Assisted suicide is false charity with alarming consequences, bishop warns

null / Credit: HQuality/ShutterstockACI Prensa Staff, Mar 20, 2025 / 14:35 pm (CNA)."Assisted suicide is a false charity" with alarming consequences that must be rejected, said Bishop David Malloy of Rockford, Illinois, in a pastoral letter in response to the possibility that the Illinois General Assembly could approve the practice.The prelate referred to a Senate bill and a House bill that would legalize assisted suicide for people with terminal illnesses.In his March 12 letter Malloy noted that proponents of both bills claim they will "end suffering at the end of life."However, he warned that "although well-intentioned, assisted suicide is a false charity that brings with it many alarming consequences that, as followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to reject."The prelate encouraged the faithful not only to pray and fast to stop both bills but also to write or call their state elected officials and encourage them to vote no on the legislation. Malloy referred them to the Ill...

LIVE UPDATES: Pope Francis marks 33 days in hospital as Vatican continues prayers for recovery

Left: Banners at Rome's Gemelli University Hospital. Right: Pope Francis waves from a wheelchair, Feb. 13, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNAVatican City, Mar 20, 2025 / 07:52 am (CNA).Pope Francis was admitted to Rome's Gemelli Hospital on Friday, Feb. 14, to undergo testing and treatment for bronchitis. Follow here for the latest news on his health and hospitalization:

Canadian bishops condemn government proposal to strip faith groups of charitable status

The 2023 Plenary Assembly of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) being held Sept 25-28 outside of Toronto. / Credit: CCCB/CECCToronto, Canada, Mar 20, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).Canada's Finance Department has avoided providing a clear answer to a written appeal from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) urging the federal government not to adopt budget recommendations that would strip charitable status from "anti-abortion" and "advancement of religion" nonprofit organizations.A statement provided to The Catholic Register in Canada on March 13 by the department's media relations officer, Marie-France Faucher, did not reference the CCCB or its specific concerns surrounding recommendations 429 and 430 of the pre-budget consultations in advance of the 2025 budget.In her email response, Faucher said "the government of Canada recognizes the vital role charities play in delivering essential services to those in need" and provided general information about how a...

Pope Francis gifts his Presidential Medal of Freedom to Buenos Aires cathedral

The Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded to Pope Francis. / Credit: Courtesy of Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires/ScreenshotBuenos Aires, Argentina, Mar 19, 2025 / 15:45 pm (CNA).Pope Francis has gifted the Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded to him by former U.S. President Joe Biden to the metropolitan cathedral of Buenos Aires. The medal is the highest honor given to a civilian by the United States, which the former president in January, before leaving office, decided to bestow upon the Holy Father, announcing the award by telephone.The Presidential Medal of Freedom with distinction recognizes "individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant social, public, or private endeavors" and has been awarded only 55 times.In presenting the award to the apostolic nuncio to the United States, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the White House noted that Jorge Bergoglio "for decades ser...

Pope Francis: 'Every vocation is animated by hope'

Catholics attend the Mass and episcopal ordination of two new bishops in St. Peter's Basilica Oct. 17, 2021. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/EWTN/Vatican PoolCNA Newsroom, Mar 19, 2025 / 09:25 am (CNA).Writing from Gemelli Hospital, Pope Francis emphasized the role of hope in vocational discernment in his message for the 62nd World Day of Prayer for Vocations released by the Vatican on Wednesday."Vocation is a precious gift that God sows in hearts, a call to step outside oneself to undertake a journey of love and service," wrote Francis in his address on March 19.The hospitalized pope described how vocations develop through "trust in providence" and said Christian hope goes beyond optimism to become "a certainty rooted in faith in God, who works in the history of every person."Francis called on Church leaders to support younger generations in their vocational journeys while encouraging young people to work with "the Holy Spirit" in discovering their life's purpose.The pope pointed...

Powerful reflections from saints on Lent: fasting, penance, and conversion

Image of St. John Paul II. / Credit: Adrian Tusar/ShutterstockACI Prensa Staff, Mar 19, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).Lent is not only a time of self denial but also of transformation. Six saints and blesseds have offered the following profound reflections on how to live this time authentically through fasting and conversion of heart.St. Augustine"It is true that Moses, Elijah, and Our Lord himself fasted for 40 days; but in Moses, Elijah, and Christ we are meant to see the law, the prophets, and the Gospel, and to learn from them not to cling to this present world or imitate its ways but to nail our unregenerate selves to the cross. Christians must always live in this way, without any wish to come down from their cross, otherwise they will sink beneath the world's mire. But if we have to do so all our lives, we must make an even greater effort during these days of Lent. It is not a simple matter of living through 40 days; Lent is the epitome of our whole life." St. John Paul II"R...

Catholic priest in Gaza reports explosions near parish

The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa speaks with Father Gabriel Romanelli, pastor of Holy Family Church, during his December 2024 visit to Gaza. / Credit: Latin Patriarchate of JerusalemACI Prensa Staff, Mar 18, 2025 / 17:10 pm (CNA).Father Gabriel Romanelli, the pastor of Holy Family Parish in Gaza, reported that following the breakdown of the truce between Israel and Hamas, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have launched new attacks very close to his parish.The priest told Vatican News the bombings occurred just 300 or 400 meters (about 985 to 1,300 feet) from the church, awakening the faithful and causing a growing sense of insecurity throughout the community."The bombings woke us up; they were very close. Fortunately, no shrapnel [hit us] and we're fine, but throughout the Strip there is already talk of more than 350 dead and more than a thousand injured," Romanelli said. At the outset of the war the parish building, the only Catholic church in ...

Catholic Relief Services calls for 'prompt payments' after termination of USAID programs

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, Mar 18, 2025 / 14:40 pm (CNA).Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is urging the Trump administration to reverse the cancellation of USAID's "lifesaving and life-giving assistance" following the official announcement that the majority of its programs have been cut. In a March 10 statement posted to X, Secretary of State Marco Rubio reported the completion of the International Humanitarian Assistance evaluation. "After a six-week review we are officially canceling 83% of the programs at USAID," he said."The 5,200 contracts that are now canceled spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve (and in some cases even harmed) the core national interests of the United States," he continued."In consultation with Congress, we intend for the remaining 18% of programs we are keeping (ap...

8 Catholic universities get ready to compete in NCAA men's basketball tournament

Ryan Kalkbrenner and the Creighton Bluejays are back in the 2025 NCAA men's basketball tournament, one of eight Catholic universities competing in this year's March Madness. / Credit: Nicholas Muller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty ImagesCNA Staff, Mar 18, 2025 / 15:10 pm (CNA).The NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament kicks off March 18 and this year's tournament includes eight Catholic universities competing for the championship title. They are: Creighton University, Gonzaga University, Marquette University, Xavier University, St. John's University, Saint Mary's College, Saint Francis University, and Mount St. Mary's University.Several of these Catholic institutions are making history with their participation in the tournament this year. The Red Flash from Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania, clinched their spot in the big dance when they beat the top team in their conference, Central Connecticut State University (CCSU), 46-43 on March 11. This victory ea...

Vatican: Avoid duplicating Good Friday's Pontifical Collection for the Holy Land

Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Vatican's Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, during an interview at the Vatican on Dec. 11, 2024. / Credit: EWTN NewsVatican City, Mar 18, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).The prefect of the Holy See's Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, asked bishops to avoid promoting fundraising events that would duplicate the Pontifical Collection for the Holy Land taken up on Good Friday. "Please, avoid our churches promoting similar collections for this same purpose, so that the meaning and effectiveness of your charity, which responds to the universal initiative of the successor of Peter, the bishop of Rome, are not undercut," the cardinal stated in a letter released Monday."Everything you have collected can be sent directly to this dicastery by the commissariats of the Holy Land in your country," he added in the letter, which was also signed by the secretary of the Holy See's Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, Archb...