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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 17, 2025 / 19:00 pm (CNA).

The United States Supreme Court agreed to hear a case that will determine whether parents have a right to opt their children out of public school coursework that promotes homosexuality, transgenderism, and sexual content.

Catholic, Orthodox, and Muslim parents are suing the Montgomery County, Maryland Board of Education over a policy that prohibits parents from opting their children out of coursework that promotes gender ideology to children as young as 3 or 4 years old.

Supreme Court justices will likely hear the religious freedom case this spring.

The parents, who are represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, have argued that the board's refusal to allow opt-outs violates their First Amendment right to direct the religious upbringing of their children. The parents argue that the concepts promoted in the coursework conflict with their religious beliefs.

"The School Board has pushed inappropriate gender indoctrination on our children instead of focusing on the fundamental areas of education that they need to thrive," Grace Morrison, who serves on the board of the Kids First association, said in a statement.

"I pray the Supreme Court will stop this injustice, allow parents to raise their children according to their faith, and restore common sense in Maryland once again," Morrison said.

One book called "Pride Puppy!" teaches preschool children the alphabet with a story about a homosexual pride parade, which introduces children to words like "drag queen," "leather," and "zipper." It also introduces young children to Marsha B. Johnson — a drag queen, gay rights activists and temporarily a prostitute.

The lawsuit was filed in May 2023.

The school district decided in October 2024 to remove "Pride Puppy!" and one other book from the school curriculum, but kept them in libraries. Numerous other books that promote gender ideology still remain in the mandatory curriculum for all students. 

"Cramming down controversial gender ideology on three-year-olds without their parents' permission is an affront to our nation's traditions, parental rights, and basic human decency," Eric Baxter, vice president and senior counsel at Becket, said in a statement.

"The Court must make clear: parents, not the state, should be the ones deciding how and when to introduce their children to sensitive issues about gender and sexuality." Baxter added. 

The parents are not seeking to have the books banned from the school, but rather are asking for the opportunity to opt their children out of the coursework.

A survey released by Becket earlier this week found that 77% of Americans believe parents should be able to opt their children out of public school coursework that promotes concepts of gender identity and sexuality that conflict with the religious beliefs of the parents. Only 23% of people disagreed with opt-outs.

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ACI Prensa Staff, Jan 17, 2025 / 15:35 pm (CNA).

The Cuban government's announcement of the release of 553 prisoners has been described by an analyst and the opposition as "a swap" by the regime to obtain economic benefits from the United States, including removing the island from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism.

The government of President Miguel Díaz-Canel reported on Monday, Jan. 14, that it was releasing the prisoners "in the spirit of the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025" and that the decision had been communicated to Pope Francis in a letter sent at the beginning of January.

In its statement, the Cuban regime did not indicate how many of those released were political prisoners but noted that "the releases are carried out on the basis of a careful analysis based on the different modalities envisioned by the legislation" and that "these people will receive their respective benefits gradually."

The announcement was welcomed by the Holy See, whose secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said "it is a sign of great hope at the beginning of the jubilee." Vatican News reported Jan. 15 that the releases were carried out "within the framework of mediation with the Catholic Church that has been going on for years."

However, geopolitical expert Alberto Fernández, a Cuban-American who spoke with the Spanish-language edition of EWTN News in Washington, D.C., pointed out that, although the communist regime "has given its announcement a religious disguise," it's "an exchange of hostages for economic and political reasons with the [President Joe] Biden administration."

The Democratic administration of Biden, which will hand over power to Republican Donald Trump on Jan. 20, announced that it will remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism that also includes North Korea, Syria, and Iran.

According to the White House, this decision was facilitated with the help of the Vatican to secure the release of political prisoners on the island.

The island was on this list from 1982–2015, when President Barack Obama removed it as part of his policy of "thawing" relations with Raúl Castro. However, it was included on the list again on Jan. 11, 2021, in the final days of the first Trump administration.

The Republican administration said its goal was to "deny the Castro regime the resources it uses to oppress its people at home and to counter its malign interference in Venezuela and the rest of the Western Hemisphere."

Robert L. Muse, a lawyer specializing in U.S. sanctions on Cuba, told the Spanish-language edition of BBC World News that now, by leaving the list, the island could benefit in areas such as tourism, key to its economy, since travelers from the European Union, Chile, South Korea, or Japan could visit the Caribbean country without fear of losing a U.S. tourist visa exemption.

Cuba could also now access financing from foreign entities, although this is not certain, as it is a technically bankrupt country that has defaulted on its payments.

However, all this could come to nought if Trump again includes Cuba in the group of countries sponsoring terrorism.

Fernández highlighted the mediation of the Catholic Church to seek the release of political prisoners, especially "those who were arrested after the demonstrations of July 11, 2021."

That Sunday, thousands of Cubans protested in dozens of cities over food and medicine shortages, power outages, and to demand freedom. It was the largest demonstration under the communist regime, which reacted by imprisoning an undetermined number of protesters, many of them young.

In this regard, Fernández said that "if the regime wanted to honor the jubilee, the first thing it should do is resign, that is, end the regime, because this is a regime that is the complete opposite of what faith is, what the jubilee is, what liberation is."

Prisoners must be released 'without conditions'

The Christian Liberation Movement (MCL by its Spanish acronym) said that "Cuban political prisoners should not be the object of bartering and/or negotiations regarding the policies of other states toward Cuba."

The MCL, which throughout its history has suffered persecution, imprisonment, and exile of several of its members, added that political prisoners "must have their dignity respected as human beings and all of them should be released and without conditions."

"Not only for humanitarian reasons but essentially as a matter of justice, since they are innocent of the charges that have been fabricated against them," MCL continued in a statement titled "Another Day of Infamy."

The pro-democracy organization also pointed out that the "policy of appeasement" of the United States government "only encourages and emboldens dictators and empowers the forces of repression and terrorists by giving them the feeling, and more than that, the certainty, that they can act with total impunity."

"We deplore that the Democratic administration is trying to clean up the image of a bloody dictatorship, perhaps as revenge for the broad political support of the Cuban exile community [in the U.S.] for its adversary from the Republican Party in the last presidential election," MCL said.

The advocacy organization pointed out that "freedom and democracy in Cuba should be the goal of the two main political parties in the United States and not a political campaign issue."

Getting out of prison in Cuba doesn't mean you're free

On its website the nongovernmental organization Prisoners Defenders, which monitors the situation of political prisoners in Cuba, also spoke out, calling attention to the terms under which the regime is releasing the 553 people, because "according to the official statement ... their sentences would remain intact" and therefore it would be necessary to "talk about releases with reduced sentences under certain conditions" such as good conduct and working. 

"If this were confirmed, the news would not be as positive as the Cuban regime wants to make it seem. In Cuba, releasing prisoners doesn't mean they're free."

Prisoners Defenders explained that if this were the case, "some would be granted parole, others perhaps for humanitarian reasons, and others a series of reduced sentences under certain conditions that, if not complied with, the person goes back to prison, which is far from having your full freedom restored." 

Martí Noticias posted the audio testimony of Liván Hernández Sosa, one of the first political prisoners released "on parole."

"They explained to us the conditions under which I was going to be released: I have to work, I can't be on social media, I can't protest, much less against the regime. I am very happy, and even though it is under unjust conditions, I am happy to be here, in my house, with my wife, with my children," he said.

Among the hundreds of other released prisoners are José Daniel Ferrer, founder of the Patriotic Union of Cuba; Donaida Pérez, a 53-year-old woman imprisoned for protesting on July 11, 2021; and Yandier García Labrada, an MCL activist sentenced four years ago for having "publicly protested against the disorganization and irregularities in the distribution of supplies."

Pérez told Martí Noticias: "I know that this has been nothing more than the result of the international campaign that has been carried out in favor of us political prisoners, which has nothing to do with what the Cuban regime has done. The Cuban regime simply uses us as its bargaining chip to get Cuba removed from the list of terrorist countries."

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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Los Angeles, Calif., Jan 17, 2025 / 10:40 am (CNA).

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles' annual OneLife LA event will go on this weekend despite the wildfires that have devastated Los Angeles, albeit with a modified program and focus.

While previously the event was a walk through the streets of downtown Los Angeles concluding at L.A. Historic Park, the combination of unhealthy air and the demand such an event has for local law enforcement meant a new plan was needed this year. So earlier this week archdiocesan officials announced the event would be held entirely in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.

"The 2025 OneLife LA is not only an opportunity to focus on 'womb to tomb' life issues but is our chance to stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters who have suffered so much from the fires that have devastated Los Angeles," said Michael Donaldson, senior director of the Office of Life, Justice, and Peace for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and organizer of OneLife LA.  "It is our chance to show not only that human life is sacred but to honor fire victims and let them know we care."

Organizers are uncertain of how the fires will affect attendance; the 2024 OneLife LA drew 6,000.  (The cathedral seats over 4,000.)

Participants are invited to gather beginning at 1 p.m. local time. Partner groups such as 40 Days for Life and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul will man tables outside the cathedral to greet and share information with visitors.

A speaker and performance program will commence at 2 p.m. A focus will be testimonials from victims of the fires and reflections on the most vulnerable negatively impacted by the fires.

The event culminates at 5 p.m. with an annual Requiem Mass for the Unborn celebrated by Archbishop José Gómez at 5 p.m. The theme of the day will be "Let Us Stand Up Together in Hope."

Among the featured speakers are Jennifer and George Magallon of Altadena whose home was destroyed in the Eaton fire. George is a contractor and apartment owner; the pair lived in a home on a large lot in a community backing up to the Angeles National Forest. It was their "dream home," George said, and a place where they regularly welcomed family and friends.

On the evening of Jan. 7, Santa Ana winds were blowing up to 100 mph and local authorities turned off the power to reduce the possibility of sparking fire. The Eaton fire began nonetheless, and the Magallons gathered up what possessions they could and fled.

George and his neighbors did what they could to douse their homes with water beforehand, but by the early morning hours the water pressure had slowed to a trickle.

Meanwhile, an "orange rain" of burning embers fell on the neighborhood. Everything burned in the early morning hours of Jan. 8. When the Magallons were able to return, they discovered their once prosperous neighborhood now "looked like the surface of the moon."

While devastated by the loss, the couple has pledged to rebuild and plans to stress to the OneLife LA attendees how their Catholic faith has been key to their emotional and psychological well-being during the ordeal. Jennifer pointed to one sign of hope: When they returned to the ruin of their home one object stood unscathed amid the rubble — an outdoor statue of the Blessed Mother.

"It gave us the inspiration we needed and the will to go on," Jennifer said.

Visit www.onelifela.org to register as an individual or group or to sign up as a volunteer.

Walk for Life West Coast

Nearly 400 miles to the north, the Walk for Life West Coast will begin at Civic Center Plaza in downtown San Francisco on Saturday, Jan. 25, at 12:30 p.m. local time. The San Francisco event has an exclusive focus of ending abortion and stressing the harm it has had on women.  

The day begins at 10:45 a.m. with a Silent No More Awareness Campaign led by Georgette Forney and Frank Pavone from Priests for Life, which includes testimonies from those directly harmed by abortion. From 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. there will be an information fair with material offered by a variety of pro-life organizations.

The main event is a rally beginning at 12:30 p.m. followed by the walk at 1:30 p.m. Participants will walk 1.8 miles from the civic center to the Embarcadero.

The event is organized by Catholics and many who attend are parishioners and clergy from local parishes as well as students from Catholic schools.

San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone celebrates a Walk for Life Mass at St. Mary's Cathedral at 9:30 a.m. before the event; he is also a regular participant in the walk.

Rally speakers at the Walk for Life West Coast include Ryan Bomberger, Sister Deirdre "Dede" Byrne, Kelly Lester, and Rev. Clenard Childress.

For additional information and to register visit www.walkforlifewc.com.

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CNA Staff, Jan 17, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

After the Archdiocese of Philadelphia found that 83% of baptized Catholics are missing from the pews in the archdiocese, Archbishop Nelson Pérez decided to launch a missionary outreach program in his archdiocese to "invite people home."

The number of "missing Catholics" is based on Mass count attendance data compiled each year by the archdiocese. (The number relates only to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.)

Pérez is launching a 10-year missionary endeavor to bring Catholics back to the pews by implementing "missionary hubs" in many parishes in the area. The missionary hubs are designed to work with existing parishes and ministries by providing additional resources to minister to those who have left the Church.

Pérez said he does not want to "perpetuate this cycle" of "widespread parish closures" due to finances and number of priests — something many dioceses are facing in the United States.

"I want to begin to close this distance between many of our loved ones and the Church," Pérez wrote in a pastoral letter earlier this month. "I want people to know that the Lord is still calling them, that they are of great worth, have a divine purpose, and an eternal home."

Pérez recalled that one of the first questions he was asked when he became archbishop was "will you close parishes?"

"I didn't come here to close parishes; I came here to build up the Church of Philadelphia," Pérez said.

One strategy Pérez plans to employ is to provide parish life directors — deacons and consecrated or lay individuals who manage operations of a parish, allowing retired and senior priests to continue to minister to souls "without bearing the responsibilities of administration."

The missionary hubs are designed to grow the Church by working with various existing Catholic ministries, reaching out to those not actively involved in the Church, and providing local community and resources. Ultimately, they are designed to bring people to Jesus through both the Eucharist and service to the poor, according to Pérez.

The large-scale initiative will be gradually "phased in over a 10-year period," Kenneth Gavin, chief communications officer for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, told CNA.

"This process will require tailored approaches to be successful across the diverse five counties of the archdiocese," he said. "We also want to allow sufficient time for people to learn more, discern their participation, and refine our efforts over time."

The archdiocese hopes to make the approach sustainable over time. In terms of funding, Gavin told CNA that the initiative "will be primarily subsidized by private philanthropic funding secured over time and hopefully endowed for long-term sustainability."

The missionary hubs are part of a large-scale initiative to renew the Church in Philadelphia, known as the New Way Forward.

"The archbishop recognizes the urgency of reaching out to the 83% of baptized Catholics not regularly practicing their faith while continuing to serve more effectively and efficiently the 17% who do attend Mass," Gavin told CNA.

"This is the impetus of the New Way Forward in the Church of Philadelphia, a process to renew the local Church over the next 20 years and invite everyone to deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ," Gavin continued.

To reach the people of Philadelphia, Pérez advocates for a "pastoral change of heart."

"I want to embark on a new form of pastoral planning by asking a new question: 'Where does the Church need to be and how?'" Pérez said. "We need to inspire a pastoral change of heart that focuses on those who are absent."

Pérez took inspiration from the "missionary disciples" Pope Francis wrote about in the 2013 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), who are involved in the community and then go forth and "seek those who have fallen away, stand at the crossroads and welcome the outcast."

"We must be a community of missionary disciples focused on renewal, rebuilding trust, and inviting people to a relationship with Jesus Christ!" Pérez concluded.

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Madrid, Spain, Jan 17, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Franciscan friar Paolo Benanti, an expert in artificial intelligence (AI), warned of its ethical risks during a colloquium organized by the Paul VI Foundation in Madrid, pointing out that "the people who control this type of technology control reality."

The Italian priest, president of the Italian government's Commission for Artificial Intelligence, emphasized that "the reality we are facing is different from that of 10 or 15 years ago and it's a reality defined by software."

"This starting point has an impact on the way in which we exercise the three classic rights connected with the ownership of a thing: use, abuse, and usufruct," he explained. (The Cambridge Dictionary defines usufruct as "the legal right to use someone else's property temporarily and to keep any profit made from it.")

This is especially true regarding usufruct, because "the values ??that you produce with the use of these devices are not yours but go to the cloud," Benanti noted.

"So who are those who do not have the usufruct of things? The slaves," he explained. 

Therefore, he encouraged reflection on what it means to live in a reality defined by software. "We have to have an ethical approach to technology" and in particular to those linked to artificial intelligence, he said, "because they are the ones that shape the reality of our world, and the people who control this type of technology control reality."

"We have to recognize that we live in a different reality. Software is not secondary but questions what reality is, what property is, what are the rights we have," the Franciscan said.

Centralization and decentralization of power

Secondly, the Franciscan explained how the development of computer technology after the Second World War has produced different processes related to power, democracy, and privacy.

In the 1970s, decentralizing processes took place in the United States and Europe that led to the creation years later of personal computers that "allowed everyone to have access to very simple things."

In the 1990s, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the idea was that a more liberalized market "would lead to greater well-being and promote the liberal democracy model in countries with other models. However, this policy "made China richer, but not more democratic," the AI expert continued.

Thus, Western democratic values ??entered into crisis when it was realized that "you can be rich and have well-being without being democratic," he observed.

In the so-called Arab Spring of 2011, the use of mobile phones showed the "the power of personal computers." But soon after, this power began to be suspected: "Mobile phones were no longer the allies of democracy but the worst ally of fake news, polarization, post-truth, and all that kind of thing," Benanti noted.

With the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdowns, "we were able to adapt our lives thanks to the power of our personal computers" through the use of video calls or the development of applications for bank payments among other useful tools to substitute for doing things in person. 

"We realized that, silently, from 2012 to 2020, the smartphone had subsumed reality and now things that happened in reality were happening directly on the phone," he recalled.

The risk to democracy in the computer age

During the second decade of the 21st century, "we have artificial intelligence inside the smartphone" and, according to Benanti, classical liberal democracy is turning into "a computer-based democracy."

In it, "we are using artificial intelligence to take away a person's ability to use the computer on his own and take it to a centralized place that we call a data center" in such a way that a new ethical challenge appears: "Now all the processes are centralized in the cloud again."

The expert emphasized that these "clouds" or data centers "belong to five companies" that own "all the data," which represents not just a personal challenge but also a challenge "for democratic processes."

Regarding these challenges, the priest explained how artificial intelligence can also pose a threat to people's freedom through its ability to make predictions about behavior.

"The suggestion you may be interested in is not only predicting what you can buy, but it is also producing the things you are going to buy," he summarized.

This possibility poses "a real problem" because the existence of this type of system in our pockets "is capable of forcing and shaping the freedom of public spaces."

These kinds of questions about the weaknesses, opportunities, strengths, and threats of artificial intelligence constitute the reason why "we should have governance over these kinds of innovations." 

Regarding the future, Benanti predicted artificial intelligence will have a major impact on access to information, medicine, and the labor market. Regarding the latter, he noted: "If we do not regulate the impact that artificial intelligence can have on the labor market, we could destroy society as we now know it."

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, Jan 16, 2025 / 17:15 pm (CNA).

Here is a roundup of recent abortion- and pro-life-related news.

Virginia pro-abortion ballot proposal advances 

Virginia Democrats advanced a proposal to enshrine abortion as a right in the state constitution earlier this week. The amendment would ensure a "fundamental right to reproductive freedom," protecting abortion in the first two trimesters as well as in the third trimester with some restrictions. 

Abortions are currently legal in Virginia through the second trimester. Abortions in the second trimester are allowed when the mother's life is at risk, with the certification of three doctors. The proposed amendment would bring this number down to one doctor. 

The measure passed narrowly in the House of Delegates 51-48. Virginia Republicans criticized the measure, calling it "extreme" and expressing concern that the amendment could supersede a current Virginia law requiring parental consent for abortions for minors. Democrats argued that the government shouldn't be making decisions about women's health care. 

If approved again by the state House and Senate next year, the amendment would be on the ballot. The state follows the trend of many states voting on abortion laws following the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022.

Idaho could raise voting threshold for ballot initiatives

Idaho Republicans introduced a bill Wednesday to raise Idaho's voting threshold for statewide ballot initiatives. The bill would change current Idaho law, which requires 50% of the vote plus one to pass an initiative or referendum. The bill would increase the threshold to 60%, which state Rep. Bruce Skaug, who introduced the bill, argued would fix Idaho's "broken" system and prevent out-of-state money from having as much sway in the state. In Idaho, residents can place and vote on laws on the ballot without the Idaho Legislature's involvement.

The measure could affect future abortion amendments, which continued to crop up throughout the United States in the wake of Roe v. Wade's overturn. In Florida, a pro-abortion constitutional measure failed to pass in the 2024 election, largely due to the high threshold of 60% for passing a constitutional amendment.

OneLife LA event moved to cathedral 

Amid the ongoing wildfire emergency, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles' annual Catholic pro-life event OneLife LA is set to be held indoors at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels due to poor air quality and the need for law enforcement elsewhere in the city. The walking portion of the event has been canceled.

Instead, the event, beginning at 1 p.m. local time on Jan. 18, will be held in the cathedral's plaza, with a speaker and performance program followed by the annual Requiem Mass for the Unborn in the cathedral. The event will also address the impacts of the recent L.A. fires and reflections on the impact of the emergency. The theme for the annual event is "Let Us Stand Up Together in Hope."  

OneLife LA typically draws thousands to downtown Los Angeles, where it begins with a prayer service followed by a walk to the Los Angeles State Historic Park, where attendees listen to speakers and musical performances. It is held near the anniversary of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision as a West Coast parallel to the National March for Life in Washington, D.C., which is set to be held Jan. 24.

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CNA Staff, Jan 16, 2025 / 12:10 pm (CNA).

Georgetown University's Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) revealed in landmark survey results released this week that "dioceses, eparchies, and religious communities of men" have reported $5,025,346,893 in payouts related to minor abuse allegations since 2004.

Those payments include "settlements paid to victims, other payments to victims, support for offenders, [and] attorneys' fees" as well as other costs, CARA said.

Though that massive sum has been paid out over the last two decades, the vast majority of the alleged abuse occurred much earlier, with 80% of the alleged crimes taking place in the 1980s or decades prior.

The findings come from two decades' worth of annual surveys by CARA. The yearly survey collects "information about the allegations of sexual abuse of minors by priests and deacons that had been reported to the dioceses and eparchies each year."

The original survey was first commissioned in 2004 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

The survey has polled about 200 dioceses and eparchies and approximately 220 religious communities of men over the course of the 20 years. Respondents in the survey were asked to categorize abuse allegations as "credible" or "unsubstantiated/obviously false" as well as "unable to be proven."

Since 2004 respondents have labeled 16,276 allegations as "credible." The majority of credible allegations were reported by dioceses and eparchies.

The survey noted that the number of credible allegations jumped by 46% in its second decade, which CARA said was attributable in part to "the greater number of large lawsuits and state investigations as well as the enactment by some state governments of temporary relaxations of statutes of limitations on crimes and lawsuits."

The findings indicate that alleged abuse dropped sharply in the U.S. Church over the course of the 20th century into the 21st. "More than 9 in 10 of all credible allegations" were said to have occurred or began in 1989 or earlier, CARA said. Just 3% of the allegations were said to have taken place since 2000.

Eighty percent of alleged abuse victims were male, more than half were ages 10 to 14, and 20% were aged 9 or younger.

All told, the allegations involve a total of 4,490 alleged perpetrators, 95% of whom are priests and 4% of whom are religious brothers. An additional 1% of alleged abusers are deacons. 

A full 86% of all alleged perpetrators were identified as "deceased, already removed from ministry, already laicized, or missing" in the survey.

Dioceses spend hundreds of millions on abuse prevention efforts

While dioceses paid out billions of dollars in responding to alleged abuse victims, Church officials have also outlayed huge sums to prevent further abuse over the past 20 years.

Respondents to CARA's survey have reported a total of $727,994,390 in expenditures for child abuse prevention and safety, an average of about $36,000,000 annually.

Those expenditures include "safe environment coordinator and victim assistance coordinator salaries, tracking and other administrative expenses, training programs for adults and children, and background checks."

The amount of money spent on abuse prevention has increased in recent years. In the first decade of the survey, dioceses reported $259,771,061 in safe environment expenditures; that figure jumped 80% in the second decade that the survey was taken, to $468,223,329. 

In announcing the findings, CARA said the U.S. Church's "effort to address the sexual abuse of minors by clergy and religious brothers and to implement safeguards to prevent future abuse is unprecedented by any nongovernmental organization and is the largest effort of its kind."

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops first promulgated norms for addressing the sexual abuse of minors in the Church in 2002.

In its "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People," the bishops' body acknowledged that clergy sex abuse, as well as "the ways in which these crimes and sins were addressed," have caused "enormous pain, anger, and confusion for victims, their families, and the entire Church."

"As bishops, we have acknowledged our mistakes and our roles in that suffering, and we apologize and take responsibility again for too often failing victims and the Catholic people in the past," the bishops wrote.

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CNA Staff, Jan 15, 2025 / 17:10 pm (CNA).

This year, the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., is taking place on Jan. 24. Ahead of the march, the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) is inviting the faithful to take part in its "9 Days for Life" initiative.

"9 Days for Life" is an annual nine-day novena for the protection of human life. Each day's prayer intention is accompanied by a reflection and suggested actions that participants can take to help build a culture of life.

This year the novena starts on Thursday, Jan. 16, and ends on Friday, Jan. 24, the day of the March for Life.

The nine intentions include: may the tragic practice of abortion end; may each person suffering from participating in abortion find forgiveness, hope, and healing in Christ; may every pregnant mother receive compassionate care and support as she nurtures the life in her womb; may every father of a preborn child lovingly support the mother of his child in welcoming new life; may every pregnant mother choosing adoption receive grace and support in embracing this loving option; may all who support or participate in abortion experience a conversion of heart to seek and receive the Lord's boundless mercy; may all preborn children be protected in law and welcomed in love; may civic leaders work for the protection of all human life, in every stage and circumstance; and may all who defend life find strength and renewal in the Holy Spirit.

Each day of the novena also includes resources, such as videos or articles, that teach participants, for example, how to talk to someone considering abortion, how to support a mother in an unexpected pregnancy, and how to build a culture of life.

This year, the annual Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children, Jan. 22, falls during the novena. This date is also the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision.

Participants can choose to receive the daily prayers either through email or text message and it is available in both English and Spanish.

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Rome Newsroom, Jan 15, 2025 / 11:20 am (CNA).

Nigeria was the country with the most Christians killed and kidnapped in 2024, according to the latest report from advocacy group Open Doors.

The World Watch List, released Jan. 15, found that 3,100 Christians were killed and 2,830 Christians were kidnapped in Nigeria in 2024, far more than other countries in the same year.

The report also said the country with the most Christians arrested in 2024 was India, at 2,176, and Rwanda experienced the most attacks on Christian churches or buildings with 4,000.

The Open Doors watch list confirmed that Christian persecution continued to grow "in absolute terms" among the about 100 countries the group monitored in 2024, with 13 countries classified at "extreme levels" of Christian persecution.

The group estimates over 380 million Christians worldwide experienced at least a "high level" of persecution and discrimination because of their faith.

North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, Libya, and Sudan are the report's top five countries for Christian persecution in 2024. Nigeria ranks No. 7 on the watch list. Eritrea, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, India, Saudi Arabia, and Myanmar round out the top 13 countries, all classified as having "extreme" levels of anti-Christian persecution.

With the release of the World Watch List 2025, Open Doors Italy Director Cristian Nani said, "380 million Christians in the world do not enjoy the basic human right to believe what they want. How many more killed, displaced, abused, and imprisoned Christians do we need to count before we put religious freedom at the center of public debate?"

"In 32 years of research, we record a steady increase in anti-Christian persecution in absolute terms," Nani added. "2024 is again a record year of intolerance: 1 in 7 Christians suffer discrimination or persecution because of their faith: It is crucial to get back to talking about religious freedom in the public debate."

Open Doors, which supports persecuted Christians in more than 70 countries, compiles its annual World Watch List through information from local networks, national researchers, external experts, and an ad hoc team of analysts. 

To formulate its ranking, the advocacy group analyzes the pressure on a Christian's life in five areas: private, family, community, church, and public life. Violence is added as a separate element in the analysis.

Nigeria has been grappling with Muslim extremist violence since 2009, perpetrated by groups such as Boko Haram, which reportedly persecute Christians, sometimes kidnapping them for ransom and, in some cases, killing them.

While a 2025 report from the pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need said the abduction of Catholic clergy and religious in Nigeria decreased from 28 in 2023 to 12 in 2024, it is still one of the most dangerous countries in which to be a priest or religious.

The latest religious to be kidnapped in Nigeria, Sisters Vincentia Maria Nwankwo and Grace Mariette Okoli, who were abducted on Jan. 7 from the Archdiocese of Onitsha, have been released and are "in good health," according to the leadership of their congregation, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mother of Christ (IHM).

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ACI Prensa Staff, Jan 15, 2025 / 13:15 pm (CNA).

The Cuban government announced the release of 553 prisoners through the mediation of Pope Francis "in the spirit of the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025."

"President [Miguel] Díaz-Canel sent a letter to the supreme pontiff in which, in the spirit of the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025 declared by His Holiness and which has just begun, he communicated the decision to benefit by granting freedom to 553 people sanctioned in due process for various crimes established by law … [These people] will receive their respective benefits gradually," the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement dated Jan. 14.

Cuba's statement refers to Pope Francis' call to release prisoners during the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope, which began on Dec. 24, 2024, at the Vatican.

In the bull Spes Non Confundit, with which he convoked the jubilee year, the pope proposed that "governments undertake initiatives aimed at restoring hope, forms of amnesty or pardon meant to help individuals regain confidence in themselves and in society."

The Cuban Foreign Ministry's statement notes that "as part of the close and smooth relations with the Vatican state, the Cuban government has maintained communication with Pope Francis and his representatives and, as in the past, has informed His Holiness about processes of review and release of persons deprived of liberty," which has led, according to the statement, to the release of "more than 10,000 people sentenced to deprivation of liberty" between 2023 and 2024.

The statement also recalls a meeting in June 2023 between Díaz-Canel and Pope Francis, preceded by another with Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla in August 2022.

ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, contacted Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican Press Office, to request a statement on the Cuban government's announcement but had not received a response by the time of publication of this article.

Almudena Martínez-Bordiú, ACI Prensa correspondent in Europe, contributed to this article.

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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