'We're having a problem on the plane': Husband writes about losing wife, unborn child on 9/11

An unborn child, a victim of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, is remembered at the 9/11 memorial in New York City. / Credit: Katie Yoder/CNAWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 11, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).Nearly 3,000 names are engraved in bronze at the 9/11 Memorial in New York City. But 10 of the victims in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks are different: They have no names. Instead, each is remembered as an "unborn child." Among those memorialized this way are "Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas and her unborn child."On Sept. 11, Jack Grandcolas lost the two people he held most dear: his wife, Lauren, and their unborn child. His pregnant 38-year-old wife died on United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania after the passengers fought back against hijackers redirecting the flight to Washington, D.C. Grandcolas recounts his loss and search for hope in a memoir called "Like a River to the Sea: Heartbreak and Hope in the Wake of United 93."The book was published by Rare Bird on ...

Missouri Supreme Court keeps pro-abortion amendment on November ballot

Pro-life protestors hold signs outside the Missouri Supreme Court on Sept. 10, 2024 advocating against Amendment 3, which would dramatically expand abortion access in Missouri if passed in November. / Credit: Courtesy of Thomas More SocietySt. Louis, Mo., Sep 10, 2024 / 16:20 pm (CNA).The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that a proposed constitutional amendment to dramatically expand abortion in the state will remain on the Nov. 5 ballot after a circuit judge blocked the measure earlier this week.  The ruling dealt a blow to pro-life activists in the state, who had argued that the final proposed language not only violates state law by failing to list which laws it would repeal but also misleads voters about the scope and gravity of what they will be voting for. A Catholic law firm led the legal effort to get the proposed amendment struck from the ballot. Missouri's proposed Amendment 3, which originally qualified for the November ballot in A...

2024 EWTN 'Family Celebration' concludes in Toronto

Cardinal Thomas Collins, archbishop emeritus of Toronto, was the principal celebrant of the closing Mass at the EWTN Family Celebration on Sept. 7, 2024. / Credit: Kate Quinones/CNAToronto, Canada, Sep 10, 2024 / 17:08 pm (CNA).More than 2,200 people gathered for the annual EWTN Family Celebration held this year in Toronto.This year's gathering, which took place on Sept. 7, featured various EWTN personalities, including network commentator and contributor Father Raymond de Souza; Father Chris Alar, MIC, host of "Living Divine Mercy"; "Women of Grace" host Johnnette Williams; EWTN Chairman of the Board and CEO Michael Warsaw; and EWTN News President and COO Montse Alvarado. Cardinal Thomas Collins, archbishop emeritus of Toronto, was the principal celebrant of the event's closing Mass.Faith before politics The morning program featured a talk by de Souza, known for his regular columns at the National Catholic Register, CNA's sister news partner, as well as his EWTN feat...

Mother Teresa's 'spiritual darkness' was not depression or loss of faith, scholar explains

St. Teresa of Calcutta. / Credit: © 1986 Túrelio (via Wikimedia-Commons), 1986 / Lizenz: Creative Commons CC-BY-SA-2.0 deWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 10, 2024 / 17:38 pm (CNA).The "spiritual darkness" that Mother Teresa describes in her writings can be difficult to comprehend, but this feeling of emptiness was not caused by either depression or a loss of faith, according to a lecturer at an academic conference organized by the Mother Teresa Institute.St. Teresa of Calcutta's "dark night of the soul" was a distinct charism that helped her build her faith and serve others rather than a mere chemical imbalance that induces depression or an abandonment of the Catholic faith, said Loyola University Maryland philosophy professor Derek McAllister at a Sept. 6 symposium held at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., one day after the saint's feast day. "If it's a mental emotional problem, they do not of themselves promote virtue or increase depth of relationship...

At International Eucharistic Congress, Bishop Cozzens shares fruits of U.S. Eucharistic Congress

Bishop Andrew Cozzens shared stories of profound healing and renewal as a result of the National Eucharistic Congress that was held earlier this summer in Indianapolis. / Credit: Diego López Marina/EWTN NewsQuito, Ecuador, Sep 10, 2024 / 18:08 pm (CNA).Bishop Andrew Cozzens of the Diocese of Crookston, Minnesota, who is in Quito, Ecuador, for the International Eucharistic Congress, shared several "surprising" fruits of the recent National Eucharistic Congress, the first the U.S. has held in 83 years.In an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, Cozzens said the blessings flowing from the July event in Indianapolis exceeded all expectations."People experience this love of Jesus. And this love that comes when the entire Church is gathered to adore and love Jesus. In those moments, the blessings of God that come to us are great and change us," said the prelate, who served as chairman of the National Eucharistic Congress.Cozzens made reference to stories of ...

Pope Francis' Mass in East Timor draws 600,000 Catholics

Pope Francis during Mass at the Esplanade of Taci Tolu in Dili, Timor-Leste, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNADili, East Timor, Sep 10, 2024 / 13:21 pm (CNA).An estimated 600,000 Catholics attended Pope Francis' Mass on Tuesday in East Timor, a small island country that is 98% Catholic.The pope celebrated the youthfulness of East Timor at the massive outdoor Mass where the crowd appeared like a sea of yellow-and-white Vatican-themed umbrellas used for protection from the island's scorching midday sun. The faithful use umbrellas to beat the heat during Mass at the Esplanade of Taci Tolu in Dili, Timor-Leste, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA"I have been thinking a lot about what is the best thing about Timor …  The best thing is its people. … The best thing about this place is the smiles of the children," Pope Francis said in off-the-cuff remarks in Spanish at the end of the Mass. "I wish for you peace, that you keep having many...

Franciscan University launches new hub in Washington, DC, after multimillion-dollar gift

Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, chapel and statue. / Credit: Joseph Antoniello, CC0, via Wikimedia CommonsCNA Staff, Sep 10, 2024 / 14:05 pm (CNA).Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio is set to launch a Washington, D.C., program for its students, including residential and learning facilities, the university announced last week.  The Ward and Kathy Fitzgerald Franciscan University Homeland Mission (FUHM) is part of the university's new "Encounter" initiative, designed to extend Franciscan University's mission and impact beyond its campus in Steubenville, Ohio. It is designed to equip students for "advancing the great global missionary cause of positively impacting the principles and policies guiding the United States government."The university has purchased a $3 million property on Massachusetts Avenue in the District of Columbia for the program thanks to a $10 million gift from Ward and Kathy Fitzgerald. Their donation helps fund the Outreac...

New abuse allegations against Emmaus founder Abbé Pierre prompt organization name change

French Catholic priest Abbé Pierre appears on the TV programm "La Marche du Siecle" in Paris on Dec. 19, 1988. / Credit: GEORGES BENDRIHEM/AFP via Getty ImagesCNA Staff, Sep 10, 2024 / 14:50 pm (CNA).A foundation that supports a prominent Catholic movement in France is changing its name after revealing nearly 20 fresh abuse allegations against the famed Abbé Pierre, a formerly beloved Capuchin priest who died in 2007. A Sept. 6 statement released by Emmaus International, a solidarity movement with over 400 member associations that seeks to combat poverty and homelessness worldwide, detailed new allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct by Pierre, who founded the movement in 1949.A previous July 17 report from Emmaus had detailed allegations involving at least seven victims, including one who was a minor at the time of her alleged assault. Emmaus France said it first received a report from a woman accusing Pierre of sexual assault in 2023.The group said it commissioned con...

Investigation to open in Ireland after 2,300 abuse allegations in religious-run schools

Blackrock College in Dublin, May 30, 2009. Extensive abuse took place at Blackrock College according to a 2022 radio documentary called "Blackrock Boys." The Scoping Inquiry was set up in the aftermath of the relrease of the documentary. / Credit: Sarah777, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsMiddlesbrough, England, Sep 10, 2024 / 15:35 pm (CNA).The Irish government has promised to set up an official investigation to examine historical abuse in religious-run day and boarding schools in the light of "appalling" abuse accounts.The announcement comes as an initial 802-page, five-volume Scoping Inquiry report from the Irish government revealed that 2,395 allegations of abuse had been made in 308 schools between 1927 and 2013. The total number of allegations is believed to be far higher. The allegations were made against 884 abusers. It is believed that half of them have died.The Scoping Inquiry was set up in the aftermath of a 2022 radio documentary called "Blackrock Boys," which r...

Pope Francis in East Timor says children show us how to 'be cared for by God'

Pope Francis blesses children at the Irmas Alma School in Timor-Leste on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024 / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNARome Newsroom, Sep 10, 2024 / 10:45 am (CNA).On the second day of his apostolic visit to East Timor (Timor-Leste), Pope Francis first met with children and religious sisters at the Irmãs Alma School in Dili on Tuesday morning and thanked them for their testimony of love.Approximately 50 children warmly welcomed the Holy Father and Cardinal Virgílio do Carmo da Silva, SDB, archbishop of Dili, with traditional song and dance to their school, run by consecrated sisters of the Association of Lay Ministries (ALMA) who began their missionary work in East Timor in 2004 by caring for poor, disabled, and abandoned children.Pope Francis blesses a disabled child at the Irmas Alma School in Timor-Leste on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA"This is what one finds here: love. Without love this cannot be understood. And so we understand the love of Jesus ...