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ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 27, 2024 / 16:30 pm (CNA).

North Koreans who are repatriated from China and who have had contact with Christians are sent to North Korean political prisoner camps, according to the latest report on religious freedom by the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

"Persecuted and Forgotten? A Report on Christians oppressed for their Faith 2022-24" was published this month during Red Week and is an initiative by ACN to draw attention to religious persecution around the world. The 2024 edition addresses the situation in 18 key countries, including North Korea.

North Korea is a communist nation ruled since 1948 by the Kim dynasty, and although "gauging the true number of Christians or the extent of their faith in North Korea is exceedingly difficult," says ACN, "they are estimated to comprise around 0.38 percent of the population, which equates to just over 98,000 people."

However, despite the small number of believers, Christianity is considered a threat to the state, which is why Christians are forced to go underground.

According to the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), the entire population is forced to follow Juche, "an ideology of Marxist 'self-reliance' created by the country's founder, Kim Il-Sung." 

To escape the country, North Koreans often use the extensive 880 mile border with China. If they manage to get past the tightly controlled border, the fugitives must reach a third border undetected, mostly Thailand, and seek asylum in the South Korean embassy, ??which will send them to South Korea.

However, those who are apprehended by the Chinese authorities are repatriated to North Korea. According to Human Rights Watch, in April the Beijing government deported some 60 North Koreans.

In its report, ACN refers to the defectors who were repatriated in October 2023 and said there is cause for concern for those "who had interacted with Christians while they were outside the country. They were all sent to political prisoner camps, known for the harsh treatment of inmates there."

The report notes that while many served reduced sentences, "those who came into contact with Christianity" were interned "in political prisoner camps, which is in fact a life sentence without parole."

Citing a source In North Korea who spoke anonymously for security reasons to Daily NK, the ACN report said that "North Korean state security departments base their interrogations of repatriated defectors on files provided by the Chinese police."

"If anything related to religion is mentioned in the files, the defectors will be inexorably interned in camps" no matter what they say concerning what happened, the report notes.

Believers are considered 'a hostile class'

The pontifical foundation states that in North Korea, "considered the worst country in the world to be a Christian," people are classified according to their loyalty to the state and "believers are automatically considered a 'hostile class' and subjected to relentless persecution."

"Although there are widespread violations of human rights throughout the country and religious oppression affecting all areas of life and all religious groups, according to the U.S. State Department, Christians and followers of Mugyo (a shamanic religion) are the most persecuted," the report explains.

Illyong Ju, a North Korean defector who is now a Christian, told ACN that repatriated defectors are being forced to confess anything they may know about the 1,000 people who have not yet been repatriated to North Korea before they actually arrive in the country.

However, Illyong Ju emphasized that among the defectors "there will be people who believe in Jesus and who will spread the Gospel wherever they go. Like Sister Kim, who works with me and who evangelized eight people while she was in a North Korean prison due to her forced repatriation."

"Therefore, we have faith that those forcibly returned to North Korea will become amazing members of God's People who will rise up against the oppression of the North Korean regime," he said.

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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St. Louis, Mo., Nov 27, 2024 / 17:30 pm (CNA).

A Missouri circuit judge on Monday upheld the state's ban on the provision of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries to minors for purposes of "gender transitions," a law which took effect last summer and halted the procedures at some of the state's largest clinics.

The law, the Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act, also prohibits adults who identify as transgender from accessing transgender health care under Medicaid. It further bars "gender-affirming" surgery for prisoners and inmates. It is set to expire on Aug. 28, 2027.

Lambda Legal, a law firm focused on LGBT activism, filed a lawsuit last year against the state challenging the new law on behalf of several medical professionals engaged in "gender-affirming care" as well the parents of several minors who identify as transgender. The trial began in late September. 

In his Nov. 25 opinion, Wright County Circuit Judge R. Craig Carter cited U.S. Supreme Court precedent in cases such as 2007's Gonzalez v. Carhart in which the high court held that states have broad power to regulate in areas "fraught with medical and scientific uncertainties."

State governments can prohibit treatments that are shown to be "fundamentally incompatible with the physician's role as healer," the high court held.    

The medical ethics of providing transgender interventions to minors are "entirely unsettled," Carter noted this week, while the potential harms, including irreversible bodily mutilation and infertility, are serious. 

Carter said he was presented with an "almost total lack of consensus as to the medical ethics of adolescent gender dysphoria treatment." The plaintiffs challenging the ban were able only to present "low" or "very low" quality evidence in favor of transgender treatments for minors, he wrote. 

"None of these interventions corrects any biological or physical abnormality. Rather, the thought process behind these novel procedures is that even though these adolescents are physically healthy, altering their bodies might reduce distress associated with the mismatch between their bodies and how they perceived their identity," Carter wrote. 

Carter went on to write that "credible evidence" shows that most children with gender dysphoria —  a persistent feeling of identification with another sex and discomfort with one's biological sex — grow out of the condition. 

In addition, many patients who seek transgender interventions have "serious mental health comorbidities," many of which remain unaddressed and untreated. 

None of the commonly-used drugs in transgender interventions are FDA-approved to treat gender dysphoria, he noted, but their use, especially for young girls, has markedly increased in recent years. According to evidence cited by the judge, the prevalence of gender dysphoria among 15-year-olds increased by a factor of 20 between 2017 and 2021, to around 340 per 100,000 people. 

Also mentioned was the fact that in addition to "more than half" of U.S. states, other highly developed nations such as Finland, Sweden, and the Netherlands have begun in recent years to restrict the use of puberty blockers for minors, citing insufficient evidence of their efficacy outweighed by evidence of harm. 

Finland and Sweden further reserve transgender surgery for adults.

The judge also pointed to a 400-page study out of the U.K. known as the Cass Review which found "remarkably weak evidence" in favor of transgender interventions for minors as a means of treating the mental health condition of gender dysphoria. 

That study prompted the U.K. National Health Service (NHS) earlier this year to end the practice of prescribing puberty blockers to children to facilitate a gender transition, a decision that was later upheld in U.K. courts. 

The ruling this week goes on to cite the "unrebutted," "credible" testimony of Jamie Reed, a former employee at a major Missouri transgender center who in a Feb. 2023 sworn statement said she witnessed doctors prescribing puberty-blocking drugs to minors without parental consent and, in her view, "permanently harming the vulnerable patients in our care."

In addition, Reed claimed her former clinic "regularly refers minors for gender transition surgery" and performed at least one double mastectomy on a minor at St. Louis Children's Hospital. 

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey initiated an investigation into the hospital's practices based on Reed's allegations. He later led a seven-state-coalition in suing the Biden administration over a rule that would force doctors to provide sex-change procedures and require health insurers to cover them. 

Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley also announced an investigation into the clinic's practices after the allegations surfaced.

In a two-year period from 2020 to 2022, the clinic "initiated medical transition for more than 600 children. About 74% of these children were assigned female at birth," Reed, who describes herself as a "queer woman" who is married to a formerly transgender person, wrote in her sworn statement.

Also testifying in the present case and cited as a credible witness by Carter was Chloe Cole, a young woman from California who in 2022 sued the doctors who performed transgender procedures on her, including a double mastectomy, beginning when she was 12 years old. 

Cole testified about the regret she carries for allowing doctors to remove her breasts, saying she wants to have children and will never be able to breastfeed them. 

In the end, Carter ruled that the plaintiffs' arguments against Missouri's law "simply [fail]" and noted that the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld a similar law in Indiana. 

Lambda Legal has vowed to appeal the ruling. 

After the law's Aug. 2023 implementation, Washington University in St. Louis became the second major hospital in Missouri to shut down the practice of gender transition for minors following University of Missouri Health Care, based in Columbia. 

MU Health Care cited "significant legal liability for prescribing or administering cross-sex hormones or puberty-blockings drugs to existing minor patients."

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 27, 2024 / 05:00 am (CNA).

The U.S. bishops are calling on faithful Catholics across the country to join them in person or virtually at their National Prayer Vigil for Life in Washington D.C., which takes place every year on the eve of the March for Life. 

Co-hosted by the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB), The Catholic University of America's Office of Campus Ministry, and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., the vigil will take place from the evening of Thursday, Jan. 23 to the morning of Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. 

"I enthusiastically invite Catholics from all around the country to join me in-person or virtually, in praying for an end to abortion and building up a culture of life," stated Bishop Daniel E. Thomas of Toledo, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities, in a press release. 

"Together, we must pray to change hearts and build a culture of life as we advocate for the most vulnerable. I look forward to opening our Vigil with Holy Mass together with many other bishops, hundreds of priests, consecrated religious, seminarians, and many thousands of pilgrims," he added. 

The event will kick off with an opening Mass celebrated by Bishop Thomas in the main sanctuary at the Basilica of the National Shrine on Thursday evening. Mass will be followed by a Eucharistic procession and Holy Hour, which will include a Rosary and the Benediction. 

The vigil will conclude on Friday morning before the March for Life with an 8 a.m. Mass celebrated by Bishop Robert Brennan of Brooklyn. 

U.S. Catholics may participate in the vigil via livestream on the Basilica's website, or view EWTN's live television broadcasts on Thursday from 5-8 p.m. and Friday from 8-9 a.m.

Full schedule: 

Thursday, January 23:

4:45 p.m.      Chaplet of Divine Mercy

5:00 p.m.    Opening Mass with Bishop Thomas

7:00 p.m.    Holy Hour for Life

Friday, January 24:

8:00 a.m.    Closing Mass with Bishop Brennan

The March for Life will begin with a pre-rally at 11 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 24. Professional surfer and EveryLife founder Bethany Hamilton will be the keynote speaker at this year's event, for which the theme is "Every Life: Why We March."

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CNA Staff, Nov 27, 2024 / 05:30 am (CNA).

Here is a roundup of recent pro-life related policy developments in the United States.

Lawmakers ask for investigation into abortion funding

More than 100 members of Congress asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate the amount of federal funding given to abortion providers nationally and internationally over the past three years, including Planned Parenthood Federation of America and its affiliates.  

One hundred and twelve members of Congress signed the Nov. 22 letter spearheaded by House Pro-Life Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL), and Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY). Eighty-one House members and 31 Senators signed the letter, including top leaders such as House Speaker Mike Johnson, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), and incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD).

A 2023 GAO report found that from 2019-2021, the U.S .government provided $1.89 billion in federal funding to abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood Federation of America and MSI Reproductive Choices. 

Republican congressmen seek to stop expansion of IVF for military 

Two Republican representatives urged the House and Senate Armed Services committees to not expand health insurance coverage of in vitro fertilization (IVF) for military personnel, citing high costs and ethical concerns.

In a Nov. 21 letter, Reps. Matt Rosendale (MT) and Josh Brecheen (OK) asked committee leaders in both chambers to not include provisions that expand access to the method of fertility treatment that involves artificially creating many embryos, most of which are never born.

In the letter, Rosendale and Brecheen noted, "There are no limits under current law on how many embryos can be created in an IVF cycle." The two said that the Centers for Disease Control could not provide "basic information" such as how many embryos are screened for sex selection or genetic abnormalities, or how many embryos are destroyed each year.

The representatives noted that in 2021 there were "4.1 million embryonic children created through IVF, but only 97,128 of those children were born," meaning only 2.3% of embryonic children are ever born, according to numbers from the CDC and the Family Research Council.  The representatives called on Congress to "protect the most vulnerable and reject any provision that leads to the destruction of innocent human life." 

When it comes to IVF, lawmakers hold opposing views. Proponents tout the technology as pro-family, while opponents point to the loss of unborn life that is an inherent part of the process. Rosendale, a Catholic who is retiring from Congress, shares these latter, moral and ethical concerns. 

The Catholic Church teaches that IVF is not a moral method of fertility treatment because it separates conception from the marital act and because multiple embryos are created only to be discarded. 

Texas bill could reclassify abortion pills as controlled substances

A bill has been introduced in the Texas legislature to reclassify abortion pills as Schedule IV substances, meaning the drugs would be considered controlled substances. The drugs are used in abortions, as well as for miscarriage care and other uses. The first pill in the regimen, mifepristone, deprives the unborn child of necessary nutrients, while the second pill, misoprostol, induces the delivery of the deceased child. 

Pat Curry, Republican from Waco, filed HB 1339 Nov. 14. If passed, the bill would take effect Sept. 1, 2025. It would also designate the muscle relaxant carisoprodol as a controlled substance, in addition to the two abortion drugs. The Texas Controlled Substance Act dictates that possession of a fraudulent prescription is punishable by a fine of up to $2,000 or 180 days in jail. 

The measure follows the state of Louisiana's abortion pill reclassification earlier this year.

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Puebla, Mexico, Nov 27, 2024 / 06:30 am (CNA).

The life of Carlo Acutis, who is slated to be canonized next year as the first millennial saint, inspires thousands of people around the world. Among them is 9-year-old Alex Espinosa in Mexico, who both considers Acutis a "friend" and enthusiastically expresses that he wants to be like him when he grows up.

On Nov. 20, Pope Francis announced that Carlo Acutis will be proclaimed a saint during the Jubilee of Teenagers, which will take place in Rome April 25-27, 2025. Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino, of the Diocese of Assisi, specified that the ceremony will take place the morning of Sunday, April 27, in St. Peter's Square.

Alex Espinosa is the eldest son of María and Alejandro Espinosa. Alex's mother says her family's devotion to Carlo Acutis began in 2020, the year Acutis was proclaimed a blessed.

Although he was only four years old at the time, Alex, seeing the interest shown by his parents, was curious about the life of Carlos. 

After learning about Acutis' story and understanding how he lived "an ordinary life, in an extraordinary way," the little boy was deeply impacted. That same afternoon, he took some suitcases and said to his mother: "We have to be ready for heaven, Mom. We have to have our suitcases ready," María recalled.

Subsequently on All Saints' Day, Alex dressed up as the soon-to-be saint, who is also known as "God's influencer." As the boy's affection for Acutis grew, his mother began to share moments of family life on Instagram, drawing admiration from Catholics around the world for the devotion her son showed towards the young saint.

Thanks to this devotion, the family received relics of Carlo Acutis, which according to María, has been key in Alex's spiritual growth. The mother commented that her son was also encouraged to "help the poor, as Carlo did, wanting to imitate his life in a small way."

In December of 2023, the boy expressed his desire to make his First Communion "like Carlo Acutis, at the age of seven."

According to the Code of Canon Law of the Church, "the administration of the Most Holy Eucharist to children requires that they have sufficient knowledge and careful preparation so that they understand the mystery of Christ according to their capacity and are able to receive the body of Christ with faith and devotion."

Thus, Alex received his First Communion two days before his eighth birthday. His mother recalled that "it was something very special for him to say 'I did it just like Carlo Acutis, when he was seven years old. '"

Alex's devotion has been reflected even in small details of his daily life. He celebrated a recent birthday with the image of Carlo Acutis and his mother says he has shared the story of the blessed with other children.

Reflecting on the impact Alex's words and example have on his classmates, María said "I don't know how much sticks with them, but in the end, it's an important testimony of faith at that age."

A healing attributed to Carlo Acutis

In March 2024, Alex's father, Alejandro, was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in one of his lungs. 

While they were waiting for treatment, a close friend offered Alejandro a relic of Carlo Acutis. One evening, Alex expressed his concern: "I'm worried that he's in pain, I don't like my dad being in pain." Following his mother's advice, the boy asked Carlo Acutis to intercede with Jesus for his father's health.

That same evening, María placed the relic on her husband's chest as she stayed next to him in the hospital. The next morning, her husband's health improved markedly. Doctors confirmed that the swelling had dramatically decreased, allowing surgery to be scheduled earlier than planned.

María said with certitude that what happened was "a miracle, something inexplicable," attributing the improvement to the intercession of Carlo Acutis and her son's prayers. The healing, she says, "was a response to a sincere, pure prayer, from a pure heart."

Budding friendship and advice for other parents

During a trip to Assisi, Alex's parents brought him a book that tells the story of Acutis in detail. According to his mother, this allowed the little boy to perceive the blessed in a "closer and more real" way. The boy commented that "he's my friend, and yes, I pray to him. He likes soccer, Nutella and video games."

Based on her experience with her five children, María shared some advice on how to bring up children in the faith. She firmly believes that the best way to transmit spiritual values ??is "by example, that's important."

In her experience, children learn by observing how parents treat others, how they express themselves and in this case, "they see how we conduct ourselves in our faith, how we are at Mass, how we pray. I think that has a lot to do with it."

She and her husband have made faith an integral part of family life, without imposing it, so that the experience of faith is natural, including prayer before meals and when leaving the house. In addition, they try to teach their children to be thankful for small blessings, from "bread with Nutella to having a house."

The most important thing, according to María, is never to force children, but to make faith a part of their lives "in a natural and fun way," always showing them that "God loves you very much and you have to thank him."

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

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 26, 2024 / 16:10 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis called for an end to global production and use of anti-personnel explosives in a message delivered at an international summit on abolishing landmines, one week after U.S. President Joe Biden approved Ukraine's use of American land mines in the Russia-Ukraine war. 

"Conflicts are a failure of humanity to live as a single human family," the Holy Father expressed in his letter, which was read by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin at the Fifth Review Conference on the Convention of Anti-Personnel Landmines in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

"These treacherous devices continue to cause terrible suffering to civilians, especially children," he added. 

The International Mine Ban Treaty, also known as the Ottawa Treaty, is an international agreement to end the production and use of anti-personnel mines that went into force in March 1999. One hundred and sixty-four state parties have formally agreed to abide by the agreement, including Ukraine. 

The pope "urges all states that have not yet done so to accede to the convention, and in the meantime to cease immediately the production and use of land mines," Parolin stated to the delegation. 

The United States, Russia, and China are among the 33 states which have not yet agreed to abide by the agreement. 

Francis also appealed to countries that have already entered into the agreement, urging them to renew their commitment to end use of the explosives, stressing that any delays in doing so "will inevitably increase the human cost." 

The Holy Father's urgent appeal to the convention comes one week after President Biden approved the provision of anti-personnel mines to Ukraine, in order to bolster its defense against Russian advances in the east. 

Biden's move to authorize the controversial explosives follows closely his decision to give Ukraine permission to fire long-range American missiles at Russia. The Kremlin has responded by lowering the threshold in which it would use its nuclear arsenal. 

The Pope this week further recognized the work of the land mine conference, and all of those dedicated to ending use of land mines, as well as those who assist victims' families.

The Holy Father prayed that the objectives of the conference inspired by the treaty "may become an important step towards a world free of landmines and ensure a truly integral and restorative assistance to victims." 

Francis himself delivered a similar pro-peace message at an event on the same day, commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Argentina and Chile. 

"We do well to commemorate those intense negotiations that, with papal mediation, avoided the armed conflict about to set two brother peoples against each other and concluded with a dignified, reasonable and equitable solution," the Holy Father said in his address. 

"In this regard, how can I not refer to the many ongoing armed conflicts that remain still unresolved, despite the fact that they cause immense sufferings for the countries at war and the entire human family," Francis said, further rebuking countries "where there is much talk of peace [but where] the highest yielding investments are in the production of arms."

"I simply mention two failures of humanity today: Ukraine and Palestine, where people are suffering, where the arrogance of the invader prevails over dialogue," he told the delegation. Francis has been vocal in his opposition to the ongoing conflicts in both regions since their respective beginnings.

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CNA Staff, Nov 26, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

When Georgetown Law student Brittany Lovely, who is scheduled to give birth in December, shortly before final exams, asked for permission to take her test early, late, or remotely, the answer she got from the Catholic university was a flat denial. 

Citing university policy, the school's administrators told Lovely that granting her accommodations would be "inequitable to other non-birthing students in her class," she told the Washington Post. 

"Motherhood is not for the faint of heart," she said she was told. Her was given a choice: she could either take the exam soon after childbirth with her newborn or fail and request to withdraw from the class. Even when her doctor weighed in, calling Lovely's request both "reasonable and necessary," the law school refused to budge. 

Only after students banded together to organize a petition, which quickly went viral, did Lovely get permission to schedule her exam ahead of the birth of her baby.  

Lovely said in a letter shared with CNA that she has "finally received the accommodations I've been requesting for months for my upcoming finals," but shared her fear that other pregnant students may face similar challenges with the administration. 

The university changed its exam accommodations and deferral policy "for this semester only," Lovely explained. She requested that the university "make a public commitment to reforming its policies regarding accommodations moving forward," she noted in the letter. 

"They agreed to work with me on a just and equitable policy agenda for pregnant, childbearing, and childrearing students in the coming months," Lovely said of Georgetown Law.

A university spokesperson confirmed with CNA that the administration "reached a mutually agreeable solution" with Lovely. The university declined to comment on the specifics of Lovely's case. 

"Georgetown is committed to providing a caring, supportive environment for pregnant and parenting students," the spokesperson said, noting that Georgetown provides resources for students "while they are pregnant or parenting including pregnancy-related adjustments from the Office of Title IX Compliance, and disability accommodations from our Academic Resource Center."

But for Lovely, "the fight is not over yet." 

"No student should be forced to choose between their education, health, or the health of their family," she said. "My classmates and I will continue advocating until it is certain Georgetown Law does not force any students to make that choice again."  

At Georgetown Law, only the Office of Registrar has the power to grant exam deferrals and exam rescheduling for finals, not the professor. 

Georgetown Law will consider exam deferrals for several reasons, including "childbirth during the exam period or immediately preceding the exam period," according to its website. The administration will also consider deferrals for physical or mental illness, a death in the family, car accidents, religious observance, military commitment, and other "extraordinary circumstances." 

But according to Lovely, she is not the only one who has faced challenges getting accommodations. 

Peers and alumni "have shared their own horror stories of trying to get reasonable accommodations at Georgetown Law for their childbirth, medical emergencies, and disabilities, only to be offered a generalized solution of more time for an exam," Lovely said. "They have told me the callous responses to their requests during their most vulnerable times."

"As I have said from the beginning, this was never just about me — this is about all pregnant, childbearing, and childrearing students and about all students with disabilities or those needing accommodations, present and future," Lovely said. 

A moral duty 

Lovely's classmates launched the petition on her behalf last week, stating that "Georgetown Law has a legal and moral duty to support pregnant students during the regular school year or finals." 

Post-partum recovery usually takes about six weeks after childbirth. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, "the weeks following birth are a critical period for a woman and her infant, setting the stage for long-term health and well-being." Childbirth often comes with medical challenges that require a long recovery, especially if a woman faces medical issues such as tearing or Cesarean section. 

"Georgetown Law suggested Brittany bring her days-old child to campus a few days after birth, with minimal recovery, to take the exam with more time so she can breastfeed her newborn baby during the exam," the petition noted. "They told her, 'Motherhood is not for the Faint of Heart.'" 

Newborn babies need to be fed every two to three hours and are more susceptible to germs as their immune systems are not fully developed, meaning they are at a higher risk of developing infections. Few babies are born on their exact due date, and physicians often advise that parents avoid bringing their newborn to crowded places. 

Based in Washington, D.C., Georgetown University is a Jesuit university and the first Catholic higher education institution in the United States. According to its website, Georgetown University aims to approach education from the central Jesuit tenet of "cura personalis," a Latin phrase meaning "care of the whole person." 

One alum, Max Siegel II, argued that the administration's refusal of Lovely's accommodation "contradicts this fundamental value." 

"Cura Personalis calls on us to provide care and individualized attention to each person, respecting their unique circumstances and concerns," Siegel said in a post in which he urged students to sign the petition. Siegel heads the Student Bar Association, the law school's student government. 

The Catholic Church teaches the importance of the "Life and Dignity of the Human Person," one of seven themes of Catholic Social Teaching. "Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception," according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2270).

In line with this teaching, some Catholic colleges such as Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina and the University of Mary in North Dakota offer maternity housing programs for student mothers. UMary's maternity home program made headlines last year after its first student mom graduated with her daughter. 

In addition to concerns that the administration's attitude goes against the university's Jesuit Catholic values, supporters of Lovely said that Georgetown's decision violated Title IX, the federal civil rights law designed to prevent discrimination against women in higher education institutions that receive public funding. 

Siegel, and the student-led petition, noted that the administration "fails to meet the requirements of Title IX, which ensures a fair and equitable educational environment for all students." 

"Title IX prohibits education institutions from discriminating against students based on sex, including current, potential, or past pregnancy or related conditions," the petition noted. "An accommodation is not unreasonable and must be offered by the school unless it 'fundamentally alters' the nature of its program." 

Lovely said she was particularly concerned that Georgetown cited equity as a reason for denying pregnancy accommodations. 

"I want to make it clear — an inequitable policy, for example, is one that forces me (or any student) to spend time fightingfor a basic right under the law rather than preparing for my finals like the rest of my peers," she said. "An equitable policy is one where no student has to go to these great lengths  again to receive reasonable accommodations." 

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ACI Africa, Nov 26, 2024 / 11:19 am (CNA).

Father Thomas Oleghe, the oldest priest in Nigeria has passed away at the age of 104.

Oleghe died in the early hours of Nov. 24, the Solemnity of Christ the King, the bishop of the Diocese of Auchi announced in a statement.

"With gratitude to God for a life well lived on earth I hereby inform you of the passage of the Rt. Rev. MSGR Thomas Oleghe the oldest Catholic priest in Nigeria as of today, to the great beyond at about 2.30 a.m. this morning on the 24th of November, 2024," Bishop Gabriel Ghiakhomo Dunia wrote in the statement.

The bishop announced that the funeral for Oleghe will be Nov. 27. 

"May his lovely and gentle soul continue to rest in perfect peace. Amen," Dunia prayed.

Born in February 1920, Oleghe was ordained a priest in December 1957. He served in various parishes in the Auchi diocese including St. John The Apostle Igarra Parish where he initiated reforms that laid the foundations of the glorious status of the church today.

In a statement, the former Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki eulogized Oleghe as a "great missionary of the Catholic faith."

"I am deeply saddened by the news of the passing of the oldest Catholic priest in Nigeria, Msgr. Thomas Oleghe," Obaseki said.

"He was a dedicated and compassionate priest who worked for the growth of the Christian faith and the development of his community. He remained an inspiration to many and a model that a lot of young people looked up to," he said.

"I celebrate his impactful service to God and humanity, working and commend his work in the Lord's vineyard in Edo State, where he served for many years promoting peace and development," Obaseki added.

Commiserating with Bishop Dunia and the entire Nigerian Catholic community Obaseki prayed that "God will grant all the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss."

Meanwhile, the senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, expressed sorrow over the passing of the priest. 

In a statement, Oshiomhole described Oleghe as a "paragon of priestly humility and a steadfast champion of Christian values." 

He said the late Catholic priest's life was a "shining testament to the virtues of faith, humility, and devotion."

"His transition is a profound loss, not just to our diocese but to the nation at large. Even as we mourn him, we are comforted by the assurance that his impactful life resonated with God, who blessed him with longevity before calling him to eternal rest," Oshiomhole said.

This article was originally published by ACI Africa, CNA's African news partner, and has been adapted for CNA.

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CNA Newsroom, Nov 25, 2024 / 17:00 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, a Spanish-born prelate and prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, died today aged 72 after a long illness.

Pope Francis asked for prayers for the cardinal earlier this morning, telling an international Jain delegation at the Vatican that the cardinal was "very ill, near the end of his life."

A respected expert in Islam, Ayuso devoted much of his career to promoting dialogue with the Muslim religion and played a key role in Pope Francis' "Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together," signed in Abu Dhabi in 2019.

He took part in Pope Francis' historic visits to Muslim-majority nations, first as secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, and after October 2019, as the dicastery's prefect.

The visits included the UAE and Morocco in 2019, and then, as dicastery prefect, to Iraq in 2021, and Kazakhstan and Bahrain in 2022. The Vatican said he "remained active in his mission until health challenges overtook him."

Born on June 17, 1952, in Seville, Spain, Ayuso came from a large, devout Catholic family and was the fifth of nine children.

He initially studied law at the University of Seville but felt called to religious life. In 1973, he joined the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus, taking his perpetual vows in 1980. He was ordained a priest the same year. He pursued further ecclesiastical education in Rome, obtaining a licentiate from the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI) in 1982 and later a doctorate in dogmatic theology from the University of Granada in 2000.

Following his studies, Ayuso embarked on missionary work in Egypt and Sudan from 1982 to 2002. During this time, he served as a parish priest in Cairo and directed a catechetical center in the diocese of El-Obeid, Sudan. His academic career flourished as he taught Islamology in Khartoum from 1989 and later in Cairo. In 2006, he became the president of PISAI in Rome, solidifying his reputation as an expert in Islamic studies.

Ayuso's expertise in interreligious dialogue led to his appointment as a consultor of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue in 2007. His career in the Vatican progressed rapidly: In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI named him Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue; in 2016, Pope Francis appointed him archbishop and Titular Bishop of Luperciana; in 2019, he was named President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue; and in October that same year, Pope Francis elevated him to the rank of cardinal.

One of Ayuso's most significant achievements was his role in resuming dialogue with Grand Imam Ahmed el-Tayeb of Cairo's Al-Azhar University.

Renowned as Islam's most prestigious institution for Islamic learning, Al-Azhar suspended dialogue with the Vatican in 2011 on the grounds that Pope Benedict XVI had made "repetitive and negative statements" about Muslims.

Ayuso's brokered reconciliation culminated in the landmark but controversial "Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together," signed in Abu Dhabi in February 2019 by Pope Francis and el-Tayeb. The cardinal had also represented the Holy See on the board of directors of the King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID) since its founding in 2012.

In response to critics concerned about the Vatican's current course of interreligious dialogue and its alleged tendency toward syncretism, he emphasized that interreligious dialogue and initiatives like the "Document on Human Fraternity" were not about creating a "melting pot" where all religions were considered equal. Instead, he argued it was about recognizing "that all believers, those who seek God, and all people of good will without religious affiliation are equal in dignity."

He asserted that the Catholic Church always engages in interreligious dialogue while remembering "the value of her own identity." Ayuso also noted that pluralism in societies invites reflection on one's own identity, "without which authentic interreligious dialogue is impossible."

Responding to criticism that the "Document on Human Fraternity" could lead to syncretism, he reiterated that each faith retains its own identity in these dialogues, and used the metaphor of a "rich mixed salad" to describe how different faiths can come together while maintaining their distinct identities.

In 2023, Cardinal Ayuso strongly endorsed the Abrahamic Family House, an interfaith complex in Abu Dhabi designed to promote mutual understanding, peaceful coexistence, and interfaith dialogue among Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. The cardinal said the complex, which opened in 2023, was a "beacon of mutual understanding" and that he believed it could foster mutual respect and understanding while allowing each faith to maintain its distinct identity. Critics argued that the initiative fostered religious indifferentism and was theologically unsound.

Vatican News said Nov. 25 that Cardinal Ayuso "embodied Pope Francis' vision of fraternity," as outlined in the 2020 encyclical Fratelli Tutti (All Brothers), and that through his "tireless dedication to dialogue, he demonstrated that peaceful coexistence among diverse faiths is both possible and necessary."

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Vatican City, Nov 25, 2024 / 17:40 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis presided over a solemn event Monday at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Argentina and Chile that settled a border dispute between the two countries.

The pontiff denounced the hypocrisy of some countries "where there is much talk of peace" but "the highest yielding investments are in the production of arms." 

This pharisaical attitude, he continued, always leads "to the failure of fraternity and peace. May the international community make the force of law prevail through dialogue, for dialogue "must be the soul of the international community."

The agreement between Chile and Argentina resolved the crisis caused by a territorial dispute over the Beagle Channel and sovereignty over several islands. The Vatican played an essential role in this peace agreement after St. John Paul II sent Cardinal Antonio Samorè as mediator, who worked out the agreement between both nations, avoiding an armed conflict.

Speaking before the authorities and the diplomatic corps of both countries, among whom were the Argentine ambassador to the Holy See, Luis Pablo Beltramino and the Chilean foreign minister, Alberto van Klaveren, Pope Francis praised the papal mediation that avoided the conflict that was "about to set two brother peoples against each other."

In his speech, the Holy Father proposed this agreement as a model to imitate, while renewing his call for peace and dialogue in the face of current conflicts, where "recourse to force" prevails.

Mediating role of St. John Paul II 

He recalled in particular the mediation of St. John Paul II, who from the first days of his pontificate showed great concern and demonstrated a constant effort not only to prevent the dispute between Argentina and Chile "from degenerating into a disgraceful armed conflict," but also to find "the way to definitively resolve this dispute."

The pontiff noted that after receiving the request of both governments "accompanied by concrete and stringent commitments," St. Pope John Paul II agreed to mediate the conflict with the aim of proposing "a just and equitable, and therefore honorable solution."

For Pope Francis, this agreement deserves to be proposed "in the current world situation, in which so many conflicts persist and degenerate without an effective will to resolve them through the absolute exclusion of recourse to force or the threat of its use."

The pope recalled the words of Benedict XVI on the 25th anniversary of the treaty, who said that the agreement "is a shining example of the power of the human spirit and the desire for peace in the face of the barbarity and senselessness of violence and war as a means of resolving differences."

For the Holy Father, this is "a most timely example" of how it is necessary to persevere at all times with "firm determination to the final consequences in an endeavor to resolve disputes with a real desire for dialogue and agreement, through patient negotiation and with the necessary compromises, always taking into account the just requirements and legitimate interests of all."

In conclusion, Pope Francis described what is happening in Ukraine and Palestine as "two failures" of humanity today where the "arrogance of the invader prevails over dialogue."

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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