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CNA Staff, Apr 7, 2025 / 16:47 pm (CNA).

A shooting in northwest Detroit on Monday morning resulted in a stray bullet breaching the newly dedicated Catholic chapel at Loyola High School, reportedly while about 40 students were inside.

Police said the bullet entered St. Peter Claver Chapel at around 7:50 a.m. on April 7. There were no reported injuries, and police are canvassing the neighborhood seeking information on what led to the shooting and who was involved.

CNA reached out to the Detroit Police Department for further information, inquiring as to whether there are any suspects in the shooting, but did not receive a response by publication time.

The Catholic boys high school in Detroit, which is under the care of the Jesuits Midwest Province, dedicated the new chapel last week. The archdiocese says it is the first Catholic worship space constructed in the city of Detroit since the mid-1960s.

Deborale Richardson-Phillips, Loyola High School's principal, said in a statement to local news on Monday that the bullet penetrated the chapel wall shortly before the school's regularly scheduled morning prayer. She said the school is "deeply grateful to report that no one was injured."

"As a precaution, all students are currently being held safely in the gym. For everyone's safety, while the investigation is ongoing, students will be permitted to leave with a parent or guardian, students who drove will only be released with parental consent, and no student will be allowed to walk home," the principal continued. 

"We will continue to monitor the situation closely and will keep you informed with any updates as they become available. Please join us in prayer for the continued safety of our entire school community."

According to the Detroit Catholic, the newspaper of the archdiocese, the 225-seat chapel was dedicated April 2 after a $9 million fundraising campaign, which launched in 2023. 

Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger — himself newly appointed in February and installed as archbishop last month — presided over the dedication alongside leaders of Loyola High School, the Detroit Jesuit community, and donors to the campaign. 

The chapel features sacred items donated from across the Archdiocese of Detroit, including chairs from St. James Parish in Novi, Stations of the Cross from the former St. Philomena Parish in Detroit, a statue of Our Lady from the former St. Ladislaus Parish in Hamtramck, and a tabernacle from St. Daniel Parish in Clarkston.

During the dedication, Jesuit Father Thomas McClain, superior of the Detroit Jesuit community, presented Richardson-Phillips with a relic of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, as a reminder to the school "to look to Christ as the model to follow."

Loyola's campus used to be home to the former St. Peter Claver Church, but the church roof collapsed in January 2018, forcing the school to celebrate Mass and prayer time in the school's gym, which is located inside the edifice of the former St. Francis de Sales Parish.

"The transition from praying in a gym, where we play and we laugh and eat popcorn, to this beautiful new space on our campus where there's a different [sense] of reverence is really exciting for our students," Richardson-Phillips, the school's principal, told the Detroit Catholic. 

"It's really exciting for our students, and it's exciting for me to see them connecting at what I consider to be the heart of our mission, which is faith formation."

The school's campaign saw the construction of the new chapel complex and a student courtyard as well as the construction of a welcome center, a $1.5 million student tuition assistance fund, and a $1 million faculty development fund.

"On behalf of the archdiocese, I want to say to our benefactors and donors, these things would not have happened without you," Weisenburger said at the April 2 dedication. 

"God sees these things, and for those of us who are called to leadership, this and the way that you have made this possible matters. Our God sees it."

Daniel Meloy of the Detroit Catholic contributed to this story.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 7, 2025 / 17:29 pm (CNA).

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has made what it is calling the "difficult decision" to not renew cooperative agreements with the federal government amid policy changes from President Donald Trump's administration to cut funding from refugee programs.

"While this marks a painful end to a life-sustaining partnership with our government that has spanned decades across administrations of both political parties, it offers every Catholic an opportunity to search our hearts for new ways to assist," USCCB President Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio said in an April 7 statement.

The archbishop wrote that the funding cut "forces us to reconsider the best way to serve the needs of our brothers and sisters seeking safe harbor from violence and persecution."

For about four and a half decades, the USCCB partnered with the federal government to provide services that help resettle refugees and support minors who entered the country without a parent or guardian or are separated from their families.

"All participants in these programs were welcomed by the U.S. government to come to the United States," Broglio said. "These are displaced souls who see in America a place of dreams and hope."

During the Biden administration, the federal government provided more than $100 million annually to the bishops, who redirected those funds to affiliated Catholic organizations that provided services. In recent years, the federal funding covered more than 95% of the expenses.

The Trump administration, which alleges that these programs strain both federal and local social services and facilitate unsustainable migration into the United States, has halted the entry of new refugees and ended federal support for programs that fund USCCB affiliates and other nongovernmental organizations that provide migrant and refugee services.

In February, the USCCB sued the administration over the funding freeze and laid off 50 employees due to the funding shortfall. Numerous Catholic organizations have also announced layoffs due to the administration's cuts to both domestic and international programs. 

Broglio said the USCCB "simply cannot sustain the work on our own at current levels or in current form." He added that the bishops "will work to identify alternative means of support for the people the federal government has already admitted to these programs."

"Our efforts were acts of pastoral care and charity, generously supported by the people of God when funds received from the government did not cover the full cost," he added. "The Gospel's call to do what we can for the least among us remains our guide. We ask you to join us in praying for God's grace in finding new ways to bring hope where it is most needed."

The archbishop noted that the USCCB, since its founding, "has been concerned with helping families who are fleeing war, violence, and oppression." In 1920, he noted, it established a Bureau of Immigration to help displaced families find new opportunities in the United States.

"Many of us can trace our own parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents to these very families," Broglio pointed out.

The USCCB president indicated that the organization "will continue advocating for policy reforms that provide orderly, secure immigration processes, ensuring the safety of everyone in our communities" and will "remain steadfast in our commitment to advocating on behalf of men, women, and children suffering the scourge of human trafficking."

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Vatican City, Apr 7, 2025 / 18:01 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis has donated to Ukraine four ambulances that will be deployed in hardest-hit areas in a concrete gesture of his closeness and concern for those suffering the devastating effects of the war there. The vehicles bear the Vatican's coat of arms.

According to the Dicastery for the Service of Charity on Monday, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, papal almoner, will be responsible for delivering the ambulances, which are in addition to the medical equipment that has been donated in the past.

On other occasions, the pope has blessed the ambulances before the trip, but the Holy See press office did not specify if he did so this time.

"The Holy Father has decided to send his eminence to Ukraine again to donate four ambulances, equipped with all the necessary medical equipment to save lives, which will be deployed in war zones," the statement read.

Krajewski will be assisted by three other drivers from Ukraine during his trip, which will include visits to areas where there is active fighting. The cardinal is also traveling to the country "to be with the people so tested by the conflict, to pray with them, and to be an expression of the pope's closeness," the Vatican reported.

The Polish cardinal, who since 2013 has been papal almoner, the person in charge of carrying out charitable works in the name of the Holy Father, has already visited the country more than a dozen times since the outbreak of the war in 2022.

The press release quotes Pope Francis from his Easter Day 2024 urbi et orbi message: Only Jesus "opens the doors to life," the pope said, "those very doors we keep shutting with the wars spreading throughout the world."

For the Vatican, the pope's words "become action to break down the barriers and bring the Easter light into the shadows of darkness." 

The pontiff''s donation comes at "this time of Easter rebirth," in which the pope wanted to make "a gesture of closeness in one of the most painful places where war has been raging for three years: tormented Ukraine."

"Three years that for the Holy Father are a 'painful and shameful anniversary for humanity.' Pope Francis always remembers the Eastern European country, both in the Angelus prayer and in his appeals for peace, which constantly refer to other dramatic situations such as in Palestine, Israel, Myanmar, Kivu, and Sudan," the statement reads. "The gift of the four ambulances thus becomes a sign of jubilee hope anchored in Christ."

Last Friday, in a new diplomatic effort between the Vatican and Russia, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See's secretary for relations with states and international organizations, telephoned Sergei Lavrov, minister of foreign affairs of the Russian Federation.

The Holy See press office stated that the conversation focused on "the overall picture of world politics" with "particular attention to the situation of the war in Ukraine" and "some initiatives aimed at stopping the military actions."

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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Cambridge, Massachusetts, Apr 7, 2025 / 13:01 pm (CNA).

Professor Scott Hahn on Friday, April 4, spoke to Harvard's Catholic Church, St. Paul's, about the saving truth of Scripture. 

Hahn, one of today's most well-known American Catholic scholars, has authored over 40 books on theology and apologetics. He is founder and president of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology and is devoted to equipping Catholics with a deeper understanding of Scripture and Catholic doctrine.

Returning to Boston for the event hosted by the Harvard Catholic Forum, Hahn noted the city "still feels like a second home" to him after attending Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and previously living in the area.

"The Christian community, especially the Catholic community, is so unique. It's good to be back, and it's good to see it growing and getting better," Hahn said, reflecting on the Harvard Catholic Forum. "It's a gem."

Hahn said his hope for the lecture — and his main prayer request in anticipation of the event — was to build bridges.

"In an intellectual community as high-powered as Harvard, you have many gifted people from a wide range of backgrounds," he said. His goal was to have the truth of Scripture resonate with each person, regardless of their background, education, or faith tradition.

His lecture was titled "Veritas: The Saving Truth of Scripture." As he began, Hahn clarified that a more fitting title would be "Veritas: The Saving Truth and Humility of God's Word."

Hahn began by tracing Harvard's history of "Veritas," from its original motto of "In Christi Gloriam," meaning "For the glory of Christ," in 1650 to its 1692 motto, "Veritas Christo et Ecclesiae," translated to "Truth for Christ and the Church." Today, only "Veritas" remains: "Truth."

The university prides itself on its academic integrity and pursuit of truth across disciplines. As Catholics, Hahn argued, we are called to do the same in our faith.

"As Catholics, we recognize the unique authority of Scripture. At the same time, we don't reduce God's word simply to the sacred page," he said. "Our faith is not a religion of the book, but it is a religion of the word. The word is, first of all, a person: the Word made flesh."

Through Jesus, especially in his humility, we can better understand Scripture, the inspired word that reflects the mystery of the Incarnate Word. Scripture, Hahn said, both communicates this mystery and participates in it.

The starting point to enter into this mystery, Hahn said, is humility.

"The foolishness of divine condescension urges that we lay aside our educated conceit in approaching the biblical words," he said. "It calls for intellectual humility in which the mind bows before the mystery."

This humility is perfectly reflected in the life of Jesus, from his birth as a baby to his death on the cross. "The power of God works through human weakness," Hahn said.

Hahn used the example of Luke 24 to exemplify Jesus' humility after the Resurrection. In the story, Jesus prevents two followers, Cleopas and an unnamed friend, from seeing who he is. He walks seven miles with them, explaining the Scriptures. After he finally reveals himself to them, Jesus disappears, leaving them to share the full truth that he has given them.

Hahn explained that the unidentified character in the story is not a mystery to be solved but rather "an invitation to the reader to identify ourselves as that, walking on the road and sharing this unique experience of Jesus."

As we walk along this path, we learn about the Word Incarnate through the written word. The Scripture that Jesus explained to Cleopas and the unnamed friend, the Old Testament, is essential for us to understand Jesus, who is the fulfillment of this Scripture.

"The New Testament is quite unintelligible theologically apart from the whole," Hahn said. The early Church understood Jesus within the context of the Old Testament, and we are called to do the same, he said.

While Jesus exemplified extreme humility in his earthly ministry, he continues to come humbly to us today, as Hahn reminded the audience: "The Eternal Word also gives himself to us as common bread."

To reject this truth of Jesus in the Eucharist is to reject Scripture, he said. "Ignorance of Christ's real presence in the Eucharist is a form of ignorance of Christ himself," Hahn said, quoting Pope Benedict XVI.

In the pursuit of veritas, both at Harvard and in our Catholic faith, Hahn closed the talk with an invitation: "I would conclude by inviting all of us, Christians or not, to take the Lord at his word, and above all to open our hearts to the Word made flesh."

The full lecture can be seen below.

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CNA Staff, Apr 7, 2025 / 15:22 pm (CNA).

The Catholic University of America (CUA) has announced that Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, is set to speak at its 2025 commencement ceremony. 

Barron, a university alumnus, is known for his work evangelizing digital media through his nonprofit global media apostolate Word on Fire and his YouTube channel, which has reached nearly 2 million subscribers.

With its campus in the nation's capital of Washington, D.C., CUA is the national university of the Catholic Church in the United States.

Barron will receive an honorary degree alongside five others: U.S. Rep. Christopher Smith; former March for Life president Jeanne Mancini; Archbishop Vicken Aykazian of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America; Monsignor John Enzler, former president of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington; and Steven Muncy, alumnus and founder of the humanitarian nonprofit Community and Family Services International.

In a statement, CUA President Peter Kilpatrick praised Barron's work in education and evangelism. "Bishop Barron has spent his life illuminating Catholic teachings and making them accessible to millions of people around the world through his books, videos, and social media presence," Kilpatrick said.

In addition to founding Word on Fire, Barron is a No. 1 Amazon bestselling author and host of the "Catholicism" documentary series that aired on PBS.

"His ability to engage modern culture while faithfully presenting the richness of the Catholic intellectual tradition embodies what we strive to instill in our students," Kilpatrick continued. "His call to evangelize through beauty, goodness, and truth will provide powerful inspiration for our graduating class as they prepare to lead with light in their future endeavors."

Sharing his gratitude for the opportunity to return to his alma mater, where he earned master's degree in philosophy in 1982, Barron said: "I am honored to accept The Catholic University of America's invitation to deliver an address during this year's commencement ceremony." 

In recent years, Barron has delivered multiple commencement addresses, including at University of St. Thomas in Houston in 2021, Benedictine College in 2022, and Hillsdale College in 2023. Barron has also spoken at the headquarters of Google and Facebook, and has appeared on various networks, including CNN, Fox News, and EWTN. 

Commencement will take place on May 17 at 10 a.m. ET. Approximately 1,300 degrees are scheduled to be awarded to graduate and undergraduate students.

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CNA Newsroom, Apr 6, 2025 / 07:32 am (CNA).

Still recovering from bilateral pneumonia that hospitalized him for nearly 40 days, Pope Francis made a surprise appearance in St. Peter's Square on Sunday for the Jubilee of the Sick, sharing profound reflections on suffering, care, and the transformative power of illness.

Wearing nasal cannulas that provide supplemental oxygen, Pope Francis arrived in a wheelchair accompanied by a nurse.

Hundreds of faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square on April 6, receiving him enthusiastically around 11:45 a.m. local time.

In his homily for the Jubilee of the Sick and Health Care Workers, which was read aloud by Archbishop Rino Fisichella as the pope continues his recovery, Francis drew inspiration from the prophet Isaiah and the day's Gospel reading to explore the spiritual dimensions of illness and healing.

The pontiff said that "the sickbed can become a 'holy place' of salvation and redemption, both for the sick and for those who care for them."

"I have much in common with you at this time of my life, dear brothers and sisters who are sick: the experience of illness, of weakness, of having to depend on others in so many things, and of needing their support," the pope told his audience.

"This is not always easy, but it is a school in which we learn each day to love and to let ourselves be loved, without being demanding or pushing back, without regrets and without despair, but rather with gratitude to God and to our brothers and sisters for the kindness we receive, looking toward the future with acceptance and trust."

The 88-year-old pontiff invited the faithful to contemplate the Israelites' situation in exile, as Isaiah described. "It seemed that all was lost," Francis noted, but added that it was precisely in this moment of trial that "a new people was being born." He connected this biblical experience to the woman in the day's Gospel reading who had been condemned and ostracized for her sins.

Her accusers, ready to cast the first stone, were halted by the quiet authority of Jesus, the pope's homily explained.

In comparing these stories, Pope Francis emphasized that God does not wait for our lives to be perfect before intervening.

"Illness is certainly one of the harshest and most difficult of life's trials, when we experience in our own flesh our common human frailty. It can make us feel like the people in exile, or like the woman in the Gospel: deprived of hope for the future," the pontiff's homily said.

"Yet that is not the case. Even in these times, God does not leave us alone, and if we surrender our lives to him, precisely when our strength fails, we will be able to experience the consolation of his presence. By becoming man, he wanted to share our weakness in everything."

Pope Francis thanked all health care workers for their service in a particularly moving passage: "Dear doctors, nurses, and health care workers, in caring for your patients, especially the most vulnerable among them, the Lord constantly affords you an opportunity to renew your lives through gratitude, mercy, and hope."

The pontiff encouraged them to receive every patient as an opportunity to renew their sense of humanity. His words acknowledged the challenges facing medical workers, including inadequate working conditions and even instances of aggression against them.

Bringing his address to a close, the pontiff recalled the encyclical Spe Salvi of Pope Benedict XVI, who reminded the Church that "the true measure of humanity is determined in relation to suffering." Francis warned, with the words of his predecessor, that "a society unable to accept its suffering members is a cruel and inhuman society."

The Holy Father urged all present to resist the temptation to marginalize and forget the elderly, ill, or those weighed down by life's hardships: "Dear friends, let us not exclude from our lives those who are frail, as at times, sadly, a certain mentality does today."

'I feel the finger of God'

In his brief Angelus remarks following the Mass, the pope shared his personal experience: "Dear friends, as during my hospitalization, even now in my convalescence I feel the 'finger of God' and experience his caring touch."

The pope also called for prayers for all who suffer and for health care professionals, urging investment in necessary resources for care and research, so that health care systems may be inclusive and attend to the most fragile and poor.

Pope Francis concluded with a plea for peace in conflict zones, including Ukraine, Gaza, the Middle East, Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, and Haiti.

The Holy See has not yet commented on whether Pope Francis will participate in Holy Week ceremonies, with the Vatican press office indicating that "it is premature to discuss this" and assuring that further details will be provided later.

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CNA Staff, Apr 6, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

As digital platforms continue to explode, there has been a rise in Catholic content creators producing and sharing content across many social media platforms as a way to spread the Gospel and reach people for Christ. A quick look at Instagram, for example, yields a plethora of Catholic content creators including priests, religious sisters, catechists, authors, married couples, and more. 

CNA spoke to a handful of these digital evangelists about their work and their use of digital media in spreading the Gospel. 

Desirae Sifuentes, UncatechizedCatholic on Instagram

Desirae Sifuentes, also known as UncatechizedCatholic on Instagram, is a Catholic content creator with more than 70,000 followers on Instagram. When she was in her 20s she realized that as a cradle Catholic who was not catechized well when she was younger, it was difficult to learn more complex teachings of the Church. She realized she would need a theology degree but such a degree shouldn't be necessary.

"I was thinking to myself, 'Why don't we have something to serve somebody like me? Because I know there are a lot of people like me.' And I heard the Holy Spirit speak to me and he said, 'You're an uncatechized Catholic and there are others like you and you can help them,'" she told CNA in an interview. 

Sifuentes, a mother of six who will graduate from Franciscan University with a degree in theology in May, now creates content with a "focus on catechesis."

"My goal is overall evangelization: so, people who know the faith itself but also understand how to think about the faith," she explained. "So I bring a philosophical side to it as well. Not every post is strictly educational. Sometimes it's just fake because I'm trying to get you to think about it. And my sweet spot, if we're going with the university analogy, is I try to hit 200- to 300-level catechetics." 

Sifuentes added that she sees the internet as "this ability to evangelize, particularly in a Vatican II new evangelization style."

However, she added that this way of communicating "is not a replacement of our in-person evangelization. Very few of those people will actually convert from the online efforts alone, but I think today, it's the first door to kind of entering this space."

Emily Wilson, emwilss on Instagram

Emily Wilson is a well-known Catholic mother, wife, and speaker with over 120,000 followers on Instagram. Her content is geared toward women with the hope of encouraging them in their faith journey and in their vocations. 

Wilson told CNA that her page began as a way to encourage women in their faith. "I wanted to help women who felt lost, discouraged, or bogged down by the lies of the culture live more fully in the freedom, joy, and peace they were made for," she said, adding that "communicating to them through social media was a beautiful way to reach women all over the world." 

However, Wilson does not consider herself a content creator.

"I believe content can tend to be meaningless filler that people post just to have things to say and just to grow accounts," she said. "I have always shared with the women who follow me that I do not share content, but I share meaningful things God puts on my heart to share with them to encourage them and inspire them on their journey of faith." 

Despite not considering herself a content creator, Wilson does see the importance sharing content about the faith online plays in the Church's role of evangelization.

"I believe people who share online in a heartfelt, vulnerable, beautiful, encouraging way can really help others see the beauty of the faith," she said.

Kira and Jeff Andrea, MercyDivineMusic on Instagram and YouTube

Husband and wife Kira and Jeff Andrea spent years performing in secular bands but always felt uncomfortable sharing their faith. After feeling called to start a new chapter, the Catholic couple began Mercy Divine — Catholic music with the aim of drawing listeners closer to Jesus, his divine mercy, and the beauty of the Catholic faith. 

With more than 286,000 followers on Instagram and over 165,000 followers on YouTube, the duo now share a variety of social media content including the singing of Latin hymns, praying novenas, and videos discussing different aspects of the Catholic faith.  

"We try to share content that will show the beauty of Catholicism. The first reel that went viral for us was on devotion to the holy face of Jesus. This was a humbling and fitting reminder of why our page exists — to serve God," Kira told CNA. 

As a content creator, Kira said she tries "not to put the focus on myself too much. I want the focus on God, the richness of our faith — the miracles, wonders, devotions, prayers, and the love of Christ and Our Blessed Mother." 

"Our goal is to do the same with our music. We love the beauty of tradition and reverence for Jesus in the Eucharist and want to bring that into everything we create," she added. "Our goal is to move hearts and souls to love God, embrace their faith, and live it boldly." 

In terms of the role Catholic content creators play in evangelization, Kira said she believes that "it's crucial for Catholic content creators to be in every social media space evangelizing and being examples of Christ's love in the world, which at times requires us to stand up against popular culture." 

"So many people, both young and old, are searching for truth, spending a great deal of time on social media, and if we can challenge them or get them thinking about their faith, then we are doing our job," she explained. 

Alexandro Jurado, VoiceofReason_clips on Instagram 

Alexandro Jurado, a Byzantine Catholic known as "Voice of Reason" on social media, credits his digital platforms to constant encouragement from his best friend since kindergarten. 

"He got me to evangelize and to do apologetics online after he had a reversion to the faith, due, in large part, to my persistent evangelization efforts with him, as well as the yearlong formal catechesis I gave him, which culminated in his confirmation in the Church in 2021," Jurado told CNA. 

"It took him almost two years to convince me to share the faith on social media, and in March of 2023 we finally started Voice of Reason on TikTok. A few months later, in late July, we got on YouTube and Instagram," he added. 

Today, Voice of Reason has more than 96,000 followers on Instagram, over 105,000 subscribers on YouTube, and over 245,000 followers on TikTok.

Jurado explained that his content is "primarily apologetical." 

"We share and defend the Catholic faith, and we engage with other non-Catholic points of view, which includes responding to some of the harshest critiques of Catholicism," he shared. "We also promote the Eastern rites of the Catholic Church and Catholic culture as a whole."

In terms of the role Catholic content creators are playing in the Church's mission of evangelization, Jurado said he believes these individuals "have become the primary evangelists and catechists in the modern age."

"No longer do laypeople rely on their local parish catechists for faith formation, but on their favorite social media influencers," he said. "Even many clergy have realized the game-changer that social media has become, and many bishops, priests, and deacons have harnessed the power of these platforms to share the Catholic faith with the masses."

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ACI MENA, Apr 5, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

On the morning of Sunday, March 2, without any prior notice, Johnny Fouad Dawoud, a deacon in the Syriac Catholic Church for the Archdiocese of Homs, was released from a Syrian prison after a decade of confinement.

ACI MENA, CNA's Arabic-language news partner, spoke with him after he was reunited with his family to discuss his ordeal of being captured by the Al-Nusra Front, his moments of faith and doubt behind bars, and the light that now shines in his life.

ACI MENA: Tell us first about your upbringing and journey in the Church.

Dawoud: I was born into a religiously committed family, and from childhood, I was passionate about participating in pastoral activities. At the age of 12, I joined the minor and then the major seminary in Lebanon, graduating in 2009 with a degree in theology and philosophy from the University of the Holy Spirit in Kaslik, Lebanon.

I returned to Homs to prepare for my priestly ordination, but as the date for the diaconal ordination approached, I felt unprepared to take on those roles and was not entirely convinced about celibacy. After much reflection and consultation, I decided to be honest with God and myself, and withdrew — a decision that surprised my family and friends, especially my uncle, Cardinal Patriarch Mar Ignatius Moses I Daoud.

[Editor's note: Dawoud later became a permanent deacon in the Syriac Catholic Church, allowing him to read the Epistles during the liturgy.]

What challenges did you face after that?

I got married and was blessed with a child. However, with the outbreak of the Syrian revolution, I lost my home in the Christian district of Hamidiyah in Old Homs due to clashes. Military service was the biggest challenge; I was moved between several fronts, the last being Abu Dhuhur airport, where we were besieged for months.

The situation was tragic; food supplies ran out, and we were forced to eat grass and leaves. The water was contaminated and not potable, leading to various diseases. In September 2015, the rebels stormed the airport, and only 38 out of 300 survived.

After you were captured and taken to prison, how did you experience captivity?

We were held hoping for a prisoner exchange, but regime officials did not seriously cooperate with our case. At one point, their negotiators even said, "Kill them; we no longer care about them." Throughout the 10 years, we were generally treated well and were not subjected to torture or insult, except during the initial investigation period. Yet, our suffering was immense, the hardest part being the complete isolation from the outside world, enough to destroy anyone's psyche. Living in the unknown as if you were dead causes constant turmoil and devastating frustration.

We fell ill, including with COVID-19, which nearly killed us, and we didn't even know it had claimed millions outside. Food and water were generally good, though the lack of washing and bathroom water troubled us, but we managed. 

After three years of captivity, we were allowed one short call per year (during Ramadan) with our families, thanks to a meeting with Abu Mohammad al-Julani, leader of the Al-Nusra Front.

How did this experience affect your faith?

It's very difficult for a captive to describe his spiritual experience in prison in a few words. 

Muslims were interested in discussing religious issues with me, some of whom I avoided debating due to their blind fanaticism — they knew only words like infidel, polytheist, apostate, atheist, and hypocrite. 

However, graduates from Islamic legal institutes and colleges were enjoyable to discuss with, as I had a margin of freedom to speak and defend my faith, which they accepted and understood.

I truly loved witnessing to my faith as if I were living among our saintly fathers and martyrs in times of early persecution. I always lived with Apostle Paul, saying with him: "We are ambassadors for Christ," indeed being an ambassador for Christ and not just in words, in a place where that was considered heresy.

I prayed a lot, conversing with my Lord at night and calling upon him during the day. But it pains me to say that at the beginning of my captivity, as the years passed and my and my family's suffering increased, my faith wavered. My trust in God began to shake, and I wondered: Why does my Lord not respond to me? Why is he punishing me? What sins did my family commit to deserve all this suffering?

What about the moment of your release and your reception in Homs?

On the morning of Sunday, March 2, without any prior knowledge, they called my name, asking me to prepare to leave. I stood outside the prison gate, unbelieving that I was free. I was transferred to the Christian village of Ya'qubiya in Idlib countryside, where Father Louai the Franciscan and the locals warmly received me, leaving a lasting impression on me. There, I contacted the pastor of our Syriac Catholic archdiocese, Bishop Jacob Murad, and my family. My brother Munther, who did not know I had been released, began screaming with joy when I told him, "Prepare dinner, I'll be home this evening."

When I arrived at my diocese in Homs, Bishop Jacob, along with priests, my wife, my son, and many relatives and friends, were there to receive me. We entered the church to give thanks to the Lord, and I received holy Communion from his eminence the bishop. After receiving congratulations, I headed to my village, Maskanah (in the Homs countryside), and we entered the village with a grand celebration. 

Christians and Muslims, young and old, welcomed me, and crowds from other areas came. When I saw the joy of the people at my liberation, I truly and immediately forgot the suffering of those 10 years.

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

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Washington D.C., Apr 4, 2025 / 19:52 pm (CNA).

Advocates for those with disabilities focused on what they call troubling trends in government-backed assisted suicide programs in the United States and Canada during a panel on the subject held Friday at the 2025 annual conference of the Religion News Association.

Although physician-assisted suicide is still illegal in most parts of the world, the practice is currently legal in about a dozen countries, including Canada, Germany, Spain, and Belgium, along with 10 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

The phenomenon is causing growing concern for patients' rights advocates and disability rights advocates who have warned that jurisdictions that allow assisted suicide are failing to provide necessary life-affirming care for vulnerable populations in need of it and are rather encouraging suicide as a cheaper, quicker, and easier option.

According to Matt Vallière, executive director of the Patients Rights Action Fund, U.S. state-level assisted suicide programs are discriminatory against people with life-threatening conditions and are a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Vallière spoke at the conference along with Krista Carr, CEO of Inclusion Canada, during an April 4 panel moderated by EWTN News President Montse Alvarado.

Illustrating the problem, Vallière pointed out that many states do "not guarantee palliative care," yet "they will pay for every instance of assisted suicide."

"I don't call that autonomy, I call that eugenics," he emphasized.

In Canada, Carr's organization has filed a lawsuit against Canada's medical assistance in dying (MAID) program. The lawsuit focuses on the country's expansion of MAID to include people with disabilities that are not immediately life-threatening. 

Canada has expanded the program, Carr explained, to "people with an incurable disease or disability who are not dying, so they're not at [the] end of life and their death is not reasonably foreseeable," Carr indicated. She noted the government plans to expand the program even further in 2027 to include people who have mental illnesses. 

Carr warned that "it's being called a choice," but "it's not a choice." Similar to Vallière's concerns with the United States, Carr said assisted suicide is being pushed on people who are in "a desperate situation where they can't get the support they need."

According to Carr, Canada does not guarantee a right to live a decent life, but "we do have a right, a funded right, to a lethal injection."

Carr noted that last week, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recommended that Canada repeal the application of the MAID program to people "whose natural death is not reasonably foreseeable" as well as halt extension of the program to people whose "sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness."

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CNA Staff, Apr 4, 2025 / 15:47 pm (CNA).

Theodore McCarrick, the disgraced former cardinal and archbishop of Washington who spent decades moving in the highest circles in the Church and was later found guilty in a Vatican investigation of sexually abusing minors and adults, died April 3 at age 94. 

A spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Washington on Friday shared a statement with CNA in which Cardinal Robert McElroy confirmed McCarrick's passing. McCarrick, who was reportedly suffering with dementia, had been living in a facility in rural Missouri. 

"Today I learned of the death of Theodore McCarrick, former archbishop of Washington. At this moment I am especially mindful of those who he harmed during the course of his priestly ministry. Through their enduring pain, may we remain steadfast in our prayers for them and for all victims of sexual abuse," McElroy said. 

Ordained a priest in 1958, the New York-born McCarrick rose through the ranks of the American Church throughout the mid- to late-20th century. During his episcopal tenure he was an auxiliary bishop of New York, then led the Diocese of Metuchen, New Jersey; the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey; and later Washington, D.C.

He was a leading participant in the development of the 2002 Dallas Charter and the USCCB Essential Norms, which established procedures for handling allegations of sexual abuse concerning priests.

In 2018, reports of McCarrick's abuse, grooming, and harassment of seminarians burst publicly onto the scene amid a nationwide reckoning on clerical sexual abuse. 

A Vatican investigation in 2019 found McCarrick guilty of numerous instances of sexual abuse, and Pope Francis laicized him in February of that year. The year after, the Vatican published a lengthy report on McCarrick examining in detail the "institutional knowledge and decision-making" regarding the former cardinal and how he continued to be promoted despite rumors of misconduct. 

In addition to the Vatican investigations, McCarrick faced numerous criminal charges. However, a Massachusetts state district judge ruled in 2023 that McCarrick was not competent to stand trial on the criminal sexual abuse charges brought against him. 

A criminal case against McCarrick in Wisconsin was suspended in January 2024 after a psychologist hired by the court found McCarrick was not competent to stand trial.

This is a developing story.

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