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CNA Staff, Jul 26, 2024 / 14:45 pm (CNA).

Four Florida activists from the abortion rights extremist group "Jane's Revenge" agreed on July 25 to pay restitution and keep away from crisis pregnancy centers following vandalism and threats of violence on three pro-life clinics.

"We will not allow radicals to threaten and intimidate women seeking help from crisis pregnancy centers or the counselors and health care professionals serving these women and their babies," Attorney General Ashley Mood said in a statement. "In Florida, illegal actions have consequences, and I am proud of the work our attorneys did in this case to make sure these extremists were held accountable."

Moody and First Liberty Institute, a legal nonprofit, filed civil lawsuits authorized under the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act on behalf of several life-affirming pregnancy clinics in Florida. 

Three of the four activists pleaded guilty last month to criminal charges. The four of them are enjoined from going within 100 feet of the life-affirming clinics they targeted: the South Broward Pregnancy Help Center and the Life Choice Pregnancy Center as well as any of the five facilities owned by Heartbeat of Miami. 

Caleb Freestone, Amber Marie Smith-Stewart, and Annarella Rivera, will issue apologies for the 2022 acts of vandalism and together will pay $6,750 for the vandalism. Charges against the fourth defendant are pending.

The activists were associated with "Jane's Revenge," a militant pro-abortion group that targets pregnancy help centers and takes responsibility for arson, firebombing, and vandalism against the organizations. The group emerged after the leak of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in May 2022. 

At Heartbeat of Miami, the vandalism resulted in thousands of dollars in damages, with graffitied messages such as "Jane's Revenge" and "If abortions aren't safe, then neither are you" sprayed on the walls. 

Heartbeat provides free pregnancy tests; sonograms; pregnancy consultation and education, support, and referrals; and parenting preparation, according to its website. The center has a baby boutique that provides material supplies for women and has an abortion pill reversal contact center and post-abortion counseling. 

"The entry of these felony plea agreements serves as a reminder that no one should suffer violence for simply providing faith-based counseling and baby supplies to women and their babies," said First Liberty Senior Counsel, Jeremy Dys. "Attorney General Moody's leadership, together with our lawsuit, sends a clear message: those who target life-affirming reproductive health facilities with violence will face the legal penalties Congress established for their crimes."

The FACE Act has frequently been used in defense of abortion. Numerous pro-life activists have recently been convicted under the statute, including a young mother who was recently sentenced to more than three years in prison for blocking the entrance to a New York facility. Other pro-life activists are facing up to 10 years in prison for blocking the entrance to an abortion clinic in Washington, D.C., in 2020, including several elderly activists who are facing prison time. 

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 26, 2024 / 10:05 am (CNA).

Here's a roundup of pro-life-related developments in the U.S. this week. 

Harris pledges to codify Roe in federal law

Since replacing President Joe Biden as the presumptive presidential nominee for the Democratic party, Vice President Kamala Harris has already made abortion a major focus of her campaign, pledging in several speeches to codify Roe v. Wade into federal law.

In a Wednesday night speech in Indianapolis, Harris bashed former President Donald Trump for nominating three Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe.

"When I am president of the United States and when Congress passes a law to restore those freedoms, I will sign it into law," she said.

"We who believe in reproductive freedom will fight for a woman's right to choose," said Harris, "because one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree that the government should not be telling her what to do."

Harris has used this line repeatedly during her "Fight for Reproductive Freedoms Tour" in which she slammed states with pro-life laws as "immoral" and advocated for a national pro-abortion law. 

Iowa heartbeat law to take effect July 29

Iowa District Judge Jeffrey Farrell lifted a block on the state's six-week pro-life law, clearing the path for the measure to finally take effect on July 29.

The Iowa "heartbeat" law was passed by the legislature in 2023. It protects unborn life from abortion once a baby's heartbeat is detectable, which is typically around six weeks.

Planned Parenthood and several other abortion groups launched a lawsuit over the law and it was blocked by a district court shortly after passage. Polk County District Judge Joseph Seidlin ruled in 2023 that the law was likely invalid because it imposed an "undue burden" on abortion.

The Iowa Supreme Court, however, ruled on June 28 that the law is likely not unconstitutional because abortion is "not a fundamental right under the Iowa Constitution." The high court returned the case to lower courts for further deliberation.

Commending the state supreme court's ruling, Iowa's Catholic bishops said: "For us, this is a question of the common good and human dignity. Human life is precious and should be protected in our laws to the greatest extent possible."

Arkansas Supreme Court rules on abortion petition  

The Arkansas Supreme Court ordered that signatures as part of an abortion ballot initiative be counted after Secretary of State John Thurston said the documentation was improperly submitted.

This comes after Thurston denied abortion advocates their petition to add a broad pro-abortion amendment to the November ballot. The prosecutor said the activists failed to identify their paid canvassers or to indicate that the canvassers had followed state law regarding gathering signatures.

The state high court's decision issued on Tuesday ordered Thurston to resume counting petition signatures gathered by volunteers by July 29.

The group claimed to have gathered over 100,000 signatures — well over the 90,700 required to add an amendment proposal to the ballot. Thurston, however, said that after subtracting the signatures allegedly invalidly obtained by paid canvassers, the group only had 87,382 signatures, more than 3,000 short of the minimum required.

The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that the petition's signatures could be counted but only those not gathered by paid canvassers, meaning the petition may fail to reach the necessary threshold for the November ballot.

Currently, Arkansas protects unborn life beginning at conception, only allowing abortion in cases in which the mother's life is in danger.

If successfully passed, the abortion amendment would mandate that the state not "prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict" abortion before 18 weeks of pregnancy. The amendment would further prohibit the state from restricting abortion at all stages in cases of rape, incest, fetal anomaly, or health of the mother.

Federal court denies effort to restrict abortion pill

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied an appeal by seven Republican-led states to challenge the federal government's recent loosening of restrictions on mifepristone, the pill that accounts for over 60% of all U.S. abortions.

The seven Republican states — Idaho, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah — argued that the federal government's loosening of mifepristone restrictions, such as allowing mail-order abortions and prescriptions via telemedicine, undermines their pro-life laws and harms women in their jurisdictions.

The states claimed they had standing to sue because the increase in women needing medical care after unsupervised chemical abortions would result in increased Medicaid expenses.

The 3-0 decision issued by a panel from the Ninth Circuit Court on Wednesday, however, denied the states had standing and dismissed their challenge.

The circuit court's ruling cited the June 13 AHM v. FDA Supreme Court decision that unanimously rejected an attempt to impose stricter regulations on mifepristone because the doctors bringing the challenge lacked standing.

This comes as a coalition of seventeen Democrat-led states and the District of Columbia are suing to block any further efforts to restrict mifepristone.

Lawsuit by Texas woman wrongly imprisoned for abortion proceeds

U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton this week denied several requests to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a Texas woman who was wrongly imprisoned over her abortion.

The woman, Lizelle Gonzalez, was improperly jailed for murder by the county sheriff for three days in 2022. She was dismissed after the county found the charges were unfounded.

Texas law protects unborn life from conception. However, the law explicitly states that pregnant mothers cannot be prosecuted for their abortions.

Gonzalez is now seeking $1 million in damages from Starr County, which is in south Texas on the U.S.-Mexico border.

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CNA Staff, Jul 26, 2024 / 11:10 am (CNA).

A priest is suing the gay dating and "hookup" app Grindr after the company reportedly failed to protect his data, leading to his resignation from a top position at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). 

In July 2021, Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill resigned from his post as the general secretary of the USCCB ahead of a report by The Pillar alleging that he had engaged in inappropriate behavior and frequent use of Grindr. 

The app advertises itself as "the largest social networking app for gay, bi, trans, and queer people." Its geolocation feature is popularly known to facilitate sex hookups between gay men. 

The Pillar said its report on Burrill was based on "commercially available records" correlated to the priest's mobile device. But a lawsuit filed this week claims that Grindr hadn't taken steps to protect the data from third-party acquisition. 

The suit, filed in the Superior Court of California, claims the ??group Catholic Laity and Clergy for Renewal (CLCR) purchased the priest's data from the app and sent it to The Pillar. 

The gay hookup app "assures customers" that it "takes steps" to protect data from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure, the suit says. But Grindr allegedly "knew they were failing to protect sensitive personal data of its customers" yet failed to take steps to protect it, the filing says. 

Public reports "reveal a stunning pattern of [Grindr's] intentional and reckless failure to protect private data of its customers," the priest argues in the suit. 

The company allegedly "fraudulently conceals and fails to disclose that it provides and/or sells its users' personal data to ad networks, data vendors, and/or or other third parties that sell the data or otherwise make it commercially available to others."

The suit requests damages, lawyer's fees, and "injunctive relief." It also asks the court to forbid Grindr "from committing such unlawful, unfair, and fraudulent business practices."

In 2022 Burrill returned to active ministry as a priest in his home diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin, with then-Bishop William Callahan stating that the priest had "engaged in a sincere and prayerful effort to strengthen his priestly vows" and had "favorably responded to every request" made by the bishop and the diocese.

The priest was appointed to St. Teresa of Kolkata Parish in West Salem, where he serves as pastor. 

In his lawsuit, Burrill said his reputation had been "destroyed" by the data leak. 

In addition to losing his position at the USCCB, he was "subjected to significant financial damages and emotional and psychological devastation," the suit says. 

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ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 25, 2024 / 18:30 pm (CNA).

On July 25, 1968, St. Paul VI published Humanae Vitae, an encyclical on the regulation of birth and the dangers involved in the use of artificial contraceptive methods and their imposition as state policy. At the time the encyclical was rejected by many even within the Catholic Church.

The document, published at the beginning of the sexual revolution, continues to draw mixed reactions, which is why it's necessary to take a closer look at five key points that allow us to better understand the encyclical, the context in which it was written, its prophetic message, and its validity even today. 

1. It is ordinary, definitive, and irreformable magisterial teaching.

Various priests, theologians, and laypeople frequently claim the encyclical only belongs to the ordinary magisterium of a pope and that as such, its content could change with another pope who comes later. However, Humane Vitae has been reaffirmed by the pontiffs who succeeded Paul VI.

St. John Paul II went so far as to affirm that "what is taught by the Church on contraception does not belong to a matter freely disputable between theologians. Teaching the opposite is equivalent to misleading the moral conscience of the spouses."

Furthermore, the Polish pope maintained that the Catholic doctrine on contraception belongs to the moral doctrine of the Church and that this has been proposed "with uninterrupted continuity" because it is "a truth that cannot be disputed."

Therefore, the doctrine of an encyclical belongs to the ordinary magisterium, however, if it is exercised continuously and definitively, it is irreformable, even if it is not infallible.

2. Humanae Vitae is a prophetic encyclical.

Various notable Catholics have characterized the encyclical as "prophetic and still pertinent."

In 1968, the discussion about the negative impact of artificial contraceptives was just in its infancy; however, the document not only meant a concrete response to the debate surrounding sexual ethics, "but it meant at the time, and still means, a refusal of the Church, clear and explicit, to bow to the proposals and demands of the sexual revolution," as explained by the Spanish Bishops' Conference.

In 2018, the late archbishop of Warsaw, Henryk Hoser, noted that the voice of St. Paul VI in Humanae Vitae has been shown to be prophetic about contraceptives, as he "predicted that their application would open the easy way to marital infidelity and the general decrease in births."

Furthermore, the archbishop stressed that the encyclical is always relevant because conjugal love, "physical or spiritual, must combine these two dimensions" and that it must always be a love "free of selfishness."

Similarly, Spanish priest Javier "Patxi" Bronchalo stated in 2022 that the document warned at the time about the increase in marital infidelity, moral degradation, the general loss of dignity of women, and ideological colonization through government policies.

3. The encyclical underwent significant changes before being published.

According to research by an Italian scholar at the Vatican Apostolic Archive, Humanae Vitae should have been originally published on May 23, 1968, but then St. Paul VI decided to publish it on July 25.

This measure was taken by the pope, despite the fact that the document was already printed in Latin under the title De Nascendae Prolis (Of Children to Be Born), because he considered that it was very dense in doctrine and that it was not pastorally adequate.

After some changes to the original document, Paul VI "took the entire pastoral section and added a series of very sensitive points that still reveal his imprint today."

4. St. Paul VI consulted the bishops before publishing the encyclical.

Some accuse St. Paul VI of having published the encyclical Humanae Vitae without consulting the bishops. However, the Italian scholar's research reveals the opposite. During the 1967 Synod of Bishops, the pope asked all prelates to share with him their position on the issue.

Of the almost 200 bishops participating in the synod, only 26 responded in the period from Oct. 9, 1967, to May 31, 1968. Of this group, 19 expressed themselves in favor of contraceptives and only seven against them.

Of these seven, the best known and most important were the venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen and the then-archbishop of Krakow, Poland, Karol Wojtyla, who would become St. John Paul II, who always wanted to be remembered as "the pope of the family," as Pope Francis stated during the canonization of the Polish pope in 2014.

The then-secretary of state, Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, said that "on the morning of July 25, 1968, Paul VI celebrated the Mass of the Holy Spirit, asked for light from on high and signed: He signed his most difficult signature, one of his most glorious signatures. He signed his own passion."

5. Humanae Vitae promotes rational thinking about sexuality.

According to the Jesuit Bertrand de Margerie, being rational about sex does not evoke an indiscriminate and complete autonomy of the intimate life of the couple nor the use of artificial means to control births but rather the exercise of the virtue of chastity.

"The acquired virtue of chastity penetrates with reasonableness the exercise of sexual life when the latter is legitimate," the Jesuit priest wrote, citing St. Thomas Aquinas in the Summa Theologica.

"By encouraging periodic continence and the regulation of births without artificial control, Paul VI rightly exalts a humble and complete rationalization of the sexual sphere subjected to the knowledge of human reason and to the control of freedom helped by grace," the priest pointed out.

"He does not appeal to instincts," the Jesuit explained, "which are common to men and to other animals and which are deprived of reason, but he appeals to man's freedom, through which man resembles pure spirits such as angels are."

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, Jul 25, 2024 / 17:50 pm (CNA).

A Manhattan federal court sentenced Bevelyn Beatty Williams, a 33-year-old pro-life activist, to three years and five months in prison July 24 for violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.

Williams was convicted of "interference, including by threats and force, with individuals seeking to obtain and provide" abortions, according to the Department of Justice. The wife and mother was sentenced after preaching the Gospel outside an abortion clinic and allegedly injuring a clinic worker's hand and blocking the entrance.  

"I was persecuted as a Christian standing for my beliefs when it comes to life," read a statement from Williams on her fundraising page. "This is devastating news. Not only is this bond extensive for the accused crime, but she made it very clear in the courtroom that she was going to make an example out of me." 

A Department of Justice July 24 press release detailed that Williams leaned against the clinic door, blocking a clinic worker from entering, and trapping another worker's hand inside the door.

The release noted that according to a livestream on social media posted by Williams, she "stood within inches of the Health Center's chief administrative officer and threatened to 'terrorize this place' and warned that 'we're gonna terrorize you so good, your business is gonna be over mama.'"

Williams, who has a 2-year-old daughter, intends to appeal the decision.

"The concern of being a young mother, and a stay-at-home mother, was completely disregarded," Williams continued.

"She told me before sentencing me that I was young and that I would not be defined by my sentence, before making a conscious decision to take me away from my 2-year-old daughter for three years," Williams said of the judge. "I have 60 days to appeal my case and fight for my freedom and I need as much help as I can get!"

Williams, born in Staten Island, New York, had her first abortion at the age of 15 after she dropped out of high school, according to her ministry website At Well Ministries. She later went on to have two more abortions and went down a "self-destructive" path of drugs and drinking. 

After she was arrested for money laundering, she had a conversion experience and "upon her release moved forward with the determination to choose a new path." She co-founded At Well Ministries, which specializes in street ministry and ministry to the homeless, and she later made a shift toward pro-life activism. 

Williams is one of many pro-life activists who have been sentenced under the FACE Act in recent years, including several elderly people and a Catholic priest.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 25, 2024 / 18:10 pm (CNA).

The Senate voted overwhelmingly to advance extensive regulations that its supporters say will protect the safety and privacy of children on the internet.

In a rare show of bipartisanship, the Senate voted 86-1 on a procedural vote that paved the way for two child online protection bills to pass the Senate within the coming weeks. Sen. Rand Paul, a libertarian-leaning Republican, was the only senator to vote against advancing the bills.

The current versions of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) emerged from months of dialogue with families and child safety advocates, according to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's office.

Under KOSA, the government would impose a "duty of care" on social media platforms. This means the companies could be held legally liable if they are negligent in their efforts to prevent children from accessing harmful material.

Bullying and harassment, as well as sexual and violent material, are listed as harmful material covered by the legislation. The bill would also require platforms to work to prevent children from accessing material that could contribute to anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and various other harm.

The bill would require social media platforms to allow children to opt out of algorithmic recommendations and give parents control over how platforms can use their children's information. It would also require independent audits of the platforms.

COPPA 2.0 would prohibit companies from collecting any data on users 16 years old or younger, unless first receiving consent. It would also ban targeted advertising for children and create a "Digital Marketing Bill of Rights for Teens" to restrict data collected on teenagers.

Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy said on the Senate floor that updating the regulations for the internet is long overdue.

"Rules from 25 years ago can not effectively govern social media sites that did not exist 25 years ago [and] were not conceived of 25 years ago," Cassidy said. "We've waited too long to update these rules."

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, one of the co-sponsors of KOSA, said on the Senate floor that the bill "empowers young people and parents." 

"It gives them choices," Blumenthal continued. "It enables them to take back control over their own lives. It enables the strongest settings of safety by default, it requires companies to disable destructive product features. It gives young people and parents tools to opt out, to choose not to be a part of algorithm recommendations … [and to] shield themselves against online predators and options to protect their own information."

Melissa Henson, the vice president of the Parents Television and Media Council, which endorsed both bills, told CNA that children have been subjected to bullying and sextortion schemes on social media platforms. She said many platforms have caused body image problems for girls and are linked to other mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression.

"A lot of these social media platforms are not designed with children's mental health and well-being in mind," Henson said, but added that social media platforms are "aware of these problems."

"These media companies aren't doing enough to protect kids," Henson said.

Adam Candeub, the director of the Intellectual Property, Information, and Communications Law Program at Michigan State University, told CNA that it is "amazing" that the legislation will likely get a vote "after years of effort and tremendous opposition." Candeub has long advocated for legislation to protect children online. 

"KOSA's duty of care will expose online platforms to liability if they fail to implement design features that 'prevent and mitigate harm to minors,'" Candeub said. "However, the devil is in the details. The question will be how the enforcers, whether the courts or federal agencies or in some cases the state attorney generals who may bring suit, will understand this vague legal duty."

Sen. Paul, who was the lone "no" vote on advancing the legislation, called the bills "a Trojan horse" and warned of a "stifling of First Amendment protected speech" when speaking on the Senate floor.

Paul said that "everyone will have a different belief as to what causes harm … [and as to] how platforms should go about protecting minors from that harm." He added that the "fear of liability [and the] fear of lawsuits … is going to cause people to censor themselves."

Some social media platforms, as well as the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, have also opposed the bills based on concerns that they will lead to online censorship. 

The bills could receive a final vote in the Senate next week. If they pass, they will be sent to the House of Representatives for consideration.

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ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 25, 2024 / 18:30 pm (CNA).

On July 25, 1968, St. Paul VI published Humanae Vitae, an encyclical on the regulation of birth and the dangers involved in the use of artificial contraceptive methods and their imposition as state policy. At the time the encyclical was rejected by many even within the Catholic Church.

The document, published at the beginning of the sexual revolution, continues to draw mixed reactions, which is why it's necessary to take a closer look at five key points that allow us to better understand the encyclical, the context in which it was written, its prophetic message, and its validity even today. 

1. It is ordinary, definitive, and irreformable magisterial teaching.

Various priests, theologians, and laypeople frequently claim the encyclical only belongs to the ordinary magisterium of a pope and that as such, its content could change with another pope who comes later. However, Humane Vitae has been reaffirmed by the pontiffs who succeeded Paul VI.

St. John Paul II went so far as to affirm that "what is taught by the Church on contraception does not belong to a matter freely disputable between theologians. Teaching the opposite is equivalent to misleading the moral conscience of the spouses."

Furthermore, the Polish pope maintained that the Catholic doctrine on contraception belongs to the moral doctrine of the Church and that this has been proposed "with uninterrupted continuity" because it is "a truth that cannot be disputed."

Therefore, the doctrine of an encyclical belongs to the ordinary magisterium, however, if it is exercised continuously and definitively, it is irreformable, even if it is not infallible.

2. Humanae Vitae is a prophetic encyclical.

Various notable Catholics have characterized the encyclical as "prophetic and still pertinent."

In 1968, the discussion about the negative impact of artificial contraceptives was just in its infancy; however, the document not only meant a concrete response to the debate surrounding sexual ethics, "but it meant at the time, and still means, a refusal of the Church, clear and explicit, to bow to the proposals and demands of the sexual revolution," as explained by the Spanish Bishops' Conference.

In 2018, the late archbishop of Warsaw, Henryk Hoser, noted that the voice of St. Paul VI in Humanae Vitae has been shown to be prophetic about contraceptives, as he "predicted that their application would open the easy way to marital infidelity and the general decrease in births."

Furthermore, the archbishop stressed that the encyclical is always relevant because conjugal love, "physical or spiritual, must combine these two dimensions" and that it must always be a love "free of selfishness."

Similarly, Spanish priest Javier "Patxi" Bronchalo stated in 2022 that the document warned at the time about the increase in marital infidelity, moral degradation, the general loss of dignity of women, and ideological colonization through government policies.

3. The encyclical underwent significant changes before being published.

According to research by an Italian scholar at the Vatican Apostolic Archive, Humanae Vitae should have been originally published on May 23, 1968, but then St. Paul VI decided to publish it on July 25.

This measure was taken by the pope, despite the fact that the document was already printed in Latin under the title De Nascendae Prolis (Of Children to Be Born), because he considered that it was very dense in doctrine and that it was not pastorally adequate.

After some changes to the original document, Paul VI "took the entire pastoral section and added a series of very sensitive points that still reveal his imprint today."

4. St. Paul VI consulted the bishops before publishing the encyclical.

Some accuse St. Paul VI of having published the encyclical Humanae Vitae without consulting the bishops. However, the Italian scholar's research reveals the opposite. During the 1967 Synod of Bishops, the pope asked all prelates to share with him their position on the issue.

Of the almost 200 bishops participating in the synod, only 26 responded in the period from Oct. 9, 1967, to May 31, 1968. Of this group, 19 expressed themselves in favor of contraceptives and only seven against them.

Of these seven, the best known and most important were the venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen and the then-archbishop of Krakow, Poland, Karol Wojtyla, who would become St. John Paul II, who always wanted to be remembered as "the pope of the family," as Pope Francis stated during the canonization of the Polish pope in 2014.

The then-secretary of state, Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, said that "on the morning of July 25, 1968, Paul VI celebrated the Mass of the Holy Spirit, asked for light from on high and signed: He signed his most difficult signature, one of his most glorious signatures. He signed his own passion."

5. Humanae Vitae promotes rational thinking about sexuality.

According to the Jesuit Bertrand de Margerie, being rational about sex does not evoke an indiscriminate and complete autonomy of the intimate life of the couple nor the use of artificial means to control births but rather the exercise of the virtue of chastity.

"The acquired virtue of chastity penetrates with reasonableness the exercise of sexual life when the latter is legitimate," the Jesuit priest wrote, citing St. Thomas Aquinas in the Summa Theologica.

"By encouraging periodic continence and the regulation of births without artificial control, Paul VI rightly exalts a humble and complete rationalization of the sexual sphere subjected to the knowledge of human reason and to the control of freedom helped by grace," the priest pointed out.

"He does not appeal to instincts," the Jesuit explained, "which are common to men and to other animals and which are deprived of reason, but he appeals to man's freedom, through which man resembles pure spirits such as angels are."

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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Vatican City, Jul 25, 2024 / 15:30 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis on Thursday appointed Father Kevin Kenney as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. 

The bishop-elect, born and raised in Minneapolis, currently serves as parish priest of St. Olaf Parish as well as administrator of Sts. Cyril and Methodius Parish within the archdiocese. 

In an interview with The Catholic Spirit, the official news service of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Kenney said he was only informed of the Holy Father's desire to appoint him bishop late last month and is grateful to continue his work as a "missionary" of Jesus Christ.

"Every time I now pass a picture of Pope Francis, I thank him for the new and blessed adventure that is ahead," the 64-year-old bishop-elect said.

"I thought to myself, 'I began as a missionary and now I will end as a missionary, going into the world in a new way, to proclaim and live the good news of Jesus Christ."

Kenney's missionary spirit was forged when he moved to Chicago to join the Claretian Missionaries, a religious community of priests and brothers founded by St. Anthony Marie Claret. He served as a lay volunteer and volunteer director with the community in the 1980s.

It was during his years of service and spiritual formation with the Claretian Missionaries in Chicago that Kenney discerned his call to be a missionary in his home diocese. According to The Catholic Spirit he entered formation with the Claretians and studied at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.

After five years in formation, he discerned that he was called to diocesan priesthood, entered the St. Paul Seminary, and was ordained a priest of the archdiocese in 1994. 

Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis said Pope Francis has chosen "such a fine pastor" and looks forward to working more closely with Kenney.

"I am grateful that the Holy Father has recognized in Bishop-elect Kenney the same exceptionally compassionate priestly heart that I have come to know in the nine years that I have been serving here [in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis]," Hebda said in a statement.

The archbishop added that Kenney, also known as "RevKev" in St. Olaf's Parish, has vast experience and is popular with the Latino community. According to The Catholic Spirit, Kenney served as vicar for Latino Ministry in St. Paul and Minneapolis from 2010 to 2018.

This morning, Hebda introduced the new bishop-elect to the local faithful at the Archdiocesan Catholic Center in St. Paul. Kenney emphasized the importance of welcoming everyone at church, even the homeless.

He said that when he first arrived at St. Olaf, there were security guards at the church doors.

"I realized, as I was taken back by it, everyone is, especially the homeless, especially those who are suffering in one way or another in their life," he said.

Kenney said that the homeless population had been "riled up," but when the security guards were no longer there, he said, the tension immediately dropped.

"People need to be respected for who they are. A simple hello, a simple good morning, a simple smile," he said. "As they came through the door, they left then everything outside to have a place where they could come to feel safe, to use the restroom, to get a drink of water, to get some clothes, food, whatever it is that we could offer, and to appreciate them and acknowledge them, and not just to brush them off and to pretend they weren't there, but to be able to keep our doors open to welcome them." 

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ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 25, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The Diocese of Matamoros in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas on the border with the U.S. announced two changes in its pastoral government: Its name will change to the Diocese of Matamoros-Reynosa and the Our Lady of Guadalupe church in Reynosa will be its co-cathedral.

In a statement shared Monday, the Mexican diocese said the changes will not be immediate. In the coming days the date will be announced when the new name will be official and a Mass will be celebrated at which time Our Lady of Guadalupe Church will be elevated to a co-cathedral.

According to the statement, the Vatican Dicastery for Bishops approved the changes, which had been requested by the bishop of Matamoros, Eugenio Andrés Lira Rugarcía, considering that "Reynosa, which is part of the territory of the Diocese of Matamoros, is the municipality with the largest population in the state of Tamaulipas and its ecclesial life is very solid."

The city of Reynosa is located in the country's northeast, also in the state of Tamaulipas, and borders Hidalgo County, Texas. It has a population of 704,767 inhabitants, according to 2020 data from the Mexican government's Ministry of Economy, whereas Matamoros has a population of 118,337. In the area served by the Catholic Church in ??Reynosa alone there are 34 churches.

The episcopal seat of what will be the Diocese of Matamoros-Reynosa will remain in Matamoros, where the cathedral of Our Lady of Refuge and the offices of the diocesan curia are located. However, "some liturgical celebrations and diocesan services will take place in the new co-cathedral," which is located in downtown Reynosa.

The Royal Spanish Academy defines co-cathedral as "a church with the dignity of a cathedral, united to that of the historical seat of the same diocese."

With the addition of the one in Reynosa, there will be five co-cathedrals in Mexico. Currently they are the Co-Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary in Chilapa, in the Diocese of Chilpancingo-Chilapa, Guerrero state; the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Chetumal, of the Diocese of Cancún-Chetumal, Quintana Roo state; the Co-Cathedral of St. Peter in Madera, in the Diocese of Cuauhtémoc-Madera, Chihuahua state; and the Co-Cathedral of the Sweet Name of Mary in Sisoguichi, in the Diocese of Tarahumara, also in Chihuahua.

Father José Luis Cerra Luna, pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, shared a message on Facebook expressing his joy at the Vatican's decision.

"God calls us to feel even more closely united to our bishop, Eugenio Andrés Lira Rugarcía, but also to the entire diocesan community. Being a co-cathedral is a vocation to unity, not only within our parish but for the entire Diocese of Matamoros-Reynosa," Cerra said.

According to the website of the Diocese of Matamoros, its territory covers the towns of Matamoros, Reynosa, Valle Hermoso, Río Bravo, Camargo, Díaz Ordaz, San Fernando, and Méndez, all in northern Tamaulipas.

The diocesan territory has an area of ??about 7,500 square miles with a population of approximately 1.5 million.

The diocese has 76 churches and a presbyterate made up of 125 diocesan priests as well as various religious communities, lay organizations, educational institutions, and social works.

The Diocese of Matamoros was created by Pope Pius XII on Feb. 16, 1958, and is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Monterrey.

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

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CNA Newsroom, Jul 25, 2024 / 10:51 am (CNA).

A Catholic priest in Germany has barred an altar server and lector from his duties because he works for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. According to a report by CNA Deutsch, CNA's German-language news partner, the party has announced legal steps in response, but the archdiocese is backing the priest's decision.

In early July, parish priest Father Ralf Dunker informed 20-year-old Julian-Bert Schäfer that he could no longer serve as an altar server, lector, and organist in the Parish of St. Francis of Assisi in Hamm in northwestern Germany. Dunker cited Schäfer's active involvement with the AfD as incompatible with these volunteer duties.

While polling has shown the AfD as the second most popular party in Germany, the party is variously described in the media as a populist, right-wing, or far-right extremist outfit. 

The banned altar server, an AfD member for four years and office manager for the party in the Hamm city council, denounced the decision.

"It is outrageous that a priest arbitrarily decides, without consulting the pastoral team, which political convictions are compatible with participation in Church life," Schäfer said in a statement on Facebook. He added: "This exclusion is not only a violation of my rights as a believer but also a betrayal of the principles of tolerance and respect that the Church preaches."

CNA Deutsch reported that the AfD official has engaged a lawyer, reportedly an AfD federal Parliament member, to challenge the decision. The legal battle is expected to revolve around the interpretation of Article 3 of the German Constitution, which prohibits discrimination based on political convictions.

Schäfer said the challenge would draw on the relevant article of the Basic Law, "which guarantees equality before the law."

However, the Archdiocese of Paderborn is standing firmly behind Dunker's decision. A spokesperson for the archdiocese stated, according to katholisch.de: "Based on the German Bishops' Conference's declaration ..., it is justified to inform an active AfD functionary that he cannot exercise a voluntary office in the Catholic parish."

The German Bishops' Conference has taken a clear stance against the AfD. In February, it issued a declaration on nationalism that said: "Right-wing extremist parties and those that are rampant on the fringes of this ideology ... cannot be a place of political activity for Christians and cannot be voted for."

Pressure against Catholic members of AfD

The case of the dismissed altar server is not an isolated incident. In May, Bishop Stephan Ackermann of Trier upheld the dismissal of Christoph Schaufert, an AfD state parliamentarian, from a parish administrative council. Ackermann defended the decision, stating: "The exercise of political mandates for the AfD is incompatible with the exercise of the elected office in the administrative council of a parish in the Diocese of Trier."

During protests against an AfD party congress in Essen in July, Klaus Pfeffer, vicar general of the Diocese of Essen, praised the event, according to CNA Deutsch.

However, the AfD's popularity is rising, with recent polls showing it at about 20% nationally, making it the second-strongest political force behind the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). In eastern German states, where crucial elections are set for 2024, the AfD is polling above 30% in Saxony, Thuringia, and Brandenburg.

This rise reflects broader European trends, where parties critical of mass migration, Islam, and leftist ideologies have gained significant ground, such as Marine Le Pen's National Rally in France and Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom in the Netherlands. Analysts attribute this also to wider concerns over demographic decline, economic uncertainties, and disillusionment with mainstream politics and media.

For the Catholic Church in Germany, the AfD's growing strength presents a complex challenge. Church leaders have unequivocally opposed the party but risk ignoring the reality that some Catholics support — and are members of — the AfD.

As Germany approaches its next federal election in 2025, and with critical state elections sooner, the Catholic Church's approach to the AfD will likely remain contentious. The cases of Schäfer and Schaufert may presage further conflicts as the Church balances political pressures while struggling with a steep decline in relevance and influence.

German bishops have called for dialogue with AfD voters to understand their concerns, even as they assert that "right-wing extremist parties cannot be a place of political activity for Christians."

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