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Caracas, Venezuela, Aug 23, 2024 / 06:30 am (CNA).

The first Catholic missionaries arrived in Papua New Guinea just 70 years ago. In a place where the faith is so recent, Father Martin Prado, amissionary of the Institute of the Incarnate Word (IVE) who does pastoral work in the country, highlighted the conversions that occur "through very simple things that reflect that it is God who is behind it."

Pope Francis will visit Papua New Guinea as part of an apostolic journey that will take place Sept. 2-13 in Oceania and that will also take him to Indonesia, East Timor, and Singapore.

In an interview with the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Prado, who has been in the country for 10 years, explained that the faith of the locals is "a youthful faith" from which I learn a lot." "The faith of Christians here is very much alive and very simple," he said.

However, Prado noted that "the indigenous spirituality is still very influential, which makes it difficult for them to achieve a full understanding of Christianity" adding that "there is a strong commitment here to ancestral and cultural traditions that are not compatible with the Gospel."

"The spiritual beliefs and superstitions are persistent and sometimes get mixed up with the Catholic Faith. Our work, as missionaries, is to help Christians to understand that these things do not go together, and try to effect change," he explained.

His work, he continued, bears fruit, and many of the locals manage to discern on their own between what is false and what is true "despite not being able to read or having had any sort of sophisticated formation."

"Nonetheless, when you don't take care of your spiritual life, or live for others, it becomes very easy to be influenced by superstition and superficial elements," he added

The importance of the papal visit

According to Prado, the pope's trip "was greeted with great surprise and joy by everyone" but he noted that due to the limited access to the news and social media on the island, few were aware the pope was coming.

"We are all very excited and working hard to be able to welcome the pope as best as we can, despite the simplicity and poverty in which we live," he said.

Regarding the pastoral fruits of the visit, the missionary hopes that the faith and spiritual life of believers will be strengthened, highlighting that people are preparing with great enthusiasm for the arrival of Pope Francis by praying the Rosary every night. 

In addition, the local church has organized talks, hymns, some dances, and times for confession in which thousands of people have participated. "It was very moving," the priest commented.

"People are looking forward to the Holy Father's arrival with enthusiasm and excitement, and awaiting the encounter with the Lord which they so desire," he shared.

The challenge of youth

"Young people do not have models to follow or serve as inspiration, and only a few have the support and accompaniment of their parents to commit to their spouses for life. Forming good families is a challenge, but we see that, little by little, things begin to change," the priest emphasized.

Prado encouraged Catholics around the world to pray for the country, for the local population, and for the pope's trip. He also asked the faithful to pray a lot for Papuan missionaries and vocations to the priesthood, "which is what really can lead to change."

"In 2019, we started a group to pray for vocations, and since then the number of priests has doubled. We have started to see local vocations, which we had never had before. We already have three seminarians and two novices," he 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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Lima Newsroom, Aug 22, 2024 / 18:30 pm (CNA).

Every Aug. 22 the International Day of Victims of Acts of Violence based on Religion or Belief is commemorated, an observance established by the UN General Assembly on May 28, 2019.

In resolution A/RES/73/296, the United Nations expresses its concern over "continuing acts of intolerance and violence based on religion or belief against individuals, including against persons belonging to religious communities and religious minorities around the world."

The resolution reminds member states that "they have the primary responsibility to promote and protect human rights, including the human rights of persons belonging to religious minorities, including their right to exercise their religion or belief freely."

Ewelina Ochab, a lawyer and writer, specializing in the situation of religious minorities in the Middle East, was one of the main promoters of the initiative approved by the UN. In August 2019, she said that  "it was a long process with many participants, but Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) was the inspiration."

Ochab said that having a date to remember the victims and survivors of religious persecution is not "a goal in itself," but is important "so as not to forget our commitments" and "the beginning of a long campaign to prevent more victims in the future."

The international executive president of ACN, Thomas Heine-Geldern, explained in 2019 the commemoration of this international day is something that "we have been waiting for for a long time" and represents "an important step so that in the future the voice of persecuted Christians is heard more."

The pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need has been working for Christians who are persecuted for their faith for more than 70 years.

Heine-Geldern also said that this commemoration should initiate "a process that will lead the international community to a coordinated plan of action to end religious persecution and prevent it in the future."

"In reality, it is the duty of the United Nations, governments and political actors to enforce the human right to religious freedom. This symbolic day must now be followed by concrete actions," he emphasized.

The ACN CEO also stressed that although "all religious communities regularly suffer attacks, international reports on religious freedom unfortunately confirm that Christians are the most persecuted."

In its 2023 report on religious freedom, ACN revealed that "the fundamental right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion is violated in one in three countries (31%), or in 61 out of 196 nations."

Thus "almost 4.9 billion people, or 62% of the world's population, live in countries where religious freedom is severely restricted."

As for Christians, the pontifical foundation estimates that 325 million believers are persecuted for their religion, especially in countries where they are a religious minority.

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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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 22, 2024 / 15:30 pm (CNA).

A first of its kind study by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) shows that 28% of dioceses in the country offer Spanish-language Masses. 

This number suggests a rise in the number of U.S. Catholic parishes offering Spanish-language Masses over the last 10 years.  

Alejandro Aguilera-Titus, assistant director of Hispanic Affairs in the USCCB's Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church, said in a statement that the survey "reflects the dedication of our dioceses to Hispanic and Latino communities."

He called the results of the survey "heartening" because it shows a "widespread commitment to build a more integrated and united Catholic Church in the United States."

Survey findings

The bishops' survey included data from 175 dioceses and 16,279 parishes. The survey found that 4,479 parishes — 28% of all U.S. parishes — currently offer one or more Spanish-language Masses.

Though there is no precise data to compare this number to, it suggests an approximately 10% increase from 2014 when the bishops reported that 81% of the around 5,000 parishes offering non-English Masses were celebrating Mass in Spanish.

Additionally, the survey said that 2,760 parishes have a Hispanic ministry presence but do not offer a Spanish-language Mass.

Not included in the survey were the Archdiocese for the Military Services, the Diocese of Saint Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, and the Eastern Catholic eparchies in the U.S.

The Church's Hispanic hotspots 

The city with the highest number of parishes offering Spanish-language Masses in the U.S. is Los Angeles. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has 240 parishes, that is 83% of all parishes in the archdiocese, offering a Spanish-language Mass.

Southern California has an especially high concentration with 78% — 423 out of 540 — of parishes in the region's four dioceses offering a Spanish-language Mass.

Texas and Florida are also hotspots for Hispanic ministry.

All but one parish in the south Texas dioceses of El Paso and Laredo offers a Spanish-language Mass. Meanwhile, a Spanish-language Mass is offered in all 72 parishes in the Diocese of Brownsville.

In the Archdiocese of Miami, 89 out of 109 — 81% — of parishes offer a Spanish-language Mass. The twenty parishes not offering a Spanish-language Mass still have some form of Hispanic ministry presence.

Why it matters

According to the Pew Research Center, Latinos make up 33% of the country's total 52 million Catholics.

Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson Perez, one of the USCCB's leaders in Hispanic evangelization, told CNA in an interview earlier this year that the spiritual health of Latino Catholics is vital to the U.S. Church.

He also shared that the bishops are aware of the danger posed by an increasing number of young Hispanics leaving the Church.

José Manuel De Urquidi, founder of a Latino Catholic ministry called the Juan Diego Network, told CNA that the survey further demonstrates the need for the entire Church, not just specialized Hispanic ministry offices, to evangelize to the Latino community, especially to the young. 

"The vast majority of Gen Z and Alpha generations are Latinos," he pointed out. "In order to have Latinos attend weekly masses we have to go out there and try to understand them so we can evangelize them and form them so they are attracted to the sacraments. For this we need to do a lot of things as a Church, not rely on the overwhelmed and under-budgeted Hispanic ministries." 

The U.S. bishops released a pastoral plan at the end of last year to better minister to the country's growing Hispanic Catholic population

The plan is meant to be a guiding document in serving the country's Hispanic population over the next 10 years, leading up to the 500th anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 2031 and the 2,000th anniversary of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in 2033.

Commenting on the new survey, Bishop Oscar Cantú of San Jose, chairman of the USCCB's Subcommittee on Hispanic Affairs, said in a statement that "surveys like this are vital to understand and address the response of the Church to the needs and aspirations of our Hispanic/Latino communities."

"There are common obstacles that dioceses face when engaging in Hispanic/Latino ministry, such as bilingual priests, or limited resources," he said. "In a practical way, this survey helps to measure our work and determine how we can continue serving this thriving part of our Church and the importance of ongoing ministry to the needs of our Spanish-speaking brothers and sisters."

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Vatican City, Aug 22, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Tickets for Pope Francis' Mass in King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels at the end of September sold out in record time on Monday.

After becoming available for free online, 32,000 tickets for the Sept. 29 Mass were snatched up in just 90 minutes, surprising local organizers of the pope's three-day trip to Belgium.

"This pleasantly surprised us; it's very positive to see such a high demand," the spokesman for the Belgian bishops' conference, Tommy Scholtes, told French Catholic newspaper La Croix.

During the Mass, Pope Francis will beatify Carmelite Sister Ana de Jesús, a spiritual daughter of St. Teresa of Ávila and a friend to St. John of the Cross. Born Ana de Lobera y Torres, the religious helped expand the Discalced Carmelites to France and Belgium at the turn of the 17th century.

The Brussels soccer stadium is Belgium's largest, with a seating capacity of almost 50,000 people. Besides hosting the matches of the national soccer team, it has also been the venue for concerts by world-class music artists, such as Madonna, U2, and the Rolling Stones.

Organizers explained that the approximately 18,000 remaining seats in the city-owned stadium are being reserved for groups from parishes, dioceses, and movements. After group registration closes, they may be able to release a few hundred more individual tickets for those who missed out on Monday morning.

Pope Francis will visit three cities in Belgium to mark the 600th anniversary of the Catholic universities of Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve from Sept. 26–29. He will also make a brief stop in the small European country of Luxembourg on Sept. 26.

In Belgium, a constitutional monarchy, the pope will greet King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, and have time with Prime Minister Alexander De Croo. He will also have meetings with professors and students at the country's two Catholic universities and with Catholic clergy and religious.

The pope will also hold a private meeting with victims of sexual abuse during his visit.

Francis' final morning in the Low Countries will be spent with local Catholics in King Baudouin Stadium for the celebration of Sunday Mass on Sept. 29.

A historically Catholic country, since the 1950s, Belgium has seen a significant decline in the number of its practicing Christians.

A European Commission poll in 2021 found that 44% of the country, which has a population of over 11.5 million, identifies as Catholic, down from 72% of the population in 1981.

The next largest demographic identified in the poll was those who say they have no religion, at 41%

A 2023 study by the Catholic university KU Leuven estimates the number of Catholics in Belgium to be slightly higher, at 50% of the population, but with just 9% attending Mass at least once a month.

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Mundelein, Ill., Aug 22, 2024 / 04:00 am (CNA).

The Catholic Church annually celebrates the feast of the Queenship of Mary on Aug. 22. Most people, upon hearing of this celebration, would think of it as something rather sweet and sentimental, a quaint devotion for grandmothers with a taste for saccharine spirituality. But when we examine this feast as we should, through biblical eyes, a very different picture emerges.

The clearest scriptural indication that Mary of Nazareth is a queen is a remarkable passage in the 12th chapter of the Book of Revelation. The visionary author sees an extraordinary sign in the sky: a woman clothed with the sun, the moon at her feet, and a coronet of 12 stars on her head.

Twelve, of course, is a designation of the tribes of Israel, and the crown is a rather unambiguous indication that we are dealing with a royal figure. It soon becomes clear that this woman is not only a queen but, more precisely, a queen mother, for we hear that she is laboring to give birth to a king, one who is "destined to rule the nations with an iron rod."

Both the queen mother and the infant king are involved in a terrible struggle. The visionary tells us that a fearsome dragon is poised to devour the baby as soon as it comes forth. But God sweeps the child up and brings him to the safety of the divine throne, while the mother flees to the desert where she finds refuge. In the wake of this, a war breaks out between "Michael and his angels" and the dragon and his angelic supporters. This image is, of course, symbolically rich and multivalent, but at the very least it indicates that the queen and her kingly son are protagonists in a spiritual warfare of some magnitude. They are, in a word, warriors.

Just before this passage, at the very end of Chapter 11 of the Book of Revelation (and remember that the chapter designations came many centuries after this text was originally composed), we find the vision of the heavenly temple. Amid flashes of lightning, peals of thunder, and a mighty hailstorm, the seer spies the Ark of the Covenant within the temple.

The ark, we recall, was the container of the remnants of the Ten Commandments, and hence the most sacred object for ancient Israel. Placed within the Holy of Holies in the Jerusalem Temple, the ark was understood to be the link between heaven and earth, the definitive bearer of the divine presence.

When King David brought the ark into the Holy City, he danced before it with reckless abandon. Moreover, at various points throughout its history, Israel brought the ark into battle, most notably when the priests marched with it seven times around the walls of Jericho, before those battlements came tumbling down.

Now the juxtaposition of the vision of the ark in the heavenly temple and the vision of the queen mother clothed with the sun cannot have been accidental. The author of the Book of Revelation is telling us that Mary, the bearer of the Word of God made flesh, was the Ark of the Covenant par excellence.

Indeed, when she visited her cousin Elizabeth, pregnant with the unborn John the Baptist, he leapt in his mother's womb for joy, a beautiful infant imitation of the dance of David before the true ark. Both ark and queen are associated with spiritual warfare.

In her Magnificat prayer, recorded in the Gospel of Luke, Mary speaks of the God "who has cast down the mighty from their thrones and lifted up the lowly." Like her Son, Mary does not fight with the puny weapons of the world but rather with the weapons of love, forgiveness, compassion, and provocative nonviolence.

Those who have experienced a Jesuit retreat based upon the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius will recognize the "two standards" meditation. Ignatius asks the retreatant to imagine a great field of battle. Arrayed on one side, under the standard of the Church, is the army of Christ; and on the other, under the standard of Satan, is the army of the dark powers. Then Ignatius compels the retreatant to make a decision, indeed the most fundamental and important choice imaginable, the election that will determine everything else he will say and do for the rest of his life: Which army will you join?

Bob Dylan posed the same stark spiritual option in his 1979 song "Gotta Serve Somebody:" ("It may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but you're gonna have to serve somebody.") In other areas of life, a fair amount of nuance and subtlety is called for, but at the most basic level, where one determines the fundamental orientation of one's life, things actually become quite simple and clear.

The feast of the Queenship of Mary has to do with this choice: Where do you stand in the great spiritual struggle? With whose army do you fight? Do you march under the banner of the Queen Mother and her Son, or with their enemies? Do you go out with the Ark of the Covenant or against it? Say what you want about those questions, but they are neither sweet nor sentimental.

This article was originally published on CNA on Sept. 11, 2012, and has been updated.

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Vatican City, Aug 22, 2024 / 05:30 am (CNA).

Around the world, bishops together with the Catholic faithful of their dioceses in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa are gearing up for the second session of the 2021-2024 Synod on Synodality to take place Oct.2-27 in Vatican City. 

The worldwide process launched by Pope Francis for the Catholic Church is centered on the theological concept of "synodality" or "journeying together" as the People of God. Synodality places particular emphasis on renewing the call of each baptized person to actively participate in the mission Jesus Christ entrusted to his church. 

As part of this global process of listening, dialogue, and discernment, regional bishops' conferences — in collaboration with clergy, religious men and women, and laypeople — have spearheaded continental-wide workshops to discuss key theological and pastoral considerations raised in the Instrumentum Laboris, the Vatican's working document for the second and last global session of the Synod on Synodality released on July 9.  

Europe

This month, 42 representatives from local churches across Europe will be divided into small focus groups at an Aug. 29-31 conference in Linz, Austria, to discuss the themes outlined in the Vatican's working document for the second session of the Synod. 

Members of the Council of the Bishops' Conferences of Europe (CCEE), including the presidents of the bishops' conferences of Italy, Austria, and Switzerland, will attend the three-day meeting, together with European experts in theology and canon law as well as Vatican representatives. 

Pastoral theologian Klara-Antonia Csiszar, who took part in the first session of the Synod on Synodality last year, will also be present at the Linz meeting. She has said that diversity at all levels within the Catholic Church will be a key focus area of the meeting led by the CCEE.   

"We have attached importance to how diversity can be perceived in Europe," Csiszar said in an interview with Kathpress. "What message does this diversity have for the Church in Europe, what does it mean for our local churches, [and] what voice does the Church in Europe play in the symphony of the universal Church?" 

Asia

In Asia, the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC) held its regional workshop Aug. 5-8 in Bangkok and identified the necessity for unity and harmony for the growth of the Catholic church in a largely non-Christian region. The meeting was attended by 38 delegates from local churches spread across 17 countries.

"Asia has nurtured a diversity of cultures and religions, and by embracing harmony, mutual appreciation, and respect for differences, we can help the universal Church understand more about the experience of walking together amidst diversity," Cardinal Stephen Chow said in the Sunday Examiner.  

In association with its social communications office, the FABC have recently launched the "Synodality Asia" website to engage the Catholic faithful to engage with the synodal path of Asia.

Latin America

In South America, the Episcopal Council of Latin America and the Caribbean (CELAM) held a three-day congress in Bogota, Colombia, attended by nearly 2,000 people. Approximately 200 people attended workshops in person while an additional 1,200 people participated online in the Aug. 9-11 congress to discuss topics including church structures, the role of women, and the meaning of mission.

Referring to the 2023 synthesis report of the first session of the Synod on Synodality, Archbishop of Caracas in Venezuela, Monsignor Raúl Biord, said "the poverty of the proposals [on the key synod theme of mission] in the report is striking" and therefore challenged participants to consider more profoundly the relationship between synodality and mission as outlined by the Vatican in the Instrumentum Laboris. 

"Reducing mission to a missionary pastoral care as proposed in many of our diocesan organizational charts is unfocused and impoverishing," the archbishop said at the congress. "The true goal of synodality is the mission to which we are called (by the mandate of the Risen One), in which we are involved (from the Trinitarian dynamic) and committed (by baptism and the sacraments of Christian initiation)." 

Africa

Prior to the release of the Instrumentum Laboris, the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) together with the African Synodal Initiative (ASI), convened a two-day meeting in Nairobi, Kenya in April. 

Fifty delegates from local churches came together to explore the ways and means of being "a synodal church in mission" and discussed the unique experience and distinct contribution of the peoples of Africa in the evangelization of the continent. 

Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, president of SECAM and archbishop of Kinshasa, said the meeting recognized the importance of fortifying the Christian identity in the region.    

"There was consensus among delegates that Africa must embrace the experience of Small Christian Communities (SCCs); and the rich philosophical principles of Ubuntu, which highlight the values of family, fraternity and solidarity. These discussions highlighted the need to integrate these distinct cultural and community forces into the broader mission of our Church," Ambongo said in a press briefing following the April 23-26 conference. 

The Oct. 2-27 meeting to be held in the Vatican with Pope Francis will close the discernment phase of the Synod on Synodality. The conclusions of both the 2023 and 2024 global sessions — as accepted and approved by the pope — are then expected to be implemented in all local churches with the purpose of creating a listening and more participative Catholic Church worldwide. 

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CNA Newsroom, Aug 22, 2024 / 06:30 am (CNA).

Several pro-life leaders have told CNA that defeating the Florida abortion amendment could reverse the momentum in the national abortion fight. A new poll by Mainstreet Research and Florida Atlantic University (FUA) now suggests they could succeed.

Since the overturn of Roe v. Wade, abortion amendments like the one on the Florida ballot have passed by wide margins in California, Ohio, Michigan, and Vermont.

Nonetheless, pro-life Floridians, including Florida Right to Life and the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops are determined to put up a fight, in an effort to make Florida the first state to defeat an abortion amendment.

What is the Florida abortion amendment?

Titled the "Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion" or simply "Amendment 4," the measure would invalidate both Florida's six-week and fifteen-week pro-life protections for the unborn.

The amendment would also allow abortion past the point of viability through all nine months of pregnancy if determined by a healthcare provider to be necessary for the health of the mother.

Poll findings

According to the Mainstreet/FUA poll, which was released on Aug. 14, it could be a close contest.

The poll found that most Floridians – 56% - support the amendment. Though that's a majority, it still remains just shy of the 60% threshold required for passage.

The possibility that the amendment will pass, however, is still substantial. The poll found that while nearly a quarter — 23% — of Florida voters are undecided on the measure, that number is higher than those who are solidly opposed, who comprise only 21%.  

While an FUA analysis of the poll shows that Democrats are largely united with 80% in support of the amendment, there is a significant contingent of Republicans — 35% — who support the measure as well. Meanwhile, 59% of independents, 62% of voters ages 18-49, and 59% of women polled registered support for the amendment.

The 56% in favor of the amendment marks a significant increase from another poll taken by Mainstreet/FUA in April that found 49% of voters in support of the amendment's abortion expansions. However, 56% is well below the level of support suggested by earlier polls such as one by the University of North Florida's Public Opinion Research Lab which found 69% of voters supporting the amendment, and another by the Florida Chamber of Commerce which found 61% in support.

The 'end of the pro-life movement' in Florida

Among the most outspoken opponents of the amendment is Governor Ron DeSantis, who has said that it would radically alter the abortion landscape in Florida.

Speaking at a fundraiser in opposition to the amendment last week at Jesuit High School in Tampa, DeSantis said that the amendment's passage would mean the "end of the pro-life movement" in Florida, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

At last week's fundraiser, DeSantis emphasized the need to reach abortion moderates and undecided voters to communicate what he has called the radical nature of the amendment.  

"If you look at the state of Florida, we do not have a pro-life majority," said DeSantis. "We've got a big chunk, but we don't have a majority. If only people that are pro-life oppose it, it very well might pass."

As of Aug. 21, the Tampa Bay Times reported that DeSantis had raised $2.5 million to defeat both the abortion amendment and another amendment legalizing marijuana. This is significantly less than the tens of millions raised by amendment proponents pushing for its passage.

Additional opposition

DeSantis is not the only Florida official working in opposition to the amendment. In July the Florida Financial Impact Estimating Conference approved a "financial impact statement" to be placed alongside the amendment on the ballot. The statement warns that the abortion measure could have a depressive effect on the state's economy.

Although members of the campaign to pass the abortion amendment sued to keep the impact statement from being on the ballot, the Florida Supreme Court ruled on Aug. 21 that it could remain.  

Florida bishops weigh in

Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski told CNA that while he was "heartened" by the Mainstreet/FUA poll he knows there is a lot of work still to be done. 

Wenski shared that the Florida Catholic bishops are planning to invest over $1 million in efforts to stop the abortion amendment. 

"If anybody wants to know a good reason to oppose Amendment 4, I tell them that last year in Florida there were 80,000 abortions and so that's 80,000 reasons why we should oppose Amendment 4," he said. 

The Archdiocese of Miami has just launched a campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of the amendment and to mobilize voters against it. The campaign will run from now until election day and will include voter education workshops, educational outreach, and a social media blitz with the theme "#VoteNoOn4."

The archdiocese's campaign will highlight various reasons to vote against the amendment, including that it puts women at risk, allows third-trimester abortions, and eliminates a law requiring parental consent for minors obtaining abortions.

As part of the campaign, the archdiocese produced a video highlighting "what they don't tell you about Florida's Amendment 4."

Responding to criticisms that the Church should not be involved in political matters, Wenski said that "abortion is not a religious issue, it's a human rights issue." 

"We are people of faith but we bring our faith to our exercise of our citizenship," he added. "I suspect that as we get closer to November it'll be more intense and more intensified on both sides. But we'll stay the course and continue to advocate as we should."

Winning Florida could turn the tide

Pro-life leaders understand the importance Florida plays on the national stage and are aware of what winning or losing in the Sunshine State could mean for the entire pro-life movement.

After the amendment was officially added to the ballot in April, Kelsey Pritchard, director of state public affairs for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, told CNA that "if we win Florida, I think it can really turn the tide on these ballot measure fights."

Lynda Bell, co-chair of Do No Harm Florida, a coalition of groups dedicated to defeating the abortion amendment, told CNA that the danger of the measure passing comes from voters - Catholics included – not understanding how far the amendment will expand abortion in Florida.

Members of Bell's coalition have been crisscrossing the state, handing out informational materials and giving talks to schools, churches, and community groups.

"If we can get in front of as many people as possible, they will vote no," she said.

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Denver, Colo., Aug 21, 2024 / 16:45 pm (CNA).

The Catholic community in Singapore released a theme song for Pope Francis' upcoming visit to the country. 

Pope Francis will visit the Southeast Asian countries of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Singapore from Sept. 2 - 13. The 11-day multi-country trip will be the longest papal trip of Francis' papacy.

The song, entitled 'One Church, One People,' was composed by Ethan Hsu, a founding member of the Singaporean band Mystic Font and parishioner of the Church of Saint Mary of the Angels. 

Telling the story of salvation from Genesis to the New Testament, the song is designed to reflect liturgical principles and encourage unity within the Church, according to LiCAS News. 

"We are one Church made holy in the Lord, led by the Spirit, one people of God," the song says. "We will rise with him, Jesus Christ, our King, together we are light for the world."

Hsu told LiCAS News that the song "reminds us that we are one Church, made holy in the Lord and led by the Holy Spirit, galvanized as one people of God to become light for the world."

The songwriter turned to prayer to make sure the composition of the song aligned with the values of the Catholic faith. 

Hsu called the process of creating this song one of unity and hope.

"It was testimony that we found unity and hope in this project, even within our own little work group," he said.

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CNA Staff, Aug 21, 2024 / 17:30 pm (CNA).

An Australian archbishop sent Servant of God Eileen O'Connor's cause for sainthood to Rome on Monday in an important step on the road to leading to the possible declaration of Australia's second saint.

O'Connor, who at the age of three suffered from a debilitating spinal injury, accomplished much during her 28 years of life, founding the Our Lady's Nurses of the Poor, known as the "Brown Sisters" for their brown habits. The congregation was dedicated to care for the impoverished who were sick.  

Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney signed a final decree on Aug. 16 and sent documents detailing evidence for O'Connor's cause to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints in Rome on Monday, according to the archdiocesan paper The Catholic Weekly. Her cause for sainthood first opened in February 2020.

O'Connor would be Australia's second saint, following St. Mary of the Cross MacKillop, who was canonized in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI.  

Eileen O'Connor was born in Melbourne in 1892, the eldest of four children, to devout Irish Catholic parents.

Due to a curvature of the spine, O'Connor was three foot nine, and could not stand or walk for much of her life. 

She suffered from tuberculosis of the spine, stunted growth, periods of blindness, long periods of paralysis, and extreme nerve pain, and had a condition that is now known as transverse myelitis, which involves inflammation of the spine. 

When her father died, the family experienced financial challenges. Father Edward McGrath, a parish priest and member of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, found accommodations for the family.

O'Connor later worked with McGrath to found a congregation of nurses to care for those who were poor and ill. She told McGrath that she had experienced a vision of Mary, who encouraged her to embrace her suffering for others.

They faced many challenges with the congregation initially and were accused by a Sacred Heart missionary of maintaining an improper relationship. As a result of the allegations, which were later disproven, McGrath faced limitations in his role as a priest. His order threatened him with expulsion unless he ceased contact with O'Connor. He refused and traveled to Rome, where he successfully appealed his case and was reinstated in his order. 

In 1915, O'Connor, with the help of her nurse, traveled to Rome and London to support his cause in 1915. She was granted an audience with Pope Benedict XV. 

While McGrath's appeal was successful, he was prevented from returning to Australia for almost three decades. He traveled to Britain where he served as a chaplain for the British Army during World War I and received the Military Cross and a nomination for the Victoria Cross for acts of bravery in war.  

O'Connor continued with her work on her own. She led the congregation, who called her "Little Mother," until she died at 28 on January 10, 1921, of chronic tuberculosis in her spine. 

When her remains were later exhumed and moved to the chapel at the congregation's home in 1936, her body was found to be incorrupt. 

Our Lady's Nurses for the Poor continued its ministry in Australia. Now an independent ministry of the Sisters, the Brown Nurses serve as employed nurses who care for the sick and the poor in their homes. 

Canonization process 

Father Anthony Robbie, a priest of the Archdiocese of Sydney and diocesan postulator of O'Connor's cause, will be traveling with Archbishop Fisher to Rome to present the evidence to the dicastery after four years of investigation. 

Father Julian Wellspring oversaw the cause which began about four years ago in February 2020. 

O'Connor was declared a Servant of God in 2018. 

The modern-day path to sainthood entails a three-stage process in which individuals are declared in succession venerable, blessed, and saint. 

Church authorities examine and investigate the life of the person at least five years after his or her death, then send the results to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, where nine theologians will vote on whether the person has lived a virtuous, heroic life. If the panel agrees, the information will be reviewed by cardinals and bishops and then brought before the pope. With his approval, the Dicastery will declare the person "venerable." In the case of martyrs, the title of "blessed" is automatically given. 

A venerable is declared blessed when a miracle attributed to his or her intercession is confirmed by a canonical investigation. A blessed can be canonized after the confirmation of a second miracle.

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Chicago, Ill., Aug 21, 2024 / 18:40 pm (CNA).

Kristen Day, executive director of Democrats for Life of America, denounced the presence of Planned Parenthood's "abortion van" offering free abortions, vasectomies, and emergency contraceptives just outside the Democratic National Convention. 

Then she immediately urged her organization and its allies to roll up their sleeves. 

On Monday, the group announced a new diaper drive initiative for local needy and migrant families. So far, it has raised over $4,000. 

"The response has been amazing," she told the National Catholic Register on Wednesday. "I just feel so blessed to be in this position where we can really help needy families in the community." 

Day's group, a political advocacy nonprofit committed to electing anti-abortion Democrats, was scheduled to make its first drop-off Wednesday night at a local pregnancy center, the Chicago Life Center, on the South Side.

"We're so excited to help and provide these diapers," she said, "because that's what real Democrats do. They help people." 

Day concedes that her idea of what a "real" Democrat is isn't shared by very many of the delegates and politicians inside Chicago's United Center and McCormick Place this week. Yet, she thinks that's all the more reason to work to get her message of life across to her fellow Democrats. 

'The party has left pro-life Democrats'

Day and her colleagues are in Chicago, she said, to meet delegates and Democratic Party activists, to listen and to let them know that a pro-abortion Democratic Party doesn't speak for them. 

"The party has left pro-life Democrats," she said. "We don't want to leave. We love our party, and we want it to be strong and inclusive. We want to give diapers to people in need. We are the real Democrats." 

In response to Democrats for Life's diaper drive, Day has received a deluge of stories from women across the country who have been harmed by abortion in the past. They expressed shock and horror that abortion has been celebrated as a positive moral good so far at the DNC. She said many thanked her for speaking out.  

 "One woman was 77-years old," Day said. "She had an abortion decades ago, and she's still suffering. The celebration of abortion at the DNC is just so deeply disturbing. It's unbelievable how far the party has fallen." 

One moment from Tuesday's convention proceedings struck Day as particularly troubling. Kate Cox, a pro-abortion activist from Texas chosen to speak on behalf of the Texas delegation during the convention roll call, recounted her experience of having to leave the state of Texas to have an abortion after her unborn child had been diagnosed with Trisomy 18, a condition that has a low chance of survival. 

"One thing we are overlooking here with these tragic stories is that some of these cases where women are being paraded out to show that abortion is a moral good," said Day, who has worked for decades to expand the pro-life influence within the Democratic Party. 

"So I think we need to do a better job educating people and listening to pro-life doctors who have been saving mothers and babies for decades. And we should not exploit women for political reasons," Day said. 

Day told the Register that she will attend the final two nights of the convention and is open to more discussions with current party members. 

"So we're still fighting for our party to do the right thing," she said.

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