Deaf Catholic community in Maryland grows with new chaplain, retreat, Eucharistic Congress

Father Mike Depcik offer Mass at the Seton Shrine Basilica in Emmitsburg, Maryland, during a recent retreat at the shrine. / Credit: Courtesy of the Seton ShrineCNA Staff, May 7, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).One of the few Deaf Catholic priests in the United States is working to renew the Church's ministry to the Deaf in Maryland and beyond through signed Masses, retreats, and an upcoming Eucharistic congress for the Deaf. Father Michael Depcik, who last year became the chaplain for the Deaf Ministry in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, was born deaf and grew up in a Deaf Catholic family in Chicago. According to Depcik, being "culturally Deaf" (a culture signified by the uppercase Deaf) is vastly different than losing hearing later in life. The distinction is important, Depcik explained, because the Deaf community is its own culture, with its own language. "We're proud to be Deaf, and we identify as Deaf people, and we use American Sign Language as the primary language," Depcik ...

Vatican to publish new document on Marian apparitions next week

Argentinian prelate Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández. / Credit: Tiziana Fabi/AFP via Getty ImagesRome Newsroom, May 7, 2024 / 09:02 am (CNA).The Vatican's doctrine office will publish a new document next week on discerning Marian apparitions and other supernatural events.The Holy See Press Office announced on Tuesday that Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), will unveil new norms for discernment regarding "apparitions and other supernatural phenomena" on Friday, May 17.In an interview with the National Catholic Register, CNA's sister news partner, last month, Fernandez said that the document will provide "clear guidelines and norms" for discernment.The new norms will be the first time that the Vatican's doctrinal office has issued a general document on apparitions in four decades. Pope Paul VI approved norms on "the discernment of presumed apparitions or revelations" in 1978.Fernandez will speak at a livestreamed Va...

Justice Samuel Alito to address record-breaking 2024 class at Franciscan University

U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito. / Credit; Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesCNA Staff, May 7, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is scheduled to give the commencement address on May 11 to the record-breaking 896 students in the class of 2024 at Franciscan University of Steubenville.On the occasion, Alito will also receive an honorary doctorate in Christian ethics "for his decades of exemplary public service and tireless efforts to protect and uphold justice and the rule of law," according to Franciscan's May 6 press release. Alito is known for his majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the 2022 decision that reversed Roe v. Wade and determined that the Constitution could not confer a right to abortion. Alito is also known for backing religious liberty and gun rights. Prior to the graduation ceremony, Bishop Frank Caggiano of Bridgeport, Connecticut, is set to preside at the baccalaureate Mass and give...

'Love of neighbor at a global scale': Dioceses launch faith-driven environmental programs

Solar panels on the affordable housing Bishop Valero Residence in Astoria, Queens. / Credit: Catholic Charities Brooklyn and QueensCNA Staff, May 6, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).Catholic dioceses around the U.S. are setting ambitious goals and launching environmental programs inspired in part by the Pope Francis-led effort to make ecological care a priority for the global Church.The Holy Father has made environmentalism a major focus of his pontificate. His 2015 encyclical Laudato Si' was heralded at the time of its publication as a revolutionary papal document for its emphasis on Catholic ecological responsibility and for its call for "swift and unified global action" in the "care for our common home."In October of last year, Francis published a new apostolic exhortation titled Laudate Deum, meant as a further call to address what he called the "global social issue" of climate change. The pope said that in the eight years since Laudato Si' was published, "our responses have not been ...

Could Edith Stein be declared the next doctor of the Church?

Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), pictured in 1938-1939. / Credit: Public DomainRome Newsroom, May 6, 2024 / 11:12 am (CNA).Edith Stein could be declared a doctor of the Church with the title "doctor veritatis," or "doctor of truth," following a petition from the Discalced Carmelites.Pope Francis received an official request from the superior general of the Discalced Carmelites, Father Miguel Márquez Calle, on April 18 in a private audience at the Vatican to recognize the theological legacy of the saint who was martyred in Auschwitz.If accepted, Stein, also known by her religious name St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, could become the fifth woman to be declared a doctor of the Church, a title that recognizes a substantial contribution to the Church's theology and moral life.With the petition, the Vatican Dicastery for the Causes of Saints can officially begin the required process to grant Stein the title.The Carmelites first launched an international commission to g...

Colombians march simultaneously in multiple cities to demand end to abortion

Pro-lifers march in Colombia on May 4, 2024, in the country's capital, Bogotá, and other cities and towns throughout the country. / Credit: Eduardo Berdejo/ACI PrensaACI Prensa Staff, May 6, 2024 / 15:45 pm (CNA).Under the theme "Colombia, With Life There Is Hope," tens of thousands of Colombians took to the streets May 4 in more than 110 cities and towns during the South American country's 18th National March for Life, according to the United for Life platform, which organized the event.The marchers called on Colombia's Constitutional Court to annul its rulings that decriminalized and subsequently liberalized abortion.United for Life was also joined by multiple pro-life organizations, including 40 Days for Life, the Men's Rosary, and Rachel's Vineyard, as well as dioceses, nuns, priests, families, and numerous laypeople.The simultaneous pro-life demonstrations took place in Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Cúcuta, Montería, Pereira, Cumaral, and scores of other cities.In Bogotá, t...

New study suggests rampant 'cafeteria Catholicism'

null / Credit: ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 6, 2024 / 18:37 pm (CNA).Ryan Burge, a leading researcher on religion and politics, recently compiled data indicating that "cafeteria Catholicism" is rampant in the United States. Specifically, the country's Catholics express widespread disagreement with the Church's teaching on abortion, euthanasia, and the death penalty.The term "cafeteria Catholic" refers to a Catholic who picks and chooses which Church teachings he or she affirms and adheres to. Washington, D.C., Cardinal Wilton Gregory recently used the term to describe President Joe Biden, who as president has advocated for unrestricted abortion through all nine months of pregnancy.Burge found that only 0.9% of Catholics agree with Church teaching on all three of the issues.  His conclusions were based on 2022 data collected by the Global Social Survey (GSS) and compiled by the Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA). Burge told CNA th...

Catholic Charities to open 'Compassion Corner' to serve homeless, poor in Pittsburgh

The Diocese of Pittsburgh's Gismondi Job Training Program helps those in need. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of PittsburghWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 6, 2024 / 17:40 pm (CNA).Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Pittsburgh is expanding its social services offered to people who are homeless and those in poverty with a newly created "Compassion Corner" opening in August. The nonprofit charity group is renovating a former office building located in downtown Pittsburgh to provide health care services, mental health services, job training programs, a place for the homeless population to eat, and a variety of other resources. The nearly 45,000-square-foot building is located at 111 Boulevard of the Allies, next to The Red Door (run by the Catholic Divine Mercy Parish), which provides services such as food for people who are homeless."I believe this is all divinely led," Christopher Scoletti, a board member of Catholic Charities of the...

Catholic bishop walks length of Gaza Strip in support of cease-fire

Bishop Bart van Roijen walked the length of the Gaza Strip on April 29 in support of those suffering due to the Israel-Hamas conflict. / Development and Peace - Caritas CanadaCNA Staff, May 6, 2024 / 17:20 pm (CNA).A Catholic bishop walked the length of the Gaza Strip on April 29 in support of those suffering due to the Israel-Hamas conflict. Bishop Bart van Roijen of the Diocese of Corner Brook and Labrador in Newfoundland, Canada, walked 42 kilometers, a little over 26 miles, from York Harbor to Corner Brook and ended his journey with a prayer service at the Cathedral of the Holy Redeemer. People around the world are participating in similar walks to call for a cease-fire in Gaza and for peace in both Israel and Palestine. Van Roijen told CNA in an interview that he felt called to do this walk because he wanted "to quietly witness to the sufferings of both citizenries and to make a strong statement that the atrocities, damage, and indignities that are being don...

Blood of St. Januarius miraculously liquifies again

Naples Archbishop Domenico Battaglia kisses the reliquary containing the blood of St. Januarius on May 4, 2024. / Credit: Chiesa di NapoliACI Prensa Staff, May 6, 2024 / 16:48 pm (CNA).The miracle of the liquefaction of the blood of St. Januarius, bishop, martyr, and patron saint of Naples, Italy, was repeated in St. Clare Basilica on May 4.The Archdiocese of Naples reported on its website that on May 4 at 6:38 p.m. local time, the miracle of the liquefaction of the blood of St. Januarius occurred once again. St. Januarius was martyred in the year 305, during the fierce persecution unleashed by the Roman emperor Diocletian.The miraculous liquefaction occurred during the Mass offered by the archbishop of Naples, Domenico Battaglia, with Abbot Vincenzo De Gregorio participating and the mayor of Naples, Gaetano Manfredi, in attendance.When the miracle is repeated, a white cloth is waved to indicate to the people that the miraculous sign has taken place. On this occasion, De G...