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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 11, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

President-elect Donald Trump's victory over Vice President Kamala Harris could prompt major changes to the federal government's promotion of transgender ideology and the endorsement of gender transitions for children, according to scholars closely watching the issue.

"The left-wing gender insanity being pushed in our children is an act of child abuse," Trump said earlier this year in a campaign video. "... On Day 1, I will revoke [President] Joe Biden's cruel policies on so-called gender-affirming care."

In 24 states, doctors can still legally facilitate gender transitions for minors through transgender drugs and surgeries. Twenty-six states have either banned or put limits on gender transitions for minors. 

Although most legislative debates about so-called gender transitions for children occur at the state level, Biden's administration used regulatory agencies and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to try to expand access. Before his presidency, the issue was not on the minds of most Americans or most politicians.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), for example, issued a regulation that interpreted "sex discrimination" bans within the Affordable Care Act to include discrimination based on a person's self-asserted gender identity.

Under the rule, any health care provider or insurer not covering surgeries or drugs for gender transitions would lose federal funding. This rule applies regardless of whether the patient is an adult or a minor but is currently unenforceable because it has been blocked by a judge.

Biden's DOJ also sued Tennessee because the state does not allow doctors to facilitate surgical or drug-induced gender transitions on children. The DOJ based its arguments on laws that prohibit sex discrimination and the case will be heard by the United States Supreme Court.

The administration also revised Title IX protections to redefine sex discrimination to include any discrimination based on gender identity. This could have forced publicly funded schools and colleges to allow biological men in women's locker rooms, dormitories, and athletic competitions but was blocked by multiple court rulings.

"Those regulations are where they have their teeth," Marie Hillard, a registered nurse and senior fellow at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, told CNA. 

According to Hillard, Trump's first step in tackling this issue should be to throw out Biden-era policies promoting gender ideology and then subsequently harness the power of regulatory agencies to protect children from irreversible transgender drugs and surgeries.

"I think it's going to be through the regulatory agencies because the current administration has used these regulations to basically distort what sex means," Hillard added.

First step: reversing Biden's policies

A reversal of Biden's regulations would be an important first step, according to Mary Rice Hasson, who works as the director of the Person and Identity Project at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.

"Then it needs an agency-by-agency effort to delete 'gender identity' language, reverse policies that sweep self-defined 'identities' into the protected category of 'sex,' and which promote or fund medicalized 'gender transitions,' particularly in minors," Hasson told CNA.

Hasson encouraged a complete overhaul of the agenda of the last four years. 

This includes ending programs "that tell children to 'self-identify' according to sexual orientation and 'gender identity'" and the collection of such data by the government, according to Hasson. It includes removing all publications from agencies that promote transgender surgeries and drugs for minors and ending the DOJ's efforts to prevent states from restricting transgender drugs and surgeries for children.

"Ending these disabling, disfiguring, and sterilizing interventions in minors will require derailing the 'transgender train' at the station as well as shuttering all the stops down the line," Hasson said. 

Hillard agreed, saying the Biden administration used the anti-discrimination argument to force people to violate their conscience and "cooperate in what we know are mutilating activities."

Trump signaled support for such actions earlier this year, saying: "I will sign a new executive order instructing every federal agency to cease all programs that promote the concept of sex and gender transition at any age."

Next step: using executive authority

After reversing the Biden administration's actions, the next step would be to use regulatory agencies to prevent gender transitions of children across the country. 

"The Trump administration should stop feeding this monster with federal funds," Hasson told CNA. 

Hasson said the administration should end grant funding for "unethical 'gender' experiments" on minors and impose federal funding restrictions "on hospitals that do 'transgender' experiments on minors." 

Hillard noted that withholding Medicaid funding for hospitals that perform gender transitions on minors could be an effective approach, saying "that's where they can use their money" to hold these hospitals accountable. 

Hasson added that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) could "prohibit the off-label use of sterility-inducing puberty-blocking and 'transgender' hormones in otherwise healthy minors."

Hillard similarly suggested using the FDA to restrict gender transition drugs, noting that "regulations are being misused right now to advance the whole agenda of gender identity." She said the drugs have "good moral uses" for helping children born with sex development disorders but should be regulated to prevent the "mutilating use" of gender transitioning minors.

Jane Anderson, the vice president of the American College of Pediatricians, told CNA the Trump administration should hold federal agencies accountable to "follow the science that European countries are endorsing."

"We and other organizations launched the Doctors Protecting Children Declaration to call on prominent U.S. medical organizations to stop promoting these [transgender surgeries and drugs] that harm our children," Anderson said.

Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk, a senior ethicist at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, told CNA that Trump should "establish a president's bioethics council to address critical ethical issues arising in medicine and the biosciences." 

"This advisory council would assist the administration in policy decisions and in raising the profile of important issues of the day before the public," he said. "The president could task the bioethics council to begin its work with a mandate to address the matter of suitable and unsuitable treatments for young people facing gender dysphoria."

Earlier this year, Trump said he supported a DOJ investigation of "Big Pharma and the big hospital networks to determine whether they have deliberately covered up horrific long-term side effects of sex transitions in order to get rich at the expense of vulnerable patients." 

The president-elect has said he would support congressional action to prohibit transgender surgeries for children and prohibit any taxpayer money from being used to support transgender procedures. He also urged lawmakers to support people who want to file lawsuits against doctors who performed gender transition procedures on them while they were children.

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ACI MENA, Nov 11, 2024 / 11:00 am (CNA).

As a leading voice for Middle Eastern Christians, Bishop Bashar Matti Warda, head of the Chaldean Eparchy of Erbil, expressed hope that the election of a new U.S. president would positively impact the efforts for peace in the region.

Speaking with ACI Mena, CNA's Arabic-language news partner, Warda noted that "Christians in the region have borne the brunt of ongoing conflicts and wars in their homelands. Despite fears that rising tensions could bring more violence, they continue to hold on to a realistic yet profound hope of living in safety alongside their compatriots. They believe their shared future hinges on the promise of peace, prosperity, and nation-building."

Warda said people around the world now have their eyes fixed on Washington, D.C., watching closely to see if the president-elect will fulfill his campaign promises to end conflicts in the Middle East.

"Christians hope the American administration will maintain its commitment to supporting peace, guaranteeing stability to these ancient communities in their homelands, and cooperating with local governments to ensure their persistence and prosperity — especially in areas where Christians are relatively present."

Warda recalled a previous meeting with Trump in December 2018 at the White House during the signing ceremony for H.R. 390, a bill that officially recognized the atrocities committed against Christians and Yazidis as genocide.

"This bill was the culmination of our campaign to bring the world's attention to the suffering of Christians and Yazidis, with the support from friends in both the Republican and Democratic parties," Warda explained. "It enabled government and human rights agencies to investigate ISIS' horrific crimes, prosecute its members, and directly support religious institutions in helping their communities heal from the aftermath of destruction."

The bishop also noted with appreciation the close collaboration with the Knights of Columbus since 2014, gathering and documenting case files and testimonies for the cause. He remarked that "two years of collaboration with members of Trump's team on this issue demonstrated their understanding of the suffering of these religious communities and their sincere desire to offer support."

He emphasized that over the past eight years, official visits of prominent former Trump administration members to Erbil, their engagement with displaced families, their attentiveness to their experiences, and their direct contact with Church leaders and civil society representatives reflected an effort to bring stability to the region.

Warda concluded with a prayer that Washington's leadership will continue to stand by vulnerable communities and work to address the root causes of migration in cooperation with Middle Eastern governments. Such efforts, he said, could ensure a brighter future for all, ending the region's prolonged suffering from wars and conflicts because "the people deserve a better life."

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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CNA Staff, Nov 11, 2024 / 04:00 am (CNA).

On Nov. 11, the Catholic Church honors St. Martin of Tours, who left his post in the Roman army to become a "soldier of Christ."

Martin was born around the year 316 in modern-day Hungary. His family left that region for Italy when his father, a military official of the Roman Empire, was transferred there. Martin's parents were pagans, but he felt an attraction to the Catholic faith, which had become legal throughout the empire in 313. He received religious instruction at age 10 and even considered becoming a hermit in the desert.

Circumstances, however, forced him to join the Roman army at age 15, when he had not even received baptism. Martin strove to live a humble and upright life in the military, giving away much of his pay to the poor. His generosity led to a life-changing incident, when he encountered a man freezing without warm clothing near a gate at the city of Amiens in Gaul.

As his fellow soldiers passed by the man, Martin stopped and cut his own cloak into two halves with his sword, giving one half to the freezing beggar. That night, the unbaptized soldier saw Christ in a dream, wearing the half-cloak he had given to the poor man. Jesus declared: "Martin, a catechumen, has clothed me with this garment."

Martin knew that the time for him to join the Church had arrived. After his baptism, he remained in the army for two years but desired to give his life to God more fully than the profession would allow. But when he finally asked for permission to leave the Roman army, during an invasion by the Germans, Martin was accused of cowardice.

He responded by offering to stand before the enemy forces unarmed. "In the name of the Lord Jesus, and protected not by a helmet and buckler, but by the sign of the cross, I will thrust myself into the thickest squadrons of the enemy without fear."

But this display of faith became unnecessary when the Germans sought peace instead, and Martin received his discharge.

After living as a Catholic for some time, Martin traveled to meet Bishop Hilary of Poitiers, a skilled theologian and later canonized saint. Martin's dedication to the faith impressed the bishop, who asked the former soldier to return to his diocese after he had undertaken a journey back to Hungary to visit his parents. While there, Martin persuaded his mother, though not his father, to join the Church.

In the meantime, however, Hilary had provoked the anger of the Arians, a group that denied Jesus was God. This resulted in the bishop's banishment, so Martin could not return to his diocese as intended. Instead he spent some time living a life of severe asceticism, which almost resulted in his death. The two met up again in 360, when Hilary's banishment from Poitiers ended.

After their reunion, Hilary granted Martin a piece of land to build what may have been the first monastery in the region of Gaul. During the resulting decade as a monk, Martin became renowned for raising two people from the dead through his prayers. This evidence of his holiness led to his appointment as the third bishop of Tours in the middle of present-day France.

Martin had not wanted to become a bishop and had actually been tricked into leaving his monastery in the first place by those who wanted him to the lead the local Church. Once appointed, he continued to live as a monk, dressing plainly and owning no personal possessions. In this same spirit of sacrifice, he traveled throughout his diocese, from which he is said to have driven out pagan practices.

Both the Church and the Roman Empire passed through a time of upheaval during Martin's tenure as bishop. Priscillianism, a heresy involving salvation through a system of secret knowledge, caused such serious problems in Spain and Gaul that civil authorities sentenced the heretics to death. But Martin, along with the pope and St. Ambrose of Milan, opposed this death sentence for the Priscillianists.

Even in old age, Martin continued to live an austere life focused on the care of souls. His disciple and biographer, St. Sulpicius Severus, noted that the bishop helped all people with their moral, intellectual, and spiritual problems. He also helped many discover their calling to the consecrated life.

Martin foresaw his own death and told his disciples of it. But when his last illness came upon him during a pastoral journey, he felt uncertain about leaving his people.

"Lord, if I am still necessary to thy people, I refuse no labor. Thy holy will be done," he prayed. He developed a fever but did not sleep, passing his last several nights in the presence of God in prayer.

"Allow me, my brethren, to look rather toward heaven than upon the earth, that my soul may be directed to take its flight to the Lord to whom it is going," he told his followers, shortly before he died in November 397.

St. Martin of Tours has historically been among the most beloved saints in the history of Europe. In a 2007 Angelus address, Pope Benedict XVI expressed his hope "that all Christians may be like St. Martin, generous witnesses of the Gospel of love and tireless builders of jointly responsible sharing."

This story was first published on Oct. 6, 2011, and has been updated.

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CNA Staff, Nov 11, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

As a new film about U.S. military chaplains was released in theaters on Nov. 8, the nephew of heroic priest and chaplain Servant of God Father Emil Kapaun spoke about his uncle's virtue and sense of mission during the Korean War.

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

Kapaun was a priest of the Diocese of Wichita, Kansas. Ordained on June 9, 1940, he began training in the U.S. Army Chaplain School at Fort Devens four years after his ordination. In January 1950, he was sent to Japan as a chaplain in the 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. In July 1950, he was then sent to Korea, where he brought the sacraments to troops, tended to the injured, and prayed with soldiers in the foxholes. At times he celebrated Mass on the battlefield using the hood of a jeep as a makeshift altar.

During the Battle of Unsan, Kapaun was captured along with other soldiers and taken to a Chinese-run prison camp in Pyoktong, North Korea. While there, he regularly stole food for his fellow prisoners and tended to their spiritual needs despite a prohibition on prayer.

After being taken to what prisoners called the "death house," Kapaun died on May 23, 1951, after months of malnutrition and pneumonia.

His cause for sainthood is being promoted by the Diocese of Wichita and is currently being reviewed by the theological committee for the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints in Rome.

A nephew of the heroic priest, Ray Kapaun, told CNA that growing up he heard stories about his uncle from his grandmother. He recalled hearing about his uncle's devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and how his vocation to the priesthood was clear from a young age: He would stack cardboard boxes on top of one another, throw a towel over them, and pretend to say Mass at his makeshift altar. 

"He was the most unselfish person I think I've ever heard of," Ray Kapaun said. "He just always put everybody else ahead of his own needs."

One story that Ray remembers was told to him by his father. Shortly before Father Kapaun was about to head out to the Korean War, he went to visit his family in his hometown of Pilsen, Kansas. He pulled Ray's father aside and told him: "I don't think I'm going to be coming back from this one."

"Dad was like, 'No, don't talk like that. You can't,'" Ray recalled. "And he said, 'I'm not telling you that to make you sad or feel sorry for me,' he said, 'I just have that feeling that I'm not coming back from this one.'" 

Ray believes it was this feeling that allowed his uncle to "do the things he did to help the guys in the prison camp, to run out across the battlefield when bombs were exploding — he knew that is exactly where he needed to be and he did it with compassion, but he didn't do it with fear. He did it with a knowing that God was going to take care of him and that was exactly where he needed to be."

In March 2021, after 70 years, the skeletal remains of Father Kapaun were identified among 866 other unknown Korean soldiers buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu. These remains were handed to American forces in 1954 by North Korea. 

Ray said receiving the call that his uncle's remains had been found was something he "never ever envisioned." He called it truly "miraculous" that when Father Kapaun's casket was opened for his body to be identified, "his [skeletal] remains were 98% intact."

"They actually sent us a photo of the remains laid out as the skeleton and he was just missing a couple of fingertips, one of his toes, and the kneecap was all he was missing. So that in and of itself was pretty much a miracle" he said.

Father Kapaun's funeral Mass was held on Sept. 29, 2021, at Wichita's Hartman Arena, where over 5,000 people came together to remember him.

In the days leading up to the funeral, Ray and his wife hosted two of the POWs (prisoners of war) who spent time with Father Kapaun in the prison camp and are the last two still alive. 

Ray shared "an incredible moment" with the POWs: They were taken to the mortuary to have a moment alone with Father Kapaun and before entering, one of them, Col. Michael Dowe, turned to Ray and asked: "Am I going to get the chance to hold Father in my arms just one last time?"

"So, we had opened up the casket, and Mike is there, and he just starts crying and he was talking to Father and he's like, 'When they came to take you away we just didn't stand up enough for you, we just didn't stand up enough,'" Ray recalled.

"I know Father had his hands on his shoulders then as he did in the camp and I know he told him, 'Oh, it's OK Mike. You just gotta let me go. I'm where I wanted to be. So it's OK,'" Ray said. "Those moments were probably the most memorable, the most touching for me."

When asked how Father Kapaun can be a source of inspiration for not only chaplains but also for everyone, Ray said: "Father gives hope, and Father gives a meaning to find the right in the world, Father always looked for the good in the world."

"I think especially now with all the division and all the hate and all the things going on in this world, he only saw the person. It wasn't that you needed to be Catholic; he saw the person, he saw what their soul was and how they treated others." 

He added: "He saw the compassion that was needed, he saw somebody needed help and he would help them at whatever sacrifice to his own health."

As for what he hopes people will take away from the new film about his uncle, Ray said he hopes people would "see others and not judge others" and that "you don't have to do anything grandiose to do kind and great things in this world." 

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Rome Newsroom, Nov 10, 2024 / 11:34 am (CNA).

During his Angelus address Sunday, Pope Francis asked his listeners to consider the qualities necessary for good leadership.

"Brothers and sisters, can we ask ourselves: How do I behave in my fields of responsibility? Do I act with humility, or do I vaunt my position? Am I generous and respectful with people, or do I treat them in a rude and authoritarian way?" he asked pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square. 

Reflecting on Sunday's Gospel reading from St. Mark, Pope Francis said that Jesus denounced people esteemed in the temple, including scribes, who possessed a "hypocritical attitude" and "feigned piety" to attract attention and gain approval from people.

"People revered them beyond appearances, however their behavior often did not correspond to what they said. They were not coherent." 

In contrast to the "corrupt" behavior of some temple officials, the Holy Father highlighted the qualities of Jesus' leadership that should be imitated by all Christians, particularly those who hold positions of responsibility.

"Indeed with his word and example, as we know, he taught very different things about authority. He spoke about it in terms of self-sacrifice, humble service, maternal and paternal tenderness towards people, especially [towards] those most in need," the pope elaborated.  

During his Nov.10 Angelus address, the Holy Father also encouraged Christians to turn to Our Lady and seek her intercession to overcome the temptation of imposing one's will, might, and authority over others who are weaker than ourselves.

"May the Virgin Mary help us fight the temptation of hypocrisy in ourselves," he prayed from the window of the Apostolic Palace.

Prayers for the world

Following the Angelus prayer in Latin, Pope Francis continued to ask people to pray for the victims of flash floods in Valencia, Spain, and asked them to consider contributing towards charitable and disaster relief efforts in the country to assist families.   

The Holy Father also prayed for communities in Flores, Indonesia, following recent volcanic eruptions which have forced thousands to flee their homes. 

He also expressed his concern and hope for the people of Mozambique to not "lose trust in justice and in democracy" after weeks of deadly violence following the country's Oct.9 general elections. 

The ongoing conflicts affecting Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Myanmar, and Sudan were also included in the prayers of the Holy Father on Sunday.

"Let us pray for peace throughout the world today," he said.        

  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A community effort 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jesus, day to day

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Scholarship development 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A storied history

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Feast of the Chair of St. Peter

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bernini's Baroque masterpiece

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Empathy, a key to dealing with cancer

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

With cancer, the whole family 'feels ill'

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

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

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

Family support is 'fundamental'

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

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

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

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

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

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

The place of God

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

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

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

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

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

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

How to prevent cancer?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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