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CNA Staff, Dec 6, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).

The White House is backing off from enforcing in Texas a U.S. Health and Human Services Department (HHS) rule that allows children to obtain contraceptives without their parents' consent, state officials said this week. 

This past July, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden Department of Health and Human Services over the change to Title X that eliminated parental consent requirements for minors accessing birth control.

Title X is the federal funding program for family planning and contraceptive services. Under the Biden administration's rule, projects funded by the program "may not require consent of parents or guardians for the provision of services to minors." 

The rule also said Title X staff could not "notify a parent or guardian before or after a minor has requested and/or received Title X family planning services."

In a press release Thursday, Paxton's office said the Biden administration has now informed a U.S. district court in the state that it will not attempt to "enforce the challenged regulation" in Texas.

"This effectively vacates the unlawful rule in Texas, and Attorney General Paxton filed a notice of dismissal," the office said. 

"This result ensures that Texas health entities will not be forced to violate state law under threat of losing Title X funding."

It is unclear if the federal government is dropping the requirement for the rest of the country or if its decision only applies to Texas. HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. 

The attorney general's office also did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Earlier this year the U.S. Senate rejected the "Right to Contraception Act," which would have created a federal right to contraception with ramifications on religious freedom and protections for minors. 

The bill defined contraceptives broadly to include sterilizing drugs, both those "specifically intended to prevent pregnancy or for other health needs."

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Vatican City, Dec 6, 2024 / 15:45 pm (CNA).

Several cardinal-designates set to receive their red hats from Pope Francis this weekend emphasized the importance of serving the Church's universal mission while addressing contemporary challenges facing their local Churches.

"I am with my heart, and I would say with my whole body, for a synodal vision, because already in my country in 2017, the vision of the Church was one of communion, serving everyone," Archbishop Ignace Bessi Dogbo of Abidjan told EWTN News on Dec. 6.

The Ivorian archbishop emphasized that his elevation reflects a broader recognition of the Church in Côte d'Ivoire.

"I think so, because personally I don't feel so intellectual to receive the purple. It is the whole country that has had good relations with the Holy See, and then John Paul II went to Côte d'Ivoire three times," he said.

Ukrainian voice on being chosen

At 44, Bishop Mykola Bychok, CSsR, will be among the youngest members ever elevated to the College of Cardinals.

"First of all, this is not my fault. I was called, and I was appointed by the Holy Father Francis. Why I was chosen? I don't know. Maybe in future God will open or show me what was the main reason that actually I was appointed at age 44."

The Ukrainian bishop pledged to use his new position to continue raising awareness about the ongoing war in his homeland. "Right now, Ukraine is at war. We are fighting for our independence, for religious freedom — for three years since the official invasion of the Russian Federation," he said.

"Every night, drones and missiles are flying to Ukraine. In the last few days, my native city Ternopil, which is 250 kilometers from the border with Poland, was under attack, especially power plants, as well as some civilian buildings. That is the reality of the war," he added.

Vatican diplomat sees missionary focus

Archbishop Rolandas Makrickas shared insights from his years of diplomatic service across several continents, emphasizing the Church's fundamental missionary character.

"In every country I saw that the Church is so different, but that we have same roots, and we have the same tasks to do, and the task is always to remain missionary, in one country or in another country, on one continent or on another," the Lithuanian prelate told CNA.

Archbishop Fernando Chomali of Santiago, Chile, stressed the need for Church leadership to face contemporary challenges with spiritual strength.

"I was delighted, I sensed a very great awareness of the responsibility of being a cardinal and especially thinking about those people who need a strong voice," Chomali said.

"I have to think above all about the poor, those who are very much in need of someone to support them. Also, I have to take care especially of the young people who don't have much hope right now in a very cold society."

The Chilean prelate also addressed his country's recent challenges. "We have worked strongly to end all forms of abuse — at the level of the parishes, at the level of the schools, university level, at the level of the dioceses, at all levels," he said.

Dominican friar reflects on fraternity

Dominican Father Timothy Radcliffe connected his new role to Pope Francis' encyclical Fratelli Tutti.

"I look forward really to being of service to him [the Holy Father] in whatever way I can. Right at the beginning, I really don't know what this will involve," the English Dominican said. 

"I think for the Holy Father, his great encyclical Fratelli Tutti, all brothers and sisters, and I am a brother, so I hope as a brother of St. Dominic, I hope maybe I have some understanding, some little understanding of what it means to live fraternity today," he said.

The consistory for the creation of new cardinals will take place Dec. 7 at 4 p.m. in St. Peter's Basilica. The new cardinals will concelebrate Mass with Pope Francis the following day, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.

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ACI Africa, Dec 6, 2024 / 10:55 am (CNA).

The bishop of the Diocese of El-Obeid in Sudan has shared his harrowing experience at the hands of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who tortured him and left him seriously injured.

Bishop Yunan Tombe Trille Kuku Andali, who was accompanied by a deacon, fell into the hands of the paramilitary force while he was traveling to the embattled country.

He shared his horrific experience with Bishop Edward Hiiboro Kussala of South Sudan's Diocese of Tombura-Yambio, who shared the report with ACI Africa, CNA's news partner in Africa, on Dec. 1. Neither bishop was available to provide more details of where the bishop and the deacon were travelling from when they met their assailants.

In the report, Tombe Trille, a former president of the Sudan Catholic Bishops' Conference, wrote about how he and the deacon were first harassed by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), who are in conflict with the RSF in the country's worst civil war, which is ongoing.

He wrote to Hiiboro, saying: "I just arrived in El Obeid together with Deacon Joseph. This time, I was badly treated."

He reported: "From the side of the army, some little cash in USD was taken on pretext that I was carrying the forbidden hard currency."

After the harassment by the SAF, the two ran into the RSF, who beat up the bishop and left him for dead. 

"On the side of Rapid Forces, I was given countless heavy blows on the neck, forehead, on my face and two sides of my head," the bishop said.

When he wrote to his fellow bishop, Tombe Trille said he was so seriously injured that he could not move his jaws. "I can't bite food," he said. 

"Together with [Deacon Joseph], we narrowly missed martyrdom [before] one leader said, 'That is enough,'" he said in his note to Hiiboro, in which he also expressed gratitude for the "prayers of many." 

This is not the first time Tombe Trille has stared death in the face as war rages on in Sudan, where he has been serving since he was ordained a member of the clergy of El-Obeid 33 years ago.

On April 20, 2023, just five days after fighting between SAF and RSF erupted, the 60-year-old bishop and some other clergy narrowly escaped death when rockets hit the premises of his cathedral, destroying the main gate of Mary Queen of Africa Cathedral and the priests' residence.

The incident is said to have occurred when the bishop of El-Obeid and the priests were praying. Thankfully no one was injured.

Tombe Trille has been vocal about the Sudanese war that has reportedly led to tens of thousands of deaths and massive displacements, questioning the willingness of the warring parties to lay down their weapons.

The war, now in its second year, has reportedly led to 61,202 deaths, according to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine's Sudan Research Group, which also reported that 26,024 of those killed died from direct injuries owing to the conflict.

In an interview with ACI Africa last year, Tombe Trille lamented that dialogue between the two opposing forces had been given a wide berth, saying: "So far there is not even a clue to the light of peace dialogue that can bring hope for the Sudanese."

"I believe that our leaders are not ready for peace. Fighting and conflict have the upper hand as we hear them say, 'Unless we defeat the other group we won't put down weapons,'" he said.

The bishop cautioned that "the more the fighting, the more people get scattered" and "the more hatred grows among various Sudanese ethnic groups."

He appealed for prayers, noting that the humanitarian situation in the country was dire.

He further appealed to the people of neighboring South Sudan to share the little they have with the Sudanese who are fleeing the conflict and to make the refugees feel at home. 

This story was first published by ACI Africa, CNA's news partner in Africa, and has been adapted by CNA.

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Vatican City, Dec 6, 2024 / 04:00 am (CNA).

St. Nicholas, whose feast day is celebrated on Dec. 6, is known to possibly be the real-life inspiration for the beloved Christmas character of Santa Claus.

Not a lot is known about the historical Nicholas, who was bishop of Myra, a Greek city in modern-day Turkey, during the fourth century A.D.

But there are many stories and legends that explain his reputation as a just and upright man, charitable gift-giver, and miracle-worker.

Here are five things to know and share about St. Nicholas:

1. There is a legend behind why St. Nicholas is the patron saint of children.

Many people know that St. Nicholas is the patron saint of children, but they may not know why he has that title.

There is a grisly legend that says that during a famine in Myra, three young boys were lured into a butcher's shop, where they were killed and then brined in a wooden barrel with the intention of being sold as "ham." The good bishop worked a miracle, bringing the pickled children back to life and saving them from a gruesome fate.

This story became the subject of many portrayals of Nicholas in art, especially during the Middle Ages. Some people believe depictions of Bishop Nicholas with the three boys led to his reputation as a protector of children.

The legend of the brining may explain how he also became, oddly, the patron saint of brewers and coopers (people who make wooden casks, barrels, vats, troughs, and similar containers from timber).

2. He is one of the foremost saints in the Russian Orthodox Church.

St. Nicholas is a unifying figure among Catholics and Orthodox Christians since both churches venerate him.

He is incredibly important in the Russian Orthodox Church, where he is known as St. Nicholas the Wonderworker for the many miracles attributed to him both during and after his life.

To the Orthodox, Nicholas is principally honored for his qualities as a holy bishop and a good shepherd of his people.

Also, in their weekly liturgical cycle, which dedicates different days of the week to Jesus Christ and other saints, only three are specifically named: Mary, the Mother of God, John the Forerunner (known to Catholics as St. John the Baptist), and St. Nicholas.

Nicholas did not leave behind any theological writings, but when he was made a bishop, he is credited with saying that "this dignity and this office demand different usage, in order that one should live no longer for oneself but for others."

3. Was he really jolly ol' St. Nicholas?

Because of his popularity among Orthodox Christians, St. Nicholas is a favorite subject in iconography.

But don't be surprised if, among the hundreds of icons depicting him, you don't see any merry dimples or a "round little belly." He does have a white beard, though.

4. He is the patron saint of unmarried people, fishermen, pawnbrokers, and the falsely accused.

One of the most popular legends about Nicholas is that the saint, who is said to have come from a wealthy family, secretly helped a poor man with three daughters.

The father could not provide proper dowries for the girls to marry, and without husbands to support them, they might have been forced to turn to prostitution.

After learning about the situation, Nicholas secretly slipped a bag of gold coins through the family's window while they were sleeping. He later left a second bag of coins, and likewise, another bag for the third daughter, at which point, the legend says, the father, who had waited up all night, "caught" Nicholas red-handed in his gift-giving. But Nicholas made him promise to keep the secret.

The story is likely the explanation for why the modern Christmas character of Santa Claus brings his gifts for children under the cover of night.

In artworks referencing this legend, the three bags of coins are often depicted as three golden balls. Images of gold balls were also used to mark the shops of pawnbrokers, which is probably how Nicholas came to be their patron saint, too.

One of many miracles attributed to St. Nicholas happened at sea as he traveled aboard a boat to the Holy Land. Nicholas is a patron saint of sailors and travelers because he calmed the stormy waters that threatened their lives.

His patronage of the falsely accused can be attributed to an early story about his rescue of three innocent men moments before their execution. It is said that St. Nicholas, then bishop of Myra, boldly pushed away the executioner's sword, released the men from their chains, and angrily reprimanded a juror who had taken a bribe to find them guilty.

5. He has two feast days.

Most people know that Nicholas' feast day is celebrated on Dec. 6, the day he died in the year 343, but for East Slavs, as well as the people of Bari, Italy, May 9 is also an important day to celebrate the saint.

That date is the anniversary of the day that St. Nicholas' relics were moved from Myra, in present-day Turkey, to Bari, not long after the Great Schism of Catholics and Orthodox in 1054 A.D.

Accounts differ over whether the transmission of the relics was theft or an attempt by Christian sailors to preserve the saint's remains from destruction by the Turks. But whatever the real reason, the relics can still be venerated today in the Basilica of St. Nicholas in Bari.

Pope Francis has visited Bari, in Italy's southern region of Puglia, two times during his papacy. During both the 2018 and 2020 visits, he stopped in the basilica's crypt to venerate St. Nicholas' relics.

The pontifical basilica is an important place of ecumenism, since the Catholic Church welcomes many Eastern Catholics and Orthodox Christians to the pilgrimage site. In the crypt, where St. Nicholas is buried, there is also an altar for the celebration of Orthodox and Eastern Catholic liturgies.

For Christians who follow the Julian calendar, as the Eastern Orthodox do, St. Nicholas' principal feast day falls on Dec. 19. An Orthodox Divine Liturgy is usually celebrated at the Basilica of St. Nicholas that morning.

On Dec. 6, Catholics in Bari celebrate the beloved saint with Mass, concerts, and a procession of the saint's statue through the city's streets.

This story was first published on Dec. 6, 2022, and has been updated.

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CNA Staff, Dec 6, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

On Saturday, Dec. 7, Pope Francis will create 21 new cardinals at a consistory in Rome, including the archbishops of Tehran, Iran; Tokyo; and Toronto.

Here's everything you need to know:

What is a consistory?

Cardinals are the pope's closest assistants and advisers from all around the world. A consistory is a formal meeting of the College of Cardinals. The pope can convene them for a number of reasons.

One of the most common reasons for a consistory, as is the case here, is to create new cardinals. The ceremony in which the pope makes cardinals is known as an ordinary public consistory. 

Another consistory the pope may convene is an ordinary consistory to vote on the causes of new saints, the last step before a formal canonization can take place.

There are also extraordinary consistories, in which every cardinal is expected to take part, barring a serious reason.

The last ordinary public consistory to create new cardinals took place on Sept. 30, 2023. The new cardinals included Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem; Cardinal Stephen Chow of Hong Kong; and Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Who is being made cardinal this weekend?

Twenty-one men from around the world will "receive the red hat" and become cardinals at the consistory this month.

Among them is Archbishop Frank Leo, metropolitan archbishop of Toronto in Canada; Archbishop Tarcisius Isao Kikuchi, SVD, metropolitan archbishop of Tokyo in Japan; Archbishop Dominique Joseph Mathieu, OFM Conv, archbishop of Tehran-Ispahan, a Belgian missionary bishop in Iran; Father Fabio Baggio, CS, undersecretary for the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development (from Italy); Father Timothy Radcliffe, OP, a theologian from the United Kingdom; and Archbishop Domenico Battaglia of Naples, Italy.

A list along with an analysis of each cardinal-elect's spiritual motto and coat of arms can be found here.

What will actually happen at this consistory?

In addition to giving each new cardinal their hat, or biretta, Pope Francis at the Dec. 7 liturgy at St. Peter's Basilica will place a ring on the hand of each new cardinal while saying: "Receive this ring from the hand of Peter and know that, with the love of the prince of the apostles, your love for the Church is strengthened." They will also each receive the formal decree (or papal bull) announcing their creation as a cardinal.

The scarlet biretta is, as the pope will recite, a "sign of the dignity of the cardinalate, signifying your readiness to act with courage, even to the shedding of your blood, for the increase of the Christian faith, for the peace and tranquility of the people of God, and for the freedom and growth of the holy Roman Church."

Immediately before, the new cardinals will make a profession of faith by reciting the Creed. They then pronounce an oath of fidelity and obedience to the pope and his successors.

The pope will also assign each new cardinal a church in the Diocese of Rome, called a "titular church." This further links the cardinal to Rome and to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome.

The other members of the College of Cardinals, clergy, Catholics, and members of the public may all attend a consistory to create cardinals.

So, how many cardinals will there be, and why does it matter?

St. Paul VI established in 1970 that cardinals aged 80 and over cannot participate in the process of electing a pope — thus, cardinals who are younger than 80 are known as "electors." Paul VI also established a numerical limit for the number of electors, capping it at 120, but the number occasionally has risen above that number.   

The number of cardinal electors in the college — and indeed the number of cardinals in general — is always changing, since at any time cardinals may be celebrating their 80th birthday or may have died.

As of October of this year, 15 members of the College of Cardinals have turned 80 since the last consistory, thus losing their chance to participate in a future papal election, according to the National Catholic Register, CNA's sister news partner.

After the December consistory, there will be 141 cardinal electors (barring the unexpected death of any of the cardinals) — 111 (79%) of whom have been appointed by Pope Francis.

Since his election in 2013, Pope Francis has created 142 cardinals from 70 countries at nine consistories.

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Rome Newsroom, Dec 5, 2024 / 17:35 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis will create 21 new cardinals at a consistory this Saturday, including Archbishop Domenico Battaglia of Naples, Italy, who said he sees the appointment not as a personal honor but as "a call to dream together of a Church that gets its hands dirty, that is not afraid of the peripheries and that allows itself to be guided by the transforming power of the Gospel."

In an interview with ACI Stampa, CNA's Italian-language news partner, Battaglia described his initial reaction to the news as "a deep inner silence, inhabited by awe but also by fear."

"At that moment I felt all the weight and grace of a call that I had neither sought nor imagined," said the 62-year-old archbishop, who is known in his diocese simply as "Don Mimmo."

Appointed as archbishop of Naples in late 2020, Battaglia spent more than 20 years leading a center for drug rehabilitation in Catanzaro.

Speaking about what it means to become a cardinal in Naples today, Battaglia emphasized that "this is the meaning of the purple: service, not honor."

"Becoming a cardinal in this time and in this city means embracing the cross of the weakest, making room for their dreams and struggles, sharing the hope of those who, despite a thousand difficulties, continue to believe in a different future," he told ACI Stampa. "Naples when it loves, loves totally, and I believe that in this, my people, can help me in this totality of giving."

Battaglia drew inspiration from Bishop Tonino Bello, a venerated Italian prelate known for his work with the poor, quoting his saying: "We do not have the right to sit on the side of the road and watch those who pass by; we must take up the path again with the Gospel in our hands and poverty in our hearts."

The archbishop acknowledged that the challenges facing Naples are complex. "Naples is a city that changes you before you can even imagine changing it," he said. "In these years I have seen the beating heart of this land emerge powerfully: the generosity of people, the creativity that flourishes even in the midst of decay, the deep faith of those who rely on God with all their fragility."

However, he also pointed to ongoing struggles, particularly among young people. "I have also seen the pain that does not cease, the loneliness of so many, the young people struggling to find prospects, the bonds broken by malfeasance, and especially the difficulty of children living in a real educational emergency."

To address these challenges, Battaglia has initiated an Educational Pact in Naples, bringing together various stakeholders involved in education and youth work. "Naples cannot be changed from above: We need to walk together, listen, get alongside people, build networks of hope," he explained.

Looking toward his new role as cardinal, Battaglia said he sees it as "an invitation to go even deeper" rather than a culmination. "I will try to continue my journey together with my Church, starting again always and every day from the streets, the alleys, the faces that meet my life every day," he said.

He emphasized that as a cardinal, he feels "even stronger the call to widen my heart to the entire universal Church, collaborating with Pope Francis and my brother bishops, to proclaim the Gospel and continue to give voice to the least, to denounce injustice, to build alliances for the common good."

Battaglia, who participated in the recent Synod on Synodality, also reflected on the connection between synodality and hope, particularly in light of the upcoming Jubilee Year of Hope declared by Pope Francis.

"Synodality is walking together, while hope is the force that pushes us to take steps," he said. 

"The pope invites us to be a Church not closed in on itself but open to dialogue, to listening to each other, to building common paths. This is not only a method but a way of life, a conversion of the heart."

The consistory for the creation of new cardinals will take place on Saturday, Dec. 7, at St. Peter's Basilica.

This story was originally published by ACI Stampa, CNA's Italian-language news partner, and has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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Puebla, Mexico, Dec 5, 2024 / 11:00 am (CNA).

Over the past six years, the legalization of abortion has accelerated rapidly in Mexico, with 19 of the country's 32 states taking steps to decriminalize the deadly procedure.

What's behind this trend? ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, asked several pro-life leaders in Mexico to weigh in.

Political factors 

Luis Antonio Hernández is responsible for the Mexican platform Voto Católico, which analyzes the positions of Mexican politicians as they relate to the values ??of the Church.

In dialogue with ACI Prensa, Hernández pointed out that the increasing decriminalization of abortion throughout the country "could not be explained without the role played by the majorities achieved and built by MORENA," the National Regeneration Movement, founded in 2011 by former president Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador.

This role, according to Hernández, was carried out hand in hand with his political allies during the country's most recent election cycles: the Labor Party (PT) and the Green Ecologist Party of Mexico (PVEM).

In 2007, Mexico City — previously the Federal District or D.F. — was the first entity to decriminalize abortion up to 12 weeks. This happened while Marcelo Ebrard, who at that time was part of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), was head of government, the party López Obrador also belonged to at the time. 

In October 2011, López Obrador left the PRD and formalized the creation of MORENA. When he won the 2018 elections, Ebrard joined his government as minister of foreign affairs.

A major push for the decriminalization of abortion got underway during López Obrador's six-year term in power, between December 2018 and October of this year. MORENA, which in the 2018 elections obtained a large majority in the congresses of several states, took advantage of its power political effort to promote legislation in favor of abortion, getting 12 state congresses to approve regulations favorable to the practice.

Since Oct. 1 of this year, following the inauguration of the country's new president, Claudia Sheinbaum — also from the MORENA party — and thanks to the majority her party holds in additional state congresses, the states of Jalisco, Michoacán, San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas, State of Mexico, and Chiapas have all decriminalized abortion up to 12 weeks.

While during López Obrador's six-year term abortion was decriminalized in an average of two states per year, under Sheinbaum, in just 59 days, six states have done so.

Another important point highlighted by Hernández is the arrival of a woman to the country's presidency. This is a factor that, he said, "has been the touchstone to promote this agenda that seeks to achieve supposed benefits and false rights for women." 

As Hernández sees it, the ideological training of a large number of MORENA's legislative and political officials has also played a crucial role, as they appear to be "fully convinced of this ideological current."

Marcial Padilla, director of the pro-life platform ConParticipación, agreed that abortion is being decriminalized in Mexico "by a political will that is telling local congresses to carry out these actions." 

This, he told ACI Prensa, "is noticeable in the dirty, accelerated way in which these processes are being carried out, including sometimes even hiding it from society or voting in secret as happened in Jalisco." 

During an evening session on Oct. 4 of this year, the Congress of Jalisco took up and voted on modifications to the state penal code. With 20 votes in favor, 16 against, and one abstention, abortion was decriminalized up to 12 weeks. However, the voting was done in an anonymous manner, so it is not public knowledge who the legislators who approved the initiative are. 

"It is a political decision far removed from society," Padilla said, warning that "as long as we have a government that thinks about pushing women to consider abortion as an option instead of addressing their real needs, we are only going to see a spiral of violence and a spiral of death."

Breakdown of the family 

Padilla also said that one of the factors that has facilitated the decriminalization of abortion in the country is an "accelerated decomposition of nuclear families." 

The "instability of family units means that women increasingly find themselves in a vulnerable situation in which situations may arise where they become afraid, feel alone, and come to think about abortion," he said.

Paulina Mendieta, spokesperson for the Women for Mexico collective and other initiatives to help vulnerable women, warned that "abortion is a million-dollar industry." She noted that there are international aid organizations that offer money to local institutions "and they tell you that there is a condition [to give it to you] and the condition is often the promotion of abortion."

Mendieta also pointed out the "lack of creativity to solve the real problems of our country. So, because of this mental laziness, they prefer to say: 'Abortion [is] an option. Because we do not have the possibility of really resolving what women are experiencing.'"

In this sense, she called on platforms that defend women and are in favor of abortion to realize that legislators, by approving these measures, "are not solving women's problems; on the contrary, they get her more into trouble. "They should be the first to call abortion a false solution."

She pointed out that a woman who suffers domestic violence "is going to commit an abortion and lose the life of her child, but she is going to return home and continue being violated."

"Abortion is not solving women's real problems," she reiterated.

The 'spiral of silence'

One of the reasons why abortion is becoming normalized, according to Mendieta, is the so-called "spiral of silence." She observed that in popular consultation exercises carried out by the National Front for the Family in the State of Mexico and Mexico City, "the vast majority [of the people] are against abortion."

However, she explained that "for the media and social networks in general, it is better to say that you are in favor of abortion. So, the moment someone says 'This is not right,' they are crossed out, they are punished."

In 2023, the French multinational market research and consulting company Ipsos conducted a survey on abortion in Mexico. 

The results found that 26% of respondents believed abortion should be legal in most cases, while 23% believed it should be illegal in most cases. Another 19% believed it should be legal in all cases, while 16% maintained that it should be illegal in all cases. Sixteen percent of the respondents did not express a defined position.

Those who defend life, Mendieta lamented, are accused of being "ignorant, that we do not know the reality of women, that we are losers, that we are wasting our time, that we are not in favor of women." 

With these accusations, according to the pro-life leader, "they silence you, they punish you socially for saying that you are against abortion."

A spiritual battle 

María Lourdes Varela, director of the 40 Days for Life prayer campaign for Latin America, assured ACI Prensa that "behind every abortion is the devil." 

Varela said that in today's society there is the widespread idea that a baby represents a "great threat to the dream, to the profession, to the future of the girl, and turns into the enemy of his or her own mother," and that is "what the devil wants: to separate any act of love and life from God." 

"The devil rejoices in the murder of babies in the womb," the pro-life leader said.

She explained that, although the outlook seems bleak and at times it feels like "a lost war," in their days of prayer outside abortion clinics they find the opposite, because it is then "when we see conversions, when we see lives saved, even if it is only one. They are like caresses from God telling us: 'Keep going, keep fighting.'"

"In the face of the pain of seeing so many lives lost, so many laws and so many people defending things that are aberrations," Varela invited the faithful to "continue seeing Christ triumphant. So I encourage you to persevere in faith. How? Well, through the sacraments."

Why so much interest in abortion? 

In a Dec. 1 editorial, the Archdiocese of Mexico expressed its concern about the "number of states that have addressed the issue in a synchronized manner, and with unprecedented speed." 

The text, published in the weekly Desde la Fe, denounced that those who promote abortion "maintain the same narratives of supposed benefits for women and supposed rights" and criticized the fact that "arguments against it are not taken into account, even though they are well-founded in science and law."

In addition, the editorial warned that the "misnamed 'right to decide' is really a slogan that disguises the intention to force pregnant women in a state of vulnerability to abortion."

The archdiocese also recalled that "each of us loses some humanity when one of our brothers is discarded, murdered, whether in his development in the womb or as an adult" and stressed that "no economic benefit, no ideological benefit, compensates the loss of human beings at the hands of others."

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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Vatican City, Dec 4, 2024 / 13:30 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis was handed the key to a new Mercedes-Benz "popemobile" on Wednesday by the CEO of the German luxury car brand.

Ola Källenius, the CEO of Mercedes-Benz, presented the pope with a white and chrome key fob inside a white box after showing off the new open-air vehicle in a parking lot inside Vatican City on Dec. 4.

The modified G-Wagon features a rotating heated seat and a heated hand rail to keep the pope warm while greeting pilgrims during winter rides around St. Peter's Square.

The fully electric, white SUV is emblazoned with Francis' coat of arms, has black detailing, and has chrome rims. Two small Holy See flags wave from the front hood.

The license plate of the papal ride is "SCV 1," which is the Italian acronym for Vatican City State.

Mercedes-Benz has provided vehicles for the Vatican for 94 years. During the last 45 years, the pope has used "popemobiles" based on the Mercedes-Benz G-Class. 

"With the new popemobile, Pope Francis is the first pontiff to travel in an all-electric Mercedes-Benz during his public appearances. This is a great honor for our company and I would like to thank His Holiness for his trust," Källenius said in a Dec. 4 press release.

Pope Francis has been using full or partially electric cars for several years. In 2023, the Vatican also announced a partnership with auto manufacturer Volkswagen to introduce an all-electric, zero-impact car fleet in the Vatican by 2030.

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CNA Staff, Dec 4, 2024 / 14:00 pm (CNA).

A priest in New Orleans pleaded guilty this week to kidnapping and raping a teenage boy in the 1970s, heading off a long-delayed trial that launched with an indictment last year. 

In September of last year, 93-year-old Father Lawrence Hecker was indicted on charges of aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, an aggravated crime against nature, and theft. 

The sex abuse crimes are alleged to have occurred between Jan. 1, 1975, and Dec. 31, 1976, according to the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office. 

His trial was repeatedly delayed this year amid Hecker's ill health and uncertainty over his mental competency to stand trial. Orleans Parish First Assistant District Attorney Ned McGowan had promised to "roll him in on a gurney" to try him.

On Tuesday, meanwhile, the priest filed a guilty plea with the court, with his lawyer saying the priest "decid[ed] that he wanted to take responsibility for the crimes that he committed."

"I think it was just a matter of, we were on the finish line, this was the day before the trial, I think he came to the realization of what that was going to look like, and he made the decision to enter the guilty plea," Hecker's attorney, Bobby Hjortsberg, said outside of Orleans Criminal Court on Tuesday. 

Asked why the trial had been delayed for so long, Hjortsberg told reporters that Hecker is "an old, old man" who is "deteriorating." 

The trial "has been a long, difficult process for everybody involved, especially obviously the victims," Hjortsberg noted. 

Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams told reporters that when Hecker returns for sentencing, "the judge is going to sentence him to a life sentence."

"I believe this investigation and this prosecution represents a critical moment for some little boys who are now men — some of them who are now grandfathers — who have lived with this horrific abuse for years," Williams said. 

The Archdiocese of New Orleans lists Hecker as among the priests who "are alive and have been accused of sexually abusing a minor, which led to their removal from ministry."

The archdiocesan website says it received allegations against Hecker in 1996 and removed him from ministry in 2002. The archdiocese says the "time frame" of Hecker's abuse spans the late 1960s and the early 1970s. The priest had in 1999 reportedly confessed to abusing multiple teenage boys during those years.

In a statement on Wednesday, the archdiocese said: "It is our hope and prayer that the court proceedings bring healing and peace to the survivor and all survivors of sexual abuse." 

"We continue to hold all survivors in prayer," the statement added. 

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London, England, Dec 4, 2024 / 14:30 pm (CNA).

The case for assisted dying rests on dangerous misconceptions about the reality of death and dying, according to leading palliative care doctors across England and Wales.

Following a Westminster debate on Nov. 29 in which members of England's Parliament (MPs) voted in favor of legalizing assisted suicide, 15 palliative care specialists voiced their concerns in a letter to The Times, published Dec. 3.

Reflecting on the historic vote, the signatories wrote that "anyone watching the debate would have been forgiven for thinking that most deaths involve great suffering."  

"While we do not deny 'bad deaths' can happen, most reflect failure of care," the doctors wrote. "As the bill progresses through Parliament we must ensure that this is accompanied by progress in understanding 'ordinary dying.'"

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was initiated by MP Kim Leadbeater and allows terminally-ill adults aged 18 or over the right to request medically assisted suicide.

The bill passed its Second Reading last Friday, with 330 MPs voting in favor of it and 275 against it.

The Association of Palliative Medicine in the U.K. is opposed to changing the law on assisted suicide in England and Wales.

In their letter to the Times, the palliative medical experts highlighted a number of other misconceptions underpinning the debate before the vote, including the idea that people regularly resort to starving themselves to death and that covert euthanasia is already happening across England and Wales.

"Several MPs suggested that many people resort to starving themselves to death, which we believe misunderstands the expected reduction in oral intake in dying people as the body shuts down," the doctors wrote. 

"Other misconceptions concerned the use of morphine to treat pain and suffering at the end of life, with the conflicting suggestions that there is both a limit to the amount of morphine that can be safely used and that high doses of morphine are already used as 'covert' assisted dying," they said.

Pro-life campaigners are now redoubling their strategic efforts to ensure the bill falls at the next hurdle.

A statement released by Right to Life UK on Nov. 29 read: "A large number of MPs who voted for the bill indicated that they were only doing so with a view to debating the bill at further stages. As the vote margin was 55 votes, it would only take 28 MPs to move their vote to opposing the bill for it to be voted down at Third Reading. This provides a clear path for those opposing the bill to defeat it at Third Reading."

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