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A room at the former hospice facility run by the Delta Hospice Society in Delta, British Columbia, Canada. The Canadian government in 2020 ended a $1.5 million funding contract with Delta Hospice over the organization's refusal to implement medical assistance in dying (MAID). Then British Columbian Fraser Health Authority terminated the property lease with Delta Hospice, which shut the facility down. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Delta Hospice SocietyCNA Staff, Apr 6, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).A Canadian hospice leader is working to promote a new anti-euthanasia film to help raise awareness of what she calls the "predatory doctor-assisted suicide regime" of the Canadian government. Angelina Ireland is the president of Delta Hospice Society in Delta, British Columbia. The organization, founded in 1991, is "dedicated to helping families and individuals experiencing life-threatening diagnoses, advanced illness, or bereavement" by offering palliative care and other end-of-life serv...
"A retreat is a moment of prolonged personal encounter, without distractions, with God, and in God, with oneself," says Father Guillermo Serra. / Credit: ShutterstockACI Prensa Staff, Apr 6, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).Four Catholic priests shared their reflections in answer to a simple but very important question for the life of faith: Why go on a spiritual retreat?Father Antonio Domenech Guillén, a priest of the Diocese of Cuenca in Spain, said that "a retreat is always worthwhile, especially during Lent and Easter, those more focused times that help us bring our hearts closer to the Lord.""We always need it. Jesus says in the Gospel that 'those who are healthy do not need a doctor, but only the sick,' and if we recognize that we are sick, the Lord heals us every day, and a good way is to go on a retreat to be cured, like the person who goes to a hospital, to the doctor," the priest explained."If you give your time to God, he multiplies it like all spiritual goods. Material th...
null / fieldwork via Shutterstock.CNA Staff, Apr 5, 2024 / 16:15 pm (CNA).In response to gender studies programs that often churn out ideology contrary to Catholic teaching, the University of St. Thomas, Houston, (UST) is launching a sexuality and gender studies program based on "Catholic anthropology.""For some time now, conversations about gender and sexuality have dominated our headlines," reads a UST press release. "Christian leaders in education, ministry, health care, law, psychology, and other professions often feel ill-equipped to enter into these conversations because they lack the necessary knowledge to speak with equal measures of authority and compassion." The University of St. Thomas will offer a part-time, "flexible," program that will enable students to earn a graduate certificate in sexuality and gender studies. Kevin Stuart, director of the Nesti Center for Faith & Culture, launched the program, and Leah Jacobson, Catholic speaker and author ...
View of a pantheon built by the Red Cross to bury the bodies of irregular migrants at the Municipal Cemetery of El Real de Santa Maria, Darien Province, Panama, on March 8, 2023, on the eve of its delivery to Panamanian authorities. The Red Cross constructed the hundred niches pantheon to bury the bodies of irregular migrants who die during their journey through the inhospitable Darien jungle in search of the American dream. / Credit: LUIS ACOSTA/AFP via Getty ImagesACI Prensa Staff, Apr 5, 2024 / 17:00 pm (CNA).There is no exact figure on how many people die trying to cross the Darien Gap, but those whose bodies are recovered can receive a decent burial thanks to the work of the priests of the Apostolic Vicariate of Darién in Panama and the nuns of the community of the Daughters of Mary, Help of Christians.The inhospitable Darién jungle, shared by Panama and Colombia, has for years become an unavoidable route for hundreds of thousands of migrants who want to reach the United S...
Former Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton (right) meets with legislators in the Netherlands in 1983. / Credit: Rob Croes for Anefo|Wikimedia|National Archives, NetherlandsCNA Staff, Apr 5, 2024 / 15:30 pm (CNA).Thomas Gumbleton, a vocal peace activist and critic of war and nuclear weapons who served as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Detroit, died on Thursday at age 94. Born in Detroit in 1930, Gumbleton studied at both St. John's Provincial Seminary in Plymouth, Michigan, and the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, the latter at which he earned a doctorate in canon law. He was ordained in the Archdiocese of Detroit in 1956 and made an auxiliary bishop there in 1968, becoming the youngest U.S. bishop at the time.His long tenure as a bishop was marked by several controversies, including his arrest in 1987 in connection with a protest at a Nevada nuclear testing site as well as another arrest at the White House in 1999 while protesting the NATO bombing of Yugosl...
Father Jude Nwachukwu (left) and Father Kenneth Kanwa were kidnapped from their parish rectory in the Diocese of Pankshin in Nigeria on Feb. 1, 2024. / Credit: Ahiara DioceseCNA Staff, Apr 5, 2024 / 11:15 am (CNA).A prominent Catholic bishop urged U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in an April 2 letter to engage in a "partnership" with Nigeria to help the nation "withstand the forces of violence and extremism." Bishop Elias Zaidan, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on International Justice and Peace, called on Blinken to "support the concerns of my brother bishops in Nigeria" following the Nigerian bishops' recent declaration urging their government to address internal corruption, security, and economic issues.One Nigerian bishop has described the situation in Nigeria as a Christian "genocide." There have been recent kidnappings and in some cases, murder, of Nigerian Catholic priests as well as a seri...
Credit: ShutterstockCNA Staff, Apr 5, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).The U.S. Catholic bishops announced on Wednesday that April 27-28 will be this year's annual Catholic Home Missions Appeal, which supports vital ministries for more than 75 U.S. dioceses in need. Every year, Catholic parishes throughout the U.S. take up this appeal to help support remote, impoverished, or small parishes. (Some dioceses can opt to have the collection during a different weekend.) Bishop Shawn McKnight of Jefferson City, Missouri, who heads the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Subcommittee on Catholic Home Missions, shared his appreciation for the support of the faithful who "help the Church maintain its presence" in these dioceses. "There are places where ministry is marked by the deep commitment of parishioners and the clergy who serve them, who often travel many miles through mountains, deserts, or arctic terrain to attend Mass and serve each other and their communities," McKnight...
Catholic Relief Services workers help to distribute humanitarian aid materials to Gazan civilians in March 2024. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Catholic Relief ServicesWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 4, 2024 / 16:10 pm (CNA).As several charitable groups are halting operations in the wake of the killing of seven humanitarian aid workers in Gaza, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is increasing its presence and efforts in the region. Jason Knapp, Holy Land representative for the U.S.-based Catholic group, told CNA that while it is "working hard to keep our team as safe as possible," it remains "committed to doing everything we can to address the significant humanitarian needs of civilians in Gaza."Knapp said that CRS has set up warehouses, guesthouses, and offices in Rafah and Deir al Balah and is "in the process of setting up additional distribution points throughout Rafah, Khan Younis, and Middle Area.""In addition to expanding this operational capacity in the south half of Gaza,"...
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...
