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Nebraska state Sen. Mike McDonnell, who had been a registered Democrat for 40 years before this week, said that his party change was caused by the Democratic Party's refusal to respect his pro-life views, which he said is grounded in his Catholic faith. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Nebraska LegislatureWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 4, 2024 / 16:40 pm (CNA).A pro-life Catholic lawmaker in the Nebraska Legislature is switching his party registration from Democrat to Republican because of the Democratic Party's staunch support of abortion. Sen. Mike McDonnell, who had been a registered Democrat for 40 years before this week, said in a news conference that his party change was caused by the Democratic Party's refusal to respect his pro-life views, which he said is grounded in his Catholic faith. He was first elected in 2016."Today, I am announcing I am now going to be a registered Republican in the state of Nebraska," McDonnell said.While serving in the Legislature, McDonn...
Guinness World Records recognized Juan Vicente Pérez Mora as the oldest man in the world on Feb. 4, 2022, when he was 112 years old and 253 days old. / Credit: Guinness World RecordsCNA Staff, Apr 4, 2024 / 11:30 am (CNA).Juan Vicente Pérez Mora, a twice-daily prayer of the rosary who at his death was the confirmed oldest man in the world, died on April 2, just weeks before his 115th birthday.Mora held the title of oldest man in the world for a few short years. He was awarded the distinction by Guinness World Records on Feb. 4, 2022, when he was 112 years and 253 days old.His death was confirmed by Freddy Bernal, the governor of Táchira, Venezuela, where Mora lived. "Our dear Juan Vicente Pérez Mora, today with deep sadness and pain we say goodbye to you, to that archetype of a man from Táchira, humble, hardworking, peaceful, enthusiastic about family and tradition," Bernal wrote on X.Nuestro querido Juan Vicente Pérez Mora, hoy con profunda tristeza y dolor nos despedimos...
Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, vice-president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, at the USCCB's fall meeting Nov. 15, 2023. / Credit: Joe Bukuras/CNACNA Staff, Apr 4, 2024 / 12:15 pm (CNA).The Archdiocese of Baltimore is suing numerous insurers over their alleged failure to pay for abuse claims stretching back several decades.The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in September of last year ahead of a state law that ended the statute of limitations for civil lawsuits for negligence concerning child sexual abuse. The law opened the archdiocese up to abuse allegations stretching back decades.With the Chapter 11 filing, "the archdiocese will be reorganized, victim-survivors will be equitably compensated, and the Church will continue its mission and ministries," Archbishop William Lori said at the time.In a new court filing last week, meanwhile, the archdiocese alleged that nearly two dozen insurers "have failed to acknowledge, or will...
null / Andrii Zastrozhnov/ShutterstockACI Prensa Staff, Apr 4, 2024 / 14:00 pm (CNA).Father Francisco "Patxi" Bronchalo of the Diocese of Getafe in Spain shared on X about the emotional wounds he has encountered throughout his pastoral experience in persons who declare themselves "trans."The priest began a thread on X on April 3 affirming that "a man who says he's a woman is not a woman but a man who says he's a woman," which "seems obvious" but nevertheless means going against "the ideological trans dogma and makes many people cry to high heaven."The priest explained that among people who declare themselves "trans," he has always found in his pastoral experience that "there are deep wounds that have led to nonacceptance of their biological reality."Given this, instead of facing their problems, they are offered an "escape forward" into an ideology "that says that biological reality does not define what a person is but that what is defining is how this person perceives...
Father Javier Sánchez, 60, from the Archdiocese of Zaragoza in Spain died April 4, 2024, a victim of burns suffered when his liturgical vestments caught fire from a candle during the Easter Vigil on Saturday, March 30. / Credit: Óscar Cortel/Archbishopric of ZaragozaACI Prensa Staff, Apr 4, 2024 / 14:55 pm (CNA).Father Javier Sánchez of the Archdiocese of Zaragoza in Spain died early this morning from burns he suffered when his liturgical vestments caught fire from a candle during the Easter Vigil on Saturday. According to the Spanish newspaper El Heraldo de Aragón, sources from the archdiocese said the priest "tried to protect the nuns of the convent.""The priest tried to protect the nuns of the convent when embers lit up in the basin that was used [for the fire] and that ultimately caused his death. Apparently a flammable substance had been used to start the fire. [The Easter Vigil] was held inside the convent," said the source cited by the Spanish newspaper.Sánchez, 60, who ...
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I / President.gov.ua / Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 4, 2024 / 10:15 am (CNA).The Eastern Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople has expressed a desire that Christians in the East and the West begin celebrating Easter on a "unified date" rather than adhere to separate Lenten calendars."It is a scandal to celebrate separately the unique event of the one resurrection of the one Lord," Patriarch Bartholomew I, who holds the title "first among equals" in Eastern Orthodoxy, said in a recent homily, according to Orthodox Times.The ecumenical patriarch made the comments during a homily on March 31, which marked Easter on the Western calendar and the second Sunday of Lent on the Eastern calendar."We extend a heartfelt greeting of love to all Christians around the world who celebrate holy Easter today," Bartholomew said during the homily. "We beseech the Lord of Glory that the forthcoming Easter celebration next year will not merel...
A person walks past an area of a damaged building that is cordoned off following a 7.5-magnitude earthquake on April 3, 2024, in Hualien, Taiwan. / Credit: Annabelle Chih/Getty ImagesRome Newsroom, Apr 4, 2024 / 10:45 am (CNA).The Vatican on Thursday sent a telegram to the president of Taiwan's bishops' conference in which Pope Francis expressed his sadness and solidarity after a Wednesday morning earthquake left several dead and more than 1,000 injured. "His Holiness Pope Francis was deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and damage caused by the earthquake in Taiwan," read the telegram, which was signed by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin. The Holy Father "assures everyone affected by this disaster of his heartfelt solidarity and spiritual closeness," the telegram said."Pope Francis likewise prays for the dead, the injured, and all those displaced as well as for the emergency personnel engaged in recovery efforts and invokes upon all the divi...
Father Artur Bubnevych, pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Byzantine Catholic Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico. / Credit: Courtesy of Father Artur BubnevychAnn Arbor, Michigan, Apr 4, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).Father Artur Bubnevych told CNA he is honored and delighted to be among the five priests from the United States selected to attend the upcoming Synod on Synodality meeting of priests in Rome. He said he will aim to share how the liturgy and spirituality of the Byzantine rite is attracting people to the Catholic faith.In an interview, Bubnevych said he was surprised by the appointment, which had been announced by the Eparchy of Phoenix of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church. "I'm excited to bring the voice of our Church to the synod: the experience of living out the mission, and to walk together and listen to each other and to the Holy Spirit and discern the future path," Bubnevych said."I want to bring a unique perspective and our rich spiritual heritage," Bubnevych told C...
As smoke billows from the Ministry of Finance building behind them, people leave the area after hearing gunshots from armed gangs near the National Palace in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on April 2, 2024. / Credit: CLARENS SIFFROY/AFP via Getty ImagesACI Prensa Staff, Apr 3, 2024 / 18:30 pm (CNA).The Haitian Conference of Religious (CDH) reported that a minor seminary run by the Spiritan Fathers was attacked April 1 by crime gangs amid the wave of violence that has been unleashed in the Caribbean country in recent weeks."It is with indignation that we note how sons and daughters of the country are attacking private and state property without scruple and endanger the lives of other people who seem to have no value in their eyes. Thus, on the evening of April 1, 2024, the St. Martial Minor Seminary School, a historic institution, was in the eye of the raging and devastating cyclone of a category of people who know no limits," the CDH lamented in a statement.The criminals set fire to th...
Pope Francis waves to pilgrims in St. Peter's Square gathered for his weekly general audience on April 3, 2024. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Apr 3, 2024 / 09:05 am (CNA).Pope Francis during his general audience on Wednesday deplored the recent killing of humanitarian workers in the Gaza Strip, with the Holy Father renewing his appeal for an immediate cease-fire amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. The pope buttressed his plea with a catechesis focused on the virtue of justice, noting that it is the building block for a well-ordered society premised upon the rule of law. "I express deep regret for the volunteers killed while distributing food aid in Gaza," the pope said to the 25,000 gathered in St. Peter's Square on an overcast Wednesday morning. Pope Francis greets a young girl in St. Peter's Square during his general audience on April 3, 2024. Credit: Vatican MediaSeven volunteers from the nonprofit World Central Kitchen were killed in an Israeli str...
