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CNA Staff, Nov 1, 2024 / 14:55 pm (CNA).

Nebraska's Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has released an advisory clarifying that the state's preborn protection law does not prohibit miscarriage care or lifesaving care amid a pro-abortion advertisement campaign that told the public otherwise.

"The Department of Health and Human Services has received several inquiries, from physicians and health care providers, expressing concern regarding recent radio and television ads that included incorrect and misleading information regarding the Preborn Child Protection Act," the Oct. 28 advisory reads.

The health advisory came amid an advertising campaign by advocates of Nebraska's Right to Abortion Initiative 439, which advocates for a right to abortion up to fetal viability in the state constitution. The campaign featured multiple ads that stated that women couldn't receive miscarriage care and necessary health care because of Nebraska's current law.

"Any time misleading information causes confusion among health care professionals, it could cause harm to the health and well-being of their patients," stated the advisory by Dr. Timothy Tesmer, the chief medical officer of the DHHS in Nebraska.

In the health advisory, Tesmer didn't name which ads the department was responding to, but he clarified that the current law, which protects unborn children after 12 weeks' gestational age from abortion, provides exceptions for medical emergencies and for cases of rape or incest.

But an advertisement campaign by pro-abortion group Protect Our Rights: Nebraska for 439 told the public otherwise. In one advertisement, advocates said that in Nebraska, there is "an abortion ban that threatens women's lives" and that "doctors can't help them even if the pregnancy won't survive. It puts their lives in danger." Other advertisements by the same group state that doctors "can't properly care for patients" and claim that women get sent home "because of the confusing abortion ban" when they have miscarriages.

Allie Berry, the campaign manager for Protect Our Rights, told NBC News that she believed the advisory referred to her group's ads but said the advisory was designed to "confuse voters."

The advisory noted that a medical emergency is legally defined as either a threat to the pregnant woman's life or a "serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function."

"The act does not require a medical emergency to be immediate," Tesmer noted in the advisory. "Physicians understand that it is difficult to predict with certainty whether a situation will cause a patient to become seriously ill or die, but physicians do know what situations could lead to serious outcomes."

Nebraska also has a competing pro-life amendment, Initiative 434, which would prohibit abortions after the first trimester, with exceptions for medical emergencies and cases of rape or incest. Another advertisement by Protect Our Rights claimed that Initiative 434 would make Nebraska's current law permanent and "opens the door" to banning miscarriage care and IVF. 

The health advisory clarified that a variety of medical treatments are not prohibited by the Preborn Child Protection Act, including the removal of a child's remains after pregnancy loss and the termination of a preborn child produced by in vitro fertilization (IVF) but not implanted in the mother's womb. The advisory noted that any act intended to save the child's life, as well as treatment for ectopic pregnancies, is not prohibited under the current law. 

"Physicians should exercise their best clinical judgment, and the law allows intervention consistent with prevailing standards of care," the advisory continued. "The law is deferential to a physician's judgment in these circumstances."

Political context

With two contradicting abortion-related measures on the 2024 ballot, Nebraskans will decide Nov. 5 on protection for unborn children in the nation's only competing abortion ballots. 

Marion Miner, the associate director of Pro-life and Family Policy for the Nebraska Catholic Conference, told CNA that "these lies … are abortion activists' attempt to terrify voters into approving a radical pro-abortion constitutional amendment they would never otherwise support."

"Abortion activists are putting women's lives at risk in a gambit to advance a pro-abortion political agenda," Miner added. "There are real potential human costs, including lost lives."

She noted that "misinformation by abortion activists …is putting women's lives at risk."

"These lies have become so rampant in the weeks leading up to this election that public health officials felt the need to correct the record to prevent this misinformation from provoking a public health crisis," Miner said.

Kelsey Pritchard, director of state public affairs for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, pointed out that this pro-abortion rhetoric is not isolated to Nebraska.

"This falsity that has been parroted by [Vice President] Kamala Harris and unchecked by most of the media leads women to delay seeking care and gives doctors pause when they need to act immediately," Pritchard said in a statement shared with CNA.

"Every state with a pro-life law, including Nebraska, protects women who experience a miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, or any other medical emergency in pregnancy," Pritchard emphasized. "This care continues to be available under 'life of the mother' exceptions, which allow physicians to rely upon their reasonable medical judgment."

Recently, Harris amplified claims by several news outlets that two women died as the result of Georgia's pro-life laws. But doctors say one woman, Amber Thurman, died because of the abortion pill and medical malpractice, while the other woman, Candi Miller, died of side effects from the abortion pill after she didn't seek medical help.

"Women who need medical care should not be made to believe, because of ads they have seen on TV or in political mailers, that they have no option but to stay home instead of seeking treatment," Miner said.

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CNA Staff, Nov 1, 2024 / 09:45 am (CNA).

The Vatican has clarified that Catholics in the United States must still attend Mass on holy days of obligation even when they are transferred to Mondays or Saturdays, correcting a long-standing practice in the U.S. Church.

In its complementary norms, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) stipulates that when certain feast days fall on a Saturday or Monday, the obligation to attend Mass on that day is "abrogated."

Dec. 8 is typically a holy day of obligation celebrating the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, but this year the feast day lands on a Sunday in Advent. As a result, the USCCB transferred it to Monday, Dec. 9, according to the 2024 USCCB liturgical calendar. 

In its complementary norms the USCCB does not list the Immaculate Conception as a solemnity to which the abrogation normally applies. Nevertheless, the bishops' calendar this year stated that "the obligation to attend Mass … does not transfer" to Monday, Dec. 9.

Yet the Vatican's Dicastery for Legislative Texts, in a Sept. 4 letter to Springfield, Illinois, Bishop Thomas Paprocki, stated that all of the feasts in question "are always days of obligation … even when the aforementioned transfer of the feast occurs." 

Paprocki, the chairman of the USCCB's Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance, had in July written to the Holy See seeking clarification on whether an obligation transfers when the feast itself is transferred.

Archbishop Filippo Iannone, the prefect of the legislative text dicastery, told Paprocki that "the feast must be observed as a day of obligation on the day to which it is transferred." 

Iannone noted in the letter that certain feast days are established by canon law as days of obligation. These "must be observed" and "the canon does not provide exceptions," he noted in the letter.

Iannone clarified that if someone is unable to attend Mass for a "grave cause" such as illness or caring for an infant, then they are excused, as "no one is bound to the impossible." 

Several U.S. dioceses are already stipulating that Mass attendance is obligatory on that day. The Archdiocese of Boston lists the day as obligatory on its website. The Archdiocese of Cincinnati website cited the Vatican's clarification in making the announcement.

The Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio, also cited the Vatican's clarification that the obligation transfers with the feast day. 

Multiple other archdioceses confirmed to CNA that the day would be treated as obligatory, including Portland, Oregon; Las Vegas; Miami; Atlanta; St. Louis; Denver; Oklahoma City; and Seattle.

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, meanwhile, granted a dispensation for the feast day given the "short notice" of the change. 

DiNardo noted that "many parishes and families already have in place the schedules for Advent and Christmas, and that this will cause confusion due to the short notice of this change."

He urged the faithful, however, to "make a special effort to attend Mass on Dec. 9 even though there is no obligation to do so this year."

The Diocese of Tulsa in Oklahoma also granted a dispensation, a spokesman told CNA. 

The USCCB 2024 liturgical calendar had not been updated with the change at the time of publication. The USCCB did not respond to queries on the matter.

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CNA Staff, Nov 1, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Nov. 1 marks the 160th anniversary of Maryland Emancipation Day, remembering the day the Maryland Constitution of 1864 went into effect and officially abolished slavery in the state.

"This day, when all those still held in bondage were finally set free, is a profound reminder of the dignity of every human person, a dignity that the Catholic Church upholds as sacred and inviolable," the Catholic bishops of Maryland; Washington, D.C.; and Delaware wrote in a joint statement.

The message was signed by Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore; Auxiliary Bishop Roy Campbell of Washington, D.C.; Auxiliary Bishop Evelio Menjivar of Washington, D.C.; Cardinal Wilton Gregory, archbishop of Washington, D.C.; Auxiliary Bishop Juan Esposito of Washington, D.C.; Auxiliary Bishop Adam Parker of Baltimore; Bishop William Koenig of Wilmington, Delaware; and Auxiliary Bishop Bruce Lewandowski, CSsR, of Baltimore.

The bishops remind the faithful in their message that "at the heart of our Catholic faith is the belief that each person is made in the image and likeness of God. Slavery, in any form, is an affront to this divine image, reducing human beings to mere property and denying them their God-given freedom."

The 1864 decision made Maryland one of the earliest states to abolish slavery. This monumental decision came one year ahead of the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States and its territories.

Despite this victory, the bishops pointed out that "the work of justice is never complete."

"The end of slavery was a monumental victory, but it also reminds us that freedom must be protected, matured, and expanded to ensure justice for all."

The bishops also highlighted the fact that not only did the abolition of slavery restore the dignity of individuals but also "the sanctity of family life, which had been shattered by the horrors of slavery."

"Families that had been torn apart, sold, and scattered could now hope to rebuild and thrive, standing as a testament to the power of human resilience and the grace of God," they added.

Recognizing that the effects of slavery and racism continue to affect society today, the bishops reminded the faithful that "as Catholics, we are called to be active participants in the promotion of justice, standing against all forms of oppression and advocating for the rights and dignity of all. This day reminds us that freedom is a gift from God that must be extended to everyone without exception."

They continued: "This day is not only a time to look back with gratitude for the progress made, but also a time to look forward, recommitting ourselves to the work of healing, reconciliation, and justice."

The bishops concluded their message stating: "We stand in solidarity with all who are oppressed, working for a world where the dignity of every human life is recognized and upheld. Let this anniversary inspire us to be instruments of God's peace, justice, and love, as we continue to journey towards true freedom for all."

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 31, 2024 / 17:45 pm (CNA).

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman threw his support behind a Park Hills Catholic church that is embroiled in a legal battle over the proposed construction of a shrine within its property.

"It's not up to the courts to decide how we exercise our religion in this country," Coleman said in a statement.

"For centuries, Americans have bravely fought and died for the right to practice their faith without substantial burden from the government," the attorney general added. "We proudly continue that fight today. Our office stands with the men and women of faith who simply want to exercise their rights."

Coleman signed an amicus brief, also known as a "friend of the court" brief, in defense of the Missionaries of St. John the Baptist, which operates the Our Lady of Lourdes Chapel in the northern Kentucky city just south of Cincinnati.

The religious association seeks to construct a grotto shrine that pays homage to a series of famous Marian apparitions in Lourdes, France, in 1858. The proposed shrine would include a statue of Mary inside a grotto, a statue of St. Bernadette — who testified to seeing the 19th-century apparition — a patio, and a walkway.

The Missionaries of St. John the Baptist in 2021 applied to the Park Hills city board for a variance from a zoning ordinance that would prevent the construction of the shrine — one that the board granted in spite of objections from some neighbors. Those neighbors then filed a lawsuit to prevent the chapel from constructing the shrine.

Some neighbors objected to the construction of the shrine based on concerns about traffic and parking if the shrine were to become a popular pilgrimage site. Their lawsuit argued that the city board did not have the authority to grant the variance for the construction of the site. Although a lower court ruled in favor of the city and the chapel, an appellate court overruled that judgment and sided with the neighbors.

The case is now before the Kentucky Supreme Court, which will determine whether the Missionaries of St. John the Baptist can begin construction of the proposed shrine.

CNA reached out to the chapel for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

In a question and answer published by the Missionaries of St. John the Baptist, the religious association addressed some of those concerns, stating that there would not be special grotto events that would generate traffic and that the shrine would "simply [be] a [complement] to the church as a place to pray and reflect."

"We are not expecting any additional traffic other than what is normal for daily Mass," the document added. "... All across our country, the grottos remain quiet and reflective places … not tourist attractions."

The amicus brief filed by the attorney general's office argues that the city was correct to allow the construction of the shrine based on the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. Under the law, zoning laws cannot substantially burden a church's exercise of religion.

"St. John wants to build a shrine next to its existing historic church building, which it has occupied for years," Coleman wrote in the amicus brief. "St. John has or likely has no feasible alternative locations given the specific purpose of its religious exercise: to let its congregants use the shrine before and after Mass."

The amicus brief cites various case law to argue that preventing the construction of the shrine would be a substantial burden on the chapel. It also argues that, under judicial precedent, the court should not make its determination based on whether its members feel the shrine is an important part of the association's religious worship or whether they could simply practice their faith in other ways. 

"Such judgments are off limits for courts — and rightly so," Coleman added. "We do not want courts trying to make such judgment calls about matters of people's faith."

The Notre Dame Law School's Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic also filed an amicus brief in support of the chapel's grotto construction proposal, arguing that denying the plan is a substantial burden on religious exercise. 

"[The law's] sweeping protection includes all forms of sincere religious exercise, whether central to that religion or not," Meredith Kessler, a staff attorney for the Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic, said in a statement. 

"Whether the Catholic faith mandates that St. John construct a grotto on its property to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary is irrelevant," Kessler added. "The Kentucky Supreme Court should reject the lower court's effort to limit the statute's scope based on its own view of what exactly the Catholic faith requires."

The Kentucky Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case but has not yet scheduled oral arguments.

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Boston, Mass., Oct 31, 2024 / 19:00 pm (CNA).

Newly installed Boston Archbishop Richard Henning challenged people of the archdiocese Thursday to commit to a relationship with God even when it hurts, saying that's what God does for them.

"He gives us the precious gift, the gift of his own heart: his Son," Henning said Oct. 31 during a packed two-hour-plus installation Mass at Boston's Cathedral of the Holy Cross.

Henning, 60, originally from Long Island, New York, and most recently bishop of Providence, Rhode Island, replaced Cardinal Seán O'Malley, who had led the Archdiocese of Boston since 2003.

As the 10th bishop and sixth archbishop of Boston, he is the first head of the diocese to come from New York, which he noted often leads to a question.

Ever since he was announced as Boston's next archbishop in August, Henning said, "people have been asking me about me — all kinds of questions, about my opinions, my personality traits, and history. The most common question I've received in the last few months boils down to something like this: 'Have you ever been, and are you now, or will you ever be, a Red Sox fan?'"

The congregants laughed. Then Henning added: "Now, while that may be a very important question here in Boston, along with all those other ones, it seems to me that the most important thing that you, the people of this archdiocese, need to know about me is that I believe."

Earlier, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States, presented Henning with his letter of appointment from Pope Francis, and, following tradition, Henning walked around the cathedral displaying it to the congregants.

After that, O'Malley and Pierre escorted Henning to the bishop's chair to the left of the altar, which he sat in, thus taking formal possession of the archdiocese, which is one of four created in 1808.

O'Malley, who widely steadied the archdiocese after the disastrous departure of Cardinal Bernard Law, received a standing ovation at the beginning of the Mass after being praised by Pierre. He got another one near the end of Mass, when Henning told O'Malley he detected "mixed feelings" among Catholics in Boston at the changing of the guard "because of the magnitude of your ministry."

New spiritual father

The procession of several hundred priests into the cathedral was more joyful than solemn. Outside, to the right of the main entrance, musicians from the Neocatechumenal Way sang rousing songs of praise, backed by eight guitars, a ukulele, two bongos, and a shofar, the ram's horn used in Jewish religious ceremonies. As priests neared the music, many smiled and some sang along as they made their way up the steps into the building.

Sean Gibney, 47, of Burlington, Massachusetts, who coordinated the group, acknowledged that it's an unusual way to welcome a new archbishop.

"Now it is. But it wasn't always. It was always the people who welcomed their shepherd," Gibney told CNA, noting that in the early Church people chose bishops by acclamation.

"So we find it a totally normal thing. He's a shepherd, because we're sheep," Gibney said, referring to Henning. "We feel in a way that the faith demands that we have to go and welcome. He's sent in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ."

David Enrique, 24, of East Boston, who sang and played guitar, was asked what the installation of Henning means to him and why he came.

"For me, we have a new father," Enrique said. "Cardinal Seán has been our father for the last 21 years, and I came to welcome my new father — my new spiritual father and our shepherd."

God is love

Acknowledging the presence of many cultures within the archdiocese, the first reading was in Spanish, with the second reading in Haitian Creole. Prayers of the Faithful were in English, Spanish, Haitian Creole, and Vietnamese.

About half the cathedral was occupied by priests in white vestments, a turnout that Henning said "overwhelmed" him. Some, he noted, were from his home diocese of Rockville Centre on Long Island, with many from the Archdiocese of Boston.

After the chanting of the Gospel reading from John 17, Henning spoke for 21 minutes, with no notes.

He challenged listeners to develop a "deeply personal" relationship with God, a relationship, he noted, that comes with demands on both sides.

"God is love, and God summons us to love. And not in a '70s love song kind of love," Henning said. "This is a love that sweats and bleeds and dies."

Using Pope Francis' image of the Catholic Church as a "field hospital," Henning expanded on the visual, saying: "But there's only one doctor in the field hospital, and that is Jesus Christ. The rest of us are patients in need of healing."

Right ordering is necessary for a fruitful relationship with God, he said.

"Whenever human beings think they are gods, everyone else has to be slaves," Henning said. "This God makes us free."

He quoted Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German Lutheran pastor and anti-Nazi dissident, about what Bonhoeffer called "the cost of discipleship."

"Faith is not just a list of beliefs. It's not just a feeling. It's a whole life," Henning said.

When O'Malley took over the archdiocese in 2003, the see was vacant, because Law had resigned in disgrace in December 2002, 11 months after the archdiocese's priest sex abuse scandal exploded.

About a dozen protesters held signs outside the cathedral before Thursday's Mass, criticizing both archbishops and the Church over priest sex abuse.

Henning acknowledged continuing pain.

"This Church of Boston, it is in a very real sense a wounded Church, because of a failure to act compassionately — the sins against the innocent," Henning said.

He noted that the Church has made efforts "to protect the vulnerable" in recent decades.

"But still we feel the weight of those wounds," Henning said. "And we owe a debt of gratitude to victim-survivors who tell their stories, for they help to protect new generations by their courage."

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Vatican City, Oct 31, 2024 / 10:55 am (CNA).

Pope Francis encouraged members of Italy's Educational Commitment Movement of Catholic Action (MIEAC) on Thursday to not be afraid to propose high Christian ideals to young people in a secularized society.

"Christian education crosses unexplored terrain, marked by anthropological and cultural changes, on which we are still seeking answers in the light of the Word of God," the Holy Father said to participants of MIEAC's national congress at a private audience held in the Vatican.

MIEAC is an educational project connected to Italy's Catholic Action that was established in 1990 with the aim of fostering the integral development of young people in all its dimensions: existential, spiritual, affective, cultural, social, and political.

During the Thursday audience, the pope praised MIEAC members for their dedication amid the "labyrinths of complexities" affecting human relationships in today's society and encouraged them to "carry forward an idea and a practice of education that effectively puts the person at the center."

"The educational service that defines your movement brings with it, today perhaps even more than in the past, the challenge of operating on a human and Christian level," he said. "This is precisely the right perspective in which to continue the journey of your movement. Go forward!"

Looking to the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope, the Holy Father said it is necessary for teachers to sow hope in the world by paying "special attention to children, adolescents, [and] young people."

"We must look at them with trust, with empathy, I would like to say with the gaze and heart of Jesus. They are the present and the future of the world and of the Church," he shared.

"Ours is the task — entirely educational — to accompany them, support them, encourage them and, with testimony, to show them the good path that leads to being 'fratelli tutti' [all brothers]."

The Holy Father also insisted that the education of children is a task and process that needs the initiative and support of different people from church-related and secular institutions.

"It is important not to remain alone but to build and strengthen fruitful relationships with the various subjects of the educational process: families, teachers, social workers, managers and sports trainers, catechists, priests, religious men and women, without neglecting collaboration with public institutions," the pope said.

The pope's last message to MIEAC members was to "educators with a big heart" to follow the example of their founder, Venerable Giuseppe Lazzati, "a credible teacher and witness, a model of a Christian educator" who was foremost moved by love of God and others.

"Through educational processes we express our love for others, for those who are close to us or entrusted to us; and, at the same time, it is essential that education be founded, in its method and its aims, on love. Always educate with love!"

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Madrid, Spain, Oct 30, 2024 / 16:15 pm (CNA).

Torrential rains have inundated southern and eastern Spain, leaving at least 66 people dead. In response, the Catholic Church has expressed its pain and condolences over the tragedy and Caritas has launched a special campaign.

The flash flooding is considered the third largest natural disaster in Spain's contemporary history, which has primarily hit the territories of the Archdiocese of Valencia and the Dioceses of Cuenca and Albacete.

Only the 1996 flood in the town of Biescas in the Pyrenees, with 89 deaths, and the 1957 flooding of the Turia River, in which between an estimated 80 and 100 lives were lost, exceed the death toll confirmed to date.

The archbishop of Valencia, Enrique Benavent, celebrated a Eucharist on Wednesday morning in the Basilica of the Our Lady of the Abandoned, the city's patroness. During the homily, the prelate pointed out that "those most affected are those we must keep closest to our hearts, just as those who suffer the most are those who are closest to a mother's heart."

Benavent also asked "everyone to pray before the Blessed Virgin Mary, first of all, for those who have lost their lives in this great tragedy" and asked that their families and all those who have been affected be remembered.

Hundreds of people were forced to sleep outdoors after being caught in the great torrents of water while traveling in their private vehicles yesterday afternoon. The homes of many others were flooded and their vehicles swept away in the midst of a powerful storm that at times was like a hurricane.

The Archdiocese of Valencia, which had made its facilities and resources available to citizens on Tuesday afternoon, found it was unable to meet all the needs it wanted to.

"The parishes have also been affected, but to the extent of our possibilities we must keep in mind all those who suffer, that they feel in us a helping hand, a brotherly hand, who knows how to feel compassion for them and who knows how to be attentive to their needs," Benavent explained.

Regarding those who have temporarily been left without a roof over their heads, the archbishop expressed his hope that "they may find in the Church, in Christians, a helping hand from brothers and a helping hand from friends. In this way we will also show that we are children of the Virgin of the Abandoned."

Caritas Spain mobilizes emergency campaign

Area diocesan Caritas have contacted the Archdiocese of Valencia to offer their services, as confirmed to ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, by Marisa Villaroig, head of Caritas in the Diocese of Segorbe-Castellón.

"We have put ourselves at their disposal. We are waiting for the damage to be assessed" to determine the specific needs, she indicated.

"We are a little heavy hearted," confessed Villaroig, who said she is personally going to take in some people from Valencia in her home.

Caritas Spain has announced the launch of a campaign to respond to the emergency situation in which the Valencia and Albacete branches, present in the hardest-hit areas, have a special role, despite the fact that they have also been affected.

Condolences and support from different dioceses

Since early in the morning, cardinals, archbishops, bishops, and dioceses have publicly expressed their sorrow for the lost lives, their dismay over the material disasters and their readiness to work on material and spiritual recovery.

The archbishop of Valladolid and president of the Spanish Bishops' Conference, Luis Argüello, expressed on X his concern and invoked the Virgin of the Abandoned to "comfort and support everyone" and promised help from the conference.

Both Argüello and the conference's secretary general, Bishop Francisco César García Magán, have written letters to the archbishop of Valencia and the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Albacete, Monsignor Julián Ros, to express "their pain and closeness."

The archbishop of Barcelona, ??Cardinal Juan José Omella, said he was "shocked by the tragic images coming to us from Valencia and Albacete" and pledged his prayers "for the victims, their families, and all those affected."

"Experiences like this remind us of the fragility of our human condition and open us to the hope of eternal life in heaven," the cardinal said.

The archbishop of Granada, José María Gil Tamayo, also expressed his condolences, as did the archbishop of Seville, José Ángel Saiz Meneses.

The bishop of León, Luis Ángel de las Heras, and the bishop of Getafe, Ginés García, among others, also expressed their condolences.

On an institutional level, the Dioceses of Vitoria, Ávila and Mondoñedo-Ferrol, as well as the Archdiocese of Madrid, have also expressed their grief.

The Spanish government has declared three days of official mourning for the tragedy.

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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Madrid, Spain, Oct 30, 2024 / 16:45 pm (CNA).

Father Javier Ortega, a priest of the Diocese of Alcalá de Henares in Spain, said that costumes of demons, witches, and the dead that are usually worn for Halloween are not recommended because "you are in some way tempting the devil."

In a recent interview published by the diocese on its website, Ortega asked parents to not allow their children to participate in these celebrations and, if they do, "to dress up as saints or in costumes of beautiful and lovely things."

Don't let them "dress up as demons, dress up as witches, or dress up as dead people," he said, "because in some way you are opening doors, you are in some way tempting the devil… In other words, it's not something neutral."

The priest also pointed out that behind the pagan festival of Halloween "there is the influence of evil." In fact, he said that this is "the biggest day" for satanists. It's a celebration that "has nothing to do, of course, with what the Christian faith is" and in which, he lamented, "we are being a bit complicit."

"When you play with fire you can get burned, that's clear; it's not that you always get burned, but you can get burned. When you play with spirits, with elements of esotericism or occultism you are opening doors to the evil one," he warned.

The priest also warned that the evil one "also makes use of ignorance and naïveté" and, although children are often unaware of this background, "in some way they are participating in a festival that has nothing good to do with it."

"If you drink poison, even if you don't know it, you are poisoning yourself," he added.

Ortega also pointed out the danger behind esoteric or other types of practices such as Ouija, Reiki, New Age, or "yoga at certain levels" because, he added, "deep down you are invoking the evil one, you are pressing your luck."

Cultivate beauty to combat Halloween

The priest reminded that "beauty will save the world" and that it's very important to educate children in beauty: "We must care for children's imagination, so that they have beautiful and lovely things in their imagination."

He thus recommended that there shouldn't be "ugly pictures" in the children's rooms but images of the Virgin, the guardian angel, and "that children be blessed every night, that they hear words of blessing, words from heaven, words of hope."

"We live in a world that is very harmful to children, where there are ugly things and things that truly attack purity of heart, the innocence of children… So we must fight against this with all our might," 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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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 30, 2024 / 09:40 am (CNA).

Former president Donald Trump expressed his admiration for Puerto Rico and urged Puerto Ricans and other Latino Americans to support his candidacy at a campaign rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania, after facing backlash for jokes made by a comedian at a previous rally.

"I will deliver the best future for Puerto Ricans and for Hispanic Americans," Trump said at the Tuesday night rally. "[Vice President] Kamala [Harris] will deliver you poverty and crime."

"I'm so proud that we're getting support from Latinos like never before," he said. "We're setting every record [with] Hispanics, Latinos. Nobody loves our Latino community and our Puerto Rican community more than I do."

At the rally, Trump also received an endorsement from Republican Puerto Rico Shadow Sen. Zoraida Buxó — whom Trump called "terrific" and "a wonderful woman."

"We Hispanics are part of the soul of this country," Buxó said. "We have made a difference, and we will again make a difference in this coming election to bring about much-needed change."

Buxó warned that "it is easy to get distracted or misled by propaganda, emotional manipulation, and distortion of the truth and facts" but urged voters to "watch out and stay focused on what is truly important when you go to cast your vote."

"We need change and Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are not the option to bring about the kind of change that you need and want," Buxó emphasized.

More than half of Allentown is Latino and the majority of Latinos in the city are Puerto Rican.

Trump's praise for Puerto Rico and Buxó's endorsement came just two days after comedian Tony Hinchcliffe made a joke about Puerto Rico at the beginning of a rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The joke, which mocked the U.S. Caribbean territory, offended Puerto Ricans and prompted backlash against the former president.

"I don't know if you guys know this," Hinchcliffe said at the Sunday rally. "But there's literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now."

"Yeah — I think it's called Puerto Rico," he added.

The Trump campaign immediately distanced itself from the joke, saying it does not represent the views of the president. Trump told ABC that he did not see Hinchcliffe's remarks and did not know him.

Prior to the Tuesday rally, Archbishop Roberto González of San Juan, Puerto Rico, sent an open letter to Trump, asking that he personally apologize to Puerto Ricans for Hinchcliffe's joke.

Trump did not issue an apology or even address the joke at the rally but did briefly discuss it in an interview on Fox News with Sean Hannity that aired Tuesday night. The former president said: "I have no idea who he is, never saw him, never heard of him, and don't want to hear of him." 

"They put a comedian in, which everybody does," Trump added. "You throw comedians in, you don't vet them and go crazy. It's nobody's fault. But somebody said some bad things. Now, what they've done is taken somebody that has nothing to do with the party, has nothing to do with us [who] said something and they try and make a big deal … and I can't imagine it's a big deal. I've done more for Puerto Rico than any president I think that's ever been president."

At the rally, Trump said Puerto Rican and other Latino Americans are "incredible people — energetic, smart, great entrepreneurial people."

"We have a lot of them here tonight," he said, and thanked Latino supporters of his candidacy.

"I've done more for Puerto Rico than any president by far — nobody close," Trump said. "I provided historic funding and the hospital ship when they were hit with a couple of really bad [hurricanes] right in a row. And we got the ship over there with thousands of rooms actually. It was amazing: a floating hospital, the biggest in the world."

Trump signed a disaster relief package in early 2018 to provide Puerto Rico with $16 billion in funding. Congress later allocated additional funds to Puerto Rico — but Trump faced criticism for delays in Puerto Rico receiving the funds and the strings attached to the money.

Tim Ramos, a former Republican candidate for mayor of Allentown, also expressed his support for Trump at the Tuesday rally and spoke about his Puerto Rican heritage.

"We have a proud heritage — a heritage that has seen our men fight in every war this nation has ever waged," he said. "We are a beautiful people from a beautiful island."

"We need a leader who understands that and sees that in us," Ramos added. "Donald Trump is that leader."

Harris and other Democrats have been critical of Trump following Hinchcliffe's joke. The vice president even created an advertisement that plays Hinchcliffe saying the joke, which is followed by her criticizing Trump's response to the hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico in 2017.

"I will never forget what Donald Trump did," Harris says in the advertisement. "He abandoned the island and offered nothing more than paper towels and insults. Puerto Ricans deserve better. As president, I will always fight for you and your families and together, we can chart a new way forward."

Polls show that Harris is leading Trump with Latino voters, but the polls also show her with less support from Latinos than other Democratic presidential candidates in recent elections.

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Vatican City, Oct 30, 2024 / 10:10 am (CNA).

After an October full of activity due to the Synod on Synodality, in November Pope Francis will once again mark the beginning of the month of the dead with special prayers and Masses for All Saints' and All Souls' Days. 

On the solemnity of All Saints on Nov. 1, Pope Francis will lead the Angelus, a traditional Marian prayer, from a window overlooking St. Peter's Square at noon Rome time, as he does on every holy day of obligation.

Before the Angelus, the pope will deliver a short reflection; often it is based on the day's Gospel or feast. Afterward, he may greet some of the groups present in St. Peter's Square and draw attention to current social issues affecting the world, especially war.

For All Souls' Day on Nov. 2, Francis will continue his custom of holding a Mass in a local cemetery to pray for the dead, especially the holy souls in purgatory.

The Mass will be offered at 10 a.m. in part of the nearly 52-acre Laurentino Cemetery — Rome's third largest. Pope Francis usually gives a brief, spontaneous homily on this occasion.

This will be the pope's second All Souls' Day Mass in Laurentino Cemetery. In 2018, he offered Mass in an area of the cemetery reserved for deceased children and unborn babies called the "Garden of Angels."

Since 2016, Pope Francis has celebrated or presided at a Mass in six different cemeteries in or near Rome. For All Souls' Day in 2023, Mass was offered at the small Rome War Cemetery, which contains 426 Commonwealth burials from the Second World War.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the pope opted to stay in Vatican City and celebrate Mass for the faithful departed in the Church of Our Lady of Mercy, which is surrounded by the Teutonic Cemetery — the burial place of people of German, Austrian, and Swiss descent, and particularly members of the Archconfraternity to the Sorrowful Mother of God of the Germans and Flemings.

In 2019, the pope celebrated Mass at the Catacombs of Priscilla, while in 2022 he privately visited the Teutonic Cemetery again but offered Mass for deceased bishops and cardinals in St. Peter's Basilica — another papal custom during the week of All Saints' and All Souls' Days.

On Sunday, Nov. 3, Pope Francis will again lead the Angelus in St. Peter's Square, as he does every Sunday at noon.

The following morning, on Nov. 4, he will preside at a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica for the repose of the souls of the bishops and cardinals who died during the previous year. It is the pope's practice to always offer this Mass sometime during the first week of November.

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