help of the Lebanese army and the United Nations peacekeeping forces,” the pope said.

The pontiff also expressed concern about Syria, “where unfortunately war has flared up again, claiming many victims,” and added: “I am very close to the Church in Syria. Let us pray!”

Addressing the situation in Ukraine, Francis noted that “for almost three years we have witnessed a terrible sequence of deaths, injuries, violence, and destruction... Children, women, the elderly, and the weak are the first victims. War is a horror, war is an affront to God and to humanity, war spares no one, war is always a defeat, a defeat for the whole of humanity.”

A light heart in Advent season

Looking toward Christmas, the pope connected the season’s message of hope with contemporary challenges: “All of us, in many moments of life, ask ourselves: What can I do to have a light heart, a wakeful heart, a free heart? A heart that does not let itself be crushed by sadness?”

The pontiff concluded with a stark warning about indifference to conflict, stating that “the quest for peace is the responsibility not of a few, but of all. If habituation and indifference to the horrors of war prevail, the whole, entire human family is defeated.”

Daughters of St. Paul Christmas concerts aim to remind audience of the ‘closeness to God’
Sun, 01 Dec 2024 07:30:00 -0500

CNA Staff, Dec 1, 2024 / 07:30 am (CNA).

A group of religious sisters is getting ready to hit the road for its annual Christmas concert. The Daughters of St. Paul Choir announced the dates for its “Come to Bethlehem: A Christmas Concert with the Daughters of St. Paul” tour, which will make stops this year in New York, Boston, and New Orleans.

The Daughters of St. Paul is a religious community that focuses on evangelization through social communications and media. They often release professionally produced Christmas and religious song albums as a means of spreading the faith.

The sisters have been putting on their annual Christmas concert for over 25 years, featuring original choral arrangements, inspirational stories, and audience participation all while focusing on the true reason for the season — the birth of Jesus.

This year the choir is made up of seven sisters: Sister Margaret Timothy Sato, Sister Anne Joan Flanagan, Sister Fay Pele, Sister Sean Mayer, Sister Mary Martha Moss, Sister Amanda Marie Detry, and Sister Tracey Dugas.

The tour will stop in New York on Dec. 5, in Boston on Dec. 14–15, and in New Orleans on Dec. 18.

Dugas told CNA in an interview that the concert serves for many as a “kickoff to what they need to feel like, ‘OK, this is how I’m going to integrate the real meaning of Christmas with all the hustle and bustle I have to face after this.’”

Dugas has been taking part in the Christmas concert since 1992. She first became involved by singing for the studio recording and then had her first live concert experience in 2007.

She shared her memory of hearing the sisters sing for the first time when she was just visiting the community and recalled feeling “moved and touched by the Holy Spirit.”

Now, being one of the sisters herself and part of the choir, she explained that they felt called to put on this concert because they realized that “music is such a sacred part of our worship of God.”

“It’s an expression of our prayer life,” she said. “So, the singing is much more an act of worship than it is a performance … We’re just leading out brothers and sisters in prayer and just inviting them to let their hearts be lifted.”

“We see it in people’s faces that something reaches into their memory or their hearts or their relationships where it’s God’s work.”

Dugas said she hopes those who attend a concert leave feeling “the closeness of God to every individual person” and knowing that “he cherishes, loves, and values us and just wants us with him forever.”

The Daughters of St. Paul was founded in 1915 by Blessed James Alberione in Italy. With the help of Mother Thecla Merlo, he created a community for religious sisters to communicate the Gospel through the “apostolate of the Good Press.” It wasn’t until 1932 that Mother Paula Cordero along with another sister landed in New York and established the sisters’ American presence through the publishing of books.

Dugas explained that in any of the sisters’ book centers, chapels, or houses, visitors will see statues of Mary where, instead of holding Jesus to herself, she is actually handing him away.

“That idea is that Mary gives Jesus away to the world and so that’s the position that we are in — we give Jesus through the word, through music, through image, through social media presence, through speaking, whatever means,” she said.

“Our mission is to reestablish or to reintroduce or re-announce that we are made for our ultimate goal, which is heaven. So being a culture saturated in communication that is always happening and how often it disintegrates us we’re called to be … as our mother foundress would say, ‘We’re just a drop in the bucket but we’re a drop that makes ripples.’”

The Jesuit priest who captured the last photos of the Titanic afloat
Sun, 01 Dec 2024 06:43:00 -0500

CNA Staff, Dec 1, 2024 / 06:43 am (CNA).

More than a century after it sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, the Titanic remains the most studied and discussed ship in history.

Even the biggest Titanic buffs, however, may be unaware that what was likely the very last photo ever taken of the ship on the surface was captured by a Jesuit priest who was himself a prolific photographer.

Father Francis Browne was born in Ireland in 1880. He studied at the Jesuit-run Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy and was ordained in 1915 by Cloyne Bishop Robert Browne, his uncle, by whom he had been raised since childhood after the early deaths of both his mother and father.

Bishop Browne provided the younger Browne with his first camera, and he would go on to become a celebrated photographer, with a portfolio that included a collection of photographs of World War I in which he served as a chaplain. During that conflict Browne suffered severe injuries from a gas attack and received the Military Cross for his efforts.

Yet arguably his most famous contributions to world photography are his photographs of the Titanic, among the scant few that captured life aboard the brief ocean liner prior to its sinking.

In his book “Father Browne’s Titanic Album: A Passenger’s Photographs and Personal Memoir,” Jesuit Father E.E. O’Donnell writes that Browne ended up on the Titanic after Bishop Browne gave his nephew “the trip of a lifetime” in the form of a two-day cruise on the Titanic.

The Jesuit priest sailed from Southampton in England to Queenstown in Ireland, where he fortuitously disembarked prior to the rest of the ship’s fateful voyage.

However, Browne’s brush with death was even closer than it appeared: While on the ship he befriended a wealthy American couple who offered to buy him a ticket for the rest of the journey to America.

The priest sent a telegram to his Jesuit superior asking for permission. At Queenstown the priest received a reply that read: “GET OFF THAT SHIP.” Browne reportedly kept the message for the rest of his life.

It was upon deboarding at Queenstown that the priest captured what were likely the last photos of the ship on the surface of the water. (Another passenger and fellow photographer, Kate Odell, also deboarded at the same time and snapped similar photos of the ship as it steamed away.)

In addition to the haunting final images of the Titanic, Browne snapped numerous photos of life aboard the ill-fated liner, including the last known pictures of many of the crew, such as Captain Edward Smith.

The priest also captured the only known photograph of the Titanic’s wireless room, from which the ship’s wireless operators would transmit desperate SOS messages on the night of April 14-15 until just minutes before the vessel sank.

In his history, O’Donnell argued that the “most newsworthy fact” about Browne is not his presence on the historic ocean liner but that he is now recognized as “one of the world’s greatest photographers of all time,” with a lifetime portfolio of nearly 42,000 pictures.

His collection of Titanic photographs, O’Donnell noted, is not merely of interest for its historic rarity but also because it represents “early works from the hand of a man who went on to become a master of the art of photography.”

Upon his death in 1960, Browne was hailed as a “brave and lovable man” who “had a great influence for good,” beloved by Catholic and Protestant friends alike.

Reflecting on the Titanic tragedy, Browne himself wrote of learning about the catastrophic sinking — the news of which was “whispered at first, then contradicted, but finally shouted aloud in all its horror of detail by the myriad-throated press.”

In Ireland, meanwhile, “we did not forget those whom we had seen deprecating in all the joy of hope and confidence,” he wrote, “for we gathered in the great cathedral to pray for those who had departed, and for those on whom the hand of sorrow had fallen so heavily.”

With Advent 2024, the odd-numbered liturgical Cycle C begins. What does this entail?
Sun, 01 Dec 2024 04:30:00 -0500

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 1, 2024 / 04:30 am (CNA).

With the first Sunday of Advent, a new liturgical year begins in the Catholic Church, with the readings corresponding to Cycle C of odd-numbered years. What does this liturgical practice entail?

The beginning and end of the liturgical year

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) explains on its website that the liturgical year is made up of six times or seasons: Advent, Christmas, Lent, the paschal Triduum, Easter, and Ordinary Time.

The conference notes that the new 2025 liturgical calendar will begin with the first Sunday of Advent on Dec. 1, 2024, and will conclude on the Saturday after the solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, which will be Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025.

The three-year cycle

Perhaps less known is that the liturgical calendar has a three-year cycle, repeating every three years, which determines the biblical readings for Sunday Masses.

St. Paul VI in his apostolic constitution Missale Romanum states that “all the Sunday readings are divided into a three-year cycle” and the Ordo Lectionum Missae (“Order of Mass Readings,” 1969) explains that each liturgical year will be designated “with the letters A, B, C.”

The ordo of 1981 specifies that Cycle C is designated as all years “that are multiples of 3.” Thus the 2025 liturgical calendar uses Cycle C.

In Cycle A, the Sunday Gospel is generally taken from Matthew, in Cycle B from Mark, and in Cycle C from Luke, while the Gospel of John is read primarily at Easter.

During the Easter season, the first reading is from the Acts of the Apostles. But the second reading in Cycle A is mainly from the First Letter of St. Peter; in Cycle B, from the First Letter of St. John; and in Cycle C, from Revelation.

In Ordinary Time, the First Letter to the Corinthians is read in all three cycles, while the Letter to the Hebrews has been divided in two, with one part read in Cycle B and the other in Cycle C.

Why an odd year?

On weekdays, also called “ferias,” the readings of the Mass have a different order. Lent, Advent, Christmas, and Easter have their own texts.

In Ordinary Time, the Gospels are determined by a cycle of readings that is repeated every year. However, the first readings, which are generally from the Old Testament and the apostolic letters, have a double cycle, made up of an even and an odd year.

The ordo of 1969 specifies that “Year I” is for “odd years” and “Year II” is for “even years.” Therefore, the 2025 liturgical calendar is Year I, or an odd year.

The purpose of the cycles with even and odd numbers

This whole distribution of the readings by cycles and even or odd years has its source in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, where the Second Vatican Council asks that the “treasures of the Bible” be opened more to the faithful during Mass.

“In this way a more representative portion of the holy Scriptures will be read to the people in the course of a prescribed number of years,” the document states.

Thus, after three cycles, one will have heard a large part of sacred Scripture, and if one goes to daily Mass for two years, he or she will have gone even further into the Bible.

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

A path toward unity: Pope Francis proposes joint Catholic-Orthodox celebration of Nicaea anniversary
Sat, 30 Nov 2024 08:10:00 -0500

Rome Newsroom, Nov 30, 2024 / 08:10 am (CNA).

Pope Francis has proposed celebrating the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea together with Orthodox leaders in a personal letter to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.

The letter, published by the Vatican on Saturday, was delivered by Cardinal Kurt Koch — who heads the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity — during a visit to Istanbul for the patronal feast of the Orthodox Church.

“The now imminent 1,700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea will be another opportunity to bear witness to the growing communion that already exists among all who are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” Francis wrote in his message dated Nov. 30.

Reflecting on six decades of Catholic-Orthodox dialogue while looking ahead to future possibilities for unity, the pope acknowledged the progress made since Vatican II’s Unitatis Redintegratio decree marked the Catholic Church’s official entry into the ecumenical movement 60 years ago.

Speaking to EWTN News about this anniversary on Nov. 21, Koch emphasized that unity efforts must focus on “the innermost center of self-revelation in Jesus Christ.”

The Swiss cardinal also highlighted what he called an “ecumenism of blood,” noting that “Christians are not persecuted because they are Catholic, Lutheran, or Anglican but because they are Christians.”

Building peace in a time of war

While celebrating the “renewed fraternity” achieved since Vatican II, Pope Francis noted in his message that full communion, particularly sharing “the one Eucharistic chalice,” remains an unfulfilled goal.

In a pointed observation about contemporary global tensions, the pontiff connected ecumenical efforts to peace-building.

“The fraternity lived and the witness given by Christians will also be a message for our world plagued by war and violence,” he wrote, specifically mentioning Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, and Lebanon.

The pope also highlighted the recent participation of Orthodox representatives in October’s Synod on Synodality.

The traditional exchange of delegations between Rome and Constantinople occurs twice yearly, with Catholic representatives traveling to Istanbul for St. Andrew’s feast on Nov. 30 and Orthodox delegates visiting Rome for the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul on June 29.

Koch led this year’s Vatican delegation. He was accompanied by Archbishop Flavio Pace, secretary of the dicastery; Monsignor Andrea Palmieri, undersecretary; and Archbishop Marek Solczyński, apostolic nuncio to Turkey.

The delegation participated in the Divine Liturgy at the Patriarchal Church of St. George, Phanar, and held discussions with the synodal commission charged with relations with the Catholic Church.

JP II-inspired cafe celebrates 10 years of ‘bringing riches of the faith’ to public square
Sat, 30 Nov 2024 06:00:00 -0500

CNA Staff, Nov 30, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

For Soren and Ever Johnson, it was love at first sight when they met on the steps of the Dominican Priory in Krakow, Poland, 24 years ago. Within a few weeks, the pair knew they wanted to marry and dedicate their life together to promoting Pope John Paul II’s new evangelization.

Last month the couple marked the 10th anniversary of one of the fruits of their ministry: Trinity House Cafe, which they operate in Leesburg, Virginia.

In a recent interview with CNA, the Johnsons shared how their mutual love of St. John Paul II led them to open Trinity House on Oct. 24, 2014, and dedicate their lives to full-time ministry.

“With our marriage, it was a gift of love at first sight and just finding our true love and best friend for life, and knowing that very quickly,” Soren told CNA. “Then, just given our inspiration, our faith, and the witness of our own parents and families, we saw how marriage is not a private good. It’s a gift, a sacrament that has such beautiful dimensions with regard to the community, to family.”

Rather than keeping their marriage and faith “privatized,” Soren recalled that they “both felt very deeply early on in our marriage that we’ve been given this gift to share with others. And if we don’t share it, we really are not stewarding the gift as God intended.”

The founding of Trinity House

The couple, who are parents to five children ages 13 to 21, explained how the cafe was an outgrowth of following their deep sense of mission.

Ever was working for George Weigel at the time, a Catholic intellectual and author who was then writing his famous biography of Pope John Paul II.

“There was this steady stream of people coming through his office saying, ‘How do we get involved in the new evangelization?’” Ever explained. “So eventually, Soren and I said, ‘Let’s put together a group of these people,’” and the John Paul II Fellowship was born. For many years, the group held sponsored events such as Masses, talks, seminars, dinners, and other cultural and social events.

Yet, after a while, Ever said the couple felt they had been “preaching to the choir,” and what they were doing wasn’t quite the new evangelization. So they told the group: “Let’s open a place in public and continue to do all of these cool events, but in public, where you lower the barriors to entry.”

After several years of fundraising and searching for a location, the Johnsons stumbled upon the building that was to become Trinity House Cafe. It was Sunday, April 27, 2014, and they were driving home from the simulcast celebration of John Paul II’s canonization Mass at the National Shrine in Washington, D.C.

“[While] we drove back into Leesburg on our way home, we saw the ‘For Lease’ sign right under the Church and Market Street signs in the front yard,” Ever said, laughing: “And I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I think that’s it! That’s incredible!’ [John Paul II] was all about bringing the Church and market together.”

Having leased the building since the cafe’s founding, the Johnsons are now hoping to purchase it. They were made an exclusive offer from their landlord for a limited time and have decided to go for it.

“Earlier in November, Trinity House Community launched a $450,000 capital campaign to secure the building as both its flagship cafe and market location and the headquarters of its growing ministry to families,” Soren told CNA.

A historic registry home dating back to the 1700s, the building was once home to two generations of Methodist ministers.

The Trinitarian icon

Hanging above the fireplace in the Trinity House Cafe is the Trinity icon by the Russian monk Andre Rublev. Its prominent display does not serve a merely aesthetic purpose but represents the core of the Johnsons’ mission both at Trinity House and with their new evangelization curriculum model, “Heaven in Your Home.”

Five years after the Johnsons opened Trinity House, they began teaching this family-life model.

“St. John Paul II said that the future of humanity passes by way of the family,” Soren said. “And if we go back to the catechism, we are really reminded of how it says that the Christian family is a communion of persons, a sign and image of the communion of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

Having “always been deeply moved by the visual depiction of the communion of divine persons,” in Rublev’s icon, the Johnsons developed their curriculum based on Church teaching about the Trinity.

“The mission is to inspire families to make home ‘a taste of heaven’ for the renewal of faith and culture,” Ever said.

The Johnsons will also be releasing a new book in early 2025 titled “Heaven in Your Home Letters and Guide: Nurturing Your Holy Family,” which includes a foreword by Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly of the Knights of Columbus. The new release is a follow-up to their book “Heaven in Your Home Letters and Guide: Inspiration and Tools for Building a Trinity House.”

Fostering relationships

The cafe has done more over the years than offer hot beverages, freshly baked goods, and beautiful religious items — it’s been a place for relationships to grow, including some romances.

“I think we’re on to three couples who have met at the cafe and gone on to the beautiful gift of marriage,” Soren shared. “That’s just a very striking example of the friendships that are begun and strengthened here.”

Daniel Thetford met his wife at a Bible study at Trinity House and told CNA: “I feel like any time we stop there it’s just really warm and hospitable — the place everyone envisions from their favorite book or movie or TV show. It really feels like an episode of ‘Gilmore Girls’ or something.”

Thetford and his wife continue to visit the cafe whenever they are able and even took some of their engagement photos there.

Located across the street from the Leesburg Courthouse, the cafe draws people from all walks of life, Soren said, noting that “the faith is here if you want to go deeper, but if you just want to come into a beautiful cafe and be welcomed, listened to, and served, then that is a wonderful experience, and it can be just that.”

The point, he continued, is that “beauty can be the first part of a conversation that leads people into the truth and goodness that we know.”

Several customers at Trinity House have told the Johnsons that their time at the cafe has led them to return to the faith.

“People are embodied,” Ever added. “That was a big focus of JP II, as well, to stop having the faith in your head. If you create an embodied context that is healthy, that gives people the input that they need, you’re going to get a certain output. And that’s what happens: People turn to deeper conversations when they’re in that environment.”

St. Andrew the Apostle: 8 things to know and share
Sat, 30 Nov 2024 04:48:00 -0500

National Catholic Register, Nov 30, 2024 / 04:48 am (CNA).

St. Andrew, whose feast day is Nov. 30, was one of the two initial disciples of John the Baptist who encountered Jesus at the beginning of John’s Gospel. He was one of Jesus’ closest disciples, but many people know little about him.

St. Andrew was the brother of St. Peter, also known as Simon bar-Jonah. He and Andrew shared the same father, so the latter would have been known as Andrew bar-Jonah.

Andrew is regularly mentioned after Simon Peter, which suggests that he was Peter’s younger brother. Like his brother Peter, and their partners James and John, Andrew was initially a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee.

Here are eight more things to know and share about St. Andrew the Apostle:

1) What does the name Andrew mean?

The name Andrew (Greek, “Andreas”) is related to the Greek word for “man” (“Aner,” or, in the genitive, “Andros”). It originally meant something like “manly,” expressing the parents’ hopes for their baby boy.

Interestingly, Andrew’s name is of Greek origin, not Aramaic. Pope Benedict XVI commented: “The first striking characteristic of Andrew is his name: It is not Hebrew, as might have been expected, but Greek, indicative of a certain cultural openness in his family that cannot be ignored. We are in Galilee, where the Greek language and culture are quite present” (General Audience, June 14, 2006).

The fact that their father — Jonah (or Jonas) — gave his elder son (Simon) an Aramaic name and his younger son (Andrew) a Greek name reflects the mixed Jewish-Gentile environment of Galilee.

2) How close was he to Jesus?

In the synoptic Gospels and Acts, the 12 apostles are always listed in three group of four individuals. The first of these groups indicates those who were the closest to Jesus. It includes the two pairs of brothers: (1) Peter and Andrew, the sons of Jonah, and (2) James and John, the sons of Zebedee.

Andrew was thus one of the four disciples closest to Jesus, but he seems to have been the least close of the four.

This is reflected in the fact that, several times, Peter, James, and John seem to have privileged access to Jesus, while Andrew is not present.

For example, Peter, James, and John were those present for the Transfiguration, but Andrew was not. They were the closest three, while Andrew was a distant fourth.

This is ironic.

3) Why the irony of this more “distant” relationship?

Because Andrew was one of the first followers of Jesus. In fact, he discovered Jesus before his brother Peter did.

Indeed, he was one of the two initial disciples of John the Baptist who encountered Jesus at the beginning of John’s Gospel.

Because he followed Jesus before St. Peter and the others, he is called the “Protoklete” or “First-Called” apostle.

Pope Benedict commented:

“He was truly a man of faith and hope; and one day he heard John the Baptist proclaiming Jesus as ‘the Lamb of God’ (John 1:36); so he was stirred, and with another unnamed disciple followed Jesus, the one whom John had called ‘the Lamb of God.’ The Evangelist says that ‘they saw where he was staying; and they stayed with him that day...’ (John 1: 37-39).

“Thus, Andrew enjoyed precious moments of intimacy with Jesus. The account continues with one important annotation: ‘One of the two who heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus (John 1:40-43), straightaway showing an unusual apostolic spirit.

“Andrew, then, was the first of the apostles to be called to follow Jesus. Exactly for this reason the liturgy of the Byzantine Church honors him with the nickname: ‘Protokletos’ [protoclete], which means, precisely, ‘the first called.’”

4) What do the Gospels reveal to us about St. Andrew?

There are three notable incidents. The first occurs when Jesus performs the multiplication of loaves. Pope Benedict noted:

“The Gospel traditions mention Andrew’s name in particular on another three occasions that tell us something more about this man. The first is that of the multiplication of the loaves in Galilee. On that occasion, it was Andrew who pointed out to Jesus the presence of a young boy who had with him five barley loaves and two fish: not much, he remarked, for the multitudes who had gathered in that place (cf. John 6:8-9).

“In this case, it is worth highlighting Andrew’s realism. He noticed the boy, that is, he had already asked the question: ‘but what good is that for so many?’ (ibid.), and recognized the insufficiency of his minimal resources. Jesus, however, knew how to make them sufficient for the multitude of people who had come to hear him.”

5) When else does Andrew come to the forefront?

A second instance is when he and the other core disciples question Jesus about his statement that the beautiful stones of the Temple will be torn down.

Pope Benedict noted:

“The second occasion was at Jerusalem. As he left the city, a disciple drew Jesus’ attention to the sight of the massive walls that supported the Temple. The Teacher’s response was surprising: He said that of those walls not one stone would be left upon another. Then Andrew, together with Peter, James, and John, questioned him: ‘Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign when these things are all to be accomplished?’ (Mark 13:1-4).

“In answer to this question Jesus gave an important discourse on the destruction of Jerusalem and on the end of the world, in which he asked his disciples to be wise in interpreting the signs of the times and to be constantly on their guard.

“From this event we can deduce that we should not be afraid to ask Jesus questions but at the same time that we must be ready to accept even the surprising and difficult teachings that he offers us.”

6) Is there a third instance in which the Gospels reveal St. Andrew’s importance?

In a third instance, St. Andrew — with his Greek name — serves as a bridge between Jewish and Gentile followers of Jesus. Pope Benedict explained:

“Lastly, a third initiative of Andrew is recorded in the Gospels: The scene is still Jerusalem, shortly before the Passion. For the feast of the Passover, John recounts, some Greeks had come to the city, probably proselytes or God-fearing men who had come up to worship the God of Israel at the Passover feast. Andrew and Philip, the two apostles with Greek names, served as interpreters and mediators of this small group of Greeks with Jesus.

“The Lord’s answer to their question — as so often in John’s Gospel — appears enigmatic, but precisely in this way proves full of meaning. Jesus said to the two disciples and, through them, to the Greek world: ‘The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified. I solemnly assure you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit’ (Jn 12:23-24).

“Jesus wants to say: Yes, my meeting with the Greeks will take place, but not as a simple, brief conversation between myself and a few others, motivated above all by curiosity. The hour of my glorification will come with my death, which can be compared with the falling into the earth of a grain of wheat. My death on the cross will bring forth great fruitfulness: In the Resurrection the ‘dead grain of wheat’ — a symbol of myself crucified — will become the bread of life for the world; it will be a light for the peoples and cultures.

“Yes, the encounter with the Greek soul, with the Greek world, will be achieved in that profundity to which the grain of wheat refers, which attracts to itself the forces of heaven and earth and becomes bread.

“In other words, Jesus was prophesying about the Church of the Greeks, the Church of the pagans, the Church of the world, as a fruit of his pasch.”

7) What happened to Andrew in later years?

Pope Benedict noted:

“Some very ancient traditions not only see Andrew, who communicated these words to the Greeks, as the interpreter of some Greeks at the meeting with Jesus recalled here, but consider him the apostle to the Greeks in the years subsequent to Pentecost. They enable us to know that for the rest of his life he was the preacher and interpreter of Jesus for the Greek world.

“Peter, his brother, traveled from Jerusalem through Antioch and reached Rome to exercise his universal mission; Andrew, instead, was the apostle of the Greek world. So it is that in life and in death they appear as true brothers — a brotherhood that is symbolically expressed in the special reciprocal relations of the See of Rome and of Constantinople, which are truly sister Churches.”

8) How did St. Andrew die?

Pope Benedict noted:

“A later tradition, as has been mentioned, tells of Andrew’s death at Patras [in Greece], where he too suffered the torture of crucifixion.

“At that supreme moment, however, like his brother Peter, he asked to be nailed to a cross different from the cross of Jesus.

“In his case it was a diagonal or X-shaped cross, which has thus come to be known as ‘St. Andrew’s cross.’

“This is what the apostle is claimed to have said on that occasion, according to an ancient story (which dates back to the beginning of the sixth century), titled ‘The Passion of Andrew’:

“‘Hail, O cross, inaugurated by the body of Christ and adorned with his limbs as though they were precious pearls. Before the Lord mounted you, you inspired an earthly fear. Now, instead, endowed with heavenly love, you are accepted as a gift.

“‘Believers know of the great joy that you possess and of the multitude of gifts you have prepared. I come to you, therefore, confident and joyful, so that you too may receive me exultant as a disciple of the One who was hung upon you. ... O blessed cross, clothed in the majesty and beauty of the Lord’s limbs! ... Take me, carry me far from men, and restore me to my Teacher, so that, through you, the one who redeemed me by you, may receive me. Hail, O cross; yes, hail indeed!’

“Here, as can be seen, is a very profound Christian spirituality. It does not view the cross as an instrument of torture but rather as the incomparable means for perfect configuration to the Redeemer, to the grain of wheat that fell into the earth.

“Here we have a very important lesson to learn: Our own crosses acquire value if we consider them and accept them as a part of the cross of Christ, if a reflection of his light illuminates them.”

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register on Nov. 27, 2013, and has been updated and adapted by CNA.

Advent 2024: 4 Catholic resources to help you grow in your faith
Sat, 30 Nov 2024 04:08:00 -0500

CNA Staff, Nov 30, 2024 / 04:08 am (CNA).

As we prepare for the birth of Christ during Advent, it can be easy to get lost in the hustle and bustle of the season. But as calendars get filled up and preparations are made, here are four resources to help you get ready to enter into the deeper meaning of Christmas.

Hallow

This year for Advent, take part in Hallow’s Advent Pray25 Prayer Challenge beginning on Dec. 2. The prayer challenge includes reading and meditating on “A Severe Mercy” by Sheldon Vanauken alongside Catholic actor Jonathan Roumie, adventurer and survivalist Bear Grylls, and Sister Agnus Dei of the Sisters of Life. Biblical scholar Jeff Cavins and author Francis Chan will also reflect on Scripture. Plus, Roumie and Father Chrysostom Bear will dive into the book “A Divine Intimacy,” a book of Carmelite meditations, alongside Catholic actor Kevin James.

On Saturdays during the Advent prayer challenge, listeners will encounter God’s love through music with Gwen Stefani, Lauren Daigle, Matt Maher, and Sarah Kroger.

Ascension

Join Father Mike Schmitz for Face to Face: Advent with Fr. Mike Schmitz on the Ascension app. Schmitz will take you on a journey through daily video reflections and Scripture passages to discover who God is, who we are, and how we are made worthy to stand in his presence. The theme of the program focuses on the idea of how we would live Advent differently if we knew that Christmas Day was the day we were going to die. One would have to live it with more purpose, intentionality, and grace. Through this Advent program, Schmitz encourages us to live Advent differently and prepares us to meet God face to face.

Word on Fire

Bishop Robert Barron’s “Advent Gospel Reflections” is a devotional booklet that invites readers into the prayerful nature of the season. It features the full Gospel reading for each day of Advent, a daily reflection from Barron, and space for journaling and to answer reflection questions. This book is great for an individual seeking to grow in his or her faith during Advent as well as families or parishes seeking to grow together.

EWTN Religious Catalogue

The EWTN Religious Catalogue offers a variety of Advent devotionals including “Advent Reflections: Meditations for a Holy Advent,” “Advent with Our Lady of Fatima” by Donna Marie Cooper O’Boyle, and “The Jesse Tree: An Advent Devotion” by Eric and Suzan Sammons. Each of these devotionals offers daily reflections and meditations to help you find peace in Christ amid the hustle and bustle. (Editor’s note: EWTN is CNA’s parent company.)

Have a blessed Advent!

Giving thanks by giving food: Society of St. Vincent de Paul volunteers serve those in need
Fri, 29 Nov 2024 12:50:00 -0500

CNA Newsroom, Nov 29, 2024 / 12:50 pm (CNA).

While millions of Americans were traveling or cooking or getting ready to watch a football game, several thousand volunteers with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul were serving Thanksgiving meals to those who needed them.

“Many communities have a sizable level of poverty, people who just need that helping hand up,” said Michael Acaldo, chief executive officer of the national council of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, a Catholic charitable organization headquartered in St. Louis.

In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Acaldo said, more than 300 volunteers were scheduled to serve more than 3,000 people at four sites.

It started in the late morning at Baton Rouge River Center, which included sit-down meals but also a drive-through component since it’s near a highway. St. Gerard Catholic Church was scheduled to kick off its meal in the late morning as well, followed by meals in the society’s dining room in Baton Rouge and at McKinley Alumni Community Center.

The Baton Rouge society has been serving Thanksgiving Day meals since about 1982, Acaldo told CNA.

In Phoenix, more than 500 volunteers were expected to serve about 7,000 meals at seven locations, under the direction of executive chef Chris Hoffman, who has worked at the Ritz Carlton and other resorts, said Ryan Corry, chief philanthropy officer of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul there.

“And his style is that he wants to put dignity and humanity on a plate, every single day,” Corry said.

Breakfast at the Phoenix dining room was at 7 a.m.; the last meal of the day ended at about 6:15 p.m., he said. In between, there are brunches, lunches, and dinners.

The major Thanksgiving meal in Phoenix included turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and green beans.

And, Corry added: “We have the most number of pumpkin pies I’ve ever seen in my life.”

‘The center of their day’

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul was founded in 1833 in France by Blessed Frédéric Ozanam and Emmanuel Bailly to help the poor in Paris. The American version was founded in 1845 at what is now the old cathedral in St. Louis.

Members of local conferences, who are known as Vincentians, serve more than 5 million people a year in the United States, according to the organization’s national council.

On Thanksgiving, organizers of the meals say they appreciate the time volunteers take on what is one of the quintessential family-gathering days in the United States.

“Thanksgiving Day is a wonderful day to be with family and friends, and those who are taking their time or talent, it’s the most valuable thing we’ve got — they understand the need in the community, and they’re sacrificing time with their family to help those who don’t have family,” Acaldo said.

Many who come to serve have been doing so for years.

“For volunteers who come here, they plan their day around volunteering. This is the center of their day,” Corry said.

The Phoenix version includes a program called “Hearts and Hands,” aimed at accommodating multigenerational families of volunteers with age-appropriate tasks, from as young as 3 to people in their 90s, Corry said.

Charity in the Society of St. Vincent de Paul isn’t a one-way street, he said.

“It’s special because not only do we serve people, but we give people an opportunity of service,” Corry said.

While many of the volunteers didn’t watch football games on television, at the dining room on West Jackson Street in Phoenix, less than a mile away from the Arizona Capitol, some had a chance to see former Kansas City Chiefs kicker Nick Lowery and about 20 other National Football League retirees. Not a lot of fuss will be made over them, though, Corry said.

“They [weren’t] there for celebrity status. They’re working,” Corry said.

This year has been tougher for poor people in Maricopa County (which includes Phoenix) than 2023, he said.

“We’ve seen a 30% increase in requests for food, year over year,” Corry said.

Corry noted that while Thanksgiving Day brings a lot of attention, the society plans to feed about the same number of people in Phoenix on the day after Thanksgiving and every day after that.

“In some ways it’s a really special day,” Corry said, referring to Thanksgiving. “In other ways, it’s another day for us to care for God’s people.”

Gratitude

In Pittsburg, California, about 25 miles northeast of Oakland, several dozen volunteers were scheduled to serve about 200 meals overseen by a trained chef, said Claudia Ramirez, executive director of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul District Council of Contra Costa County.

The regional council of the society has been serving meals on Thanksgiving Day for the past 15 years.

“Everybody comes to help support the community and do the good we can, and share the blessings we have,” Ramirez said. To the usual menu this year was added butternut squash soup, she said.

The gathering began at 10 a.m. with the distribution of coats, scarves, toiletry items, and notes from kids in Catholic religious education programs to the people coming for meals — “So they all know they are loved and appreciated this Thanksgiving Day,” Ramirez said.

At 10:30 a.m., volunteers and those being served gathered for a “Gratitude Circle” in which those who want can take the microphone and say what they are grateful for. It usually takes about a half hour to 45 minutes.

“They do it very much from the heart,” Ramirez said.

The event isn’t just a meal, she said, but a meeting of hearts.

“This is what makes us Vincentians: We see Christ in those we serve,” Ramirez said. “And if we’re doing our work well, they see Christ in us.”

Catholic bishops in UK express dismay after Parliament passes assisted suicide bill 
Fri, 29 Nov 2024 12:20:00 -0500

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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