JD Vance signals Trump administration will defund Planned Parenthood

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance arrives to speak at a Trump-Vance campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 5, 2024. / Credit: JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty ImagesWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 7, 2024 / 15:30 pm (CNA).Speaking to reporters after the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance signaled that a second Trump administration will seek to defund Planned Parenthood.Planned Parenthood, which is the largest abortion provider in the U.S., took in nearly $700 million in tax-funded government grants, contracts, and Medicaid reimbursements in 2023, accounting for 34% of its total revenue, according to Planned Parenthood's latest report.Vance, who was responding to a question from RealClearPolitics, signaled that Planned Parenthood's government funding may soon come to an end.Vance last night:"On the question of defunding Planned Parenthood, look, I mean, our view is we don't think that taxpayers should f...

Beirut under fire: Church officials call for peace

Fire and smoke rise at an area targeted by an Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs on Oct. 6, 2024. / Credit: FADEL ITANI/AFP via Getty ImagesACI MENA, Oct 7, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).Black smoke and raging fires lit up the sky as successive explosions rumbled through Beirut's southern suburbs over the weekend, with Oct. 5 marking one of the most violent nights the Lebanese capital has experienced. As tensions escalate between Hezbollah and Israel, heavy airstrikes hit deep into areas already emptied of residents, spreading fear through neighboring cities and towns.The deteriorating situation forces Lebanon's government to address both political and humanitarian concerns as people flee the bombarded areas. The Church stands alongside the state, active on multiple fronts: pushing diplomatically for a cease-fire and peace, providing aid to victims, and maintaining continuous prayer vigils.After what many have called the most violent night since fighting intensified in Leba...

Widows group in Kenya rescues Catholic women from polygamy, 'wife inheritance'

Members of St. Monica Widows Group pray during Mass at St. Aloysius Gonzaga Ojolla Parish in the Archdiocese of Kisumu in Kenya. / Credit: Agnes Aineah/ACI AfricaACI Africa, Oct 7, 2024 / 14:30 pm (CNA).Susan Auma has known little rest since 2001 when her husband died, leaving her with two toddlers. Widowed at just 27, Auma found herself fighting to survive in her matrimonial home where she was surrounded by hostility for refusing to be remarried.Auma's tribulations started before the burial of her husband when her brothers-in-law instructed her to surrender her husband's property. The idea had been carefully crafted to leave Auma and her sons vulnerable and in need of a man to take care of them.Then came the rituals, starting with shaving her head clean, and the ultimate cleansing, which was to involve "ritual sex" with a stranger and allow herself to enter into a polygamous union.Auma refused to participate in all the traditions that were laid before her, accepting the w...

Georgia Supreme Court reinstates 6-week 'heartbeat' law

The Supreme Court of the state of Georgia is housed at the Nathan Deal Judicial Center in Atlanta. / Credit: Harrison Keely, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsCNA Staff, Oct 7, 2024 / 19:15 pm (CNA).The Georgia Supreme Court reinstated on Monday the state's heartbeat law, a six-week limit on abortion known as the "LIFE Act," after a trial court judge overturned it last week. The state Supreme Court in a 6 to 1 majority reinstated the heartbeat law pending ongoing litigation surrounding the law. Last week, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr requested a stay of the rule blocking the heartbeat law, pending appeal.A six-week abortion limit is often called a heartbeat law, named because it protects unborn babies after fetal cardiac activity is detectable. The order went into effect at 5 p.m. on Oct. 7 in Georgia, protecting unborn babies if they have a detectable heartbeat. Claire Bartlett, executive director of the pro-life advocacy group Georgia Life Alliance, told CNA th...

Christians join supporters of Israel at rally on National Mall on Oct. 7

Sherry Colvin (left) and her daughter Gabriela were among the attendees at the "Remembering October 7th" rally held in front of the U.S. Capitol on Oct. 7, 2024. / Credit: Madalaine Elhabbal/CNAWashington D.C., Oct 7, 2024 / 18:45 pm (CNA).Hundreds gathered at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in support of Israel and in remembrance of the victims and hostages on the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel.The event, "Remembering October 7th," was sponsored by the Philos Project, a Christian nonprofit organization that advocates for pluralism and Israel's peaceful existence in the Middle East, and included remarks from speakers across various faith backgrounds. Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts addressed Christians and fellow Catholics in particular during his remarks, calling on them to "stand up and be vocal and courageous" against antisemitism. "As a serious Roman Catholic, I can tell you that in our institutions, we've n...

Supreme Court denies Biden's attempt to force Texas emergency doctors to perform abortions

U.S. Supreme Court. / Credit: PT Hamilton/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 7, 2024 / 18:00 pm (CNA).The Supreme Court on Monday denied an appeal by the Biden administration to compel emergency room doctors in Texas to perform abortions.The decision leaves in place a January ruling by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in Becerra v. State of Texas. The 5th Circuit Court ruled that the administration's attempt to use the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) to mandate abortions as necessary, stabilizing treatment "goes beyond" the intent of the law.In its ruling, the 5th Circuit said that EMTALA "does not mandate medical treatments, let alone abortion care, nor does it preempt Texas law."This is the latest development in the administration's attempt to use EMTALA to mandate abortions as necessary treatment.The administration has been arguing in court that EMTALA includes abortion as part of the mandated emergency care hospitals must provide. Under this readi...

Did Tim Walz allow abortion for any reason up to birth? Here's what the law he signed says

Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a debate at the CBS Broadcast Center on Oct. 1, 2024, in New York City. / Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesCNA Staff, Oct 7, 2024 / 17:30 pm (CNA).Since Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris picked him as her running mate, vice presidential candidate Tim Walz has faced challenges from Republicans, pro-life advocates, and the media to defend his extreme positions on abortion. As governor of Minnesota, Walz has signed several far-reaching abortion laws that have significantly expanded abortion in that state, including legislation that enshrines abortion without restrictions up to the point of birth in the state constitution.Nevertheless, Walz has skirted the issue and refused to say that he signed legislation that allows abortion through all nine months of pregnancy.What has Walz said?In the vice presidential debate with Sen. JD Vance this month, the moderator asked Walz...

Indian police hunt for Hindu man who allegedly disrespected St. Francis Xavier

Procession of the relics of St. Francis Xavier in Old Goa outside Se Cathedral on his feast day, Dec. 3, 2014. / Credit: Archdiocese of Goa and DamanCNA Staff, Oct 7, 2024 / 17:00 pm (CNA).Police in the Indian state of Goa are on the hunt for a Hindu man who allegedly publicly disrespected St. Francis Xavier and disputed the saint's title as protector of the state, leading to complaints from the state's Christians, who deeply venerate St. Francis.Catholic news outlet UCA News reported that Subhash Velingkar, a former state-unit chief of the powerful Hindu group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, publicly questioned the authenticity of the relics of St. Francis Xavier housed in the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Old Goa.The relics are only exposed for veneration every 10 years. The next period of exposition and veneration is due to start on Nov. 21 and end on Jan. 5, 2025.Velingkar reportedly said at a public meeting on Oct. 1 that a "DNA test" should be conducted on the relics to prov...

Pope Francis: 'Prayer and fasting are the weapons of love that change history'

Christian worshippers pray at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem on Easter Sunday, March 31, 2024. / Credit: AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty ImagesCNA Newsroom, Oct 7, 2024 / 16:00 pm (CNA).On the World Day of Prayer and Fasting held on the Oct. 7 feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, Pope Francis addressed a letter to Catholics in the Middle East on the one-year anniversary of Hamas' attack on Israel.In his letter, the Holy Father expressed his closeness with those "who dwell in the lands of which the Scriptures speak most often," suffering as a result of the ongoing conflict spreading throughout the region."As Christians, we must never tire of imploring peace from God. That is why, on this day, I have urged everyone to observe a day of prayer and fasting. Prayer and fasting are the weapons of love that change history," reads the Holy Father's letter, released one day after he prayed a rosary for peace at the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome."In order to b...

U.S. bishops invite faithful to pray mental health novena

null / Credit: Studio4dich/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Oct 6, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).The U.S. bishops announced the second annual novena for mental health as part of a national campaign to promote mental health.Launched in 2023, the National Catholic Mental Health Campaign aimed to address mental illness around the message that "everyone who needs help should receive help."Beginning on World Mental Health Day, Oct. 10, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) "will begin nine days of focused prayer, teaching, and actionable steps to engage more intentionally on mental health issues," according to the USCCB Sept. 23 press release. The novena will conclude on Oct. 18, the feast of St. Luke the Evangelist, the patron saint of health care.The novena will be a tradition for future years to come, said Paul Jarzembowski, the USCCB associate director for the laity for the Secretariat of Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth.Jarzembowski told CNA that the Church is seeking "...