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Argentine pro-life Dr. Leandro Rodríguez Lastra. / Credit: Buena VidaACI Prensa Staff, Apr 22, 2024 / 17:30 pm (CNA).In 2017, a 19-year-old woman arrived in severe pain at the hospital where Argentine doctor Leandro Rodríguez Lastra was working. She was 23 weeks pregnant and had ingested misoprostol, illegally administered by the La Revuelta ("The Revolt") organization well beyond the outer limit of 10 weeks of pregnancy for use of the drug.Using his professional judgment, Rodríguez stabilized the woman by stopping the chemical abortion process, thus saving both mother and child. When the baby reached six and a half months' gestation, the medical board decided to deliver the child by cesarean section and the baby was placed for adoption.In 2019, for preventing the completion of the abortion, Rodríguez was given a one-year-and-two-months suspended sentence in prison, and his license to practice medicine was revoked for two years and four months, ending Jan. 30. Speaking wit...
Ana Estrada, 47, suffered from polymyositis, an incurable disease that left her confined to a wheelchair. Since 2019, she had been been petitioning Peruvian courts to recognize a right to euthanasia. / Credit: Jessica Alva Piedra CC BY-SA 4.0 DEEDACI Prensa Staff, Apr 22, 2024 / 18:00 pm (CNA).On Sunday, April 21, Peruvian activist Ana Estrada underwent a euthanasia process and died. The terminology employed did not indicate whether it was by direct euthanasia or medically assisted suicide.Euthanasia is not legal in Peru, but the nation's Supreme Court nevertheless ruled in favor of her appeal.According to a statement released by various Peruvian media, the activist "died on her own terms, in accordance with her idea of dignity and in full control of her autonomy until the end.""The medical procedure was carried out in accordance with the 'Plan and Protocol for Death with Dignity' applicable to Ana, approved by EsSalud, in the context of the historic ruling in her favor, i...
Participants in Italy's pro-life demonstration in Rome on May 21, 2022. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNARome, Italy, Apr 22, 2024 / 14:15 pm (CNA).An amendment to a health care law that permits "nonprofits with experience providing maternity support" in family planning clinics, including pro-life groups, will be voted on by the Italian Senate on Tuesday, April 23, according to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. Amendment No. 44.028, a provision attached to a health care system law, part of Italy's National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), would allow local public health authorities to freely collaborate with qualified third-party consultants, including nonprofit organizations that specialize in pregnancy and maternity support, "without new or greater burdens on public finance," according to the news site Centro Studi Livatino. Last week, the Brothers of Italy party, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, introduced the amendment to the Chamber of Deputies,...
Pro-lifers participate in the Illinois March for Life in Springfield, April 17, 2024. / Credit: Photo courtesy of March for LifeWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 22, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).Thousands of pro-lifers, including many groups of Catholic high school and college students, attended the Illinois March for Life in Springfield last week.Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life, told CNA that the march was "joy-filled" and "hopeful" and had a large youth turnout.Catholic youth from "Crusaders for Life," a pro-life group from St. John Cantius Parish in Chicago, was one such group that traveled several hours to participate in the event.The group's members could be seen at the front of the march holding brightly colored umbrellas and inflatables. Many of the young people cheered, danced, and played drums and cymbals, while others in the crowd chanted pro-life slogans and prayed.Thousands show up in Illinois to March for Life. Incredible. pic.twitte...
Credit: (CC0 1.0)CNA Staff, Apr 22, 2024 / 04:00 am (CNA).Since 1970, Earth Day has been celebrated yearly on April 22 to demonstrate support worldwide for environmental protection. The Catholic Church has a long tradition of calling for proper stewardship of the earth. In May 2015, Pope Francis published Laudato Si', an encyclical focusing on care for the natural environment and includes topics such as global warming and environmental degradation. He then released a follow-up document to the encyclical on Oct. 4, 2023, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, to address current issues.In honor of Earth Day and in response to the Holy Father's message urging the faithful to take action in protecting the environment, here are five ways Catholics can celebrate Earth Day.1) Spend time with God in nature. Consider going on a hike or simply take a walk outside and spend time in prayer thanking God for his beautiful creation. You can also find a nice spot to sit and contemplate ...
President Joe Biden leaves after attending Mass at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 27, 2023. / Credit: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty ImagesPittsburgh, Pa., Apr 22, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).Incumbent U.S. President Joe Biden, a Catholic, is battling a high unfavorability rating among his fellow Catholics, according to survey data released by the Pew Research Center.According to the data, neither Biden nor his Republican rival, former president Donald Trump, are viewed favorably by a majority of Catholics surveyed, but Biden is the more unpopular of the two.The findings were part of a presentation on "Religion and Politics Ahead of the U.S. Elections" by Pew's associate director of research, Greg Smith, at the 2024 annual conference of the Religion News Association, which concluded over the weekend.Included in the data provided by Smith, Pew's late February survey of 12,000 U.S. adults found that only 35% of Catholics hold a favorable view of Biden while 64% have...
Pope Francis waves to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square on April 21, 2024, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaRome Newsroom, Apr 21, 2024 / 09:36 am (CNA).Pope Francis reflected on the image of Christ as the Good Shepherd during his Regina Caeli address Sunday, noting that it is a role characterized by his sacrificial love. "Jesus explains that he is not a hired man who cares nothing for the sheep but a man who knows them," the pope said on April 21, the fourth Sunday of Easter, which is traditionally known as Good Shepherd Sunday because it is the theme of the day's Gospel. "It is true, he knows us, he calls us by our name and, when we are lost, he looks for us until he finds us."Pope Francis explained that Christ's role as a shepherd introduced a new logic, observing that he is not acting as a guide or "the head of the flock" but is instead "living in symbiosis" with his people."This is what the Lord wants to tell us with the image of the Good Shepherd: not only tha...
Father Nicéforo Obama from Equatorial Guinea was able to be trained as a priest thanks to the Pontifical Mission Societies. / Credit: OMPACI Prensa Staff, Apr 21, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).On Sunday, April 21, in addition to celebrating the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, the Catholic Church in Spain also celebrates what it calls "Native Vocations Day," to support and provide formation for those who feel called to the priesthood and consecrated life in other countries so that no one is prevented from pursuing a vocation due to lack of resources.The Pontifical Society of St. Peter the Apostle is in charge of this effort, one of the four Pontifical Mission Societies that in different ways provides the resources to maintain 725 seminaries around the world.In Asia, these seminaries (152 minor, 13 preparatory, and 62 major) serve more than 15,000 candidates for the priesthood. In Africa, more than 67,000 seminarians attend the 225 minor, 116 preparatory, and 142 major seminaries. In ...
People queue to buy food in Havana on March 27, 2024. Claims of lack of food coupled with long blackouts, which affected almost the entire Cuban population in recent weeks, led hundreds of people to demonstrate on March 17 in at least four cities in the country, in the largest protests recorded since the historic anti-government marches of July 11, 2021. / Credit: YAMIL LAGE/AFP via Getty ImagesACI Prensa Staff, Apr 20, 2024 / 10:30 am (CNA).The deputy secretary of the Cuban Bishops' Conference, Father Ariel Suárez, said that the Catholic Church is available to facilitate dialogue "if the different political actors" would agree to it in order to find a solution to the crisis in the country.In an interview with NBC News, the priest referred to protests that once again shook the country, this time in March on the eastern end of the island."In the protests of last March 17, this pain turned into a cry, in a cry that was heard and that has been accepted, shall we say, by all the le...
Students participating in the CEDE workshop for St. John's College High School gather for a group photo at the basilica at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., in November 2022. / Credit: Photo courtesy of CUACNA Staff, Apr 20, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).When Luke Burgis moved to Silicon Valley to start a business, he never expected he would become a seminarian and then go on to launch entrepreneurship programs for Catholic students. Burgis had attended NYU, worked on Wall Street, started several businesses in Silicon Valley, and moved to Las Vegas before deciding he wanted more meaning in his life. With the encouragement of a friend, he rekindled his Catholic faith. After five years in seminary, he ultimately discerned he would not become a priest, but he still found himself in need of deeper meaning in his work.So he founded Catholic Entrepreneurship and Design Experience (CEDE, pronounced "seed") in 2020 to help students across the country connect their w...
