Catholic News

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Ann Arbor, Michigan, Nov 10, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Catechism and good food were combined on election night 2024 in Michigan as an Alpha evangelization course introduced the Catholic faith to Chinese inquirers in an atmosphere of love and understanding, according to its organizers.

Enthusiasm and apparent joy bubbles up from Caroline Gambale-Dirkes, director of evangelization at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Parish in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as she described the Alpha course for Chinese-speakers and its results.

"There were a few miracles along the way," Gambale-Dirkes told CNA. "There are a lot of amazing stories."

Alpha began as a course of evangelization within the Anglican Church in England in 1977 and has since expanded to include various Christian traditions, including hundreds of Catholic parishes. It is an 11-week course, online or in person, where committed Christians share their faith in conversation with inquirers. According to AlphaUSA, in 2023 more than 74,000 people participated in parish programs for adults.

Gambale-Dirkes and facilitators joined some dozen Alpha participants at a local restaurant in Ann Arbor on Nov. 5. Each table had at least one Mandarin-speaker trained to facilitate discussion and ensure a friendly atmosphere where talking about faith and the heart can take place. Every Alpha meeting begins with dinner and fellowship, followed by a video presentation about questions of faith and ending with a small-group discussion. 

Gambale-Dirkes said the parish had given Alpha courses for young adults, especially students at the nearby University of Michigan, since 2022. That year, she attended an Alpha national conference with Catholic bishops, priests, and religious. She later asked her pastor, Father Bill Ashbaugh: "What's your dream, what's your hope for evangelization in the parish?" 

She was not ready for his answer: "It's to have a Chinese Alpha." Once she saw videos of the new Alpha course in Mandarin, she recalled, "I started crying and was so moved by it. I felt like God was telling me, 'I'm calling you to do this. This is what I want you to do.'"

The first Chinese Alpha course in Ann Arbor started in the fall of 2023. Participants have come from China, Singapore, Taiwan, and the U.S. 

CNA spoke with Elena Feng, an expectant mother who took the Alpha course last year and is now an Alpha facilitator while participating in Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) in preparation for baptism during Easter 2025.

In an interview, Feng said that when she married her husband, Nate Murray, she wanted to know more about his Catholic faith. 

"In China, I learned in school about religions from the outside or from history, but not as faith. With my husband, I went to Mass, and now I want more," she said. 

She looks forward to the birth and baptism of their first child later this month. While Feng said she sees common strands in Buddhism and Christian faith, it is the prospect of an afterlife with God in company with her loved ones that has emboldened her faith.

Ashbaugh told CNA that he is very pleased with the progress of Alpha and that an urge to extend it to the Chinese community had been a long-held conviction. The opportunity for evangelization was obvious because of the numbers of Chinese students and faculty in the area.

"I've always had it on my heart. Many years ago, in prayer, I had a dream or a vision in which I very clearly saw a tortured Chinese priest covered with cuts on his body. He turned to me and showed the difficulty he was in. But his posture, with hands extended, was one of 'Please pray and help. In solidarity, please pray for the Church in China,'" he said.

Deeply moved, Ashbaugh spoke no Mandarin but was concerned about how the Church was faring in China; but he doubted that he would ever travel there. With the onset of the Alpha courses, an opportunity opened up to evangelize the Chinese living in Michigan.

"Here they are! Let's go fishing, let's cast the net," he said.

Ashbaugh found willing Mandarin-speaking volunteers to help the 2023 Alpha, which saw several participants enter the Church. Enthusiasm among those touched by Alpha has grown since then. The priest said he was soon to meet again a group of Chinese inquirers who wanted to learn more about the faith that had not been covered otherwise.

"They have much deeper questions. I could have stayed for hours answering their questions," he recalled. 

The message for fellow Catholics and priests, he said, is: "Pray and look at the demographics of your community. As priests, we are responsible for all the souls of our parish territory. We have to ask, 'Who are the sheep? Where are they?' Then get to know them and then ask, 'What can we do to serve these souls?' The Gospel is meant to be shared, it's not meant to be insular."

The efforts have been worth the costs, Ashbaugh said, saying: "Even one soul is worth it. A life is changed forever after meeting Christ. Who can put a value on that?"

"Let's keep praying for the Church in China," he concluded. "My goodness, imagine if the Chinese people came to faith in Jesus Christ! That would be huge. The Lord wants all people to come to know the good news of the kingdom and experience his love and mercy and the faith in the life to come. We need to think broadly and bring the Gospel to Chinese people everywhere."

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CNA Staff, Nov 10, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

A group of religious sisters has launched the only classical Catholic elementary school in New York City's Harlem, designed to meet the needs of the city's low-income families.  

Saint John Paul the Great Academy serves its students through its scholarship program while offering high-quality classical Catholic education. The school is managed by an order of religious sisters focused on evangelization: the Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará, known as the "Servidoras." 

While New York state public schools rank in the top 10 in the nation, less than half of third through eighth graders are proficient in reading, while only about 53% are proficient in math, according to a 2024 report. 

A little more than 70% of students in the New York City public school district are economically disadvantaged, according to data from the district from the 2023-2024 school year, meaning private education is less accessible for families. 

"We try to take up the torch of the way that Catholic education has been doing for centuries," Sister Mary Mother of Truth Westermeyer, a Servidora and principal of Saint John Paul the Great Academy, told CNA. "And that includes the formation of the entire person."

A community effort 

The only Catholic liberal arts elementary school in the five boroughs of New York City, Saint John Paul the Great Academy was largely a "community effort," with families pitching in to help prepare the learning spaces. The academy began this year with a humble 11 students in grades kindergarten, first, and second grade, but Sister Truth said the school has plans to add grades as the students grow, ultimately looking to be a K–8. 

The sisters tag-teamed with families to help get the school in shape for its inaugural school year.

"We've experienced a really festive environment of joy — a family spirit," Sister Truth said, noting that it is important to involve the family in education. 

The academy has plans for a monthly "family night" intended to "to give a formation point to the parents to help support them in their vocation to educate their children as primary [educators]," she explained.

At the first family night, the students participated in a procession around campus, which Sister Truth called "a moment of joy with the kids." 

"They had a little procession with John Paul II [and] Our Lady around the campus and prayed the rosary together," she recalled. 

Teacher Jennifer Rodriguez also highlighted the community at the academy. She told CNA that she values "the wonderful community we have created together in these couple of months." 

Rodriquez added that the school was "not just a place for learning; it is a welcoming environment filled with the love of Christ and a commitment to nurturing our families."

"When you walk through our doors, you can sense the warmth and encouragement that surrounds us all," Rodriguez continued. "It brings me joy to see our students and their families excited to be here. We are touched by the many small yet profound ways God influences our lives and the lives of our families." 

When asked why a Catholic liberal arts education was important to her, one parent, Sylvia Ramirez, said: "It is important because I realize that not all schools care about the well-being of the children academically, spiritually, and morally."

"The community is very welcoming and respectful and compassionate," Ramirez added. "What inspired me to choose the academy is the education they give the children, which develops in the children values and concern for others." 

Jesus, day to day

Sister Truth said that each day of the week, a member of the staff shares a reflection on a theme relating to the Catholic faith, ranging from Mary and the saints to virtue and the Mass. 

"Jesus is our companion throughout the whole day," Sister Truth said. "But I hope you understand what I mean. It doesn't have to be weird; it has to be natural because our coexistence with him as our friend and our guide needs to be imbibed from a very young age." 

The sisters take inspiration from St. John Bosco, who worked with orphaned boys. They model some of their practices on his style and approach. 

Bosco had a "good night" spiritual practice for the boys who were staying at the orphanage.  

"He would stress some virtue or some habit that needed to be formed in the boys or something that he noticed during the day that needed to be corrected," Sister Truth explained. "So each one of the staff members — because we're five — we each have a day of the week where we give a 'good morning' to help them focus on something." 

It's important, Sister Truth added, to "share your expectations" with both students and parents.

"We use the preventative system of St. John Bosco," Sister Truth said. "We make our goals known, and then we remind the kids over and over again that we want to be good Christians and good citizens."

Another teacher, Molly Jensen, told CNA that the children at the academy "are so eager to learn" and to "know the Lord."

"We learn about the different disciplines, but in each of those, both the students and myself get to learn more about Jesus," Jensen said. "With the classical curriculum, it allows for us to form the whole person and not just their intellect." 

"There is a great freedom when education is rooted in Christ and the sacraments that allows the children to truly love learning and want to come to school every day," she continued. 

When asked what inspires her to teach at the academy, Jensen explained that it was all about Christ.

"What inspires me to work at Saint John Paul the Great Academy is Christ's perfect love and my love of Christ and the deep desire to lead all souls closer to him," she said. "Every day I get to lead these children closer to Jesus and in turn, they are leading their families closer to him."

"The children, with their great joy and wonder, show me every day what it is to have childlike faith and love Jesus without reserve!" she added.

Scholarship development 

Both the sisters as well as families at the school are pooling their resources in the first year, helping with construction, cleaning, and other necessities. Sister Truth said it has required the staff to "think outside the box with a lot of faith." The school is currently working with the Children's Scholarships Fund but is looking for additional partners to sponsor students. 

"Thus far, the sisters have been seeking those benefactors who want to sponsor a child's education here in Harlem, and that's how we've been able to assure our employees that they're going to have their paycheck and they're going to have their benefits," Sister Truth said. "But we have to think outside the box with a lot of faith to make something like this work."

Sister Truth said that families help out in ways that they can, whether they are trade workers who can help with construction projects or can volunteer for the weekly schedule to help with cleaning. She noted that it would be easy for families to simply send their kids to New York public schools, "but these families are really fighting" to have their kids attend the academy.

"Our hope is that we never lose the buy-in from the family," she said. 

"We're all very convinced by God's hand in this project," Sister Truth noted. "There have already been students coming to visit, and [we've] only been in session for six weeks for the next year."

Sister Truth plans to go forward with "lots of grit and lots of prayer."  

"We know that God is calling, and we want to respond, and people are not surprised anymore when they see him come through because we know him, and we see his goodness palpably every day," she said.

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Vatican City, Nov 9, 2024 / 04:00 am (CNA).

The most important church in Rome, the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, is celebrating its 1,700th anniversary on Nov. 9.

The church is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome and the seat of the bishop of Rome, the pope. The adjoining palace served as the papal residence until the 14th century.

The anniversary of the dedication has been commemorated as a feast day by the whole Catholic Church since 1565 due to its importance as the "mother and head of all churches of the city and the world."

A Latin inscription in the basilica proclaims this point in Latin: "Omnium ecclesiarum urbis et orbis mater et caput."

"By honoring the basilica, one intends to express love and veneration for the Roman Church, which, as St. Ignatius of Antioch affirms, 'presides over the charity' of the entire Catholic communion," Pope Benedict XVI said in 2008.

The Archbasilica of St. John Lateran was built after the promulgation of Emperor Constantine's Edict of Milan, which in 313 granted Christians freedom to practice their religion. 

Pope Sylvester I dedicated the archbasilica on Nov. 9 in the year 324. St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist became the church's patrons in the sixth century, but it is called St. John Lateran because it was built on property donated by the Plautii Laterani family during the Roman Empire.

The Diocese of Rome celebrated the 1,700th anniversary with a full year of special festivities, including concerts, Masses, and religious-cultural talks about the history of the archbasilica and the adjoining Lateran Palace.

The jubilee will conclude on Saturday with a Mass celebrated by the diocese's new vicar general, Cardinal-designate Baldassare Reina.

In 2008, the now-deceased Pope Benedict XVI commented on the feast of the Dedication of Rome's Lateran Basilica in his Sunday Angelus address.

The Emperor Constantine, Benedict XVI recalled, "gave Pope Miltiades the old property of the family of the Laterans and built the basilica, baptistery, and the residence of the bishop of Rome, where the popes lived until the Avignon period."

Pope Benedict noted the importance of the material building in which communities gather to praise God, and said, "every community has the duty to guard with care its own sacred building, which constitutes a precious religious and historical patrimony."

"Let us invoke the intercession of Most Holy Mary to help us become, like her, a 'house of God,' a living temple of love," he said.

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Vatican City, Nov 9, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

For the first time in over a century, the historic Chair of St. Peter, a wooden throne symbolizing the pope's magisterial authority, has been removed from its gilded bronze reliquary in St. Peter's Basilica to be displayed for public veneration. 

Pilgrims and visitors can now behold this storied relic directly in front of the basilica's main altar, just above the tomb of St. Peter, where it will remain on display until Dec. 8, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.

The last major public viewing of the chair occurred in 1867, when Pope Pius IX exposed the Chair of Peter for the veneration of the faithful for 12 days on the 1,800th anniversary of the martyrdoms of St. Peter and St. Paul, according to Pietro Zander, head of the Necropolis and Artistic Heritage Section of the Vatican. 

It was the first time that the centuries-old wooden throne had been exhibited to the public since 1666 when it was first encased within Gian Lorenzo Bernini's monumental bronze sculpture under the stained-glass Dove of the Holy Spirit window at the basilica's apse.

Formally known as the Cathedra Sancti Petri Apostoli, or more simply as Cathedra Petri, the chair has held a revered place in Catholic tradition over the centuries, representing papal authority from St. Peter to the present.

"The chair is meant to be understood as the teacher's 'cathedra,'" art historian Elizabeth Lev told CNA. "It symbolizes the pope's duty to hand down the teaching of Christ from generation to generation."

"It's antiquity [ninth century] speaks to a papacy that has endured through the ages — from St. Peter who governed a church on the run trying to evangelize with the might of the Roman Empire trying to shut him down, to the establishment of the Catholic Church and its setting down of roots in the Eternal City, to our 266th successor of St. Peter, Pope Francis," she explained.

A storied history

The wooden chair itself is steeped in history. According to the Vatican, the wooden seat was likely given by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles the Bald to Pope John VIII in A.D. 875 for the emperor's Christmas coronation in the old St. Peter's Basilica. A depiction of the emperor appears on the crossbeam of the chair, and its ivory panels illustrate the labors of Hercules along with other scenes from Greek mythology.

The informational sign near the chair in St. Peter's Basilica informs visitors that "shortly after the year 1000, the Cathedra Petri began to be venerated as a relic of the seat used by the apostle Peter when he preached the Gospel first in Antioch and then in Rome."

The Fabric of St. Peter, the organization responsible for the basilica's upkeep, maintains that "it cannot be ruled out that this ninth-century imperial seat may have later incorporated the panel depicting the labors of Hercules, which perhaps originally belonged to an earlier and more ancient papal seat."

Before returning the chair to its place within Bernini's monumental reliquary, Vatican experts will conduct a series of diagnostic tests with the Vatican Museums' Cabinet of Scientific Research. The ancient seat was last removed and studied from 1969 to 1974 under Pope Paul VI but was not shown to the public.

The recent restoration of Bernini's works in the basilica, funded by the Knights of Columbus in preparation for the Catholic Church's 2025 Jubilee Year, made it possible for the chair to be moved from the bronze sculpture in August.

Pope Francis got a sneak peak of the relic in early October and a photo of the moment — showing him sitting in a wheelchair before the Chair of St. Peter — quickly went viral. Afterward, the pope requested that the relic be displayed for public veneration.

Francis ultimately decided that the Chair of St. Peter — a symbol of the Church's unity under the instruction of Christ — would be unveiled for the public at the closing Mass for the Synod on Synodality.

"Pope Francis has been exceptionally generous to the faithful about displaying relics," Lev said. "He brought out the bones of St. Peter shortly after his election, he had the Shroud of Turin on view in 2015, and now he has taken the Chair of Peter out for veneration in the basilica." 

"In our virtual age, where much confusion reigns between what is real and what is not, Pope Francis has encouraged us to come face to face with these ancient witnesses of our faith and our traditions."

Feast of the Chair of St. Peter

The Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, celebrated each year on Feb. 22, dates back to the fourth century. St. Jerome (A.D. 347–420) spoke of his respect for the "Chair of Peter," writing in a letter: "I follow no leader save Christ, so I enter into communion with … the Chair of Peter, for this I know is the rock upon which the Church is built."

As Pope Benedict XVI explained in a 2006 catechesis: "'Cathedra' literally means the established seat of the bishop, placed in the mother church of a diocese, which for this reason is known as a 'cathedral."

"It is the symbol of the bishop's authority and in particular, of his 'magisterium,' that is, the evangelical teaching which, as a successor of the apostles, he is called to safeguard and to transmit to the Christian community," he said.

When a bishop takes possession of the particular Church that has been entrusted to him, he sits on the cathedra, Benedict explained: "From this seat, as teacher and pastor, he will guide the journey of the faithful in faith, hope, and charity."

"The Church's first 'seat' was the upper room, and it is likely that a special place was reserved for Simon Peter in that room where Mary, mother of Jesus, also prayed with the disciples," he added.

Benedict XVI described Peter's ministry as a journey from Jerusalem to Antioch, where he served as bishop, and ultimately to Rome. He noted that the See of Rome, where Peter ultimately "ended his race at the service of the Gospel with martyrdom," became recognized as the seat of his successors, with the cathedra representing the mission entrusted to Peter by Christ.

"So it is that the See of Rome, which had received the greatest of honors, also has the honor that Christ entrusted to Peter of being at the service of all the particular Churches for the edification and unity of the entire people of God," he said.

Bernini's Baroque masterpiece

Bernini's monumental reliquary for the chair, commissioned by Pope Alexander VII and completed in 1666, is one of the most iconic artworks in St. Peter's Basilica. Bernini encased the wooden relic within a bronze-gilded throne, dramatically raised and crowned by a stained-glass depiction of the Holy Spirit, symbolized as a dove, surrounded by sculpted angels.

The bronze throne is supported by massive statues of four doctors of the Church — two from the West, St. Augustine and St. Ambrose, and two from the East, St. John Chrysostom and St. Athanasius — symbolizing the unity of the Church through the ages, bringing together the teachings of both the Latin and Greek Church Fathers. And at the top of the throne, cherubs hold up a papal tiara and keys symbolizing papal authority.

On the chair itself, there are three gold bas-reliefs representing the Gospel episodes of the consignment of the keys (Matthew 16:19), "feed my sheep" (John 21:17), and the washing of the feet (John 13:1-17).

The ongoing restoration of Bernini's monument at the Altar of the Chair, along with the recently finished restoration of the baldacchino, is significant not only in light of the 2025 Jubilee Year but also the upcoming 400th anniversary of the consecration of the current St. Peter's Basilica in 2026.

"Celebrating the 'Chair' of Peter," Benedict XVI said, "means attributing a strong spiritual significance to it and recognizing it as a privileged sign of the love of God, the eternal Good Shepherd, who wanted to gather his whole Church and lead her on the path of salvation."

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Lima Newsroom, Nov 9, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

"You have cancer." These brief but shocking words stir up many feelings in a patient and those around him or her, including the fear of death.

Fighting cancer is not easy and many don't know what to do in such a situation, beyond good intentions and some intuition.

Four experts on the subject have some practical tools to provide support to those suffering from this disease, which in 2022 claimed the lives of 1.4 million people out of a total of 4.2 million cases in the Americas alone, according to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

Empathy, a key to dealing with cancer

"The first thing to do for a person who has cancer is to have a lot of empathy, because this disease is not a simple thing," Yvo Luren Fernández Montoro told ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner. 

Fernández is a psycho-oncologist and psychotherapist with 23 years of experience, seven of which he has worked at the National Institute of Neoplastic Diseases, the most specialized health facility on the subject in Peru, which receives thousands of patients each year.

"Empathy involves recognizing and understanding that the person, before receiving the cancer diagnosis, is already feeling anxious, because the patient is facing something hard that no one wants to face," continued the specialist, who suffered the death of his father due to cancer in 2019.

Fernández noted that this is so because "cancer is closely associated with death."

"Although today the relationship is not so close," because there is a lot of scientific progress that allows for better treatment, he said, but "just hearing about the possibility that you're suffering from the disease already gets you thinking about death."

"We must remind those who are ill of two essential things: They have cancer, but they have life and, as long as there is life, there are things that can be done. And as long as there are things that can be done, there are options to give meaning to life and to have meaning in life," he said.

"A person must face cancer with their abilities, either emotionally or by seeking solutions based on opportunities. And this must be prioritized," Fernández said.

According to PAHO, the most frequently diagnosed types of cancer in men in the Americas are prostate (8.6%), lung (11.7%), colorectal (10.2%), and bladder (5.9%). In women, the most frequent types are breast (30.7%), lung (10.3%), colorectal (9.6%), and uterine corpus (6.4%).

With cancer, the whole family 'feels ill'

Father Mateo Bautista García, a Spanish Camillian priest who is also a nurse with a doctorate in the theology of health care ministry, explained that "like any illness, cancer raises many fears and questions, also on a spiritual level."

"First of all, cancer is synonymous with death for many people. For children and young people it's heartbreaking. With cancer, the whole family 'feels ill,'" he said.

For this reason, "every person affected by this disease must have a mentor, be accompanied on an ongoing basis by one or more qualified, close, and empathetic persons" from "the beginning to the end of the process, in all dimensions of the person: physical, emotional, mental, relational, value-based, and spiritual," explained the priest, who is also known for his more than 160 blood donations.

Family support is 'fundamental'

For Dr. Diego Díaz Bravo, a doctor in the gynecologic oncology department at Edgardo Rebagliati National Hospital, the largest in Peru, said "the presence of the family is fundamental at all times, even when the patient himself says he wants to handle or manage the situation alone."

The family, Díaz pointed out, not only accompanies but also helps to manage and process the information, as well as provides necessary psychological help, collaborating with the "spirit of overcoming the disease. The family normally expresses affection and interest in accompanying the cancer patient in such a difficult time like this."

'Giving thanks, asking forgiveness, saying I love you, and goodbye'

Ingrid Oullón Henao is a nurse specializing in palliative care and is the director of Acompañándote ("Accompanying You") in Medellín, Colombia, an initiative that has been offering therapeutic support to patients and their families for 10 years. 

Oullón explained to ACI Prensa that "family and friends are the main support network, vital for the process of people with terminal illness." This support circle helps the cancer patient "satisfy spiritual needs such as being recognized as a person, putting your life in order, having hope, expressing religious feelings, experiencing forgiveness, recognizing life in the hereafter, evaluating your life, and experiencing love."

Regarding the specific ways in which cancer patients can be supported, the specialist mentioned the following: "Being present and available; listening in a special, loving, patient, and attentive way, respecting silent moments; having compassion; referring to specialists in a timely manner; offering help with everyday tasks; allowing the person to cry and express his or her feelings," and, finally, "saying thank you, asking for forgiveness, saying I love you, and saying goodbye."

The place of God

Psychotherapist Fernández highlighted that "faith is a very important factor. Spirituality also enables seeking out solutions. Not all people have it, but many could seek a higher being or God."

The expert psychologist, who has been a member of the Brotherhood of the Lord of Miracles for more than 20 years, said that "with agnostics and atheists, we must respect their position, but when there is faith in God, that helps a lot because it provides comfort, hope, and motivation."

"The Lord of the Miracles" is an image of the crucified Christ especially venerated in Peru with an annual outdoor procession. 

Oullón emphasized that "for those of us who believe that we are beings created by God, eternal and immortal," it's also good to keep in mind that after death, if we have lived well, the Lord awaits "to continue with our process of spiritual transcendence," and "this belief fills us with hope!" 

In addition, and as a very important factor, the Catholic Church offers, among her seven sacraments, the anointing of the sick, which has the purpose of "conferring a special grace on the Christian who experiences the difficulties inherent to the condition of grave illness or old age," according to No. 1527 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

"Each time a Christian falls seriously ill, he may receive the anointing of the sick, and also when, after he has received it, the illness worsens," the catechism states in No. 1529, and in No. 1530 stipulates that "only a priest or bishop can administer this sacrament" since this entails the forgiveness of the sins of the sick person.

How to prevent cancer?

Díaz said that one should have an appointment for a cancer checkup at least once a year, especially after the age of 40, when men are more likely to suffer from prostate cancer and women from breast or ovarian cancer.

If a good follow-up has been carried out and the family history and that of other people who have suffered from the disease have been taken into account, then "a timely and early diagnosis will be possible, which translates into better survival rates," he explained.

Prostate and gastrointestinal screening in men, and mammograms and pap smears in women are recommended for this purpose, the oncologist noted.

"Finally, it's important for each family to plan on having an annual preventive checkup, since it will allow for timely diagnoses and less radical treatments," the expert concluded.

It's not easy to fight cancer, and it's not a task that anyone wants to deal with either, but these tools can help those who face this situation and encourage the sick, who are always in the heart of the Lord.

"To those of you who experience illness, whether temporary or chronic, I would say this: Do not be ashamed of your longing for closeness and tenderness! Do not conceal it, and never think that you are a burden on others. The condition of the sick urges all of us to step back from the hectic pace of our lives in order to rediscover ourselves," said Pope Francis in his message for the 2024 World Day of the Sick.

In summary, here are seven practical ways you can help a cancer patient:

1. Practice empathy. Recognize the patient's suffering and anxiety, understand his or her experience, and show compassion. Remind the patient that, although he has cancer, he also has life, and look for ways to give meaning to this stage.

2. Provide constant emotional support. Make sure the patient feels accompanied, from diagnosis to the end of the process. Involve the family, so that they are close and offer emotional and spiritual support.

3. Maintain a strong support system. Family and friends are essential for the emotional stability of the patient. They help process the situation and encourage the patient to keep up his spirits and hope.

4. Allow feelings to be expressed. Be present to listen without judging, be patient and allow the patient to express himself, even in moments of silence. Let the person feel free to cry and talk about his or her fears and feelings.

5. Express gratitude and reconciliation. Encourage the patient to say "thank you," "sorry," "I love you," and "goodbye" when there is a need, helping the person find inner peace.

6. Provide support based on spiritual beliefs. Faith and spirituality can be sources of comfort and hope. For patients who are believers, prayer, the anointing of the sick, and spiritual guidance can be a great support.

7. Provide support with practical tasks. Offer help with daily activities that may be difficult for the patient, such as paperwork, getting around, or even household chores.

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, Nov 8, 2024 / 17:40 pm (CNA).

After a group of Israeli soccer fans were beaten and taunted for being Jewish by groups of young men after a game in Amsterdam, an Austrian bishop condemned the violence, saying it evokes, referring to Kristallnacht, "the darkest and most shameful days of our own history."

Following a soccer match Thursday night between a Dutch and an Israeli team, at least 10 young men on scooters sought out Israeli fans, verbally and physically assaulting them with punches and kicks, and then quickly fled the scene.

"They shouted 'Jewish, Jewish, IDF, IDF,'" a 24-year-old victim told the BBC. The IDF, Israel Defense Forces, is the nation's military. Another victim said the assailants shouted "Palestine" while pummeling him.

Amsterdam's mayor, Femke Halsema, characterized the violence as an "eruption of antisemitism," while Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof called the attacks "unacceptable" and vowed to hold perpetrators accountable. 

Archbishop Franz Lackner of Salzburg, president of the Austrian bishops' conference, described the event in a Nov. 8 interview as a "deeply alarming sign." 

He noted that the incident in Amsterdam happened just days prior to the annual commemorations of Kristallnacht, the brutal pogroms that the Nazis perpetrated against Jews in Germany, the annexed country of Austria, and other Nazi-controlled areas. Throughout Nov. 9–10, 1938, the Nazis vandalized and destroyed hundreds of Jewish-owned businesses, synagogues, and homes.

Lackner called for prayers for peace in Israel and Palestine. He added that any ideology, including religious or political opinion, that permits or justifies violence against Jews has no place in society. 

"We must stand up against this," he said. 

Israeli President Isaac Herzog described the incident on social media as an "antisemitic pogrom." The Dutch king, Willem-Alexander, reportedly called Herzog to apologize for the incident. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government swiftly arranged special flights to evacuate Jewish people from Amsterdam on Friday and Saturday. 

St. Paul VI's 1965 encyclical Nostrae Aetate made clear the Church's condemnation of hatred and violence against Jews and Judaism, decrying all "hatred, persecutions, displays of antisemitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone" (Nostra Aetate, 4). 

The U.S.-based Anti-Defamation League has been tracking a sharp rise in the number of antisemitic attacks and incidents since Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. According to that group, antisemitic incidents surged by more than 350% in the first 100 days after the invasion. 

The majority of those incidents, according to the group's data, involved either "verbal or written harassment" or "rallies" involving antisemitic rhetoric and "expressions of support for terrorism against the state of Israel and/or anti-Zionism." Dozens of instances of assault and hundreds of reports of vandalism were also recorded.

For their part, the Catholic bishops of the United States have condemned in recent years what they call a "reemergence of antisemitism in new forms." In a statement released before the start of the current Israel-Hamas conflict, the bishops called on Christians to join them in opposing acts of antisemitism and reminding the faithful of Christianity's shared heritage with Judaism.

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Vatican City, Nov 8, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Microsoft President Brad Smith is set to unveil an artificial intelligence-enhanced project focusing on St. Peter's Basilica during a press conference at the Vatican on Nov. 11.

This initiative, titled "The Basilica of St. Peter's: AI-Enhanced Experience," is a collaboration between Microsoft and the Fabric of St. Peter, the organization responsible for the conservation and maintenance of St. Peter's Basilica.

Since Smith launched Microsoft's AI for Cultural Heritage program in 2019, the tech company has worked on a number of projects that provided digitally enriched ways to explore art, architecture, and historical sites through artificial intelligence.

Microsoft developed the Ancient Olympia project in Greece, which used AI to digitally reconstruct the birthplace of the Olympic Games, offering an immersive exploration of the ruins.

Similarly, Microsoft partnered with Iconem to create digital models of Mont-Saint-Michel in France using AI and 3D modeling to capture the intricate details of the 1,000-year-old Catholic pilgrimage site.

Other companies have also provided virtual reality experiences of historically significant churches in past years, including a 3D immersive exhibition of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre called the "Tomb of Christ" in the National Geographic Museum in Washington, D.C.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently spoke in Rome on Oct. 23 after the company announced a 4.3 billion euro (about $4.64 billion) investment in Italy over the next two years to expand its hyperscale cloud data center and artificial intelligence infrastructure, which will make the Italian cloud region one of Microsoft's largest data center regions in Europe and a strategic hub in the spread of AI innovation in the Mediterranean.

Microsoft also announced a collaboration with the municipality of Rome to develop "Julia," an AI-based virtual assistant that will help the over 35 million visitors expected in the Italian capital for the upcoming 2025 Jubilee Year.

Jubilee pilgrims will be able to ask Julia, a virtual city guide, questions via WhatsApp about cultural heritage sites as well as suggestions for accommodations and restaurants to taste typical Roman and Italian cuisine.

The Vatican and AI ethics

The St. Peter's Basilica project will not be the first time that the Vatican has partnered with Microsoft on matters of artificial intelligence.

Years before the widely popular release of the GPT-4 chatbot system, developed by the San Francisco startup OpenAI, the Vatican was already heavily involved in the conversation of artificial intelligence ethics, hosting multiple high-level discussions with scientists and tech executives on the ethics of artificial intelligence since 2016.

In February 2020, Smith took part in a Vatican event called "renAIssance: For a Humanistic Artificial Intelligence," where he signed the Vatican's artificial intelligence ethics pledge, the Rome Call for AI Ethics, along with IBM Executive Vice President John Kelly III.

Since then the pope has hosted other tech leaders, including Chief Executive of Cisco Systems Chuck Robbins, who also signed the Vatican's artificial intelligence ethics pledge, in April in Rome.

The Rome Call, a document by the Pontifical Academy for Life, underlines the need for the ethical use of AI according to the principles of transparency, inclusion, accountability, impartiality, reliability, security, and privacy.

Pope Francis chose artificial intelligence as the theme of his 2024 peace message, which recommended that global leaders adopt an international treaty to regulate the development and use of AI. Francis became the first pope to address the G7 summit in June when he was invited to speak to world leaders about AI ethics.

In July, Father Paolo Benanti, a member of the United Nations' advisory body on AI and adviser to Pope Francis on ethics and technology, visited the Microsoft headquarters in Washington to speak with Smith.

In an interview with GeekWire following the Vatican's AI conference in 2023, Smith reflected on how having religious leaders in the room at a technology conference "adds an extraordinary dimension to the conversation."

"You can ask whether this was having religious leaders in a technology meeting or technology leaders in religious conversation; both are true. … It forces one to think about and talk about the need to put humanity at the center of everything we do," Smith said.

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CNA Staff, Nov 8, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

A new film about U.S. military chaplains, a diverse group of dedicated people who carry no weapons into battle, will be released in select theaters on Nov. 8.  

"Fighting Spirit: A Combat Chaplain's Journey" tells the story of former Army chaplain Justin Roberts as he travels to the funeral of Catholic priest and chaplain Father Emil Kapaun. Along the way, Roberts, who is Protestant, is inspired by the lives of 419 other U.S. military chaplains who have given their lives in service. The documentary explores the stories of several of these chaplains, including the beloved Kapaun. 

Several chaplains from different denominations provide commentary in the film including Father Adam Muda, an Army chaplain currently serving with the 3-1 Assault Helicopter Battalion at Fort Riley, Kansas.

Four years into his first assignment as a priest in the Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey, Muda began to discern becoming a military chaplain. He began to pray about it and asked God for a sign. One day while exercising at the gym a man approached Muda and asked him if he was in the Army. 

"I said, 'No, I'm not, but I'm a Catholic priest and I'm thinking and praying about becoming an Army chaplain,'" Muda told CNA in an interview. "Then he said, 'Father, I am a soldier. I am on active duty in the Army and I know that we need more priests in the U.S. Army.'"

With that, Muda went to his bishop at the time and told him of his desire to become a military chaplain. Muda said he still remembers the bishop's words well: "Father Adam, if God is calling you for this ministry, you have my blessing."

"This is a calling, and I believe I received a special calling from God for that ministry," Muda shared. 

He then spent three months at Fort Jackson in South Carolina attending the Chaplain Basic Officer Leadership Course, which is a 12-week intensive program where the chaplains go through physical, mental, and spiritual training to prepare themselves for work as a chaplain.

The first stage of training includes the chaplains taking part in nearly the same basic training soldiers take part in. The second and third stage focuses on academics and chaplaincy-specific training.

The documentary emphasizes the fact that chaplains serve as the moral conscience of battle. Muda added to this point saying that one's "spirituality is extremely important."

"From a Catholic point of view, I have to be really good with my spirituality — frequent confessions, spiritual direction … but at the same time we have to be men of prayer," he said.

Muda also spoke about the heroic life of Kapaun, whom he called an "amazing person" and "really holy."

"As an Army chaplain, he was a man of selfless service. He put the needs of others before his own," he said.

Muda said he believes Kapaun will be declared a saint one day and will continue to "intercede for us, for military chaplains, for the Army, for soldiers, and for our country."

The Army chaplain hopes the new documentary will "inspire many more people to learn about the history of the Army and the brave men and women who served our country, who died for our country." 

"I hope that more people will learn about the brave chaplains we have had in our history, like Father Emil Kapaun and many others, and that people will continue to research them and these stories will inspire them," he added. 

"I believe that we chaplains, from all denominations — but especially Catholic priests — will learn from and be inspired by the life of Father Emil Kapaun and that we will all strive to be like him, serving those brave men and women in our military, in our Army, just like Father Kapaun did."

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CNA Staff, Nov 7, 2024 / 16:30 pm (CNA).

Here is a roundup of abortion policy-related news this week.

Americans reject Democrats' abortion agenda 

Pro-life advocates are calling attention to the significance of the defeat of a 2024 Democratic presidential candidacy that was largely centered on abortion.

"Americans have rejected the Democrats' no-limits abortion agenda," Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a post-election press release.

In the run-up to this year's election, Vice President Kamala Harris amplified claims that women are dying from Republican abortion laws, though no state prohibits life-saving care for a pregnant woman. Harris vowed to restore Roe v. Wade-era standards and firmly rejected religious exemptions in federal abortion laws.

Harris' running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, is known for the late-term abortion law he signed in Minnesota that has no limits on abortion at any stage of pregnancy. Dannenfelser noted that for her organization, its "paramount goal" in this election was "to deny Democrats the chance to pass a national all-trimester abortion mandate and wipe out protections for babies and women in all 50 states."

Meanwhile, during the campaign now-President-elect Donald Trump repeatedly pledged not to institute a national ban on abortion. He also emerged as an outspoken advocate of in vitro fertilization (IVF), a process designed to help infertile couples have children but creates many embryos that are discarded during the process.

During the two candidates' sole presidential debate, Trump said abortion laws should be left up to the states. He also pledged to consider reimplementing a ban on taxpayer funding for abortion overseas and providing religious exemptions related to any government program requiring health insurance coverage of IVF treatments.

Live Action attributes pro-life success to 'effective education' 

Pro-life forces prevailed in Florida and Nebraska in this week's election despite being heavily outspent by their pro-abortion opponents in both states. In Florida, supporters of an abortion amendment had a campaign war chest of more than $118 million. In contrast, the principal pro-life campaign committees that organized in opposition to the amendment had only $12 million in funding. 

Nebraska was the only state to have two competing abortion ballot measures. According to Ballotpedia, the organizing campaign in support of the pro-abortion amendment had $13 million total in funding, while campaigners for the pro-life measure received $11 million in contributions. 

Lila Rose, founder and president of Live Action, cited "resources" to provide "effective education" as reasons for the success of pro-life causes in Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota. 

"Life wins when there are enough resources to ensure voters know the truth and when we have political leadership that boldly leads," Rose said Wednesday.

Exit polls: Abortion was not a top issue in this election  

Exit polls revealed that abortion was less of a priority than other issues for voters in this week's election. Vice President Kamala Harris ran heavily on the abortion issue and lost her bid for the presidency.

Among five issues (foreign policy, abortion, the economy, immigration, and the state of democracy), exit polls by NBC News indicated that only 14% chose abortion as the most important issue to them in voting for the president.

Of that 14%, 74% were Democrats while 25% were Republicans. Top issues were the economy (32%), mostly for Republicans, and the state of democracy (34%), mostly for Democrats.

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St. Louis, Mo., Nov 7, 2024 / 17:30 pm (CNA).

Just days after implementing a formal ban on a dozen "doctrinally problematic" hymns, a Missouri bishop has rescinded his original decree, instead opening a yearlong consultation process to determine how sacred music can best be used to encourage active participation in the liturgy.

In his original decree, dated Oct. 24, Bishop W. Shawn McKnight of the Diocese of Jefferson City listed a dozen commonly used contemporary hymns that were to be "absolutely forbidden" in the diocese after Nov. 1.

The list included such songs as "All Are Welcome" by Marty Haugen, "God Has Chosen Me" by Bernadette Farrell, "Led By the Spirit" by Bob Hurd, and "Table of Plenty" by Dan Schutte.

Acknowledging the "spirited discussion" that took place over his decree on social media and in various media outlets, McKnight wrote in a subsequent Nov. 5 decree that "it is now clear that an authentically synodal process of greater consultation did not occur prior to its promulgation." 

Pointing to Pope Francis' emphasis on "synodality" — the pontiff's call for the whole Church, including laypeople, to collaboratively seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit through prayer, listening, dialogue, and openness — McKnight wrote that he has ordered a "more comprehensive consultation with the relevant parties within the diocese" related to sacred music.

The original decree was the result of a yearslong research effort led by Father Daniel Merz, a diocesan pastor and chairman of the diocesan liturgical commission, which included consultations with priests ministering in the diocese. 

While stating that it is "important to recognize that some hymns in current distribution may not be appropriate for use in Catholic liturgies," the new decree does not include the specific names of any of the previously banned hymns. 

It instead lays out six criteria from the U.S. bishops' Committee on Doctrine that pastors and liturgical ministers should consider when determining whether a song is suitable for the liturgy. 

In particular, "it is vital that we ensure the greatest care be taken to prevent scandal from marring the beautiful celebration of the Eucharist," McKnight noted.

The new decree does retain a diocesan ban on the use of any music composed by persons who "have been found by his or her diocesan bishop or competent authority to be credibly accused of sexual abuse," specifically mentioning David Haas, Cesaréo Gabarain, and Ed Conlin.

The new decree, echoing the previous one, also lays out four Mass settings approved for use in the diocese — three in English and one bilingual with Spanish — and with which every parish should "become familiar" for the sake of unity, though parishes are not explicitly obliged to use them.

They include the "Chant Mass," the "Mass of St. Frances Cabrini" by Kevin Keil, the "Revised Mass of Creation" by Marty Haugen, and for Spanish-speaking congregations, the bilingual "Misa del Pueblo Inmigrante" ("Mass of the Immigrant People") by Bob Hurd.

'Moving forward with an open mind and an open heart'

According to a draft story for the Catholic Missourian, shared with CNA by the diocese before publication, McKnight has now tasked the diocesan liturgical commission with gathering feedback from musicians, music ministers, and "everyone else who has a perspective on the music used in liturgies across the diocese" by August 2025.

The liturgical commission will gather feedback and present a report to the diocesan pastoral council and presbyteral council that will offer advice to McKnight, who will then make decisions about liturgical music policies for the diocese.

The process will also involve the leaders of the diocesan chapter of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians, a membership organization for Catholic music ministers. 

"It is inspiring to see such passion and enthusiasm about the music that enlivens our Catholic liturgies. Whenever we see this kind of fervor among the faithful, our Church gives us the perfect way to respond — a synodal response," McKnight said as reported by the Missourian. 

"Rather than the faithful being relegated to the outside as commenters on a decision, with their only response being either obedience or disobedience, it is better to invite everyone in our diocese into a discernment process. The Holy Spirit is working through each one of us. When the people of God speak, we have a responsibility to open ourselves to listen, even when that means changing course and trying a different approach."

Both of McKnight's decrees rely on a set of 2020 guidelines from the U.S. bishops, "Catholic Hymnody at the Service of the Church," which lays out the aforementioned criteria for evaluating whether hymns sung at Mass are accurately conveying the truths that Catholics believe. 

Emphasizing the formative power of music and its influence on Catholics' understanding and practice of the faith, that document warns that hymns with inaccurate or incomplete theology can lead to a distorted understanding of key doctrines, particularly the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

The bishops' six criteria, which are categories of potential deficiencies with hymns, include: presentation of Eucharistic doctrine; presentation of Trinitarian doctrine; presentation of the doctrine of God and his relation to humans; presentation of a view of the Church that sees her as essentially a human construction; presentation of doctrinally incorrect views of the Jewish people; and presentation of an incorrect Christian anthropology.

"I am excited about moving forward with an open mind and an open heart," McKnight said, speaking to the Missourian. 

"Music is such an important part of who we are as Catholics … I am eager to hear from everyone, in a synodal process of deep listening, as we embark on this process together."

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