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CNA Staff, Apr 12, 2024 / 17:30 pm (CNA).

Police in California have announced the arrest of a man suspected of posing as a priest to gain access to, and rob, several Catholic parishes across the country. 

Multiple Catholic parishes in both New York and Texas over the last several months reported encountering a man who in some cases identified himself as "Father Martin" and who managed to gain access to private parish areas and steal hundreds of dollars. 

The scammer was most recently reported at several New York-area parishes; at one he succeeded in stealing nearly $1,000.

On Thursday of this week, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department in Riverside, California, announced in a media release that they had apprehended the individual suspected of perpetrating those scams. 

The sheriff's department said that on Wednesday they had located a car matching the description of the vehicle connected to the robberies. 

"The driver of the vehicle, identified as 45-year-old Malin Rostas, a resident of New York, was taken into custody for an outstanding felony warrant out of Pennsylvania for burglary," the department said.

Local investigators "discovered Rostas was 'Father Martin' and had just attempted to burglarize a local church," the sheriff's office said. 

Rostas was booked on the outstanding warrant, police said, and he will additionally be charged with the attempted burglary. 

The sheriff's office "believes there may be additional burglary victims," they said. Investigation of the case is ongoing. 

In New York last month, the scammer gained access to a Queens parish as well as the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville's motherhouse on Long Island. He also reportedly attempted the scam at a Brooklyn parish last year.

Last fall, meanwhile, he showed up at six different parishes in the Diocese of Dallas and also managed to steal several hundred dollars from a Houston parish.

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CNA Staff, Apr 12, 2024 / 12:45 pm (CNA).

The Papal Foundation, a U.S.-based organization that provides funding for Catholic projects around the world, announced on Friday the distribution of nearly $15 million in grants, scholarships, and charitable aid "to care for those in need and grow the Catholic faith around the world."

The group said in a press release that it would be distributing nearly $10 million in 2024 alone to more than 100 projects and recipients in several dozen countries. Among the beneficiaries include efforts at "providing for basic needs such as access to clean water," "constructing schools and renovating classrooms," and "translating Church teachings for evangelization."

The money will also go toward "restoring Churches, convents, and seminaries in desperate need of repairs," "providing students in remote areas with transportation to further their education," and "building health care facilities."

The foundation was founded 35 years ago in response to a wish from Pope John Paul II. Stewards with the organization donate their personal money to support projects specifically identified and requested by the pope, who is made aware of needs through his nuncios, or ambassadors, around the world.

The Papal Foundation describes itself as "the only charitable organization in the United States that is exclusively dedicated to fulfilling the requests of the Holy Father for the needs of the Catholic Church." On Friday the organization said it would also be providing more than $800,000 via its St. John Paul II scholarship program, which "will enable more than 100 priests, women religious, and seminarians to study in Rome."

The Holy Father met with the Papal Foundation on Friday during the group's annual pilgrimage to Rome this week. The organization was scheduled to be in Rome from April 9–13. 

During the audience at the Vatican's Clementine Hall, Pope Francis told the group's members that their work "enhances the integral development of so many, including the poor, refugees, immigrants, and nowadays the increasingly large numbers of those affected by war and violence."

"Through these various worthy initiatives," the pope said, "you continue to help the successors of Peter to build up many local Churches and care for large numbers of the less fortunate, thus fulfilling the mandates entrusted to the apostle by Our Lord."

David Savage, the group's executive director, on Friday described it as a "a blessing to support this mission of cooperation and collaboration, bringing together laity, clergy, and Church hierarchy to address priorities identified by the Holy Father and care for his flock around the globe."

Cardinal Sean O'Malley, the chairman of the Papal Foundation's board of trustees, on Friday quoted the Gospel of Luke, saying: "To whom much is given, much shall be required."

"In a society where the divide between rich and poor continues to grow, stewards of St. Peter of the Papal Foundation recognize their responsibility to put the needs of the poor and vulnerable first," the prelate said.

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ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 12, 2024 / 13:30 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis made a special "getaway" from the Vatican yesterday afternoon and met with a group of 200 children at a parish in metro Rome.

A brief statement released by the Holy See's Press Office said that the Holy Father went to St. John Mary Vianney Parish in Borghesiana, east of the Italian capital.

There Pope Francis met with a group of 200 children studying catechism and in a relaxed manner answered some of their questions.

Pictures from the meeting posted on social media show the Holy Father happily greeting the children and even giving them playful "high fives." 

According to the Dicastery for Evangelization, for approximately one hour, the "pope catechized with the children."

Responding to their questions, he offered a brief catechesis on the topic of the prayer of thanksgiving, emphasizing that it is one of the most important in the Christian life.

"It's important to give thanks for everything. For example, if you enter a person's house and don't say thank you, or don't say hello, is that good? The first word is 'thank you,' so the second is 'permission,'" he told the children at the parish in suburban Borghesiana, located in the eastern part of the diocese.

"The third word is 'forgiveness,'" the pope continued. "Is a person who never asks for forgiveness good? It's difficult to ask for forgiveness, sometimes shame and pride go with it. But it's important when you say I'm sorry a lot. Three words: thank you, permission, sorry."

Next, Pope Francis asked the children: "But do you pray? How do you pray? What can you say to the Lord?" One of the children said that he and his family pray before eating.

"He said something important. But do you know that there are so many children who don't have food? Do I thank the Lord for giving me food? Do I thank you for giving me a family?" he asked.

The last question touched on the topic of faith. "But are you Christians?" Pope Francis asked. "Do you have faith? Let's say it together. Thank you, Lord, for giving me faith."

During the exchange, one of the children's most emotional questions was from a 10-year-old named Alice: "How can I thank the Lord in my illness?"

"Even in dark moments, we have to thank the Lord, because he gives us the patience to tolerate difficulties. Let's say it together: Thank you, Lord, for giving us the strength to tolerate pain," the pontiff said. The children also asked him why there was death and loneliness.

"We must always thank him, at all times. I give you some advice," Pope Francis said. "Before going to sleep, think: 'What can I thank the Lord for today?' Give thanks," he encouraged the children.

At the end of the meeting, the children together with the Holy Father recited a "Prayer of Thanksgiving" composed for the occasion, which will serve as a reminder of an extraordinary moment in their lives.

Before leaving, Pope Francis, greeting and joking with them, gave each of the children a chocolate egg.

To the priests and the 20 catechists present he gave the first six volumes published in the series "Notes on Prayer."

What is the School of Prayer?

This is the pontiff's first meeting for the so-called "School of Prayer," an initiative promoted by the Vatican as part of this Year of Prayer in preparation for the Jubilee Year 2025.

As part of the project, Pope Francis will hold different meetings "with some different categories of people to pray together, including some forms of prayer."

As Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, explained to ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, these prayer meetings "will depend on the commitments of Pope Francis and will possibly include people and families from the Diocese of Rome."

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 Newsroom, Apr 12, 2024 / 14:00 pm (CNA).

German authorities have reported the arrest of four suspects allegedly planning terror attacks in Germany. According to Bild newspaper, the group intended to target Christians attending church services and police stations with knives and Molotov cocktails.

The Düsseldorf public prosecutor's office revealed that the suspects, who are between 15 and 16 years old, were apprehended over the Easter weekend.

"The suspects are strongly suspected of having planned an Islamist-motivated terrorist attack and of having agreed to commit it," authorities stated, as reported by CNA Deutsch, CNA's German-language news partner.

The arrests were conducted following an investigation by the Public Prosecutor General's Office and the anti-terror unit, ZenTer NRW. North Rhine-Westphalia's interior minister, Herbert Reul, detailed the case at a press conference in Düsseldorf on Thursday, noting that the suspected terror plans were "quickly and purposefully thwarted."

Reul mentioned that it took only five days from the initial findings by German security authorities to the arrest. "We succeeded in preventing worse things from happening," he stated, as quoted by FAZ newspaper.

These arrests are not isolated incidents. In November 2023, two teenagers, aged 15 and 16, were arrested on suspicion of terrorism. They reportedly sympathized with the Islamic State and were believed to have planned a Christmas market attack using a vehicle, CNA Deutsch reported.

In December and early January, several of Europe's most renowned cathedrals, including those in Cologne and Vienna, were on high alert due to concerns about a planned attack for New Year's Eve. Authorities detained but later released three suspects; the men were reportedly members of the Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K), the same group linked to the March 25 Moscow concert hall attack.

In July 2023, German police arrested seven members of an alleged Islamist terror cell in the same region. According to public broadcaster ZDF, similar arrests were made simultaneously in the Netherlands. The men of Tajik and Turkmen origin reportedly traveled to Western Europe via Ukraine.

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ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 12, 2024 / 14:30 pm (CNA).

Bree Solstad, a young woman who previously produced and acted in the pornography industry, is among the adult converts who entered the Catholic Church this Easter, leaving behind her life of "countless sins" and embracing the Catholic faith.

Solstad told ChurchPop that prior to her conversion, she led a life full of promiscuity and self-obsession, which spiked when a "recruiter" reached out to her.

"I was drinking more heavily and started a blog about my hedonistic behavior. The blog caught the attention of a successful sex worker, who reached out to me and essentially recruited me," she said. "She showed me how to get set up and introduced me to some important people in the industry who could help me make as much money as possible. I had no moral compass and was all about myself anyway."

Solstad, who now goes by Miss B Converted on X and presents herself as "a repentant sinner who converted to Christ; former porn actress and producer," announced on Jan. 1, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, her decision to "quit sex work. To repent of my countless sins. To give up my life of sin, wealth, vice, and vain self-obsession."

She shared with her followers that her decision came after a trip to Rome and Assisi in Italy, where touched by the beauty of the art she saw in the churches she visited and the theology it represented, she experienced "what can only be described as a life-altering conversion."

"This is a humbling experience and one that I know may be mocked or questioned by many. I am giving up all my income and turning my life over to Christ. I am leaving behind my life of rampant sin, vice, pride, debauchery, vanity, and lies to — with God's grace — live a life of truth, beauty, obedience to God's divine will, virtue, and humility," she wrote on X. 

Solstad, who had an account on various pornographic content platforms, said that she had been preparing for the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) for some time and that she planned to be confirmed and receive her first Communion during the Easter Vigil this Holy Week. She made her first confession on Spy Wednesday.

"Thank you, Jesus," she prayed on X, "for not giving up on such a wretched sinner. Thank you Blessed Mary, Mother of God, for your immense love and consolation."

The young convert added that "God's forgiveness and mercy is real. If someone as broken and sinful as me can be redeemed and converted, there is no doubt anyone reading this can also be saved by his divine mercy."

The Virgin Mary and St. Clare of Assisi

Solstad was baptized as a Lutheran when she was 8 years old and considered herself at least "nominally Christian," she explained April 5 to ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner.

However, during college she lived a life of "drunkenness, drugs, and promiscuity." Experiencing a tragedy in her life, she prayed hard but, she said, "I felt like God had turned his back on me and so I did the same to him," Solstad commented to ChurchPop.

In 2023 she traveled to Italy, where she always noticed the crucifixes in the churches she visited. However in Sorrento, she said, "I noticed the Virgin Mary on street corners all over the place. All of a sudden, I felt like Mary was calling me in the strangest way. Each time I entered a church, I felt compelled to seek her out."

At Assisi, she said, "I was impressed by St. Francis, but I was moved to tears by St. Clare. I knelt by her tomb and again asked for assistance. I felt like St. Clare was actually present with me and that she was going to take all the pain and anxiety from me and somehow give it to God," Solstad told ACI Prensa.

After that experience and returning home, "I quickly realized that I didn't like what my life was like," she said. "I hated my job. I felt disgusting and guilty for the work I had been doing for a decade. I couldn't stop thinking of all the things that I had done and all the lives I negatively affected through pornography. I felt grotesque."

Solstad soon looked for a priest and spoke with him and his secretary, who told her "God loves you," words that were like "a waterfall of light" and made her long "to be someone better. I wanted to be clean, I wanted to be happy and a great example of God's love."

While in RCIA, she said, she had to overcome some anti-Catholic prejudice she inherited from the Lutheran background, but she diligently researched everything "and I always came to the realization that what the Catholic Church was teaching was true."

"I have honestly fallen in love with the Catholic Church," she continued,  "There is such richness in the faith. The Holy Trinity, the Father, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Mary the Mother of God, all the inspiring, heroic, and beautiful saints, the sacraments, the history, the tradition, everything! But what has touched me the most is the Eucharist … something so surprising for me with Jesus physically present."

Entry into Catholic Church, first Communion

On April 3, Solstad shared on her social media some photos of her first Communion at the Easter Vigil on March 30.

"These five seconds will forever be emblazoned in my heart, mind, and soul. This is the best moment of my life," the young woman wrote. 

"My life has changed for the better so much during these past several months, but it pales in comparison to how much this moment of receiving my first Eucharist permanently transformed me," she recounted.

"I will never be the same again and I thank God for this undeniable fact. I am so in love with you, Jesus. Never allow me to move even one inch from your most Sacred Heart," she wrote.

Solstad concluded her post with the first part of the Magnificat, the prayer the Virgin Mary exclaimed when she was pregnant with Jesus and met her cousin Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist.

"My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation," she wrote, quoting Mary's response to Elizabeth as recorded in Luke's Gospel. 

Solstad's sole source of income now is from her religious goods store, which can be found here.

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

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 12, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).

Catholic bishops in Poland are asking the faithful to make Sunday a "day of prayer" for unborn children after the country's lawmakers advanced four pro-abortion bills in the heavily Catholic country on Friday.

"I warmly encourage you to make the coming Sunday a day of special prayer in defense of the unborn," Archbishop Tadeusz Wojda, the chair of the Polish Episcopal Conference, said in a statement.

"I ask that in all churches in Poland, at every holy Mass, we pray for this intention," Wojda said.

Lawmakers on Friday advanced four pro-abortion bills to be considered by a special committee in the Sejm, which is Poland's lower legislative body. This was the first major action on abortion taken by the new coalition government led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk after voters ousted the Law and Justice party from leadership of the country. 

Two of the bills would legalize abortion through the 12th week of pregnancy, which would be a sharp departure from the country's strong pro-life laws. Under current law, abortion is only legal when the mother's life is at risk or when the pregnancy occurred from illegal sexual activity, such as rape or incest.

A third bill would decriminalize abortion. Although women who procure abortions do not face criminal penalties under current law, anyone who assists a woman in carrying out an abortion could land up to three years in prison. The proposal would eliminate those criminal penalties for abortionists and other accomplices.

The fourth bill, which was proposed by the center-right Third Way party, would maintain most of the current abortion laws but expand legal abortion to instances in which the unborn child has a fetal abnormality.

In his call for a day of prayer, Wojda referenced his "Statement on Respect for Human Life in the Prenatal Phase," which he published on Thursday amid the ongoing abortion debate in Poland.

"Life is a gift of God and as such is an inalienable right of every human being; therefore, it must be protected and supported at every stage of its development," the archbishop said. "Respect for life, which belongs to the most important values, is one of the fundamental duties of every human being."

The annual March for Life in Poland is also scheduled to take place in Warsaw, the country's capital, on Sunday. The pro-life demonstration routinely draws thousands of people to the city.

A long abortion debate ahead

Several left-wing lawmakers in Poland cheered the result of the vote on Friday, but other members of Tusk's coalition government took a more nuanced approach, which suggests that it's still uncertain whether the proposals will make their way through the committee or whether they would pass the Sejm.

"We got it!!" Robert Biedron, a member of the Polish New Left, said in a post on X. 

"The Sejm voted on the abortion [proposals] prepared by the Left and referred them to a special committee in the Sejm," Biedron said. "This is good news, especially for Polish women who have been fighting for their rights for 30 years. We keep working!"

Sejm Marshal Szymon Holownia, a member of the center-right Third Way and chair of the legislative body, did not indicate that he would vote for the proposal. Rather, in a post on X, he said the chamber's decision to advance the bills was based on respect for the democratic process.

"We promised to stop arguing and we kept our word," Holownia said. 

"We believe that the greatest chance for change is provided by a referendum, but we voted for all the [proposals]," he added. "We did it out of respect for democracy and concern for the durability of the coalition. Now we leave the fate of these bills in the hands of the committee members."

Third Way has not formally endorsed the plan to legalize abortion through 12 weeks of pregnancy. Rather, the party's official position has been that the Polish people should decide the country's abortion laws via a national referendum. 

The country is governed by a three-prong coalition. The New Left and Tusk's centrist Civic Coalition have both endorsed the plan to legalize abortion through 12 weeks. Third Way, which is part of that coalition, has not formally endorsed the plan. The conservative Law and Justice and the Confederation Liberty parties, which are in the minority, are opposed to the proposals. 

Dariusz Matecki, a member of Law and Justice, handed out figurines of an unborn child that show the child's development by 10 weeks of pregnancy — a time in which the child could be aborted under the proposals. 

"This educational model raises awareness of what a 10-week-old unborn baby looks like," Matecki said in a post on X. "... Many [members of Parliament] from Tusk's coalition reacted with simple aggression and vulgarity."

Poland and Malta are the only two countries in the European Union that have strong pro-life protections for unborn children.

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CNA Staff, Apr 12, 2024 / 15:30 pm (CNA).

A Myanmar priest was shot this week while celebrating Mass in the state of Kachin, according to media reports, with the assault coming amid ongoing violent conflict between the military junta and resistance forces in the region. 

Masked assailants shot Father Paul Khwi Shane Aung as he celebrated Mass at St. Patrick's Church in the town of Mohnyin in the northern region of Myanmar.

The priest "was rushed to a hospital in Mohnyin and was later moved to a hospital in Myitkyina," according to UCA News.

The reason for the attack is unknown and the shooters are reportedly still at large. Aung is listed on the Myitkyina Catholic Diocese's website as a priest in the Mohnyin Zone. He was ordained in 2013. 

In February, the aid group Christian Solidarity International warned of a rise in violence against the persecuted Christian minority in Myanmar, with an advocate warning that ethnic-minority Christians there "are subjected to cruel ethnic-cleansing campaigns."

Since a military coup ousted Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, Myanmar has for years been wracked by violent conflict.

Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, president of the Burmese bishops' conference, in 2021 urged Catholics in Myanmar to share God's mercy amid the suffering caused by the military coup there.

That year the prelate noted that Myitkyina had been the victim of a "great tragedy" of "killing the innocents in the streets." 

"We need the light of God's mercy in Myanmar," Bo said at the time. 

The shooting of Father Aung comes just weeks after the fatal shooting of a Baptist pastor, also in Kachin, while the pastor worked at his computer shop. 

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 12, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Bishop Mark Seitz of the Diocese of El Paso criticized a Texas law that increases the state's role in deterring illegal immigration to the United States and denounced "anti-immigrant" rhetoric that he said is rising in the country's two major political parties.

Seitz, who chairs the Committee on Migration of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), commented on the Lone Star State's new law during an immigration conference jointly hosted by the Catholic University of America and the USCCB. The April 11 event was titled "Responding to Changing Realities at the U.S. Border and Beyond." 

SB 4, which Gov. Greg Abbot signed in December 2023, makes illegal border crossing a state crime and allows state police to arrest and subsequently remove people who enter the United States illegally through Texas. U.S. President Joe Biden's administration has sued the state over the law based on allegations that it usurps the federal government's authority to enforce laws related to immigration. 

"We're concerned that this leads to profiling — racial profiling as well," Seitz said. "It puts fear into every immigrant no matter what their immigration status may be."

The bishop questioned the constitutionality of the law and how it could be effective without the cooperation of Mexican authorities. He further argued that the law threatens the right to seek asylum by denying the "opportunity to be processed … to see if their claims to asylum are legitimate or not." 

"[We] hope and pray the courts will not cave to the political pressure," Seitz said.

During his discussion at the conference, the bishop was critical of "anti-immigrant" rhetoric and approaches to policy, which he said now exists in "both parties." He claimed the media has "misrepresented" the situation at the border, which he said has also stoked anti-immigrant sentiment.

"You're not going to see chaos [at the border]," Seitz said. "You're going to see lots of fences and wires and things like that."

The bishop, who works with migrants and hosts a shelter on his property in the diocese, spoke positively of the individuals with whom he has interacted. 

"I meet these people every day," Seitz said. "They're some of the most peaceful, patient family-oriented people I've ever met."

Speaking to CNA following his remarks at the conference, Seitz said the Catholic Church provides a "beautiful balance" for ensuring the dignity of migrants is respected and that countries can maintain their borders. 

"The Church says nations have a right to a border and they have a right and a responsibility to control their border," the bishops explained. "So we don't have a problem with that." 

Seitz said, however, that the answer cannot be "to close off the possibility of a legitimate flow across the border." 

"People have a right to migrate when there is a need," the bishop added. 

Other speakers at the conference echoed similar concerns about policy and rhetoric. 

Father David Hollenbach, a Jesuit priest and research professor at Georgetown University, cited messages in Scripture about welcoming strangers and argued that the United States has a moral obligation to assist migrants and refugees because the country has the capacity to help in a way that poorer countries do not. 

"These people are created in the image and likeness of God," Hollenbach said during a panel discussion. 

Another speaker, Sister Sharlet Ann Wagner, executive director of the Newcomer Network at the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., branch of Catholic Charities USA, said during a panel discussion that politicians are "using immigrants as political footballs." 

Although Wagner acknowledged that some local communities have "unanticipated costs" when dealing with the influx of migrants, she said most are of prime working age and desire to work. 

"This is an investment that will pay off," Wagner said.

Although the conference focused mostly on an obligation to assist migrants in coming to the country, some Catholics have expressed a more cautious approach to the influx of people who have entered the country between official ports of entry.

Chad Pecknold, a professor of systematic theology and theological politics at the Catholic University of America, who was not a part of the conference, told CNA that the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas on immigration provide "a sound and reasonable guide for these discussions." 

Referencing Aquinas in the "Summa Theologiae," Pecknold recalled that the doctor of the Church "teaches that while hospitality should be offered to the wayfarer passing through, political communities must ensure that those 'entering to remain' demonstrate a commitment to the customs, language, religion, and mores of their commonweal." 

"Every human being having dignity does not immediately and obviously supersede the sovereignty of nations," Pecknold added. "Statesmen have a sacred duty to safeguard the political common good of their country, and this will sometimes mean restricting who can legally enter and remain in their countries," he noted.

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CNA Staff, Apr 11, 2024 / 11:45 am (CNA).

Global aid organization Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is calling for an "immediate end" to violence in Gaza as workers struggle to bring critical aid to the population six months into the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

CRS is the official international Catholic relief and development agency of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The aid agency has been a major presence in Gaza since the outset of the war in October 2023, when Hamas invaded Israel, killing 1,200 and kidnapping hundreds of hostages. Israel responded with a major invasion of Gaza. The conflict has reportedly claimed over 33,000 lives in Gaza. 

In a press release this week, the group said it was reissuing its call "for an immediate end to the violence" and "greater humanitarian access to ensure innocent civilians can access food, shelter, and medical attention." 

CRS also called on "protection for humanitarians and innocent civilians and the immediate release of all hostages and others unjustly detained."

Jason Knapp, the Holy Land representative for the U.S.-based Catholic group, told CNA last week that while CRS is "working hard to keep our team as safe as possible," it remains "committed to doing everything we can to address the significant humanitarian needs of civilians in Gaza."

Knapp told CNA that CRS is expanding its operations in the region. It has set up warehouses, guesthouses, and offices in Rafah and Deir al Balah and is "in the process of setting up additional distribution points throughout Rafah, Khan Younis, and Middle Area."

Knapp said in the release this week that many of its workers have been displaced and "have lost homes and family members" during the conflict. He said the crisis in the northern part of the territory is "especially dire."

"We prioritize people living in the most vulnerable situations, so our goal is to begin serving people living in the north as soon as possible," Knapp said. 

Sean Callahan, the president and CEO of CRS, told CNA in February that the situation in the region is "catastrophic." Yet he said that in a recent visit, his team witnessed considerable "resiliency" and "hope" from the local population. 

Callahan said workers in Gaza are providing "food commodities" and "hygiene kits," among other services, to those who live there. At the outset of the conflict, CRS said it was mobilizing "emergency food, water, and living supplies" and "safe and dignified shelter" for those caught in the conflict.

"I was actually very impressed, given the situation on the ground," Callahan said of his recent visit. "You heard explosions relatively frequently, and jets overhead, and drones. But our teams were still able to register people to get supplies out to them."

In this week's release, meanwhile, Nesma Naseem, the group's shelter field officer in Gaza, said the region is marked by "resilient individuals with dreams, aspirations, and the capacity to rebuild their lives." 

"Continued assistance and solidarity can make a meaningful difference in their journey toward recovery," Naseem said. "We hope this bad dream will end soon, and we can rebuild our souls and our lives again."

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National Catholic Register, Apr 11, 2024 / 13:00 pm (CNA).

On April 7, the cause for canonization of 13-year-old Filipina Niña Ruíz-Abad was officially opened at the Cathedral of St. William the Hermit in Laoag City, Philippines, coinciding with Divine Mercy Sunday.

The event marked the first step of a lengthy process of making Ruíz-Abad one of the youngest saints in history. 

Bishop Renato Mayugba of Laoag City headed the tribunal to hear witnesses testify to the life and holiness of the Servant of God, who has been described as "an inspiration of piety, mercy, evangelization, and fortitude to others."

"We are starting our investigation on the life of Niña to discern if indeed God has blessed us with a Servant of God who can be elevated to sainthood. … All holiness is, in fact, a work of God. God is the author of holiness, because all holiness is grace. Sanctity is ultimately the work of grace, the fruit of divine mercy," the bishop said.

A video reenactment of Ruíz-Abad's life was shown at the beginning of the session, offering attendees a short glimpse of the teen's life of deep piety and love for God from a very early age. She was shown as a young child to be always engrossed in praying before the Blessed Sacrament, with her arms extended toward God, and was fond of distributing prayer cards and religious images, especially of the "Santo Niño" ("the Child Jesus" in Filipino), to her teachers and schoolmates. The video showed an unfazed girl who, when faced with the diagnosis of incurable heart disease, told her aggrieved mother: "Don't worry, Mommy; it's okay — God will heal me!"

Father Dennis Ruíz, postulator of the cause, emphasized the importance of her example, especially for the youth of today, much like Blessed Carlo Acutis. 

"Many of the youth nowadays are preoccupied by technology, fashion, fun, pleasure, and desire for worldly material things, which sometimes draw their attention away from healthy relationships, especially [relationships] to God," he said. "With the presence of dysfunctional families and family disintegration in today's society, children are usually the most affected, which consequently makes them turn for solace and consolation to their environment. But having a good model of piety and fortitude for the youth, they can be saved from utter destruction. Knowing Niña's character and traits and her strong faith toward God will serve as a guide to the youth."

The official portrait of the Servant of God by Filipino painter Ariel Caratao was presented to the public during the session. 

Dressed in traditional Filipino attire, the Divine Mercy Children's Choir, composed of children from the Little Sparks of the Divine Mercy and Immaculate Heart Filipino community, performed four songs for the congregation: "Children's Entrustment to the Immaculate Heart of Mary," "The Unity Prayer," and "Jesus, I Trust in You," followed by the singing of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.

Ruíz-Abad's mother, Corazon Abad, and only sister, Mary Ann Abad, and other relatives were present at the event as well as officers and members of the God First Association — an association named after Ruíz-Abad's renowned slogan "God First" and headed by Eliza Samson, Ruíz-Abad's third grade teacher. A large number of laypeople, priests, sisters, and seminarians were also present during the event, filling the cathedral.

Right after the opening session, the tribunal of the Diocese of Laoag and the attendees of the session visited the Servant of God's tomb in the Church of St. Monica, Sarrat, Ilocos Norte.

The petition for Ruíz-Abad's beatification and canonization is part of the Church's wider effort to recognize modern-day saints, models for Catholics in the 21st century. The Catholic Church seeks to recognize saints who practiced their faith in the ordinariness of modern life.

As Bishop Mayugba encouraged: "May her life, though short, inspire all of us to put God first in our lives."

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA's sister news partner, and is reprinted here on CNA with permission.

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