Black smoke billows over the city after drone strikes in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Sept. 19, 2023, amid Russia's military invasion on Ukraine. Drones attacked Ukraine's western city of Lviv early on Sept. 19, and explosions rang out, causing a warehouse fire and wounding at least one person. / Credit: YURIY DYACHYSHYN/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 26, 2024 / 16:10 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis called for an end to global production and use of anti-personnel explosives in a message delivered at an international summit on abolishing landmines, one week after U.S. President Joe Biden approved Ukraine?s use of American land mines in the Russia-Ukraine war. 

?Conflicts are a failure of humanity to live as a single human family,? the Holy Father expressed in his letter, which was read by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin at the Fifth Review Conference on the Convention of Anti-Personnel Landmines in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

?These treacherous devices continue to cause terrible suffering to civilians, especially children,? he added. 

The International Mine Ban Treaty, also known as the Ottawa Treaty, is an international agreement to end the production and use of anti-personnel mines that went into force in March 1999. One hundred and sixty-four state parties have formally agreed to abide by the agreement, including Ukraine. 

The pope ?urges all states that have not yet done so to accede to the convention, and in the meantime to cease immediately the production and use of land mines,? Parolin stated to the delegation. 

The United States, Russia, and China are among the 33 states which have not yet agreed to abide by the agreement. 

Francis also appealed to countries that have already entered into the agreement, urging them to renew their commitment to end use of the explosives, stressing that any delays in doing so ?will inevitably increase the human cost.? 

The Holy Father?s urgent appeal to the convention comes one week after President Biden approved the provision of anti-personnel mines to Ukraine, in order to bolster its defense against Russian advances in the east. 

Biden?s move to authorize the controversial explosives follows closely his decision to give Ukraine permission to fire long-range American missiles at Russia. The Kremlin has responded by lowering the threshold in which it would use its nuclear arsenal. 

The Pope this week further recognized the work of the land mine conference, and all of those dedicated to ending use of land mines, as well as those who assist victims? families.

The Holy Father prayed that the objectives of the conference inspired by the treaty ?may become an important step towards a world free of landmines and ensure a truly integral and restorative assistance to victims.? 

Francis himself delivered a similar pro-peace message at an event on the same day, commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Argentina and Chile. 

?We do well to commemorate those intense negotiations that, with papal mediation, avoided the armed conflict about to set two brother peoples against each other and concluded with a dignified, reasonable and equitable solution,? the Holy Father said in his address. 

?In this regard, how can I not refer to the many ongoing armed conflicts that remain still unresolved, despite the fact that they cause immense sufferings for the countries at war and the entire human family,? Francis said, further rebuking countries ?where there is much talk of peace [but where] the highest yielding investments are in the production of arms.?

?I simply mention two failures of humanity today: Ukraine and Palestine, where people are suffering, where the arrogance of the invader prevails over dialogue,? he told the delegation. Francis has been vocal in his opposition to the ongoing conflicts in both regions since their respective beginnings.

Pope Francis waves to pilgrims at his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter?s Square at the Vatican on Oct. 9, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 26, 2024 / 14:50 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis on Monday clarified that the final Synod on Synodality document ? which calls for structural changes, including more lay and women participation in the Church ? is part of the Church?s ordinary magisterium and should be implemented by dioceses and churches. 

?[The final document] participates in the ordinary magisterium of the successor of Peter, and as such, I ask that it be accepted," Francis wrote in a Nov. 25 note about the 52-page document.

In his note, he clarifies that the final document is part of ?the authentic teaching of the Bishop of Rome.?

Rather than publishing his own post-synodal document, the pontiff instead approved the synod?s final document in full on Oct. 26, the same day the synod issued it. Francis wrote in the note that by signing the document, he joined the ?we? of the assembly participants who directed the document to the people of God.

?[The final document] can already now be implemented in the local churches and groupings of churches, taking into account different contexts, what has already been done and what remains to be done in order to learn and develop ever better the style proper to the missionary synodal church,? the pontiff wrote, according to the Catholic News Service.

"Local churches and groupings of churches are now called upon to implement, in different contexts, the authoritative indications contained in the document, through the processes of discernment and decision-making provided by law and by the document itself," Francis added.

The Holy Father wrote that the conclusion of the Synod on Synodality "does not end the synodal process.? 

The document calls for strengthening pastoral councils at the parish and diocesan level, but adds that such authority ?is not without limits,? noting that the authority of the local bishop and the pontiff ?in regard to decision-taking is inviolable.?

Additionally, the document calls for more lay participation in all ecclesiastical decision making. It specifically calls for more women in leadership roles but does not settle the question about a possible women?s diaconate. It also condemns exclusion based on a person?s ?marital situation, identity, or sexuality.?

In the note, Francis emphasized that the final document is "not strictly normative" and that local churches should discern how to implement the document in a way that is consistent with the needs of their country and their region. However, he said, ?Local churches [are obligated] to make choices consistent with what was indicated.? 

?Each country or region, moreover, can seek solutions better suited to its culture and sensitive to its traditions and local needs,? Francis wrote, directly quoting his apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia.

"In many cases, it is a matter of effectively implementing what is already provided for in existing law, Latin and Eastern," Francis wrote.

The pontiff also wrote in his note that bishops will report to the Vatican on the way in which they are implementing the document within their dioceses when making their required trip to Rome to meet with Vatican officials. 

"[Bishops] will report on the choices made in their local Church concerning the indications in the Final Document, the difficulties encountered, and the fruits achieved, and are called to report on progress during their ad limina visits, sharing both challenges and fruits of their efforts,? Francis wrote, according to Vatican News, the official news outlet of the Holy See.

?This journey has allowed the Church to read her own experiences and identify steps to live communion, realize participation, and promote the mission entrusted to her by Christ,? Francis wrote. 

Vatican dicasteries and the General Secretariat of the Synod will oversee the bishops? implementation of the final document. 

null / Credit: RasyidArt, Shutterstock.

CNA Staff, Nov 26, 2024 / 13:07 pm (CNA).

The superintendent of a Wisconsin Catholic school system has been fired along with a high school principal after officials there reportedly found violations of diocesan safe environment protocols meant to protect children from sexual abuse. 

Kate Heim, the interim president of St. Francis Xavier Catholic School System in Appleton, Wisconsin, said in a letter to parents last week that Xavier High School Principal Mike Mauthe and St. Francis Xavier Catholic School System superintendent John Ravizza were both let go by the school system after an investigation by the diocese. 

In the letter, obtained by Fox affiliate WLUK-TV, Heim told parents that the Diocese of Green Bay Office of Safe Environment had received ?a complaint? that initially led to Mauthe?s being put on administrative leave. 

After an investigation, Mauthe was found to have violated the diocese?s ?Our Promise to Protect? safe environment policy. Mauthe was subsequently fired from his position due to the reported violation. 

Heim said that Ravizza also ?fail[ed] to meet reporting requirements? in connection with the investigation, and as a result, he was also fired.

The diocese reported the matter to police in accordance with state mandatory reporting rules, Heim noted. 

?Because this is a personnel issue, we are not at liberty to share the specifics of the situation such as the contents of the complaint, victim identity, and details regarding the evidence,? the interim president said in the letter.

Community members had started a petition to have Mauthe re-instated at the high school prior to Heim?s letter. In a Facebook post responding to those efforts, Mauthe urged the community to undertake ?no petitions [and] no protesting? in response to his firing. 

The controversy ?has given me a lot of time to think about how much I chase things like attention and importance to people, how I have an unhealthy attachment to trying to help, and how my actions can hurt and harm, even when that's the opposite of what I intend,? he wrote. 

?I am not a victim,? Mauthe added. ?I broke a policy and accept the consequence for doing so. No excuses, no caveats.?

?During my career, I did not always maintain the proper boundaries of communication. That responsibility was mine,? he said. ?I need to be better and I own my failures for any times that I've fallen short of who I strive to be.?

The petition was reportedly signed by ?well over 600 people? before Mauthe requested the effort cease. 

The St. Francis Xavier school system includes an elementary school, middle school, and high school. Appleton is located about 30 miles south of Green Bay. 

The Diocese of Green Bay did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. 

Facade of St. Peter's Basilica / Credit: Nils Huber / Unsplash

Vatican City, Nov 26, 2024 / 12:40 pm (CNA).

The Vatican may make ?spiritual abuse? a formalized crime in Church law, rather than merely an aggravating circumstance of other crimes.

The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is forming a working group with the Dicastery for Legislative Texts with ?the task of analyzing this possibility and presenting concrete proposals? on the matter, according to a paper from the doctrine office dated Nov. 22 and posted online this week.

According to the note, which was signed by DDF Prefect Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández and approved by Pope Francis, the term "false mysticism" is an "overly broad and ambiguous expression" in need of refining in certain contexts in the Church.

The term appears in the DDF?s regulations related to ?problems and behavior connected with the discipline of the faith, such as cases of pseudo-mysticism, alleged apparitions, visions, and messages attributed to supernatural origin,? the note observes.

The expression ?false mysticism? is also sometimes used by canon lawyers in the context of crimes of abuse, though it is currently not a delict, or crime, according to canon law, the document said.

The DDF said that ?false mysticism? also appears in the dicastery?s 2024 document Norms for Proceeding in the Discernment of Alleged Supernatural Phenomena, where it is specified that ?the use of purported supernatural experiences or recognized mystical elements as a means of or a pretext for exerting control over people or carrying out abuses is to be considered of particular moral gravity.?

At a press conference introducing the norms in May, Cardinal Fernández warned about the ambiguity of the term ?false mysticism? and the need to clarify its use.

Church authorities ?must be careful?false mysticism is used a lot and in a lot of different ways,? he said.

The term can have ?one meaning for one theologian and another meaning for another theologian; for some canonists it has one meaning, for others it has a broader meaning,? he added.

Fernández said the Church ?must explain well what the crime is, but not use the term ?false mysticism.??

It is ?possible to classify a delict of ?spiritual abuse,? avoiding the overly broad and ambiguous expression of ?false mysticism?,? the letter this week says. 

The working group will be chaired by the prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, Italian Bishop Filippo Iannone. 

The late Monsignor Thomas Oleghe, the oldest priest in Nigeria, who died on the feast of Christ the King, Nov. 24, at the age of 104. / Credit: Diocese of Auchi

ACI Africa, Nov 26, 2024 / 11:19 am (CNA).

Father Thomas Oleghe, the oldest priest in Nigeria has passed away at the age of 104.

Oleghe died in the early hours of Nov. 24, the Solemnity of Christ the King, the bishop of the Diocese of Auchi announced in a statement.

?With gratitude to God for a life well lived on earth I hereby inform you of the passage of the Rt. Rev. MSGR Thomas Oleghe the oldest Catholic priest in Nigeria as of today, to the great beyond at about 2.30 a.m. this morning on the 24th of November, 2024,? Bishop Gabriel Ghiakhomo Dunia wrote in the statement.

The bishop announced that the funeral for Oleghe will be Nov. 27. 

?May his lovely and gentle soul continue to rest in perfect peace. Amen,? Dunia prayed.

Born in February 1920, Oleghe was ordained a priest in December 1957. He served in various parishes in the Auchi diocese including St. John The Apostle Igarra Parish where he initiated reforms that laid the foundations of the glorious status of the church today.

In a statement, the former Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki eulogized Oleghe as a ?great missionary of the Catholic faith.?

?I am deeply saddened by the news of the passing of the oldest Catholic priest in Nigeria, Msgr. Thomas Oleghe,? Obaseki said.

?He was a dedicated and compassionate priest who worked for the growth of the Christian faith and the development of his community. He remained an inspiration to many and a model that a lot of young people looked up to,? he said.

?I celebrate his impactful service to God and humanity, working and commend his work in the Lord's vineyard in Edo State, where he served for many years promoting peace and development,? Obaseki added.

Commiserating with Bishop Dunia and the entire Nigerian Catholic community Obaseki prayed that ?God will grant all the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.?

Meanwhile, the senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, expressed sorrow over the passing of the priest. 

In a statement, Oshiomhole described Oleghe as a ?paragon of priestly humility and a steadfast champion of Christian values.? 

He said the late Catholic priest?s life was a ?shining testament to the virtues of faith, humility, and devotion.?

?His transition is a profound loss, not just to our diocese but to the nation at large. Even as we mourn him, we are comforted by the assurance that his impactful life resonated with God, who blessed him with longevity before calling him to eternal rest,? Oshiomhole said.

This article was originally published by ACI Africa, CNA?s African news partner, and has been adapted for CNA.

Georgetown University, located in Washington, DC, is the nation's oldest Catholic and Jesuit university. / Credit: Rob Crandall, Shutterstock.

CNA Staff, Nov 26, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

When Georgetown Law student Brittany Lovely, who is scheduled to give birth in December, shortly before final exams, asked for permission to take her test early, late, or remotely, the answer she got from the Catholic university was a flat denial. 

Citing university policy, the school's administrators told Lovely that granting her accommodations would be "inequitable to other non-birthing students in her class,? she told the Washington Post. 

?Motherhood is not for the faint of heart,? she said she was told. Her was given a choice: she could either take the exam soon after childbirth with her newborn or fail and request to withdraw from the class. Even when her doctor weighed in, calling Lovely?s request both ?reasonable and necessary,? the law school refused to budge. 

Only after students banded together to organize a petition, which quickly went viral, did Lovely get permission to schedule her exam ahead of the birth of her baby.  

Lovely said in a letter shared with CNA that she has ?finally received the accommodations I?ve been requesting for months for my upcoming finals,? but shared her fear that other pregnant students may face similar challenges with the administration. 

The university changed its exam accommodations and deferral policy ?for this semester only,? Lovely explained. She requested that the university ?make a public commitment to reforming its policies regarding accommodations moving forward,? she noted in the letter. 

?They agreed to work with me on a just and equitable policy agenda for pregnant, childbearing, and childrearing students in the coming months,? Lovely said of Georgetown Law.

A university spokesperson confirmed with CNA that the administration ?reached a mutually agreeable solution? with Lovely. The university declined to comment on the specifics of Lovely?s case. 

?Georgetown is committed to providing a caring, supportive environment for pregnant and parenting students,? the spokesperson said, noting that Georgetown provides resources for students ?while they are pregnant or parenting including pregnancy-related adjustments from the Office of Title IX Compliance, and disability accommodations from our Academic Resource Center.?

But for Lovely, ?the fight is not over yet.? 

?No student should be forced to choose between their education, health, or the health of their family,? she said. ?My classmates and I will continue advocating until it is certain Georgetown Law does not force any students to make that choice again.?  

At Georgetown Law, only the Office of Registrar has the power to grant exam deferrals and exam rescheduling for finals, not the professor. 

Georgetown Law will consider exam deferrals for several reasons, including ?childbirth during the exam period or immediately preceding the exam period,? according to its website. The administration will also consider deferrals for physical or mental illness, a death in the family, car accidents, religious observance, military commitment, and other ?extraordinary circumstances.? 

But according to Lovely, she is not the only one who has faced challenges getting accommodations. 

Peers and alumni ?have shared their own horror stories of trying to get reasonable accommodations at Georgetown Law for their childbirth, medical emergencies, and disabilities, only to be offered a generalized solution of more time for an exam,? Lovely said. ?They have told me the callous responses to their requests during their most vulnerable times.?

?As I have said from the beginning, this was never just about me ? this is about all pregnant, childbearing, and childrearing students and about all students with disabilities or those needing accommodations, present and future,? Lovely said. 

A moral duty 

Lovely?s classmates launched the petition on her behalf last week, stating that ?Georgetown Law has a legal and moral duty to support pregnant students during the regular school year or finals.? 

Post-partum recovery usually takes about six weeks after childbirth. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, ?the weeks following birth are a critical period for a woman and her infant, setting the stage for long-term health and well-being.? Childbirth often comes with medical challenges that require a long recovery, especially if a woman faces medical issues such as tearing or Cesarean section. 

?Georgetown Law suggested Brittany bring her days-old child to campus a few days after birth, with minimal recovery, to take the exam with more time so she can breastfeed her newborn baby during the exam,? the petition noted. ?They told her, ?Motherhood is not for the Faint of Heart.?? 

Newborn babies need to be fed every two to three hours and are more susceptible to germs as their immune systems are not fully developed, meaning they are at a higher risk of developing infections. Few babies are born on their exact due date, and physicians often advise that parents avoid bringing their newborn to crowded places. 

Based in Washington, D.C., Georgetown University is a Jesuit university and the first Catholic higher education institution in the United States. According to its website, Georgetown University aims to approach education from the central Jesuit tenet of ?cura personalis,? a Latin phrase meaning ?care of the whole person.? 

One alum, Max Siegel II, argued that the administration?s refusal of Lovely?s accommodation ?contradicts this fundamental value.? 

?Cura Personalis calls on us to provide care and individualized attention to each person, respecting their unique circumstances and concerns,? Siegel said in a post in which he urged students to sign the petition. Siegel heads the Student Bar Association, the law school?s student government. 

The Catholic Church teaches the importance of the ?Life and Dignity of the Human Person,? one of seven themes of Catholic Social Teaching. ?Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception,? according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2270).

In line with this teaching, some Catholic colleges such as Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina and the University of Mary in North Dakota offer maternity housing programs for student mothers. UMary?s maternity home program made headlines last year after its first student mom graduated with her daughter. 

In addition to concerns that the administration?s attitude goes against the university?s Jesuit Catholic values, supporters of Lovely said that Georgetown?s decision violated Title IX, the federal civil rights law designed to prevent discrimination against women in higher education institutions that receive public funding. 

Siegel, and the student-led petition, noted that the administration ?fails to meet the requirements of Title IX, which ensures a fair and equitable educational environment for all students.? 

?Title IX prohibits education institutions from discriminating against students based on sex, including current, potential, or past pregnancy or related conditions,? the petition noted. ?An accommodation is not unreasonable and must be offered by the school unless it ?fundamentally alters? the nature of its program.? 

Lovely said she was particularly concerned that Georgetown cited equity as a reason for denying pregnancy accommodations. 

?I want to make it clear ? an inequitable policy, for example, is one that forces me (or any student) to spend time fightingfor a basic right under the law rather than preparing for my finals like the rest of my peers,? she said. ?An equitable policy is one where no student has to go to these great lengths  again to receive reasonable accommodations.? 

Credit: Panelists at the 2024 International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit on Jan. 30-31, 2024 at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C. Credit: IRF Summit. / Credit: International Religious Freedom Summit

CNA Staff, Nov 26, 2024 / 05:30 am (CNA).

The annual International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit in Washington, DC, brings together more than 90 religious freedom organizations from more than 30 faith traditions to address challenges to religious freedom worldwide.

The summit also invites another demographic ? college students ? to register to take part in a university partnership program for graduate and undergraduate students who are passionate about religious freedom.

Organized by the Religious Freedom Institute (RFI), the IRF Summit, the partnership program, taking place Feb. 3-5, 2025, begins with a day-long seminar designed for the students with training sessions, guided simulations, and conversations with leading scholars and government officials. The following two days, students can participate as full participants in the IRF Summit. 

Interested students can register for the University Partnership Program here until Jan. 17, 2025.

Forming young adults to embrace religious freedom is foundational to the future of religious freedom, according to the head of the IRF?s university partnership program. 

?Religious freedom is only safe when it is both protected in law and embraced by society,? Jim Bennett heads the IRF Summit?s university partnership program. Bennett is the director of RFI?s National Center for Religious Freedom Education.

?Today?s youth will create law and public policy tomorrow, and a focused investment now in exploring and understanding the first principles of religious freedom will pay significant dividends in the future,? he continued. 

A growing number of college students are combating anti-religious narratives on campus, according to Bennett, who noted that ?some of the greatest contemporary threats to religious freedom are occurring in places where their voices are already influential.? 

?We are seeing a remarkable display of enthusiasm from a growing number of young people who want to counter some of the anti-faith narratives they hear on their campuses while also making positive contributions to the larger society,? Bennett. ?It is exciting to work with students who are this passionate about defending the human dignity of all people.?

The University Partnership Program implements RFI?s ?First Principles? curriculum, which ?explores the importance of religious freedom to human identity, human rights, and human flourishing,? Bennett noted. The program then implements ?guided simulations led by scholars and public officials that explore real world scenarios in four global locations.?

After spending time in the partnership program on Feb. 3, students attend the IRF Summit on Feb. 4-5 as full participants, ?with the opportunity to learn from and network with government officials and civil society leaders from around the world,? Bennet said. 

Speakers include the leadership team at the RFI and IRF Summit, as well as scholars and activists in the religious freedom space and public officials in the U.S. and foreign governments, according to Bennett. 

Peter Burns, IRF Summit executive director, explained that the IRF Summit was designed ?to help the movement increase its impact in a noisy policy space that doesn't often give attention to cases of persecution around the world.?

?Over the past three years, our Summit partners have built a diverse coalition that is working to advance freedom of religion, conscience, and belief around the world,? Burns continued. ?But even as the movement for international religious freedom grows, we are witnessing increased levels of religious restriction and persecution around the world.? 

?Raising our voices in solidarity with those who suffer due to their beliefs is more important than ever.?

The IRF Summit?s sponsors include the Center for Religious Liberty at the Catholic University of America, Meta, and religious freedom advocacy groups for a variety of religions. 

Burns noted that the summit is unique in that it?s ?a partner-led gathering,? meaning that partner organizations ?develop the program and provide the content, often as a platform for the projects they are already working on.? 

When asked what he hopes students will take away from the program, Bennett highlighted ?foundational? principles of religious freedom. 

?We hope students will thoroughly understand why a robust defense of religious freedom is vital for defending everyone?s human dignity and protecting civil liberties that characterize a free society,? Bennett said. ?We then equip them to skillfully apply this knowledge to some of today?s greatest challenges.? 

Jesus and the disciples during Season 4 of "The Chosen." / 5&2 Studios / Mike Kubeisy

CNA Staff, Nov 25, 2024 / 18:15 pm (CNA).

The release of Season 5 of the hit series ?The Chosen? was announced Nov. 25 by 5&2 Studios. ?The Chosen: Last Supper? is coming to theaters during Lent, in the weeks leading up to Easter.

Season 5, which focuses on the events of Holy Week, will bring the most important week in history to viewers in a special theatrical release. During a four-week run in theaters, all episodes of Season 5 will be released in three parts starting with part one, episodes 1 and 2, to be released on March 27. Part two, episodes 3, 4, and 5, and part three, episodes 6, 7, and 8, will be released in the weeks following. 

Beginning April 10, ?The Chosen: Last Supper? will also be released in theaters globally in over 40 countries including Brazil, Mexico, Italy, Germany, Poland, Philippines, United Kingdom, and India. 

After the full-season run in theaters concludes, the season will make its streaming debut. 

The newly released trailer begins with a glimpse of Jesus and the disciples during The Last Supper and teases other powerful moments including Jesus? entry into Jerusalem, the cleansing of the temple, and Judas? betrayal. 

Earlier this year at ChosenCon, the annual ?Chosen? fan convention in Orlando, CNA spoke with several of the cast members about the upcoming season of the popular show. 

Dallas Jenkins, the show?s creator, director, and writer, told CNA that Season 5 is ?sad at times; it?s actually heartbreaking at times because we know we?re getting closer and closer to the cross ? We?re going to get to see some iconic moments from Scripture, but we?re also going to, I believe, be drawn closer to who Jesus was because of his suffering.?

Ryan Swanson, one of the writers of ?The Chosen,? added that Season 5 is ?truly going to feel like a different kind of series. After Season 4?s dread and doom and foreshadowing, this is when the wick is lit.?

?We have stepped up our game in every aspect,? Luke Dimyan, the actor who portrays Judas Iscariot, said. ?The filmmaking, the production, the cameras we used. We even felt it on set ? the way we scheduled and we worked ? everybody was on their A game. So I think you?ll be able to see that on screen and I think you?re really going to like what you see. We put our all into this.?

Nov. 25 marked the 40th anniversary of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Argentina and Chile, a treaty that was mediated by Pope St. John Paul II. Pope Francis is shown here speaking at the event. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Nov 25, 2024 / 17:40 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis presided over a solemn event Monday at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Argentina and Chile that settled a border dispute between the two countries.

The pontiff denounced the hypocrisy of some countries ?where there is much talk of peace? but ?the highest yielding investments are in the production of arms.? 

This pharisaical attitude, he continued, always leads ?to the failure of fraternity and peace. May the international community make the force of law prevail through dialogue, for dialogue ?must be the soul of the international community.?

The agreement between Chile and Argentina resolved the crisis caused by a territorial dispute over the Beagle Channel and sovereignty over several islands. The Vatican played an essential role in this peace agreement after St. John Paul II sent Cardinal Antonio Samorè as mediator, who worked out the agreement between both nations, avoiding an armed conflict.

Speaking before the authorities and the diplomatic corps of both countries, among whom were the Argentine ambassador to the Holy See, Luis Pablo Beltramino and the Chilean foreign minister, Alberto van Klaveren, Pope Francis praised the papal mediation that avoided the conflict that was ?about to set two brother peoples against each other.?

In his speech, the Holy Father proposed this agreement as a model to imitate, while renewing his call for peace and dialogue in the face of current conflicts, where ?recourse to force? prevails.

Mediating role of St. John Paul II 

He recalled in particular the mediation of St. John Paul II, who from the first days of his pontificate showed great concern and demonstrated a constant effort not only to prevent the dispute between Argentina and Chile ?from degenerating into a disgraceful armed conflict,? but also to find ?the way to definitively resolve this dispute.?

The pontiff noted that after receiving the request of both governments ?accompanied by concrete and stringent commitments,? St. Pope John Paul II agreed to mediate the conflict with the aim of proposing ?a just and equitable, and therefore honorable solution.?

For Pope Francis, this agreement deserves to be proposed ?in the current world situation, in which so many conflicts persist and degenerate without an effective will to resolve them through the absolute exclusion of recourse to force or the threat of its use.?

The pope recalled the words of Benedict XVI on the 25th anniversary of the treaty, who said that the agreement ?is a shining example of the power of the human spirit and the desire for peace in the face of the barbarity and senselessness of violence and war as a means of resolving differences.?

For the Holy Father, this is ?a most timely example? of how it is necessary to persevere at all times with ?firm determination to the final consequences in an endeavor to resolve disputes with a real desire for dialogue and agreement, through patient negotiation and with the necessary compromises, always taking into account the just requirements and legitimate interests of all.?

In conclusion, Pope Francis described what is happening in Ukraine and Palestine as ?two failures? of humanity today where the ?arrogance of the invader prevails over dialogue.?

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

Cardinal Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, a native of Seville, Spain, served as prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue. Known for his commitment to fostering dialogue between faiths, he was a key figure in the Vatican?s efforts to promote mutual understanding and peace. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Newsroom, Nov 25, 2024 / 17:00 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, a Spanish-born prelate and prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, died today aged 72 after a long illness.

Pope Francis asked for prayers for the cardinal earlier this morning, telling an international Jain delegation at the Vatican that the cardinal was ?very ill, near the end of his life.?

A respected expert in Islam, Ayuso devoted much of his career to promoting dialogue with the Muslim religion and played a key role in Pope Francis? ?Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together,? signed in Abu Dhabi in 2019.

He took part in Pope Francis? historic visits to Muslim-majority nations, first as secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, and after October 2019, as the dicastery?s prefect.

The visits included the UAE and Morocco in 2019, and then, as dicastery prefect, to Iraq in 2021, and Kazakhstan and Bahrain in 2022. The Vatican said he ?remained active in his mission until health challenges overtook him.?

Born on June 17, 1952, in Seville, Spain, Ayuso came from a large, devout Catholic family and was the fifth of nine children.

He initially studied law at the University of Seville but felt called to religious life. In 1973, he joined the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus, taking his perpetual vows in 1980. He was ordained a priest the same year. He pursued further ecclesiastical education in Rome, obtaining a licentiate from the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI) in 1982 and later a doctorate in dogmatic theology from the University of Granada in 2000.

Following his studies, Ayuso embarked on missionary work in Egypt and Sudan from 1982 to 2002. During this time, he served as a parish priest in Cairo and directed a catechetical center in the diocese of El-Obeid, Sudan. His academic career flourished as he taught Islamology in Khartoum from 1989 and later in Cairo. In 2006, he became the president of PISAI in Rome, solidifying his reputation as an expert in Islamic studies.

Ayuso's expertise in interreligious dialogue led to his appointment as a consultor of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue in 2007. His career in the Vatican progressed rapidly: In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI named him Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue; in 2016, Pope Francis appointed him archbishop and Titular Bishop of Luperciana; in 2019, he was named President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue; and in October that same year, Pope Francis elevated him to the rank of cardinal.

One of Ayuso?s most significant achievements was his role in resuming dialogue with Grand Imam Ahmed el-Tayeb of Cairo?s Al-Azhar University.

Renowned as Islam?s most prestigious institution for Islamic learning, Al-Azhar suspended dialogue with the Vatican in 2011 on the grounds that Pope Benedict XVI had made ?repetitive and negative statements? about Muslims.

Ayuso?s brokered reconciliation culminated in the landmark but controversial ?Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together,? signed in Abu Dhabi in February 2019 by Pope Francis and el-Tayeb. The cardinal had also represented the Holy See on the board of directors of the King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID) since its founding in 2012.

In response to critics concerned about the Vatican?s current course of interreligious dialogue and its alleged tendency toward syncretism, he emphasized that interreligious dialogue and initiatives like the ?Document on Human Fraternity? were not about creating a ?melting pot? where all religions were considered equal. Instead, he argued it was about recognizing ?that all believers, those who seek God, and all people of good will without religious affiliation are equal in dignity.?

He asserted that the Catholic Church always engages in interreligious dialogue while remembering ?the value of her own identity.? Ayuso also noted that pluralism in societies invites reflection on one?s own identity, ?without which authentic interreligious dialogue is impossible.?

Responding to criticism that the ?Document on Human Fraternity? could lead to syncretism, he reiterated that each faith retains its own identity in these dialogues, and used the metaphor of a ?rich mixed salad? to describe how different faiths can come together while maintaining their distinct identities.

In 2023, Cardinal Ayuso strongly endorsed the Abrahamic Family House, an interfaith complex in Abu Dhabi designed to promote mutual understanding, peaceful coexistence, and interfaith dialogue among Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. The cardinal said the complex, which opened in 2023, was a ?beacon of mutual understanding? and that he believed it could foster mutual respect and understanding while allowing each faith to maintain its distinct identity. Critics argued that the initiative fostered religious indifferentism and was theologically unsound.

Vatican News said Nov. 25 that Cardinal Ayuso ?embodied Pope Francis? vision of fraternity,? as outlined in the 2020 encyclical Fratelli Tutti(All Brothers),and that through his ?tireless dedication to dialogue, he demonstrated that peaceful coexistence among diverse faiths is both possible and necessary.?

Father Enzo Fortunato, OFM Conv., communications director for St. Peter?s Basilica, holds up a copy of the first issue of the Vatican's new monthly magazine, ?Piazza San Pietro.? / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Vatican City, Nov 25, 2024 / 14:35 pm (CNA).

The Vatican on Monday publicized further initiatives undertaken by St. Peter?s Basilica in light of the 2025 Jubilee Year ? including a new magazine and a livestream of the tomb of St. Peter.

Pope Francis will inaugurate the live webcam of the tomb of the apostle and first pope on Dec. 2.

The Vatican also announced the publication of a new magazine, under the direction of the leadership of St. Peter?s Basilica, called "Piazza San Pietro." A regular feature of the new monthly will be a ?Letters to the Editor? column, in which Pope Francis will respond to readers? letters.

The periodical, whose pilot issue is out now, will be published in English, Spanish, and Italian. It can be purchased at the new visitor center for St. Peter?s Basilica or via mail subscription.

In a speech introducing the periodical, the archpriest of St. Peter?s Basilica, Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, OFM Conv., called its publication ?a courageous choice, which the creativity and energy of Father Enzo [Fortunato] pushed us to do??

Father Enzo Fortunato, OFM Conv., communications director for St. Peter?s Basilica since January, has been a prominent media personality in Italy since the late 1990s. He also has experience with institutional communications for the Franciscans.

At a Nov. 25 press conference at the Vatican, Fortunato pointed out Pope Francis? invitation to journalists to ?wear out the soles of your shoes,? calling it a ?strong reminder of traditional journalism, for deeper immersion in reality, for direct contact with places, but most of all with people.?

?This is our idea of communication, this is our strategy, the heart of the communication plan,? he said, speaking about St. Peter?s Basilica.

Father Orazio Pepe, secretary of the Fabric of St. Peter, read Gambetti?s remarks after the cardinal could not attend the press conference as planned.

The Vatican also announced two other novelties regarding the basilica on Monday.

The Fabric of St. Peter will make available a multipurpose room inside the basilica?s offices for holding press conferences and briefings with journalists and St. Peter?s Basilica will be rebranded with a custom font, to be used on a new website launching in 2025.

Nigerian priests, Father George Ehusani, founder of the Psycho-Spiritual Institute (PSI) and Executive Director of the Lux Terra Leadership Foundation, and Father Hyacinth Ichoku, the Vice Chancellor of Veritas University Abuja, expressed grave concern about the worsening security situation in Nigeria, noting recent activities by the less-known Lakurawa jihadist group in the country?s Northwest region. / Credit: Father George Ehusani

ACI Africa, Nov 25, 2024 / 13:15 pm (CNA).

Two Catholic priests from Nigeria have expressed grave concern about the worsening security situation in the West African nation, noting that recent activity by the less-known Lakurawa jihadist group in the northwest part of the country spells trouble for the region still battling widespread Boko Haram insurgency.

The Lakurawa jihadist group is said to have first emerged in Northwest Nigeria in 2018 when the group began helping locals fight armed gangs known as bandits.

The group, which is said to be an offshoot of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), appeared again after the July 2023 coup in Niger in herding communities along the Nigeria-Niger border, having gradually turned militant.

Locals knew they were dealing with yet another deadly jihadist group when, on Nov. 8, the group attacked a rural community in Nigeria's Northwest Kebbi State and hacked 15 people to death. The group also injured several villagers and made away with stolen cattle.

In an interview with ACI Africa on Nov. 20, Father George Ehusani, founder of the Psycho-Spiritual Institute (PSI) and Executive Director of the Lux Terra Leadership Foundation, expressed concern that the new jihadist group could be slowly trying to make Nigeria?s Northwest region its stronghold, a situation the priest said will compound the region?s insecurity.

?We have insecurity coming from different directions,? Ehusani said when ACI Africa asked him about what ails Nigeria. ?We have a new terrorist group that arose about two weeks ago in the Northwestern part of Nigeria. The group is linked to the Islamic State, and we hear the members are coming from Niger,? he said.

Ehusani explained that the Lakurawa members have already been accused of kidnappings, killings, and imposing stringent sharia laws upon locals.

?The Lakurawa invades an entire village, imposes taxes on the people, and begins to run the society like a government does,? he told ACI Africa, adding, ?We are in serious trouble. The Lakurawas are even preventing locals from going to their farms, forcing them to work on jihadists? farms instead.?

The new jihadist group came promising to protect locals against armed attackers, Ehusani recalled. ?The people are left with no option but to pay taxes in exchange for protection. They are a terrorist group who are paid to protect villagers from their rival terrorist groups.?

Ehusani is running PSI, an initiative that helps train and support psycho-spiritual trauma healing experts in a country that is witnessing a rise in trauma victims due to widespread jihadism and other forms of violence.

Ehusani, who provides therapy to previously kidnapped priests in Nigeria shared more with ACI Africa about the existence of rival terrorist groups in Nigeria.

?Once, a priest who had been kidnapped and released told me that among the bandits and jihadists, there are different competing groups. He said that the fact that one bandit group frees their hostage doesn?t mean that the hostage is free. One may be freed and be immediately kidnapped by another waiting rival bandit group,? he said. 

Ehusani spoke to ACI Africa during his visit to PSI?s campus in Kenya. He was accompanied by Father Hyacinth Ichoku, Vice Chancellor of Veritas University Abuja, the Catholic University in Nigeria that has accepted affiliation with PSI.

Shedding more light on the origin of the Lakurawa group, Ichoku told ACI Africa, ?A few weeks ago, some soldiers were killed in Chad. The President of Chad wanted to dislodge everyone that was involved in the killing of the soldiers. This is what led to the birth of this group.?

He said that some of the militants who crossed over to Nigeria from Chad formed part of the Lakurawa group that he said have become ?a nightmare? to the people in Northwest Nigeria.

Ichoku said that the Lakurawa were presenting themselves as ?saviors? among the communities that have for decades been terrorized by Boko Haram and other jihadist groups.

?Everyone knows that this is no savior but just another terrorist group, seeking to destroy the others for it to dominate and to continue terrorizing locals,? he said.

?The group is still small yet very potent,? he further said, and expressed hope that Nigerian authorities can ?nip it in the bud.?

Expressing the challenge that Nigeria might face is stemming the new Lakurawa group, Ichoku said, ?The military is facing a multi-faced war in the north particularly, where it is fighting different terrorist groups. In such a situation, any military tends to spread the strengths across different groups.?

In the Nov. 20 interview, Ehusani also spoke about the growing farmer-herder crisis especially in places where the Fulanis go in Nigeria.

The challenge, he said, is that there are Fulanis in the countries neighboring Nigeria including Mali, Niger, Chad, and Burkina Faso.

?These people speak the same language and are over 90 percent Muslim. They are linked by both tribe and religion. They believe that they can go anywhere without anyone standing in their way,? Ehusani said.

?The challenge is that we don?t have any serious borders here. When a Fulani comes to Nigeria, he may walk around without anyone noticing that he is not Nigerian. And the immigration officials at the border can?t stop their fellow Fulanis from crossing,? he said.

Some of the Fulanis who have been found to be hostile towards Christian farmers have tribesmen and fellow Muslims in security agencies who give them protection, Ehusani said.

He criticized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu?s government for not showing seriousness in the fight against terrorists.

?At the moment, the government doesn?t even have credibility. You need a high credibility as government, whereby people accept you as government to be able to address this evil,? he said.

In the Nov. 20 interview, Ehusani expressed regret that Nigerians have also become more loyal to their religion and ethnic groups than to the country. ?Some would protect known terrorists that are of their religion and ethnicity,? he said.

For him, insecurity in Nigeria will never end as long as there are high-level people benefitting from it. He said he finds it difficult to believe that it is the kidnappers ?in the bush? solely benefitting from the kidnappings that are on the rise in most parts of Nigeria.

?There is no way that the boys in the bush are the ones benefitting from the huge amounts money they collect as ransom to release their kidnapped victims. It is a cartel in which higher people are involved, and it is them who are getting the bigger chunk of the money,? he said.

Ehusani said that Nigeria has a long way to go in the fight against jihadism and other forms of banditry.

?We need a form of revolution, a certain kind of complete overhaul of the system, because as things are, the criminals have taken over; they have taken over at every level,? he added.

This article was originally published by ACI Africa and has been adapted for CNA.

Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, who died at the age of 24 in 1925, is beloved by many Catholic young people today for his enthusiastic witness to holiness that reaches ?to the heights.? / Public Domain

Vatican City, Nov 25, 2024 / 12:45 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis recognized a miracle attributed to Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati?s intercession on Monday, paving the way for his canonization as a saint during the Catholic Church?s Jubilee of Youth next summer.

Frassati, who died at the age of 24 in 1925, is beloved by many Catholic young people today for his enthusiastic witness to holiness that reaches ?to the heights.?

The young man from the northern Italian city of Turin was an avid mountaineer and third order Dominican known for his charitable outreach.

Frassati?s canonization will occur during the Jubilee of Youth in Rome on Aug. 3, 2025.

The miracle

In a decree on Nov. 25, Pope Francis recognized the miraculous healing of a seminarian of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles ? who was recently ordained a priest in June 2023.

Monsignor Robert Sarno, a former official of the Vatican Dicastery for the Causes of Saints who served as the archiepiscopal delegate in the diocesan process in Los Angeles that examined the healing, told CNA that the seminarian had damaged his Achilles tendon in a basketball accident while playing with other seminarians. 

After the MRI showed significant damage to his Achilles tendon, his doctor recommended that he see an orthopedic surgeon.

?Being very upset about the whole thing, he started a novena to Pier Giorgio Frassati on Nov. 1,? Sarno explained. 

Midway through the novena, ?he was in the chapel crying during his novena and he felt this tremendous warmth in his ankle.? 

"And then when he went to the orthopedic surgeon a week later, the orthopedic surgeon, after seeing the MRI and conducting physical investigations, said to him, 'You must have someone in heaven who likes you'"

The seminarian was able to immediately resume playing the sports that he loved without any difficulties. The healing was verified by a diocesan inquiry and the examination of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints? medical board, theologians, and the cardinals and bishops.

Sarno noted that it is fitting that a young man playing basketball received the healing given that Frassati was known for his love of sport and outdoor activities.

?To the heights? of holiness

Born on Holy Saturday, April 6, 1901, Frassati was the son of the founder and director of the Italian newspaper La Stampa.

At the age of 17, he joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society and dedicated much of his spare time to taking care of the poor, the homeless, and the sick, as well as demobilized servicemen returning from World War I.

Frassati was also involved in the Apostleship of Prayer and Catholic Action. He obtained permission to receive daily Communion.

On a photograph of what would be his last climb, Frassati wrote the phrase, ?Verso L?Alto,? which means ?to the heights.? This phrase has become a motto for Catholics inspired by Frassati to strive for the summit of eternal life with Christ.

Frassati died of polio on July 4, 1925. His doctors later speculated that the young man had caught polio while serving the sick.

John Paul II, who beatified Frassati in 1990, called him a ?man of the eight beatitudes,? describing him as ?entirely immersed in the mystery of God and totally dedicated to the constant service of his neighbor.?

Pope Francis praised Frassati for sharing the love of Jesus with the poor in a speech on June 24.

?I am reminded of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati ? soon to be a saint ? who in Turin used to go into the homes of the poor to bring help,? the pope said.

?Pier Giorgio was from a wealthy, upper-middle class family, but he did not grow up ?wrapped in cotton wool,? he did not lose himself in the ?good life,? because within him there was the lifeblood of the Holy Spirit, there was love for Jesus and for his brothers,? he added.

Other soon-to-be saints announced

In addition to Frassati, Pope Francis also recognized a miracle attributed to Blessed Maria Troncatti (1883-1969), an Italian religious sister from the Congregation of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians who served as a missionary among indigenous peoples in Ecuador.

The pope also approved the martyrdoms of Vietnamese Servant of God Francis Xavier Tru'o'ng B?u Di?p (1897-1946) and Congolese Servant of God Floribert Bwana Chui Bin Kositi (1981-2007), making possible their beatifications.

Father Francis Xavier was a Vietnamese priest who defended the rights of local citizens against plunder by armed gangs at the end of the Second World War. On March 12, 1946, he was taken prisoner by a group of militiamen together with others and locked up in a rice warehouse, where he was interrogated. 

A few days later, his disfigured body was found in a ditch. Following his death, Christians began to visit his tomb, asking for his intercession and obtaining graces, according to the Vatican.

Floribert Bwana Chui Bin Kositi was a Congolese layman, lawyer, and member of the Saint Egidio Community. He worked as a commissioner for a customs office controlling food supplies entering the country, a role in which he opposed several attempted acts of corruption. For this, he was kidnapped, tortured, and killed in July 2007. The Vatican recognized his martyrdom in ?odium fidei? because his killing was motivated by the fact that ?he was a man of faith, animated by a strong sense of justice and a concrete love for his neighbor.?

In the decree, Pope Francis authorized the beatification of Venerable Juana de la Cruz(1481-1534), the abbess of the Convent of ?Santa Maria della Croce? in Cubas de Madrid, without the usually required miracle due to the recognition of the longstanding ?cult,? or devotion that has spread and continued for centuries. 

The pope also recognized the heroic virtue of Croatian Bishop Josip Lang (1857-1924) who was known for his service to the poor and formation of seminarians.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Woelki was Archbishop of Berlin from 2011 to 2014.

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

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

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

Pope Francis meets with the academic community of the John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences in the Vatican, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024 / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Nov 25, 2024 / 11:39 am (CNA).

Pope Francis met with the academic community of the John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences in the Vatican on Monday morning, encouraging continued collaboration with scholars and cultural institutions to better support Catholic spouses and families. 

Citing Pope St. Paul VI?s 1975 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, which highlights ?the rupture between the Gospel and culture,? the pope said it is necessary that the institute continues to develop a ?critical understanding? of the anthropological and cultural challenges affecting marriage and family life today.

?The ability to fully carry out the evangelizing mission that engages every Christian depends on the ability to face these challenges,? the pope said to members of the pontifical institute. 

The John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences, which has its main headquarters in Rome, also has branches in other countries including the U.S., Nigeria, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, India and South Korea.   

?It is good that the Institute's branches, present in different countries of the world, carry out their activities in dialogue with scholars and cultural institutions, even those with different approaches,? the Holy Father said during the private audience.

To support the mission of spouses and families as ?witnesses of fidelity, service, openness to life, and welcome,? the pope insisted that unmarried couples living together who are ?postponing their marital commitment, as well as divorced and remarried people, require particular spiritual accompaniment and must not be excluded.?

?The Church does not close the door to those who struggle on the path of faith, indeed, she throws the door wide open, because everyone ?needs merciful and encouraging pastoral attention? (Amoris Laetitia, 293),? he said.

?Without excluding anyone, the Church promotes the family, founded on marriage, contributing in every place and at every time to make the conjugal bond more solid,? he added. 

Following the Vatican?s monthlong global Synod on Synodality meetings in October, the Holy Father said there is a heightened ?ecclesial awareness? for the proper recognition and participation of the lay faithful in the life and mission of the Church.

?We know how decisive marriage and the family are for the life of peoples: the Church has always cared for them, supported them and evangelized them,? the pope said.

During the audience, the pope also praised the institute?s work in promoting the ?gospel of the family,? particularly in ?countries where public authorities do not respect the dignity and freedom to which every human being has an inalienable right as a child of God.? 

Referring to the evangelizing witness of Catholic families, the pope said ?it is this gospel that helps everyone, in every culture, to always seek what is in accordance with humanity and with the desire for salvation rooted in every man and every woman.?

?In this regard, let us remember that the first Christian communities developed in a domestic form, expanding family units by welcoming new believers, and they met in homes,? he said.

The John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences was formed in 2017, following Pope Francis? motu proprio Summa familiae cura and replacing the former institute founded by John Paul II in 1981. 

The institute is affiliated with the Congregation for Catholic Education, the Pontifical Academy of Life, and the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life. 

null / Credit: Mer_Studio/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Nov 25, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

In today?s complex society, it takes effort to ensure that your hard-earned money, once invested and out in the financial ether, doesn?t fund the kinds of things that Catholics abhor ? like abortion, pornography, or unethical labor practices. 

But surely the Church itself, with its significant invested assets, has this figured out already? right? 

Though the principles behind Catholic investing have been clearly articulated in recent years, sources told CNA that many Catholic entities still have a long way to go to make sure their investments actually align with those principles. 

Case in point: when Daniel Catone, founder of Arimathea Investing, and his team of financial experts started digging into the finances of Catholic entities who approached them, they discovered something extraordinary ? and surprisingly pervasive. 

Nearly all of their Catholic clients, including many U.S. dioceses, were unwittingly funding ? sometimes to the tune of millions of dollars ? products and practices that directly contradict the faith.

?We have to look at the reality of the choices that we?re making with our dollars, [because] just as Our Lord will call us to account for every careless word that comes from our mouths, so too will the Lord call us to account for every careless dollar that left our wallets,? Catone told CNA. 

Arimathea is just one of a growing number of Catholic firms seeking to help individuals, ministries, and dioceses align their investment portfolios with the teachings of the Catholic Church, all while seeking competitive financial returns.

What has the Church taught about investing?

The Church has weighed in quite comprehensively ? and quite recently ? on the topic of investing, both at the level of the bishops of the United States in 2021 and at the worldwide level with the 2022 Vatican document Mensuram Bonam. 

Mensuram Bonam ? the title of which means ?a good measure? ? casts a wide net, exhorting investors to consider the ethics and consequences of their actions, especially how their investment choices will affect the world?s most vulnerable. It emphasizes that Catholic investors should seek not only to avoid harm but also actively promote good.

The document identifies a set of core principles for investors rooted in Catholic social teaching. 

The principles include the recognition of the dignity of every human being; promoting the common good; working in solidarity with the most vulnerable; caring for the environment; and subsidiarity ? the idea that decision-making should be done at the most appropriate level.

The guidelines also lay out specific exclusionary criteria that Catholic investors need to be aware of and screen for. These include the funding of abortion, armaments, nuclear weapons, contraceptives, embryonic stem cell research, pornography, addictive substances, human rights violations such as breaches of labor laws, corruption, and unfair business practices. 

The development of Mensuram Bonam was prompted, in part, by a controversy in recent years over the Vatican?s own investments.

In April 2021, an Italian investigative news program accused the Vatican?s treasury of investing 20 million euros (then around $24 million) in several pharmaceutical companies involved in making emergency contraception, or the ?morning-after pill.? A subsequent 2022 policy was drawn up mandating that the Holy See?s financial investments cannot contradict Catholic teaching.

The U.S. Catholic bishops? ?Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines,? released in 2021, applies to the U.S. investment landscape many similar concepts found within the latter-written Mensuram Bonam.

The bishops urge the importance of discerning whether investments will protect human life, which means avoiding any company involved in abortion, euthanasia, and assisted suicide, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning, and other practices the Church teaches to be evil. 

At the same time, investors must endeavor to promote human dignity and the common good, the bishops wrote. 

This means Catholic investors should avoid companies known to persistently violate the human rights of their workers or who operate in countries with poor human rights records. Companies with ties to pornography, human trafficking, or a non-Catholic view of gender identity and expression should be avoided, the bishops noted. 

This also means eschewing investments in certain ?harmful habitual behaviors? and ?addictive materials? such as gambling, tobacco, and recreational drugs; also firearms, the bishops said, except for legitimate hunting, military, or law enforcement use.

At the same time, the bishops urged investors to support positive things such as renewable energy sources; biodiversity and water resources; affordable housing; and, in the face of an often negative outlook from many Hollywood productions, virtuous media that strengthens families and contributes to a more positive and humane culture.

?A fully integrated life?

After a successful two-decade career in finance overseeing billions of dollars in investments, Catone, who has a master?s degree in theology, went all-in on what he calls ?faithful investing.?

He founded Arimathea in 2023 as an asset management company that conducts in-depth, tech-forward research to ensure its clients? portfolios ? ?dollars meant to be used for the people of God? ? are truly Catholic-aligned.

By trusting large secular firms like BlackRock or Morgan Stanley to manage their money, many Catholics are unknowingly funding organizations and practices that directly contradict the Church?s teachings, he reiterated, citing Arimathea?s own rigorous research. 

These include investments in companies like Microsoft, which not only pays for employees? abortion travel but also has been known to violate workers? rights in developing countries; other companies that directly cause abortions by distributing Plan B drugs; even companies such as hotel chains that directly profit off the sale of pornography, he said. 

?I came to the realization that the secular world was, in a way, pulling the wool over the eyes of the Catholic Church. And shocking as this may sound, most people do not become bishops because they?re really good at picking stocks, and so they rely upon the expertise of these secular organizations,? Catone said. 

He urged Catholics to examine their own investments, such as their 401(k), with a trusted financial adviser. 

?Step 1 is to stop treating our money as ?out of sight, out of mind.? Because the Lord is calling us to live a fully integrated life,? Catone said. 

?Our Lord Jesus Christ needs to be the Lord of every part of our life ? and that also includes our 401(k) and our IRA. So in order to wake up, the first step is to open our eyes ? because we can?t repent of what we don?t know.?

On Arimathea?s website, Catholics can send their investment portfolio to the company, which will then screen it, for free, offering a kind of ?report card? on the ethicality of each investment from a Catholic perspective, Catone noted. He added that Arimathea?s research is informed by a strong understanding of Catholic theology ? a rarity among investment firms ? as well as what he calls a ?literal reading? of the 2021 USCCB document. 

Arimathea is also working to develop a network of accredited advisers who are trained in the principles of Catholic social teaching and can guide Catholic investors, he said.

The goal is not merely to avoid ?bad? companies but also actively seek out investments that promote human dignity and the common good, he emphasized. 

One way to do this is through proxy voting, a tool for influencing corporate behavior and promoting change from within that Catone said can be helpful in pushing companies to adopt more ethical practices. He said Catholics should be actively engaged in trying to improve the companies they invest in and have had some success at that in the past. 

Catone said the success Arimathea has had financially demonstrates that it is possible to invest in a way that is fully in line with the Catholic faith without sacrificing monetary returns. 

?What we?re trying to show at Arimathea is you can draw the line ... and say you know what? No abortion, no pornography, no drugs, no slave labor. And you know what? The returns are great,? he concluded.

Excellent and authentically Catholic, together

Shane Giblin, CEO of The Abbey Group, told CNA that the cultural milieu following the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade exposed ?a bit of a crisis in the area of Catholic investing.?

The Abbey Group came about in the late 2010s after St. Michael?s Abbey in Orange County, California, under Giblin?s fundraising leadership, managed to raise $150 million to build a new abbey, far outpacing expectations. 

They started doing pro bono consulting to help other Catholic entities replicate their success, launching officially in 2020 with a goal to help worthy Catholic causes generate and grow the resources they need to fully live out their mission. The Abbey Group is selective in its projects, evaluating them based on alignment with Catholic teachings, the potential impact of their endeavors, and the strength of their leadership.

Giblin said in the wake of Roe?s overturn, the ?screens? that were being applied to many Catholic investment portfolios needed to be reevaluated; it wasn?t clear how effective they were, or what they were doing to potentially limit returns, he noted. 

The other thing that Giblin said he noticed was that many Catholic investors weren?t allocating much to private equity ? the buying and selling of shares in privately-held businesses. 

?What we saw was a great deal of interest and encouragement in creating an alternative investment solution that is authentically Catholic, specifically something in the private equity space,? Giblin said. 

To address the need, Giblin said Abbey Group Capital has partnered with Carrick Capital Partners, a firm run by a faithful Catholic, to help its clients grow the money they raise ? and do so in a way that aligns with the Church?s teachings. 

The partnership, which benefits from the spiritual guidance from the Norbertine priests at the abbey, ensures investments align with Catholic values, such as avoidance of abortion and positive support for mothers wishing to keep and raise their children, Giblin said. 

Giblin said he hopes their approach will inspire others in the Catholic community to adopt similar strategies, ultimately contributing to a more dynamic and competitive landscape in Catholic investing.

?It seems all too often that the Catholic space has to make the decision between either being excellent or being authentically Catholic. I think that?s a problem that we need to really break ourselves out of, a dynamic we need to run away from, because they?re not mutually exclusive terms,? he said. 

?I?ve seen a resurgence of late that gives me a lot of hope. I think that people are starting to become far more rigorous and far more attentive to the necessity to steward these resources with a great deal of vigilance when it comes to what they?re investing in and what they?re not investing in.?

Difference between secular investing, ESG, and Catholic investing

Richard Todd, CEO of Innovest, a Catholic financial firm based in Colorado that manages about $50 billion, said there was little awareness of the possibility, or even the need, for Catholic-aligned investments back in 1996 when he founded his firm.

But that landscape has changed significantly with the rise of large, secular investment firms ?taking advantage? of trusting Catholics, he said. 

?The ?other side? has been taking advantage of Catholics for, I would say, probably the last 10 years, but very specifically in the last five,? Todd told CNA.

?It used to be, as a Catholic investor, if you owned a company, you could trust management to do what?s right for the company. But it?s no longer the case because of this pressure that these large asset managers are putting on.?

Todd said Innovest works with clients to develop customized investment guidelines that reflect their unique values, allowing organizations like dioceses and universities to articulate their specific ethical concerns and ensure that their investment portfolios are truly aligned with their mission.

They then design diversified portfolios that include traditional stocks and bonds, along with alternative investments such as real estate, private debt, and private equity.

Todd, echoing Catone, emphasized the importance of going beyond simply avoiding harmful investments, emphasizing the importance of seeking out companies that promote positive values. He said Innovest looks for companies that prioritize human flourishing and foster a strong company culture, and also reiterated the importance of Catholics with large investments using proxy voting to influence companies for the better. 

?Many organizations that are Catholic don?t pay any attention to proxy voting. They end up voting for things that are completely outside their values, outside Catholic values. We believe that understanding how proxies are voted is really crucial,? he said. 

He noted that a popular framework of values-based investing, environmental, social, and governance (ESG), also known as impact investing, can include elements that are ?anti-Christian? or misaligned with Catholic values. He said he seeks to educate clients on the differences between secular investing, ESG, and Catholic investing. 

Like Giblin, Todd said he firmly believes that investors do not have to sacrifice financial returns to invest in alignment with Catholic values. He pointed to the rise of competent asset managers who are adept at managing Catholic-values portfolios while achieving market-competitive or even superior results compared with secular portfolios. 

?I think, though, that there are [still] very few in the Catholic world that think this way. I think we?re in the first inning,? Todd said.

?There are some, I think, that are moving in this direction that are prominent and well known. Our hope is that their courage will help lead others to really take a serious look at the way they manage their money. But there?s a lot to be done.?

A candle of St. Jude. / Credit: Francesca Pollio/CNA

CNA Staff, Nov 24, 2024 / 15:25 pm (CNA).

An attorney for the popular podcaster and exorcist Father Carlos Martins says the priest did nothing improper during a parish event in Illinois last week and that initial news reports about an ongoing police investigation into his conduct were incorrect and damaging to his reputation.

Martins simply touched a girl?s hair in front of more than 200 other students while making a joke about his own baldness, attorney Marcella Burke said in a statement released to CNA.

The Nov. 21 meeting with students took place ?in a classroom setting with teachers, clergy, parish staff, and volunteers present? at St. Paul Catholic Church in Joliet, Illinois, she said.

Martins, a priest of the Companions of the Cross order known for hosting the "Exorcist Files" podcast, was visiting the area as part of his national touring exhibit of a relic of the arm of St. Jude the Apostle. 

?As he always does, Fr. Martins began his interaction with the attendees in ?chit-chat? dialogue. He is bald and apt to joke about it as a conversation starter,? Burke said in the statement.

?During his conversation with the older students, he made a comment to a student about her long hair, remarking, ?You and I have almost the same hair style,? a comment met with giggles. He then remarked that he also once had long hair like hers, and he joked he would ?floss my teeth with it.? Again, his comment was meant for a teenage audience and was met with laughter. 

?He then asked the student, ?Have you ever flossed with your hair??? the statement continued. ?Laughing, she shook her head, no. He then said, ?Well, you have the perfect length for it,? as he lifted up a lock from her shoulders to show her its length. She giggled along with the others.?

When the girl returned home and recounted the story, however, her father ?became upset by what he heard and called the police,? Burke said in the statement.

?The police arrived at the parish during the event and, after questioning the students, left without making any arrests or filing charges. It was only after the outraged father called the police a second time, insisting that they charge Fr. Martins with battery, that the police agreed to further investigate,? the statement said.

?There is no indication that any new evidence has been uncovered that would implicate Fr. Martins of any wrongdoing. To date, no charges have been filed,? Burke added.

Burke said this fuller context was missing from initial news reports about the police investigation, which she claimed left the erroneous impression that the allegation involved sexual misconduct, which is not the case. 

?Fr. Carlos Martins is a well-respected priest, in good standing with the Catholic Church, and held in high esteem on account of his evangelical and educational work,? Burke said in the statement to CNA.

?In his 15 years as priest, he has never once been accused of or involved in any form of scandal or impropriety,? she said.

In a statement posted on the Queen of the Apostles Catholic Church parish website, Father Michael Lane, the parish moderator, and Father Gregory Alberts, the parochial vicar, said the relic visit to the parish was canceled after ?an incident with the priest and some students was reported to have happened in our church.?

?We immediately contacted the police,? the priests said. ?A police investigation is still ongoing. The priest was confronted with the information. We informed the priest that he must depart from our parish and out of our diocese.?

The two priests said they further informed Joliet Bishop Ronald Hicks, who ?canceled the tour of the relic scheduled at two more of our parishes this week.?

The bishop ?also informed the superior of the Companions of the Cross Order of priests? of the incident.

Temporary suspension 

The Companions of the Cross Order proceeded to temporarily suspend Father Martins' ministry, a suspension which Father Martins' lawyer says ?is standard practice for the order when questions of wrongdoing are raised."

Regarding the police investigation, Father Martins' attorney further clarified that there is no indication that there is an ongoing investigation. "We have never been informed first hand that Father Martins is under any type of ongoing investigation."

The attorney added that Father Martins "has never received a call from police. We stand ready to fully cooperate with law enforcement should they reach out to us. That said, Father Martins has engaged in no form of wrongdoing, criminal or otherwise, and any suggestion of any wrongdoing is pure speculation.?

The referenced statement by Father Lane and Father Alberts did not identify the priest by name, though the Pillar website on Saturday evening reported that the priest was Martins, who is the director of Treasures of the Church, a ministry focused on the veneration of relics.

On Sunday CNA could not immediately confirm whether Martins was the priest referenced in the statement by Father Lane and Father Alberts. Reached by CNA on Sunday afternoon, Martins declined to comment.

This story was updated with new information from Father Carlos Martins? attorney on Nov. 26.

Pope Francis welcomes Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East Mar Awa III to the Vatican on Nov. 9, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI MENA, Nov 24, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Following the second meeting between Pope Francis and Mar Awa III,ACI MENA, CNA?s Arabic-language news partner,conducted an exclusive interview with the catholicos-patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East to discuss the significance of Pope Francis? decision to include St. Isaac of Nineveh in the Martyrology of the Roman Catholic Church.

Welcoming Pope Francis? decision to include St. Isaac of Nineveh, a revered seventh-century mystic and theologian of the Assyrian Church, in the Martyrology of the Roman Catholic Church, Mar Awa III called it ?a very positive step in ecumenical relations between the Assyrian and Catholic churches.? 

?This recognition, along with that of other saints and martyrs from non-Catholic Eastern churches, is a commendable step toward sincere ecumenical relations,? he said.

The patriarch stressed the spiritual importance of this decision, saying: ?The saints and martyrs provide us with what is called an ?ecumenism of spirituality.? Their lives and teachings have the unique ability to transcend ecclesiastical and doctrinal boundaries and unite believers in common respect.?

Progress in theological dialogue

Reflecting on three decades of theological dialogue since the signing of the Common Christological Declaration, Mar Awa commended the relationship between the Assyrian and Catholic churches as one of the most successful in ecumenical history.

?Unlike other divisions within Christianity, there were no formal condemnations or excommunications between the Assyrian Church of the East and the Catholic Church,? he explained.

?The 1994 declaration dispelled the misunderstandings arising from the Council of Ephesus in 431, clarified the theological positions, and paved the way for greater understanding,? he added.

Mar Awa also pointed to the significant role of the historical context in fostering further unity.

?The role of the bishop of Rome must be redefined in a united church within a way that respects the patristic tradition of the first millennium. Such an approach could provide a solid foundation for future dialogue,? he said.

A call for unity amid persecution

Addressing the current challenges faced by Christians in the Middle East, the patriarch called for solidarity among churches. 

?It is essential for all Christian churches, especially in the Middle East, to come together and put aside theological differences and arguments,? he said, advocating for unity to confront the challenges of persecution and displacement.

Mar Awa expressed hope that the inclusion of St. Isaac would serve as an inspiration for Christians in the region.

?Through the testimony of saints like St. Isaac, we remember our common faith and the strength it provides, even in the face of suffering and adversity,? he said.

A bridge to deeper unity

Mar Awa highlighted the power of shared spirituality in fostering unity.

?Spirituality is a source of bringing churches closer together because saints transcend the doctrinal or ecclesiastical divide,? he said. ?The Lord?s Prayer, for example, unites us, regardless of language, because it is Our Lord?s teaching to all believers.?

He also noted the cooperation between the Catholic and Assyrian churches in areas such as education and humanitarian efforts but called for further initiatives to address historical divisions.

?It is necessary to strengthen cooperation among believers and heal the memories of the past, so that we can come together,? he concluded.

The Assyrian Church of the East

The Assyrian Church of the East traces its origins to the Apostolic Age, specifically to the evangelization efforts of St. Thomas and his disciples St. Addai and St. Mari in Mesopotamia. The church in this region of the world has endured centuries of persecution and displacement, particularly in the modern Middle East. Today, the global Assyrian Church of the East has approximately 500,000 members. 

Mar Awa III, a first-generation Assyrian American, was born in Chicago and was elected as the 122nd catholicos-patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East in 2021. He is the first Western-born patriarch of the Assyrian Church.

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

Pope Francis speaks on the solemnity Christ the King in St. Peter?s Basilica at the Vatican on Nov. 24, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

CNA Newsroom, Nov 24, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Marking the solemnity of Christ the King and the close of the liturgical year, Pope Francis presided over Mass in St. Peter?s Basilica on Sunday, urging young Catholics to reject superficial acclaim and embrace authentic Christian witness.

The gathering included the annual World Youth Day observance and featured a handover of the pilgrim symbols ? the WYD cross, first entrusted to youth by St. John Paul II in 1984, and the icon of Mary, known as Salus Populi Romani (Protection of the Roman People) ? from Portuguese youth to their Korean counterparts, who will host WYD in Seoul in 2027.

As the Church?s liturgical year drew to a close, the pope reflected on how Christian joy and love persist even amid global challenges.

?Only in love can we live, grow, and flourish in our full dignity,? Francis said, emphasizing that genuine love cannot be bought or sold but ?is free, it is the gift of oneself.?

The pontiff highlighted what he called ?little lights? that give strength to Christian witness: ?these little lights: the faithful affection of spouses ? a beautiful thing; the innocent joy of children ? this is a beautiful joy; the enthusiasm of young people ? be enthusiastic, all of you; and care for the elderly.?

?Dear young people, be careful not to get carried away by illusions. Please be concrete because reality is concrete,? the pope said in his homily. ?What remains, as Christ teaches us, is different: It is the works of love. This is what remains and what makes life beautiful!?

Addressing the pervasive pressure of social media and societal acclaim, Francis warned: ?Do not be ?stars for a day? on social media or in any other context! You are called to shine in a wider sky.?

In a powerful passage on present conflicts, the pontiff posed piercing questions about accountability before God: ?Those who oppress people, who make wars, what will their faces look like when they stand before the Lord? ?Why did you start that war? Why did you commit murder?? How will they respond??

Against this backdrop of global challenges, Francis emphasized the vital role of young people in bearing witness to Christ?s message of peace and hope. The World Youth Day cross ? a simple wooden cross given to youth by St. John Paul II in 1984 as a symbol of Christ?s love for humanity ? has since traveled worldwide, becoming a powerful sign of faith and reconciliation.

Speaking to the Korean delegates receiving this historic cross, Francis said: ?You, young Koreans, will receive the cross of Our Lord, the cross of life, the sign of victory, but you are not alone: You will receive it along with our Mother. It is Mary who always accompanies us on our journey toward Jesus. It is Mary who in difficult moments is beside our cross to help us, because she is our mother, she is Mum. Keep Mary in mind.?

Pope Francis highlighted the upcoming canonization of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, a model of youthful faith and charity, whose tireless devotion to God and service to the poor continues to inspire generations. The canonization will take place during the Jubilee for Youth in August 2025, offering young Catholics a powerful example of living out Christ?s love in action.

The Mass concluded with Portuguese youth handing over the WYD cross and the Marian icon to their Korean counterparts, symbolizing the continuing journey of faith toward WYD Seoul 2027.

Later, addressing pilgrims gathered in St. Peter?s Square for the Angelus prayer, Francis reflected on Jesus? dialogue with Pontius Pilate, emphasizing Christ?s kingship as radically different from worldly power. The pope focused on two key words from the day?s Gospel reading: ?king? and ?world.?

?Jesus is a king insofar as he is a witness: He is the one who speaks the truth,? the pope said, per the official translation. ?The kingly power of Jesus, the Word incarnate, lies in his true and effective word, that transforms the world.?

While Pilate?s world is ?one where the strong triumph over the weak,? Francis explained, ?Jesus? world, indeed, is the new world, the eternal world, which God prepares for all by giving his life for our salvation.?

Nave of St. Josaphat Ukranian Catholic Cathedral in Parma, Ohio. / Credit: Nheyob, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Ann Arbor, Michigan, Nov 24, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Like the Christian West, the various Eastern rites of the Church observe the weeks before Christmas with spiritual preparation and prayer. In Western Christianity this is called Advent ? a word derived from Latin for ?coming, arrival,? a translation of the Greek ?parousia.? But among Eastern Christians ? both Catholic and Orthodox ? this season is known as the Nativity Fast. 

So while Advent begins on Dec. 1 this year for Catholics, the Byzantine custom is observed from Nov. 15 to Dec. 24. It is also known as Philip?s Fast because it begins on the day following the feast of the apostle St. Philip on the Eastern liturgical calendar, Nov. 14.

The fast, which is one of four penitential seasons in the Eastern rites, calls on Christians to practice abstinence and almsgiving. This means abstaining from meat and fish, dairy, and other animal products on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and wine and oil on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Fish is permitted on Saturdays and Sundays but no other animal products. 

In the Byzantine Ruthenian Catholic Church, of which there are several dioceses in the United States and Canada, the fast may be observed voluntarily, partially, or entirely. 

In a letter to the faithful, Bishop Robert Pipta of the Byzantine Ruthenian Catholic Diocese of Parma, Ohio, wrote: ?Let us pray for one another, let us enjoy the spiritually rich days ahead during this fast, and let us pause appropriately during this penitential time to give thanks to God in the generous spirit of our Holy Father Nicholas the Wonderworker of Myra.?

There are several holy days during the fast: the Entry of the Theotokos (Mother of God) into the Temple on Nov. 21, the feast of St. Nicholas of Myra on Dec. 6, and the Maternity of Holy Anna (Conception of the Theotokos) on Dec. 8 or 9. Therefore, many Christians mitigate the fasting with celebration. St. Nicholas, a.k.a. Santa Claus, is especially revered among Eastern Christians. During the fast, several prophets, including Daniel, are also commemorated as saints.

The final day of the fast, Dec. 24, is especially strict. Christians fast until after vespers and Divine Liturgy (Mass) and afterward share a meal called the Holy Supper, which is a festive but meatless meal featuring traditional foods.

?This is a season of repentance, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving,? Byzantine Ruthenian priest Father John Russell from Allen Park, Michigan, told CNA in an interview. ?It?s a time of meditation on the incarnation of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. God became man so that we can become God.? Here Russell referred to the theological concept of divinization or theosis, which is the transforming effect of grace from God.

?Jesus taught us to fast, give alms to those who ask, and recommit ourselves to regular prayer. This season is an opportunity to commit ourselves to Christ,? Russell said while underscoring that these are practical actions that foster the virtues of faith, hope, and love.

?We need these actions in order to grow into what we are supposed to be,? he said. ?It is an opportunity to commune with God, and grow in faith and hope.?

?Fasting is a way to free us from passions, to teach our bodies that just because they have a yearning doesn?t mean that we always indulge and succumb to it,? he continued. ?There is nothing wrong with eating food, but when we train ourselves not to eat food when our bodies want us to, it teaches us not to do things that are sinful. When our bodies cry out to the sins of the flesh, we will be strengthened to resist those calls.?

Russell likened the practice of penitential fasting to a doctor?s prescription to regain health.

During the fast, Russell said Christians are called to imitate Jesus Christ and his ?kenosis?: the emptying and sacrifice of himself. St. Paul?s Epistle to the Philippians says that ?although he was in the form of God, [Jesus] did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave? (Phil 2:6-7).

By emptying ourselves through sacrificial giving, Russell said, we become more like God, adding that grocery bills should go down as Christians refrain from eating some meals, allowing them to spend the equivalent amount on almsgiving.

?It is a tool to set us free from the enslavement of the passions of the flesh,? he added.

Russell said he finds the Holy Supper of Christmas Eve to be especially poignant, saying that it is a ?paradoxical fasting feast and symbolic meal? that is meatless and simple. A loaf of bread symbolizes Christ, the Bread of Life, for example, and a burning candle stands in for the Star of Bethlehem. 

Father Alexei Woltornist, a priest of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, said in an email to CNA that ?fasting is not about punishing oneself.?

?This is a common misconception where some will consider a fast?s success based on how miserable it makes them,? he said. ?This goes directly against Christ?s instruction to not disfigure our faces when we fast with outward signs of fasting ? We should exude joy as we are fasting.?  

He continued: ?When we fast, it is also essential that we increase our prayers. If we do not pray along with our fasting, we become like the demons, for they do not eat but they also do not pray. All this is so that we may properly order our lives so we may be spiritually strengthened by God so we may fulfill the Gospel. Many Christians will focus on fasting, but they need to take the feasting even more seriously. If someone cannot see after Christmas that we are full of joy of the theophany of God revealed as coming to us in the form of a baby, then we are fasting wrong.? 

Paraphrasing a book from the second century A.D., ?The Shepherd of Hermas,? Russell encouraged Christians, saying: ?A good fast is one where you take what you would have eaten and give it to those who need it. It is not enough to not eat. The purpose of fasting is to create an excess that can be given away. Fasting enables almsgiving, and almsgiving is a purpose of the fast in the first place. It is so that you have more to share.?

Pope Francis celebrates Mass in St. Peter?s Basilica on the feast of Christ the King, Nov. 21, 2021. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Nov 24, 2024 / 04:00 am (CNA).

Every year on the last Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Catholic Church observes the solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe ? also known as the feast of Christ the King ? a relatively recent addition to the Church?s liturgical calendar, instituted just under a century ago by Pope Pius XI. 

In his 1925 encyclical Quas Primas, Pius XI argued that the ?manifold evils in the world were due to the fact that the majority of men had thrust Jesus Christ and his holy law out of their lives? and that ?as long as individuals and states refused to submit to the rule of our Savior, there would be no really hopeful prospect of a lasting peace among nations.? 

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops notes on its website that, around the time of Pius XI?s encyclical, ?in Mexico, Russia, and some parts of Europe, militantly secularistic regimes threatened not just the Catholic Church and its faithful but civilization itself.?

Indeed, just several years before Quas Primas, the Bolsheviks in Russia had executed the October Revolution, which touched off a series of events that would ultimately lead to the creation of the Soviet Union in 1922. The Soviet government would establish itself as an explicitly secular state and implement severe restrictions on religious freedom and aggressive persecution of religious believers in the coming decades.

Amid those upheavals and turbulent regime changes, Pope Pius XI in his encyclical argued that ?men must look for the peace of Christ in the kingdom of Christ.?

To that end, Pius XI announced ?the insertion into the sacred liturgy of a special feast of the kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ,? which he hoped would be ?attended with much fruit and produce beneficial results in the future.?

Jesus, Pope Pius XI said, had long been accorded the title of ?king? due to ?the metaphorical title of ?king,? because of the high degree of perfection whereby he excels all creatures,? but also in ?the strict and proper sense too.? 

Pius went on: ?For it is only as man that he may be said to have received from the Father ?power and glory and a kingdom,? since the Word of God, as consubstantial with the Father, has all things in common with him, and therefore has necessarily supreme and absolute dominion over all things created.?

That Christ?s blessings may be spread as abundantly as possible, ?it is necessary that the kingship of our Savior should be as widely as possible recognized and understood,? Pius XI wrote; to that end, ?nothing would serve better than the institution of a special feast in honor of the kingship of Christ.?

?If we ordain that the whole Catholic world shall revere Christ as king,? the pope wrote, ?we shall minister to the need of the present day and at the same time provide an excellent remedy for the plague which now infects society.?

The pope established the feast as falling on the last Sunday of the month of October. In his 1969 motu proprio Mysterii Paschalis,Pope Paul VI approved the new Roman Universal Calendar, creating the norms by which the final Sunday in Ordinary Time is celebrated as the yearly observance of the feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. It is the final Sunday of the liturgical year, the last Sunday before the first Sunday of Advent.

In a 2021 homily, Bishop Robert Barron said the feast ?sums up what the Christian life is all about.?

?All the other celebrations of the year,? Barron said, are ?... leading you toward that conclusion, that Christ must be king.? 

?If we say anything but that,? he said, ?we are basically horsing around with Christianity and not living it seriously.?

In a homily on the solemnity in 2021, Pope Francis said that Jesus became man ?without duplicity, in order to proclaim by his life that his kingdom is different from the kingdoms of the world.?

?His is the kingdom of love,? the Holy Father said, describing Christ as the king ?of the kingdom of those who give their lives for the salvation of others.?

In his 1925 encyclical, meanwhile, Pius XI wrote that if the truths of Christ ?are presented to the faithful for their consideration, they will prove a powerful incentive to perfection.?

The pontiff expressed his hope that ?having lived our lives in accordance with the laws of God?s kingdom, we may receive full measure of good fruit, and counted by Christ good and faithful servants, we may be rendered partakers of eternal bliss and glory with him in his heavenly kingdom.?

This story was first published on Nov. 25, 2023, and has been updated.

?Roadmap to Reality: Carlo Acutis and Our Digital Age? is a new documentary film exploring the life of Carlo Acutis that will be coming to theaters in the spring of 2025. / Credit: Castletown Media

CNA Staff, Nov 23, 2024 / 10:00 am (CNA).

Castletown Media, the production company behind the new film ?Roadmap to Reality: Carlo Acutis and Our Digital Age,? has announced that the National Eucharistic Congress Inc. and the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame have become official partners for the upcoming documentary exploring the life of the Catholic Church?s first millennial saint.

?The National Eucharistic Congress is passionate about reigniting devotion to the Eucharist in this country, and when we shared the project with them they were thrilled insofar as how this film really resonates with that mission,? the director of the new Acutis film and founder of Castletown Media, Tim Moriarty, told CNA in an interview.

In a press release, Bishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, chair of the National Eucharistic Revival who appears in the film, said: ?Soon-to-be St. Carlo Acutis is a modern apostle who can inspire young people to discover the incredible gift of the Eucharist. Carlo is the model for the kind of Eucharistic missionary we, as bishops, hope every Catholic will become.?

Meanwhile, the McGrath Institute, known for its work partnering with Catholics parishes, dioceses, and schools to offer resources and materials to address pastoral challenges, will be offering its expertise to the film?s production by developing educational materials for parishes and schools based on themes found in the documentary.

Moriarty explained that they began speaking with the McGrath Institute when they began to cover the issue of technology and the impact it?s having on young people while making the film. They interviewed several members of the McGrath team and realized that together they could ?do more good.? 

As partners, the McGrath Institute will specifically be creating material for youth preparing for their first Communion by helping them ?understand what the Eucharist is at a time in their lives where screen addiction becomes increasingly problematic,? Moriarty explained.

On Nov. 20, Pope Francis announced the canonization date of Blessed Carlo Acutis, which will take place on April 27, 2025, during the Church?s Jubilee of Teenagers. Moriarty called this announcement ?providential? as the film will be in theaters in time for the canonization. 

?Roadmap to Reality? explores the life of Carlo Acutis and the lessons he offers young people regarding the challenges of the digital world. The documentary blends live action, animation, and documentary-style interviews with Acutis? family, friends, tech experts, and scholars to tackle urgent questions about artificial intelligence and the technological world we live in.

?One of the themes in the film is that he [Acutis] was online to lead people offline,? Moriarty shared. ?He was online to lead people back to the Eucharist, back to real encounters.?

?I think what Carlo did in his life was to show us that yes, we have to be engaging online, sharing the Gospel online, but we have to do it in a way where we don?t lose touch with the incarnational reality, which is fully present to us in the Eucharist, which is that real substantial presence. I think there?s something in that that is very powerful and for me has been really moving and healing the more I try to follow Carlo?s example,? Moriarty concluded.

Pope Francis smiles at his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter?s Square at the Vatican on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Newsroom, Nov 23, 2024 / 09:00 am (CNA).

The Holy See on Saturday confirmed the rumors that Pope Francis will undertake a one-day apostolic journey to Corsica next month ? marking the first-ever papal visit to the island most famous for being Napoleon Bonaparte?s birthplace.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni confirmed that the pope had accepted an invitation from French civil and Church authorities to visit Ajaccio, the island?s capital, on Dec. 15.

The visit will be Pope Francis? 47th apostolic journey abroad and his third visit to French territory, following trips to Strasbourg in 2014 and Marseille in 2023.

On both occasions, the pontiff spoke about migration. This visit continues Pope Francis? engagement with the Mediterranean region, following earlier trips to Lampedusa, Lesbos, and Malta, where he emphasized the Church?s call to solidarity with migrants and coastal communities.

Pope Francis will be welcomed in Corsica?s capital, Ajaccio, by Cardinal François-Xavier Bustillo, who was made a cardinal by Francis last year and leads a diocese where more than 80% of the island?s 340,000 inhabitants identify as Catholic.

The journey from Rome to Ajaccio?s Napoleon Bonaparte Airport will take just over an hour ? making this one of the pope?s shortest international trips, covering roughly 186 miles. Though technically a visit to French territory, the Mediterranean island lies closer to Italy than to mainland France.

The pontiff?s schedule includes the concluding session of a congress dedicated to Mediterranean popular religiosity in the morning followed by an afternoon Mass at the historic Place d?Austerlitz ? known locally as ?U Casone.?

The pope will pray the Angelus with bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated persons, and seminarians at Ajaccio?s Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption.

The mountainous Mediterranean island is known for its distinctive religious traditions, including a deep devotion to the Virgin Mary. The island?s unofficial anthem, ?Diu vi Salvi Regina,? is originally based on a rendition of ?Hail, Holy Queen.?

Drawing from the Acts of the Apostles (10:38), the visit?s motto, ?Jesus Went About Doing Good,? reflects what Vatican sources describe as the fundamentally pastoral nature of the pope?s presence among the faithful.

The journey?s official logo prominently features Mary, venerated as Queen of Corsica, set against Mediterranean blues and incorporating traditional Christian symbolism ? including a cross representing faith in Christ and a descending line suggesting the Holy Spirit?s presence.

Archbishop Boris Godziak, Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Archiparagi of Philadelphia. / Credit: ?EWTN News in Depth?/Screenshot

CNA Staff, Nov 23, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).

A Ukrainian archbishop says he has encouraged President-elect Donald Trump to visit Ukraine to help ?build a policy for the future.? 

During a Friday interview with ?EWTN News In Depth? anchor Catherine Hadro, Archbishop Borys Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia said that he spoke briefly with Trump before the election at the Oct. 17 Al Smith dinner, where he encouraged Trump to visit Ukraine. Gudziak has subsequently written a letter to the president-elect to the same effect.

?I think if he went now, before the inauguration, for example, with a group of religious leaders on a humanitarian mission, he would see for himself what is happening on the ground,? Gudziak explained. ?Everybody that has gone to Ukraine ? cardinals, political leaders, humanitarian workers, people who were skeptical, people that knew a lot ? all came out knowing much, much more and understanding more deeply what?s happening.? 

?So I would encourage President Trump to go to Ukraine,? Gudziak said, as ?a base on which to build a policy for the future.?

Nov. 19 marked 1,000 days since Russia?s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions. Ukraine on Tuesday used U.S. missiles to strike deeper into Russian territory, following President Joe Biden?s authorization of such use. Russian forces shot down five of six of the missiles that were fired at a military facility.  

Gudziak said of the somber milestone: ?It is a time of mourning.? 

?There?s great pain and great wounds in our people, in our Church,? Gudziak noted. ?At the same time, there?s great gratitude. Most observers internationally, and particularly Putin, thought Ukraine would fall in a matter of three days or three weeks. And now, three years later, the people still stand, keep standing, defending their God-given dignity, their freedom, their democracy.?

Devastating toll

Hundreds of thousands have been killed as a result of the Russian invasion, with more than 14 million people forced to leave their homes. The archbishop noted that 4,000 schools and 2,000 hospitals have been destroyed. 

?There?s great suffering, great trauma which will be lasting,? Gudziak said. ?But there is also the sense of courage and gratitude for God?s graces that Russia has not occupied all of Ukraine and that the country is still free.? 

When asked what it?s like for Catholics in Ukraine, Gudziak said that ?the public life of the Catholic Church has been virtually extinguished? in Eastern Ukraine, where Russia has occupied parts of three regions.   

?There [are] no Ukrainian Catholic priests functioning there now, and a couple of priests who were abducted and tortured for 18 months, who were freed in the summer ? they show the scars of what Russian captivity is like,? the archbishop said.

?For Catholics, it should be clear that Russian occupation means [the] extinguishing of our normal church life,? he continued.

But Gudziak noted that Catholic charities have come together to support Ukrainians, including Caritas Ukraine, a Catholic charity in Ukraine.

?Bishops and priests are in place, serving the people, celebrating the sacraments, announcing the good news, but also very much engaged in humanitarian work, helping those that have lost their homes, their possessions, distributing clothing, food, fostering medical care,? he said. 

?Very importantly, the Church reminds people of their God-given dignity, the fact that the Lord is with them, that every hair on their head is counted? and that the country has lived through ?even more harrowing experiences,? he said.

?During World War II, between the Nazis and the Soviets, 6 [million] to 7 million residents of Ukraine were killed and the whole country was devastated,? Gudziak continued. ?Ukrainians know they?ve lived through the crucifixion and have resurrected in the past. So the Church announces this paschal Kerygma: We carry our cross and God will give us life.?

A groom flashes a peace sign at wedding-goers while processing out of St. Mary?s Church in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, after having his marriage sacramentally blessed at the Marriage Mass on Oct. 19, 2024. / Credit: Nicholas Elbers/The B.C. Catholic

Vancouver, Canada, Nov 23, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Sometimes it just takes moving across the world to understand the value of a sacramental marriage. At least that?s what it took for Eddelyn and Mario John, two recent arrivals to Canada from the Philippines. They were one of 19 couples whose marriages were sacramentally blessed at the Marriage Mass at St. Mary?s in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, one of three such events across the archdiocese this year.

In total 121 couples had their marriages convalidated this year in the archdiocese, a substantial increase from last year?s 42.  

Eddelyn and Mario met almost two decades ago while Eddelyn was working at a farm supply store where Mario would come to purchase feed. Things developed quickly, and the couple married after only three months of courting.

At the time, the couple embodied a certain cultural Catholicism. Mario?s family urged them to have a church wedding, but they declined.

?I always said we were good ? it?s OK,? Eddelyn recalled. ?As long as we always go to church every Sunday, it?s OK.?

Soon, they were pregnant, and their daughter was born before their first wedding anniversary.

Life continued apace, but something always felt like it could be better. They weren?t unhappy and had a good family life with their daughter. It wasn?t until they were apart that things clicked for Eddelyn and Mario.

In 2019, an opportunity arose for them to immigrate to Canada. One of Mario?s favorite uncles encouraged the couple to make the journey, but COVID delayed their plans, and he passed away before they made the move.

Eddelyn was finally accepted for a student visa last year. Because of delays with their daughter?s visa application, she made the trip alone, arriving in Canada in December 2023 to start her studies in business management.

At the first Canadian Mass she attended at St. Mary?s in Vancouver, someone announced that the Marriage Mass was coming up on Oct. 19 ? the birthday of her beloved uncle who had passed away.

Eddelyn saw this as a sign, and she and Mario decided that if they could get their marriage sacramentally validated in Canada, they would.

?We want to be part of the seven sacraments of the Church,? Mario said.

As anyone dealing with Immigration Canada knows, getting the paperwork done can be a nightmare. Still, as fate would have it, everything was finalized in time for Mario to bring their daughter to Canada for the Marriage Mass. Their application to have their marriage blessed barely made this year?s deadline, submitted the day before the cutoff.

?We have a desire to live out our spiritual commitment ? I think it?s in God?s perfect timing,? Eddelyn said.

?A religious ceremony provides a sense of fulfillment,? Eddelyn said. ?Those are the steps that are quite meaningful for our whole family. It is a fulfillment for those in heaven as well.?

Their daughter, who struggles with communication due to hearing problems, was also happy. ?We saw through her face that she was very happy,? Eddelyn said.

In addition to an honor guard by the Knights of Columbus and music by a joint St. Mary?s choir, couples were each given six tickets to a catered reception after Mass so they could celebrate with friends and family.

This story was first published by The B.C. Catholic and has been adapted by CNA. It is reprinted here with permission.

The relics of St. Thomas Aquinas are kept in Toulouse, France, where the Dominican order was founded. / Credit: Didier Descouens|Wikimedia|CC BY-SA 4.0

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 23, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The major relics of St. Thomas Aquinas, ?The Angelic Doctor,? are on tour and scheduled to make a stop in Washington, D.C., next weekend as part of the commemoration of the 700th anniversary of his canonization. 

Members of the faithful will be able to venerate the relics, including his skull, on two separate occasions: first at St. Dominic?s Church on Friday, Nov. 29, and then again on Saturday, Nov. 30, at the Dominican House of Studies. The event is co-sponsored by the Thomistic Institute. 

?In a time of renewed interest in the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas, the jubilees of his canonization (700 years in 2023), death (750 years in 2024), and birth (800 years in 2025) draw our attention to the masterwork of wisdom and sanctity which God wrought in him,? Father Gregory Pine, OP, assistant director at the Thomistic Institute, said in a press release. 

?The opportunity that we have to receive and venerate his relics makes this grace all the more proximate and precious to us,? Pine added.

Friday?s event will begin at 12:10 p.m. with a solemn Mass celebrated by Cardinal Wilton Gregory, archbishop of Washington, followed by an opportunity to venerate the relics of the revered theologian and philosopher from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. There will also be solemn vespers at 5:30 p.m. and night prayer at 6:45 p.m. with a Marian procession to follow. 

On Saturday, the Dominican House of Studies will begin the day with solemn lauds and a votive Mass of St. Thomas Aquinas at 7:30 a.m., and veneration of the relics will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pine will also preach at 3 p.m. that day. 

??Get wisdom, get understanding? (Prv 4:5). One way is to study, another way is to pray for it, but an exceptional way is to pray for it in the presence of the skull of St. Thomas Aquinas,? Father James Brent, OP, an assistant professor of philosophy at the Dominican House of Studies, also stated in the release. 

The relic of St. Thomas Aquinas? skull comes to the U.S. from the Dominicans in Toulouse, France, and is one of two skulls Church officials claim to have belonged to the 11th-century saint. The other is housed in the Italian city of Priverno. The Dominicans in France commissioned a new reliquary for the skull last year to celebrate the saint?s canonization anniversary.

After Aquinas? death in 1274, his body was kept in Fossanova Abbey in Priverno until 1369, when his relics were moved to Toulouse, a city in southwestern France, where the Order of Preachers was established. Aquinas? tomb rests in the Church of the Jacobins. 

Researchers are currently weighing the possibility of conducting an in-depth forensic analysis of both skulls to determine their authenticity. 

Where do the relics go next?

After two stops in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 29 and Nov. 30, Aquinas? relics hit the road for their U.S. tour:

Charlottesville, Virginia: St. Thomas Aquinas on Dec. 2

Providence, Rhode Island: Providence College on Dec. 4

Cincinnati: St. Gertrude Priory on Dec. 6

Columbus, Ohio: St. Patrick Parish on Dec. 7?8

Louisville, Kentucky: St. Louis Bertrand on Dec. 10

Springfield, Kentucky: St. Rose Priory on Dec. 12

New York City: St. Vincent Ferrer on Dec. 14

Philadelphia: St. Patrick on Dec. 16

Baltimore: Sts. Philip and James on Dec. 18

Farm workers. / Credit: mikeledray/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 22, 2024 / 17:20 pm (CNA).

The national anti-poverty program run by U.S. bishops has released its annual report from 2023, revealing that it spent $11.4 million more than it collected.

The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) Annual Report 2023 revealed that the program ended the year with a net operating deficit of $2,830,364 after spending more than the combined total of its $8,451,156 savings and the $7,284,574 in revenue it collected this year. 

The CCHD is a nationwide anti-poverty program run by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) that raises money every year and allocates funding to charitable organizations that benefit the poor. 

In total, the organization dedicated to ?breaking the cycle of poverty? spent $18,696,903 overall despite having just $15,735,730 in available funds after clearing out its accumulated assets.

Bishop Timothy Senior of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, who chairs the Subcommittee on the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, stated in the annual report that the various charitable projects that received CCHD funds mentioned represent ?a small taste of how CCHD invested $7.3 million of [donor] gifts in grants in 2023 to help people help each other.? 

The CCHD has not published a list of grantees since 2022, though USCCB spokesperson Chieko Noguchi told CNA this week that she expects CCHD?s 2023 grantee list to be ?posted soon.? 

CCHD?s recent difficulties and past controversy

The CCHD annual report documenting its financial difficulties comes after its former director, Ralph McCloud, resigned from his position in April. In June, several USCCB social justice employees working for the Department of Justice, Peace, and Human Development, which oversees CCHD, were laid off. Bishops had privately discussed the CCHD during its June plenary assembly ahead of the layoffs. 

Noguchi told the National Catholic Register, CNA?s sister news partner, at the time that the layoffs were part of a ?reorganization? geared toward enabling the conference to ?align resources more closely with recent funding trends.? 

?The CCHD subcommittee will continue its work,? she continued, adding: ?In the interest of good stewardship, the administration of the collection is being reorganized to allow for more efficient management.?

McCloud is now a fellow at a social justice political advocacy group called NETWORK, which was founded by Catholic Sisters in 1972. 

Over the years the program has generated controversy and criticism. Beginning in 2008, the CCHD was faulted by activists ? and some Catholic bishops ? for funding organizations that have taken positions contrary to Church teaching, such as on abortion and same-sex marriage.

In 2010, the USCCB instituted new controls to help ensure that grantees conform with Catholic teaching.

Father José Eduardo de Oliveira e Silva has over 420,000 followers on Instagram and 130,000 on YouTube. / Credit: Courtesy of Father José Eduardo de Oliveira e Silva

Sao Paulo, Brazil, Nov 22, 2024 / 16:50 pm (CNA).

On Nov. 21, Brazil?s Federal Police charged Father José Eduardo de Oliveira e Silva of the Diocese of Osasco in São Paulo state as part of a group of 37 people that includes former President Jair Bolsonaro on suspicion of plotting the violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, plotting a coup d?état, and belonging to a criminal organization. 

According to authorities, the publication of the list of defendants in the final report of the investigation into the alleged coup d?état was authorized by the country?s Supreme Federal Court.

The charges stem from the investigation by the Federal Police into an alleged plot to assassinate then-President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, his vice president, Geraldo Alckmin, and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. Military personnel and military police have already been detained in connection with the investigation.

Despite the announcement by the police, the public prosecutor?s office is not obliged to go forward with prosecuting the persons implicated or the alleged crimes being charged. 

The priest?s defense attorney, Miguel Vidigal, told ACI Digital, CNA?s Portuguese-language news partner, that ?the press release by the Federal Police with the list of defendants is one more abuse by those responsible for the investigation, and publishing it on the police department?s official website contaminates the entire institution.?

?Who authorized the Federal Police to break the secrecy of the investigations? As far as we know, [Supreme Court] Justice Alexandre de Moraes decreed absolute secrecy,? the attorney said.

?So far there is no decision by [him] that voids such determination,? he added.

?Less than seven days after giving testimony to the Federal Police,? Father José Eduardo ?sees his name in print [on the list] by the Federal Police as one of those indicted by investigators.? The same investigators didn?t shy away from breaking the law and international treaties by combing through the priest?s conversations and spiritual direction that are guaranteed to be confidential, Vidigal denounced.

In February, the priest was the subject of a raid and seizure operation by the Federal Police that was authorized by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The priest was accused of being part of the ?legal core? of the alleged coup d'état, for which former president Bolsonaro, advisers, allies, military personnel, and former ministers of his government were also investigated.

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

Cardinal Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi during an interview with CNA in Rome on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 22, 2024 / 16:05 pm (CNA).

Archbishop Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi of Tokyo, who will be installed as a cardinal on Dec. 7, spoke to the Vatican new agency Fides about the present and future state of the country.

The archbishop said that ?an aging society like Japan?s will not be able to survive,? pointing to the dangers of the country?s demographic winter.

Faced with this reality, he noted that the government ?is hesitant to fully accept migrants? for fear of entering into territory never previously explored in Japan, a nation little accustomed to receiving migrants.

?Until now, Japan has been a remarkably homogeneous country. However, the reality is that without the presence of migrants, Japanese society cannot sustain itself. This is a fact. It?s true that migrants come in with different types of visas but, due to the reluctance of institutions, many of them are forced sooner or later to face bureaucratic problems related to their immigration status,? he said.

Kikuchi said that Japanese society often perceives migration as a ?problem? and that even within the Church there is talk of the ?immigrant problem.? The archbishop believes that this language reflects the ?negative perception? of many Japanese about this reality.

Immigrants in Japan ?not a problem but a hope?

?I firmly believe that immigrants are not a problem but a hope for the Church. They offer the Catholic community a unique opportunity to grow, especially with young people, and to proclaim the Gospel in areas where there is no active presence of the Church,? he said.

?In a certain way, immigrants offer the Japanese Church the possibility of renewing itself and of being more active in its mission. This is a real hope,? he added.

Since it is geographically located in a strategic position, between great world powers such as the United States, Russia, and China, the country of the ?rising sun? is not unfamiliar with the diatribes and circumstances that the world is going through today.

Specifically on the subject of war and the growing threat of the use of nuclear weapons, Kikuchi was emphatic in pointing out that nuclear weapons ?do not provide real protection.?

The Japanese government approved a 16.5% (about $56 billion) increase in defense spending by 2024. ?It?s just throwing money away,? the archbishop said.

Dialogue ?the key to stability?

?Anyone who seriously analyzes the political situation in Asia understands that dialogue is the key to ensuring stability, not the threat posed by weapons. Investing more money in weapons, especially nuclear weapons, is an unnecessary and dangerous expense, since these weapons are not designed to resolve conflicts but to destroy the world,? he commented.

The prelate said the Japanese Church will continue to promote initiatives ?that seek the elimination of nuclear weapons. We will work with bishops in the United States and other countries to demand that both Japan and the U.S. government commit to abolishing these weapons as soon as possible.?

?Dialogue is the key to stability. We must not argue. We must talk to each other. Dialogue is not just about talking, but also about building relationships. Synodality is also necessary in this area,? the archbishop concluded.

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

President Joe Biden awarded the Medal of Freedom to former Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards, photographed here with Kirk Adams and First Lady Jill Biden, in a photo posted to his X account, Nov. 20, 2024. / Credit: President Joe Biden/X

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 22, 2024 / 15:35 pm (CNA).

President Joe Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom ? the highest civilian honor in the country ? to Cecile Richards, an abortion activist who was the president of Planned Parenthood for more than a decade.

Although the Medal of Freedom is often awarded in a public ceremony, the president gave the medal to Richards in a private ceremony on Wednesday, Nov. 20. This is the 37th person to whom Biden awarded the Medal of Freedom but the first who is known primarily for abortion advocacy.

?With absolute courage, [Richards] fearlessly leads us forward to be the America we say we are ? a nation of freedom,? Biden, the second Catholic president in American history, said in a post on X late Wednesday afternoon.

?Through her work to lift up the dignity of workers, defend and advance women?s reproductive rights and equality, and mobilize Americans to exercise their power to vote, she has carved an inspiring legacy,? Biden added.

Richards reposted the president?s remarks on her X account, thanking Biden and First Lady Jill Biden for ?all you?ve done to support women?s health and rights.?

?Such an honor representing abortion rights and the need for health care for all,? Richards said.

Richards was the president of Planned Parenthood from February 2006 until she stepped down in April 2018. The number of abortions performed by Planned Parenthood increased by more than 10% during her tenure. In 2006, the organization performed 289,750 abortions but increased that number to 321,384 abortions in 2016.

Planned Parenthood abortionists completed about 320,000 abortions each year during her time as president, which amounts to more than 3 million abortions under her leadership.

According to the White House, the Presidential Medal of Freedom is reserved for people ?who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public, or private endeavors.?

Earlier this year, Richards announced that she was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer ? the same type of cancer that claimed the life of Biden?s son Beau in 2015.

Biden?s views on abortion have shifted during his career. The president began serving his first term in the Senate in 1973, just days before the United States Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade, which made abortion legal nationwide. At the time, Biden criticized the decision. He gradually moved toward a staunch pro-abortion stance over the next 50 years in politics.

When Roe v. Wade was overturned during his presidency in June 2022, Biden vowed to codify a national right to abortion into federal law and supported ending the prohibition on federal tax money directly paying for abortion. 

During his presidency, the Biden administration sought to scale back religious freedom protections in abortion laws and moved to expand surgical abortion through the Department of Health and Human Services and chemical abortion through federal regulations. Other policies included funding for overseas organizations that promote abortion and a policy at the U.S. Department of Defense to fund abortion travel costs for service members and their families.

President-elect Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated president on Jan. 20, 2025, opposes federal restrictions on abortion, and he supports leaving abortion law to the states. He has vowed to protect religious freedom and is open to reenacting the federal ban on overseas abortion funding.

On Wednesday, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who will lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), penned an op-ed with the Wall Street Journal, which stated they will recommend ending federal funds for Planned Parenthood.

Biden?s support for abortion has put him at odds with Catholic bishops and the pope on the issue of life.

In April, Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, D.C., appeared on CBS? ?Face the Nation? and said that Biden ?picks and chooses dimensions of the faith to highlight while ignoring or even contradicting other parts ? especially in terms of the life issues.?

?There is a phrase that we have used in the past, a ?cafeteria Catholic,? [in which] you choose that which is attractive and dismiss that which is challenging,? Gregory said.

Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, accused Biden of ?making a mockery of our Catholic faith? in May after the president made the sign of the cross while promoting abortion.

In 2022, Pope Francis said Biden should ?talk to his pastor about that incoherence? when talking about Biden supporting abortion even though he is a Catholic.