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ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 27, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).

One year after the Spanish newspaper El País published the report "Diary of a Pedophile Priest," which recounted the sexual abuse of minors committed in Bolivia by the deceased Jesuit priest Alfonso Pedrajas, journalists from ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, went to the South American country to look into the political implications of the case, how the scandal has affected the Church's image in Bolivia, and the response of the civil justice system.

Pedrajas, better known as "Padre Pica," arrived in South America in the early 1960s as part of his formation process with the Jesuits. For 10 years he lived in Peru and Ecuador, where he allegedly committed his first abuses while still a seminarian, and in 1971 he settled permanently in Bolivia.

There the Society of Jesus appointed him assistant principal of the John XXIII Institute, a boarding school whose mission was to form the most prepared students in the country, with a special predilection for those immersed in poverty.

Three years later, Padre Pica would become the school's principal, where he reportedly sexually abused more than 80 minors over a period of almost 30 years.

Since the scandal broke, both the Jesuits in Bolivia and the Bolivian Bishops' Conference have worked to cooperate with the justice system and elicit complaints from victims. Several initiatives were also launched to guarantee that victims would be heard and support provided to them.

In this context, lawsuits began to be filed implicating several Jesuit priests for abuses committed decades ago, and even a class-action complaint was filed by a group of former students of the John XXIII Institute against the current provincial of the Society of Jesus in the country, Father Bernardo Mercado, who is currently under investigation by the justice system.

A Senate truth commission to respond to the abuses

Regarding the Bolivian Senate's move to pursue the abuse cases by creating a Special Truth Commission, the Bolivian Bishops' Conference charged that the Senate's work "has been very biased" due to attempts to politically instrumentalize it and because of pressure from the majority ruling party.

One of the senators on the commission, Nelly Gallo Soruco, a member of the opposition-leaning Citizen's Community party, spoke with ACI Prensa about the work they have carried out in recent months and the steps to follow in the future.

The main objective of the Special Truth Commission is to conduct an investigation and then submit a report that will be made available to the president of the Senate. Gallo strongly emphasized that the commission has no power to impose criminal penalties or administer justice.

"The special commission," Gallo explained, "was formed as a result of the concern that arose after the publication in Spain of the El País report." The commission began operating in June 2023, she said.

The Citizen's Community party member began to be part of the commission due to the fears that her party had about the "possible manipulation for political purposes" of abuse cases in the Church. In total there are six senators on the commission, three of whom belong to the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) party, historically related to former Bolivian president Evo Morales. 

"There was a susceptibility that the majority could [manipulate] the objective that the commission has. By the time I joined, several interviews had already been conducted with those involved, among them the former students of the John XXIII school and the ombudsman," Gallo said.

The senator noted that while she was present the commission also interviewed Pedro Lima, a controversial and well-known media figure in Bolivia, a MAS sympathizer, and a former Jesuit.

Lima has repeatedly charged that he was expelled from the Jesuits when he decided to report cases of abuse. For Gallo, Lima is a person who has "a very strong feeling against the Church." ACI Prensa contacted Lima to get his take on the case and the senator's statements, but he declined to comment.

Abuse issue in Bolivia is 'very common'

Gallo also stressed the importance of realizing that the issue of abuse is "sensitive and must be treated carefully"; "unfortunately it's very common" in Bolivian society, she said, and "the authorities aren't paying much attention to it."

Furthermore, she added that many of the laws protecting minors "are not fully complied with or are not functional."

"We need this commission to fulfill that role, that of enforcing legislative regulations and not manipulating them in a political-partisan way. It should proceed with the respect that the victims and the religious institution deserve, within which these very painful situations of abusing children arose," Gallo said.

The legislator pointed out: "We have seen that the Church and the Society of Jesus have been very open and have had no intention of hiding anything; that has been a great help in being able to remove any thoughts of complicity."

Gallo categorically stated that "the Church is not guilty of the individual actions of its members."

The importance of religious freedom in Bolivia

"We are firm defenders of freedoms and human rights, especially religious freedom. We need churches to be a center of trust for the free exercise of faith," the senator said.

The truth is that religious freedom in the South American country is increasingly threatened and many commentators are beginning to express their concern.

The "Pedrajas Case" and the various complaints that followed could be the perfect excuse for the government to openly and definitively attack the Bolivian Catholic Church. 

"We are concerned that these deplorable cases may be used to politically persecute the Church," Gallo reiterated.

The abuse crisis in Bolivia continues to cast a shadow on the Catholic Church in the country, especially regarding the victims, who seemed to have sought answers and justice in vain. As the investigations progress, and despite the efforts of the Church, everything seems to indicate that the road ahead will be very long.

In a panorama where faith is faltering, Bolivia faces a painful crossroads in which the search for solutions seems to be trapped in a vicious circle of mistrust, legal loopholes, economic interests, and political pressures.

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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ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 27, 2024 / 09:00 am (CNA).

The Regnum Christi Federation will hold its first general convention in Rome from April 29 to May 4, the first such assembly since its statutes were approved in 2019 after a long process of listening, purification, and a hopeful look toward its future.

The ecclesial movement was shaken to the core by the revelation of numerous cases of sexual abuse and abuses of power primarily involving Father Marcial Maciel, the deceased founder of the Legionaries of Christ and the Regnum Christi movement.

The Regnum Christi Federation is comprised of four vocations: the Legionaries of Christ (priests), Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi, Lay Consecrated Men of Regnum Christi, and lay members.

Regnum Christi is now defined as an apostolic body and spiritual family led by a general board of directors, consisting of the directors general of the Legionaries of Christ and the Consecrated Men and Women of Regnum Christi, with the assistance of two laypeople who both have an advisory voice and vote.

Since 2019, 'we're walking without crutches'

Layman Álvaro Abellán-García explained to ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, that the institution has spent "many years in the intensive care unit, with the healing presence of the Holy See" and that, "although it would have been easy to run and hide, the Lord, through the mediation of the Church and thanks to the testimony of many whom we didn't know how to listen to in time, led us to the light and in the light is purifying us."

Since 2019, with the new statutes, "we are already walking without crutches," a time in which "collegial government, the growing co-responsibility of the laity, and the greater participation of all in apostolic discernment" have been fundamental, he noted.

"We still have a way to go and we're not all at the same point," Abellán-García acknowledged. However, he is convinced that the federation "is today more prepared than 15 years ago to make the kingdom of Christ present."

'Taking responsibility for the past without being paralyzed by it'

Nancy Nohrden, director general of the Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi, said that an important path of renewal has been followed "full of experiences and learning, taking responsibility for the past without being paralyzed by it, seeking to respond to the needs of the world and of the Church."

The general convention, which opens Monday, begins with some progress already being made and with the conviction that "hope for the future and trust in what God wants for us are ever more present."

The convention represents, Nohrden said, a hope "that remains fresh, even when we realize that we are fragile, because God is more powerful. And a hope that is not frightened in the face of apparent human failure, because God has other criteria, another logic, other plans."

A discernment 'that reaches out'

Francisco Gámez, the other layman who is a member of the board of directors as an assistant, explained that between 2013 and 2019 when the new statutes were approved, the federation experienced "a process of discernment from within" in which institutional renewal went hand in hand with spiritual renewal.

Since 2019, the task has been to "implement both dimensions," which are the canonical organization and the spiritual aspect. "Now that 2024 is here, the Holy Spirit asks us for a discernment that goes out, that looks outward, apostolic discernment," Gámez explained.

This means that "God asks us to go out, carrying in our traveling bags our lived experience, the sufferings and the joys we have gone through, to give a testimony of hope and of a God who is all mercy and love."

Finding a way to have that presence in a world "that is full of distractions," Gámez pointed out, is demanding, even more so when "with all humility, we see what God is calling us to do," he commented. However, the lay leader is confident because "for God nothing is impossible."

"Putting all this into prayer and communion will be precisely the discernment we hope to have," he said, adding that one of the main fruits of the convention would be to determine what God wants for Regnum Christi.

Beyond the difficulties

As is evident, the road traveled by those who make up the new federation has not been without difficulties.

Félix Gómez Rueda, director general of the Consecrated Laity of Regnum Christi, shared that "facing the difficulties of implementing a new form of government is not easy, taking into account the complexity of the extension of the presence of Regnum Christi in the world [present in nearly 40 countries on five continents] and a large number of practical and operational issues."

For Gómez, the general convention "is a very important way to face these difficulties" and will analyze the limitations, progress, and challenges.

However, he emphasized, "we don't want to stop there." The objective is to find "ways to better serve the evangelization of society" aided by "the contributions of the different places where Regnum Christi is present and always open to the action of the Holy Spirit." 

Promoting the co-responsibility of the laity

Father John Connor, LC, director general of the Legionaries of Christ, told ACI Prensa that the members of the religious congregation are approaching the first general convention "out of a commitment to be apostles for the Church and for the world, but not alone, but in Regnum Christi, as a single apostolic body and spiritual family."

Furthermore, they will do so by "promoting and participating generously in collegiality, mission, discernment, prayer; together with all the vocations of Regnum Christi and promoting the growing co-responsibility of the laity."

For Connor, the specific way in which the Legionaries of Christ are going to take part in the general convention also involves participating "as a community of apostles together with all the members, making contributions and complementing each other."

"We are constantly praying to God to be able to continue being docile to his Spirit that renews, refreshes, and brings newness," he said.

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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CNA Staff, Apr 27, 2024 / 09:20 am (CNA).

Marchers are setting out in the nation's capital on Saturday to call attention to the plight of persecuted Christians throughout the world.

Gia Chacón, founder of For the Martyrs and the March for the Martyrs, said the event aims to highlight often "overlooked" victims of persecution. This year's march will focus on the persecution suffered by Armenian Christians as well as those in Nigeria and Iran.

In an interview with "EWTN News Nightly" anchor Tracy Sabol, Chacón said she started the initiative to both increase awareness and provide aid for persecuted Christian communities throughout the world.

Chacón explained that the decades-long conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan erupted anew last September, when Azerbaijan unleashed military strikes against an enclave of about 120,000 Armenian Christians in the disputed Artsakh or Nagorno-Karabakh region. 

Chacón told EWTN called the situation a "genocide." 

"As a result of this invasion, over 120,000 Christian Armenians were pushed out of their homes," she said. "Their history was destroyed. This was an attempt at an ethnic cleansing of the Armenia Christians who have been in this region for hundreds of years."

"It is completely overlooked by the mainstream media," she added. "It's also gone under the radar or supposedly under the radar of the Biden administration. They're not doing enough to protect Christians in Armenia."

Meanwhile, Nigeria and Iran are both ranked in the top 10 in the Open Doors organization's 2024 World Watch List, which ranks the top 50 countries where Christians face the most persecution. 

Between April and June 2023 there were more than 1,600 recorded deaths of Christians in Nigeria, more than 600 Christians abducted, and more than 100 attacks on communities with fatalities, according to the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA).

Nigerian Catholic priests are frequently kidnapped and in some cases, murdered. One Nigerian bishop has described the situation in Nigeria as a Christian "genocide." 

Chacón also highlighted "ongoing human rights abuses … particularly for the Church" in Iran. 

There were 166 documented arrests of Christians in Iran in 2023, according to a 2024 report by Article18. The report found that "many Christians report severe mistreatment during arrest and detention," while others were not given a reason for their arrest.

But Christians of all traditions "come together as one voice for the persecuted," Chacón said, adding: "We've seen this movement grow every single year."

Chacón highlighted how not only Catholics and Protestants have joined the cause but also Assyrian, Orthodox, Armenian, Nigerian, and Ethiopian Christians. 

"It's beautiful to see just the diversity in the crowd," she said. "It really is a picture and a reflection of the global body of Christ."

The annual march is taking place in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, starting at 3 p.m. It will feature a kickoff rally on the National Mall with actor Jim Caviziel as a keynote speaker. 

Survivors of persecution and other experts will also speak at the event. The March for Martyrs Procession will start at 4 p.m. and the evening will conclude with a Night of Prayer for the Persecuted at the Museum of the Bible. 

For more details on the march, visit the For the Martyrs website.

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Vatican City, Apr 27, 2024 / 11:30 am (CNA).

Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati could be declared a saint during the Catholic Church's 2025 Jubilee Year, according to the head of the Vatican's office for saints' causes.

Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, announced at Catholic Action's national assembly in Sacrofano, Italy on April 26 that Frassati's canonization is "on the horizon." 

"I would like to tell you that the canonization of Blessed Piergiorgio Frassati is now clearly on the horizon and is in sight for the coming Jubilee Year," the cardinal said according to Avvenire, the official newspaper of the Italian bishops' conference.

Frassati, who died at the age of 24 in 1925, is beloved by many Catholic young people today for his enthusiastic witness to holiness that reaches "to the heights."

The young man from the northern Italian city of Turin was an avid mountaineer and third order Dominican known for his charitable outreach.

At the age of 17, he joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society and dedicated much of his spare time to taking care of the poor, the homeless, and the sick, as well as demobilized servicemen returning from World War I.

Frassati was also involved in the Apostleship of Prayer and Catholic Action. He obtained permission to receive daily Communion.

On a photograph of what would be his last climb, Frassati wrote the phrase, "Verso L'Alto," which means "to the heights." This phrase has become a motto for Catholics inspired by Frassati to strive for the summit of eternal life with Christ.

Frassati died of polio on July 4, 1925. His doctors later speculated that the young man had caught polio while serving the sick.

John Paul II, who beatified Frassati in 1990, called him a "man of the eight beatitudes," describing him as "entirely immersed in the mystery of God and totally dedicated to the constant service of his neighbor."

To be canonized as a saint in the Catholic Church, a miracle attributed to Frassati's intercession will need to be officially recognized in a decree signed by the pope. Pope Francis usually signs these types of decrees when he meets with Cardinal Semeraro.

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Jerusalem, Apr 27, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

This past February, the Custody of the Holy Land filed a petition in the Jerusalem District Court against the confiscation of a piece of land inside the Catholic cemetery, which is located on the southern hillside of Mount Zion and serves as a parish cemetery. 

The affair is part of a project to build a cable car running from First Station (the shopping and entertainment area in West Jerusalem) to the Old City's Dung Gate (the main access to the Western Wall and close to the City of David archaeological site), passing over the Hinnom Valley (or Geenna). The cable cars would be strung over some 15 pylons, from about 30 to 85 feet high, and would ferry up to 3,000 people per hour in up to 72 cars that can each hold 10 people.

The Jerusalem Development Authority (a joint agency of the government and the Jerusalem Municipality), which is responsible for the project, is exploring the opportunity to use the piece of land in the cemetery to place a cable car support pylon.

The Custody of the Holy Land fears that the cable car may pass over the cemetery, a detail that had been ruled out during a preliminary meeting in 2017, as evidenced by a protocol that CNA was able to view. Relying on that premise and promise at that time, the custody did not exercise its right to object to the project.

However, on Christmas Eve 2023, everything changed. A planning notice by the Jerusalem Local Planning and Building Committee of the Jerusalem Municipality was found on a pylon close to the cemetery announcing that that piece of land was going to be temporarily confiscated (for at least eight years). 

According to Eliana Touma, an attorney and legal adviser of the Custody of the Holy Land, who was contacted by CNA, "the custody didn't receive any kind of formal notice from the Jerusalem Local Planning and Building Committee."

The area subject to confiscation (not yet effective) is situated on the northeast side of the cemetery. It is the oldest part of the cemetery, where there are some graves of British soldiers from the time of the British Mandate in Palestine. These graves would need to be removed and relocated if the construction of the cable car pylon were to proceed. This risks turning a local dispute into an international case.

Also in this area is the sarcophagus of Francesca Barluzzi, sister of architect Antonio Barluzzi, who designed some of the famous holy sites in the Holy Land cared for by the custody. This year marks the centenary of two of them: the Basilica of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor and the Basilica of Agony in Gethsemane.

In this same cemetery, in the more modern section, is the burial place of Oskar Schindler, one of "righteous among the nations," who is credited with saving the lives of more than 1,000 Jews during the Holocaust. The grave is visited by many Jews and is almost completely covered by stones.

According to Touma, "the lawyers of the custody met the representative of the Jerusalem Development Authority at least three times in January and February before submitting the petition," and "a tour at the cemetery was done in February, to show them that in that area there are the graves of the British soldiers."

After nothing came of these meetings, the Custody of the Holy Land filed a petition in the Jerusalem District Court, a legal action that must be undertaken when a decision from the state or any other governmental office is believed to have damaged the subject in any way.

"It's no longer possible to oppose the plan because the deadlines for doing so have expired, and we have relinquished our opposition based on what was promised to us," Touma explained to CNA. "At the moment, the only option we have is to oppose the confiscation, and that's what we're doing with this petition." 

The petition was filed against the Jerusalem Development Authority, the Municipality of Jerusalem, and the Local Planning and Building Committee of the Jerusalem Municipality. The court gave the respondents until June to respond to the petition (and reach an agreement). A first hearing is scheduled for Sept. 16.

According to Touma, the petition's main arguments are threefold.

First, the Custody of the Holy Land claims that authorities have broken the promise made in 2017 not to run the cable car over the Franciscan cemetery on Mount Zion.

"Discrimination" is another important argument: "Lands owned by the state and used for public purposes that have been leased by the Israel Land Authority cannot be confiscated, while the land owned by the Church is going to be confiscated even though it is used for public purposes [cemetery]."

The accusation of discrimination is particularly loaded with meaning in a social and religious context like this one. In using this argument, there's a growing sense among Christian churches that they are being targeted by Israeli institutions. The attack on properties would ultimately be nothing but a threat to their existence, carried out with different arguments whenever the opportunity arises.

The third argument concerns the nonnecessity of the land confiscation itself.

"According to previous judicial decisions," Touma told CNA, "in order to confiscate land, it is necessary to demonstrate that the specific part of land is really needed and essential for the project. This justification was not provided."

A land confiscation is the toughest and most extreme action of an administration and the Custody of the Holy Land considers it "not proportionate, not reasonable, and not just at all."

"We must stop it, especially when we have the legal right and opportunity to do so," Touma said. "We must take proactive steps to prevent any interventions that could dramatically affect the churches. It's essential to establish clear boundaries and to make it unequivocally clear that we will not remain silent."

Speaking to CNA, the custos of the Holy Land, Father Francesco Patton, lamented "the continuous assault on the Holy City by constructions and changes to the landscape, which sometimes even damage or expropriate Church properties."

The fact that the confiscation of a cemetery area is at issue "aggravates the situation because traditionally, these areas are the most respected in the Holy Land," he continued. "The issue of cemetery areas deeply touches the sensitivities of Jews, Muslims, and Christians alike. Wherever there are cemetery areas, they should be protected as much as possible."

There is also another cemetery, belonging to the small Karaite community, a Jewish religious denomination, considered by some a sect, originating in Mesopotamia in the early eighth century, that is affected by the project. Its cemetery is located on the opposite side of the Hinnom Valley from the Catholic cemetery, on the slope beneath the Abu Tor neighborhood, opposite Mount Zion. The cable car would pass directly over it, and the community has objected to the project. 

However, the high court dismissed the objections by the Karaite community, saying that if the Jerusalem authorities moved it, it would pass over the Catholic cemetery, which wasn't possible due to their agreement with the Custody of the Holy Land. The fact that the promise to the custody is mentioned in a court ruling may strengthen the custody's position. 

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 26, 2024 / 18:00 pm (CNA).

As historians and human-rights activists mark the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide this week, some are warning that Armenia is once again facing another existential threat.

Speaking on "EWTN News Nightly" on Wednesday, Simone Rizkallah, an Armenian activist with the Philos Project, said that "this feels less like a remembrance and more like a truly historical event that we are in the midst of."

The Armenian Genocide was carried out by Ottoman Turks in 1915 and resulted in the deaths of some 1.5 million Armenian Christians, according to historians. Though recognized as a genocide by the U.S. and more than 30 other countries, Turkey denies that characterization.

The massacre took place over a hundred years ago. But it has been less than a year since Azerbaijan, another Muslim neighbor of Armenia and an ally of Turkey, unleashed a violent takeover of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, resulting in more than 100,000 Armenian Christians fleeing their homes. The mass exodus of ethnic Armenians has been called a case of "ethnic cleansing" by some leaders in the international community.

Rizkallah fears that rather than marking the end of Azerbaijan's aggression, Nagorno-Karabakh was just the beginning.

"Azerbaijan and Turkey are now continuing to threaten Armenia proper and have made it very clear that they will not stop at taking Artsakh and Nagorno Karabakh, which they have already done, but they will take all of Armenia eventually," she said.

Why does it matter? 

Armenia is a small country in the South Caucasus that has a population of approximately 2.9 million. It is a deeply religious country and one of the few Christian nations in the Near East.

According to Rizkallah, Armenia is the oldest Christian nation in the world, having officially converted to Christianity in the year 301. Since then, the people of Armenia have clung to Christianity, maintaining the light of the faith in the region throughout the centuries.

But now, sandwiched between Turkey and Azerbaijan, two Muslim nations with much larger populations, economies, and militaries, Armenia's very existence appears to be threatened.

Last October the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs told CNA that there were "real chances" of peace with Armenia "in a short time."

On April 23 Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan agreed to cede four border villages to Azerbaijani control. Despite protestations from many Armenian citizens, Pashinyan said that the concessions were the only way to avoid direct war with Azerbaijan.

Nagorno-Karabakh a warning of what is to come? 

Lara Setrakian, an Armenian reporter and human rights activist, told CNA that though Armenia has attempted to integrate and shelter the Nagorno-Karabakh refugees, seven months after fleeing, they are largely living in poverty with "very little hope of seeing their homes again."

"Some of these people have horrific injuries, many have lost family members," she said. "They've been through quite a lot, some of them came in showing signs of malnutrition. So, the rehabilitation of these people has been a massive task."

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan continues to imprison members of Nagorno-Karabakh's ethnically Armenian former leadership.

Ruben Vardanyan, former state minister of Nagorno-Karabakh, is one such prisoner who is being kept in complete isolation in Baku, Azerbaijan's capital. According to an April 25 statement by his family, Vardanyan has been kept in "worsening prison conditions" with very little contact with the outside world.

Setrakian believes that all of Armenia is similarly "in a very tough spot."

She explained that there has been a "significant" military buildup by Azerbaijan in strategic places along the two countries' border and said that Pashinyan's concession would likely not be the last.

"Armenia is being squeezed by the threat of force and the continual use of force on its borders," she said.

What's next? 

Until recently, nearby Russia had helped to maintain the balance of power in the region. But on April 17, a Russian peacekeeping force stationed near the Azerbaijan-Armenia border since 2020 withdrew in what was seen as a concession to Azerbaijan.

Setrakian believes that Russia has grown more reliant on Azerbaijani oil after it invaded Ukraine, prompting it to be more permissive of Azerbaijani aggression, with disastrous results for Armenia. 

"Armenia has stepped into a phase of making concessions and Azerbaijan has been asking for more and more," she said.

It has gotten to the point that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has begun referring to Armenia as "western Azerbaijan" and is claiming that Armenia has "always" been a part of Azerbaijan.

"This is really very disturbing," Setrakian said, adding that "it's exactly what Putin did in Ukraine" and that "it legitimizes going for any swath of modern-day Armenia that they consider to be their historical claim."

Activists urge U.S. intervention

While the U.S. has expressed solidarity with the Armenian people and sent some aid during the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis, many activists feel there is more that could be done to help the Armenian Christians.

One way activists feel the U.S. could do more is by sanctioning Azerbaijan and cutting off all delivery of military aid. According to the Government Accountability Office, the U.S. Department of Defense sent $164 million worth of "security aid" to Azerbaijan.

Sam Brownback, former U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, believes that assistance needs to end.

He led a rally in front of the White House on Wednesday in which he called on President Joe Biden and Congress to stop sending weapons to Azerbaijan, saying: "We can't let a repeat of 1915 happen again on our watch."  

Meanwhile, Alexis Wilkins, a political commentator for PragerU and granddaughter of Armenian immigrants, also told CNA that the U.S. should intervene to help the Armenians.  

Wilkins said that to her the Armenian Genocide is personal, explaining that while the world calls it a "genocide," she calls it "the reason my Papa didn't know any of his aunts or uncles." 

She admitted that while there are many factors at play in global politics, she believes that "strong leadership and intervention will be necessary" to avoid a similar disaster.

"The continuation of not delineating right from wrong is not a victimless crime," she said. "Not 109 years ago, and not now today. True peace is through strength, and exhibiting weakness in this regard is essentially to look evil in the face and say: 'Go ahead.'" 

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 26, 2024 / 12:30 pm (CNA).

The addition of "gender identity" in the Biden administration's interpretation of anti-discrimination rules could jeopardize state laws that restrict women's sports and women's locker rooms to only women, according to legal scholars.

Late last week, President Joe Biden's Department of Education redefined the prohibition on sex discrimination in education, enshrined in the 1972 Title IX provisions, to include discrimination based on a person's "gender identity." 

The new guidelines prohibit any policy and practice that "prevents a person from participating in an education program or activity consistent with their gender identity."

Although the new guidelines do not clearly explain how the mandate would be enforced, experts at the legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and the conservative Heritage Foundation told CNA that it could force educational institutions to allow men who identify as women to access sports competitions, women's locker rooms, bathrooms, and dormitories that are exclusive to women. 

Other concerns they noted included free speech protections for those who use pronouns that align with a person's biological sex when it conflicts with the person's self-proclaimed gender identity and the effect this change could have on other federal agencies, who base their sex discrimination policies on Title IX.

The guidelines apply to public and private educational institutions that accept federal money, which imposes the new rule on K-12 schools, colleges, trade schools, and other institutions. They apply regardless of whether state laws restrict these competitions and spaces to only women. The law does contain an exemption for religious schools that claim certain provisions of the new rule violate their beliefs. 

"This is a … radical redefinition of sex," Matt Sharp, who serves as senior counsel and director of Center for Public Policy at ADF, told CNA.

"Rather than sex being based on biology, now your 'gender identity' comes into play [in these anti-discrimination provisions]," Sharp said. 

Sarah Parshall Perry, who serves as a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told CNA that the change will have a "catastrophic impact" on women. 

All anti-discrimination provisions that apply to a person's sex, she noted, will now apply to a person based on his or her self-described "gender identity."

"All of these [anti-discrimination rules] are lumped under the exact same heading of sex," Perry, who previously served as senior counsel at the Department of Education, added.

Tension growing between states and federal government

Less than a week into the promulgation of the new guidelines, the reinterpretation is already causing tension with states that have passed laws to protect women's sports and prevent males from entering women's locker rooms and bathrooms. Public officials in Florida and Oklahoma have warned the administration that they will not comply with the mandate.

"Florida rejects Joe Biden's attempt to rewrite Title IX," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a video message posted on X on Thursday. 

"We will not comply and we will fight back," he said. "We are not going to let Joe Biden try to inject men into women's activities. We are not going to let Joe Biden undermine the rights of parents and we are not going to let Joe Biden abuse his constitutional authority to try to impose these policies on us here in Florida." 

Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters called the change an attack on states, families, and women. He instructed school districts to not comply with the administration's definition. 

"Biden's rewrite of Title IX is one of the most illegal and radical moves we have ever seen from the federal government," Walters said. "Oklahoma will not sit idly by while radicals trample on the Constitution and take away women's rights. We are taking swift and aggressive action against Biden in his war on women."

Currently, West Virginia is facing a legal challenge against its law that prohibits biological males from engaging in women's and girls' athletic competitions. The lawsuit accuses the state of discriminating against males who self-identify as women. It bases its argument on Title IX's prohibition on sex discrimination — a claim used in the lawsuit before the federal government officially changed its interpretation.

An appellate court ruled against West Virginia, but the state's lawyers at Alliance Defending Freedom are appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Sharp said the administration's redefinition of sex discrimination does not change the legal argument used to defend these state laws. 

He told CNA that the administration's change is "unlawful" and that these interpretations "violate the plain meaning of Title IX," which is "built upon an understanding that there are … only two sexes."

"The legal approach is exactly how it's always been," Sharp said.

Penny said the administration's redefinition of sex goes against the "entire purpose and history and mission" of the ratifiers of Title IX, which she said "was a significant movement for the women's liberation movement."

Now those who defend the traditional understanding of the law, she noted, are seen as "being conservatives or libertarians."

"Sex has always meant [the] biological distinctions between men and women," Penny said.

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CNA Newsroom, Apr 26, 2024 / 13:57 pm (CNA).

Four German bishops on Wednesday distanced themselves from the controversial Synodal Way's plans for a permanent body to oversee the Church in Germany, instead appealing for unity with the universal Church. 

The four bishops are the same who have previously blocked funding for this body: Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne and three prelates from Bavaria: Gregor Maria Hanke, OSB, of Eichstätt; Stefan Oster, SDB, of Passau; and Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg.

In a joint statement, the prelates confirmed on April 24 that they would not be parties to a committee charged with setting up a German "Synodal Council, as this would conflict with the sacramental constitution of the Church."

The four bishops also rejected the view that the German Bishops' Conference could legally establish a "synodal committee" if four of its members did not support the committee. 

Given the Vatican's repeated interventions against the German process, the bishops said on Wednesday they would instead look to the Synod of Bishops in Rome to point the way for "a more synodal Church [in Germany] in unity with the universal Church.

Warning of a threat of a new schism from Germany, the Vatican intervened as early as July 2022 against plans for a German synodal council. 

In January 2023, Rome asserted "that neither the Synodal Way, nor any body established by it, nor any bishops' conference has the competence to establish the 'synodal council' at the national, diocesan, or parish level." German Bishops' Conference president Bishop Georg Bätzing immediately dismissed the warning. 

In the meantime, Synodal Way organizers have continued with plans to establish a synodal committee: On Monday, April 22, German diocesan bishops approved the statutes for a synodal committee.

The move is a significant development: The German prelates were initially expected to vote on the statutes for a preparatory committee during their February plenary assembly. 

However, that vote was suspended following another Vatican intervention. 

Following a March meeting where "differences and points of agreement were identified," the Vatican and Synodal Way supporters announced they would work together to resolve the issues.

Given that the bishops have now adopted the statutes for a synodal committee and the lay organization ZdK already approved these on Nov. 25, 2023 — despite earlier warnings from Rome of the risk of a new German schism — it is unclear how, or if, the Vatican will respond. 

According to an earlier report on the official portal of the Church in Germany, katholisch.de, the synodal committee will still meet again in June to discuss plans. 

The Synodal Way — "Synodaler Weg," sometimes translated as Synodal Path — is not a synod but a highly controversial event designed to create "pressure" on the Church, as one founder has admitted. 

The German process, which cost several million dollars, not only aims to establish a permanent synodal council: Delegates also passed several resolutions to change Church practices based on transgender ideology and have called for the priestly ordination of women, same-sex blessings, as well as changes to Church teaching on sexual acts.

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CNA Staff, Apr 26, 2024 / 09:51 am (CNA).

Families gathered with St. Augustine Bishop Erik Pohlmeier on a sunny Tuesday this week for the dedication of the "Precious Ones Baby Mausoleum" at the city's San Lorenzo Cemetery.

Six years in the making, the 44,000-pound granite mausoleum is designed for babies lost at a young age through miscarriage, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), or stillborn births. A brick walkway marked by a charcoal cross leads up to the brilliant white mausoleum, which is full of burial spaces that are ready to honor little ones. 

Miscarriages are common events, and women often suffer through them quietly, one 2018 study found. About 10% to 20% of known pregnancies end in miscarriage, usually because of development issues, according to the Mayo Clinic. 

More than 20,000 babies are stillborn every year in the U.S., according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and there are more than 3,000 reported cases of sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) in the U.S. each year.

"It's beautiful to see all those families that were there today, that were together," Maureen Shilkunas, director of the Office of Human Life and Dignity at the Diocese of St. Augustine, told CNA in a video call. "I think about all the children that they have lost together and they'll all be entombed together." 

Shilkunas works closely with couples who experience miscarriage or child loss and helps them prepare for the memorial. The remains of miscarried babies are buried together, in a communal entombment, because they are so small. 

"It's a very unusual and a very unique situation to think that we all, when we go to funerals, unless it's our own family, you really don't know who we're buried next to or entombed next to," she continued. 

"But what an opportunity that today was given to these families to see all of these siblings playing together on the lawn and attending Mass together, knowing that their siblings who are home with God will also be together." 

"And that's really a special thought to see that, how they're all together and having that fellowship."

The crypt was a $250,000 project, largely a gift of the laity to the local Church. Michael Hoffman, the director of stewardship and development at the diocese, found that people were eager to give. 

Once Hoffman got the word out, it took only six months to raise the funds and another three months to build the mausoleum.  

May Oliver, the previous director of the human life office, took inspiration for the Precious Ones Mausoleum from a former law in Texas that required burial for all remains of children who died from abortion, miscarriage, or stillbirth.

A woman who had lost two daughters during pregnancy called the diocese asking for help. Though the diocese would sometimes bury miscarried babies in the Catholic cemetery, Oliver wanted to offer more resources to her and other families in these situations.

She decided to start a "Campaign for the Precious Ones" in her diocese, offering Masses for couples who had miscarried or lost a child. 

But the long-term goal was the Precious Ones Mausoleum. 

"It is really an educational process," Oliver told CNA in a phone call. "Before, we used to be much more aware that these babies should be buried, but we have to reeducate our Catholic community and the community at large."

Miscarriages are often "not acknowledged in many ways," Shilkunas said. 

Parents often have to request the remains from the hospital, and in some hospitals, the remains are even treated as clinical waste and incinerated. Women often report a lack of social support, understanding, or even acknowledgement of their loss. 

"It's really time to be talking about these things," Shilkunas said. "And it's time for us to let people know that this should be the common conversation, that we really should be able to walk through [it with] mothers and fathers."

Pohlmeier noted that the pain of the loss is "made worse" when hospitals "don't treasure that gift [of life]."

"There are lots of people who take that [gift of life] very seriously and then suffer the loss of a child … that immediately touches their hearts and moves them in a way that only the awareness of this gift of life can do," Pohlmeier told CNA.

"For the pain that people feel because we treasure the gift of life from its earliest moments, we ought to treat the situation with every dignity and respect," the bishop said.

The diocese built relationships with local funeral homes and hospitals so that couples can hear about Precious Ones in their time of need. Each of the 12 empty crypts will be named for a saint so that they will be easy to identify for visiting family members. Hoffman told CNA that he hopes to add a reflection garden surrounding the mausoleum.

Any couple, regardless of their faith background, can have their child buried in the mausoleum at no cost to them. Pohlmeier said that even those who aborted their child could bring remains to be buried. 

He anticipated that as chemical abortions at home increase, there may be more "immediate regret," with mothers having to deal more directly "with the remains."  

"That experience of [the] healing the power of God and the suffering of loss might come as a shock to some people after it's too late," Pohlmeier added. "But of course, that doesn't change for us at all the care and respect that we would show to both mother and child in those situations."

When asked what it was like to finally see the mausoleum at its dedication, Oliver said it was "beautiful."

The dedication involved a Mass concelebrated by five priests and Pohlmeier, with the Knights of Columbus color guard attending in full regalia, wearing berets and carrying swords. 

It was a "cloudless blue sky," Oliver recalled, and Pohlmeier's homily, which touched on how loving one's neighbor extends "to those that have lost the life of a child," stood out to her. 

"It was beautiful, heartfelt," Hoffman said of the homily. "And he touched everybody, not necessarily [just] the parents that have lost kids, but the people that supported the endeavor, the initiative, people that prayed on it."

The mausoleum not only helps honor unborn children and the grief of their parents but could also have an effect on hospitals and "to our culture as a whole," Pohlmeier told CNA. 

"The simple existence of it has a certain evangelization quality in raising the awareness of how precious a life in the womb is," Pohlmeier noted. 

"It seems crucial to our pro-life witness and to our responding to the grief of families in our parishes," he continued.

"This is really a testament to our faith, our Church, and especially the Diocese of St. Augustine that we value life so much that we will erect something to make sure that [lost children] have a proper burial," Oliver said. 

"My hope is that other dioceses and other states take this on because I can only tell you the comfort that it is bringing to families, and the beauty and the dignity that it is showing to them the way we honor [the children]," Shilkunas added. 

Shilkunas recalled seeing "the pride" that parents had at the dedication ceremony "in talking about these children in front of their children who are running around." 

"It's a beautiful opportunity," she said. 

"It's a testament to the diocese," Hoffman added. "It's going to be there forever, and it's a testament to the diocese that we value life."

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 26, 2024 / 06:30 am (CNA).

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. discussed the importance of his Catholic faith in his daily life, his plan to reduce abortions without federal restrictions, and his opposition to biological males playing in women's sports during an exclusive interview on "The World Over with Raymond Arroyo" Thursday night.

Kennedy, son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, is running a vigorous independent campaign to be the next president of the United States. He launched an independent bid for the White House last October after initially challenging incumbent President Joe Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination.

In the interview, the presidential hopeful opened up about his family's strong faith growing up, how his faith helped him overcome drug addiction, and how it impacts him in his day-to-day life.

"The centerpiece of our lives [growing up] was Catholicism," Kennedy told Arroyo.

"We said the rosary at least once a day, oftentimes three times a day," Kennedy said. "We prayed before and after every [meal]. We read the Bible every night. We read the lives of the saints. We went to church, sometimes twice a day. We would go to the 7 o'clock Mass and 8 o'clock Mass in the summers. It was our whole family, and it was really our whole community. It was part of me growing up."

At age 15, following his father's assassination, Kennedy expressed that he struggled with his faith. He became addicted to drugs, including heroin, until he was 28 years old.

"During that period of time, I wouldn't say I lost my faith, but when you're living against conscience, which you have to do if you're addicted to drugs, you push God out over the periphery of your horizon," Kennedy said. "So the concept of God was, although it never was erased from me, it was just a distant concept that was not part of my day-to-day life."

He credits "a profound spiritual realignment" for his recovery from addiction in early adulthood, which he said has been "the centerpiece of my life ever since." 

"I had a spiritual awakening very early in my recovery, which I was lucky about because I no longer had to struggle with the compulsion to take drugs," Kennedy explained. "That was lifted away from me. But you can't live off the laurels of a spiritual awakening. You have to renew it every day, and you renew it through service to other people."

He said his faith gives him peace in the midst of the storms of life and cited his favorite saints, specifically St. Francis and St. Augustine.

Reducing abortions without federal restrictions

On the issue of abortion, Kennedy said his family has been divided on the issue and that he does not see himself as a "doctrinaire on either side."

Kennedy said he disagrees with former President Donald Trump's plan to leave abortion policies up to the states. Although he acknowledged that "every abortion is a tragedy," he said decisions "should be up to the mother" and that he does not "trust government officials and bureaucrats" to be involved in the issue.

Rather than implementing restrictions on abortion, Kennedy has proposed a plan to subsidize day care "to make sure that no American mother ever has an abortion of a child that she wants to bring to term because she's worried about her financial capacity to raise that child."

"I would like to maximize choice but also minimize the number of abortions that occur every year," Kennedy said.

The presidential hopeful also said he would not reverse the Biden administration's approval of expanding access to the abortion pill in stores like CVS and Walgreens. However, he added that "we ought to know what the side effects are, what the risks are, [and] what the benefits [are]."

Opposing biological males in women's sports

Kennedy said he disagrees with the Biden administration's recent change to Title IX, which interprets sex discrimination as including discrimination of "gender identity."

He is opposed to biological males who identify as women being allowed to participate in women's sports. "I don't think it's fair if a boy can walk off a neighboring playing field and say, I'm a girl now, and I'm going to take that spot that you worked for," the candidate said. "I think we all need to respect people who have sexual differences and protect them, but I don't believe that people who were born men ought to be able to compete in consequential sports."

The 2024 presidential election

At this juncture, Kennedy is polling well behind Biden and Trump but has stronger poll numbers than any independent or third-party candidate since Ross Perot in 1992. A compilation of polls from RealClearPolling currently puts him at just under 12%. 

"All we need to do is to get to 33% to win the election," Kennedy said in the interview. "You don't need 50%. It's a three-way race. It's really a five-way race. All I need is to get to 33%, and I'm close to that in a bunch of states."

The election is on Tuesday, Nov. 5.

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