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ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 4, 2024 / 17:20 pm (CNA).

The congregation of Sister Clare Crockett, a young nun who died in 2016 during an earthquake in Ecuador, announced the beginning of her cause for beatification.

The Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother announced that the opening ceremony of Crockett's cause will take place on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025, at the Cathedral of Alcalá de Henares in Spain.

The postulator of the cause will be Sister Kristen Gardner, also a member of the Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother, who wrote a biography about Crockett in 2020 titled "Sister Clare Crockett: Alone with Christ Alone."

In a statement to ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, Gardner explained that "the cause began in Alcalá de Henares because it is our headquarters [of the Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother] and it was easier for us to carry out the cause from here. The transfer of jurisdiction was requested by the bishop of Portoviejo [Ecuador], and he gladly gave it and Rome has approved it."

Crockett is also the subject of a documentary in both English and Spanish titled "All or Nothing: Sister Clare Crockett," which has amassed over 4 million views on YouTube.

Who was Sister Clare Crockett?

Crockett was born in Derry, Northern Ireland, in 1982. A charismatic, fun-loving teenager, she quickly caught the attention of television producers. 

At 15, she was hired to host a show on the British network Channel 4, and at 17, she caught the attention of Nickelodeon.

However, in 2000, during a Holy Week retreat in Spain with the Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother — a community founded in 1982 with a focus on the Eucharist, Marian spirituality, and young people — she had a life-changing encounter with God.

"I don't know how to explain exactly what happened. I didn't see the choirs of angels or a white dove come down from the ceiling and descend on me, but I was certain that the Lord was on the cross, for me," recalled the nun, who made her first vows in 2006.

On April 16, 2016, a magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck the Ecuadorian province of Manabí, killing at least 673 people, including Crockett.

"Her coherence of life and her total dedication in the different apostolates that she carried out in Spain, the United States, and Ecuador transmitted the message that only God can satisfy the heart of man when he gives himself completely to him, without denying him anything," the Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother pointed out in their statement on her cause for beatification.

After hearing that many have asked in recent years for the start of the beatification process, "the Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother, after praying and reflecting intensely on what we should do, saw in this concern of the faithful a clear indication that the Lord asked us to request the opening of Sister Clare Crockett's process at the diocesan level."

"Let us thank God for this important step in the study of the life and virtues of our dear sister," the statement concluded.

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

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Vatican City, Nov 4, 2024 / 11:35 am (CNA).

Pope Francis celebrated a Mass for deceased cardinals and bishops in St. Peter's Basilica on Monday morning, saying they were "shepherds and models for the Lord's flock" who loved the Church in their own way.

Seven Catholic cardinals and 123 Catholic bishops died within the last 12 months. 

"Our remembrance becomes a prayer of intercession for our dear brothers, elect members of the people of God. They were baptized into the death of Christ in order to rise with him," the pope said in his homily at the Mass. It is the pope's custom to offer a Mass in November for the prelates who passed away during the past year.

"Having broken the bread of life on earth may they now enjoy a seat at his table," he continued. "Let us pray that they may exult in eternal communion with the saints and we, with firm hope, let us look forward to rejoicing with them in heaven."

During the homily, the Holy Father invited more than 200 people present at the Monday Mass — including cardinals, bishops, priests, men and women religious, and laypeople — to meditate on the word "remember" in the account of Christ's crucifixion recorded in St. Luke's Gospel.

"'Ricordare' in Italian means to lead back to the heart [or] to carry in the heart," the pope shared. "That man crucified alongside with Jesus transformed his dire pain into a prayer: 'Carry me in your heart, Jesus.'"

Emphasizing the significance of Our Lord's heart, the Holy Father said Jesus always listens to the prayers of defenseless sinners.

"This criminal who dies as a 'disciple of the last hour' desired only one thing: to find a welcome heart," he said. "Christ's heart, pierced by pain, was laid open to save the world. [He has] an open heart, not a closed heart. Dying himself, he was open to the voice of a dying man."

"Jesus dies with us because he died for us," Pope Francis repeated to the congregation.

Sitting in front of a covered Altar of the Chair of St. Peter, the Holy Father implored his listeners to have a merciful and compassionate heart like Jesus.

"How do we carry people in our hearts? How do we remember those right at our side throughout our lives? Do you judge? Do you divide? Or do [you] welcome?" the pope asked. 

"Dear brothers and sisters, by turning to the heart of God, men and women of today and of every age can find hope for salvation," the Holy Father insisted. "The Lord is close to us." 

"Jesus, remember us! Jesus, remember us!"

Six U.S. bishops were among the deceased clergy remembered during the Mass held in the Vatican: Bishop Raymond Emil Goedert of Chicago; Bishop Francisco González Valer of Washington, D.C.; Bishop Thomas John Gumbleton of Detroit; Bishop Daniel Patrick Reilly of Worcester, Massachusetts; Bishop Edward James Slattery of Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Bishop Basil Harry Losten of Stamford, Connecticut, of the Ukrainians.

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Vatican City, Nov 3, 2024 / 13:35 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis on Sunday spoke about Jesus' teaching that "all things must be done with love," something, he said, that is essential for the faith of each person.

Every Sunday at noon, the pope appears at a window overlooking St. Peter's Square to give a brief spiritual reflection before leading the Angelus, a traditional Marian prayer, in Latin.

Speaking to thousands of people gathered in the sunny Vatican square on Nov. 3, Francis commented on the day's Gospel passage, which recounts one of Jesus' many discussions in the temple of Jerusalem. In the scene, a scribe asks Jesus: "Which is the first of all the commandments?"

The question, the pontiff said, is a good one, and "essential for us too, for our life and for the journey of our faith."

"Indeed, we too at times feel lost among so many things, and ask ourselves: but, in the end, what is the most important thing of all? Where can I find the center of my life, of my faith?" he said. "Jesus gives us the answer, putting together two commandments that are the primary ones: the love of God and the love of neighbor. And this is the heart of our faith."

The pope underlined that when the Lord comes again, he will first and foremost ask us how we loved.

"It is important, then, to fix in our hearts the most important commandment," he continued. "Love the Lord your God, and love your neighbor as yourself. And to carry out every day an examination of conscience and ask ourselves: is love for God and neighbor the center of my life? Does my prayer to God impel me to go out to my brothers and sisters and love them gratuitously? Do I recognize the presence of the Lord in the faces of others?"

Pope Francis quoted from his newest encyclical, Dilexit Nos, which is on the Sacred Heart: "We all — as we know — need to return to the heart of life and faith, because the heart is 'the radical source of their strengths, convictions.'"

"And Jesus tells us that the source of everything is love, that we must never separate God from man," he said. "The Lord says to the disciple of every time: in your journey, what counts are not the exterior practices, such as burnt offerings and sacrifices, but the readiness of heart with which you open yourself to God and to brethren in love."

"We can do many things, but do them only for ourselves and without love, and this will not do; we do them with a distracted heart or even with a closed heart, and this will not do. All things must be done with love," he emphasized.

After the Angelus, Pope Francis asked for prayers for Valencia, a region in southeast Spain, which was hit by devastating flash flooding on Oct. 29. Caused by a torrential downpour, the worst flooding the country has seen in decades has killed at least 214 people, while dozens are still missing, according to authorities.

The pope also praised the Italian group "Emergency," which promotes Article 11 of the Italian constitution and says, "Italy rejects war as an instrument of aggression against the freedom of other peoples and as a means for the settlement of international disputes."

"May this principle be implemented all over the world: may war be banished and issues be addressed through law and negotiations. Let weapons be silenced and space be made for dialogue. Let us pray for tormented Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Myanmar, and South Sudan," Francis said.

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CNA Staff, Nov 3, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The Bishops' Committee for Religious Freedom, an office of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), is encouraging the faithful to participate in a novena ahead of the feast of Christ the King, which will be celebrated on Nov. 24 this year.

The Christ the King novena will start on Friday, Nov. 15, and end on Saturday, Nov. 23.

The bishops have asked the faithful to offer their prayers to Christ the King "for the freedom of the Church."

Some of the prayer intentions included in the novena are for people of faith to gather in houses of worship without fear, that God give hope and courage to people who live in fear of persecution, for God to protect migrants and refugees, and that business leaders be free to promote a culture of life in their workplaces, among others.

The novena consists of a dedicated intention for each day, followed by an Our Father, Hail Mary, the Glory Be, and a prayer to Christ the King.

In 2012, the bishops issued a document titled "Our First, Most Cherished Liberty: A Statement on Religious Liberty" where they recommended that the solemnity of Christ the King "be a day specifically employed by bishops and priests to preach about religious liberty, both here and abroad," as it is a feast "born out of resistance to totalitarian incursions against religious liberty."

"To all our fellow Catholics, we urge an intensification of your prayers and fasting for a new birth of freedom in our beloved country," the document states.

Pope Pius XI instituted the feast of Christ the King in 1925 with his encyclical Quas Primas ("In the First") to respond to growing secularism and atheism. He recognized that trying to push God out of the public sphere would result in continuing discord among people and nations.

In his encyclical, the pope says that Jesus "is [the] very truth, and it is from him that truth must be obediently received by all mankind."

The encyclical states: "He must reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ. He must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all things, and cleave to him alone. He must reign in our bodies and in our members, which should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls, or to use the words of the apostle Paul, 'as instruments of justice unto God.'"

The Christ the King novena can be found here.

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CNA Newsroom, Nov 2, 2024 / 08:34 am (CNA).

Pope Francis marked All Souls' Day with a Mass at a Roman cemetery on Saturday, making a special visit to the "Garden of Angels."

More than 100 faithful gathered with Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri at the Laurentino Cemetery, the city's third-largest burial ground, to welcome the pope.

Upon arrival, Francis laid white roses on a memorial stone marking the Garden of Angels and silently prayed for several moments.

The garden, established in 2012, provides a dedicated space for families grieving the loss of children, including those lost to miscarriage.

The pope was also greeted by mothers from the "Sparks of Hope" association who have lost children. Each presented him with a white scarf as a symbolic embrace from them and their deceased children.

During his visit, he also met with Stefano, a father who lost his daughter Sara during pregnancy in 2021, Vatican News reported.

The pope's prayer intention for the month of November is for those who have lost a child.

This marked Francis' second visit to the Laurentino Cemetery's Garden of Angels, having previously celebrated All Souls' Day Mass there in 2018.

The pope did not deliver a homily during Mass, instead observing moments of silent prayer. Before the final blessing, he offered a special prayer for the deceased, asking God to "open the arms of your mercy and receive them into the glorious assembly of the holy Jerusalem."

After Mass, the pope performed the traditional blessing of the graves.

Pope Francis' choice of the Laurentino Cemetery continues his tradition of celebrating All Souls' Day in different Roman cemeteries.

For All Souls' Day in 2023, Mass was offered at the small Rome War Cemetery, which contains 426 Commonwealth burials from the Second World War.

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

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

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

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

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CNA Staff, Nov 2, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, this week responded to a letter in the Wall Street Journal from a priest objecting to the praying of the St. Michael prayer at the end of Mass, asserting that the priest's view is "simply wrong."

In a letter to the editor published Oct. 21, Father Gerald J. Bednar, a retired priest of the Diocese of Cleveland, wrote that the Vatican "suppressed this practice in 1964 because the prayer interferes with the integrity of the Mass."

Bednar proffered his view that praying the St. Michael prayer after Mass "ends the liturgy with a private devotion, a petition to a saint, while all of the petitions were concluded much earlier in the liturgy and addressed to God the Father."

"The end of Mass sends participants out on a positive mission, bidding them to expand God's kingdom through evangelization," Bednar wrote.

"St. Michael is known as the captain of the guardian angels and we should, by all means, ask for his help. But believers should accept the Lord's presence in the Eucharist as their primary protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil — and respond to his call to enhance God's kingdom, where the devil has no influence," the priest concluded.

In a response letter published Oct. 27, Paprocki disputed Bednar's assertion that praying to St. Michael after Mass "ends the liturgy with a private devotion."

"The liturgy ends when the celebrant says, 'Go forth, the Mass is ended,' and the people reply, 'Thanks be to God.' The prayer, then, is recited after Mass, which the priest and people are free to do. It isn't a private devotion when prayed publicly," Paprocki wrote. 

"The end of Mass sends participants out on a positive mission, and while Rev. Bednar is correct in saying that the devil has no influence in God's kingdom, we aren't there yet. Doing so together doesn't hurt, and we pray it will help to invoke the intercession of St. Michael to defend us in our spiritual battles."

St. Michael the Archangel is one of the four principal angels and is described in the Bible as a "great prince" who battles against Satan in defense of God's people. 

Following an 1884 vision of Satan "running riot" on the planet, Pope Leo XIII composed three prayers to St. Michael, the briefest of which he commanded should be prayed at the end of every Mass.

That prayer is as follows:

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil; may God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the divine power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

The prayer to St. Michael was a regular feature of the Mass until the Vatican II era, though Pope John Paul II in 1994 urged Catholics to make the prayer a regular part of their lives. Devotion to St. Michael is still widely promoted today, including by Pope Francis.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 1, 2024 / 19:00 pm (CNA).

With just days left before Nov. 5, the president of Heritage Foundation, a leading conservative think tank, is urging people of faith to vote.

In an interview with "EWTN News Nightly" host Tracy Sabol on Friday, Kevin Roberts addressed the anticipated crisis of nonvoters among people of faith in America. The discussion came in light of a recent study by Arizona Christian University, which found that only 51% of people of faith planned to vote in the presidential election.

Nearly 70% of participants in the survey said they no longer held "interest" in politics or elections, while nearly 60% said they disliked all major candidates. In addition, roughly half of the participants said neither candidate represented their views and that they believed their vote would not make a difference either way. Nearly 50% also said they believed the election results would be manipulated.

"I'm not surprised by the results, although I want to say a year ago, I would have been," he told Sabol, explaining that it is common among people of faith not to vote, despite having "a moral obligation to do so."

Addressing the trend among Catholic and other Christian voters who abstain from voting out of dislike for both candidates, Roberts emphasized the importance of "study[ing] the issues."

"As people of faith, we have to weigh that policy record and put it into the future and understand that if [Vice President Kamala Harris] were to win, that we are going to see threats to religious liberty," he said. "We're going to see threats to our ability to worship. We will continue to pray for her as the president of the United States, obviously."

"But we really do need to consider that in the next days," Roberts added, "particularly if there are Catholics and other Christians who are thinking they might just stay home."

The filibuster, religious liberty, and free speech

Roberts also addressed the issue during a roundtable discussion on Friday morning, highlighting numerous policy issues that directly concern people of faith — including religious liberty, the pro-life movement, and free speech.

"I don't believe it is hyperbole to make the claim that Vice President Harris is the most anti-faith, anti-religion presidential candidate in our history," the conservative policy leader stated, adding: "What's at stake is that we're going to lose our ability to worship. We're going to lose our religious liberty if the Harris-Walz campaign prevails."

When asked what would happen should Harris win the election and successfully eliminate the filibuster in order to codify Roe v. Wade, Roberts warned that this move would bring about "a real abridgement of religious liberty" and free speech in addition to expanding abortion.

Roberts referenced notable incidents of religious intolerance in the past several weeks alone, including Harris' refusal to support religious exemptions with respect to abortion as well as an incident in which she told two Christians that they were "at the wrong rally" after they shouted that Jesus was Lord. A video shows that other protesters also yelled "Lies!" and "Liar!" at Harris before she responded.

"Obviously," he said, "this is a real problem even for people of no faith. Because if you eliminate our first freedom, which is to believe and worship as we shall, then all of the others are endangered."

Should the Democrats regain their slim majority in the Senate, he said, "there's a 100% chance they will attempt to eliminate the filibuster" and have a reasonable chance at success.

"I really do believe, because there's evidence of this over the last four or six weeks of rhetoric," Roberts said, "that they're going to abridge free speech. They're going to abridge free speech for people of faith. They're going to abridge free speech for organizations and media outlets."

If Democrats do not manage to secure a majority but Harris is elected, Roberts said, the current vice president would likely enact policies against religious freedom through executive orders expanding abortion access and targeting people of faith.

"I think she's going to be zeroed in on religious liberty," he said.

Working with Trump policies

Despite concerns over former president Donald Trump's stance on life issues such as abortion and IVF, Roberts stated that he is "cautiously optimistic" that a Trump-Vance administration would "still be solidly pro-life."

"I think people of faith need to remember the former president's track record on this," he said, "and need to remember that if President Trump and Sen. Vance are elected next Tuesday, that there is a far greater chance, a far greater chance of being able to work with them and the people they appoint on issues that matter to us, including abortion, including religious liberty."

"I think in contrast," he said, "there's a zero percent chance we get that opportunity in our Harris-Walz administration, I think, on abortion, [and] on religious freedom. People of faith need to be mindful of that."

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CNA Staff, Nov 1, 2024 / 15:25 pm (CNA).

The provincial government of Quebec will now allow assisted suicide for individuals who cannot consent at the time of the procedure in what one pro-life advocate calls a "dehumanizing" policy that "devalues" individuals of diminished mental capacity. 

The provincial government's website states that "advance requests" for medical aid in dying (MAID) may be made by individuals who have "been diagnosed with a serious and incurable illness leading to incapacity" such as Alzheimer's disease.

The request "must be made while the person is still capable of consenting to care," the government says, though it acknowledges that the lethal procedure will be carried out "when they become incapable of [consenting]."

Some advocates have cheered the move. Cathy Barrick, the CEO of the Alzheimer Society of Ontario, told media this week that assisted death "should be accessible to people with dementia." 

Sandra Demontigny, meanwhile — the spokeswoman for the Quebec Association for the Right to Die with Dignity who is herself suffering from Alzheimer's — told media that she had "been waiting for this day for many years."

"I want to take care of myself, my body … I don't want to rely on people," she said. 

New rule 'devalues persons with memory loss'

Amanda Achtman, who promotes ethics education for Canadian Physicians for Life, argues instead that the policy "unavoidably devalues persons with memory loss as well as those who may be incapable of giving consent for different reasons, such as due to having a particular disability."

"The underlying anthropology espoused by a regime of advance requests to die is that personhood diminishes with the loss of memory and cognition," she told CNA. "This is a dehumanizing view."

Achtman, who also operates the nonprofit Dying to Meet You, noted that Quebec's broadened criteria are actually illegal under the national criminal code, but "the federal government is unlikely to prosecute any of these offenses in Quebec, out of political considerations," she said. 

Euthanasia was already available in a limited context for Canadians suffering from dementia, Achtman said. Nearly 1 in 10 Canadians who received MAID in 2022 were suffering from dementia; they were able to obtain the procedure under a more narrow waiver of consent. 

The new "broadened criteria" in Quebec — and the government's likely non-prosecution of it — "shows how Quebec can push the bounds of the law in matters of life and death without repercussions," Achtman said.

Assisted suicide in Canada has become increasingly popular since it was first legalized in 2016. 

Government statistics in 2022 indicated that MAID was the sixth-leading cause for death in Canada, with 13,241 "MAID provisions" reported that year, accounting for 4.1% of all deaths nationwide. 

Activists have regularly pushed to expand MAID. A group of pro-euthanasia advocates sued the federal government in August to allow physician-assisted suicide for those suffering from mental illness. 

The government earlier in the year paused a planned expansion of the program that would have included the mentally ill, though it said it would consider the policy again in three years' time in order to allow provinces to "prepare their health care systems" for the expansion.

In March, meanwhile, a judge ruled that a woman with autism could be granted her request to die by assisted suicide, overruling efforts by the woman's father to halt the deadly procedure. 

Achtman said pro-life advocates "must restore a correct view of the human person by insisting on the immutable dignity of each person, no matter what." 

She quoted Pope Francis, who described euthanasia as "a failure of love" and "a reflection of a throwaway culture." Pro-life advocates, she said, "are responsible for advancing a positive alternative vision in which every human person is cherished and belongs."

"We must be prophets of hope," she said, "who never tire of reminding that our deepest identity and destiny consists in the boundless human potential of loving and being loved, and that this is unshakable."

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CNA Staff, Nov 1, 2024 / 16:05 pm (CNA).

Here is a roundup of the latest pro-life and abortion-related news in the U.S.:

Bishops speak on abortion ballot measures 

Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski will lead the Archdiocese of St. Louis in prayer on Nov. 3 to "defeat Missouri Amendment 3," a ballot measure that would create a "fundamental right to reproductive freedom." The archbishop is set to celebrate a special Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis at noon on Sunday, followed by a Holy Hour. He encouraged Catholics to pray and fast in the days leading up to the election, and the archdiocese is offering other prayer opportunities for the week.

In Nebraska, the only state with competing pro-life and pro-abortion ballot measures, Archbishop George Lucas of Omaha urged Catholics on Wednesday to vote for pro-life measures. He recently gave an Oct. 30 video statement urging Catholics to vote against Initiative 439 and in favor of 434. 

Lucas called Initiative 434 "an important step towards ensuring the health and safety of women and their babies." He encouraged Catholic parishes to ensure that any woman facing an unexpected pregnancy "can be connected with the resources she requires" regardless of the outcome of the election. 

Louisiana sued over abortion pill controlled substance law

A group of health care providers is suing Louisiana over its recent law classifying abortion pills as "controlled dangerous substances" and requiring them to be stored in a secure area within hospitals. In the state court lawsuit on Thursday by Birthmark Doula Collective, a physician, a pharmacist, and two women argued that the classification creates delays during medical emergencies.

The two drugs used in the abortion pill regiment, mifepristone and misoprostol, are often used in non-abortion medical treatments, the lawsuit noted. For instance, misoprostol treats miscarriages and postpartum hemorrhage, while mifepristone is often used in miscarriage treatment and for Cushing's syndrome, the lawsuit noted. Controlled substances are required to be stored in secure areas within the hospital, which, according to the lawsuit, delays access to the drug. Louisiana has among the highest maternal mortality rates in the nation, the lawsuit pointed out.

Three states recently sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration after it rolled back its safety regulations. Louisiana state law protects unborn babies from abortion except in cases of threats to the life of the mother or fetal anomaly.

Catholic hospital in California agrees to provide abortions

A Catholic hospital in California agreed to provide emergency abortions in cases of health risk for the mother following a lawsuit against the hospital by California Attorney General Rob Bonta. The lawsuit alleged that Providence St. Joseph Hospital refused emergency care to a pregnant woman whose water broke prematurely at 15 weeks, a violation of several California state laws, according to Bonta.

While Providence St. Joseph has not admitted fault in the lawsuit, the hospital agreed to temporarily allow physicians to perform abortions in cases of serious threats to the health of the mother in accordance with California law. According to a statement by Bonta, California's Emergency Services Law (ESL) requires California hospitals to provide emergency abortions when necessary for a patient's health.

Catholic hospitals are "never permitted" to perform abortions, according to the U.S. bishop's Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services. 

The U.S. bishops' directive does permit non-abortive treatment that may endanger the unborn child indirectly in certain grave circumstances, such as treatments that are intended to cure a woman of an illness that may unintentionally harm the child. The directive also permits other treatments such as inducing labor after the fetus is viable "for a proportionate reason." 

The bishop of the Diocese of Santa Rosa, Bishop Robert Vasa, referred CNA to the hospital for comment. Providence did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.

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CNA Staff, Nov 1, 2024 / 16:35 pm (CNA).

Bishop Michael Olson Fort Worth, Texas, this week stated that Catholics have "no need" to attend Mass or receive sacraments from priests associated with the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) so long as they are able to attend other churches run by priests in full communion with the Church.

Olson published the letter on Thursday after he "received several inquiries regarding the ecclesial status" of the traditionalist Catholic society. The "recent frequency and sincerity of inquiries" led him to issue the message, he said.

The inquiries likely stemmed from the SSPX's involvement in a long-running controversy between the Diocese of Fort Worth and a group of Carmelite nuns in Arlington, Texas. The Vatican dismissed the nuns from religious life last month after they repeatedly defied orders and governance from both Olson and the Holy See itself.

The nuns in September had announced that they were associating with the SSPX. Olson in his Thursday letter did not reference that controversy but rather responded to "commonly asked questions" about the Catholic group, founded by French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1970.

Olson noted that the SSPX is not in "formal schism" with the Catholic Church, nor is it "in full communion or good standing." The group has a canonically irregular status stemming from its rejection of formal Church teaching.

The priests of the SSPX "administer valid sacraments," but they "do so illicitly," Olson noted. 

"To align with the SSPX knowingly and formally is to align with an illicit and irregular relationship with the Catholic Church, her hierarchy and her teaching," he said. 

The bishop said that Catholics who are "able to receive the sacraments at a Catholic church from clerics in good standing" have "no reason to attend and receive sacraments at an SSPX church or chapel."

The prelate acknowledged that Catholics in danger of death would have good reason to receive the sacraments of penance, anointing of the sick, and viaticum "if no other priest in good standing is readily available."

Yet in the Fort Worth Diocese, he said, there are enough Catholic churches available that a Catholic should have "no acceptable reason" to seek out the sacraments from an SSPX priest. 

The bishop further noted that those looking to worship at a Traditional Latin Mass can attend a parish run by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, a traditionalist group with a canonically regular status. 

"There is no need, especially curiosity, to attend an SSPX Mass at a chapel or church within the territory of the Fort Worth Diocese," Olson said. 

The bishop in his letter called for prayers for "the authentic communion enjoyed by us together with our Holy Father and the members of all those local Churches and their bishops who enjoy full communion with him."

Olson expressed hope that the faithful in his diocese "might align ourselves with … authentic and sound teaching as we pray for the reunion of all Christians."

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