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CNA Staff, Feb 5, 2025 / 18:35 pm (CNA).

President Donald Trump signed an order to keep men out of women's sports on Wednesday afternoon in a move intended "to protect opportunities for women and girls to compete in safe and fair sports," according to the order.   

"With this executive order, the war on women's sports is over," Trump said as, surrounded by young female athletes, he signed the order, titled "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports." 

"Under the Trump administration we will defend the proud tradition of female athletes and we will not allow men to beat up, injure, and cheat our women and our girls," Trump continued. "From now on, women's sports will be only for women." 

The order rescinds funding from educational programs "that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities, which results in the endangerment, humiliation, and silencing of women and girls and deprives them of privacy."  

In recent years, a growing number of women and girls have been harmed by the inclusion of men in women's sports. For instance, Payton McNabb was 17 when she became partially paralyzed after a biologically male athlete spiked a volleyball into her face. McNabb has brain damage and paralysis on her right side and has difficulty walking without falling.

In recent years, women have begun to speak out against men competing in women-only sports. For instance, swimmer Riley Gaines and more than a dozen other female athletes filed a lawsuit against the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) last year alleging that allowing men to compete in women's competitions denies women protections promised under Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972.  

The Executive order is based on Title IX, which bans discrimination based on sex in schools and was designed to protect women's rights in higher education. The order notes that under Title IX, "educational institutions receiving Federal funds cannot deny women an equal opportunity to participate in sports."

Federal funding will be pulled from any schools that don't comply. 

"If you let men take over women's sports teams or invade your locker rooms you will be investigated for violations of  Title IX and you will risk your federal funding," Trump said. "There will be no federal funding." 

The order is designed to "defend the safety of athletes, protect competitive integrity, and uphold the promise of Title IX," press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a Wednesday briefing prior to Trump's signing of the order.  

The order also looks ahead to the Olympics, which will be held in Italy in 2026 and in Los Angeles in 2028. 

Last year's Summer Olympics in France was peppered with controversies about requirements for participation in women's sports when an Algerian boxer with male chromosomes defeated an Italian woman boxer in an Olympics boxing match after landing a devastating punch to the woman's face in the brief 46-second fight.

The order instructs the Secretary of State to "use all appropriate and available measures to see that the International Olympic Committee amends the standards governing Olympic sporting events to promote fairness, safety, and the best interests of female athletes by ensuring that eligibility for participation in women's sporting events is determined according to sex and not gender identity or testosterone."  

The order follows Trump's Jan. 20 executive order "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government" that asserted that the federal government recognizes two sexes, male and female, and that those sexes are unchangeable and grounded in reality. In another executive order, Trump restricted transgender surgeries and treatments for minors.

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CNA Staff, Feb 5, 2025 / 14:55 pm (CNA).

A teenager has been arrested and charged with murder after police say he stabbed a fellow student to death at a Catholic high school in England on Monday. 

The alleged attacker, whom police have not named because of his age, reportedly stabbed 15-year-old Harvey Willgoose to death Feb. 3 at All Saints Catholic High School in the South Yorkshire city of Sheffield. The school has about 1,300 pupils, aged between 11 and 18, the Guardian reported. 

The local Diocese of Hallam, which encompasses all of Sheffield, released a statement Feb. 4 paying tribute to "our much-loved student, Harvey Willgoose."

Bishop Ralph Heskett of Hallam said he will be asking all priests of the diocese to offer Mass for Willgoose. In addition, the bishop said, St. Marie's Cathedral is open for those wanting a place for private prayer.

A Mass at St. Joseph's Parish in Handsworth at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 8, will be celebrated for Willgoose's intention, he continued. Willgoose was a former pupil at the elementary school there. 

"Our prayers, and those of every parish and school, are with Harvey, his parents, family, and friends for a young life lost and all those affected by this tragedy," the bishop said. 

"My thoughts are also with the students, staff, and community of All Saints Catholic High School at this time. In God's peace, and in God's presence, we must come together as a community of faith to comfort each other."

Steve Davies, the CEO of the trust that runs the school, expressed his "heartfelt condolences."

"Harvey was an invaluable part of our school community. An immensely popular young man with his fellow students and teachers alike, he had a smile that would light up the room. Harvey was young. He was precious. He was loved," Davies said. 

"A tragic and shocking incident such as this shakes us to our core and is the opposite of the ethos of what All Saints stands for — a loving, caring school community."

"We are assisting the police in their ongoing investigation and echo their call to refrain from engaging in speculation and misinformation whilst they establish the facts behind this tragic incident," he concluded. 

Members of the community continue to contribute to a makeshift shrine honoring Willgoose with flowers, balloons, and tributes at a spot outside the gates of the school. 

Prior to the Feb. 3 incident, the school went into lockdown Jan. 29 after staff and students were informed of "threats of violence" between a "small number of students," the Yorkshire Post reported. Local police have not announced if the two incidents are linked. 

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Vatican City, Feb 5, 2025 / 09:40 am (CNA).

Pope Francis on Wednesday continued his catechesis on "Jesus Christ Our Hope," saying love is the force that compels people, including the Blessed Virgin Mary, to share their faith in God with others. 

Unable to read his prepared catechesis due to a cold, the Holy Father asked an aide to read his reflection on St. Luke's Gospel account of the Visitation at his Feb. 5 general audience held inside the Vatican's Paul VI Audience Hall.

"The Virgin Mary visits St. Elizabeth, but it is above all Jesus, in his mother's womb, who visits his people (cf. Lk 1:68)," he said. "Mary gets up and sets out on a journey, like all those who are called to in the Bible."

During the audience, the pope explained that the "unlimited readiness" of the men and women of the Bible is "the only act" that enabled them to respond to God's call, particularly during times of uncertainty. 

"This young daughter of Israel does not choose to protect herself from the world," he said. "She does not fear dangers and the judgments of others but goes out toward other people."

Highlighting the need for people to know and feel loved by God, the 88-year-old pope encouraged Christians to be open to receiving God's love, "a force that sets love in motion," and, like the Mother of God, passing it on to others.

"Mary feels the push of this love and goes to help a woman who is her relative but also an elderly woman who, after a long wait, is welcoming an unhoped-for pregnancy, difficult to deal with at her age," he said.

"But the Virgin also goes to Elizabeth to share her faith in the God of the impossible and her hope in the fulfillment of his promises," he continued.

The Holy Father also praised the impact of Mary's humility expressed in her hymn of praise, the Magnificat, in salvation history.

"Mary does not want to sing 'out of the choir' but to tune in with the forefathers," he told pilgrims. "Mary sings of the grace of the past, but she is the woman of the present who carries the future in her womb."

After asking pilgrims at the Vatican to pray for peace in Ukraine and for all countries at war, the Holy Father invited his listeners to also welcome Mary into their lives and to ask "for the grace to be able to wait for the fulfillment of every one of his promises."

"By following her example, may we all discover that every soul that believes and hopes conceives and begets the Word of God," he said.

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ACI Prensa Staff, Feb 5, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

Every Feb. 5, the Church remembers St. Agatha of Catania, a young woman who consecrated her virginity to God and died a martyr's death during the persecution of the Roman Emperor Decius in the third century.

Agatha was born in Catania, Sicily, in southern Italy, around the year 230. Like many women of her time, she decided to consecrate her life to Jesus Christ by remaining a virgin.

In the days of the persecution of Decius, the proconsul Quintianus, the governor of Sicily, fell in love with Agatha and sought her in marriage. However, the young woman rejected each of his proposals. 

The constant refusals greatly annoyed the proconsul, who ordered her to be taken to a brothel as punishment. Contrary to what Quintianus expected, in that sad place, Agatha managed to avoid any occasion that could jeopardize the promise she had made to the Lord. And, as if this were not enough, many women subjected to that world that treated them as merchandise converted to Christ. 

Quintianus then ordered Agatha to be subjected to a series of taunts and insults, and then ordered her to be tortured. Her executioners, in a fit of insanity, cut off her breasts. A certain hagiography preserves her words in the face of such wickedness: "Cruel tyrant, are you not ashamed to torture in a woman the same breast which fed you as a child?"

Tradition has it that Agatha miraculously survived the horrors and cruelties committed against her, and during the night while she was bleeding to death, St. Peter the Apostle appeared to her to heal her wounds and encourage her to remain steadfast.

At dawn, when the guards realized that the woman had recovered, the executioners resumed the tortures and Agatha gave up her life. It was the fifth day of the second month of the year 251.

One year after the martyrdom of St. Agatha, the volcano Etna erupted. The lava that spread along the slopes of the volcano threatened to destroy Catania. Then, some of its inhabitants who remembered the young martyr asked for her intercession to stop the fury of nature. 

Miraculously, the sea of burning rock and ash that began to move never reached the city. In gratitude, Catania and other surrounding towns chose Agatha as their patron saint.

Today, devotees of St. Agatha ask her to intercede for women who have complicated childbirths or problems with lactation. She is also invoked by those who suffer from breast ailments. She is considered the protector of women and patron saint of nurses.

In traditional iconography, St. Agatha is usually shown with the palm of martyrdom, the palm of victory, in her hand; or she is holding the tray on which her breasts were placed.

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

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Madrid, Spain, Feb 5, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The Diocese of Huelva in Spain has "prohibited and disavowed" a planned preparation course for the "blessing of same-sex couples or couples in an irregular situation" that was to be held at one of its parishes. The diocese said it learned about the course through the media.

In a brief statement, the diocese explained that "this way of accompanying Christian faithful who are in such situations does not correspond with the teaching of Pope Francis nor with the pastoral practice of the Church."

The text concludes by stating that "the Diocese of Huelva provides pastoral accompaniment for all people, offering opportunities for listening, formation, and growth in faith and always in accordance with the teachings of the Church."

St. Paul Parish, the planned venue for the course, has canceled the event. On its website, the original information was replaced with a message stating: "For reasons beyond our control, we have to cancel this accompaniment."

The message is illustrated with a drawing of a lamb with the rainbow colors of the LGBT flag next to a shepherd and the message: "I was not lost, they told me I was not welcome."

A local newspaper, Huelva24, shared a promotional poster for the course that inaccurately quotes the December 2023 Vatican declaration Fiducia Supplicans. The poster features a line that is not in the declaration itself, stating that "the blessing of couples in irregular situations and of same-sex couples is possible ... so that human relationships can mature and grow in fidelity to the Gospel message."

The sentence "it is possible to bless couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples" does not appear in the text of Fiducia Supplicans published by the Vatican. It does appear, however, with this formulation: "Within the horizon outlined here appears the possibility of blessings for couples in irregular situations and for couples of the same sex."

Regarding the second part, the original Vatican document states that the blessings are for such couples "that they may be freed from their imperfections and frailties, and that they may express themselves in the ever-increasing dimension of the divine love." 

The declaration Fiducia Supplicans sparked controversy in the Catholic Church by allowing pastoral blessings for couples in irregular situations, including same-sex couples, without altering the doctrine on sacramental marriage.

The controversy arose from divergent interpretations: While some sectors of the Church saw it as a gesture of mercy to address complex realities, other bishops and faithful warned of the risk of doctrinal confusion, fearing that it would be perceived as an implicit validation of unions contrary to traditional teaching.

In May 2024, the bishop of Plasencia in Spain, Ernesto Jesús Brotons, admonished a priest for blessing a homosexual couple in such a way that it caused "scandal" and "confusion." He had situated the pair in front of the altar similar to a bride and groom and was wearing an alb and red stole.

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, Feb 4, 2025 / 17:45 pm (CNA).

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has confirmed that the Our Lady of Martyrs Shrine, which encompasses the village where Sts. Isaac Jogues, René Goupil, and Jean de Lalande were martyred and where St. Kateri Tekakwitha was born, has officially been named a national shrine.

On Jan. 27 the USCCB informed Friends of Our Lady of Martyrs, the nonprofit corporation that owns the shrine, that it could carry the "national" designation after requesting the title in August 2024. 

The shrine's chairman, Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger of Albany, said in a statement: "We are delighted that the bishops have confirmed what the faithful have long instinctually known: The National Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs is our home for the cultivation of holiness here in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico."

The shrine received its national title after bishops approved that it aligns with the USCCB's standards, "Norms for the Designation of National Shrines," including being "dedicated to promoting the faith of the pilgrims by centering on a mystery of the Catholic faith, a devotion based on authentic Church tradition, revelations recognized by the Church, or the lives of those in the Church's calendar of saints."

Monsignor Roger Landry, national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies and a board member of Friends of Our Lady of Martyrs, said the shrine is a place where all Catholics are confirmed in the missionary dimension of the Christian life. 

"As Pope Francis repeatedly teaches us, we Catholics do not just have a mission but are a mission. We have been entrusted by Jesus Christ with the completion of his saving mission on earth," Landry said in a statement. 

Because of its association with four great saints and heroes of the faith, Landry said the shrine "probably is, after the tabernacles that adorn our churches and the souls of newly baptized babies, the holiest place for Catholics in the country."

For her part, Julie Baaki, executive director of the shrine, commented that "our national shrine is a haven where pilgrims come to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters throughout the world as well as for growth in courage for any trials we face as we try to live lives of virtue, grow in faith, and try to pass it along."  

The church on the grounds of the shrine was built in 1930 and can seat over 8,000 people, the largest capacity of any church building in the Western Hemisphere. The National Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs will begin its 2025 season on May 3 and will remain open through the feast day of the North American martyrs on Oct. 19.

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CNA Staff, Feb 4, 2025 / 11:55 am (CNA).

Pope Francis' prayer intention for the month of February is for vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

"When I was 17 years old, I was a student and was working. I had my own plans. I wasn't thinking at all of being a priest. But one day, I went into the church and God was there, waiting for me," the Holy Father recalled in a video released Feb. 4.

He reminded the faithful that "God still calls young people even today, sometimes in ways we can't imagine."

"Sometimes we don't hear because we're too busy with our own things, our own plans, even with our own things in the Church," the pope added. "But the Holy Spirit also speaks to us through dreams and speaks to us through the concerns young people feel in their hearts."

"If we accompany their journeys, we'll see how God is doing new things with them. And we'll be able to welcome his call in ways that better serve the Church and the world today," he said.  

"Let's trust young people! And, above all, let's trust God, for he calls everyone!" 

He concluded with a prayer: "Let us pray that the ecclesial community might welcome the desires and doubts of those young people who feel called to live Jesus' mission in life: either through the priestly life or religious life."

Pope Francis' prayer video is promoted by the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network, which raises awareness of monthly papal prayer intentions.

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CNA Staff, Feb 4, 2025 / 12:40 pm (CNA).

Lawmakers and officials in New York state are implementing moving to protect transgender surgeries and abortion doctors following a new Trump administration directive and state-level pro-life efforts.

State orders hospitals to continue transgender procedures

State Attorney General Letitia James told New York hospitals they were required under state law to continue performing transgender procedures in spite of a recent directive from the Trump administration. 

President Donald Trump last week issued an executive order restricting transgender surgeries and drugs for youth, directing that every federal agency that offers "research or educational grants" to medical institutions must ensure those institutions are not administrating transgender drugs to, or performing transgender procedures on, minors.

In a letter to hospitals on Monday, James acknowledged that order but said hospitals in the state are under "obligations to comply with New York state laws," including laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of "gender identity."

"Electing to refuse services to a class of individuals based on their protected status, such as withholding the availability of services from transgender individuals based on their gender identity or their diagnosis of gender dysphoria, while offering such services to cisgender individuals, is discrimination under New York law," James wrote. 

Trump's executive order defines "children" as "individuals under 19 years of age." 

Protection for doctors prescribing abortion pills

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul also announced on Monday that she had signed legislation allowing doctors who prescribe abortion pills to conceal their names on the prescriptions in question. 

The law will allow doctors to opt to "print the name of their practice" on prescription labels rather than their personal names. 

The measure gives "additional protections for doctors prescribing medications used to perform abortions to patients" in states where it may be illegal to dispense the deadly prescriptions. Multiple states have restricted abortion drugs in the wake of Roe v. Wade's repeal in 2022. 

The move comes after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit in December 2024 against an abortionist in New York, alleging she illegally provided abortion drugs to a woman in Texas.

Paxton's suit alleged that Dr. Margaret Daley Carpenter gave abortion drugs to a woman across state lines even though not licensed to practice medicine in Texas and the state prohibits the delivery of abortion drugs through the mail. Carpenter has since been indicted in Louisiana on similar charges.

Hochul in signing the bill into law said it would help make New York "a safe haven" for abortion doctors and women seeking abortions. 

State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, meanwhile, said the measure would help "secure New York's status as a sanctuary" for women seeking to abort their unborn children.

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Lima Newsroom, Feb 4, 2025 / 13:50 pm (CNA).

The Sodality of Christian Life reported that Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu Farnós, an official of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), has been named to carry out the process of dissolving the society of apostolic life.

In a Feb. 1 statement, the Sodality of Christian Life (SCV, by its Latin acronym) announced that Pope Francis appointed Bertomeu apostolic commissioner to carry out the dissolution process, "which will begin in the coming days."

The Spanish priest, along with Archbishop Charles Scicluna, deputy secretary of the DDF, was part of the special mission that the pope sent to Peru in July 2023 to investigate accusations against SCV members for sexual abuse and the abuse of power. 

As a result of his report, in August 2024 the pope ordered the expulsion of the founder of the SCV, Luis Fernando Figari, whom the Vatican sanctioned in 2017 for sexual abuse. In September and October 2024, the Holy See announced the expulsion of 14 other members without explaining in some cases the reasons for which they were sanctioned.

On Jan. 31, at the end of its Sixth General Assembly held in Brazil, the SCV announced that the pontiff had decided to dissolve the society of apostolic life.

The Vatican decree indicating the reasons for the dissolution of the SCV is not yet known. According to Infovaticana, the document "refers to the immorality of the founder, Luis Fernando Figari, as an indication of the nonexistence of a founding charism, and therefore, the lack of ecclesial legitimacy for the permanence of the institution."

In its Feb. 1 statement, the SCV expressed its "adherence to the decisions of the Holy Father" and assured that it would collaborate "in the best possible way in this process."

The apostolate also clarified that it "disassociates itself from any publication and/or public demonstration that goes against the Holy Father or the delegates appointed by the Holy See."

Bertomeu is currently in Lima and celebrated Sunday Mass on Feb. 2 at Our Lady of Reconciliation Parish, which has been administered by the SCV since 1989.

In his opening remarks, the priest explained that the suppression process includes "everything that Figari founded," which includes the Christian Life Movement, the Servants of the Plan of God, and the Marian Fraternity of Reconciliation.

According to Bertomeu, Pope Francis told him that after a long discernment he came to the conclusion that "there was no initial charism" and that Figari "did not receive a special grace."

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, Feb 4, 2025 / 14:25 pm (CNA).

A diverse coalition of religious groups and the Department of Justice are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to rule in favor of a Catholic charity group in a religious freedom dispute in the state of Wisconsin.

The high court in December agreed to hear a case brought by Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Superior after the Wisconsin Supreme Court in March ruled the agency ineligible for a state religious tax exemption.

The state high court had said the charity's service to the poor and those in need was not "typical" religious activity, in part because it serves and employs non-Catholics and does not "attempt to imbue program participants with the Catholic faith." Those factors render it ineligible for that decades-old tax break, the court argued.

The case is expected to be heard before the U.S. Supreme Court this spring. The religious liberty law firm Becket, meanwhile — which is representing the Catholic charity — announced on Tuesday that a coalition of 11 "diverse faith groups" joined the Department of Justice and numerous legal scholars in backing the Catholic charity at the Supreme Court.

Among the religious groups supporting the Catholic charity are the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, and the United Methodist Church.

The groups in their amicus brief argued that the Wisconsin high court had committed a "stark departure" from First Amendment case law in its ruling.

The autonomy of religious organizations "would be severely undermined if the First Amendment allowed the government to second-guess their decisions on matters of church government such as a religion's organizational structure or employment or service decisions," the brief states. 

The First Amendment "forbids such judicial second-guessing of a religious organization's internal decisions on how to structure itself and its work," they said. 

Also weighing in on the side of the Catholic charity was the U.S. Department of Justice, which argued that the Wisconsin Supreme Court had erred in ruling against the charity. 

"Under the proper understanding of the religious-employer exemption," the Catholic charity is "operated primarily for religious purposes" and is "entitled to the exemption," the department said. 

The federal government has "substantial interests in this case," the department said, in that the final decision could address how the First Amendment applies to the Federal Unemployment Tax Act.

A group of 19 states as well as several religious liberty scholars also weighed in on the side of the Catholic charity.

The broad show of support "shows just how ludicrous Wisconsin's position is," Eric Rassbach, vice president and senior counsel at Becket, said in the group's press release.

"As these vast swathes of society attest, courts should not be in the business of telling churches how to church. We're confident the court will confirm that commonsense principle," he said.

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