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CNA Staff, Sep 29, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The Archdiocese of Boston broke ground last week on a 19-story affordable housing project in downtown Boston.

The archdiocesan Planning Office for Urban Affairs (POUA) is partnering with the largest day shelter in Massachusetts, St. Francis House, a secular nonprofit that serves about 9,000 individuals annually, to build the residential apartments. Work began on Tuesday, Sept. 24.

The development, located on La Grange Street, is set to include 126 units, about 70 of which will be reserved for people coming out of homelessness. The unit is mixed income, meaning that the shelter will house a variety of middle- and low-income families and individuals.

 

The development comes amid an increasing homeless problem in Boston as well as an affordable housing crisis in Massachusetts. The city has seen growing homelessness since 2022 and had a 10.6% increase in the homeless population from 2023 to 2024, according to the annual Homeless Census by the Boston Mayor's Office of Housing. 

Massachusetts, meanwhile, has a rental housing shortage for extremely low-income households, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

"That's a problem across the board for people that are working-class families, middle-income families; [they] are having a hard time keeping a roof over their heads and providing for their families," St. Francis House CEO Karen LaFrazia told CNA. "Then it's almost impossible for anybody who falls into homelessness, that's extremely low income, to ever find a market-rate apartment."

"Almost every day, there is an article or story highlighting the high cost of housing, the lack of meaningful affordable rental opportunities, or the zoning restrictions in place that inhibit development, and the impact that each of these has had on individuals, families, and our communities, in Boston especially," Bill Grogan, the president of POUA, told CNA. 

"It has created the moral, humanitarian, and societal crisis that we find ourselves in today," he said.

"It's about building on our common humanity and creating opportunities for people to become neighbors," LaFrazia told CNA. "We live in an increasingly more polarized world and that is creating divisions between people, and one of the best ways to bring people together is to construct opportunities for people whose lives wouldn't naturally intersect."

LaFrazia noted that the housing, which will feature 68 studio apartments, 21 one-bedroom units, and 37 two-bedroom units, is high quality and comparable to the housing in the surrounding areas.  

Grogan said the joint venture between the archdiocese and St. Francis House "represents a unique partnership between experienced, high-quality nonprofit organizations with long track records of serving at-risk and vulnerable populations."

The two organizations have worked together before, rehabilitating a historic building in downtown Boston into 46 units of affordable housing as well as St. Francis House offices with resources and support designed to "provide opportunities for homeless individuals," Grogan noted.

"LaGrange Street builds off of our partnership with St. Francis House, combining our development expertise with their expertise as a service provider," Grogan said. 

St. Francis House was originally founded by the Francsican order at St. Anthony's Shrine in downtown Boston. It grew into a daytime shelter that provides basic necessities, such as meals, showers, and clothing, as well as support for behavior, health, or medical issues and job search help. 

Though it is a secular organization, LaFrazia said they wanted to work with a group that shared their values, so they are collaborating with the Archdiocese of Boston. 

LaFrazia said faith informs her personally in her work.

"Many of us come to this work from a faith perspective, and that is what certainly drives me," she said. "But we welcome people of all faiths, of all faith traditions. And I think that our welcoming of people of all faiths is in many ways informed by our faith."

"We look at every human being that we encounter as our brother and sister: They're somebody's brother, somebody's sister, somebody's mother, somebody's child. And so we model our work in that way," LaFrazia continued. "We can take from Matthew 25 that informs us to be able to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, and we do that."

"People come to us. They may have challenges, but we don't just see the way they present and stand in judgment," she continued.

"We see their humanity, and we're compelled to welcome that person as Christ would into our home, and then to treat them with respect, with dignity, to acknowledge their value as a human being, and then do everything we can to create opportunities for them to be able to thrive and have a quality of life that they deserve."

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Vatican City, Sep 28, 2024 / 12:45 pm (CNA).

A "crisis of faith" in the West requires a return to the Gospel, Pope Francis told Belgian bishops on Saturday morning at the National Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Brussels.

Addressing more than 2,500 priests, deacons, religious sisters, seminarians, catechists, and bishops gathered inside the basilica, the pope emphasized the urgency of evangelization in Europe.

"The changes in our time and the crisis of faith we are experiencing in the West have impelled us to return to what is essential, namely the Gospel," Pope Francis said.

"The good news that Jesus brought to the world must once again be proclaimed to all and allowed to shine forth in all its beauty," he added.

The pope's remarks come at a critical time for the Catholic Church in Belgium, which is facing significant declines in public trust and participation. 

Only 50% of Belgians identified as Catholic in 2022, a decline of 16% from 10 years prior. Attendance at Mass has also dropped significantly, with only 8.9% of the population attending at least once a month. 

The pope noted that the current crisis reflects a significant shift in the Church's role in society. 

"We have moved from a Christianity located within a welcoming social framework to a 'minority' Christianity, or … a Christianity of witness," he said. 

This transformation, he argued, requires priests "who are in love with Jesus Christ and who are attentive to responding to the often implicit demands of the Gospel as they walk with God's holy people."

Pope Francis was welcomed to the basilica by Archbishop Luc Terlinden of Malines-Brussels, who highlighted the historical contributions of Belgian missionaries, including St. Damien of Molokai, who was beatified in the basilica in 1995.

Located atop Koekelberg hill, the Basilica of the Sacred Heart is the fifth largest Catholic church in the world, according to the Vatican. Inspired after a visit to Paris' Sacred Heart basilica, Belgium's King Leopold II called for the construction of the basilica. The king himself laid the first stone in 1905, but the basilica was not finished until 1970 as construction was halted during the two World Wars.

During the meeting at the basilica with local Belgian Catholics, Pope Francis reflected on the upcoming second Vatican assembly of the Synod on Synodality, scheduled to begin on October 2.

When asked by Dr. Arnaud Join-Lambert, a theologian on the Synod secretariat's Methodology Commission, about the future of synodality in the secularized West, the pope responded that "the synodal process must involve returning to the Gospel."

Pope Francis underlined that synodality should not be "about prioritizing 'fashionable' reforms, but asking, how can we bring the Gospel to a society that is no longer listening or has distanced itself from the faith?"

The wounds of abuse

In Belgium, the "crisis of faith" has gone hand in hand with revelations of clerical abuse by Church leadership. 

At the basilica, the pope listened intently to testimonies from various church representatives, including Mia De Schamphelaere, who works with victims of abuse in Flanders.

"When the first major abuse crisis erupted in our Church in 2010, following a bishop's confession of abuse, the social upheaval was great," she said.

"There followed a flood of reports from victims who testified, sometimes for the first time in their lives, that they had been abused at a young age by a priest or religious person. Like many citizens, we felt horror, sadness, and helplessness. We were also shocked and ashamed as believers."

Earlier this year, Pope Francis laicized former Bruges Bishop Roger Vangheluwe many years after the former prelate admitted to repeatedly sexually abusing his nephews. A previous archbishop of Brussels, the late Cardinal Godfried Danneels, reportedly called on a victim of Vangheluwe's abuse to remain silent.

De Schamphelaere poignantly shared with the pope the traumatic impact of the abuse crisis. 

"Victims of abuse at a young age bring with them lifelong suffering. How can the Church see, recognize, and learn from the wounds of survivors?" she asked. 

In response, the pope emphasized the necessity of mercy and compassion. "There is a need for a great deal of mercy to keep us from hardening our hearts before the suffering of victims," he stated. He urged the Church to be "at the service of all without belittling anyone," acknowledging that the roots of violence often stem from an abuse of power.

Pope Francis met personally with 17 victims of clerical abuse in Belgium for more than two hours on Friday night at the apostolic nunciature in Brussels where he listened to their stories and their expectations regarding the Church's commitment against abuse, according to the Holy See Press Office.

It was one of many meetings in Belgium not included in the pope's official schedule. The pope also received European Union and World Health Organization representatives at the nunciature on Saturday morning before making a quick surprise stop at the Church of Saint Gilles in Brussels to visit the homeless assisted by the parish. 

Pope Francis was gifted with some beer brewed by the parish, the profits of which are used to support their service to the homeless.

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Vatican City, Sep 28, 2024 / 14:15 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis lauded Belgian King Baudouin for choosing to temporarily abdicate the throne rather than sign a law legalizing abortion during a visit to the Catholic king's tomb on Saturday in Belgium.

The pope also expressed hope that the sainthood cause for King Baudouin, who ruled as King of the Belgians from 1951 until 1993, will advance.

According to the Vatican, Pope Francis praised King Baudouin's courage for choosing to "leave his place as king in order not to sign a murderous law."

"The pope urged Belgians to look to him at this time when criminal laws are still being made," the Holy See Press Office said. 

After addressing Belgian bishops in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Brussels on Sept. 28, Pope Francis visited the basilica's royal crypt named after Our Lady of Laeken, where many members of the Royal House of Belgium are buried.  

Welcomed by King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of the Belgians, the pope spent a moment in silent prayer before the tomb of King Baudouin in the crypt before lauding his witness to the protection of life.

Pope Francis' comments about "murderous" and "criminal" laws come amid discussions about whether to extend the legal limit of abortion in Belgium, a country that also has some of the most liberal euthanasia laws in the world.

When abortion was first legalized in Belgium in 1990, King Baudouin chose to abdicate from his duties as King of the Belgians from April 3 to 5 in order not to sign the bill into law. When Baudouin died at the age of 63 in 1993, he had reigned continuously for 42 years except for those three days.

In the months before the abortion law was passed, Baudouin and his devout wife, Queen Fabiola, made a pilgrimage to the Holy House of Loreto, Italy, and asked the Blessed Virgin Mary for the courage to fight against the abortion law that was then under discussion, according to an article published by the Italian bishops' newspaper Avvenire in 2019.

During their pilgrimage to Loreto on their 30th wedding anniversary, the couple renewed their wedding vows within the walls of the Holy House. 

King Baudouin and his wife suffered from years of infertility. Fabiola was pregnant five times, and lost all of their children during pregnancy. The couple found strength amid this cross in the Eucharist. According to the testament of the chaplain of the Belgian Court, the couple attended daily Mass together.

While speaking with the Franciscan friars who serve at the Marian shrine in Loreto, Baudouin reportedly spoke about how he could not be a father as he would have liked and felt that he could not sign a law that would end the life of a child. He said that he and his wife placed their destinies in the hands of the Blessed Virgin Mary asking for courage and strength amid this trial.

Following John Paul II's visit to Belgium in 1995, the Polish pope also had words of praise for the late King Baudouin.

"I am thinking of the recently deceased King Baudouin, whom I had the good fortune to meet several times, not only during my previous visit to Belgium but also in Rome," John Paul II said during a general audience on June 7, 1995.

"He was a great guardian of the rights of the human conscience, ready to defend the divine commandments, and especially the Fifth Commandment: 'Thou shalt not kill,' especially with regard to the protection of the life of unborn children."

Andrea Gagliarducci contributed to this report from Brussels, Belgium.

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Ann Arbor, Michigan, Sep 28, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

For centuries Christians have attributed a first-century date to the Shroud of Turin. Nuclear engineer Robert Rucker says that his latest research on the shroud verifies that.

"The Shroud of Turin is the second-most valuable possession of the human race next to the Bible itself," Rucker told CNA. The shroud is currently preserved in the Chapel of the Holy Shroud adjacent to St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Turin (Torino), Italy.

For more than 10 years, Rucker has studied the physics of the disappearance of the body of Jesus and its imprint on the shroud. His website, Shroud Research, challenges conclusions that the shroud dates to the period of 1260 to 1380 A.D., leading skeptics to conclude it is a medieval fake.

In 1988, scientists used tiny samples snipped from the shroud to determine the amount of carbon 14 isotopes they contained, destroying the samples in the process. The radioactive carbon 14 isotope is a variant of carbon-containing excess neutrons, which are particles smaller than atoms. Over time, carbon 14 decays into nitrogen 14 in organic materials such as bone and plant matter. The ratio of carbon 14 atoms remaining in a sample provides the data needed to estimate the sample's age.

Rucker said his calculations show that the 1988 carbon 14 dating is erroneous because it does not take into account the radiation emitted from Jesus' body at the resurrection, which included neutrons that were absorbed by the shroud and formed new carbon 14 atoms, thus leading to a misinterpretation of the data. 

"Carbon 14 dates can be vastly wrong if something has changed the ratio of c-14 to c-12 in the sample, other than the decay of the carbon 14," Rucker explained. "There have been six different explanations for the carbon date of 1260-1380. The first explanation was in a letter to the editor of Nature magazine in 1989. Tom Philips, who holds a Ph.D. in particle physics, suggested to Nature that the most obvious explanation is that new carbon 14 atoms were produced by neutron absorption" in the shroud.

"That proposal," Rucker said, "was never followed up on until I did the nuclear analysis computer calculations in 2014."

Rucker will offer a workshop about his research on Oct. 6-7 at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor as well as professional engineering certificates in nuclear engineering and mechanical engineering.

Bolstering his credentials are 38 years of experience in the nuclear power industry, which called for making nuclear analysis computer calculations related to nuclear reactor design and statistical analysis of experimental data. He has been researching the shroud since 2013 and has conducted nuclear analysis computer calculations related to its date.

Paola Conti-Puorger, who holds a doctorate in aerospace engineering and a postgraduate degree in shroud studies from the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome, is a parishioner of St. Thomas and manages its permanent Othonia exhibit on the shroud, which includes a photographic reproduction, a 3D hologram, and a bronze likeness of Jesus lying in the tomb before his resurrection, as revealed by the imprint on the shroud.

Othonia is a research center based in Rome devoted to preserving, promoting, and disseminating knowledge about the shroud. It is part of the Science and Faith Institute within the Athenaeum.

"Rucker has studied the shroud for years and can offer an authoritative word about the scientific research on it," she told CNA.

"The shroud is the very best news we can receive in this life: that our sins are forgiven, that we are loved, that we have an important dignity, that we are called to this image within ourselves, and that we are called to love with the same love. This is the truth and real happiness of humanity," Conti-Puorger said.

"It is like contemplating the Gospel and seeing it very alive. Like the Eucharist, Christ's body and blood are there. This is a living presence. It's not a relic," she said.

In 2015, Pope Francis prayed before the shroud and during an Angelus address said: "The shroud attracts [us] toward the martyred face and body of Jesus."

He continued: "At the same time, it pushes [us] toward the face of every suffering and unjustly persecuted person. It pushes us in the same direction as the gift of Jesus' love." 

Neither the pope nor his immediate predecessors have made any pronouncements on the authenticity of the shroud.

The shroud has been venerated for centuries in northern Italy where it was guarded by the powerful Savoy family. In 1983, ownership was granted to the pope. When it was exhibited in 1898, permission was granted for photography. It was shown to be a natural negative image and beyond the competence of a medieval forger.

In 1981, an international team of scientists with the Shroud of Turin Research Project determined that the image shows a "scourged, crucified man" not produced by an artist. They said it tested positive for blood. But how the image was produced is a problem that "remains unsolved."

"The shroud came searching for us," Conti-Puorger said. "It came to St. Thomas providentially, so I think it is the Lord himself who is calling people to come."  

"There are people searching for many things," Father Bill Ashbaugh, pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, told CNA. "They often think that science contradicts faith. But it's just the opposite. Science is a help to faith."

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 27, 2024 / 15:45 pm (CNA).

Here's a roundup of the latest developments in the U.S. regarding abortion and pro-life issues.

North Dakota pro-life law repealed

An order signed by North Dakota District Court Judge Bruce Romanick on Thursday officially repealed the state's law protecting unborn life at conception because it violates the state constitution.

Romanick said in the order that North Dakota's pro-life law is unconstitutional because it infringes on a "woman's fundamental right to procreative autonomy" and "takes away a woman's fundamental rights to liberty and her fundamental right to pursue and obtain safety and happiness."

This puts into effect a 24-page ruling Romanick issued 14 days earlier that declared abortion legal in North Dakota up to the point of viability, typically defined as 22 or 23 weeks of pregnancy.

The ruling overturned the law that North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, a Republican, signed in April 2023. The law allowed abortion only in certain cases, such as pregnancies caused by rape or incest, within the first six weeks of pregnancy and cases of serious health risk for the mother.

When he signed the bill, Burgum said the measure "clarifies and refines existing state law, which was triggered into effect by the Dobbs decision and reaffirms North Dakota as a pro-life state."

Mike Nowatzki, a representative for Burgum, told CNA that the state attorney general will appeal the ruling to the North Dakota Supreme Court. Nowatzki said the governor "generally doesn't comment on pending litigation."

Texas attorney general sues Austin for funding abortion travel

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing the city of Austin for using public funds to give grants for out-of-state abortion travel.

According to local news outlet KXAN, Austin City Council Member Vanessa Fuentes announced earlier this month that the city was moving forward with its Reproductive Health Grant. The grant allocates $400,000 in taxpayer funding from the city's 2024 and 2025 fiscal budgets to be given to Austin women seeking out-of-state abortions. The funds are meant to be used for travel, lodging, child care, and food while seeking an abortion.

Paxton filed his lawsuit on Friday in the state district court for Travis County, where Austin is located. The attorney general is seeking a restraining order against the city to stop it from using tax dollars to promote abortion.

In a Friday press statement, Paxton said the city of Austin is "illegally seeking to use public funding to support travel expenses for out-of-state abortions."

"No city in Texas has the authority to spend taxpayer money in this manner," Paxton said. "The Texas Constitution prohibits governmental entities from doing so."

Washington stockpiles abortion drugs in event of Trump victory

The state of Washington is reportedly stockpiling abortion drugs in the event that former president Donald Trump is reelected to the presidency this November.

Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, told Reuters this week that the state is maintaining a stockpile of at least 30,000 doses of the abortion drug mifepristone. According to Reuters, the stockpile is enough to supply the state's abortion needs "for an estimated three years."

Last year, a federal judge in Texas ordered the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) to revoke its approval of mifepristone because the agency did not follow proper testing and safety protocols when it approved the drug in 2000. The ruling was ultimately overturned by the Supreme Court, which said the doctors who brought the case forward did not have standing to sue the FDA. The Supreme Court's ruling left open the possibility for other challenges to mifepristone in the future.

Inslee told Reuters that "the Supreme Court decision was not definitive in protecting mifepristone regarding the FDA authorization. The court said there was no standing, which leads them later on to be able to pull the rug out from underneath women with the help of Donald Trump. So as long as Trump is on the scene, that risk exists, and so I'm glad that we have that [sic] stockpiles."

Inslee added that the struggle over abortion access "is a long-term threat."

"Those who want to take away reproductive health for women, they're not going to stop last week, this week, or next week. It is a multi-decadal effort, and we have to continually keep people out of public office who can threaten women in this country, that certainly includes this November," he said.

Judge bars censorship of pregnancy centers in New York

Federal Judge John Sinatra issued an order this week that extended his previous ruling blocking efforts by the state to censor pregnancy resource centers. This week's ruling extends the blockage to an additional center, the Summit Life Outreach Center.

The rulings temporarily block New York Attorney General Letitia James' attempt to keep the pregnancy centers from promoting abortion pill reversal medications.

This comes after Sinatra issued a temporary injunction against the state in August to apply to some 51 pregnancy centers.

Abortion pill reversal — sometimes referred to as APR — is a medication meant to stop a chemical abortion after the process has already been initiated.

While the chemical abortion pill mifepristone works by cutting off progesterone, essentially starving the unborn baby to death, abortion pill reversal can restore progesterone flow in the womb, reversing the effects of mifepristone.

James sued 11 faith-based pregnancy centers in the state in May, claiming the centers' promotion of abortion pill reversal was spreading "false and misleading" information and endangering women.

Sinatra's rulings mean that the pregnancy centers involved in the suits will continue to be able to promote abortion pill reversal while the cases make their way through the courts.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 27, 2024 / 17:27 pm (CNA).

One of the country's leading pro-life groups has launched a $500,000 television and digital ad campaign debunking misinformation that Georgia laws protecting unborn life killed two women.

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, the group behind the ad, said the two women, Amber Thurman and Candi Miller, were victims of "reckless misinformation" being spread by Democrats about Georgia's pro-life laws.

"Candi and Amber should be alive; the left's scare tactics are deadly," the ad's narrator says, adding that "Democrats' abortion lies put women at risk."

The 30-second ad, which will reach cable and broadcast markets in Atlanta, Augusta, Macon, and Savannah in Georgia as well as targeted digital audiences, says that "no Georgia law blocks lifesaving care for women or treating complications after abortion."

Miller, 41, and Thurman, 28, both died from infection due to complications after taking the abortion pills mifepristone and misoprostol.

The left-leaning outlet ProPublica reported earlier this month that Georgia's laws protecting unborn life starting at six weeks caused medical providers to delay giving Thurman the care necessary to save her life. In Miller's case ProPublica said she chose to not even visit a medical provider "due to the current legislation on pregnancies and abortions."

Several doctors, experts, and lawmakers, however, have debunked that claim by pointing out that Georgia law explicitly allows exceptions for abortion in cases in which the mother's life is in danger. This means that Miller and Thurman could have legally been given the care they needed promptly.

Nevertheless, Democrats have continued to advance the narrative that pro-life laws, and former president Donald Trump, are responsible for the deaths of Miller, Thurman, and many other women across the country. 

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris appeared on a televised town hall with Oprah Winfrey last week in which she spoke with Thurman's family and blamed Trump and Republicans for what she called a maternal "health care crisis."

Georgia is one of the swing states that will be critical in deciding the outcome of this year's presidential election. Both Trump and Harris have been devoting significant amounts of time and money to making their case to Georgians.

The latest poll from FiveThirtyEight shows support for the two candidates within the margin of error, with Trump polling just 0.9 percentage points ahead of Harris (48.3% versus 47.4%).

Harris has largely focused her pitch to Georgia voters on expanding abortion access in the state and across the country. Trump, meanwhile, has focused his rhetoric on other issues such as the economy and the border.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-Life America, said it is crucial to the well-being of women to spread the truth about pro-life laws. In a press statement shared with CNA, Dannenfelser said that "Amber, Candi, and their babies should be alive today" and that "there would be no confusion if abortion advocates were not spreading confusion."

"Georgia's law, like pro-life laws in every other state, allows emergency care, miscarriage care, and treatment for ectopic pregnancy. The laws do not penalize women who have abortions and they use plain, commonly accepted legal language," she said. "Democrats are putting countless lives at risk and we will relentlessly call them out." 

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Rome Newsroom, Sep 27, 2024 / 09:11 am (CNA).

In Belgium's Laeken Castle, Pope Francis confronted the Catholic Church's long-standing clerical abuse crisis in the country, declaring unequivocally that "the Church should be ashamed" and must seek forgiveness for its failures.

Speaking before approximately 300 dignitaries, including King Philippe and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, the pope remarked that child abuse is "a scourge that the Church is tackling resolutely and firmly, listening to and accompanying the wounded and implementing a widespread prevention program throughout the world."

"The Church is both holy and sinful," Francis said in the castle's Grand Gallery on Sept. 27 in his first speech since his arrival in Belgium. "The Church lives in this perennial coexistence of holiness and sin, of light and shadow, with outcomes often of great generosity and splendid dedication, and sometimes unfortunately with the emergence of painful counter-witnesses."

"I am thinking of the dramatic incidents of child abuse," he added. "The Church should be ashamed and ask for forgiveness and try to solve this situation with Christian humility."

The pope's comments come on the heels of his decision to laicize former Bruges Bishop Roger Vangheluwe many years after the former prelate admitted to repeatedly sexually abusing his nephews. A previous archbishop of Brussels, the late Cardinal Godfried Danneels, reportedly called on a victim of Vangheluwe's abuse to remain silent.

The Catholic Church in Belgium is facing a significant decline in public trust. Only 50% of Belgians identified as Catholic in 2022, a drop of 16% from a decade earlier, with only 8.9% attending Mass at least once a month.

According to a recent report, the number of Catholics requesting to have their names removed from baptismal registers rose to 1,270 in 2023. 

The pope spoke about clerical abuse in an off-the-cuff response following De Croo's sharp condemnation of the Church's handling of clerical abuse. 

De Croo implored the Church to prioritize the needs of victims, stating: "Today, words alone do not suffice. We also need concrete steps." King Philippe also joined the call for accountability in his speech, stating that the Church must work "incessantly" to atone for the crimes and aid in the healing of victims.

The visit by Pope Francis follows a series of scandals that have plagued the Belgian Church, culminating in a devastating report released in 2010 that revealed that more than 500 individuals had come forward with allegations of abuse by priests. The fallout from these revelations has led to significant scrutiny of Church leadership and practices, with many calling for a more transparent approach to handling abuse allegations.

A recent documentary, "Godvergeten" ("Godforsaken"), aired on Belgian television showcasing victims sharing their harrowing stories, further fueling public outrage and prompting investigations into the Church's practices.

Both the prime minister and King Philippe made their most pointed remarks in Dutch, the language of Flanders, where the abuse cases have gained particular notoriety.

The pope's address also touched upon Belgium's troubled history of "forced adoptions," a practice that persisted until the 1980s and saw unwed mothers coerced into giving up their children. "Often the family and other social actors, including the Church, thought that in order to remove the negative stigma … it was preferable for the good of both mother and child that the latter be adopted," he lamented, adding that this mindset contributed to deep societal wounds.

In his speech, Pope Francis also spoke of Belgium's unique role in Europe, calling it a bridge between cultures and a center for peace. "These are the two calamities of our time — the hell of war … and a demographic winter," he said. 

"This is why we have to be practical: Have children! Have children!" the pope added.

Francis did not, however, address the controversial topic of euthanasia in Belgium, a notable omission in his speech given ongoing discussions around the issue in Catholic health care settings in the country.

After the pope's speech at Laeken Castle, he visited a residence for the elderly in financial difficulty run by the Little Sisters of the Poor. The pope is also expected to meet with victims of sexual abuse on Friday evening. 

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Rome Newsroom, Sep 27, 2024 / 10:55 am (CNA).

Pope Francis visited Laeken Castle on Friday, where he met with King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of the Belgians.

King Philippe ascended the Belgian throne in 2013 and holds the title "Rex Catholicissimus," or "(Most) Catholic Majesty."

Queen Mathilde, as a Catholic queen, has the "privilège du blanc," meaning she is one of only a few women in the world who can wear white, rather than the customary black, when meeting the pope for an official private audience at the Vatican. 

The papal privilege is currently granted only to the Catholic royalty from Spain, Luxembourg, Belgium, and Monaco, as well as the House of Savoy.

On his first full day in Belgium on Sept. 27, Pope Francis celebrated a morning Mass in private before making his way to the castle.

A mounted guard of honor accompanied him to the main palace entrance, where he was greeted by the Belgian royal family. 

The meeting included an exchange of gifts and an opportunity for the pope to sign the Book of Honor, symbolic gestures that reinforce the ties between the Vatican and the Belgian monarchy. 

"I am grateful to visit Belgium, a sign and bridge of peace, where different languages, cultures, and peoples live in mutual respect. May God bless Belgium!" the pope wrote in the castle's Book of Honor.

Nearly 50% of Belgians identify as Catholic, according to the Pew Research Center. The members of the Belgian Royal Family are Catholic but do not have an official role within the Catholic Church in the country.

King Philippe and Queen Mathilde were married in 1999 in Belgium's 11th-century Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula in Brussels and have four children. Their eldest daughter, Princess Elisabeth, is first in the line of succession.

After the formal reception, the pope met privately with the King and Queen before moving to the castle's Grand Gallery, where he addressed 300 dignitaries and political authorities, including Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.

In the speech, the pope lamented the country's clerical abuse crisis and advocated for peace.

"There are two calamities at the moment," Pope Francis said. "The hell of war … which could turn into a world war and a demographic winter. This is why we must be practical. Have children! Have children!"

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 26, 2024 / 17:36 pm (CNA).

At a hearing held by U.S. Senate Democrats this week doctors, experts, and Republicans disputed claims that former president Donald Trump and state pro-life laws enacted after the overturn of Roe v. Wade are causing the deaths of women across the country.

Dr. Christina Francis, an OB-GYN, along with several doctors from the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, testified that pro-abortion misinformation, not pro-life laws, is responsible for "dangerous" delays in women receiving emergency care. 

Francis said the hearing, titled "Chaos and Control: How Trump Criminalized Women's Health Care," was "an attempt to redirect the public's attention away from the true danger to women's health, unregulated and dangerous abortions."

Speaking with CNA after the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday, Francis said that "one major takeaway from this hearing is that misinformation about abortion laws has real impacts on both physicians and patients."

"Even though state-level pro-life laws offer clear exceptions allowing physicians to intervene in pregnancy in medical emergencies, and even though these laws do not prosecute women for seeking induced abortions, false narratives to the contrary are sowing fear and confusion among physicians," she said. "It's misinformation about these laws that may have cost these women their lives." 

Republicans on the committee meanwhile called out Democrats for holding an overtly political hearing during a heated election cycle. Minnesota Republican Sen. Ron Johnson said that "the title of this hearing is more dangerous and threatens more lives than the [pro-life] laws."

What did Democrats claim? 

Several Democratic senators asserted that many of the pro-life laws enacted since the overturn of Roe v. Wade violate the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act — also known as EMTALA — which requires all federally funded hospitals with emergency departments to provide care to patients in need.

"As a result of Republicans' yearslong crusade on women's reproductive freedoms, women in America are facing the prospect of losing yet another pillar of reproductive care, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act," said committee chair Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon.

Wyden pointed to the case of Amber Thurman, a 28-year-old mother in Georgia who died from sepsis in 2022 due to complications after taking abortion pills. Thurman was nine weeks pregnant with twins when she consumed the abortion drugs mifepristone and misoprostol, according to the Washington Examiner. The drugs killed the babies but failed to expel the children from Thurman's womb leading to her developing an infection.

The left-leaning news source ProPublica claimed in a report published last week that doctors at the suburban Piedmont Henry Hospital delayed performing a dilation and curettage procedure because they were afraid it would violate the state law protecting unborn life after six weeks of pregnancy. 

Several experts have expressed skepticism about the ProPublica report, which blames Georgia's pro-life law for Thurman's death. Though abortion after six weeks is illegal under Georgia law, the state makes exceptions if the child is conceived due to rape or incest, or if the life of the mother is at risk.

Georgia state Rep. Mark Newton, a Republican, told Fox News that "unless someone had a complete misunderstanding or just failed to be aware of what Georgia's law was, [the pro-life law] has nothing to do with the timing of the decision-making." 

According to Newton, who is also an emergency physician, Thurman's situation was "clearly a medical or a life-threatening emergency" in which Georgia law explicitly allows an exception for abortion.

Since the publication of ProPublica's report, Democrats, including presidential candidate Kamala Harris, have attempted to blame Trump and Republicans for Thurman's death. 

"Amber's story," Harris said in a town hall with Oprah Winfrey, "highlights the fact that among everything that is wrong with these bans and what has happened in terms of the overturning of Roe v. Wade is a health care crisis."

Pro-life advocates respond

There was significant disagreement among the senators and those testifying in the hearing on whether Thurman's and other women's deaths had been caused by pro-life laws or misinformation spread about what those laws do.

Heather Hacker, a Texas-based attorney who has represented the state and Texas Right to Life in several cases and is deeply familiar with state-level pro-life laws, testified during the hearing that "regardless of the state, laws restricting abortion do not prevent physicians from treating ectopic pregnancies, miscarriages, or women suffering life-threatening complications, including complications from abortion."

"There is a lot of misinformation and confusion surrounding the law regarding the medical treatment of pregnant women and abortion restrictions. But the confusion is not because of the law, which is clear," Hacker said. 

"To the extent that this has been reported by the media, it is incorrect. To the extent that doctors have claimed that their hands are tied in treating patients in these circumstances, they are mistaken. And to the extent that women believe that any law will prevent them from receiving lifesaving care, they are sadly misinformed." 

Louis Brown, executive director of the Catholic health care advocacy group the Christ Medicus Foundation, told CNA that the true danger lies with chemical abortion drugs that he said "so imperil the health of women that it is shocking that these drugs are available."

"The abortion industry is engaging in lies and deception because its dangerous chemical abortion drugs and largely unregulated abortion procedures are harming the health and safety of pregnant moms," he said. "The Catholic and pro-life community need to continue to reject the abortion industry's immoral lying that is confusing and potentially causing harm to pregnant moms."

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Rome Newsroom, Sep 26, 2024 / 13:45 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis landed in Luxembourg on Thursday, the first stop in a four-day tour of two historically Christian countries in Europe, both of which are experiencing steep declines in religious adherence amid the spread of secularization.

Before taking a 55-minute flight to the neighboring country of Belgium on the afternoon of Sept. 26, the 87-year-old pope spent one day visiting the tiny but wealthy Luxembourg, where he called on politicians to be led by spiritual values and local Catholics to carry out a "missionary proclamation" of the Gospel.

Stopping in the Gothic 17th-century Notre-Dame Cathedral, Francis echoed the words of St. John Paul II during his 1985 visit to Luxembourg, saying he "would like to emphasize that we are in need of a Europe and a world in which the Gospel will be shared through the words you proclaim together with your loving actions."

A constitutional monarchy, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is the European Union's second-smallest country and the richest per capita. It has an estimated population of 672,000 people.

Luxembourg is also the seat of several institutions of the European Union, including the Court of Justice of the European Union, the highest judicial authority.

Just days after canceling two audiences because of a mild flu, Pope Francis arrived to find cool and rainy weather in the country, where he was greeted by modest crowds lining the streets in raincoats, holding umbrellas and small Luxembourg flags.

The Church in Luxembourg

Luxembourg has just one ecclesiastical territory, the Archdiocese of Luxembourg, which is led by Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, SJ, the relator-general of the Catholic Church's Synod on Synodality.

Hollerich told "EWTN News Nightly" that the Catholic Church in Luxembourg is "a poor Church in a rich country."

According to Vatican statistics from 2022, the archdiocese is estimated to have 271,000 Catholics, which is 41% of the population — a steep decline from 2018, when an estimated 63% of the population identified as Catholic.

The statistics on the practice of the Catholic faith are even more dismal, however. A 2022 TNS Ilres survey found that of the population that considers itself religious, the vast majority of whom are Catholic, only 6% say they go to Mass weekly and 30% say they "never or almost never" attend Mass.

"We once used to be as Catholic as Ireland was," Hollerich said. "And like Ireland, not much has been left from that time."

The cardinal noted that Luxembourg is very international: Just 30% of the population was born in Luxembourg and about half are not citizens — demographics that are reflected in the Church as well.

"So, we have a migrant society, and we have thriving communities, Portuguese-speaking, English-speaking, French-speaking, Polish-speaking, and they are signs of hope for our Church," Hollerich said.

During his audience with the Catholic community in Notre-Dame Cathedral, Pope Francis listened to the testimony of Sister Maria Perpétua Coelho Dos Santos, who said the local Church is "rich with linguistic communities," including immigrants from Vietnam, Cape Verde, Ukraine, Philippines, Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and different African countries.

"If it is true that our diversity is a daily challenge, we live it above all as a richness," she said.

At the Luxembourg cathedral, Pope Francis also heard the testimony of a young resident, Diogo Gomes Costa, who spoke about how his faith was reignited by attending World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal. He also listened to Christine Bußhardt, vice president of the diocesan pastoral council, who said "in the multicultural society of Luxembourg, our Christian mission is that of giving voice to God.

"The worldwide synodal process offers a historic opportunity for a much-needed renewal, and the seed of the synodal Church is already starting to germinate," she said.

The pope then watched the performance of an original theatrical dance reenacting important moments from the life of St. Francis of Assisi.

According to the Archdiocese of Luxembourg, within eight hours after registration opened, more than 10,000 people had applied for one of 650 available spots for the meeting with Pope Francis in the Luxembourg cathedral. The seats were assigned through a random lottery and giant screens were set up outside where hundreds watched the encounter.

"The Church in Luxembourg lives in a strongly secularized society, with its suffering and difficulty, but also with its paths of hope," Hollerich said in his greeting to Pope Francis in the cathedral. 

As part of his visit, the pope opened a Marian Jubilee Year for the Archdiocese of Luxembourg, which commemorates 400 years of devotion to the country's patroness, Mary, Consoler of the Afflicted.

"This Marian title corresponds well to the theme you have chosen for this visit: 'To serve,'" Francis said. "Consoling and serving are in fact two fundamental aspects of the love that Jesus has given to us, the love he has entrusted to us as our mission and that he has shown as the only path to full joy."

The pontiff also gave the cathedral a small, golden sculpture of a rosebush, a long-standing papal tradition known as the "golden rose." Long ago, the sculpture was traditionally bestowed upon people, but in more recent decades, popes have given it to Marian shrines as a sign of the places' Marian devotion.

Meeting Luxembourg's royal and political leaders

In the morning, Francis' first appointment was a visit to the grand duke of Luxembourg, Henri, and his wife, Grand Duchess María Teresa, at their official residence, the Grand Ducal Palace.

During the meeting, the pope posed in a gold-adorned ballroom for a photo with the royal couple, their five children, and seven of their eight grandchildren.

The pontiff then met the prime minister of the grand duchy, Luc Frieden, before addressing members of the government, civil society, and the diplomatic corps at a Luxembourg administrative building, Cercle Cité.

In his remarks at Cercle Cité, Pope Francis told the country's leaders to "not forget that having wealth includes responsibility."

"I ask for constant vigilance so that the most disadvantaged nations will not be neglected and that they be helped to rise from their impoverished conditions," he said, adding that this is one way to help decrease the number of people forced to emigrate from their countries.

"With its particular history, and its equally particular geographical location, with just under half of its inhabitants coming from other parts of Europe and the wider world, may Luxembourg be a help and an example in pointing the way forward in welcoming and integrating migrants and refugees," he said.

Francis also said the reemergence of war on the European continent means the daily lives of people and their leaders need "to be motivated by noble and profound spiritual values" in order to heal rifts and hostilities.

"As the successor of the Apostle Peter, and on behalf of the Church, which is an expert in humanity, I am here to testify that the Gospel is the life source and the ever-fresh force of personal and social renewal," the pope said.

Pope Francis told Luxembourg's politicians: "It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ alone that is capable of profoundly transforming the human soul, making it capable of doing good even in the most difficult situations, of extinguishing hatred and reconciling parties engaged in conflict. May everyone, every man and woman, in full freedom, know the Gospel of Jesus." 

Referencing the motto of his visit, "to serve," the pope added that "for all of us this call 'to serve' is the highest title of nobility, the principal task, the way of life to be followed each day."

On his drive to Cercle Cité under the rain, Pope Francis' car stopped several times to bless babies and greet children, to whom he gave a rosary and a piece of candy.

Within the mostly quiet crowds lining the streets, small groups occasionally broke out in chants of "Papa Francisco!" and brief cheers when they caught glimpses of the pope.

After lunch at the archbishop's residence, the pontiff made a surprise visit at a nearby café, Cafe Cycliste, by stopping for a coffee with some of his assistants, according to the Holy See Press Office. On the way, he blessed a pregnant woman.

The night before leaving Rome, Sept. 25, Pope Francis made his customary visit to the Basilica of St. Mary Major to pray before the icon of Mary Salus Populi Romani and to ask for Mary's protection over the trip.

The morning of the flight, the pope received at his Santa Marta residence approximately 10 homeless men and women who sleep under the columns of St. Peter's Square, accompanied by the papal almoner, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the Holy See Press Office said.

The pope's four-day trip will continue in Belgium, where he will visit three cities to mark the 600th anniversary of the Catholic universities of Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve before returning to Rome Sept. 29.

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