Al Kresta, longtime Catholic radio host, dies at 72

Al Kresta / EWTNCNA Newsroom, Jun 15, 2024 / 14:35 pm (CNA).Al Kresta, a longtime Catholic radio host, author, and founder and president of Ave Maria Radio, died Saturday at his Michigan home after a battle with liver cancer. He was 72. A former Evangelical Protestant who rose to prominence as a radio host before his conversion to Catholicism in 1992, Kresta's voice was heard on hundreds of radio stations daily, including EWTN Catholic Radio, via Ave Maria's flagship program, "Kresta in the Afternoon." According to a webpage set up by Kresta's family to provide updates, Kresta was admitted to the University of Michigan Hospital on April 29 "after a month of tests," which culminated in a liver cancer diagnosis on May 3. Born in 1951 in New England and raised Catholic, Kresta's road back to the faith of his baptism was winding. Despite his upbringing, he described himself as a "stereotypical 1960s kid" who as a young man leaned into the worldly desires of "drugs, s...

Colombian bishop warns that deterioration of society is rooted in weakening of the family

null / Credit: PeopleImages.com - Yuri A/ShutterstockACI Prensa Staff, Jun 16, 2024 / 09:30 am (CNA).The deterioration experienced in society is due to ideologies weakening the family, the institution to which God has entrusted the protection of life, says the bishop of Cúcuta in Colombia, José Libardo Garcés.In the latest editorial of the diocesan newspaper La Verdad (The Truth), the prelate invited Christians to reflect on the family and life "to become aware of God's call to each home to defend, protect, and safeguard human life as an essential foundation for forming a person and a society based on the virtues of the Gospel, which at the same time has its basis in the sacrament of marriage.""We are experiencing how society is deteriorating in many aspects," he noted, "and this has its roots in the deterioration of family life, which is arising from different ideologies and ways of conceiving marriage and the family that have turned their backs on God."The bishop of Cúcuta, a...

Pope Francis: The seeds of the Gospel take time to bloom

Pope Francis waves to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square for his Angelus address on Sunday, June 16, 2024. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Jun 16, 2024 / 08:23 am (CNA).In Pope Francis' reflection on Sunday's Gospel, the pope encouraged people to trust that God the Father often works in hidden ways under the surface before bringing the seeds of the Gospel to full bloom.Reflecting on Jesus' parable comparing the kingdom of God to a mustard seed in the Gospel of Mark, the pope said Christians should have an attitude of "confident expectation" in the Lord."In sowing, no matter how good or abundant the seed the farmer scatters or how well he prepares the land, the plants do not sprout immediately: It takes time," Pope Francis said in his Angelus address on June 16.Pilgrims gather in St. Peter's Square for Pope Francis' Angelus address on Sunday, June 16, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media"Underground the miracle is already in progress," he added. "There is enormous development, ...

Priest says schismatic Spanish nuns are in state of 'paranoia' according to own thesis

Calle de Bailén Almudena Cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madrid. / Credit: Wikimedia CommonsMadrid, Spain, Jun 15, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).Father Jesús Silva of the Archdiocese of Madrid explained in a video posted on his YouTube channel the reason why the schismatic Poor Clares of the Belorado Monastery are experiencing "paranoia" according to their own thesis by which the religious vows they took would not even be valid.The Spanish nuns announced May 13 that their community "is leaving the conciliar Church to which it belonged to become part of the Catholic Church." They complained that in recent years "contradictions, double and confusing language, ambiguity, and loopholes in clear doctrine have been coming from the chair of Peter." These Poor Clares also claimed that "H.H. Pius XII was the last valid supreme pontiff," thus leaving the papal office vacant since then.According to an analysis Silva made of the Catholic Manifesto the nuns made public a ...

Priest and martyr of Communism Father Michal Rapacz beatified in Krakow

The beatification Mass of Father Michal Rapacz at the Divine Mercy Shrine in Krakow-Lagiewniki, Poland, on Saturday, June 15, 2024 / Episkopat NewsKrakow, Poland, Jun 15, 2024 / 07:35 am (CNA).A 20th-century Polish Catholic priest killed by communist authorities was beatified on Saturday at the Divine Mercy Shrine in Krakow-Lagiewniki, Poland.Pope Francis recognized the martyrdom of Father Michal Rapacz in January. The 41-year-old priest was shot twice by communist authorities on the night of May 10-11, 1946, after being taken from his village parish in the south of Poland to a nearby woods.A memorial graces the spot where Father Michal Rapacz was killed by communist authorities in Ploki, Poland, on the night of May 10-11, 1946. Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kraków"From the celebration of the Mass and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, [Rapacz] drew inner strength and energy, capable of transforming life and the world, everyday life and history," Cardinal Marcello Semeraro said ...

Al Kresta, longtime Catholic radio host, dies at 73

Al Kresta / EWTNCNA Newsroom, Jun 15, 2024 / 14:35 pm (CNA).Al Kresta, a longtime Catholic radio host, author, and founder and president of Ave Maria Radio, died Saturday at his Michigan home after a battle with liver cancer. He was 73. A former Evangelical Protestant who rose to prominence as a radio host before his conversion to Catholicism in 1992, Kresta's voice was heard on hundreds of radio stations daily, including EWTN Catholic Radio, via Ave Maria's flagship program, "Kresta in the Afternoon." According to a webpage set up by Kresta's family to provide updates, Kresta was admitted to the University of Michigan Hospital on April 29 "after a month of tests," which culminated in a liver cancer diagnosis on May 3. Born in 1951 in New England and raised Catholic, Kresta's road back to the faith of his baptism was winding. Despite his upbringing, he described himself as a "stereotypical 1960s kid" who as a young man leaned into the worldly desires of "drugs, s...

'The fight for life is far from over:' Principled pro-life advocates, lawmakers uphold cause

Former abortionist turned pro-life advocate Dr. John Bruchalski speaks at a Live Action press conference in Washington, D.C., on June 12, 2024. / Credit: EWTN News Nightly/ScreenshotCNA Staff, Jun 14, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).The same week the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a setback to the effort to rein in the growing distribution and use of chemical abortion pills, several leading pro-life advocates and lawmakers gathered in Washington, D.C., for a Live Action press conference to underscore the "violence" of chemical abortions and the importance of taking a principled stand on the issue.At the event, former abortionist Dr. John Bruchalski, who founded Tepeyac OB/GYN and now heads Divine Mercy Care, discussed the growing popularity of chemical abortions and underscored that abortion "is a bloody, violent, brutal, unmerciful surgery or process that is emotionally filled with trauma, regret, hatred, shame, guilt, and malice."Bruchalski said the increasing number of chemical abortions "a...

10 years after Mosul's destruction, will Christians come back?

An unknown security guard stands at the entrance of a church destroyed during the fighting with ISIS in Mosul, Iraq. / Credit: CHRIS POOK/ShutterstockACI MENA, Jun 14, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).The fall of Mosul, Iraq, to ISIS in 2014 wasn't the beginning of the struggle for the city's Christians. Killings, abductions, and threats from armed groups had plagued the community since the 2003 invasion by U.S. military. Clergy and laypeople alike bore the brunt of the violence, with bombings targeting churches as well.The situation reached a peak when security forces crumbled, failing to protect Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city and the heart of Nineveh province. ISIS seized control on June 10, 2014, plunging Mosul's Christians into the darkest period of their recent history. Today, they grapple with rebuilding their lives while demanding accountability and a future built on equity and justice.In the wake of clashes and bombings between security forces and ISIS, Mosul's residents were l...

U.S. bishops' pro-life chair on opposition to abortion pill: It's 'because we love women' 

Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, is chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities. / Credit: Zelda Caldwell/CNALouisville, Ky., Jun 14, 2024 / 05:00 am (CNA).The head of the U.S. Catholic bishops' pro-life committee on Thursday expressed disappointment in the Supreme Court ruling that allowed the abortion pill to continue to be available, citing the health risks involved for women as well as concern for the life of the unborn. The high court's unanimous decision on Thursday found that the plaintiffs did not have legal standing to sue the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which had issued the regulations that made the abortion pill widely available."We know it was a procedural ruling, and we did not speak to the ultimate legality of the abortion pill, but it's still very disappointing because now the abortion pill remains very available," Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington, Virgini...

Top European human rights court rules countries can't be forced to introduce assisted suicide

null / Credit: HQuality/ShutterstockAnn Arbor, Michigan, Jun 14, 2024 / 15:30 pm (CNA).The European Court of Human Rights on June 13 ruled in favor of Hungary's right to uphold its laws prohibiting assisted suicide, thus affirming the laws of 46 countries of the Council of Europe that protect human life.The Council of Europe is the broadest coalition in Europe and is larger than the 26-member European Union. The United Kingdom is a member of the European Council, for example, but is not a member of the European Union.ADF International, a global alliance of law firms defending human life, intervened in the case Karsai v. Hungary, arguing that Hungary's prohibition of assisted suicide should be upheld because Hungary is a signatory of the European Convention on Human Rights, which upholds the right to life. ADF argued that while states have an obligation to protect the right to life, there is no right to die.Jean-Paul Van De Walle, an attorney for ADF, said: "Instead of abandonin...