Biden-Harris go all in for 'reproductive freedom' 

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks about Florida's new six-week abortion ban during an event at the Prime Osborn Convention Center on May 1, 2024, in Jacksonville, Florida. / Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty ImagesWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 9, 2024 / 11:17 am (CNA).Just six months from Election Day, the Biden-Harris administration is ramping up its campaign rhetoric and going all in on abortion.Here's what is going on with abortion throughout the country. Vice President Harris calls pro-life laws 'immoral' Over the last several weeks Vice President Kamala Harris has been touting the Biden administration's support for unrestricted abortion on her "Reproductive Freedoms Tour." At a stop in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, Harris slammed states such as Texas whose pro-life laws do not allow exceptions for abortion in cases of rape and incest. "The idea that these so-called leaders would say even no exception for rape or incest, to say to a survivor of ...

Texas says Catholic group should be shut down over 'criminal enterprise' at U.S. border

Dainelys Soto, Genesis Contreras, and Daniel Soto, who arrived from Venezuela after crossing the U.S. border from Mexico, wait for dinner at a hotel provided by the Annunciation House on Sept. 22, 2022, in El Paso, Texas. / Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty ImagesCNA Staff, May 9, 2024 / 10:44 am (CNA).Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Wednesday filed an injunction against a Catholic nonprofit group in the state, accusing it of "systemic criminal conduct" for allegedly facilitating illegal border crossings from Mexico. Paxton announced the filing in a press release on his website, accusing Annunciation House in El Paso of facilitating "illegal border crossings" and of concealing "illegally present aliens from law enforcement."Located just a few thousand feet from the U.S.-Mexico border, Annunciation House says on its website that it serves "migrant, refugee, and economically vulnerable peoples of the border region," primarily through "several houses of hospitality...

San Antonio archbishop deletes some social media posts about Gaza war

Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller of the Archdiocese of San Antonio. / Credit: Peter Pinedo/CNACNA Staff, May 9, 2024 / 15:35 pm (CNA).The Archdiocese of San Antonio says Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller "deeply regrets" that some recent social media posts on the war in Gaza, several of which were deleted Thursday, have "caused confusion and misunderstanding."In a series of posts on X on Tuesday, García-Sillar expressed solidarity with Palestinians while also appearing to conflate the Jewish people with the state of Israel. "Jewish brothers and sisters stop killing Palestinians. STOP!" the archbishop wrote in one now-deleted post. In another post, now deleted, García-Sillar wrote: "Antisemitism is condemned. To save the Palestinians is our hope.""As we pray & are in solidarity with the Palestinians, does not mean antisemitism," García-Sillar wrote in one of the posts, which as of Thursday remains on his X page. "Peace is the goal. It is ins...

Democratic attorneys general form 'reproductive rights working group'

Attorney General of Massachusetts Andrea Joy Campbell speaks onstage during the pro-abortion EMILYs List's 2023 Pre-Oscars Breakfast at on March 7, 2023, in Beverly Hills, California. / Credit: Araya Doheny/Getty Images for EMILYs ListWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 9, 2024 / 15:15 pm (CNA).A group of at least 17 Democratic attorneys general has formed a "reproductive rights working group" to expand abortion access and crack down on pregnancy resource centers across the country, according to reporting by The 19th, a pro-abortion news source. The group is being led by Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell. She said on Thursday that the group will serve as a "united effort" to "protect access to abortion across our country." In an interview with The 19th, Campbell said that the group held its first meeting this week and had 17 state attorneys general in attendance. She said they plan to use member attorney general offices' resources to advanc...

Full Text of 'Spes Non Confundit,' papal bull for the 2025 Jubilee Year

Pope Francis at vespers following the proclamation of the papal bull "Spes Non Confudit," meaning "Hope does not disappoint," at the Vatican, Thursday, May 9, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNAVatican City, May 9, 2024 / 14:45 pm (CNA).The Catholic Church's 2025 Jubilee was officially proclaimed on Thursday, May 9, by Pope Francis, who presided over a formal reading of the Jubilee's papal bull of indiction.The papal bull, titled "Spes Non Confudit," meaning "Hope Does Not Disappoint," declares that the Jubilee Year will officially begin with the opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica on Christmas Eve 2024.Below is the full text of the bull.FRANCISBISHOP OF ROMESERVANT OF THE SERVANTS OF GODTO ALL WHO READ THIS LETTER MAY HOPE FILL YOUR HEARTS1. SPES NON CONFUNDIT. "Hope does not disappoint" (Rom 5:5). In the spirit of hope, the Apostle Paul addressed these words of encouragement to the Christian community of Rome. Hope is also the central message of the coming Jubilee ...

Pope Francis proclaims 2025 Jubilee papal bull: 'Hope does not disappoint'

Pope Francis addresses the crowd at the proclamation of the papal bull "Spes Non Confudit," meaning "Hope Does Not Disappoint," at the Vatican on Thursday, May 9, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN/Vatican PoolVatican City, May 9, 2024 / 13:54 pm (CNA).The Catholic Church's 2025 Jubilee was officially proclaimed on Thursday by Pope Francis, who presided over a formal reading of the Jubilee's papal bull of indiction.The papal bull, titled "Spes Non Confudit," meaning "Hope Does Not Disappoint," declares that the Jubilee Year will officially begin with the opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica on Christmas Eve 2024.The pope further decreed that every Catholic cathedral around the world should offer Mass on Dec. 29, 2024, as the solemn opening of the Jubilee Year for their local communities. Pope Francis encouraged dioceses to organize pilgrimages to the cathedrals for the occasion.A prelate proclaims the papal bull "Spes Non Confudit," meaning "Hope Does Not Disappoint...

Vatican prepares for summer Olympics with conference on faith and sports

The French 19th-century three-masted barque Belem is seen from the Palais du Pharo in the southern port city of Marseille on May 8, 2024, before the Olympic Flame arrival ceremony, ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Belem is set to reach Marseille on May 8 and ten thousand torchbearers will then carry the flame across 64 French territories. / Credit: SYLVAIN THOMAS/AFP via Getty ImagesRome Newsroom, May 8, 2024 / 11:52 am (CNA).As 206 countries prepare to send their top athletes to participate in the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, the Vatican is organizing an event to look at the relationship between the Catholic Church and sports, through both a spiritual and anthropological lens."In the current context of wars tearing our world apart, Olympism is first and foremost a message of peace, and the commitment of the universal Church, like that of France, is essential. The role of the Church in promoting Olympism is well known," said Florence Mangin, the ambassad...

Pope Benedict's pectoral cross still missing as thief faces prison sentence

Pope Benedict XVI on April 21, 2007, in Vigevano, Italy. / Credit: miqu77/ShutterstockCNA Newsroom, May 8, 2024 / 11:07 am (CNA).The man arrested for the theft of a pectoral cross bequeathed by the late Pope Benedict XVI to a parish in his native Bavaria is now facing time behind bars.According to CNA Deutsch, CNA's German-language news partner, the Traunstein district court on Monday sentenced a 53-year-old Czech citizen to two years and six months in prison.The perpetrator, whom authorities described as a serial thief with a history of crimes across several European countries, left traces at the crime scene that led to his identification and arrest.However, local media reported that the cross is still missing, and the verdict may yet be appealed.Pope Benedict XVI bequeathed a pectoral cross to St. Oswald's Church in the city of Traunstein in Bavaria after his retirement in 2013. The cross was stolen June 19, 2023, from the church. Credit: Bavarian Police/CNA DeutschThe court ...

Texas priest arrested over allegations of inappropriate contact with minors

Father Ricardo Mata. / Credit: Garland Police DepartmentCNA Staff, May 8, 2024 / 14:27 pm (CNA).Police in Texas this week announced the arrest of a priest with the Diocese of Dallas over allegations of inappropriate contact with two minors. The Garland Police Department said on its Facebook page that officers had arrested Father Ricardo Mata on Monday "on two counts of indecency with a child, a second-degree felony.""The allegations are based on reports of inappropriate contact with two juvenile victims, which occurred during a visit to a residence in Garland," the police said. Investigators are in contact with the Diocese of Dallas, the police said. Mata's bonds were set at $75,000 and $100,000, the police department said. In a Tuesday statement on its website, meanwhile, the Diocese of Dallas said that it had been "recently made aware of an allegation by a juvenile girl of inappropriate touching involving a priest.""Upon learning of the allegation last week, di...

Cincinnati archbishop diagnosed with cancer, will begin chemotherapy treatment

Cincinnati Archbishop Dennis Schnurr. / Credit: Archdiocese of CincinnatiCNA Staff, May 8, 2024 / 12:55 pm (CNA).Archbishop of Cincinnati Dennis Schnurr has been diagnosed with cancer, the archdiocese revealed this week, with the prelate set to begin preparing for chemotherapy treatment this week. An archdiocesan spokesman told CNA on Wednesday morning that on Friday the archbishop "received a post-operation diagnosis of stage 3 small bowel cancer." "His doctor noted that, generally speaking, the archbishop's health is excellent, and that is certainly a source of optimism for the success of the treatment," the archdiocese said.  "The treatment plan includes a regimen of chemotherapy over the next six months, preparation for which will begin this week," the statement continued. "We ask all Catholics and people of goodwill to please keep Archbishop Schnurr in their prayers," the archdiocese added. Schnurr was installed as the Cincinnati arc...