Canadian politician introduces bill to stop MAID expansion for mental illness

Canadian member of Parliament from Cloverdale-Langley City in British Columbia, Tamara Jansen, has introduced a private member's bill to stop the expansion of medical assistance in dying (MAID) for mental illness alone. / Credit: ParlVu screen imageVancouver, Canada, Jul 2, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).Canadian member of Parliament (MP) from Cloverdale-Langley City in British Columbia, Tamara Jansen, has introduced a private member's bill to stop the expansion of medical assistance in dying (MAID) for mental illness alone.Jansen's Bill C-218 would amend the criminal code to prevent mental disorders from being considered a "grievous and irremediable medical condition" for the purposes of MAID.The bill was read a first time in the House of Commons on June 20 and is scheduled for second reading at the next sitting of the House.Speaking in the House, Jansen said: "Imagine your son or daughter battling depression for some time, after losing a job or maybe a broken relationship. Imagine the...

Diocese of Fresno officially files for bankruptcy amid more than 150 abuse claims

null / Credit: Minerva Studio/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Jul 2, 2025 / 11:17 am (CNA).The Diocese of Fresno in California filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 1, seeking to address more than 150 abuse claims filed there in what Bishop Joseph Brennan said was part of a "journey of conversion through contrition."Brennan announced the filing via a video message on Tuesday. The bishop's message comes more than a year after he announced, in May 2024, that the diocese would seek the bankruptcy filing.The prelate said the filing was "the only path that will allow us to handle claims of sexual abuse with compassion that is fair and equitable while simultaneously ensuring the continuation of ministry within our diocese."As with other dioceses in California and the U.S., the Fresno Diocese is facing a large number of allegations of clergy abuse. Brennan said last year that plaintiffs had lodged 154 sex abuse complaints against the Church there.Those filings were made under a California la...

Pope Leo XIV's marriage advice? Keep calm and pray the rosary

Newlyweds Anna and Cole Stevens meet Pope Leo XIV at the general audience in Rome on Wednesday, June 11, 2025. / Credit: Courtesy of Anna and Cole StevensVatican City, Jul 2, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV recently offered marriage advice to a young American couple days after their wedding, sharing how he was blessed by the example of his own parents who prayed the rosary together every day.Newlyweds Cole and Anna Stevens received Pope Leo's personal blessing for their marriage during one of the pope's first general audiences under the hot Roman summer sun on June 11, just four days after their wedding at the Cathedral of St. Paul in Birmingham, Alabama.Newlyweds Anna and Cole Stevens meet Pope Leo XIV at the general audience in Rome on Wednesday, June 11, 2025. Credit: Courtesy of Anna and Cole StevensThe moment, captured on video, became an unexpectedly intimate exchange with the American pope, who responded warmly to their question of how best to pray together as a marri...

Religious freedom report: Russia guilty of 'severe' violations against religious minorities

Palace of the Senate of the Russian Empire in Moscow. / Credit: Angel Miklashevsky, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 2, 2025 / 09:29 am (CNA).Russia continues to perpetuate "particularly severe" religious liberty violations against minority groups within its own country and the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, according to a new report from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).The June 30 report, which detailed religious liberty violations throughout 2024 and the beginning of 2025, found continued "intense persecution" of Ukrainian Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant Christians.Within Russia's borders, the report also found numerous religious liberty violations against human rights activists, independent media, anti-war protesters, and others who belong to minority religious groups."Russian authorities abuse vague and problematic laws to target religious communities that do not conform to state authorit...

Cardinal Ambongo: Opposition to same-sex blessings not an 'African exception'

Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar. / Credit: François-Régis Salefran CC BY-SA 4.0 DEEDVatican City, Jul 1, 2025 / 14:47 pm (CNA).The leader of Africa's Catholic bishops pushed back Tuesday on the narrative that it was only Africans who objected to a 2023 Vatican declaration permitting blessings for same-sex couples."The position taken by Africa [on the declaration] was also the position of so many bishops here in Europe. It's not just an African exception," Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, OFM Cap, told EWTN News on July 1.The 65-year-old cardinal added that homosexuality is fundamentally a "doctrinal, theological problem," and Church moral teaching on the subject has not changed.Ambongo is archbishop of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo and heads the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM).After the Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) published Fid...

Priest in 'critical condition' after being shot in Mexico

Father Héctor Alejandro Pérez. / Credit: St. Francis of Assisi Parish, South GaviotasPuebla, Mexico, Jul 1, 2025 / 17:19 pm (CNA).The Diocese of Tabasco in Mexico reported June 30 that one of its priests was wounded by gunfire while on his way to visit a sick parishioner. The attack was apparently a case of mistaken identity.The bishop of the diocese, Gerardo de Jesús Rojas López, shared a statement explaining that at approximately 5:45 a.m. local time, Father Héctor Alejandro Pérez, a parish priest at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Villahermosa, the capital of Tabasco state, was shot.The assailant apparently mistook the priest "for someone else. Father Héctor was leaving the rectory to visit a sick person at home," Rojas stated.Following the attack, the priest underwent surgery. According to the bishop, Pérez is reported to be in critical condition, "with a guarded prognosis due to blood loss and the complexity of his internal injuries."Rojas also made an urgent appeal t...

Ukrainian Greek Catholic church invites pilgrims to visit Cross of Gratitude

A 20-foot, 800-pound cross that has traveled to almost 50 European capitals, known as the "Cross of Gratitude," has recently been welcomed by a Ukrainian Greek Catholic church in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, the first parish of the Greek Catholic rite in America. / Courtesy: St. Michael the Archangel Ukrainian Greek Catholic ChurchWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 1, 2025 / 16:17 pm (CNA).A 20-foot, 800-pound cross that has traveled to almost 50 European capitals, known as the "Cross of Gratitude," has recently been welcomed by a Ukrainian Greek Catholic church in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, the first parish of the Greek Catholic rite in America."It is a great honor and a blessing for the Parish of St. Michael the Archangel to host the Cross of Gratitude, a sacred symbol of Christ's boundless love and sacrifice," St. Michael's parish priest Father Bohdan Vasyliv told CNA. "We warmly invite all to visit, pray, and reflect before this holy cross, giving thanks for the gift of salvat...

Bishops invite Pope Leo to visit Peru: 'His presence will renew the hope of our people'

A delegation of Peruvian bishops greets Pope Leo XIV, inviting him to visit Peru, during an audience on June 30, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Peruvian Episcopal ConferenceACI Prensa Staff, Jul 1, 2025 / 15:47 pm (CNA).The Peruvian bishops have officially invited Pope Leo XIV to visit Peru, assuring him that "his presence will renew the hope of our people."According to a statement from the Peruvian Bishops' Conference (CEP, by its Spanish acronym), a delegation of bishops, including the conference president, Bishop Carlos García Camader of Lurín, met with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on June 30.During the audience, "the bishops extended an official invitation to him to make a pastoral visit to Peru," the CEP stated.Leo XIV, born in Chicago as Robert Francis Prevost in 1955, lived in Peru for nearly 20 years, serving at different times in various capacities from parochial vicar of Chulucanas in the Piura region to bishop of Chiclayo. He became a Peruvian citizen in 2015.Greetin...

Vatican exhibits Raphael's legacy with the reopening of the Hall of Constantine

The "Hall of Constantine" is Raphael's masterpiece, depicting Constantine's victory over Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Jun 30, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).After a decade of painstaking restoration, the imposing Hall of Constantine in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, which houses Raphael's masterpiece depicting Constantine's victory over Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge, has been returned to its original splendor.This space, the largest of the well-known Raphael Rooms, was partially closed to the public in 2015 due to delicate conservation work that ultimately culminated in a result described as "exemplary" by Vatican Museums."In a way, we have rewritten the history of art," explained Barbara Jatta, director of the Vatican Museums, during a June 26 presentation to the press held at the Vatican Museums. She was joined by Fabrizio Biferali, supervisor of the art department for the 15th and 16th centuries; Fabio Piacentini and Francesca Persegati fro...

Catholic ministry helps adult children of divorce find healing and love

Bethany and Daniel Meola, a married couple with a special heart for adult children of divorce, created the Life-Giving Wounds apostolate, currently celebrating its five-year anniversary in 2025. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Life-Giving WoundsMiami, Fla., Jun 30, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).Kendra Beigel was 14 years old when her family life took a turn for the worse. In her small-town Minnesota home, she was used to her parents arguing, but her family situation further disintegrated when her mother intervened in her father's alcohol issues and her parents went to court."It was like the whole town decided to take a side and get involved in our family business," recalled Beigel, who was raised Catholic. "I had to grow up quickly… Each stage of the initial separation and how it comes out of the blue, then the divorce and everything that it brings, and then the subsequent annulment; each brought its own hurts and difficulties and it never was easier."Now an adult, Beigel remembers thinkin...