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A wildfire blazes next to a stone lantern of family tomb in Andong, South Korea, on March 26, 2025. At least 18 people have been killed in one of South Korea's worst wildfire outbreaks, with multiple blazes burning and causing "unprecedented damage," the acting president said. / Credit: YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty ImagesRome Newsroom, Mar 28, 2025 / 15:25 pm (CNA).Pope Francis has expressed his sorrow for the victims of the devastating wildfires in South Korea, which killed 28 people and forced tens of thousands to evacuate.In a message sent on the pope's behalf by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Francis conveyed his condolences to those mourning their loved ones and offered prayers for emergency personnel working to contain the fires."His Holiness Pope Francis is deeply concerned by the threat to life and the damage caused by the widespread wildfires in various parts of Korea," Parolin wrote on March 28."Entrusting the souls of the deceased to the loving ...
"People need genuine compassion and choices, not the false choice of pain or poison," says Jim Towey, founder and president of Aging with Dignity, the organization behind a new watchdog effort to monitor and oppose the expansion of assisted suicide throughout the United States. / Credit: "The World Over with Raymond Arroyo"/EWTN News screenshotCNA Staff, Mar 28, 2025 / 16:15 pm (CNA).A new watchdog effort has launched to monitor and oppose the expansion of assisted suicide throughout the United States. Aging with Dignity, a nonprofit group inspired by St. Teresa of Calcutta that provides guidance on end-of-life issues, on Thursday debuted Assisted Suicide Watch, which the group said will "challenge the well-funded effort to convince people that suicide-affirming care is a social good."Jim Towey, the founder and CEO of Aging with Dignity, previously served as legal counsel to Mother Teresa. He told CNA last year that he launched the nonprofit "to give people a hopeful visio...
Credit: Ivanko80/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 28, 2025 / 16:45 pm (CNA).A public official in Ulster County, New York, is refusing to cooperate with a ruling from a Texas judge ordering a doctor to pay a $113,000 fine for allegedly mailing abortion pills into the southern state. Acting County Clerk Taylor Bruck will not file the summary judgment ordered against abortion doctor Margaret Daley Carpenter for allegedly providing abortion pills to women in Texas via mail, a violation of the state's laws.The order was issued by Collin County, Texas, District Court Judge Bryan Gantt against Carpenter, a cofounder of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine Access (ACT).This is the first case, in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, in which a court official in one state refused to cooperate with a judicial ruling from another state on a matter related to interstate abortion services.Under Texas law, both surgical and chemical abortions are ...
The Kansas Capitol in Topeka. / Credit: Nils Huenerfuerst/Wikipedia| CC BY 4.0CNA Staff, Mar 28, 2025 / 17:05 pm (CNA).The organizer of a "black mass" that took place outside the Kansas state Capitol on Friday amid heavy Catholic protest was arrested shortly afterward in the Capitol building after punching a protester in the face. A video from local news outlet WIBW shows Michael Stewart raising his arms and chanting in the Capitol rotunda, surrounded by a number of protesters urging him to stop. A young man later identified as Marcus Schroeder attempted to snatch what appeared to be papers from Stewart's outstretched hands. Video and images circulating on social media show Stewart punching Schroeder twice in the face before a half-dozen police officers tackled him and led him away. Satanic Grotto leader Michael Stewart starts his demonstration, punches Marcus Schroeder after Schroeder attempts to take Stewart's materials, and is detained by Capitol Police....
St. Paul's Chaldean Catholic Cathedral in Mosul, Iraq. / Credit: France YousifWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 28, 2025 / 17:35 pm (CNA).Here are some of the major stories about the Church from around the world that you may have missed this week:Cardinal calls on Iraqi Christians to vote for fellow Christians in upcoming electionsCardinal Louis Raphael Sako, patriarch of the Chaldean Church, is urging Iraqi Christians to actively participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections, emphasizing the importance of updating electoral records and obtaining voter cards, ACI MENA, CNA's Arabic-language news partner, reported. Sako stressed that the five parliamentary seats that are designated for Christians be confined to Christians alone to ensure accurate representation and underscored the crucial role that each individual can play in shaping Iraq's future. Latin patriarch of Jerusalem promotes interfaith dialogue during historic visit to Bahrain Cardinal Pierbattista P...
The Philippines has the highest adult Christian faith retention rate in the world, according to Pew Research. / Credit: icosha/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 28, 2025 / 12:45 pm (CNA).Surveys in about three dozen countries compiled by the Pew Research Center found that most Christians who are raised in the faith hold onto it in adulthood. In fact, in every country surveyed the majority of people who are raised Christian still remain in the faith as adults.However, the numbers vary widely, from a high of 99% Christian faith retention in the Philippines and 98% in Hungary and Nigeria to lows of 51% in South Korea and 53% in the Netherlands.The United States was slightly lower than the average from the countries included in the research. About 73% of Americans who are raised Christian as children have kept the faith in their adult lives.Pew's data includes numbers from 10 European countries, 10 east and South Asian countries, eight countries in the Americas, five Afric...
People stand past the debris of a collapsed building in Mandalay, Myanmar, on March 28, 2025, after a powerful earthquake killed more than 150 people across Myanmar and Thailand on March 28, toppling buildings and bridges and trapping over 80 workers in an under-construction skyscraper in Bangkok. / Credit: STR/AFP via Getty ImagesRome Newsroom, Mar 28, 2025 / 13:15 pm (CNA).Pope Francis sent his condolences to Church and civil authorities in Myanmar and Thailand after a powerful earthquake killed more than 150 people and caused widespread devastation in the region."Deeply saddened by the loss of life and widespread devastation caused by the earthquake in Southeast Asia, especially in Myanmar and Thailand, His Holiness Pope Francis offers heartfelt prayers for the souls of the deceased and the assurance of his spiritual closeness to all affected by this tragedy," said the message sent on the pope's behalf by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin."His Holiness likew...
Maryland State House. / Credit: Jon Bilous/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 28, 2025 / 14:25 pm (CNA).The Catholic Church in Maryland is urging the state Legislature to treat cases of child sexual abuse in state-run facilities equal to those in private institutions following a proposed bill that would "decrease the number of civil causes of action for child sexual abuse filed against the state."The Maryland Catholic Conference (MCC) said in a statement on Thursday that the bill "greatly exacerbates an existing difference in treatment for victims abused in state institutions and those abused in private institutions."If passed, the bill would reduce the state damage cap for abuse victims to $400,000 while keeping the cap for private organizations at $1.5 million.The "overtly unequal treatment in HB 1378 is not only poor policy for victim-survivors but also unfairly targets nonprofit and religious organizations that have long served children in this state and have implem...
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin (right) meets with Polish President Andrzej Duda on March 28, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaCNA Newsroom, Mar 28, 2025 / 09:40 am (CNA).Pope Francis continues to show gradual improvement as he recovers from bilateral pneumonia at his residence in Casa Santa Marta, according to an update provided Friday by Holy See Press Office Director Matteo Bruni.The pontiff's health remains stable, and his respiratory function, mobility, and speech have improved.While still requiring supplemental oxygen, he has been able to reduce the high-flow oxygen therapy during daytime hours with a slight reduction also occurring overnight.Blood tests conducted Wednesday indicate all hematological parameters are within normal range."The pope's daily schedule includes physiotherapy sessions, which are helping improve his voice usage, along with periods of prayer, rest, and limited work," Bruni said.All dicasteries of the Roman Curia conti...
The flag of the European Union flying in Rome. / Credit: Bohumil Petrik/CNAACI Prensa Staff, Mar 28, 2025 / 10:30 am (CNA).The bishops of the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) held their spring assembly this week in Italy, a meeting in which they considered the European Union's vocation in the face of current challenges.From Nemi, a town outside Rome where the meeting took place behind closed doors March 26-27, COMECE secretary-general Father Manuel Barrios spoke with ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, and explained the foundations of the mission.The European Union, a project for peace with Christian roots"The innate vocation of the European Union is to guarantee peace on the continent and in the world," the Spanish priest said, noting that the EU was born as a project of reconciliation after the Second World War, so its mission is also to "defend and promote human rights, freedom, democracy, and the dignity of the person," esse...
