Bishop Gerhard Feige of Magdeburg in Germany. / Credit: Magdeburg Diocese

CNA Newsroom, Dec 21, 2024 / 07:30 am (CNA).

The president of the German Bishops? Conference and the local bishop of Magdeburg have expressed their shock and offered prayers after a car attack at a Christmas market in eastern Germany on Friday left five people dead and more than 200 injured.

The ?attack in Magdeburg leaves us speechless. The horror, grief, and sympathy are felt today by many people throughout Germany and worldwide,? Bishop Georg Bätzing said, CNA Deutsch reported.

?Our thoughts and prayers are in Magdeburg during these hours. As churches, we mourn with the relatives of the victims of this terrible attack and pray for the injured and the deceased, as well as for their relatives who now fear for their loved ones.?

Bishop Gerhard Feige of Magdeburg issued a statement immediately after the attack on Friday evening local time: ?I think of those affected, their relatives, and the emergency services and include them in my prayers.?

The local bishop added: ?Especially in these days and before a feast where the message of God?s love, human dignity, and the longing for a healed world particularly move us, such an act is all the more frightening and abysmal.?

Feige also emphasized that the attack presented ?a challenge for our society to counter any extremism even more decisively and to work even more for peaceful coexistence.?

In his joint statement with the Lutheran organization EKD, Bätzing expressed gratitude to the ?committed emergency services who have been caring for the injured since yesterday and are working under high pressure to clarify what happened, as well as to the emergency chaplains who are standing by the people in this moment and accompanying the traumatized.?

Suspect came from Saudi Arabia

The attack took place shortly after 7 p.m. on Friday when a 50-year-old man from Saudi Arabia drove a black rental car into crowds at a Christmas market in the heart of Magdeburg, a city of 240,000 people about two hours west of Berlin by car.

The suspect, identified as Taleb A., came to Germany in 2006 and had at one time worked as a psychotherapist, according to the Neue Zürcher Zeitung. He had been granted indefinite leave to remain in Germany after applying for asylum, citing threats in his home country.

In a 2019 interview with the Frankfurter Rundschau, the suspect had described himself as an ?ex-Muslim.?

German media on Saturday reported that the man had acted increasingly erratically on social media in recent months, threatening bloodshed and ?war? on German authorities.

The Diocese of Magdeburg announced that St. Sebastian?s Cathedral would be open for prayer and reflection on Saturday. A memorial service will be held at Magdeburg Cathedral on Saturday at 7 p.m., local broadcaster MDR reported.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Interior Minister Nancy Faeser visited the city earlier in the day to meet with local officials and pay their respects at the site of the attack.

Exiled Bishop Rolando Álvarez speaks at a Mass in Seville, Spain, on Dec. 19, 2024. / Credit: Padre Erick Díaz

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 20, 2024 / 18:00 pm (CNA).

In his first public Mass, celebrated in Seville province, Spain, Bishop Rolando Álvarez, who has been living in exile in Rome since January, prayed for his ?beloved Nicaragua? and offered his pectoral cross to Our Lady of Sorrows.

?For me it is a pleasure, a joy, and above all a blessing to be celebrating among you this holy Eucharist in honor of Our Lady of Sorrows, in the memory of Our Lady of Hope, Our Expecting Lady, of sweet waiting, and I must also say, on the eve of the 100 years of the canonical foundation of my blessed and beloved Diocese of Matagalpa in Nicaragua,? the prelate said in his homily.

The Diocese of Matagalpa was founded on Dec. 19, 1924, during the pontificate of Pope Pius XI.

?We pray for you in this beautiful town of wonderful people and for our beloved Nicaragua,? added the bishop of Matagalpa and apostolic administrator of Estelí, as seen in a video by 100% Noticias Nicaragua.

In Our Lady of the Orchards Parish in the town of Puebla de Los Infantes in Seville province, the Nicaraguan bishop recalled in his homily some passages from Pope Francis? letter earlier this month to the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, which is suffering tenacious persecution by the dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega and his wife and ?co-president,? Rosario Murillo.

?Don?t forget the loving providence of the Lord that accompanies us and is the only central guide, precisely in the most difficult moments when it becomes humanly impossible to understand what God wants from us, we are called not to forget his care and mercy,? the Holy Father said in the text read by Álvarez.

?Be certain that faith and hope perform miracles. Let us turn our gaze to the Immaculate Virgin: She is the shining witness of this trust; you have always experienced her eternal protection in all your needs and you have shown your gratitude with a very beautiful and spiritually rich religiosity,? the pontiff added in the cited text.

Álvarez also read a passage from the 2020 letter Patris Corde, which Pope Francis wrote for the Year of St. Joseph: ?In every situation, Joseph declared his own ?fiat,? like those of Mary at the Annunciation and Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. ? The Gospel tells us that God always manages to save what is important, on the condition that we have the same creative courage as the carpenter of Nazareth, who knew how to transform a problem into an opportunity, always putting his trust in providence first.?

To conclude his homily, the bishop prayed that ?Mary, Our Lady of Hope, Our Lady of Sorrows, would keep us expectant for the imminent coming of her son. Amen.?

The pectoral cross for Our Lady of Sorrows

At the end of the Mass, Álvarez offered his pectoral cross, one of the distinctive symbols of the bishops of the Catholic Church, to Our Lady of Sorrows as represented by her image in the church.

?I want to make this gesture of love, leaving the Sorrowful Virgin my pectoral cross, and I would like all my faithful from Matagalpa, from the countryside, and the city to be able to contemplate this, telling them that from La Puebla de los Infantes I am praying for them,? the prelate said.

?And I am making this gesture of love for them, for the Lord, for the Church, for the Most Holy Virgin. I hope that the Brotherhood of Our Lady will keep this pectoral cross in her hands, in a place where you believe it is appropriate, on this date that is memorable for us, very memorable,? he emphasized.

Who is Bishop Rolando Álvarez?

Beginning on Aug. 4, 2022, Álvarez was confined to his residence by Nicaraguan riot police. He was accompanied by several priests, seminarians, and a layman.

Two weeks later, when they had almost run out of food, the police broke into the house and abducted Álvarez, taking him to Managua, the country?s capital.

In the midst of a controversial trial, the dictatorship sentenced him on Feb. 10, 2023, to 26 years and four months in prison, accusing him of being a ?traitor to the country.? He was held in La Modelo prison where political prisoners are sent.

One day before being sentenced, Álvarez had refused the chance to board a plane carrying more than 200 political prisoners to be deported to the United States.

The bishop was finally deported to Rome on Jan. 14 through Vatican mediation, along with the bishop of Siuna, Isidoro Mora, other priests, and seminarians.

By decision of Pope Francis, Álvarez was one of the members of the Synod of Synodality held in October in the Vatican.

More detailed information on the life and struggles of the bishop can be found here.

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

French artist Claire Tabouret poses following a press conference after winning with The Atelier Simon-Marq, the selection to create new stained-glass windows in six chapels of the south aisle of the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral in Paris on Dec. 18, 2024. / Credit: STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 20, 2024 / 17:00 pm (CNA).

Designs for six new stained-glass windows at Notre Dame have been revealed for the first time, two weeks after the historic cathedral reopened following a devastating fire in April 2019.

The windows in six chapels on the southern side of the cathedral will be replaced with new windows designed by modern French painter Claire Tabouret. According to a report from RTE, the French state is paying $4 million to install the windows, which will be made by French stained-glass maker Simon-Marq.

The original windows, created in the 19th century by architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, had escaped the fire without damage. Several historic preservation groups have protested President Emmanuel Macron?s decision to replace them, including Sites et Monuments and Tribune de l?art, whose site manager launched a petition against the new windows that has garnered 244,833 signatures.

Born in France in 1981, Tabouret graduated from École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 2006. Her paintings and sculptures have been featured in museums across the globe in France, Hong Kong, and Venice. She has also collaborated with luxury designers such as Dior. Tabouret currently lives and works in Los Angeles, according to her website. 

Tabouret?s turquoise, pink, yellow, and red windows feature images of people from various cultural backgrounds celebrating Pentecost. 

In response to debates surrounding modernist updates to the historic Catholic cathedral, Tabouret stated during a press conference at the cathedral: ?I?ve read about different opinions of people because I want to understand their arguments and also to take an approach that is open and two-way.? 

?I find it a fascinating debate,? she said. ?We need to remain in movement, we need to be confident in our era and show confidence in contemporary artists.? 

The doors of the newly restored Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral were officially reopened to the public during a ceremony on Dec. 7, just over five years after a blaze ravaged the iconic structure?s roof, frame, and spire.

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

The rector of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on Friday blessed the Nativity scene at the historic French landmark church ahead of the first Christmas celebrations since its restoration. 

?You know, for the past 10 days, we?ve been feeling very joyful,? stated Monsignor Olivier Ribadeau Dumas during the ceremony. ?My greatest joy is to see people happy because they have a cathedral again, not only because they see these stones again but also because it?s a place for prayer that they got back.?

The windows are expected to be installed in 2026. 

Police and ambulances stand next to a Christmas market where a car crashed into a crowd injuring between 60 and 80 people, according to a spokesman for the local rescue service, on Dec. 20, 2024, in Magdeburg, eastern Germany. / Credit: NEWS5/NEWS5/AFP via Getty Images

CNA Staff, Dec 20, 2024 / 15:55 pm (CNA).

A car driven by a Saudi Arabian immigrant rammed into a crowd at a Christmas market Friday evening in the central German city of Magdeburg, killing at least two people, according to media reports.

Police in Magdeburg, a city of 240,000 about two hours west of Berlin by car, have not yet released official details about whether the incident was a terrorist attack. The regional governor, Reiner Haseloff, told the media that the suspect is a 50-year-old Saudi Arabian citizen who has worked in Germany as a doctor since 2006.

German news sources reported that the driver of the car was taken into custody. AFP News Agency, citing emergency services, said that between 60 to 80 people were injured.

Magdeburg Police said on social media simply that ?extensive police operations are currently taking place? at the market and ?further reports will be made.?

Magdeburg is known as the city where St. Norbert ? whose legacy lives on through the worldwide Norbertine (or Premonstratensian) order ? served as archbishop until his death in 1134. 

A German official had in November called for ?vigilance? at Christmas markets this year amid a heightened security situation more broadly, though no concrete threats were identified at that time. Germany?s BfV domestic security agency said Christmas markets could be targeted due to their ?symbolism? related to ?Christian values? and as an ?embodiment of Western culture and way of life.?

The incident in Magdeburg took place almost exactly eight years after more than a dozen people were killed when a truck driven by an Islamic extremist rammed into crowds at a Berlin Christmas market. That attacker fled and was later killed in a shootout with police in Italy.

In November 2023, two teenagers, aged 15 and 16, were arrested in Germany on suspicion of terrorism. They reportedly sympathized with the Islamic State and were believed to have planned a Christmas market attack using a vehicle, CNA Deutsch, CNA?s German-language news partner, reported earlier this year.

And in April, German authorities reported the arrest of four suspects allegedly planning terror attacks to target Christians attending church services and police stations with knives and Molotov cocktails.

This story was updated Dec. 20, 2024, at 5:35 p.m. ET with information about the driver of the car.

Archpriest of Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral Monsignor Olivier Ribadeau Dumas blesses a Nativity scene in the recently reopened cathedral on Dec. 20, 2024, in Paris. / Credit: Kiran Ridley/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 20, 2024 / 14:05 pm (CNA).

The rector of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris has blessed the Nativity scene at the historic French landmark church ahead of the first Christmas celebrations since its restoration after a devastating 2019 fire.

?You know, for the past 10 days, we?ve been feeling very joyful,? said Notre Dame rector Monsignor Olivier Ribadeau Dumas during the ceremony. ?My greatest joy is to see people happy because they have a cathedral again, not only because they see these stones again but also because it?s a place for prayer that they got back.?

During the ceremonial blessing of the 17th-century-style creche, Dumas shook an olive branch soaked in holy water over the Nativity scene, while those of the faithful in attendance prayed and sang hymns. 

?I am the rector of a cathedral that had burnt down,? Dumas said, adding: ?and I am now the happy rector of a cathedral that has reopened to welcome all of those who will enter it: pilgrims, visitors, and believers.? 

Notre Dame Cathedral underwent five years of renovation after a fire in April 2019 broke out across its roof and spire, causing significant damage to the beloved cathedral and monument of French culture. 

The archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, celebrated the first Mass at the cathedral on Dec. 8, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. The altar of the restored cathedral was consecrated during the liturgy, and celebrants wore vibrant chasubles designed by Jean-Charles Castelbajac, a 74-year-old designer who has dressed the likes of Madonna, Beyonce, Rihanna, and St. John Paul II. 

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

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

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

Pope Francis also sent his regards in a message read by the apostolic nuncio to France, Archbishop Celestino Migliore.

?May the rebirth of this admirable church be a prophetic sign of the renewal of the Church in France,? the pontiff said. ?I invite all the baptized who will joyfully enter this cathedral to feel a legitimate pride and reclaim their faith heritage.?

Christmas lights line a street in Rome, Italy, Dec. 17, 2024. / Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

Rome Newsroom, Dec 20, 2024 / 13:35 pm (CNA).

Rome during the Christmas season is a feast for the senses. Twinkling lights drape over the city?s cobblestone streets, towering Christmas trees adorn piazzas, and Nativity scenes beckon from churches and storefronts alike.

Against this dazzling backdrop, the first pilgrims for the Catholic Church?s 2025 Jubilee, which begins on Christmas Eve, have the unique opportunity to enjoy the Eternal City?s many Christmas traditions. 

Pope Francis will open five jubilee Holy Doors in the Christmas season between Dec. 24 and Jan. 6.

And 38-year-old Immaculate Atieno, a jubilee pilgrim from Nairobi, Kenya, is hoping to witness all of the solemn door openings with the pope.

?It?s worth it,? Atieno told CNA. ?This is a once-in-every-25-years thing to do. So why not give it your all??

Atieno brought with her a long list of prayer intentions from family and friends in Africa in addition to her desire to pray for the needs of the world as she receives her jubilee indulgence.

?We are at a time where the world really needs lots of prayers,? she explained. ?That is why we put forth our prayers, also praying for the intentions of the Holy Father in this time and remembering others.?

Jubilee pilgrims spending the Christmas season in Rome will also get to enjoy the Italian capital?s many culinary delights, including the ubiquitous Christmas bread, panettone.

Panettone, the egg-rich, butter-laden Italian bread speckled with candied fruit, is everywhere ? stacked in brightly wrapped boxes in grocery stores, showcased in bakery windows, and served in slices at cafes. Some bakeries have taken things up a notch, crafting edible Nativity scenes out of panettone and chocolate.

And while many Italian families will sit down to elaborate seafood feasts on Christmas Eve, pilgrims and locals alike enjoy wandering through the city?s streets, soaking in the holiday atmosphere.

A group of Catholic sisters from Indonesia took in the lights of Via del Corso and snapped photos at the Spanish Steps, where a modern Christmas tree sparkled against the historic landmark.

?Every store, every church has also prepared really wonderful decorations to welcome in Christmas,? Sister Angela of the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary told CNA.

?I?m really excited to be welcoming the jubilee here. I?m also feeling so lucky because this year will be the opening of the holy doors.?

Her companion, Sister Tarcisia, shared that she is praying for all of the jubilee pilgrims who will be coming to Rome during the Christmas season as well as for people in the world to experience peace and justice.

This year, large Christmas trees are displayed in Rome?s Piazza di Popolo, the Spanish Steps, and St. Peter?s Square.

Pilgrims strolling through Piazza Navona can browse Rome?s small-scale Christmas market, where vendors sell Nativity figurines, ornaments, and Befana dolls ? Italy?s traditional Christmas witch. 

Over in St. Peter?s Square, visitors marvel at the Vatican?s grand Nativity scene, which this year features a replica of the lagoon of Grado, a picturesque Italian town on the Adriatic Sea.

Under Bernini?s colonnade, the Vatican?s ?100 Nativity Scenes? exhibit draws visitors with its international collection, including Nativities made from coral, pine cones, papier-mâché, and even pasta.

Nearby the Basilica of Sant?Andrea della Valle also showcases an array of Nativity scenes and the Basilica of Saints Cosma and Damiano features a monumental display of historic Neapolitan figurines.

At the Basilica of St. Mary Major, pilgrims can venerate a relic of Christ?s manger and pray at the site where St. Cajetan had a vision of the Virgin Mary handing him the infant Jesus. 

For those willing to venture beyond Rome, Assisi is illuminated during the Christmas season with light displays of Giotto?s famous frescoes, while the nearby town of Greccio is the site of the first Nativity scene created by St. Francis.

For Atieno, the spiritual aspect of the season is central to her pilgrimage. She said her favorite Christmas tradition is the great homilies that she looks forward to every Advent and Christmas. 

?It?s a time when we have to remember peace, joy, and prepare ourselves to welcome Our Lord,? she said.

Pope Francis, who celebrated his 88th birthday on Dec. 17, has a packed liturgical schedule for the first few weeks of the jubilee. 

On Christmas Eve, he will preside over the opening of the Holy Door at St. Peter?s Basilica at 7 p.m. followed by the Christmas ?Mass during the Night.?

Pilgrims unable to secure tickets for the Christmas Eve Mass told CNA that they plan to gather in St. Peter?s Square, hoping to witness the historic opening of the Holy Door from outside.

The following day, Francis will deliver his ?urbi et orbi? blessing to the city and the world from the basilica?s central balcony.

The pope?s jubilee itinerary also includes opening the Holy Door at Rome?s Rebibbia prison on  the Dec. 26 feast of St. Stephen; at the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran on the Dec. 29 feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph; at St. Mary Major on the Jan. 1 solemnity of Mary, Mother of God; and at St. Paul Outside the Walls on Jan. 5.

Pope Francis asked pilgrims to spiritually prepare for Christmas in his last general audience before the start of the jubilee.

?Christmas is now here and I?d like to think that there is a Nativity scene in your homes,? the pope said. ?This important element of our spirituality and culture is a wonderful, wonderful way to remember Jesus who came to dwell among us.?

Praying alongside pilgrims crowded inside the Vatican hall, Pope Francis asked the ?Prince of Peace? for his grace and peace to fill the world.

null / Credit: pim pic/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 20, 2024 / 12:15 pm (CNA).

Many women who undergo chemical abortions experience more pain than they were prepared for and more than 40% go through ?severe? pain, according to a peer-reviewed study of British women conducted by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS).

The study, published in the BMJ Sexual and Reproductive Health online journal, notes that women who seek out chemical abortions are often advised that the pain from chemical abortions will be similar to ?period pain,? but the researchers note that the pain experienced can vary widely and be much more severe.

?Many felt unprepared for the level of pain they experienced,? the study notes, adding that in many cases, there is ?a lack of detailed, realistic anticipatory pain counseling.?

The survey found that 48.5% of respondents experienced more pain than they expected. About 92% of the women who underwent chemical abortions rated their pain level at least ?4? on a scale of 1 to 10, with 41.5% rating their pain as ?8? or higher, which designates ?severe? pain.

According to the study, some women told researchers that the pain described in consultations or information leaflets was ?washed over,? ?downplayed,? or ?sugarcoated.? 

?The pain was intense and constant, in my lower back,? one of the women explained. ?It hurt so much that it made me throw up several times. I felt shaky and faint at points.?

?Pain was so much stronger than period pain,? another woman described. ?It was like having contractions in labor. I?ve given birth three times and the pain really wasn?t too much different from that pain, the cramping contraction pain.?

Another woman surveyed told researchers ?the pain was really a lot worse than I expected, perhaps because it was compared to bad period pain and my periods have always been fairly pain-free.?

?Pain was so severe, and yet everything I read or heard, and what little there was about the pain on the internet was [that] it was slight cramping, like a bad period ? [which] couldn?t be further from the truth,? she continued. 

?? The amount of pain you could go through is completely played down. ? I understand they probably don?t want to scare many women, but I?d rather know how bad the pain can get.?

The researchers wrote in the study that ?setting realistic expectations? about pain levels is needed for women to support ?informed? decisions.

?Benchmarking against period pain has long been used as a way to describe the pain associated with medical abortion, despite the wide variability of period pain experienced,? Hannah McCulloch, the lead author of the study, said in a statement.

?For many respondents, using period pain as a reference point for what to expect was not helpful for managing expectations, or in line with their experiences,? she added.

Nearly 1,600 women who underwent chemical abortions in England and Wales responded to the survey. Chemical abortions are prescribed for British women up to 10 weeks? gestation, which is the same standard approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States.

At 10 weeks? gestation, an unborn child has a fetal heartbeat, early brain activity, and partially developed eyes, lips, and nostrils. The abortion pill mifepristone kills the child by blocking the hormone progesterone, which cuts off the supply of oxygen and nutrients. A second pill, misoprostol, expels the child?s body from the mother, essentially inducing labor.

Pro-life pregnancy resource centers often offer abortion pill reversal (APR) medicine, which is meant to reverse the effects of mifepristone by increasing progesterone levels.

St. Januarius and the miracle of the liquefaction of his blood contained in a relic. / Credit: Louis Finson, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Photo2023, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 18, 2024 / 17:30 pm (CNA).

The faithful of the city of Naples in Italy experienced profound relief when they witnessed the liquefaction of the blood of St. Januarius, the miracle that kept the city in suspense during the day on Dec. 16.

The extraordinary event, which did not occur in the morning as usual, finally happened at 5:40 p.m. (local time) in the Naples cathedral.

Since 9 a.m., the reliquary containing the blood of the saint had been exposed to the faithful by Father Gregorio Vincenzo, but it remained solid until the afternoon. 

After the miracle, the liquefied blood of the patron saint of the city was taken to the Treasury Chapel of the cathedral, where a Mass was celebrated.

The miracle consists of the mass of blood adhering to one side of the ampoule turning into completely liquid blood, covering the entire glass.

This extraordinary event has occurred since 1389 on three occasions: every Sept. 19, the feast day of the saint; on Dec. 16, the anniversary of his intervention to prevent the effects of an eruption of the Mount Vesuvius volcano in 1631; and on the Saturday before the first Sunday in May, in memory of the transfer of his remains to Naples.

Tradition has it that on Dec. 16, 1631, the faithful of Naples carried the relics of their patron saint in a procession to prevent the eruption of Mount Vesuvius volcano from destroying the city. During the procession, the lava miraculously stopped. Since then, this event has been known as the ?laypeople?s miracle.?

The liquefaction process sometimes takes hours or even days, and sometimes it doesn?t happen at all, which Neapolitans interpret as a bad omen, as happened in 1939 before the outbreak of World War II.

The Catholic Church believes that the miracle, without scientific explanation, happens thanks to the dedication and prayers of the faithful.

With the exclamation ?The miracle has happened!?, the faithful go to the altar to kiss the relic and sing the Te Deum in thanksgiving after the archbishop of Naples, Cardinal Domenico Battaglia, has walked around the church holding the relic.

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

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

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

Did you know Pope Francis was a nightclub bouncer, his favorite movie is ?La Strada? by Federico Fellini, and that he doesn?t watch television? On the occasion of his 88th birthday, these and other interesting facts about Pope Francis are highlighted below.

1. How did he discover his vocation?

On the feast of St. Matthew the Apostle, Pope Francis discovered his vocation to the priesthood after going to confession when he was 16 years old. It happened on Sept. 21, 1953. It was Student Day in Argentina, which coincides with the day when spring begins in the southern hemisphere and is celebrated with a big party.

?Before going to the party, I passed by the parish I attended and I found a priest I didn?t know and I felt the need to go to confession. This was for me an experience of encounter: I found Someone who was waiting for me.?

?I don?t know what happened, I don?t remember, I don?t know why that priest was there, whom I didn?t know, why I had felt that desire to go to confession, but the truth is that Someone was waiting for me. He had been waiting for me for a long time. After confession I felt that something had changed,? the Holy Father shared.

He said that after that confession he said that he was no longer himself: ?I had heard something like a voice, a call: I was convinced that I had to be a priest.?

2. What is his favorite dish?

Nov. 19, 2022, was one of those rare occasions when Pope Francis left the Vatican without an official program. The reason? A family reunion in Asti, the Italian city where his cousin Daniela di Tiglione lives, who was celebrating her 90th birthday.

On that occasion, Pope Francis was able to enjoy his favorite dish: Bagna Cauda, ??a typical Piedmont dish prepared with anchovies, oil, and garlic and used as a sauce for vegetables.

3. A passion for tango

Before being ordained a priest, especially during his youth, Pope Francis enjoyed tango, one of the most emblematic dances of Argentina. He also liked the milonga, another typical dance from his homeland.

4. He was a bouncer in a nightclub

Like any young man, Jorge Bergoglio worked various jobs to earn his first salary. Although his first job was scrubbing the floors of the hosiery company where his father worked, in 2013 he confessed to a group of young people that he was also a bouncer at a nightclub. Thanks to that experience, he began ?to guide the disillusioned to the Church.?

5. He?s missing a lung

When he was 21, he had to have a lung removed due to an infection, which has caused him to suffer from some breathing difficulties in recent years.

6. He has refused forgiveness only once

On more than one occasion, Pope Francis has encouraged priests to forgive ?everything? in the confessional and to ?not torture? the faithful in the confessional.

During an interview on Italian television in January, he stated that in his more than 50 years as a priest he has refused forgiveness only once, ?because of the hypocrisy of the person.?

7. The prayer he says every day to keep his good humor

On several occasions, Pope Francis has praised a good sense of humor and stressed that sadness is not a Christian disposition. He has even gone so far as to say that the ?hallmark of a Christian? is joy and not being a sourpuss. 

To be good-humored, he says a prayer from St. Thomas More every day, a prayer he has referred to in numerous public appearances, most recently with the president of France, Emmanuel Macron.

?Lord, give me a sense of humor. Grant me the grace to understand a joke, to discover in life a bit of joy, and be able to share it with others,? the Holy Father prays every day.

8. St. Joseph, his help in difficulties

There is an image of St. Joseph that Pope Francis is very fond of that shows the ?silent? saint  lying down asleep.

During his apostolic trip to the Philippines, the pontiff referred to St. Joseph as ?a strong man of silence? and said that he keeps this figurine on his desk. ?Even when he sleeps, he takes care of the Church,? he said.

?When I have a problem, a difficulty, I write a little note and put it under St. Joseph so that he can dream about it. In other words, I tell him: Pray for this problem!? the Holy Father confessed.

9. Pope Francis favors taking a daily nap

Pope Francis usually goes to bed at 9 p.m. and wakes up around 4 a.m. He sleeps about six hours a day, as he usually reads for an hour after going to bed, until 10 p.m.

?Later I need a nap. I have to sleep for 40 minutes to an hour. I take off my shoes and fall into bed. And I also sleep deeply and wake up alone. On days when I don?t take a nap, I notice it,? he once said.

10. What is his favorite soccer team?

Even though he no longer lives in Argentina, Pope Francis continues to root for the San Lorenzo de Almagro team from Buenos Aires. He keeps up to date thanks to a Swiss Guard who informs him of the team?s news every week, since the pope doesn?t watch the games.

In fact, during an audience at the Vatican in September, a delegation from the San Lorenzo club asked the Holy Father for his blessing to name the club?s next stadium after him.

11. The day his life was saved

At the age of 44, Pope Francis suffered from gangrene of the gallbladder, a serious complication that occurs when the tissue of this organ of the digestive system becomes necrotic due to an interruption of blood flow.

?I felt like I was dying,? said the Holy Father, referring to the night in 1980 when he was operated on by Dr. Juan Carlos Parodi, an eminent Argentine surgeon who saved the life of then-Father Jorge Mario Bergoglio. In 2014, 34 years later, the two held a private meeting in the Vatican.

12. Where does he want to be buried?

Unlike many pontiffs throughout the history of the Church, whose coffins are in the crypts of the Vatican in the grottoes under St. Peter?s Basilica, the Holy Father revealed that he has had his tomb prepared in St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome due to the great devotion he has to the Virgin Salus Populi Romani (protectress of the Roman people), to whom he made a promise.

In addition, in December 2022, the pontiff gave an interview in which he announced that he had signed his resignation in case his health did not allow him to continue exercising his ministry.

13. What is his favorite movie?

?La Strada? by Federico Fellini, winner of the Oscar for best foreign film in 1957.

14. He doesn?t watch television because of a promise to Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Pope Francis says he hasn?t watched television since July 15, 1990, when he promised Our Lady of Mount Carmel that he would no longer do so. The Holy Father made this promise because he ?felt that God was asking me to do it.?

15. He went to therapy at age 42

In the book interview ?Politics and Society? by Frenchman Dominique Wolton, Pope Francis recounted that, when he was provincial of the Society of Jesus in Argentina, he went to therapy for six months with a Jewish psychologist. ?She was very good, very professional,? the Holy Father said.

16. An ?incognito? pope on the streets of Rome

In 2013, the year he was elected bishop of Rome, a Vatican source informed the Huffington Post that Pope Francis went out at night dressed as a priest to give alms and help the poor on the streets of Rome.

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

Members of the German Synodal Committee meet for their third session at the Wilhelm-Kempf-Haus in Wiesbaden-Naurod, Dec. 13, 2024. / Credit: Deutsche Bischofskonferenz/Ewelina Sowa

Rome Newsroom, Dec 17, 2024 / 11:40 am (CNA).

Following a series of meetings at the Vatican this year, the German Synodal Committee took further steps toward establishing a national synodal body after the Vatican rejected a permanent council.

At a meeting Dec. 13?14 in Wiesbaden, delegates discussed drafting the composition, competencies, and decision-making processes of a body that initially was proposed to be a synodal council ? while facing renewed internal tensions, including the withdrawal of spiritual advisers, CNA Deutsch reported.

Tailwind from the synod

Pointing to the recent Synod on Synodality in Rome, Bishop Georg Bätzing, chairman of the German Bishops? Conference, expressed optimism about the latest developments in Germany.

?We feel tailwind for our proceedings in Germany through the results of the world synod,? he said at the meeting, according to CNA Deutsch.

Irme Stetter-Karp, president of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), said that the final document of the synod in Rome required broader outreach in Germany: ?It needs mediation to the parishes, to the grassroots,? she said during the committee?s third session.

Confrontations with spiritual advisers

The departure of two spiritual advisers overshadowed the recent developments.

CNA Deutsch reported that Sister Igna Kramp from the Diocese of Fulda and Peter Hundertmark from the Diocese of Speyer stepped down following what sources described as ?confrontations between participants? during preparatory meetings.

According to the organizing committee?s statutes, the presidium is meant to appoint ?two spiritual companions of different genders who are not members of the synodal committee? to provide spiritual guidance and reflection. Replacements were swiftly appointed.

Meetings in Rome

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

The interventions were followed by several meetings between German bishops and high-ranking Vatican officials earlier this year.

Most recently, on June 28, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandéz, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith; Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity; Cardinal Robert Prevost, prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops; and Cardinal Arthur Roche, prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, met with a German delegation. 

Archbishop Filippo Iannone, prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, joined the cardinals.

Bishops Bätzing, Stephan Ackermann, Bertram Meier, and Franz-Josef Overbeck represented the Synodal Way on the German side.

The talks centered on the proposed synodal council: According to a joint press release, both sides want to ?change the name and various aspects of the previous draft? for the controversial body.

Both sides also agreed that the synodal council would not be ?above or equal to the bishops? conference.?

The committee now setting up a ?national synodal body? is scheduled to meet again in early 2025.

German dioceses will reportedly be surveyed about the implementation of resolutions in February and March of next year.

null / Credit: BAUER Alexandre/Shutterstock

Madrid, Spain, Dec 17, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).

A ruling by the Supreme Court of Spain states that surrogacy exploits the woman who rents her womb and harms the dignity and rights of the children conceived.

The Dec. 9 decision by the country?s First Chamber of the high court determined that ?it is contrary to public order? to recognize a ruling by a foreign court (Bexar County, Texas) that validates a surrogacy contract and attributes the paternity of the children born to the intended [contracting] parents.?

The decision is based on the ?fundamental rights and constitutional principles? of the Spanish legal system, which include ?the rights to physical and moral well-being of the pregnant woman and the child, and respect for their dignity.?

?Surrogacy violates the moral well-being of the pregnant woman and the child, who are treated as things up for sale, deprived of the dignity proper to the human being,? the Supreme Court stated.

This practice also ?deprives the minor of his right to know his biological origin? and threatens ?the physical well-being of the mother, who may be subjected to aggressive hormonal treatments to get her pregnant,? the ruling explained.

At the same time, the Supreme Court stated that this practice also means ?threatening the physical and moral well-being of the minor, given the lack of control over the suitability of the intended parents.?

According to the judges, ?a surrogacy contract such as the one validated by the American court?s ruling entails exploitation of the woman and harms the best interests of the child.?

Consent vitiated by payment

The Spanish Supreme Court also pointed out that ?surrogacy is a huge business in which the commissioning parents pay significant amounts of money, part of which goes to the surrogate mother.?

This circumstance means that her consent to hand over the child she is gestating in her womb, ?given before birth, has been obtained through payment or compensation of some kind.?

Regarding the determination of the best interests of the child in these cases, the Supreme Court pointed out that ?it should not be done in accordance with the interests and criteria of the [contracting] parents.?

Nor should it be done because of ?the existence of a surrogacy contract and of filiation in favor of the intended parents provided for by foreign legislation.?

The criteria for determining the best interests of the child must be based on ?the severance of all ties between the child and the woman who gestated and gave birth to him, the existence of a biological paternal filiation and a family unit in which the child is integrated into,? according to the court.

Finally, the Supreme Court stated that the fundamental rights of mothers and children ?would be seriously violated if the practice of commercial surrogacy were to be promoted.?

In the court?s opinion, this ?will facilitate the action of surrogacy intermediation agencies, in the event that they could assure their potential clients the almost automatic recognition in Spain of the filiation resulting from the surrogacy contract,? despite violating the rights of the gestating women and the children ?treated as mere merchandise.?

The Supreme Court had also previously ruled, in April 2022, against surrogacy.

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

A sister kneels before the tabernacle after inviting a group of women donating Christmas gifts to pray in the Missionaries of Charity house in Rome. / Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

Rome Newsroom, Dec 16, 2024 / 14:30 pm (CNA).

On a crisp December morning in Rome, a group of women gathered not for their usual Bible study but to bring Christmas gifts to a homeless shelter run by the Missionaries of Charity, the order founded by St. Teresa of Calcutta, also known as Mother Teresa.

The women were greeted at the door by a petite Indian sister dressed in the familiar white sari trimmed with blue. With a gentle smile, she welcomed them inside and led them through the modest shelter into a small chapel. At the center was a simple tabernacle, flanked by a crucifix and the words ?I thirst.? The sister gestured for them to sit and pray, then spoke quietly.

?Ask the Lord,? she said, ?How can I be a channel of peace to people? ? How can I be a sign of hope to people around me??

?How can I become a sign of hope to my family, where I may be struggling with my husband, children, friends? How can I become the sign of hope in the place where we are??

The Advent season, rooted in hope and longing for the Messiah, is a time when Christians prepare their hearts for the coming of Christ. It?s also a time for almsgiving and acts of charity to bring hope to a world filled with struggle and need. For the Missionaries of Charity, whose charism is to serve ?the poorest of the poor,? this isn?t just for a liturgical season ? it is a way of life.

The transformational power of charity

María Teresa Ávila Fuentes, a doctoral student at the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, has spent years studying the ripple effects of the Missionaries of Charity?s work. She calls it the ?transformational power of charity,? a concept she is exploring in her dissertation.

?My doctoral research is around the transformative power of charity, and it?s a study through the prism of the missionaries of Mother Teresa,? Fuentes explained.

Fuentes? research examines how the sisters? simple yet profound acts of love impact not only the communities they serve but also the volunteers and laypeople who witness and participate in their work.

?It?s this idea that love is expansive,? Fuentes said, referencing Pope Benedict XVI?s Caritas in Veritate. 

?Charity has an impact not only in micro relations but also in macro relations ? society, culture, economy. Everything gets impacted by charity because charity is agape love.?

She shared stories of lives transformed by the sisters? witness. ?I?ve interviewed people who have adopted children because of the sisters? testimony, people who have changed careers completely after volunteering, people who have founded NGOs [nongovernmental organizations] or schools. Volunteers often say that seeing the sisters? relationship with the poor ? and experiencing their relationship with the volunteers themselves ? is what transforms them.?

The Missionaries of Charity, with their radical simplicity, live a profound trust in God?s providence. They do not fundraise, nor do they accept recognition for their work. Even their presence in this article is mediated by lay witnesses like Fuentes, as the sisters themselves are not allowed to be quoted by name or photographed.

?Precisely because they become so small and so empty, God is able to fill them so generously,? Fuentes told CNA.

This approach reflects Mother Teresa?s belief that small acts of love, done with great devotion, have the power to transform hearts and communities. 

One sister explained: ?We don?t have to do big things to be a sign of hope. A smile, a compassionate look, just a listening attitude, a welcoming attitude. ? We?ll be happy if we?ve given five minutes to someone patiently and lovingly, so at the end of the day, I was able to do something good with God?s grace. So we hope to be a sign of hope to others, especially this year of hope.?

Advent: a season of hope and charity

Advent, a time of joyful expectation, calls Christians to embody hope in their families, workplaces, and communities. The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes Advent as a season to renew the ?ancient expectancy of the Messiah ? by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior?s first coming.?

This year, Advent also leads up to the Catholic Church?s 2025 Jubilee, themed ?Pilgrims of Hope,? which will begin on Christmas Eve. For the Missionaries of Charity and their collaborators, this theme resonates deeply. Their work is a tangible expression of hope ? bringing dignity to the destitute, companionship to the lonely, and a home for the neglected and abandoned.

?What is beautiful,? Fuentes reflected, ?is that since they live this total surrender, you ring the doorbell and you just say, ?I want to volunteer,? and God will have something prepared for you there with the sisters.?

Fuentes herself experienced this transformation firsthand. Originally from Chihuahua, Mexico, she spent five months volunteering with the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India, an experience that she said changed the course of her life.

?I was teaching high school, but I quit, and my best friend and I went to Calcutta to volunteer in a house for kids with disabilities,? she said. ?It transformed me.?

For those inspired to volunteer with the sisters, the order has launched a website listing the contact information for some of their missions.

At the time of Mother Teresa?s death in 1997, there were nearly 4,000 sisters in 594 missions in 123 countries. Today, the Missionaries of Charity are also present in some of the most dangerous and war-torn places in the world, including Gaza, Kiev, and Syria.

The Missionaries of Charity Fathers have also created the ?I Thirst? apostolate, a movement for laypeople to grow in the charism of Mother Teresa to deepen their faith and learn how to serve others with love and humility.

?Charity in truth, to which Jesus Christ bore witness by his earthly life and especially by his death and resurrection, is the principal driving force behind the authentic development of every person and of all humanity,? Benedict XVI wrote in Caritas in Veritate.

?Love ? caritas ? is an extraordinary force which leads people to opt for courageous and generous engagement in the field of justice and peace. It is a force that has its origin in God, Eternal Love and Absolute Truth.?

Pope Francis and French President Emmanuel Macron meet in Corsica on Dec. 15, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN/Vatican Pool

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 16, 2024 / 13:30 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis and French President Emmanuel Macron met on Sunday during the pontiff?s visit to Corsica, where they discussed international concerns and shared a moment of levity about the importance of maintaining a sense of humor.

The 40-minute private meeting took place in a room at Ajaccio?s Napoleon Bonaparte Airport, where the two leaders addressed several pressing international issues, including conflicts in the Holy Land, Lebanon, and Ukraine. 

Both expressed their desire for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and discussed the situation in Syria, advocating for a ?just and inclusive? political transition that would protect minorities.

During their exchange, Macron presented the pope with a book about Notre-Dame Cathedral, while Francis reciprocated with papal medals and magisterial documents. The pope specifically recommended that Macron read his apostolic exhortation Gaudete et Exultate, drawing attention to the passage referencing St. Thomas More?s prayer for a sense of humor.

?Lord, give me a sense of humor. Grant me the grace to understand a joke, to discover in life a bit of joy, and to be able to share it with others,? reads the prayer, which Pope Francis has previously described as ?very beautiful? and recites daily.

The meeting came just a week after the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, an event the pope declined to attend. Instead, he presided over a consistory at the Vatican, where he created 21 new cardinals on the same day, Dec. 7.

The brief but significant visit marked Francis?s 47th apostolic journey abroad. Earlier Sunday, the pope participated in a conference on popular piety in the Mediterranean region, where he advocated for ?healthy secularism? that ensures political action without instrumentalizing religion.

In an unprecedented break from tradition, Pope Francis did not hold his usual in-flight press conference with journalists on the return journey to Rome. He did, however, thank the press corps for its presence and commented on Corsica being a land ?of children,? stating: ?I was happy to see a people that makes children: This is the future.?

The pope will celebrate his 88th birthday on Dec. 17.

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

Pope Francis presides over Mass on Gaudete Sunday on the island of Corsica, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Ajaccio, France, Dec 15, 2024 / 13:00 pm (CNA).

Two days before his 88th birthday, Pope Francis received a warm welcome on the Mediterranean island of Corsica for a one-day visit to the city of Ajaccio, the capital of the French island region.

During the Dec. 15 trip, the pontiff encouraged the island?s Catholic majority to continue to foster its traditional piety as secular culture grows in Europe ? and to use their devotion as fuel to serve others in charity.

The papal visit touched the peripheries of France, where a strongly Catholic population is steeped in Corsican traditions, including songs, both sacred and secular, linked to confraternities.

These religious associations, which have a long history in Corsican culture, continue to pass down the custom of singing. The hymns are usually sung a capella and in Latin.

Traditional Corsican hymns were featured throughout Pope Francis? visit, especially at his Mass with an estimated 7,000 Catholics at Place d?Austerlitz, a park built as a memorial to Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, who was born in Ajaccio. Authorities estimate another 8,000 people were following the Mass on jumbo screens around the city.

In his homily for the third Sunday of Advent, Pope Francis said too much time thinking about ourselves and our own needs is why ?we lose the spirit of joy.?

Distress, disappointment, and sadness are widespread spiritual ills, he noted, especially where consumerism is prominent.

?If we live only for ourselves, we will never find happiness,? the pope said, pointing to the recitation of the rosary and the spiritual and corporal works of mercy of the confraternities as an example of how to cultivate faith.

The Mass in a mix of French and Corsican took place as the sun set over Ajaccio, ending by candlelight with purple skies behind the hills bordering the port city.

?May the Gospel of Jesus Christ help you to have hearts open to the world: Your traditions are a richness to be cherished and cultivated, but never in order to isolate yourselves; indeed they are always for encounter and sharing,? Pope Francis said in his closing message of thanks to the community.

Pope Francis is the first pope to visit Corsica, which is situated west of the mainland of Italy and north of the Italian island of Sardinia, the nearest land mass.

According to the latest Vatican statistics, the Diocese of Ajaccio, the Mediterranean island?s only diocese, has nearly 344,000 inhabitants, about 85% of whom are Catholic.

Approximately 400 people, many of them members of confraternities, were in the auditorium hall for Pope Francis? first meeting of the day, the closing speech of a conference on popular piety in the Mediterranean region.

While extolling the French system of ?läicité? and the ?constructive citizenship? of Christians, Pope Francis underlined that ?faith may not be reduced to a private affair, restricted to the sanctuary of the individual?s conscience.?

Francis warned against pitting Christian and secular culture against one another and praised the ?beauty and importance of popular piety? in an increasingly faithless Europe.

After leaving the conference center, Pope Francis stopped along the road to pray and light a candle at a statue of the ?Madunuccia,? or ?little Madonna,? kept in a niche of a building.

The patroness of Ajaccio, honored under the title of Our Lady of Mercy, protected the city from plague in 1656, a day the city marks with grand festivities every year on March 18.

Pope Francis greeted enthusiastic locals lining the streets of Ajaccio as he traveled in an open-air popemobile to the 16th-century Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral, just steps from the sea in the city?s historic center.

Inside the Baroque cathedral, Francis prayed the Angelus with French bishops, priests, deacons, seminarians, and religious.

Addressing the island?s clerics and religious before the traditional Marian prayer, the pope emphasized the need for those whose lives are devoted to service to also spend time in ?care for themselves? ? including daily time for prayer, Mass, solitude, heartfelt exchanges with a person of trust, and a healthy hobby.

He also encouraged the priests, bishops, and religious to find the most efficacious routes for evangelization today.

?Do not be afraid of changing, of reassessing the old methods, of renewing the language of faith and realizing that the mission is not a question of human strategies but above all a question of faith, of passion for the Gospel and God?s kingdom,? the pontiff said.

After a day surrounded by the warmth of the people of Corsica, Pope Francis concluded his trip with a brief one-on-one meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron before returning to Rome.

Jack Traynor (next to child on first row) as a pilgrim to Lourdes in 1925, two years after his healing. / Credit: Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 14, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).

In 1944, Father Patrick O?Connor, an Irish priest and member of the Missionary Society of St. Columban, published ?I Knew a Miracle: The Story of John Traynor, Miraculously Healed at Lourdes.?

In the book he recounts how, during a 10-hour train ride to Lourdes on Friday, Sept. 10, 1937, Royal Navy seaman Jack Traynor told him firsthand how he was healed in 1923 at the Lourdes Shrine from the crippling wounds he had suffered from his participation in World War I.

Over a century later, on Dec. 8 of this year, the archbishop of Liverpool in the United Kingdom, Malcolm McMahon, announced that Traynor?s healing has been recognized as the 71st miracle attributed to the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes.

O?Connor described Traynor as a ?heavy-set man, 5?5?, with a strong, ruddy face? who, according to his biography, ?should have been, if he were alive, paralyzed, epileptic, covered in sores, shrunken, with a wrinkled and useless right arm and a gaping hole in his skull.?

Traynor was, in the missionary?s view, a man ?with his manly faith and piety,? unassuming, ?but obviously a fearless, militant Catholic.? Despite having received only a primary education, he had ?a clear mind enriched by faith and preserved by great honesty of life.?

This enabled him to tell ?with simplicity, sobriety, exactness? how he was healed at the place where the Immaculate Conception appeared to St. Bernadette Soubirous in 1858.

O?Connor wrote down the account and sent it to Traynor, who revised it and added new details. He read the official report of the doctors who examined him and searched the newspaper archives of the time to corroborate the account.

How Traynor came to be considered incurable

Traynor was born in Liverpool, according to some sources, in 1883. His mother was an Irish Catholic who died when Traynor was still young. ?But his faith, his devotion to the Mass and holy Communion ? he went daily when very few others did ? and his trust in the Virgin remained with him as a fruitful memory and example,? O?Connor recalled.

Mobilized at the outbreak of World War I, he was hit by shrapnel, which left him unconscious for five weeks. Sent in 1915 to the expeditionary force to Egypt and the Dardanelles Strait, between Turkey and Greece, he took part in the landing at Gallipoli.

During a bayonet charge on May 8, he was hit with 14 machine gun bullets in the head, chest, and arm. Sent to Alexandria, Egypt, he was operated on three times in the following months to try to stitch together the nerves in his right arm. They offered him amputation, but he refused. The epileptic seizures began, and there was a fourth operation, also unsuccessful, in 1916.

He was discharged with a 100% pension ?for permanent and total disability,? the missionary priest related, and in 1920 he underwent surgery on his skull to try to cure the epilepsy. From that operation he was left with an open hole ?about two centimeters wide? that was covered with a silver plate.

By then he was suffering three seizures a day and his legs were partially paralyzed. Back in Liverpool he was given a wheelchair and had to be helped out of bed.

Eight years had passed since the landing at Gallipoli. Traynor was treated by 10 doctors who could only attest ?that he was completely and incurably incapacitated.?

Unable to walk, with epileptic seizures, a useless arm, three open wounds, ?he was truly a human wreck. Someone arranged for him to be admitted to the Mossley Hill Hospital for Incurables on July 24, 1923. But by that date Jack Traynor was already in Lourdes,? O?Connor recounted.

Traynor tells about his pilgrimage to Lourdes

According to the first-person account originally written by O?Connor and corrected and adapted by Traynor, the veteran sailor had always felt great devotion to Mary that he got from his mother.

?I felt that if the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes were in England, I would go there often. But it seemed to me a distant place that I could never reach,? Traynor said.

When he heard that a pilgrimage was being organized to the shrine, he decided to do everything he could to go. He used money set aside ?for some special emergency? and they even sold belongings. ?My wife even pawned her own jewelry.?

When they learned of his determination, many tried to dissuade him: ?You?ll die on the way, you?ll be a problem and a pain for everyone,? a priest told him.

?Everyone, except my wife and one or two relatives, told me I was crazy,? he recalled.

The experience of the trip was ?very hard,? confessed Traynor, who felt very ill on the way. So much so that they tried to get him off three times to take him to a hospital in France, but at the place where they stopped there was no hospital.

On arrival at Lourdes, there was ?no hope? for Traynor

On Sunday, July 22, 1923, they arrived at the Lourdes Shrine in the foothills of the French Pyrenees. There he was cared for by two Protestant sisters who knew him from Liverpool and who happened to be there providentially.

The pilgrimage of more than 1,200 people was led by the archbishop of Liverpool, Frederick William Keating.

On arrival, Traynor felt ?desperately ill,? to the point that ?a woman took it upon herself to write to my wife telling her that there was no hope for me and that I would be buried at Lourdes.?

Despite this, ?I managed to get lowered into the baths nine times in the water from the spring in the grotto and they took me to the different devotions that the sick could join in.?

On the second day, he suffered a strong epileptic seizure. The volunteers refused to put him in the pools in this state, but his insistence could not be overcome. ?Since then I have not had another epileptic seizure,? he recalled.

Paralyzed legs healed

On Tuesday, July 24, Traynor was examined for the first time by doctors at the shrine, who testified to what had happened during the trip to Lourdes and detailed his ailments.

On Wednesday, July 25, ?he seemed to be as bad as ever? and, thinking about the return trip planned for Friday, July 27, he bought some religious souvenirs for his wife and children with the last shillings he had left.

He returned to the baths. ?When I was in the bath, my paralyzed legs shook violently,? he related, causing alarm among the volunteers who attended to the pilgrims at the shrine, believing it was another epileptic seizure. ?I struggled to stand up, feeling that I could do so easily,? he explained.

Arm healed as Blessed Sacrament passes by

He was again placed in his wheelchair and taken to the procession of the Blessed Sacrament. The archbishop of Reims, Cardinal Louis Henri Joseph Luçon, carried the monstrance.

?He blessed the two who were in front of me, came up to me, made the sign of the cross with the monstrance, and moved on to the next one. He just passed when I realized that a great change had taken place in me. My right arm, which had been dead since 1915, shook violently. I tore off its bandages and crossed myself, for the first time in years,? Traynor himself testified.

?As far as I can remember, I felt no sudden pain and certainly I did not have a vision. I simply realized that something momentous had happened,? Traynor recounted.

Back at the asylum, the former hospital that today houses the offices of the Hospitality of Our Lady of Lourdes, he proved that he could walk seven steps. The doctors examined him again and concluded in their report that ?he had recovered the voluntary use of his legs? and that ?the patient can walk with difficulty.?

Traynor makes it to the grotto 

That night, he could hardly sleep. As there was already a certain commotion around him, several volunteers stood guard at his door. Early in the morning, it seemed that he would fall asleep again, but ?with a last breath, I opened my eyes and jumped out of bed. First I knelt on the floor to finish the rosary I had been saying, then I ran to the door.?

Making his way, he arrived barefoot and in his pajamas at the grotto of Massabielle, where the volunteers followed him: ?When they reached the grotto, I was on my knees, still in my nightclothes, praying to the Virgin and thanking her. I only knew that I had to thank her and that the grotto was the right place to do so.?

He prayed for 20 minutes. When he got up, a crowd surrounded him, and they made way to let him return to the asylum.

A sacrifice made for the Virgin in gratitude

?At the end of the Rosary Square stands the statue of Our Lady Crowned. My mother had always taught me that when you ask the Virgin for a favor or want to show her some special veneration, you have to make a sacrifice. I had no money to offer, having spent my last shillings on rosaries and medals for my wife and children, but kneeling there before the Virgin, I made the only sacrifice I could think of. I decided to give up smoking,? Traynor explained with tremendous simplicity.

?During all this time, although I knew I had received a great favor from Our Lady, I didn?t clearly remember all the illness I previously had,? he noted in his account.

As he finished getting himself ready, a priest, Father Gray, who knew nothing of his cure, asked for someone to serve Mass for him, which Traynor did: ?I didn?t think it strange that I could do it, after eight years of not being able to get up or walk,? he said.

Traynor received word that the priest who had strongly opposed his joining the pilgrimage wanted to see him at his hotel, located in the town of Lourdes, outside the shrine. He asked him if he was well. ?I told him I was well, thank you, and that I hoped he was too. He burst into tears.?

Early on Friday, July 27, the doctors examined Traynor again. They found that he was able to walk perfectly, that his right arm and legs had fully recovered. The opening in his skull resulting from the operation had been considerably reduced, and he had not suffered any further epileptic seizures. His sores had also healed by the time he returned from the grotto, when he had removed his bandages the previous day.

Weeping ?like two children? with Archbishop Keating

At nine o?clock in the morning the train back to Liverpool was ready to leave the Lourdes station, situated in the upper part of the town. He had been given a seat in first class, which, despite his protests, he had to accept.

Halfway through the journey, Keating came to see him in his passenger car. ?I knelt down for his blessing. He raised me up saying, ?Jack, I think I should have your blessing.? I didn?t understand why he was saying that. Then he raised me up and we both sat on the bed. Looking at me, he said, ?Jack, do you realize how ill you have been and that you have been miraculously cured by the Blessed Virgin???

?Then,? Traynor continued, ?it all came back to me, the memory of my years of illness and the sufferings on the trip to Lourdes and how ill I had been at Lourdes. I began to cry, and so did the archbishop, and we both sat there crying like two children. After talking to him for a while, I calmed down. I now fully understood what had happened.?

A telegram to his wife: ?I am better?

Since news of the events had already reached Liverpool, Traynor was advised to write a telegram to his wife. ?I didn?t want to make a fuss with a telegram, so I sent her this message: ?I am better ? Jack,?? he explained.

This message and the letter announcing that her husband was going to die in Lourdes were all the information his wife had, as she had not seen the newspapers. She assumed that he had recovered from his serious condition but that he was still in his ?ruinous? state.

The reception in Liverpool was the culmination. The archbishop had to address the crowd to disperse at the mere sight of Traynor getting off the train. ?But when I appeared on the platform, there was a stampede? and the police had to intervene. ?We returned home and I cannot describe the joy of my wife and children,? he said in his account.

A daughter named Bernadette

Taynor concluded his account by explaining that in the following years he worked transporting coal, lifting 200-pound sacks without difficulty. Thanks to providence, he was able to provide well for his family. 

Three of his children were born after his cure in 1923. A girl was named Bernadette, in honor of the visionary of Lourdes.

He also related the conversion of the two Protestant sisters who cared for him, along with his family and the Anglican pastor of his community.

From then on, Jack volunteered to go to Lourdes on a regular basis until he died in 1943, on the eve of the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.

Paradoxically, and despite the factual evidence of his recovery, the Ministry of War Pensions never revoked the disability pension that was granted to him for life.

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

Detail of a 1964 West German postage stamp showing Father Alfred Delp. / Credit: Zabanski/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Dec 14, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

In the waning months of World War II, deep in the heart of Nazi Germany, a Catholic priest prayed in a prison cell, awaiting trial and a likely death sentence. The charges against him were false, and his trial, which began soon after Christmas, would prove to be a sham.

As you might expect, all this made for a somewhat subdued Advent for Father Alfred Delp ? a German Jesuit whose meditations on Advent, written from prison and published after his death, continue to provide inspiration to readers. (?Prison Meditations of Father Delp? was published after his death.)

The young priest was executed the following February, in 1945.

Even before his ordeal in prison, Delp had preached and written extensively on Advent, even exhorting his people that ?all of life is Advent? ? a constant state of waiting, journeying, and longing for something greater. Christians, Delp said, should be actively preparing for the heavenly realities that are to come.

?To wait in faith, for the fruitfulness of the silent earth and for the abundance of the coming harvest, means to understand the world ? even this world ? in Advent,? he later wrote from his prison cell.

Delp was born in Mannheim, Germany, on Sept. 15, 1907. He was baptized Catholic but raised in a Lutheran home. The outbreak of World War I in 1914 saw his father drafted, and it shaped the younger Delp?s view on violence and the fragility of human life.

At the age of 14, Delp made the decision to leave the Lutheran church and received the Catholic sacraments. Postwar Germany was now in turmoil, creating fertile ground for extremist ideologies like Nazism to arise. 

Adolph Hitler was named chancellor of Germany in early 1933 and by that summer the Nazi Party was the only officially recognized political party in the country. As Nazism started to take hold, religious freedom came under attack, freedom of speech was suppressed, and numerous groups, particularly Jews, were persecuted. 

Delp entered the Society of Jesus in 1926 and was ordained in 1937, just two years before the Nazi invasion of Poland, which kicked off World War II in Europe. As a priest, Delp found himself in increasing danger but used his sermons and writings to continue to resist the Nazi?s ideology and rule, even cleverly twisting the words of the Nazi?s own propaganda against them by subverting the language of oppression. 

In one of his many sermons where he criticized Nazi society, he lamented that so many people had abandoned the idea of ?a divine homeland to which to emigrate ... they are ultimately God themselves, and there is no God above them.? He exhorted his fellow believers that even small acts of courage can make a difference. 

He spent several years working for a Jesuit newspaper in Germany until the Nazis shut it down, and he became rector of a parish in Munich. Soon after, in 1942, Delp joined the ?Kreisau Circle? ? a group of about two dozen dissidents who sought to plan for a new, Christianity-guided Germany after the inevitable fall of Hitler?s regime. 

Delp served as the group?s spiritual adviser, bringing with him a deep understanding of Catholic social teaching. 

Delp and two other Jesuit members of the circle were able to fly under the Nazis? radar for a few years until an infamous failed attempt on Hitler?s life by some of his high commanders. Despite having nothing to do with the failed plot, members of the circle were rounded up as the Nazis worked to arrest anyone with ties to the resistance. Delp could have gone into hiding but chose not to. 

Delp was not the only German priest killed for his resistance to Nazi ideology. Father Max Josef Metzger was executed for his peace activism and ecumenical work less than a year before Delp was killed. (Metzger was beatified last month in Freiburg, Germany.)

After Delp?s arrest in July 1944, he was taken to Berlin where he was interrogated and tortured for several weeks. In September, he was sent to a prison in Berlin to await his trial. It was there that he wrote his famous reflections, which women who were in charge of Delp?s laundry then smuggled out of the prison, sending them to his most trusted friends back in Munich.

Delp?s long Advent

?When I pace back and forth in my cell, three steps forward and three steps back, hands in irons, ahead of me an unknown destiny, I understand very differently than before those ancient promises of the coming Lord who will redeem us and set us free,? Delp wrote in one of his December 1944 Advent reflections. 

?So much courage needs strengthening; so much despair needs comforting; so much hardship needs a gentle hand and an illuminating interpretation; so much loneliness cries out for a liberating word; so much loss and pain seek a spiritual meaning.? 

Delp offered profound meditations on hope in his writings, despite his acute awareness ? incarcerated as he was ? of the darkness of the present time in Germany and in the world at large. 

?Life happens within a greater context than man can cope with or understand. Life brings greater burdens and bears a richer cargo than we can cope with, comprehend, or manage alone,? he wrote. 

?There is no reason to lose heart or give up and be depressed. Instead this is a time for confidence and for tirelessly calling on God ? His nearness is as intimate as our longing is genuine. His mercy is as great as our call to him is earnest. His liberation is as near and effective as our faith in him and in his coming is unshaken and unshakable. That?s the truth!?

Delp was acutely aware that faith often requires a walk through darkness and uncertainty but doing so in relationship with God is the path to joy, regardless of one?s external circumstances. His convictions shine through in his meditation for the third Sunday of Advent, which is designated Gaudete (?rejoice?) Sunday in the Church.

?Only in God is man fully capable of life. Without him, over time, we become sick. This sickness attacks our joy and our capability for joy,? he wrote from prison. 

In his reflection on the Vigil of Christmas, Delp observed that the ?harshness and coldness of life have hit us with a previously unimaginable force? on that bitter ? yet still blessed ? Christmas in the midst of war and oppression. 

?We should not avoid the burdens God gives us. They lead us into the blessing of God,? he wrote. 

?The coming harvest?

Two days after the feast of the Epiphany in 1945, Delp?s trial finally began under a judge described as a ?fanatical priest-hater.? Delp was summarily sentenced to death, despite having prepared for his trial, apparently laboring under the impression that it would be fair. Instead, he faced a kangaroo court designed to project Nazi power. 

In most cases, execution immediately followed a death sentence, but Delp was instead sent back to his prison cell. In the two weeks that followed, he wrote several more meditations, including one on the Lord?s Prayer and one on the Litany of the Sacred Heart. 

He stopped writing in January after hearing news of the executions of several other members of the Kreisau Circle as well as news of the arrest of his provincial superior.

After his long Advent of ?waiting in faith,? Delp finally experienced the ?abundance of the coming harvest? when on Feb. 2, 1945, he was hanged and his ashes scattered to the wind. He was 37.

?The world is more than its burden, and life is more than the sum of its gray days. The golden threads of the genuine reality are already shining through everywhere,? Delp wrote in his prison reflections. 

?Let us know this, and let us, ourselves, be comforting messengers. Hope grows through the one who is himself a person of the hope and the promise.?

Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church. / Credit: Nickolay Vinokurov/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Dec 12, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill is sending letters in support of new mothers in Russia as part of a new project designed to encourage pregnant women to keep their babies, according to a Russian state news agency.

There were a reported 500,000 abortions in Russia in 2022, even as Russia?s birth rate hit its lowest in a quarter century this year. Amid the demographic crisis in Russia, the patriarch has committed to combatting the ?tragedy? of abortion.

The goal of the letters is to encourage women to keep their babies, according to ?Hello, Mom!? leader Natalia Moskvitina, president of the charity group Women for Life.

?Women received letters from His Holiness Patriarch Kirill during their gynecologist appointments at the Church Hospital of St. Alexis in Moscow,? Moskvitina said in a statement to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. ?These letters aim to support women during a particularly vulnerable time ? the early stages of pregnancy.?

The ?Hello, Mom!? project was organized by Women for Life, a pro-life group that was awarded a grant of 5 million rubles (about $46,700) for the project. It also receives state funding. The ?Hello, Mom!? letter project now spans 16 regions of Russia, according to a report by RIA Novosti.

Moskvitina said that many women who come to the Church Hospital of St. Alexis were encouraged by others in their lives ? whether family members or other institutions ? to have an abortion rather than carry the child to term.

?Mothers often come seeking a second opinion ? either because they have doubts themselves or want more information about their pregnancy,? she said. ?At St. Alexis Hospital, abortion is never suggested. Instead, staff strive to provide care and help women view their pregnancy objectively.? 

In his letters, the Russian Orthodox patriarch offers encouragement and congratulations to the new mothers, wishing them ?good health, peace of mind, and many blessings from Christ, the Giver of Life.? 

?You are now experiencing a special time when a great miracle of God is happening: A new person is preparing to come into the world,? a translation of the letter reads. 

?The anticipation of the birth of a child is always filled with both anxiety and joy. But as Our Lord Jesus Christ calls, let not your heart be troubled, and let it not be afraid,? he writes, citing John 14:27. ?Let these encouraging words of the Savior, his generous help and love strengthen you on the responsible path to motherhood.

The patriarch?s letter reminds mothers: ?You are not alone? and that there are people surrounding them ?who are ready to support? them. He also shares his hope that the baby ?will be united with Christ in the sacrament of baptism and will receive the opportunity to grow spiritually in the saving grace of God.?

In addition to the letter, patients will be given an information booklet titled ?Hello, Mom??, which details measures that support new mothers at the federal and regional levels, coupons for discounted goods, and a pair of baby booties, according to a report by a local newspaper.

Women for Life?s ?Hello, Mom!? group also hosts seminars for doctors, psychologists, and social workers to learn how to support women in choosing life as well as offering a 24/7 pregnancy support hotline.

Abortion is legal in Russia up to the 12th week of pregnancy, and later in some cases. In some areas of Russia, ?incitement to abortion? is against the law and punishable by fines. The Health Ministry instructs doctors to encourage pregnant women not to abort.

Philippe Villeneuve, the architect of the restoration of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris, speaks with EWTN News? Colm Flynn about his devotion to Our Lady on ?EWTN News In Depth.? / Credit: Screenshot/?EWTN News In Depth?

CNA Staff, Dec 11, 2024 / 14:35 pm (CNA).

The chief architect of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris shared in an interview with EWTN that he felt Our Lady guided the restoration of the 861-year-old cathedral following the fire that ravaged the building in April 2019.

In an interview with Colm Flynn on ?EWTN News In Depth,? architect Philippe Villeneuve said that he was a believer with a ?particular devotion to Mary.?

When asked if he was ?a man of faith,? Villeneuve explained that he had kept this private during the rebuilding, but now he is ready to reveal it.

?I spent five years saying nothing about this because I?m a civil servant in a secular republic, and therefore, I couldn?t say something like this,? Villeneuve told Flynn. ?But now, I have to reveal that yes.?

?I have a particular devotion to the Virgin Mary, and at the risk of sounding totally crazy ? or like Joan of Arc ? I never stopped feeling support coming from up there,? he said. 

The architect shared that without Mary?s guidance, he didn?t think the restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris would have been possible. 

The reconstruction of Notre Dame was no small undertaking. A team of more than 2,000 people worked on the 800 million euro (about $840 million) restoration. The original building had taken nearly 200 years to build, but Villeneuve had only five years to restore it. 

?I don?t think this project would?ve been possible otherwise, and I think that?s what gave me the strength and determination to move forward because I knew I was supported from up there,? Villeneuve said.

The fire had destroyed the cathedral?s roof, spire, and three sections of the vault ? but the organ, paintings, stained glass, and furniture were intact. 

With pressure from the French government and the 340,000 private donors from around the world, Villeneuve had to ensure that original techniques and materials were used as much as possible. 

?It was an enormous amount of work,? he continued. ?I realize it now looking at where we came from. I?m really amazed by the beauty ? amazed by the work, by the quality of work.?

Villeneuve has long had a love for the historic cathedral. 

?I?ve been madly in love with Notre Dame de Paris since I was little,? he said. ?Growing up, it was inside the cathedral where I felt good.? 

Villeneuve shared that he had made a model of the cathedral when he was 16 years old.

?I was really captivated by it, moved by it,? he said. ?And little did I know as a kid when I was building the cathedral out of card and paper that one day I would be working on the real cathedral.?

The doors of the newly restored cathedral were officially reopened to the public Saturday evening, Dec. 7, just over five years after a blaze ravaged the iconic structure?s roof, frame, and spire. More than 1,500 people attended the opening ceremony, including about 40 world leaders such as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as 170 bishops. The archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, celebrated the first Mass and consecrated the altar on Dec. 8, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. 

?When I laid the last stone of the vault in the north transept, it brought me back,? the architect recalled. ?And I saw myself as a kid again building this vault with paper and cardboard.? 

The cathedral has a deeper spiritual meaning, not just for its architect, but for those across France and even around the world.   

Monsignor Olivier Ribadeau Dumas, the rector and archpriest of Notre Dame Cathedral, called the building ?the soul of France.? 

?Because this cathedral is something of the soul of France, the history of our country is intimately linked with the history of the cathedral,? Dumas told Flynn.

But its ?influence extends far beyond France,? the rector noted. 

?The cathedral does not belong to Parisians, nor to Catholics, nor to the French, but it is the common good of all humanity,? Dumas continued. ?And its stones speak of God because they have been animated by prayer for more than 800 years.? 

Father Juan Miguel Ferrer Grenesche of the Archdiocese of Toledo in Spain is an expert in popular piety. / Credit: Nicolás de Cárdenas/ACI Prensa

Madrid, Spain, Dec 11, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Father Juan Miguel Ferrer Grenesche, a Spanish priest and an expert in liturgy and popular piety, explained in anticipation of Pope Francis? upcoming visit to Corsica on his 47th apostolic journey that the pontiff ?has highly valued popular piety? throughout his life.

Popular piety, in this sense, means the piety characteristic of a people, often manifested in public expressions of faith. 

On Dec. 15, the pope will visit the city of Ajaccio, the capital of the French island, to close a conference on popular religiosity in the Mediterranean in which Ferrer will participate, speaking about processions and popular faith in Spain.

In an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner, Ferrer explained how he believes the pope will approach his participation in this conference, since ?in Latin America he has greatly valued popular piety,? especially with his participation in the meetings of the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops? Council (CELAM, by its Spanish acronym).

After the Second Vatican Council, the priest explained, the Latin American bishops decided at a conference held in Medellín, Colombia, in 1968 to distance themselves in some way from popular religiosity, considering that it was ?too contaminated by pagan elements, superstitions, witchcraft, and other things.?

This reluctance changed at the conference held in Puebla, Mexico, in 1979, Ferrer explained, noting that ?if care is taken, there are many elements that can be helpful and complement the great contribution of the liturgy, which the council said did not exhaust the spiritual life of the Church.?

Pope Francis was consecrated as a bishop in 1992 and six years later he became archbishop of Buenos Aires. In 2001, St. John Paul II made him a cardinal. In that capacity, he participated in the CELAM conference held in Aparecida, Brazil, in 2007.

?As cardinal of Buenos Aires he played a key role in the final document, because in it popular religiosity is clearly seen as an element that expresses the inculturation of Christianity in the masses of people on the entire continent,? Ferrer explained.

Pope Francis ?wants the Church to present what remains of popular religiosity as a platform for encounter, as an Areopagus for evangelization,? the Spanish priest summed up.

Popular piety, ?last lifeline? for many

Regarding the content of the conference that Pope Francis will close, the Spanish priest explained that, in a secularized society, popular piety is for many people ?the last lifeline to connect with transcendence and not to completely break with the Christian religious tradition.?

He also commented that the Church likes to talk more about ?popular piety? than ?popular religiosity? because understood in this latter sense it can be considered ?excessively aseptic or disconnected from Christian sources or roots.?

In evangelization, popular piety also allows us to reach those who don?t know the depth and richness of formal liturgy and through ?a cultural adaptation? is able to ?preserve the connection between the human heart?s thirst for God and the sources of revelation: the word of God, the life of Christ, the sacraments, the Church itself.?

Preserving the religious sense of life

Ferrer also pointed out that ?where there is a strong popular religiosity, the religious sense of life is preserved,? despite sins, ?doctrinal lapses,? neglect, or laziness.

In this context, it?s possible that ?someone who has a religious sense of life can receive the Christian message more easily. On the contrary, where all manifestations of popular religiosity or popular piety have been eliminated, we could say that people?s souls have dried up.?

In this regard, the expert pointed out that psychologist Victor Frankl discovered that even more pathologies ?arise from the repression of the religious instinct? than from the repression of the sexual instinct, as his teacher, Sigmund Freud, maintained.

?In societies where people?s souls have dried up, where everything has to be rational, where everything has to be empirical, where there is no room for the religious or the transcendent, then phenomena of crises, we might say, arise and sowing the Gospel becomes very difficult,? the priest observed.

Ferrer also explained that popular piety, expressed through processions, with their statues, music, etc., attracts many people of different ages in whom different emotions are awakened.

However, ?for a Catholic Christian that?s not enough, but it?s also true that if we then add to the mixture with skill and pastoral art, with presence, liturgical celebration and formation, it becomes a source of volunteers for any task in the parishes or, in the dioceses, a source of vocations for our religious communities and for our seminaries.?

Popular piety in Corsica

When asked about the particularities of popular piety in Corsica, Ferrer said that Corsica ?has a strong tradition of confraternities and brotherhoods [that typically sponsor and organize processions],? with influences from Italy and southern France, ?coming very much from the Dominicans and Franciscans who preached and looked after these areas of the Mediterranean.?

Over the years, ?people took it up as something very much theirs and very much their own, and in addition, much of the singing has been preserved, which is very important in Corsica? and is characterized by being ?very peculiar, nasal, very striking.?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A long journey to Lourdes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

null / Credit: Andrii Yalanskyi/Shutterstock

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The full interview can be read below:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Palliative care. / Credit: Photographee.eu/Shutterstock

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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