Catholic News

http://www.myspiritfm.com/News?blogid=8838&view=post&articleid=282461&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0

Rome Newsroom, Feb 17, 2025 / 11:05 am (CNA).

Pope Francis received heartfelt letters from inmates at Milan's San Vittore prison after his hospitalization forced the cancellation of a planned meeting where the prisoners were to perform in a special concert.

The Holy Father knows well that judicial sentences are served behind bars and, above all, in the heart. That's where he intended to enter this Monday, Feb. 17, when he was scheduled to meet with a group of inmates from San Vittore prison at Rome's historic Cinecittà studios.

However, the event was canceled following his hospitalization at Rome's Gemelli Hospital.

"It was difficult for them to accept because it also represented an opportunity to get out into the fresh air, see sunlight, and breathe freedom for a few hours," explained Eliana Onofrio, president of the Amici della Nave association.

Since 2018, this organization has worked with the La Nave project, which assists Italian inmates dealing with drug and alcohol addiction. In collaboration with the Santi Paolo e Carlo healthcare association, they run a rehabilitation program where music is a fundamental therapeutic tool.

"Music helps them relax and connect with themselves; it's an essential part of the re-education process that accompanies rehabilitation to help them overcome addictions," Onofrio said.

Upon receiving official confirmation of the cancellation from the Vatican, some inmates decided to write letters to the pontiff. "It was a spontaneous gesture through which they wanted to express their affection," Onofrio noted.

In one of the letters, an inmate expressed his sadness, saying that "everything had been organized in great detail" to offer Pope Francis a concert into which they had poured all their effort and affection. The inmate considers the pope a central figure, expressing his closeness and assuring his prayers.

Another detained person laments being unable to meet him but understands this is "a necessary pause due to his constant dedication and efforts." Nevertheless, he emphasizes that the pope's health is paramount and promises prayers for a swift recovery. He also asks Francis not to feel "distressed about the event's cancellation" and wishes him a speedy return to strength.

The power of music and reintegration

For more than two decades, the Amici della Nave association has accompanied these inmates in various events outside prison. A notable highlight was their concert on April 9, 2019, at Milan's prestigious La Scala theater.

"I still remember the journey and their faces of emotion as they got off the bus and stepped onto such an important stage," Onofrio recalled.

Currently, 70 Italian prisoners form part of the choir, alongside volunteers and former inmates who have achieved complete reintegration after lives marked by crime.

The cells of San Vittore, small and cold, are filled with stories of stumbles and suffering. There, inmates await their final sentence. Once they reach the third grade, they are transferred to other prisons.

Some have committed serious crimes, but they have a right to a second chance. Sometimes, they just need "a shoulder to cry on to glimpse a new life," Onofrio affirms.

Even in prison, goodness exists. Indeed, the light of hope and kindness can emerge after years of criminality when all seems lost.

Thanks to the mediation of the Vatican's Department of Culture and Education, the letters will be delivered to the pontiff, who remains hospitalized.

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

Full Article

http://www.myspiritfm.com/News?blogid=8838&view=post&articleid=282457&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0

London, England, Feb 17, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The U.K. government is "choosing criminalization over compassion and protection" with its new asylum and immigration bill, according to the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.

The Border Security, Asylum, and Immigration Bill is currently making its way through the U.K. Parliament and passed its second reading on Feb. 10. It comes as asylum and immigration have been highlighted as key priorities by both the current Labor government, elected in July 2024, and the previous Conservative government. 

Government statistics showed that, in 2024, 36,816 migrants arrived in the U.K. on 695 small boats, compared with 2018 when 300 people arrived on boats. Both Labor and Conservative administrations have advocated stringent measures to counter immigration. 

The new bill stipulates automatic refusal of U.K. citizenship to illegal immigrants to the U.K., no matter how much time has elapsed.

The new law would make it illegal to enter the U.K. without approval, even though the U.K. signed on to the 1951 U.N. Refugee Convention, which states that neither asylum seekers nor refugees can be penalized for entering illegally.

Bishop Paul McAleenan, lead bishop for Migrants and Refugees, criticized the government for imposing "harsher measures" on those seeking asylum and for failing to provide safe and legal routes for those who need them.

"This bill seems to favor criminalization over compassion and protection," McAleenan told CNA. "The new government has done little to address the lack of safe and legal routes — genuine alternatives remain unavailable. Instead, the government has proposed even harsher measures, such as expansion of detention powers and reduced protection for survivors of trafficking and modern slavery."

Introducing the bill, the government said it was "inspired by the approach taken to counter terrorism," adding: "The Border Security, Asylum, and Immigration Bill will strengthen the U.K.'s response to border security threats."

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said that people are smuggling gangs into the U.K. and this bill will give police more power to deal with the problem. Cooper told the BBC: "The gangs have been allowed to take hold for six years." However, McAleenan commented that many coming to the U.K. have legitimate reasons for seeking asylum.

"It is difficult to see how measures that criminalize asylum seekers will achieve these aims," he said. "A distinction must be made between victims and those who profit from their vulnerability."

He added that "afflicted and persecuted" people affected by "wars, conflicts, and other factors" have no choice but "to risk dangerous journeys." 

Referring to the words of Pope Francis regarding migrants, McAleenan called on the government to adopt a "new approach." 

"I urge the government to reconsider its approach and instead focus on addressing the real drivers of forced migration, ensuring access to safe routes and upholding the fundamental principles of compassion," he said, adding: "The words of Pope Francis are perpetual: 'Every migrant has a name, a face, and a story.'"

U.K. Catholic social justice charity Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS UK) was also critical of the government bill for what it says is "punishing" refugees. 

JRS UK senior policy officer Sophie Cartwright told CNA: "For too long, our asylum system has treated people seeking sanctuary with hostility. Recent governments have doubled down on making it difficult for refugees to reach the U.K. and punishing them for traveling in the only way available."

Cartwright added: "We need to build bridges for people seeking sanctuary and an asylum system that treats them with dignity … This government must have the courage to build a fair and humane alternative."

Liam Allmark, acting deputy director of JRS UK, said the bill "misses a vital opportunity," adding: "We should be focused on making it safer and easier for refugees to find protection rather than building a fortress."

He also pointed out that "this jubilee year, Pope Francis has called us to offer welcome and hope for refugees and other displaced people." 

"With the help of our supporters, JRS UK will continue advocating for just policies that protect the lives and dignity of all those who are forced to flee," he said.

After passing its second reading, the next stage for the bill will be a public bill committee, which will meet on Feb. 27 and will hear written evidence submissions. 

Full Article

http://www.myspiritfm.com/News?blogid=8838&view=post&articleid=282456&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0

Vatican City, Feb 17, 2025 / 07:25 am (CNA).

Pope Francis was admitted to Rome's Gemelli Hospital on Friday, Feb. 14, to undergo testing and treatment for bronchitis, the Vatican said.

Follow here for the latest news on Pope Francis' health and hospitalization:

Full Article

http://www.myspiritfm.com/News?blogid=8838&view=post&articleid=282449&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0

Lima Newsroom, Feb 16, 2025 / 11:00 am (CNA).

Víctor Sono Neira spent years trapped in addiction and crime as an international pickpocket. In a radical change of heart, he chose to live on the streets of Lima, Peru's historic downtown in search of redemption. A devotee of the Lord of Miracles, he gave the broken pieces of his life to Jesus and today, at the age of 72, he is a living testimony to God's mercy and forgiveness.

"How is it possible that a man as evil, old, and criminal as I am, who committed so many sins, even taking the lives of others, was so loved by him? Why me? Who am I?" Sono wondered aloud in a recent interview with ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner.

"I have to accept God's mercy, even if it's hard for me to do. I'm stubborn, I fight with him like a son does with his father. But that is what pleases him: to see how, despite everything, I love him more every day. He is my life," Víctor added.

Born on Oct. 5, 1952, at the Lima Maternity Hospital, Sono now lives in the Sembrando Esperanza (Sowing Hope) home for the elderly in the Villa María del Triunfo district of Lima, a place that provides comprehensive care to vulnerable people, most of whom are abandoned and have health problems.

When you visit him and talk to him to learn his story firsthand, you can see the scars on his skin: traces of the bullets that pierced him during bank robberies or police chases, and the marks of accidents and the knife wounds on his arms from past confrontations.

To know him is to feel the weight of a difficult past, a story that, although painful, is part of the experience that allowed him to reconnect with God in his darkest moment. Despite having had great wealth thanks to thievery, today he has no material goods and lives trusting in providence.

Sono is diabetic, hypertensive, and faces problems with depression. However, for several years he has continued attending Mass, receiving the sacraments, reading the Bible, receiving spiritual guidance, and seeking to heal his wounds, completely giving himself over to the will of God and serving his fellow residents and those who come to visit him to establish a sincere friendship.

"Jesus is here, at my side, sitting with me. He is my friend. God is present, conversing with us, speaking to me through the other residents. I remember the last time I went to go see the Lord of Miracles [a famous image of Christ crucified], and I heard him say that 'Jesus has come to look for those who are lost, those who are sick in soul, mind, and heart.' He has not come for those who are healthy, he has come for those who are sick inside, like me. Because the real illness is not outside, it is deep within me and he has come to heal me," the former thief told ACI Prensa.

Sono's youth, first robbery

Sono was left in the care of his grandmother after being abandoned by his mother, whom he never got to know. This represents a void that continues to pain him in the depths of his soul.

He grew up in a small and very poor house in the Rímac district of Lima, where he lived along with some uncles and his grandfather. His mother's sister had died of cancer in Barcelona, ??leaving behind three small children: Aurora, Amelia, and Manuelito. Often, the four of them slept in just one bed.

He studied at María Jesús School, a Christian school at that time. Later, he was enrolled in Filomeno School. At San Lázaro Church, breakfast was offered, which was a real godsend for Sono. Every morning, he took the tram and went regularly. A priest taught all the children in the area to pray, took them to catechism classes, and provided them with formation.

"Everything at that time revolved around the Lord of Miracles [and] St. Rose of Lima. I went to visit St. Martin de Porres at his church in Caquetá, also to have breakfast. That was my world," he related.

Sono said he was not a very good student. In those years, his grandmother washed clothes for the Peruvian Army and at the age of 9 he helped her.

In his neighborhood, he remembered Don Manolo's bar where pickpockets used to drink hard liquor. "There were no drugs, but there was alcohol," he said.

There was also "a hotel where you could watch the prostitutes through the window. All the boys would stay up at night to watch. And all that calls out to you. I saw in the bar how they took out stolen wallets and counted the money. And they weren't muggers, they were pickpockets," he recounted.

The first time he stole, it happened almost automatically, driven by what he saw around him. He took the tram every day and, seeing how other people stole money from people's pockets without being detected, he began to imitate them.

On one of those occasions, he managed to get 100 soles (Peruvian currency), an amount that surprised him. "I went crazy," he said. The impact of what he had done was so great that he almost instantly felt panicky, he recalled.

As time went by, Sono began to observe the women who came to the bar, but also his uncles, who used to drink on Fridays after getting paid. "I saw the clothes they had; I liked them. They were well dressed, very elegant. I wanted that," Sono explained.

At that point, he decided to drop out of school and began working as a shoeshine boy in Lima's Plaza de Armas. "I gave everything I took in to my grandmother, who saved it without spending it," he recalled.

Sono's career as an international pickpocket and bank robber

One day, at the age of 11, he robbed the wife of a diplomat in Plaza de Acho. He was arrested and taken to the fourth police station in Rímac, he related. At that time, the well-known "Maranguita" prison for juveniles didn't exist, so he was confined to a home for children, where he remained for almost three years.

"Over time, my mind was more focused on stealing. The kids I hung out with weren't just anyone. I started dressing well. But I also started seeing things I'd never seen before, like some of them buying houses for their mothers," he said.

That's how he started traveling. The group of boys traveled to Cusco, Trujillo, and other provinces in search of wallets. Over time, the pickpockets' migration took them further away. Some headed for Brazil, others to Chile. He ended up in Argentina in 1969, at age 15, where he earned much more than in Lima.

"I had never seen so many dollars in my life. But we had a code of not stealing from the poor, and if we made a mistake, we returned it," he said.

One day, a companion proposed going to Italy. The boat ticket cost $100 and he accepted. After arriving, in two or three days, Victor had stolen enough money to buy a house for his grandmother in Lima. At just 15 years of age, he claimed that he could take out a wallet with $3,000 or $4,000.

However, a big problem for him came when he traveled to Mexico, where he joined a gang called "Los Angelitos," which was dedicated to robbing banks and riding motorcycles to steal briefcases. During one of the robberies, Sono was shot in the neck. "It wasn't all profit. We also lost. That time I was in the morgue, and it looked like I was dead, but they discovered that I was still alive," he said.

Committing crimes around the world

Over the years, he robbed in Mexico, Italy, Spain, Germany, Greece, and in Malaysia, where he spent two years in prison. For him and his band, traveling was easy, because they knew "how to arrange things at the travel agency or how to pay the person who stamped the passport at the airport checkpoint."

Despite his life of thievery, he always carried with him the Lord of Miracles and several holy cards of saints. At that time, he remembered, he attended Mass and then went out to steal wallets.

His downfall began when he returned to Lima. By that time, he was already married, but he didn't pay much attention to his wife, Julia. He saw himself as "the father of the neighborhood" because he always tried to help those in need. He had managed to build his house, but he thought very little about his relationship with Julia. The indifference he showed to his wife, which he recognized, was what ended up seriously harming their marriage. 

In the midst of personal problems, Víctor remembered an episode in which he participated in a shootout in the Surquillo district of Lima, taking off in his car with the police chasing him. "My car crashed into a ravine and became like an accordion. I showed up in the morgue again," he said. "How is it possible that I have stayed alive? That is how God must have wanted it to be." Following that incident, he was paralyzed for a while.

This period of police chases, robberies, and shootings continued, but everything got worse when Julia left him. "That was my downfall," he confessed. After their separation, Sono began to consume alcohol excessively.

In 1986, when he was 34, he agreed to participate in a gang robbery at the pharmaceutical products company Química Suiza, a robbery that quickly became a media story. "The robbery went wrong and I was sentenced to 25 years and a day in prison, although in reality I spent 30 years in prison," he said. In prison, he became addicted to drugs and tried all kinds of substances. "It was horrible, I went through different prisons in Peru," he explained.

Those years in prison were a dark period for him, full of drugs, anger, rage, and helplessness. "I found out that my dad had hanged himself. I felt terrible, inundated with problems," he remembered sadly.

A cry to be rescued by God

"I couldn't take it, I couldn't take it anymore. I said to God: 'Lord, get me out, compadre. And I'm never coming back here, papá. But get me out of here,'" which is how Sono began to cry out to God, looking for a way out of his life of confinement, addiction, and suffering.

He was moved from a confinement center to a wing within the prison. There he met two nuns who became a helping hand. "I practically started living in the chaplaincy. It was a new stage for me. It was the '80s," he recalled. Although this new path was not free from relapses, where he went back to drinking and drugs, something inside him was beginning to change.

After evaluating his case, the prison authorities realized that he had already served more time than he was supposed to. That is how he got out of prison and things began to change little by little. 

"Deep inside, I no longer wanted to steal or take drugs. But necessity... You know, that gets you to do things. But it was no longer like before. My mind had already changed. I was more focused on God. I was different, I was closer to the Lord of Miracles," he reflected.

After being released from prison, he decided to live on the streets, seeking happiness for the two children he had with Julia and for them to be sheltered from his addictions. "I wanted the woman who looked after them to be happy. She was already living with another partner. And so I was no longer dependent on the family," he said. 

Sono lived for several years on the streets and ate from the garbage. At some point, he began getting food from the Discalced Carmelite Nazarene Mothers, who run the Church of the Nazarenes, where the image of the Lord of Miracles is kept.

"As everyone sat on the bench near the monastery, one day I said I was going to stay one night. That became my life. Then I also joined an Alcoholics Anonymous group," he said. He began selling candy on buses, which is how he once again began to earn a living.

It was in that context that Tuto, his sponsor at the rehabilitation center, asked him a question that would mark a before and after. "Do you want to leave this behind, Víctor? Do you want to stop crying?" Then, Tuto told him: "If you truly love God and trust in him, you must put your trust in him, give him everything," he recalled.

At that moment, Sono said: "God, I give you my life and my will." And Tuto continued: "Give him everything. But to do so, you must first cleanse your inner self. Take out all that rubbish that you carry inside: hatred, anger, resentment, manipulation, lies... All those defects. Because your illness is not on the outside, it's within you. And the sickness of the soul is very powerful."

Later, in his interview with ACI Prensa, Víctor said: "Jesus has come for the last of this world, like me."

"When you live on the street and people come with food, they say to you: 'Lord, I give you two little meals right here. Do you want to eat?' That is loving the soul. A pure love that comes from God and that I had never experienced."

As he received love and charity on the streets, Sono began to change within. "I thank the ground for allowing me to sleep. I thank the rain for bathing me with love and affection. At night, feeling cold. Sleeping like that... with the rain, sitting there, all soaked, it doesn't matter," he said, expressing gratitude for the difficult moments.

He also confessed: "I will never be as white as snow. But at least I learned to stop all those inclinations to evil that had driven me mad all my life."

In the years following, Víctor never stopped attending Mass at the Church of the Nazarene. "I listened to the homilies and messages of the priests every day to grow spiritually. That was how it was day after day and year after year," he said.

One morning, when he woke up, he realized that a Carmelite sister had placed a habit of the Fraternity of the Lord of Miracles beside him while he was sleeping. Thus, Víctor also began to carry the "Black" Christ in the month of October during the outdoor procession of the image.

Later, one of the leaders of the Fraternity of the Lord of Miracles invited him to serve. "He took me to a soup kitchen so that I could serve the little brothers, the alcoholics, all of them. I began to serve people like me. I learned to wash my brothers' feet," he said.

His arrival at Casa de Todos and Sembrando Esperanza

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new chapter in his life began. Plaza de Acho became a shelter for homeless people, and the Casa de Todos (the home for everyone) was started there.

"The best years of my life were yet to come. I began to help with a lot of love to build that place and I was even the visible face of the project," recalled Sono, who found in the project not only a physical place but also a purpose.

However, after the pandemic, Sono returned to the streets. It was then that he received a new opportunity at the Sembrando Esperanza (Sowing Hope) home. This place, full of people with disabilities and the elderly, welcomed him with open arms, and he began to serve others with dedication.

Through Jenny, the director of the home, and some priests, he began to deepen his faith. "In this house, you only have to look at the miracles to see God acting. I didn't think I would ever come to see this house. There are more people here who are living miracles, real miracles. This is not a dream, it's not a lie," he shared with emotion.

A deep love for God

In this home, Victor experienced a deep inner healing, embracing the sacraments and finding a new meaning in his life. Among the miracles God has granted him, Sono mentioned his children: "God performed a miracle with my children... One of my daughters is a police captain. The other is a doctor."

However, there is still a deep pain in his heart: the absence of his mother. "I want to meet my mother. That is the only pain I carry now. That is why this old man goes about so angry, because I feel that I am missing something… Sometimes I think that, if I stay on the street, maybe the Lord will perform the miracle of gathering me up so I can see her up there. That is what I long for."

Sono recognized that his life has not been easy and that he carries with him serious mistakes and faults. But despite everything, he said he feels that God keeps him alive for a reason that he still does not fully understand. "I'm a person like anybody else, with mistakes, defects, difficulties in my life. But I don't know why God keeps me alive, I don't know why me," he reflected.

Today, Sono said he feels grateful for what he has and his mission is simple but full of meaning. "My mission is simple: take care of my laundry, take care of my fellow residents, my clothes, treat them well. Sit at the table and joke with others, with the old people. Go to the hospital with them, that's my life."

And, as a man who has known pain, losing everything, but also the value of the simple things, today he is grateful for the gift of everyday life: "The greatest gift that God gives me is sometimes the simple fact of having my 50 cents, which allow me to buy the newspaper every day, although sometimes I don't have the money. But there is always someone who appears and helps me."

"The Lord Jesus likes to see how, despite everything, I love him more every day. He is my life," concluded Sono, whose testimony of redemption certainly resonates in the lives of people who, like him, fight addictions and erring ways every day, but who are in the process of opening themselves to the mercy and love of God.

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

Full Article

http://www.myspiritfm.com/News?blogid=8838&view=post&articleid=282448&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0

New York City, N.Y., Feb 16, 2025 / 13:40 pm (CNA).

Forecasts that one in three young adults in the U.S. today will never marry signify a closing of the "American heart," a leading marriage researcher said Saturday.

"Love and marriage have fallen on harder times of late," observed Brad Wilcox, a sociologist who directs the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, during a panel discussion titled "Why Have Children?" at New York Encounter, an annual conference organized by members of the Catholic movement Communion and Liberation. 

Wilcox, author of the 2024 book, "Get Married: Why Americans Must Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families, and Save Civilization," was joined in the discussion by Nicholas Eberstadt, chair of political economy at the American Enterprise Institute, and Margarite Mooney, associate professor of congregational studies at Princeton Theological Seminary. 

According to Wilcox, the drop in the U.S. fertility rate to well below replacement level is symptomatic of an American culture predicated on "giving people more freedom to live their best lives, often as single people." 

Eberstadt, who researches and writes extensively on demographics and economic development, said that "it's not impossible when the returns come in for 2024 that the entire planet, on average, will be below replacement fertility."

Noting a "striking" correlation between falling fertility rates and the proliferation of smartphones, Eberstadt said he is concerned that most people aware of the downward trajectory of fertility "don't really seem to understand yet what this is going to mean for their society."

"They certainly haven't thought about either adapting to this or changing it," he added. 

Yet as young people face such challenges as rising economic inequality and an inability to detach themselves from social media, Wilcox asserted, marriage and family "matter more than ever," and not just for the sake of children, but for adults, as well. 

Drawing from personal experience

In an interview after the panel, Wilcox told CNA that he and his wife, who were married at 24, had hoped for a large Catholic family but struggled with fertility. After four years of marriage, they went on to adopt five children. Then, by surprise, they became pregnant with twins before going on to have two more children. 

While Wilcox acknowledged that the growth of his family was "a big adjustment," and that there have been marked challenges in raising adoptive and biological children, he ultimately described his experience of fatherhood as "magical." 

"I think, really realizing that parenthood just opens up new experiences and new vistas that are before you," Wilcox reflected. "You really don't see the fullness of life, I think, for many of us, until you've had children and you're raising them and seeing the world through their eyes as well." 

Wilcox shared some practical advice for young people hoping to get married and have children.

"The fundamental point I would make," he told CNA, "is to think about your dating strategy as intentionally as you do about your education and work."

Whether at work, church, or somewhere else, he observed, it is ideal to meet and ask people out on dates in the context of a larger social network, "where you're all on the same team," and where "you can get a formal thumbs up or thumbs down from friends who know the people." 

The sociologist said he generally disapproves of dating apps because they "can give people an unrealistic expectation about the person that they could meet or should meet." In his view, when "people are just dating and hanging out with people in a real-world context, it's easier to find a good symmetrical fit."

Ultimately, he believes, since people are "much more distanced from a marriage-friendly culture" today," those who do aspire to marriage and family life have to be more intentional about planning to meet people and go on dates.

God has a 'beautiful plan'

In an interview with CNA, Mooney shared her own experience as a woman who wanted to have children but did not get married until her late forties, encouraging people to remain open to marriage even at an older age.

"Because I came from a family with a lot of children, I always knew that children are a blessing and a joy and a lot of work," she said. "And as a single person, I just sought out friends like Brad Wilcox, who had large families." Mooney and Wilcox attended graduate school at Princeton together.

"Maybe I was used to the chaos, and I found it comforting to be with a big family at dinner and crafts happening, and somebody just sits on your lap that you haven't seen in a while," she said. 

"For me," Mooney told CNA, "when my friends were getting married, and I wasn't, I had to consciously fight any sense of jealousy or even that God was leaving me behind and realize that there's a bit of selfishness in those hurt feelings and that I needed to honor the desire to build relationships with children, but they weren't going to be my biological children."

Reflecting on her experience, Mooney said she looked to priests and religious men and women who renounced biological children, but maintained their maternal and paternal instincts in their work with children and youths. 

"Rather than thinking about the child as fulfilling me," she reflected, "it was more God fulfilling me through finding a way to express that desire." 

Ultimately, she said, marriage and family are not guaranteed. "But I do want women to know that that doesn't mean God doesn't have a beautiful plan for your life," Mooney said. 

"Be open," she advised, "to what joy might come into your life if you reach the age or the situation where you're single or single without children or married without children, and it wasn't what you planned." 

"When you're older, it's harder to risk yourself, but you can," she added. 

Full Article

http://www.myspiritfm.com/News?blogid=8838&view=post&articleid=282444&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0

CNA Newsroom, Feb 16, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Pope Francis spent a peaceful second night at Rome's Gemelli Hospital, where he remains under medical care for a respiratory infection, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told journalists Sunday.

Bruni said the 88-year-old pontiff had breakfast and read several newspapers Sunday morning while continuing his prescribed medical treatments.

Though doctors ordered complete rest, the Holy Father prepared a special Angelus message focusing on art's power to unite humanity and included prayers for regions torn by conflict.

"I would have liked to be among you," Pope Francis wrote in his message, referring to artists gathered at the Vatican for a special Jubilee celebration, "but as you know, I am here at the Gemelli Polyclinic because I still need some treatment for my bronchitis."

The pope's message highlighted the Eucharistic celebration for the Jubilee of Artists on Sunday, part of the wider 2025 Jubilee of Hope. He thanked the Dicastery for Culture and Education for organizing the gathering, emphasizing art's role as a "universal language that spreads beauty and unites peoples."

Turning to global concerns, the pontiff called for continued prayers for peace in Ukraine, Palestine, Israel and all the Middle East, Myanmar, Kivu and Sudan.

The pope also expressed gratitude to the medical staff at Gemelli Hospital. "They perform invaluable and demanding work; let us support them in prayer," he wrote.

The 88-year-old pope was hospitalized in the late morning on Feb. 14 following meetings with a number of people, including the prime minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico.

Due to the hospitalization, the pope will not attend a planned meeting with artists at the historic Cinecittà film studios south of Rome on Feb. 17.

Full Article

http://www.myspiritfm.com/News?blogid=8838&view=post&articleid=282443&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 16, 2025 / 07:30 am (CNA).

Prominent U.S. Catholics are expressing optimism after Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s recent confirmation as Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), following an arduous confirmation process which saw him challenged on several issues key to the Catholic Church. 

Kennedy, himself a professed Catholic, has faced intense scrutiny from both sides of the aisle for his controversial views on vaccines, abortion, and public health policy since President Donald Trump nominated him to serve as head of HHS.

That position oversees 10 agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

Ultimately, Kennedy was confirmed on Thursday by a 52-48 vote that was split along party lines with the exception of Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, the only Republican to vote against him. 

Vaccines and medical ethics: where Catholics stand

Since his nomination and throughout his confirmation hearings, Kennedy took the most heat from Democratic senators for his views on vaccines. But some Catholics have praised Kennedy's commitment to vaccine safety.

Sister Deidre Byrne, who was denied a religious exemption to the COVID-19 vaccination mandate for health care workers in August of 2021, told CNA that "speaking both as a physician and religious," she was "thrilled" by Kennedy's confirmation. 

"Medically, I agree with [Kennedy's] concerns," Byrne, who is widely known as Sister Dede, said via email. She cited "vaccines and the lack of proper research, and then forcing, for example, the COVID-19 vaccine, which had no scientific basis behind it and [has] injured thousands." 

Byrne expressed gratitude over Kennedy's pledge to conduct studies on the safety of abortion pills such as mifepristone, which were partially  deregulated under the Biden administration.

"Now they are giving this abortion pill online without a physician's evaluation or ultrasound," she said, describing the practice as "extremely dangerous and malpractice." 

"So I thank God for President Trump and I thank God that [Kennedy] was confirmed to run HHS," Byrne concluded. 

A representative for the largest collective of Catholic healthcare workers, Catholic Medical Association (CMA), echoed Byrne, telling CNA the organization is looking forward to collaborating with Kennedy and the Trump administration. 

"The Catholic Medical Association looks forward to working closely with the Trump administration and Secretary Kennedy in a shared mission to promote and protect ethical medicine," CMA Board Chairman of the Health Care Policy Committee Dr. Tim Millea told CNA.

"CMA is committed to foundational principles of health care: the inherent dignity of every human life from conception to natural death; the biological reality of two sexes; and, the protection of conscience rights and religious freedom for health care professionals," he continued.

"We are anxious to see Secretary Kennedy's attention to correcting HHS policies that have been in direct conflict with optimal and rational health care methods over the past several years.  It is time to return to medicine practiced as it should be, and not directed by ideology."

Optimism: How Catholics are responding to Kennedy's shifting views on abortion

Despite Kennedy's past support of abortion, many pro-life Catholics are now celebrating his confirmation after he pledged to carry out the Trump administration's pro-life agenda as head of HHS. 

"There was a lot to appreciate in RFK Jr.'s testimony during the confirmation process," said Students for Life Action President Kristan Hawkins. "A highlight of [his] very intense conversations with members of the U.S. Senate was the fact that he and President Trump see abortion as a tragedy and that they are looking at the real and deadly impacts of the abuse of agency power to force chemical abortion pills on the market."

"I agree with President Trump that every abortion is a tragedy," Kennedy stated during a hearing with the Senate Finance Committee. "I agree with him that we cannot be a moral nation if we have 1.2 million abortions per year, I agree with him that the states should control abortion."

"I'm going to serve at the pleasure of the president, [and] I'm going to implement his policies," he said, revealing that Trump had expressed his desire for Kennedy to end late-term abortions, enact protections for conscience exemptions, and end federal funding for abortions in the U.S. and abroad. 

Kennedy also spoke out against the use of fetal tissue for stem cell research during the hearing, telling Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, "I will protect stem cell research, and today stem cell research can be done on umbilical cords." 

"You don't need fetal tissue," he added. 

Kennedy has vowed to combat nationwide food health crisis

A major touchstone of Kennedy's vision for transforming health in the U.S. is the fight to reduce consumption of highly processed foods, chemicals, additives, and seed oils. 

The founder of a growing grassroots movement among Catholics spoke to CNA on how Kennedy's confirmation could boost support for local farms and homesteads. 

Michael Thomas, co-founder of the Catholic Land Movement, is enthusiastic about Kennedy's confirmation, telling CNA in an interview that he looks forward to the new HHS leader's proposed public health reforms and the benefits they could have for small farms.

"The Catholic Land Movement is excited about the rhetoric we've seen from RFK around American health and the prohibition of harmful additives and processes," he said. "However, it is not enough to just restrict the bad, we must support the good." 

According to Thomas, there is much to be hopeful about with Kennedy's confirmation. Giving the example of Kennedy's desire to replace seed oils with beef tallow in deep-fryers across the U.S., Thomas pointed out that a new market could be created for small American farms to provide the alternative.

"As an organization on the front line of small farms and American Homesteads, we are enthusiastic to work on a restoration of local and regenerative agriculture with this administration and we are eager to see and hopeful to participate in detailing that policy course," he added.

Full Article

http://www.myspiritfm.com/News?blogid=8838&view=post&articleid=282442&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0

Rome Newsroom, Feb 16, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Kevin Doran as new bishop of the Diocese of Achonry, in addition to being bishop of the Diocese of Elphin.

The announcement, published Feb. 16, means that the two dioceses of Achonry and Elphin are joined "in persona episcopi" or "in the person of the Bishop." 

On Sunday morning, the bishop of Achonry and Elphin addressed Catholics, expressing his gratitude for the support he has received from people in both dioceses. 

"I gladly accept my responsibility as bishop of the two dioceses to work with you as we grow together into that unity to which we are called, and as we discover the gifts that God has given us to share," he told the congregation at the Cathedral of the Annunciation and Saint Nathy.  

Doran has served as bishop of the Elphin diocese since 2014. He was appointed apostolic administrator of Achonry diocese in April 2024, after the then-serving Bishop Paul Dempsy was appointed as auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Dublin.

In a 2024 letter, Doran acknowledged that some Catholics may be "shocked" or "disappointed" by developments but that lower levels of religious practice and inadequate human and financial resources necessitated change.

"Both Achonry and Elphin are small by the standards of the Church around the world," he wrote. "The hope is that, with our combined resources, we will be able to exercise our mission more effectively."  

Doran, 71, was ordained a priest in 1977 for the Archdiocese of Dublin after completing his studies at Mater Dei College in Dublin. He also obtained a Master of Arts in Philosophy from the National University of Ireland. 

Following his priestly ordination, Doran taught at Dublin's Ringsend Vocational School from 1977-1983. He was also a member of the Diocesan Secretariat for Education from 1980 to 1983.

In 1990, Doran continued his studies in Rome and was awarded a Doctorate in Philosophy at the Angelicum while serving as spiritual director at the Pontifical Irish College.

In addition to his pastoral ministry in Dublin parishes, Doran also served as a vocations and formation director at a diocesan and national level between 1998 and 2006 and was general secretary for the preparatory committee for the 50th International Eucharistic Congress from 2008-2012, 

Before his episcopal ordination in 2014, Doran was secretary of the Commission of the Episcopal Conference for Bioethics from 1996-2014. From 2013-2014, he was a member of the Management Committee of the Mater Misericordiae Hospital in Dublin and a consultant to the Congregation for Catholic Education.

Full Article

http://www.myspiritfm.com/News?blogid=8838&view=post&articleid=282426&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0

Vatican City, Feb 15, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The First Ecumenical Council, the meeting of Christian bishops that was held in 325 in Nicaea (today Iznik, Turkey), laid the groundwork for reaching consensus within the Church through an assembly representing all of Christendom.

This event marked a key moment in the history of Christianity, 17 centuries ago this year, in which, among other decisions, the way of calculating the date of Easter was established.

However, over the centuries, changes to the calendar resulted in discrepancies between the Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox churches, differences that still persist. While Latin-rite Catholics follow the Gregorian calendar, in the East the tradition of calculating liturgical dates according to the Julian calendar has been maintained.

The difficulties of changing the calendar

"The process of changing the calendar, which began in 1582 with Pope Gregory and was completed to a certain extent in 1923 with the adoption of the new calendar by some Orthodox churches, was not without difficulties," Kostas Mygdalis, consultant to the Orthodox Interparliamentary Assembly (IOA), explained in an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner.

"It provoked controversies among the faithful and between the churches and state authorities, consolidating polarizing divisions" that still persist, he added.

Mygdalis is also one of the key figures of the interfaith working group Pasqua (Easter) Together 2025, which seeks to promote the common celebration of Easter between Orthodox and Catholics.

Last September, Pope Francis received the members of this ecumenical initiative and expressed his desire to agree on a common date for the celebration of Easter between Catholics and Orthodox.

Interestingly, this year both Easters — Catholic and Orthodox — fall on the same date, April 20, due to the alignment of the Julian (used by the Orthodox) and Gregorian (followed by Catholics and other Christian denominations) calendars.

A step toward Christian unity

For Mygdalis, the joint celebration of Easter in 2025 should not be seen as just a calendar agreement but as an opportunity to place Christ at the center of the Christian faith.

"The time has come to make a strong appeal to the churches to unify the date of Easter," he said.

He also emphasized that the central message must be the need for unity in the world: "The world needs unity. A common date for Easter is a step toward this unity."

However, he noted that "the administrative structures of the churches, composed almost exclusively of clerics, seem reluctant to address this issue, perhaps for fear of creating new extremism and divisions in a world already facing multiple challenges."

He also pointed out that "dialogue between Christian churches is moving so slowly that, for ordinary faithful, it seems a fruitless process."

For Mygdalis, the effort to celebrate the resurrection of Christ together must be part of a "pilgrimage of reconciliation and unity" that will continue beyond 2025. He emphasized that the importance of the Resurrection is not only theological but also existential: "Without the Resurrection, all the suffering in the world is absurd."

A mandate for unity from Nicaea

"The celebration of Easter on a common date is not only necessary but a mandate for unity established by the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, whose 1,700th anniversary we commemorate this year," he emphasized.

"Through the Pasqua Together 2025 initiative, we seek to demand that the churches comply with what was established by the Council of Nicaea: to celebrate together the resurrection of Christ, the pillar of the Christian faith. It is unacceptable that this division should continue," he pointed out.

Toward the jubilee of 2033

Beyond Easter 2025, the JC2033 initiative was also mentioned, which proposes an ecumenical journey toward the year 2033, when the 2,000th anniversary of the resurrection of Christ will be celebrated. It is suggested that the date of Easter for Orthodox and Catholics coinciding in 2025 could be a first step toward greater unity on the occasion of this historic celebration.

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

Full Article

http://www.myspiritfm.com/News?blogid=8838&view=post&articleid=282425&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0

CNA Newsroom, Feb 15, 2025 / 07:15 am (CNA).

Pope Francis has appointed Sister Raffaella Petrini, F.S.E., as President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and President of the Governorate of Vatican City State, the Vatican announced Saturday.

According to the Feb. 15 bulletin from the Holy See Press Office, Sister Petrini will assume her new roles on Mar. 1, 2025. She succeeds Cardinal Fernando Vérgez in both positions.

Sister Petrini, who has served as Secretary General of the same governorate since November 2021, brings significant academic and administrative experience to her new role. Born in Rome on Jan. 15, 1969, she holds a degree in political science from the Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Guido Carli and a doctorate from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, where she currently serves as a professor.

Before her appointment to the governorate, Sister Petrini worked at the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples from 2005 to 2021.

This appointment follows Pope Francis' recent selection of Sister Simona Brambilla as prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, marking a continuing trend of women being appointed to senior Vatican leadership positions.

During a recent television interview, the Pope had previously indicated his intention to promote Sister Petrini.

Full Article