Pope Francis prayed with relic of St. Therese of Lisieux before surgery

Pope Francis prayed before a relic of St. Therese of Lisieux at the beginning of his general audience in St. Peter's Square, and shortly before going to the hospital for an abdominal surgery, on June 7, 2023. / Daniel Ibanez/CNAVatican City, Jun 7, 2023 / 04:37 am (CNA).One of Pope Francis' last gestures before undergoing abdominal surgery on Wednesday was to pray before a relic of St. Therese of Lisieux.A relic of the French Carmelite nun, also known as St. Therese of the Child Jesus, was present on the platform in front of St. Peter's Basilica during the pope's weekly general audience June 7.Before beginning the audience, Francis venerated the relics of St. Therese in a moment of silent prayer. He also placed a single, white rose on the table in front of the reliquary.Pope Francis was taken to Rome's Gemelli Hospital for abdominal surgery under general anesthesia at the end of the morning audience, shortly after 11:00 a.m. Rome time, the Vatican said. Relics of St. There...

Breaking: Pope Francis to have abdominal surgery under general anesthesia

Pope Francis greeted pilgrims in St. Peter's Square on Wednesday, June 7, 2023, a few hours before he will be hospitalized for abdominal surgery under general anesthesia. / Daniel Ibanez/CNARome Newsroom, Jun 7, 2023 / 03:01 am (CNA).Pope Francis will undergo abdominal surgery under general anesthesia on Wednesday afternoon, the Vatican has confirmed.The operation was planned by the pope's medical team in recent days after it became necessary due to a hernia that was causing recurrent, painful, and worsening symptoms, according to Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni. Bruni said that Pope Francis will have a laparotomy and abdominal wall reconstruction with prosthetic material in the early afternoon on June 7. The pope will be taken to Rome's Gemelli Hospital immediately after his general audience in St. Peter's Square and will recover in the hospital for several days post-surgery.The news of Pope Francis' surgery comes one day after Italian media reported that he went to Gemell...

Former feminist turned pro-lifer shares her testimony prior to March for Life in Colombia

Adriana (left) / March for Life in Medellín, Colombia, on June 3, 2023. / Credit: United for LifeACI Prensa Staff, Jun 5, 2023 / 17:20 pm (CNA).A young Colombian mother shared her testimony regarding her feminist past and recounted how now, as a pregnant mom, she defends the right to life of unborn children.In a special interview as a prelude to the National March for Life held throughout Colombia on June 3, Adriana shared her testimony with the United for Life platform in Medellín.With the message "I defend women, including her" written on her showing midriff, Adriana related that she belonged to a group of women from her town and "from there they connected us to the entire feminist organization."The young woman lamented how in her time as a feminist, the leaders encouraged them to experience attraction to other women and to strip down during their demonstrations."I was surprised because they freely told us so at large gatherings and invited us to have an inclination for the ...

Vatican: Pope Francis has checkup at Rome hospital

Pope Francis at his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter's Square on May 31, 2023. / Vatican MediaRome Newsroom, Jun 6, 2023 / 05:36 am (CNA).Pope Francis went to a Rome hospital's center for the elderly for a visit on Tuesday, according to Italian media reports.Italian news agency ANSA reported that Pope Francis spent about 40 minutes at Gemelli Hospital before returning to his Vatican residence shortly before noon on June 6.Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni issued a brief statement June 6 confirming media reports.Bruni said: "This morning Pope Francis went to Gemelli Hospital to undergo some clinical examinations and returned to the Vatican before noon."According to its website, Gemelli Hospital's center for elderly patients has a day hospital as well as areas for acute patients, rehabilitation, neuropsychology, and research.Pope Francis, 86, canceled meetings on May 26 due to a fever. He resumed his normal activities the next day.At the end of March he was hospitalized for f...

Papal envoy to Ukraine meets with President Zelenskyy, concludes 'intense' visit

Pope Francis' envoy to Ukraine Cardinal Matteo Zuppi on June 6, 2023, finished a "brief but intense" two-day visit to Kyiv, which included a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. / Credit: Vatican News/YouTubeCNA Newsroom, Jun 6, 2023 / 13:15 pm (CNA).Pope Francis' envoy to Ukraine Cardinal Matteo Zuppi on Tuesday finished a "brief but intense" two-day visit to Kyiv, which included a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy."The results of these talks, such as those with religious representatives, as well as the direct experience of the atrocious suffering of the Ukrainian people as a result of the ongoing war, will be brought to the Holy Father's attention," the Holy See Press Office said in a bulletin Tuesday. Zuppi's conversations "will undoubtedly be useful in assessing the steps to be taken both on the humanitarian level and in the search for paths to a just and lasting peace," the bulletin said.On Tuesday morning, Zuppi stopped to pray at Kyiv's St. Sophia Ca...

Parents in Honduras launch movement to oppose imposition of gender ideology in schools

null / Credit: ShutterstockACI Prensa Staff, Jun 6, 2023 / 16:15 pm (CNA).Last Saturday, hundreds of parents in Honduras officially launched the "For Our Children" movement, a citizen platform that seeks to stop the attempt to impose gender ideology in the public school curriculum.With the slogan "Don't mess with my children," a group of approximately 500 people met June 3 at the Cortés Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the city of San Pedro de Sula to present a manifesto highlighting the "inalienable right" of parents to educate their children according to their "values, principles, and beliefs."Martha Lorena de Casco, a member of the Pro-Life Honduras Committee, explained to ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, that this movement was formed to respond to the attempt by the administration of President Xiomara Castro to "mandate the implementation [of] a sex education guide with gender ideology starting in kindergarten.""This has got people worked up, because many...

Thousands of United Methodist churches break away over LGBTQ+ disagreements

A pro-LGBTQ message on a Methodist church in Nashville, Tennessee. / Glendale United Methodist Church|FlickrWashington D.C., Jun 6, 2023 / 15:45 pm (CNA).As the United Methodist Church (UMC) is rocked by disagreement over LGBTQ+ issues, more than 4,000 congregations have officially split from the denomination this year. More congregations joined the growing schism this weekend with 60 leaving in Michigan on Saturday and 250 in Kentucky splitting with the UMC on Sunday. Jay Therrell, president of the Wesleyan Covenant Association and a leader in the "disaffiliation" movement, told CNA that "the authority of Scripture and the lordship of Christ" has "deteriorated for many, many years in the United Methodist Church." Today, Therrell said, that problem is "playing out in the issue of human sexuality."As of Tuesday afternoon, 4,876 Methodist churches this year have officially completed the process to break away from the UMC, Therrell said.According to Therrell, many o...

NFL champ Harrison Butker makes a statement with pro-life necktie at White House visit

President Joe Biden welcomes the Kansas City Chiefs to the White House in Washington, D.C., June 5, 2023. Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker (back row, center) wore a tie with a pro-life message on it. / Credit: Kevin Dietsch/Getty ImagesBoston, Mass., Jun 6, 2023 / 15:15 pm (CNA).During the Kansas City Chiefs' visit to the White House on Monday in celebration of their Super Bowl victory in February, the team's kicker, Harrison Butker, made a statement in support of the unborn by wearing a custom-made necktie with a pro-life message.Butker, a faithful Catholic, wore a tie that says "Vulnerari Praesidio," a Latin phrase he says means "protect the most vulnerable.""I want to give the most vulnerable, the unborn, a voice at a place where every effort has been made to allow and normalize the tragic termination of their lives," Butker said in a June 6 statement.Butker is referring to the Biden administration's aggressive pro-abortion stance, a position that has put Biden at odds with the...

Pope Francis to sign human fraternity document with Nobel laureates in St. Peter's Square

St. Peter's Square in Vatican City. / Credit: Alexander_Peterson/ShutterstockRome Newsroom, Jun 5, 2023 / 12:20 pm (CNA).Nobel laureates, Grammy-winner Andrea Bocelli, and several former heads of state will join Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square on Saturday night for the World Meeting on Human Fraternity.The June 10 event, called "#Not Alone," will culminate with Pope Francis signing a document calling for a commitment to human fraternity drafted by a dozen Nobel Peace Prize winners together with representatives of former Nobel Prize-winning organizations.Young people representing different countries will also form "a symbolic embrace" by joining hands in a ring around St. Peter's Square, according to the Fratelli Tutti Foundation, the sponsor of the event.Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, the archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica, described the upcoming meeting as "a great day of celebration and unity inspired by Pope Francis' encyclical Fratelli Tutti, transcending a vision that re...

Oklahoma board approves first Catholic charter school in the country

null / ShutterstockWashington D.C., Jun 5, 2023 / 16:50 pm (CNA).The state of Oklahoma approved the country's first-ever religious charter school on Monday. The move will allow public funds to pay the tuition of children attending an online Catholic school run by the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa.The Statewide Virtual Charter School Board voted 3-2 to approve St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School in a three-hour-long meeting. The "yes" votes included a new member who was appointed by Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt on Friday. In a statement, the governor applauded the decision. "This is a win for religious liberty and education freedom in our great state, and I am encouraged by these efforts to give parents more options when it comes to their child's education," Stitt said. "Oklahomans support religious liberty for all and support an increasingly innovative educational system that expands choice," the governor added. "Today, with the nation watching...