Catholic News

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CNA Staff, May 3, 2024 / 15:30 pm (CNA).

The White House on Friday announced that Jesuit Father Greg Boyle, the founder of a prominent ministry dedicated to rehabilitating gang-affiliated youth, will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom alongside 18 other recipients this afternoon. 

Boyle, ordained a priest in 1984, founded Homeboy Industries in 1992 while pastor of Dolores Mission, a Catholic church and school in an area that at one time had one of the highest concentrations of gang activity in Los Angeles. 

Today, Homeboy Industries claims to be the largest gang-intervention program in the United States.

The successful ministry, which now operates nationwide, offers training and job skills to those formerly involved in gangs or in jail, as well as case management, tattoo removal, mental health and legal services, and GED completion.

While the group has said it is "not affiliated with any particular religion," it also notes that many of its works are "in line with the Jesuit practice of social justice," and Boyle has said that the organization does not seek to "downplay" its Catholic identity.

Boyle described the ministry several years ago to CNA as "soaked with the Gospel."

The Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, is presented to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public, or private endeavors, the White House says.

In announcing this year's recipients, the White House noted that the honorees "built teams, coalitions, movements, organizations, and businesses that shaped America for the better."

"They are the pinnacle of leadership in their fields. They consistently demonstrated over their careers the power of community, hard work, and service," the announcement says. 

Biden, who is Catholic, announced that among the honorees is former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and former Secretary of State John Kerry, both fellow Catholics known for their pro-abortion advocacy.

Other honorees this year include former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former Vice President Al Gore, Olympian Katie Ledecky, and actress Michelle Yeoh.

In 2020, Boyle was one of several hundred religious leaders who signed an endorsement of Biden's campaign. The priest has called for the Church to "include with more compassion our LGBTQ sisters and brothers."

In 2021, meanwhile, Homeboy Industries received $20 million in grants from prominent progressive backers Mackenzie Scott and Dan Jewett.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 3, 2024 / 17:05 pm (CNA).

Father Roger Landry, a Catholic chaplain at Columbia University, said on Thursday that the protests making national headlines at the New York City school are being organized in part by "explicitly communist" outside forces. 

"There is an instrumentalization of what's going on in Gaza to advance an agenda," he said. "And that is to deconstruct our present world order at which the United States is considered the top of that order."

Speaking on EWTN's "The World Over with Raymond Arroyo," Landry said that he had been walking through the encampment nearly daily, conversing with student protesters and other "outside agitators." 

While he said he believes that many of the protesters were genuinely concerned for Gazan civilians, there was a sizable percentage of whom were "explicitly in favor of Hamas" and "definitely antisemitic by their language and their actions." 

What is going on at Columbia?

The Columbia demonstration began on April 17 when a large group of students set up dozens of tents to occupy the university's main quad. Protesters at the encampment said they were standing against Israel's "genocide" against Palestinians in Gaza. 

Many videos circulated online of protesters shouting antisemitic chants and calling for the destruction of Israel, and some Jewish students have reported being threatened by protesters. 

Clad in riot gear, officers from the New York City Police Department cleared the encampment in a Wednesday raid that resulted in several hundred arrests. 

Similar protests and encampments on campuses across the country, many of which are still ongoing, have taken place since the demonstration at Columbia began. 

Marxist ideology at heart of protest

According to Landry, nearly half of the approximately 300 protesters arrested were non-student activists. 

He said these outside forces are "explicitly communist groups" who have been distributing Marxist materials attacking the state of Israel since the Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack. 

Landry said that these materials attempt to justify the Hamas attack "out of this neo-Marxist, 'oppressor versus oppressed' ideology that says whatever somebody in the category of 'oppressed' wants to do against a so-called 'oppressor' is justified, even killing way more than a thousand innocent people at a party." 

"This divide and conquer class warfare that comes from Marx and Lenin is the exact antithesis of what Jesus Christ himself taught," he continued. "So, I try to get the Catholic students aware of that problem so at least they're inoculated to that intellectual virus." 

Catholic students act as peacemakers 

Landry said he was proud of the many Catholic students who have "stepped up" to be peacemakers amid all the hatred on campus.   

He said that student Mass attendance has increased on campus. A Catholic student group sent symbolic olive plants to both Jewish and Muslim leaders at Columbia to show the "solidarity and peace of Christ," he said. 

"Transcending the moment but also incarnating ourselves in the moment, [we] are trying to bring the peace we have received from Christ that our world and our campus very much need," he said.

Watch the full interview with Landry on "The World Over" below.

  

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CNA Staff, May 3, 2024 / 15:30 pm (CNA).

The White House on Friday announced that Jesuit Father Greg Boyle, the founder of a prominent ministry dedicated to rehabilitating gang-affiliated youth, will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom alongside 18 other recipients this afternoon. 

Boyle, ordained a priest in 1984, founded Homeboy Industries in 1992 while pastor of Dolores Mission, a Catholic church and school in an area that at one time had one of the highest concentrations of gang activity in Los Angeles. 

Today, Homeboy Industries claims to be the largest gang-intervention program in the United States.

The successful ministry, which now operates nationwide, offers training and job skills to those formerly involved in gangs or in jail, as well as case management, tattoo removal, mental health and legal services, and GED completion.

While the group has said it is "not affiliated with any particular religion," it also notes that many of its works are "in line with the Jesuit practice of social justice," and Boyle has said that the organization does not seek to "downplay" its Catholic identity.

Boyle described the ministry several years ago to CNA as "soaked with the Gospel."

The Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, is presented to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public, or private endeavors, the White House says.

In announcing this year's recipients, the White House noted that the honorees "built teams, coalitions, movements, organizations, and businesses that shaped America for the better."

"They are the pinnacle of leadership in their fields. They consistently demonstrated over their careers the power of community, hard work, and service," the announcement says. 

Biden, who is Catholic, announced that among the honorees is former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and former Secretary of State John Kerry, both fellow Catholics known for their pro-abortion advocacy.

Other honorees this year include former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former Vice President Al Gore, Olympian Katie Ledecky, and actress Michelle Yeoh.

In 2020, Boyle was one of several hundred religious leaders who signed an endorsement of Biden's campaign. The priest has called for the Church to "include with more compassion our LGBTQ sisters and brothers."

In 2021, meanwhile, Homeboy Industries received $20 million in grants from prominent progressive backers Mackenzie Scott and Dan Jewett.

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National Catholic Register, May 3, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Pope Francis recently announced his intention to travel to Southeast Asia in September to visit Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Singapore. The island nation of Singapore is one of the most ethnically and religiously diverse regions in Asia and is home to about 395,000 Catholics. The small but strategically important nation also has the highest urban density in Asia but is ranked as the country with the highest quality of life. Like everywhere else, it also faces the threats of secularism and relativism and a loss of traditional values, especially a commitment to family and respect for the elderly. 

The spiritual shepherd of the Church in Singapore is Cardinal William Goh, archbishop since early 2013 and a cardinal since 2022. He sat down in his residence in Singapore on April 19 with Matthew Bunson, EWTN News' vice president and editorial director, to discuss the Holy Father's upcoming trip, the College of Cardinals, the synodal process, and the challenges and opportunities for the Church in Asia.

In the following edited transcript, Goh, 66, observes that "most of us" in the College of Cardinals "do not know each other," a disadvantage for a body that will one day be called upon to choose a successor to Pope Francis. The cardinal also suggests the need for "another level" to the Synod on Synodality beyond its second and final assembly this October — namely a bishops-only synod. The existing synod, which includes bishops, clergy, and laypeople, "cannot really be considered a theological dogmatic synod," he says, because not all of the delegates are theologically trained.

Your Eminence, I'm so grateful for your time. I know that you're a very busy man, even busier now with the announcement that Pope Francis is going to be visiting Singapore. I'd like to start with a question about yourself. You are a native Singaporean?

Yes.

Could you talk about your faith journey, especially leading to the priesthood, to being a bishop, and now to being a member of the College of Cardinals?

My faith journey is really from hindsight. When I look at my life, it's really a faith-filled journey, but truly a grace of God. My family is not extremely religious, except perhaps for my mother. But when I was young, being an introvert, instead of joining my fellow classmates to play before class, I would go to the church to pray the rosary, at the age of 7. At the age of 12, I was bringing the Divine Office, although I didn't know what it was all about. And then I joined the altar servers. I was also in the Crusaders. And then we started the Rosary Club, where 100 young people would come every evening in the school. … During the recess, they would come to pray the rosary, 60 of them; instead of going for their recess, for their food, they came to pray. And then later on, I was very much attracted to this vocation, and I joined the seminary; and then I was ordained, and then I was assistant priest for a few years, and then they sent me to Rome for further studies. [When] I came back, I taught in the seminary for 22 years. 

I held all the different positions in the seminary, from dean of studies right up to rector. That was my last position, and then I was appointed bishop. But parallel to what I was doing, I was also appointed as the spiritual director of the Catholic Spirituality Center; this was the Charismatic Renewal. So I'm very much in the renewal movement. And so I conducted conversion-experience retreats. This will be the 60th session I've been conducting, and one retreat is about five days. 

.... So my own conversion experience, I must say, came about because I conducted the conversion-experience retreat, because I came to really be in touch with the sufferings of people, the real life, the struggles as Catholics; because during that retreat, they all make, I always call [it] "deathbed confession." They are properly prepared for confession, and it is really heartwarming, and it changed my whole perspective on life, very different from my life in the seminary. As a professor, you are always teaching, you are always reading, and it is more theoretical; but, here, it really helps me to put theology into practice. On hindsight, really, when I look back at my life, God has always been guiding me.

How did you learn that you had been named a member of the College of Cardinals?

Just like all the other cardinals, because [of] Pope Francis, his way of announcement at the Angelus. And so somebody sent me an SMS, "Your name has been mentioned." I couldn't be bothered, you know; I was so busy preparing a homily. Then a few more SMS messages came in. Then I realized…

You had no idea that this was coming, obviously. What has the experience been like to be a member of the college, with all of the responsibilities, but that particular relationship with the Diocese of Rome?

Well, certainly as a cardinal, we have a greater responsibility to the universal Church. But so far, I've just attended only two consistories and one meeting because I belong to, I'm a member of the Dicastery for Family and Life. That is the connection so far. So I think to be chosen as a cardinal, and I think what Pope Francis has been doing, I mean, it's a good idea. … The Church should be inclusive, to be universal. We have cardinals from all over the world. But I think the difficulty, the challenge would be getting the cardinals together to know each other well, especially when the time comes for voting for the pope for the conclave. That would be necessary. But, presently, I think most of us do not know each other and not all speak Italian, as well. So I think that area of rapport among the cardinals would be necessary for greater communion.

You mentioned Pope Francis. He's coming to Singapore. What does his visit here mean? I know that John Paul II was here very briefly in 1986. First, what was that experience like? And what are your hopes for Francis' visit?

Well, Francis is always popular with many of our Catholics, and I think he is a beacon of hope, a beacon of mercy and compassion. That is his forte, really, to try to continue the work of Pope St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict. The theme of evangelization is very dear to the heart of Pope Francis, but his way of evangelization is really to proclaim the joy of the Gospel, which includes welcoming people, being with the poor, with the marginalized. So, in that sense, he will be able to promote greater unity and strengthen the faith of our Catholics and also to inspire people of other faiths, that the Church is not inward-looking, but we are actually at the service of humanity. So I believe that his coming will certainly not just inspire and renew the faith of our Catholics, but also people who listen to him and people who are very appreciative of Pope Francis. In fact, the religious, the non-Catholic religious, leaders here, they are all very appreciative of Pope Francis, and they speak highly of him.

We're reaching the conclusion of this long process of synodality. I know that you attended the Synod of Bishops last October. What was that experience like?

What I like about that synod was the retreat and the small-group sharing — in that group sharing, we truly were able to journey with each other, listen to each other, without judgment, and accompany each other, especially when we are among bishops. It's much easier because we understand our own struggles and difficulties and challenges and also aspirations. That's the good thing about the synod. And I think that is the way, not just for the universal Church, but also for the particular Church, local Church, that we need to listen to, journey with each other. I think that is very helpful, so that there will be a greater understanding and communion between the clergy and the laity, so that we walk as one, so that we will truly be coming together as one Church.

But the synod, I think that, for me, is really great. That is the most important thing. I benefit from the synod. But when you have a plenary assembly where everybody is giving intervention [talks], that becomes a little bit more sensitive, because we are not able to be as open or direct as you wish to be … for fear that you might offend people who have other views.

So it needs a lot of courage to state what you need to say and be open about it. But I suppose there is also a subtle pressure that what we say, if it is not appreciated by some quarters, may not go very well. So I think that is also a subtle pressure. And I think, most of all … at the end of the day, although it has been underscored that the synod is not a parliamentary session, which it is not, but there is voting at the end. So the voting, so in the mind of people, although it is not a parliamentary session, but I think most people would take the votes as a kind of consensus making. Of course, at the end of the day, it's the Holy Father who takes the decision; that's what he has done. So I think, in the area of consultation, it is helpful for the Church, and I think it's very important also for the prelates to listen also to the laity. But as has often been said, or some bishops are suggesting, perhaps there should be another level where it is really a Synod of Bishops, after hearing the laypeople, after journeying with them; there should be that level of bishop synods, where the bishops can come together, because that synod [with laity] cannot really be considered a theological dogmatic synod, because not all are theologically trained.

All those who vote are not theologically trained. So you might need to have another level, where it is just basically bishops, with the Holy Father, to determine certain doctrinal issues. In terms of pastoral outreach, I think for that kind of synod, it would be helpful; but when it comes to doctrines, I think it's a bit different.

And the Christian population here makes, I think, about 19%, 20% of the total population. Is that right? What are the opportunities for ecumenical outreach for Catholics, but then also interreligious dialogue here? This seems a very rich place for that.

Yes, this is something unique in Singapore. We try to make Singapore an icon for ecumenism and interreligious dialogue. But I think, and I did share with many people, that it's a bit difficult for other countries to duplicate what we are doing in Singapore. We have excellent religious, harmonious relationship with all the other religions. We know the religious leaders all by name, and we know them as friends. And so we do not have any issues. Anything we have, we will speak to them. We are all very friendly and supportive of each other. We visit each other for their religious celebrations. We are present for meetings quite often, and we share, and there is a lot of mutual respect, appreciation — and also the fact that, in Singapore, we have a law that forbids anyone to speak ill of another religion. That helps a lot, and so that makes everybody respectful because it is very sensitive. So, in that sense, there is already a lot of interfaith sharing among Catholics, among religious leaders. In terms of ecumenism, we are on very good terms with the Christians, and we are supportive of each other. So, of course, we could do more, you know, but I started an office … an archdiocesan [office] for interreligious dialogue and also ecumenism. But our resources are limited. And also my time is limited. I cannot be everywhere. I try my best, according to whatever time that I have to reach out to the Christians and especially to the non-Christians.

The Church here, like the Church everywhere, is facing pressures from secularism, relativism. You've spoken about the importance of defending … I think you use the phrase "truth and justice." What does that mean?

It's important for us that, in the face of this secularism or the -isms, individualisms and so on, I think the Church has to be truthful in what we proclaim. I do not believe that we should make the Gospel message [different] or dilute the Gospel message. The truth has to be spoken because the truth sets us free. But, of course, truth has to be spoken with charity. That is very important. But I don't believe that we should try to compromise the Gospel. And that is my fear: that, today, even Church leaders are compromising the Gospel. I don't think Jesus ever compromised the Gospel, even for the adulterous woman. He says, "I do not judge you, I do not condemn you, but please sin no more." I think that has to be mentioned. This is where the importance of truthfulness, mercy, and compassion [comes in]. 

You look at the world today: There is so much injustice. So what can we do? In some countries, not in Singapore, because I am a member of the FABC [Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences], in some countries, they are being persecuted because of their religion, sometimes because of their race, by political authority.

So how do we speak with those people in authority? How do we dialogue? So I think this is where, again, I think Pope Francis, I think his direction is certainly the direction we need to follow. Dialogue. We need to dialogue. We need to listen; we need to dialogue. We need to strengthen trust because, at the end of the day, we are all for the same goal. Humanity is all for the same goal: We want happiness, but not happiness, only true happiness. We don't want just love. We want fruitful love.

Singapore has been described as a kind of bridge between the West and the East. What can Singapore show, and what can this region show, to the wider Church, in terms of harmony, but also the direction that you think we need to go?

Actually, Singapore is more in the first world [as a] country than the rest. That's why, when I attend FABC meetings, FABC, although it's a Federation of Asian Bishops conference, but actually the whole world is there, because countries are very affluent, … and some are poor; some [there is] a political issue, some religious suppression. So it's very diverse. So, in that sense, a bit difficult. But for us as a Church, I think Singapore can be a model, in terms of: How do we remain faithful in our faith in an affluent country? Because the challenges facing Singapore is basically a first-world problem. So we could identify very much with Europe; whereas the problems that Europe is facing is not the problem of Africa or Asia, in general. So it is sometimes a continental issue rather than the issue of the universal Church. So, like in Singapore, what I think we can do is really help to promote religious harmony. That is our strength because of the work that we have been doing — and especially to help governments. In Singapore, the beautiful thing about our government is we see ourselves as a multiracial, multireligious country. We are not a secular country.

We have a secular government, yes, to ensure fairness, impartiality; and even most of the members in the government, they belong to some faith, and they are very staunch in their faith. But I think this is where Singapore can show the way: how, even in a very cosmopolitan country, very diversely religious country, we can live together. So long as there is respect, sensitivity to each other, then I think we can work together. And Singapore has so many races, as well, so many ethnic groups of people; we can live together as one, so that, for us, I think [we have] a forte [to model] for other countries in the world, [showing] how to live harmoniously. I think you need to have a good government, a strong government to be able to support the work of the religions and all the NGOs.

So that relationship between the Church and state has to be respectful.

Yes. And in Singapore, the state sees us as partners, which is true. We are partners with the government for the same reason, because it's for the common good of the people. We take care of their spiritual needs; we help the government to make sure that they rule justly. We express our views, and the government is very grateful. When they have certain issues, moral, social issues, they will consult the religious leaders. Of course, at the end of the day, they have to make the decision. I mean, it is a multireligious country.

Asia is one of those parts of the Church, like Africa, where the Catholic population is growing. Do you see the importance of Asia increasing in this century? And, if so, what can the rest of the Church learn from Asia as an experience? I know that we're talking about a very diverse set of cultures and countries, but the Church does seem to be growing here, and it's very vibrant.

I would say that, and this is my assessment, I think the problem with established Christian countries, like Europe, for example, faith, I think, has become too institutional. Religion has become ritualized. It becomes routine; it becomes a custom, even. It is not a personal faith. They don't have this personal encounter with Jesus. In Asia, because many of us are converts, at least for the last two, three generations — and to convert from one faith to another, it's not an easy thing; you will be marginalized initially — and so these people, not only have they studied about the faith, most of all, they have encountered Jesus. And that is what my conversion-experience retreat tries to do. Actually, the conversion-experience retreat, at first, [when] I started, it was meant for lapsed Catholics. I wanted to bring back the lost sheep. Then, after that, a lot of members in the Church [say], 'We also never experience God. We also want to join,' so it becomes for all now. But I believe that when we get a person to encounter Jesus personally, Jesus is real; Jesus is alive. They can encounter his mercy, his love, his forgiveness. Their life will change.

And I honestly believe all these ideological struggles, whether it's gender ideology, same-sex, all this abortion, euthanasia — all this comes about because you are operating on the level of the head. On the level of the head, you can twist and turn. You can argue from every side. For us who are Catholics, if you encounter Jesus, you know he is your Lord and Savior. You will accept whatever is taught in the Scriptures. You will live your life according to what Jesus has lived and has taught, even though you might not agree — because we have faith in Jesus. So, my pastoral approach in dealing with people who are disagreeable with the Church is … we cannot force our doctrines on these people. I invite them to know Jesus. I invite them to fall in love with Jesus. And I believe Jesus will take care of them — and Jesus will. Because if you love Jesus so deeply, surely you want to live like him. … Who are those people who are grumbling about certain moral issues of the Church? These are all … nominal Catholics, because they have no faith.

So your message to them is: Jesus?

Yes. We need to have a personal relationship, and the Church has to provide the opportunity, so it's not just preaching, teaching; that is important, but that comes after. So even in the early Church, what do we do in the early Church? "Didache" comes after being evangelized. So the "kerygma" has to be preached first; then "Didache"; then the teaching. But we are putting the cart before the horse. We are teaching, and hopefully they receive the "kerygma." … That is also my fear that the young people today, they don't … because if they are brought up from a traditional Catholic family and if the parents are weak in their faith after confirmation, as Pope Francis will always say, it's a farewell [to faith] — bye-bye. Because they have no faith; we call it a routine faith. It is not real faith. So what we try to do now, even for young people, is also to give them a deep encounter with Jesus. And we have the office of young people doing parallel to what I'm doing for the adults. We give them a good experience of Jesus. Their lives change.

With so many influences on young people, you've mentioned this office being developed. Your message to young people today, what is your immediate message to somebody who's being challenged by social media, by the secular influences?

What I feel that is most important for young people: We need to build faith communities. They need to be supported in their faith. And that is the reason why, in order to keep the young people within the faith, we need to help them to form faith communities where they can support each other. So two things for me are critical in helping our young people to deal with all the challenges in the world: an encounter with Jesus; belonging to a faith community. And they will grow. As their faith grows, they will know what to do and how to deal with all these, you can say, challenges, in society. And, of course, I think there is also an important part to play … after "kerygma" is "Didache." But then also we need to continue to preach and to teach. One of the reasons why young people have left the Church is because they feel that they cannot connect with the Church; they cannot connect with the doctrines of the Church. And we need to have more theologians, lay theologians perhaps, to be able to be the bridge between the ecclesiastical language and the ordinary language.

The problem is that we are trained in theology and Scripture. We tend to use this kind of ecclesiastical language. For us, it's our — what do you call it? — our cup of tea. You know, we use that language so often that we don't realize the people in the world don't understand what we're talking about. And so we cannot connect with the young people. So I think we need to have a bridge. And this is where all the social media and all these things will try to make it more palatable for young people to understand, to appreciate, and to be able to share with their friends.

Your Eminence, the last question I have is on one of the things that's very clear in Singapore: the importance of family. Pope Francis talks about respecting the generations, of having those bridges from the old to the young. What is the secret here? Why is that still so much a part of life here? And what is a lesson there for other cultures to learn?

I think generally, not only within the Catholic Church definitely, generally Asian society, we tend to be focused more on the family. Family piety, filial piety, all these are very important. But that is also being eroded away because of the Western influence; because of affluence, because people want to have a better life, they will live, they will migrate, and parents both are working, in order to have a better life. Cost of living is high. So there are a lot of threats against the family, even in Singapore, although we are trying to protect the family. We have many — I think we have 11 — organizations that deal with family life. So we have to work hard at it. I won't say that we are doing extremely well, but because we belong to this Asian culture, that family dimension is always important; but we need to protect it, because I think, with affluence, that family is being threatened. And because parents are all working, and the children, we have small families. In fact, we are below replacement of the population, as well. And then the younger people, they are not interested in having families. ...

So we are promoting [family life]. And the beautiful part is this, the government is working with us all. We have a ministry; we call it the Ministry of Social and Family. And this ministry, they try to promote family life. The programs that they have are very good programs, so we complement each other. And so we are grateful that the government also sees the importance of growing the family, strengthening our family, and healing people who are divorced and those from dysfunctional families.

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA's sister news partner, and has been adapted by CNA.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 2, 2024 / 18:20 pm (CNA).

The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) released a pair of emergency rules that it said are aimed at combating "misinformation" and a "deeply dishonest scare campaign" by the Biden administration about the state's new six-week pro-life law. 

The rules, published on May 1, establish guidance for lifesaving measures and clarify that certain procedures, including treatment for ectopic pregnancies, are not considered abortion and remain legal under the Florida Heartbeat Protection Act, which went into effect on Wednesday.  

This comes amid significant criticism over the state's pro-life law that prohibits abortions on women after six weeks of pregnancy except for in cases of rape, incest, or when the life of the mother is in danger. The new AHCA rules further clarify those exceptions. 

"The agency finds there is an immediate danger to the health, safety, and welfare of pregnant women and babies due to a deeply dishonest scare campaign and disinformation being perpetuated by the media, the Biden administration, and advocacy groups to misrepresent the Heartbeat Protection Act and the state's efforts to protect life, moms, and families," the AHCA wrote in both rules. "The agency is initiating rulemaking to safeguard against any immediate harm that could come to pregnant women due to disinformation." 

"This rulemaking," the AHCA goes on, "will ensure health care providers establish medical records procedures that will adequately protect the care and safety of both mothers and their unborn babies during medical emergencies."

The rules state that "regardless of gestational age," treatment for ectopic pregnancies, premature rupture of membranes, trophoblastic tumors, and "other life-threatening conditions" is "not to be considered an abortion and shall not be reported [as such]" even if those procedures inadvertently result in the death of the unborn child. 

In a "Myth vs. Fact" sheet published the same day, the AHCA also clarified that "Florida law does not prohibit the removal of the pregnancy for women who experience a miscarriage in any circumstance." 

The Biden administration has been outspoken about its opposition to Florida's six-week law. Vice President Kamala Harris gave a speech in Jacksonville, Florida, on Wednesday in which she condemned the Florida pro-life law as "extreme" and dangerous for the health and safety of women. 

President Joe Biden also attacked Florida's six-week law in a campaign speech in Tampa on April 23. He blamed former President Donald Trump and Republicans for unleashing a "nightmare" on American women. 

Florida state Sen. Lauren Book said that "women and girls will die" because of the law.  

AHCA Secretary Jason Weida issued a statement the same as the rule in which he said: "The pro-abortion left is lying for political gain. The attempts to demonize standard health care for women make a physician's job more difficult and can put a pregnant woman's life at risk. The Heartbeat Protection Act protects women from life-threatening complications while protecting the life of the unborn." 

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ACI Prensa Staff, May 2, 2024 / 18:50 pm (CNA).

"They have done it again. It is a kind of obsessive mantra every time they need a smokescreen to distract from the real problems we have and to which they so clumsily and insidiously apply their tortuous governance."

That is how the archbishop of Oviedo, Jesús Sanz Montes, began a letter released this week titled "The Accusing Rattle" in which he responds to the socialist government's announcement of an exclusive plan to address sexual and power abuses committed within the Catholic Church.

In the opinion of the prelate, the country's executive "has tried to focus in a biased and manipulative way on the problem of pedophilia as something attributable only to the Catholic Church, which represents an exclusive and improper singling out and leaves unprotected the majority of those who have suffered this terrible scourge."

The Franciscan archbishop encouraged people to denounce "the deceitful, biased, or false information and to humbly say how much good we do as a Christian community," while at the same time acknowledging errors, asking for forgiveness, and accompanying victims.

The archbishop said Christians are called to defend abuse victims, "assuming our responsibility in what concerns us, but urging that the entire society also adopt appropriate measures, starting with government leaders," he added.

Sanz criticized the executive for falsifying "the identity of the human person" and destroying "anthropology in its masculine and feminine identity." 

He added that the government propagates a version of feminism that not only fails to eradicate unjust sexist violence against women but "actually exacerbates it" along with "a perverse pornographic and obscene manipulation that confuses and harms children and young people based on gender ideology."

If such policies are maintained, the archbishop predicts, "the society thus poisoned and confused will be more manipulable by those who, from their narcissistic and fallacious amorality, seek to perpetuate themselves in power."

The prelate has described as "clear" the statement from the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE, by its Spanish acronym) in which it rejected the government's plan and denounced that the plan "parts from a condemnatory judgment of the entire Church, carried out without any type of legal guarantee, a public and discriminatory accusation by the state."

Sanz emphasized that "we must not allow ourselves to be identified with this false story that disfigures the true work of the Church" and, turning the tables on the subject, asked: "Which institution of those affected by this crime has taken the matter seriously? Which ones have created offices of shelter and support, have preventively educated their members, and have actively collaborated with the prosecutor's office?"

'The arbitrary imputation is unacceptable'

The prelate reminded the faithful that the problem of the sexual abuse of minors in Spain is one in which Catholic clergy and religious account for a miniscule 0.2% part. That figure comes from a study by the Anar Foundation, specialized in the protection of children, which details that between 2008 and 2009, 0.2% of the more than 6,000 reported cases of abuse can be attributed to priests and religious.

According to the cited foundation that works on the prevention of child abuse, parents represented the largest number of aggressors, totaling 23.3%. Companions occupied second place among perpetrators against minors, with 8.7%, while friends represent 5.7% and partners, boyfriends, or girlfriends represent 5.6%.

The archbishop of Oviedo concluded by rejecting as unacceptable "the arbitrary accusation that only focuses on us, with such a low criminal percentage, to a whole series of legal, fiscal, economic, and social measures," adding: "What do those who continue in this foul play want to cover up or distract from? 'Cui prodest?' said Seneca ['Who benefits?']."

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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Rome Newsroom, May 2, 2024 / 12:41 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis published a letter on Thursday addressed to all parish priests in the world with his advice for building a missionary Church in which all the baptized share in the mission of proclaiming the Gospel.

"Parish communities increasingly need to become places from which the baptized set out as missionary disciples and to which they return, full of joy, in order to share the wonders worked by the Lord through their witness," Pope Francis wrote in the letter published on May 2.

The pope presented the letter to 300 priests participating in the Synod on Synodality's "World Meeting of Parish Priests" during an audience at the Vatican, saying that their meeting is "an opportunity to remember in my prayers all of the parish priests in the world to whom I address these words with great affection."

"Before all else, I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation for the generous work that you do each day, sowing seeds of the Gospel in every kind of soil," Pope Francis wrote.

"It is so obvious as to sound almost banal, but that does not make it less true: the Church could  not go on without your dedication and your pastoral service," he added.

In the letter, Pope Francis offered three suggestions to parish priests for building "a synodal and missionary Church."

The first is for priests to live out their "specific ministerial charism in ever greater service to the varied gifts that the Spirit sows in the people of God." 

He said that by nurturing the many and varied charismatic gifts of the laity, priests will "feel less alone in the demanding task of evangelization" and "will experience the joy of being true fathers, who do not dominate others but rather bring out in them, men and women alike, great and precious possibilities."

The second suggestion is to "learn to practice the art of communal discernment" by using the "conversation in the Spirit" practiced during last October's Synod on Synodality assembly.

Lastly, Pope Francis encouraged priests to base everything they do "in a spirit of sharing and fraternity" both among themselves and with their bishops.

"We cannot be authentic fathers unless we are first sons and brothers. And we cannot foster communion and participation in the communities entrusted to our care unless, before all else,  we live out those realities among ourselves," the pope explained.

The audience with the pope concluded the four-day World Meeting of Parish Priests, which took place from April 29 to May 2 at the Fraterna Domus retreat house in Sacrofano, Italy, just north of Rome.

The gathering of 300 priests was jointly organized by the Dicastery for the Clergy and by the General Secretariat of the Synod in response to the first synod assembly's synthesis report, which identified a need to "develop ways for a more active involvement of deacons, priests, and bishops in the synodal process during the coming year."

Father Clinton Ressler, a priest from the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, was one of five American priests who traveled to Rome for the meeting.

Ressler told EWTN that a highlight from the meeting was "the experience of being together with brother priests from around the world."

He said that he has learned that despite the diverse realities in which priests in different parts of the world find themselves, "the experience of being a priest on the front lines and in the trenches is kind of a universal experience — the joy, the sorrow, the hope."

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Rome 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 2008.

Italy's overall population has been falling since 2014 with 282,000 more deaths than births in Italy in 2023. The country has one of the lowest birth rates in Europe: 1.2 births per woman.

Pope Francis has described the low number of births as "a figure that reveals a great concern for tomorrow." He lamented last year the "social climate in which starting a family has turned into a titanic effort, instead of being a shared value that everyone recognizes and supports."

"The General State of the Birth Rate" will feature Italian government ministers, business leaders, and media personalities who will give talks on the family, including Eugenia Roccella, Italy's family minister.

It will be the third time that Pope Francis has participated in the conference, which is supported by the Italian Ministry for Family, Birth, and Equal Opportunity. 

Last year, Pope Francis shared the stage with Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

"The birth of children, in fact, is the main indicator for measuring the hope of a people," Pope Francis said at the conference in 2023.

"If few are born it means there is little hope. And this not only has repercussions from an economic and social point of view but also undermines confidence in the future."

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reported last week that the U.S. birth rate also hit a record low in 2023 and that the total number of births was the lowest it's been in decades. 

According to the report, slightly fewer than 3.6 million babies were born in 2023, or 54.4 births per 1,000 women aged 15 through 44. This was a 2% decline in total births and a 3% decline in births per 1,000 women when compared with the previous year.

"The birth rate challenge is a matter of hope," Pope Francis said.

Hope, the pope said, "is not an illusion or an emotion that you feel, no; it is a concrete virtue, a life attitude. And it has to do with concrete choices. Hope is nourished by each person's commitment to the good, it grows when we feel we are participating and involved in making meaning of our own and others' lives."

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ACI 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 runs from Cape Town through Bloemfontein, Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Polokwane to Beit Bridge, a border town with Zimbabwe.

In a Monday, April 29, statement, SACBC members expressed condolences, describing his killing as "not an isolated incident," recalling the March 13 murder of Father William Banda, the Zambian-born member of St. Patrick's Missionary Society (Kiltegan Fathers), who was shot in the sacristy of the Holy Trinity Cathedral of South Africa's Tzaneen Diocese.

"Father Tatu worked for several years as the SACBC media and communications officer with dedication; we are saddened by his tragic death. We extend our condolences to the Stigmatine congregation, to which he belonged, and to his family," bishops from Botswana, Eswatini, and South Africa said in the one-page statement signed by SACBC president Bishop Sithembele Sipuka.

"It must be noted that the death of Father Paul Tatu is not an isolated incident but rather a distressing example of the deteriorating state of security and morality in South Africa," the Church leaders added.

The murder of Tatu and that of Banda, SACBC members lamented, "occurs amid growing concerns about the increasing disregard for the value of life, where people are wantonly killed." 

Born in 1979 in Teyateyaneng, a town in Lesotho's district of Berea, Tatu joined the Stigmatines in 1998. He studied philosophy at St. Francis House of Studies in Pretoria from 1999 to 2000 and moved to Botswana for his novitiate.

Before theological studies, the late priest took a year off from priestly formation to live with and teach miners in South Africa's Free State. He later resumed his studies, joining Pretoria-based St. John Vianney Seminary, under the Stigmatines, for theology. He was ordained a priest in 2008.

The Stigmatines later sent him to Tanzania as a missionary, where he pursued media and communication studies at Mwanza-based St. Augustine University of Tanzania of the Tanzania Episcopal Conference. 

Tatu was also a collaborator of ACI Africa, CNA's news partner in Africa, more recently assisting with an April 9 story about an initiative to address drug addiction in youth.

In the April 29 statement, the bishops underscored the need for authorities in South Africa to protect human life.

"On behalf of the bishops, I appeal to all people responsible for these murders to refrain from thinking that they can do what they like with people's lives. Life belongs to God, and no one has a right to take it as one pleases," the statement said. 

The bishops decried lawlessness in South Africa, addressing President Cyril Ramaphosa's government: "Mr. President and Police Minister, there is a growing impression among South Africans that criminals are freely murdering the citizens with no fear of consequences."

"A deliberate termination of the life of one person affects not only the person killed but a whole network of relationships of that person," the SACBC statement continued. "… Killing one person brings about pain and misery to many people."

The statement called on the government to put in place "immediate and effective measures to ensure the security of law-abiding citizens who work hard to support their families and for our Catholic priests who spend their lives serving the people of this country."

"We appeal to you to make the well-being and safety of our people a top priority," the bishops said. "As a Church, we are at your disposal for discussion and strategies to stop the murder of innocent people, which is now becoming a pandemic in this country."

This story was first published by ACI Africa, CNA's news partner in Africa, and has been adapted by CNA.

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ACI 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 3.

Inspired by a saying of Jesus Christ from Matthew 23:8, the motto for this year's day of prayer is "All Brothers." 

In a video message, the president of the CEC and archbishop of Bogotá, Cardinal Luis José Rueda Aparicio, invites people to recognize that "beyond our differences, we are all children of God and, therefore, brothers."

God "is our peace" and "prayer leads us to meet him," the cardinal said, expressing his conviction that "reconciliation is the path we need to travel to experience true hope for change in the country."

"Let us pray for our country, that the Lord shows us with his Holy Spirit the paths of reconciliation," the cardinal continued. "Reconciliation requires the ability to see the other as a brother. Jesus has told us: We are all children of the same Father."

Rueda went on to cite Pope Francis, who "in a graphic way" has reminded us that "we are all in the same boat. The Colombian boat requires that you open your heart to reconciliation, to forgiveness. To look at the other, not as an enemy to be eliminated but as a friend, as a member of the same Colombian family."

"That is what we want on May 3, for there to be a full day of prayer in parish churches, in the oratories of schools, universities, and women's and men's religious houses," Rueda concluded. 

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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