Walk to Mary pilgrimage brings thousands to 'grounds where Mary appeared'

Thousands of pilgrims come together each year to take part in the annual Walk to Mary, which takes place on the first Saturday of May in Wisconsin. The 21-mile pilgrimage starts at the National Shrine of St. Joseph in De Pere, Wisconsin, and ends at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion in Champion, Wisconsin. / Credit: The Shrine of Our Lady of ChampionCNA Staff, May 2, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).Thousands of pilgrims come together each year to take part in the annual Walk to Mary, which takes place on the first Saturday of May in Wisconsin. The 21-mile pilgrimage starts at the National Shrine of St. Joseph in De Pere, Wisconsin, and ends at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion in Champion, Wisconsin.The Walk to Mary will take place on May 4 this year and includes several "join in" points along the route that offer participants unable to walk the entire distance to participate. These locations shorten the pilgrimage length, allowing pilgrims of all ages to take part in...

Colombian bishops call for day of prayer for peace, reconciliation in violence-torn country

God "is our peace" and "prayer leads us to meet him," said the archbishop of Bogotá, Cardinal Luis José Rueda Aparicio. / Credit: Colombian Bishops Conference / ScreenshotACI Prensa Staff, May 2, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).The Colombian Bishops' Conference  (CEC by its Spanish acronym) has called on all Catholics to join on May 3, Day of the Holy Cross, in a day of prayer for peace and reconciliation in the country."The call is made directly by the bishops and is based on recognizing the serious humanitarian crisis that multiple territories face amid armed conflict and other types of violence, as well as the complex sociopolitical panorama that the nation is experiencing today, permeated by division and polarization," the CEC announced on its website.Since Pope Francis' visit to Colombia in September 2017 and his meeting with victims of the armed conflict, the Church in that country has established a National Day of Prayer for Reconciliation and Peace to be celebrated every May...

Priest shot dead in South Africa; Catholic bishops there decry 'pandemic' of murder

Father Paul Tatu Mothobi, a member the Congregation of the Sacred Stigmata (CSS/ Stigmatines) and former Media and Communications Officer of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference (SACBC), was found dead of gunshot wounds in South Africa, on April 27, 2024. / Credit: SACBCACI Africa, May 2, 2024 / 11:00 am (CNA).Father Paul Tatu Mothobi, a member the Congregation of the Sacred Stigmata (CSS/Stigmatines) and former media and communications officer of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference (SACBC), was reportedly murdered last weekend in South Africa.According to a notice from the congregation's South Africa-based provincial secretary, Father Jeremia Thami Mkhwanazi, Tatu died on Saturday, April 27, "after sustaining a gunshot."Tatu, a native of Lesotho's Archdiocese of Maseru, was ministering in South Africa's Archdiocese of Pretoria. According to reports, his lifeless body was found with gunshot wounds in his car on a national road in South Africa, which r...

Pope Francis to speak at event on Italy's record-low birth rate

Pope Francis shared a stage with Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on May 12, 2023, to speak at a two-day conference on "The General State of the Birth Rate," held at Conciliazione Auditorium close to the Vatican. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNARome Newsroom, May 2, 2024 / 09:00 am (CNA).The Vatican announced on Thursday that Pope Francis will speak at an event on Italy's demographic crisis as the country's birth rate sits at a historic low.Pope Francis will address "The General State of the Birth Rate" conference on May 10 at the Conciliazione Auditorium close to the Vatican.The two-day event organized by the Forum of Family Associations and the Foundation for Births seeks to address the 50 years of steady decline in births across Europe, and especially in Italy, and what can be done to reverse it. Births in Italy dropped to a historic low in 2023. Italy's national statistics bureau recorded 379,000 births last year, a 3.6% decline from 2022 and a 34.2% drop from 200...

Supreme Court turns down porn group's plea to block Texas age-verification law

null / Credit: ShutterstockCNA Staff, May 1, 2024 / 11:30 am (CNA).The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined a request from the porn industry to block a Texas age-verification rule, allowing the law to stand and temporarily derailing the efforts of porn creators to see the new safety measure scuttled. The court said in an unsigned order without comment that it was denying a request from the Free Speech Coalition to issue a stay on the law. The Free Speech Coalition includes a porn trade association and several pornography creators. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has defended the law, HB 1181, since its passage last summer. The measure requires porn websites to institute "reasonable age-verification methods" to ensure minors are not accessing explicit sexual content on their sites. The attorney general has sued multiple pornography companies in order to enforce the age-verification law. He argued earlier this year that pornography...

Pope Francis: We need to 'welcome God into our daily lives' and pray for 'real peace'

Pope Francis delivers a message during his general audience on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, May 1, 2024 / 09:45 am (CNA).On Wednesday, May 1, Pope Francis addressed an international audience in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican and reiterated the importance of faith in the Christian life as well as the need to continually pray for "real peace" for the whole world.The Holy Father also deplored war profiteering, decrying the actions of those "making money off death" through huge investments in the production of weapons.Speaking to thousands of people gathered inside Vatican City on an overcast morning on the feast day of St. Joseph the Worker, the Holy Father spoke about the three theological virtues, beginning with faith, as part of his ongoing catechesis series on vices and virtues.Pope Francis greets pilgrims attending his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Audience Hall on May 1, 2024. Credit: Elizabeth Alva/CN...

Hispanic Eucharistic Convention leads thousands to renewed faith in the Real Presence

Sandra Miley emcees the Hispanic Eucharistic Convention on April 27, 2024, at the Gaylord of the Rockies Convention Center in Denver. / Credit: Denver CatholicDenver, Colo., May 1, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).In an environment filled with joy and hope, thousands of people met at the Gaylord of the Rockies Convention Center in Denver last Saturday to testify to and celebrate the Eucharist."I'm here because God called me to be here; I didn't plan on coming," Laura Paredes shared. "I had another event out of state. But God put some people in my path and my plans changed. This morning, as I entered the convention and saw the image on the screen, I said to myself, 'What a waste it would have been if I didn't come!' I'm filled with joy, that soul-filling joy, in my heart, and I know I'm here because he wanted me to be here."For many, like María de Jesús Fernández, attending this convention was a way to draw nearer to God and enhance her relationship with him."I very much need to grow close...

Orthodox rabbis in Jerusalem call on Jews to stand against spitting at Christians

A family of religious Jews walks at the beginning of Armenian Quarter Street, the entry point to the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem in April 2024. Behind them stands the complex of the Tower of David Museum. / Credit: Marinella BandiniJerusalem, May 1, 2024 / 13:05 pm (CNA).During the Jewish Passover (Pesach) in late April, an unprecedented initiative took place in Jerusalem. On the eve of the festivities, anticipating the arrival of numerous Jewish worshippers to fulfill religious precepts, several posters and pamphlets appeared in the streets of the Old City calling on the public to avoid offensive behavior and harassment toward Christians and non-Jews."We must together maintain 'Derech Eretz' ('proper behavior precedes the Torah') in regard to the respect of mankind, to non-Jews and those of a different religion, especially during Passover and throughout the entire year. We must prevent and prevent others from spitting in the direction of others who are not Jewish," a short e...

Pro-life roundup: Here's what happened with abortion at the state level this week

The pro-life flag from the Pro-Life Flag Project (www.prolifeflag.com). / Credit: Pro-Life Flag Project (www.prolifeflag.com)Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 1, 2024 / 18:50 pm (CNA).Here's a look at abortion-related developments that took place in various U.S. states this week. Florida's six-week pro-life law takes effectFlorida's Heartbeat Protection Act took effect on Wednesday, May 1. The law protects unborn babies from abortion starting at six weeks of pregnancy. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the law back in April 2023, but it remained blocked until an April decision by the state Supreme Court that cleared the way for it to take effect. This comes as a high-stakes abortion amendment, effectively legalizing the procedure through all nine months of pregnancy, is set to be included on the ballot this November. Arizona Senate votes to repeal law protecting life at conceptionIn a 16-14 vote the Arizona Senate voted to repeal a law protecting unborn babies from...

Latin patriarch of Jerusalem takes possession of Rome titular church after delays due to war

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa gives the homily at a Mass in which he took possession of his titular church, St. Onuphrius, in Rome on May 1, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/ACI PrensaACI Prensa Staff, May 1, 2024 / 18:30 pm (CNA).Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Catholic patriarch of Jerusalem, finally took possession on May 1 of his assigned titular church in Rome after having postponed the ceremony due to the war in the Holy Land.Part of the process of becoming a cardinal is being assigned a titular church in Rome known as his "title" or "deaconry" in accordance with his role in assisting the pope, the bishop of Rome.The ceremony at St. Onuphrius, the titular church of the papal order of the Holy Sepulchre, was scheduled for April 15 when the conflict in the Middle East worsened with the Iranian attack on Israel.On the night of April 13, the Israeli army reported that Iran launched dozens of missiles and drones from its territory, most of which were intercepted ou...