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Washington D.C., Jan 23, 2025 / 20:30 pm (CNA).

Pro-life activist Paul Vaughn received the news that President Donald Trump had pardoned him, along with 22 other pro-life demonstrators, on Thursday in the middle of a press conference with his lawyers at the Thomas More Society.

"I have a lot of thoughts," he told CNA. "It's a big ordeal, and it's been a long time going through all this."

The pardon put an end to the Biden administration's prosecution of Vaughn and his fellow pro-life activists, among whom were several elderly and infirm women who were serving time in prison for peacefully protesting abortion.

Vaughn was one of 11 pro-life activists convicted of violating the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act for a demonstration outside of a Tennessee abortion clinic in March 2021. 

Prosecutors had unsuccessfully sought a one-year prison sentence for him, but he was ultimately sentenced to three years of supervised release in July 2024. Prior to the pardon, Vaughn's case was on appeal. 

Vaughn had been taking part in the conference about free speech and the abortion pill reversal process alongside several senior members of the religious liberty law firm when Steve Crampton, senior counsel with the Thomas More Society, interrupted the discussion.

Crampton read aloud a social media post announcing that Trump had signed pardons for the 23 convicted pro-life activists. Those gathered for the event rose to their feet and erupted in applause, while Vaughn and his legal team shook hands joyfully.

"On one side, it's great to see a president like Donald Trump who understands the injustice that has gone on," Vaughn later told CNA. "On the other side of the coin, it doesn't erase the injustice that my family and the other 22 pro-lifers have endured for the last two years at Biden's DOJ." 

"We won't get that back," he added. 

Calling the pardon "a mixed bag," Vaughn said he is both "rejoicing" with his family and co-defendants and hoping that "we do better as a nation going forward." 

"Lord willing," he said of the jailed pro-life activists who were among those that received a pardon, "[they] will be eating dinner with their families tonight and not in the federal pen, with, you know, bologna sandwiches and whatever." 

Vaughn's wife, Bethany, told CNA that while she is happy about the pardon, she hopes her husband will pursue his appeals case and ultimately win so that future prosecutions may be prevented from happening. 

A video posted on social media shows Trump signing the pardons on Thursday afternoon after telling the press: "Twenty-three people were prosecuted. They should not have been prosecuted. Many of them were elderly people." 

"It's a great honor to sign this," the president said as he signed the order. 

Last week, the Thomas More Society petitioned the incoming president to issue 21 individual pardons for pro-life advocates who were arrested for violating the FACE Act, including several who were elderly and in poor health. 

"These peaceful pro-life Americans mistreated by [President Joe] Biden include grandparents, pastors, a Holocaust survivor, and a Catholic priest — all are selfless, sincere patriots," the petition stated. 

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 23, 2025 / 16:35 pm (CNA).

President Donald Trump issued pardons for 23 pro-life activists on Thursday, fulfilling a promise he made during the presidential campaign.

Trump signed the pardons on Thursday in the Oval Office of the White House on the day before the March for Life to be held in Washington, D.C., according to the Thomas More Society.

Last week, the religious liberty law firm petitioned the incoming president to issue 21 individual pardons for pro-life advocates who were arrested for violating the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act and "Conspiracy Against Rights" statute while peacefully engaging in protests at abortion clinics.

Several of those convicted and imprisoned were elderly and in poor health.

At least two times during his 2024 campaign for the presidency, Trump said he intended to release pro-life activists who are currently imprisoned.

"These peaceful pro-life Americans mistreated by [President Joe] Biden include grandparents, pastors, a Holocaust survivor, and a Catholic priest — all are selfless, sincere patriots," the petition from the Chicago-based law firm reads.

During Biden's four years in office, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) brought charges against more than 30 people who took part in pro-life demonstrations under the FACE Act, which was legislation in the 1990s to increase penalties for people who obstruct access to abortion clinics or pregnancy resource centers.

Although the FACE Act's higher sentences also apply to people who obstruct or damage pro-life pregnancy centers, Biden's DOJ only brought charges in two cases regarding attacks on those facilities despite more than 100 incidents occurring under his tenure.

"While Biden's prosecutors almost entirely ignored the firebombing and vandalism of hundreds of pro-life churches and pregnancy centers, they viciously pursued pro-life Americans," the petition adds.

The longest sentence was given last year to Lauren Handy, who received four years and nine months in prison for her role in a protest at an abortion clinic in Washington, D.C. The second longest was also given last year to Bevelyn Beatty Williams, who received three years and five months in prison for a protest inside an abortion clinic in New York City. 

Several pro-life activists in their mid-to-late 70s also received multiyear sentences for their protests.

"These 21 peaceful pro-lifers, many of whom are currently imprisoned for bravely standing up for unborn life, are upstanding citizens and pillars of their communities," Steve Crampton, who works as senior counsel for the Thomas More Society, said in a statement.

This is a developing story. 

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CNA Staff, Jan 23, 2025 / 17:10 pm (CNA).

As a series of massive and destructive wildfires in the Los Angeles area continue to burn, a new fire that sparked Wednesday north of the city, near Castaic Lake reservoir, has quickly burned more than 10,000 acres and as of Thursday is only about one-quarter contained. 

The Hughes Fire has forced the evacuation of 31,000 people and more than 14,000 structures are threatened, according to Los Angeles County's Coordinated Joint Information Center.

Father Vaughn Winters, the pastor at St. Kateri Tekakwitha Catholic Church in nearby Santa Clarita, told CNA by email that "yesterday was very stressful, but the immediate danger seems to be past." 

He said "a couple hundred" St. Kateri parishioners living near where the fire is spreading were forced to evacuate, as evacuation warnings bordered the city of Santa Clarita, which is about 30 miles north of Los Angeles and home to 220,000 people.

"Our parishioners from the community of Castaic near the fire were evacuated. The evacuation warning zone came near to the actual church and our parishioners in Santa Clarita, but we did not have to evacuate," the priest told CNA.

"Seeing all the plumes of smoke all day was very worrying and of course everyone has been on edge because of the terrible fires two weeks ago."

Winters said the parish is willing to extend assistance to anyone who needs it through a special fire assistance fund that the Archdiocese of Los Angeles set up in early January.

The Hughes Fire, which at its height engaged about 4,000 firefighters, is about 30 miles as the crow flies from Thomas Aquinas College (TAC), a prominent Catholic institution of higher education located in Santa Paula that has been threatened by wildfire before. 

The 2017 Thomas Fire, named for its proximity to the school, sparked in early December less than a mile from campus and burned nearly 300,000 acres, including hundreds of residences in the town of Ventura. It was the largest wildfire in state history up to that point, but the college survived the fire without the loss of any major structures.

The school in 2021 opened a concrete helipad designed to accommodate the needs of a Firehawk helicopter in an effort to assist local firefighters by giving them a location to refill the craft's water tanks. 

Christopher Weinkopf, a TAC spokesman, told CNA that "thanks be to God" the school isn't threatened by the Hughes Fire but that they were "seeing a lot of smoke on campus yesterday." 

He added that firefighters are not currently using the TAC helipad in their efforts to fight the Hughes Fire.

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Vatican City, Jan 23, 2025 / 08:45 am (CNA).

The Vatican announced Thursday that Pope Francis had approved the transfer of Bishop Joseph Cai Bingrui from the Diocese of Xiamen to the Diocese of Fuzhou, both in the southeast Chinese province of Fujian.

The 59-year-old Cai took possession of the diocese on Jan. 23.

The Vatican said the bishop's candidacy was approved by Pope Francis on Jan. 15 under the terms of the "Provisional Agreement," better known as the Vatican-China deal.

Cai was consecrated bishop of Xiamen with papal and government approval in 2010 after serving as diocesan administrator from 1996.

After growing up in a Catholic family, Cai was ordained a priest in 1992.

Last week, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis had erected a new diocese in China and appointed Father Anthony Ji Weizhong as its first bishop.

The pope decided last October to suppress the Diocese of Fenyang in mainland China, which was originally erected in 1946 by Pope Pius XII, and at the same time erect the new Diocese of Lüliang.

Pope Francis appointed the 51-year-old Weizhong as bishop of Lüliang on Oct. 28, 2024.

Originally signed in September 2018, the Vatican in October 2024 renewed its "Provisional Agreement" with China on the appointment of Catholic bishops for an additional four years, until at least Oct. 22, 2028.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 23, 2025 / 09:15 am (CNA).

Every Democrat in the U.S Senate on Wednesday voted against legislation that would have required doctors to provide lifesaving health care to infants who are born after a failed abortion attempt, with the party-line opposition effectively dooming the bill.

The "Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act," which was introduced by Republican Sen. James Lankford, would have guaranteed equal protection under the law for "any infant born alive after an abortion."

The proposed legislation would have required all health care practitioners present during such a birth to "exercise the same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life and health of the child as a … health care practitioner would render to any other child born alive at the same gestational age."

Although a majority of senators voted to advance the legislation, the bill failed to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome the filibuster.

The vote was 52-47 with every voting Republican supporting the bill and every Democrat in opposition. One Republican was not available for the vote.

"I am disappointed that every Senate Democrat voted against my [bill], making something that should be common sense completely partisan for the first time," Lankford said in a post on X.

"This bill is straightforward and would save lives," he added. "I believe every life is valuable and that no one is disposable."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, said before the vote that the bill "attacks women's health" and alleged it "adds more legal risk for doctors on something that is already illegal." 

He alleged the bill was part of an "extremist anti-choice resurgence." The proposed bill would not have restricted or limited access to abortions that are legal.

The measure would have imposed up to a five-year prison sentence on any health care practitioner who fails to provide equal health care for an infant who survives an abortion attempt and would have required employees to report violations to law enforcement. 

It would have also allowed the woman on whom the abortion was performed to sue a health care practitioner who violates this law.

The mother of a child who survives an abortion attempt could not be prosecuted under this law under any circumstances.

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Vatican City, Jan 23, 2025 / 10:40 am (CNA).

Pope Francis on Thursday released his message to global leaders attending the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this week, telling attendees that artificial intelligence (AI) must ultimately serve humanity and the common good.

As "a protagonist and a supporter of the advancement of science, technology, the arts, and other forms of human endeavors," the Holy Father said, the Catholic Church teaches that such developments should be used to "improve life for everyone."

"AI must be ordered to the human person and become part of efforts to achieve 'greater justice, more extensive fraternity, and a more humane order of social relations,' which are 'more valuable than advances in the technical field,'" he said, citing Gaudium et Spes, No. 35, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 2293.

In his Jan. 23 message, the pope said AI is "not an artificial form of human intelligence but a product of it" that, when used correctly, "assists the human person in fulfilling his or her vocation, in freedom and responsibility." 

"Progress marked by the dawn of AI calls for a rediscovery of the importance of community and a renewed commitment to care for the common home entrusted to us by God," he added. 

Francis also challenged government and business leaders to implement AI in ways "to bring people together" and not simply as a "tool" for economic cooperation.

"There is, however, the risk that AI will be used to advance the 'technocratic paradigm,' which perceives all the world's problems as solvable through technological means alone," the Holy Father said.

"Within this paradigm, human dignity and fraternity are frequently subordinated in the pursuit of efficiency as though reality, goodness, and truth inherently emanate from technological and economic power," he continued.

Pointing out other risks posed by AI, the Holy Father said critical questions must be addressed, including "its effect on the growing crisis of truth in the public forum," ethical responsibility, and human safety.

Emphasizing that "human dignity must never be violated," the pope said technological developments that "create or worsen inequalities and conflicts" are not true progress: "For this reason, AI should be placed at the service of a healthier, more human, more social, and more integral development."

The Holy Father also highlighted Catholic social teaching in his message, saying the principle of "subsidiarity" is necessary to achieve the common good in the "Intelligent Age."

"Appropriate responses should be made at all levels of society," he said, "with individual users, families, civil society, corporations, institutions, governments, and international organizations working at their proper levels to ensure that AI is directed to the good of all." 

"Today, there are significant challenges and opportunities when AI is placed within a framework of relational intelligence, where everyone shares responsibility for the integral well-being of others," he concluded.

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CNA Staff, Jan 23, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

With tens of thousands of pro-life Americans gathering for the 52nd annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., on Friday, EWTN will provide live coverage of the event. 

The national pro-life event marks the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, drawing together thousands to protest abortion and advocate for life. This year's theme is "Every Life: Why We March."

Thursday: March for Life prayer vigil 

5 p.m. ET: EWTN's National March for Life coverage kicks off before the march with a night of prayer at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The National Prayer Vigil for Life is held annually on the eve of the March for Life, bringing thousands of pilgrims across the nation together to pray for an end to abortion. At 5 p.m. ET, EWTN will stream the opening Mass and Holy Hour of the National Prayer Vigil for Life as pro-lifers pray and prepare for the upcoming march.

Friday: March for Life 

8 a.m. ET: The all-night prayer vigil will conclude with the closing Mass of the National Prayer Vigil for Life at the shrine, televised live by EWTN. 

9:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET: EWTN will air coverage of the March for Life, featuring speakers including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Rep. Chris Smith from New Jersey, and Live Action President Lila Rose. 

Professional surfer and author of "Soul Surfer" Bethany Hamilton is also set to speak as well as abortion survivor Josiah Presley and former abortionist turned pro-life obstetrician Dr. Catherine Wheeler. 

Toledo Bishop Daniel Thomas — chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities — is also set to speak at the event as well as Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas. 

The March for Life pre-rally concert will begin at 11 a.m. followed by the rally at noon. The march will begin at 1 p.m. at the rally point near the Washington Monument and conclude at the U.S. Capitol. 

4 p.m. ET: EWTN will broadcast the second annual "Life Fest Mass," sponsored by the Sisters of Life and the Knights of Columbus as part of the Life Fest Rally. The Life Fest Rally begins the evening before the March with live music from Matt Maher and other Christian bands. The Mass will be celebrated by Monsignor James Shea, Cardinal Seán Patrick O'Malley, and Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore. 

8 p.m. ET: EWTN will livestream the Walk for Life Prayer Vigil and Mass on the West Coast, which opens the Walk for Life coverage. Bishop Oscar Cantú will celebrate Mass at St. Dominic's Catholic Church in San Francisco, and Sister Bethany Madonna of the Sisters of Life will give a reflection during Eucharistic adoration. 

Saturday: Walk for Life West Coast

2:30 p.m. ET: The 21st annual Walk for Life West Coast will begin with a rally followed by the walk. EWTN will livestream coverage of the walk. Father Mark Mary, MFVA, and Brother John Therese Marie, MFVA, will report from the walk, speaking to participants.

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CNA Staff, Jan 22, 2025 / 15:45 pm (CNA).

The New York Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that a Nassau County law prohibiting men from competing in female sports at a county-run facility is constitutional.

State Supreme Court Judge Bruce Cozzens ruled against the Long Island Roller Rebels, a women's roller derby league that had sought to block a Nassau County law banning men from participating in women's sporting events at the county's parks and recreational facilities.

In his decision, the judge wrote that he "does not find that Local Law 121-24 excludes transgender women and girls from the public facilities based on their gender identity, and the plaintiffs have not shown discrimination under the Human Rights Law and the Civil Rights Law." 

Cozzens ruled that the law was not discriminatory as those who identify as transgender can still play in coed sports leagues. In the decision, Cozzens emphasized the risk of injury for women if men are allowed to play on their sports teams.

"The plaintiff is not only asking that transgender athletics be included on female teams but also that they not disclose the transgender identity," Cozzens wrote. "Potentially that creates an even greater risk to the females since they would not even be aware (nor it is assumed would they be permitted to inquire) if a player was a biological male." 

"Common sense requires weight classification for wrestling and boxing clearly to protect the safety of the individuals. Common sense requires the same here," Cozzens continued. 

Gabriella Larios, staff attorney at the New York Civil Liberties Union, opposed the decision in a statement, calling it discriminatory. 

"This decision is an outlier among the many courts to have considered the same question," Larios continued. "It is also inconsistent with long-standing state law, which makes clear that Nassau's ban unlawfully discriminates against transgender girls and women, as well as the teams that welcome them." 

"This ban leaves a lasting stain on the county's government and legislature, which have been relentless in their efforts to shut trans people out of sports," Larios said. 

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman welcomed the decision, calling it "common sense." 

"I'm very happy that State Supreme Court Judge Bruce Cozzens ruled that Nassau County's local law banning biological males from playing on female sports teams is constitutional and that we did abide by the law," Blakeman said in a statement shared with CNA. 

"As we've said all along, it's just common sense," Blakeman said. "Biological males should not play in female sports. They have a competitive advantage. It's unfair, and it's also unsafe." 

Earlier this month, a federal court blocked a Department of Education rule banning discrimination against a person's self-asserted "gender identity." In addition, the Nassau decision closely followed a recent executive order signed by President Donald Trump affirming the biological reality of sex.

Blakeman said he was grateful that federal courts recently ruled in a similar manner.

"The federal courts have recently ruled the same way, so we have the federal courts and the state courts saying that you can make this distinction," Blakeman noted. "We're very happy that both courts have agreed with us." 

"I'm gratified that we were the first in America to do it, and I think we set the tone for the rest of the nation," Blakeman said.

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CNA Staff, Jan 22, 2025 / 16:15 pm (CNA).

The Vatican announced this week that Pope Francis has erected a new diocese in China and appointed Father Anthony Ji Weizhong as its first bishop.

The pope decided last October to suppress the Diocese of Fenyang in mainland China, which was originally erected in 1946 by Pope Pius XII, and at the same time erect the new Diocese of Lüliang.

Diocesan borders have been an area of dispute between the Vatican and China in the decades since the Chinese Communist Party came to power and started to redraw diocesan lines, seeking to bring them more in line with Chinese administrative boundaries.

Indeed, the territory of the newly-created Diocese of Lüliang conforms to the territory of the city of Lüliang, located about 400 miles southwest of Beijing in western Shanxi province. It will serve a total population of 3.3 million people, of whom approximately 20,000 are Catholics. A total of 51 priests and 26 religious sisters serve in the diocese. 

Pope Francis appointed Weizhong as bishop of Lüliang on Oct. 28, 2024, having approved Weizhong in the context of the "Provisional Agreement," better known as the Vatican-China deal, which appears to give the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) some ability to choose episcopal candidates.

Weizhong, 51, was ordained a priest in 2001 for the Diocese of Fenyang. He studied in China and in Germany and served in Fenyang as deputy parish priest, head of the diocesan pastoral center, and as vicar general. He was ordained on Jan. 20 at the Cathedral Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The see of the Fenyang Diocese remained vacant after the death of Bishop Huo Cheng, who spent 14 years in prison during the Cultural Revolution and had led the Church of Fenyang in communion with the Holy See since 1991, AsiaNews reported.

Weizhong is the second Chinese bishop to be ordained since the Vatican in October renewed its "Provisional Agreement" with China on the appointment of Catholic bishops for an additional four years, until at least Oct. 22, 2028. Shortly after the Vatican renewed the deal last fall, Matthew Zhen Xuebin was consecrated as the new coadjutor bishop of Beijing, having been appointed in August. 

Originally signed in September 2018, the provisional agreement was previously renewed for a two-year period in 2020 and again in October 2022. The terms of the agreement have never been made public, though Pope Francis has said it includes a joint commission between the Chinese government and the Vatican on the appointment of Catholic bishops, overseen by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

The Holy See has acknowledged that China has several times violated the terms of the agreement by unilaterally appointing Catholic bishops in Shanghai and the "Diocese of Jiangxi," a large diocese created by the Chinese government that is not recognized by the Vatican.

Chinese officials have reportedly ordered the removal of crosses from churches and have replaced images of Christ and the Virgin Mary with images of President Xi Jinping, according to a 2024 report from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

USCIRF also reports that the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) "sinicization of religion" campaign has led to censored religious texts, clergy forced to preach CCP ideology, and the required display of CCP slogans in churches.

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Lima Newsroom, Jan 22, 2025 / 16:45 pm (CNA).

The seminary of the Diocese of Matagalpa, Nicaragua, has been confiscated by the country's dictatorship. The confiscation was first reported by the Nicaraguan newspaper Mosaico CSI. According to the outlet, at the time of the confiscation there were at least 30 students in formation at the seminary.

St. Aloyisius Gonzaga Major Seminary of Philosophy is located in the Diocese of Matagalpa, whose exiled bishop is Rolando Álvarez, who has been living in exile since January 2024 after serving almost one year in prison on the charge of treason.

In a post on X, researcher Martha Patricia Molina denounced that in addition to confiscating the seminary, the government of President Daniel Ortega has "also increased surveillance of priests in the diocese." Molina accused the dictatorship of aiming "to completely stop priestly formation" and "annihilate and eliminate the Diocese of Matagalpa." 

In addition to the seminary, the regime also confiscated on Jan. 16 the La Cartuja Pastoral Center of the Diocese of Matagalpa.

In a statement to ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, Molina, the author of "Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church," explained what she believes could happen with the confiscated seminary.

"I think the same thing will happen as happened with the rest of the properties that the dictatorship has confiscated from the Catholic Church: They will occupy them to convert them into a public building or they will sell the property, or they will convert it into a school. We don't know what the ultimate goal of this occupation is."

The truth, she warned, "is that the dictatorship continues to violate and persecute religious freedom in Nicaragua."

After recalling that the chancery, Álvarez's residence, has already been confiscated, the researcher in exile warned that in Matagalpa, the bishop is working only with 30% of his clergy," who are also "under greater surveillance."

"The priests live in fear of being "abducted and later expelled from the country. I believe that this is part of this whole diabolical plan of the dictatorship, of wanting to 'atheize' the country and then 'satanize it,'" Molina charged.

"They want to uproot the faith of the Catholic people. The Diocese of Matagalpa, the laity, are very Catholic, they very much love the Catholic Church. And so [the regime] intends to completely eliminate the presence of the Church."

Matagalpa and Estelí

Matagalpa is the diocese of Álvarez, who was arrested, kept under house arrest, and later sentenced to 26 years in prison in a questionable judicial process. He was deported in January 2024 to Rome, where he now lives in exile.

Estelí has ??not had a bishop since mid-2021. Álvarez was then appointed apostolic administrator, and in his absence Father Frutos Valle was appointed as administrator "ad omnia," allowing him to carry out all ordinary functions of pastoral governance except those reserved to a bishop. Valle has also been detained by the dictatorship.

Molina told ACI Prensa that Jan. 26 will mark six months since the priest has been confined to a formation house that he cannot leave. The reasons for his detention are not known, "although the dictatorship has no reason other than the fact that he is a Catholic priest in order to repress him."

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

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