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Facade of the Plurinational Legislative Assembly of Bolivia. / Credit: Wikimedia Commons / EEJCCACI Prensa Staff, Apr 27, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).One year after the Spanish newspaper El País published the report "Diary of a Pedophile Priest," which recounted the sexual abuse of minors committed in Bolivia by the deceased Jesuit priest Alfonso Pedrajas, journalists from ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, went to the South American country to look into the political implications of the case, how the scandal has affected the Church's image in Bolivia, and the response of the civil justice system.Pedrajas, better known as "Padre Pica," arrived in South America in the early 1960s as part of his formation process with the Jesuits. For 10 years he lived in Peru and Ecuador, where he allegedly committed his first abuses while still a seminarian, and in 1971 he settled permanently in Bolivia.There the Society of Jesus appointed him assistant principal of the John XXIII Insti...
The members of the general board of directors of the Regnum Christi Federation, before its first general convention from April 29 to May 4, 2024, in Rome. / Credit: Regnum ChristiACI Prensa Staff, Apr 27, 2024 / 09:00 am (CNA).The Regnum Christi Federation will hold its first general convention in Rome from April 29 to May 4, the first such assembly since its statutes were approved in 2019 after a long process of listening, purification, and a hopeful look toward its future.The ecclesial movement was shaken to the core by the revelation of numerous cases of sexual abuse and abuses of power primarily involving Father Marcial Maciel, the deceased founder of the Legionaries of Christ and the Regnum Christi movement.The Regnum Christi Federation is comprised of four vocations: the Legionaries of Christ (priests), Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi, Lay Consecrated Men of Regnum Christi, and lay members.Regnum Christi is now defined as an apostolic body and spiritual family led by ...
Gia Chacón (right), founder of March for the Martyrs, said the plight of the tens of thousands of Christian Armenians pushed out of their homes in the disputed Artsakh or Nagorno-Karabakh region hash been "completely overlooked by the mainstream media." / Credit: EWTN News Nightly / ScreenshotCNA Staff, Apr 27, 2024 / 09:20 am (CNA).Marchers are setting out in the nation's capital on Saturday to call attention to the plight of persecuted Christians throughout the world.Gia Chacón, founder of For the Martyrs and the March for the Martyrs, said the event aims to highlight often "overlooked" victims of persecution. This year's march will focus on the persecution suffered by Armenian Christians as well as those in Nigeria and Iran.In an interview with "EWTN News Nightly" anchor Tracy Sabol, Chacón said she started the initiative to both increase awareness and provide aid for persecuted Christian communities throughout the world.Chacón explained that the decades-long conflict ...
Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, who died at the age of 24 in 1925, is beloved by many Catholic young people today for his enthusiastic witness to holiness that reaches "to the heights." / Public DomainVatican City, Apr 27, 2024 / 11:30 am (CNA).Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati could be declared a saint during the Catholic Church's 2025 Jubilee Year, according to the head of the Vatican's office for saints' causes.Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, announced at Catholic Action's national assembly in Sacrofano, Italy on April 26 that Frassati's canonization is "on the horizon." "I would like to tell you that the canonization of Blessed Piergiorgio Frassati is now clearly on the horizon and is in sight for the coming Jubilee Year," the cardinal said according to Avvenire, the official newspaper of the Italian bishops' conference.Frassati, who died at the age of 24 in 1925, is beloved by many Catholic young people today for his enthu...
A view of the modern area of the Catholic cemetery located on the southern hillside of Mount Zion in April 2024. In the background are the buildings of the Arabic neighborhood of Abu Tor. / Credit: Marinella BandiniJerusalem, Apr 27, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).This past February, the Custody of the Holy Land filed a petition in the Jerusalem District Court against the confiscation of a piece of land inside the Catholic cemetery, which is located on the southern hillside of Mount Zion and serves as a parish cemetery. The affair is part of a project to build a cable car running from First Station (the shopping and entertainment area in West Jerusalem) to the Old City's Dung Gate (the main access to the Western Wall and close to the City of David archaeological site), passing over the Hinnom Valley (or Geenna). The cable cars would be strung over some 15 pylons, from about 30 to 85 feet high, and would ferry up to 3,000 people per hour in up to 72 cars that can each hold 10 people...
Attendees lay flowers at the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan to mark the 109th anniversary of World War I-era mass killings on April 24, 2024. / Credit: KAREN MINASYAN/AFP via Getty ImagesWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 26, 2024 / 18:00 pm (CNA).As historians and human-rights activists mark the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide this week, some are warning that Armenia is once again facing another existential threat.Speaking on "EWTN News Nightly" on Wednesday, Simone Rizkallah, an Armenian activist with the Philos Project, said that "this feels less like a remembrance and more like a truly historical event that we are in the midst of."The Armenian Genocide was carried out by Ottoman Turks in 1915 and resulted in the deaths of some 1.5 million Armenian Christians, according to historians. Though recognized as a genocide by the U.S. and more than 30 other countries, Turkey denies that characterization.The massacre took place over a hundred ...
null / Orhan Cam/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 26, 2024 / 12:30 pm (CNA).The addition of "gender identity" in the Biden administration's interpretation of anti-discrimination rules could jeopardize state laws that restrict women's sports and women's locker rooms to only women, according to legal scholars.Late last week, President Joe Biden's Department of Education redefined the prohibition on sex discrimination in education, enshrined in the 1972 Title IX provisions, to include discrimination based on a person's "gender identity." The new guidelines prohibit any policy and practice that "prevents a person from participating in an education program or activity consistent with their gender identity."Although the new guidelines do not clearly explain how the mandate would be enforced, experts at the legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and the conservative Heritage Foundation told CNA that it could force educational institutions to allow men who...
Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne attends a German Synodal Way assembly on March 9, 2023. / Credit: Synodaler Weg/Maximilian von LachnerCNA Newsroom, Apr 26, 2024 / 13:57 pm (CNA).Four German bishops on Wednesday distanced themselves from the controversial Synodal Way's plans for a permanent body to oversee the Church in Germany, instead appealing for unity with the universal Church. The four bishops are the same who have previously blocked funding for this body: Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne and three prelates from Bavaria: Gregor Maria Hanke, OSB, of Eichstätt; Stefan Oster, SDB, of Passau; and Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg.In a joint statement, the prelates confirmed on April 24 that they would not be parties to a committee charged with setting up a German "Synodal Council, as this would conflict with the sacramental constitution of the Church."The four bishops also rejected the view that the German Bishops' Conference could legally establish a "synod...
Families, donors, and others gather with Bishop Erik Pohlmeier for the dedication of the "Precious Ones Baby Mausoleum" at the San Lorenzo Cemetery in St. Augustine, Florida, on April 23, 2024. / Credit: Fran Ruchalski/courtesy of the Archdiocese of St. AugustineCNA Staff, Apr 26, 2024 / 09:51 am (CNA).Families gathered with St. Augustine Bishop Erik Pohlmeier on a sunny Tuesday this week for the dedication of the "Precious Ones Baby Mausoleum" at the city's San Lorenzo Cemetery.Six years in the making, the 44,000-pound granite mausoleum is designed for babies lost at a young age through miscarriage, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), or stillborn births. A brick walkway marked by a charcoal cross leads up to the brilliant white mausoleum, which is full of burial spaces that are ready to honor little ones. Miscarriages are common events, and women often suffer through them quietly, one 2018 study found. About 10% to 20% of known pregnancies end in miscarriage, usually be...
Kennedy opened up to veteran EWTN News anchorman Raymond Arroyo about his family's strong faith growing up, how his faith helped him overcome drug addiction and how it impacts him in his day-to-day life in the travails of U.S. presidential politics. / Credit: EWTN News "The World Over with Raymond Arroyo" / ScreenshotWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 26, 2024 / 06:30 am (CNA).Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. discussed the importance of his Catholic faith in his daily life, his plan to reduce abortions without federal restrictions, and his opposition to biological males playing in women's sports during an exclusive interview on "The World Over with Raymond Arroyo" Thursday night.Kennedy, son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, is running a vigorous independent campaign to be the next president of the United States. He launched an independent bid for the White House last October after initially challeng...
