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Vatican City, Oct 22, 2024 / 08:53 am (CNA).

The Vatican announced Tuesday that it has renewed its agreement with China on the appointment of Catholic bishops for an additional four years.

The renewal comes days after a report from the Hudson Institute detailed how seven Catholic bishops in China have been detained without due process, while other bishops have experienced intense pressure, surveillance, and police investigations since the Sino-Vatican agreement was initially signed six years ago.

With the extension, the Sino-Vatican agreement will now remain in effect until Oct. 22, 2028.

The English translation of the official statement from the Holy See said that "the Vatican party remains dedicated to furthering the respectful and constructive dialogue with the Chinese party, in view of the further development of bilateral relations for the benefit of the Catholic Church in China and the Chinese people as a whole."

The statement added that both sides agreed to extend the provisional agreement after "appropriate consultation and assessment."

China's foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian also confirmed the extension, saying that the two sides would maintain "contact and dialogue following a constructive spirit," according to the Associated Press.

Originally signed in September 2018, the provisional agreement was previously renewed for a two-year period in 2020 and again in October 2022. 

The terms of the agreement have not been made public, though Pope Francis has said it includes a joint commission between the Chinese government and the Vatican on the appointment of Catholic bishops, overseen by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

The Vatican's dialogue with China has not always been smooth. The Holy See has acknowledged that China violated the terms of the agreement by unilaterally appointing Catholic bishops in Shanghai and the "diocese of Jiangxi," a large diocese created by the Chinese government that is not recognized by the Vatican.

Pope Francis expressed satisfaction with the ongoing dialogue with China during a press conference in September. However, the Vatican's foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, has been more cautious, calling the agreement "not the best deal possible" and noting ongoing efforts to improve its implementation.

Since 2018, "about 10 bishops" have been appointed and consecrated under the terms of the Sino-Vatican agreement, according to Vatican News. 

A new coadjutor bishop of Beijing is expected to be installed this Friday in agreement with the Vatican, according to Asia News. The coadjutor bishop would be just five years younger than Beijing's current Archbishop Joseph Li Shan, who is still more than a decade away from the typical retirement age for Catholic bishops.

In August, the Chinese government officially recognized 95-year-old Bishop Melchior Shi Hongzhen, a former underground bishop. The Vatican called this recognition a "positive fruit of the dialogue" with Beijing.

Human rights advocates have criticized the Vatican's silence on China's religious freedom violations during its negotiations, including the internment of Uyghur Muslims and the imprisonment of democracy advocates like Catholic Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong.

Chinese officials have reportedly ordered the removal of crosses from churches and have replaced images of Christ and the Virgin Mary with images of President Xi Jinping, according to a recent report from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). 

USCIRF also reports that the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) "sinicization of religion" campaign has led to censored religious texts, forced clergy to preach CCP ideology, and required the display of CCP slogans in churches.

"While some Catholics choose to worship legally within the state-controlled Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, they are certainly not free as they must comply with the CCP's harsh mechanisms of control and interference," USCIRF Commissioner Asif Mahmood told CNA earlier this month.

"Ultimately, the Chinese government is solely interested in instilling unwavering obedience and devotion to the CCP, its political agenda, and its vision for religion, not protecting the religious freedom rights of Catholics," he said.

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Vatican City, Oct 22, 2024 / 05:00 am (CNA).

You probably know that St. John Paul II was the second-longest-serving pope in modern history with 27 years of pontificate, and he was the first non-Italian pontiff since the Dutch Pope Adrian VI in 1523.

But did you know that he also changed the Catholic Church forever during those 27 years? Here are five ways he did that:

1. He helped bring about the 1989 fall of communism in Eastern Europe.

The pope's official biographer, George Weigel, who for decades chronicled the pope's engagement with civic leaders, noted that the way Pope John Paul II influenced the political landscape was enormous. His political influence is seen best in the way his engagement with world leaders assisted the downfall of the U.S.S.R.

Just days before President Ronald Reagan called on Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down" the Berlin Wall, he met with the pope. According to historian and author Paul Kengor, Reagan went so far as to call Pope John Paul II his "best friend," opining that no one knew his soul better than the Polish pontiff who had also suffered an assassination attempt and carried the burden of world leadership.

In the course of 38 official visits and 738 audiences and meetings held with heads of state, John Paul II influenced civic leaders around the world in this epic battle with a regime that would ultimately be responsible for the deaths of more than 30 million people. 

"He thought of himself as the universal pastor of the Catholic Church, dealing with sovereign political actors who were as subject to the universal moral law as anybody else," Weigel said. 

"He was willing to be a risk-taker, but he also appreciated that prudence is the greatest of political virtues. And I think he was quite respected by world political leaders because of his transparent integrity. His essential attitude toward these men and women was: How can I help you? What can I do to help?"

More than anything, John Paul II understood his role primarily as a spiritual leader.

According to Weigel, the pope's primary impact on the world of affairs was his central role in creating the revolution of conscience that began in Poland and swept across Eastern Europe. This revolution of conscience inspired the nonviolent revolution of 1989 and the collapse of communism in Central and Eastern Europe, an astounding political achievement. 

2. He beatified and canonized more saints than any predecessor, making holiness more accessible to ordinary people.

One of John Paul II's most enduring legacies is the huge number of saints he recognized. He celebrated 147 beatification ceremonies, during which he proclaimed 1,338 blesseds, and celebrated 51 canonizations for a total of 482 saints. That is more than the combined tally of his predecessors over the five centuries before.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta is perhaps the best-known contemporary of John Paul II who is now officially a saint, but the first saint of the new millennium and one especially dear to John Paul II was St. Faustina Kowalska, the fellow Polish native who received the message of divine mercy. 

"Sister Faustina's canonization has a particular eloquence: By this act I intend today to pass this message on to the new millennium," he said in the homily of her canonization. "I pass it on to all people, so that they will learn to know ever better the true face of God and the true face of their brethren."

Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, whom Pope John Paul II beatified in 1990 and nicknamed the "man of the beatitudes," is another popular saint elevated by the Polish pope who loved to recognize the holiness of simple persons living the call to holiness with extraordinary fidelity. At the time of his death, the 24-year-old Italian was simply a student with no extraordinary accomplishments. But his love for Christ in the Eucharist and in the poor was elevated by John Paul II as heroic and worthy of imitation.

It bears noting that Pope Francis would later surpass John Paul II when he proclaimed 800 Italian martyrs saints in a single day.

3. He transformed the papal travel schedule.

John Paul II visited some 129 countries during his pontificate — more countries than any other pope had visited up to that point.

He also created World Youth Days in 1985 and presided over 19 of them as pope.

Weigel said John Paul II understood that the pope must be present to the people of the Church, wherever they are.

"He chose to do it by these extensive travels, which he insisted were not travels, they were pilgrimages," Weigel said.

"This was the successor of Peter, on pilgrimage to various parts of the world, of the Church. And that's why these pilgrimages were always built around liturgical events, prayer, adoration of the holy Eucharist, ecumenical and interreligious gatherings — all of this was part of a pilgrimage experience."

In the latter half of the 20th century — a time of enormous social change and upheaval— John Paul II's extensive travels and proclamation of the Gospel to the ends of the earth were just what the world needed, Weigel said.

4. He made extraordinary contributions to Church teaching.

John Paul II was a scholar who promulgated the Catechism of the Catholic Church in 1992, reformed the Eastern and Western Codes of Canon Law during his pontificate, and authored 14 encyclicals, 15 apostolic exhortations, 11 apostolic constitutions, and 45 apostolic letters.

This is why Weigel said the Church has only begun to unpack what he calls the "magisterium" of John Paul II, in the form of his writings and his intellectual influence.

For example, John Paul's theology of the body remains enormously influential in the United States and throughout the world, though Weigel said even this has yet to be unpacked.

5. He gave new life to the Catholic Church in Africa.

John Paul II's legendary evangelical fervor took fire in Africa. 

He had a particular friendship with Beninese Cardinal Bernadin Gantin and visited Africa many times. His visits would inspire a generation of JPII Catholics in Africa as well as other parts of the globe.

"John Paul II was fascinated by Africa; he saw African Christianity as living, a kind of New Testament experience of the freshness of the Gospel, and he was very eager to support that, and lift it up," Gantin said.

"It was very interesting that during the two synods on marriage and the family in 2014 and 2015, some of the strongest defenses of the Church's classic understanding of marriage and family came from African bishops. Some of whom are first-, second-generation Christians, deeply formed in the image of John Paul II, whom they regard as a model bishop," Gantin said.

"I think wherever you look around the world Church, the living parts of the Church are those that have accepted the magisterium ... as the authentic interpretation of Vatican II. And the dying parts of the Church, the moribund parts of the Church are those parts that have ignored that magisterium."

John Paul II's influence in Africa and around the globe transformed the world. It also forever transformed the Church.

This story was first published on Oct. 22, 2021, and has been updated.

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CNA Staff, Oct 22, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

In an election year in which a record number of states with pro-abortion measures are on the ballot, Nebraska is the only state to have a pro-abortion ballot measure competing with a pro-life measure. 

Chelsey Youman, with Human Coalition Action, a national pro-life group based in Texas, on "EWTN News In Depth" recently said that amid a "disinformation" campaign, Nebraska is "fighting back."

"Nebraska is taking a unique approach to this issue and fighting back, saying that we're not going to accept the pro-abortion industry's rampant push of extreme constitutional measures to allow abortion on demand without limits throughout the entire pregnancy, all three trimesters," Youman told "EWTN News In Depth" host Catherine Hadro on Oct. 18.

Nebraska's ballot measure 439 would create a constitutional right to abortion, while measure 434 would establish constitutional protections for unborn children in later stages of pregnancy. 

Tom Venzor, executive director of the Nebraska Catholic Conference, called the pro-abortion measure "worse than Roe v. Wade."

"Initiative 439 is a very extreme proposal that allows abortions throughout the entire pregnancy," Venzor continued. "Alternatively, you have Initiative 434, which provides some protection in the second and third trimester for the unborn child but then allows us to continue regulating against unsafe and coercive abortion practices."

Dr. Catherine Brooks, a neonatologist and pediatrician in Lincoln, Nebraska, noted that fetal viability does not have a set definition in the medical community.

"When they talk about it on the political front, it's often assumed that there's a definition of viability, and there just isn't," Brooks told "EWTN News In Depth" reporter Mark Irons.

Measure 439 creates a right to abortion up until fetal viability, which it defines as whenever the patient's health practitioner determines that "there is a significant likelihood of the fetus' sustained survival outside the uterus without the application of extraordinary medical measures."

Tremendous progress has been made in recent years, increasing the likelihood of survival for the tiniest premature babies. For instance, Curtis Zy-Keith Means was born at 21 weeks' gestation and weighed less than a pound. He holds the Guinness World Record for the youngest premature baby to survive and turned 4 this summer. 

But viability is often defined to be between 24 and 26 weeks. 

Brooks works in the neonatal intensive care unit, caring for premature babies who need additional support before they leave the hospital. She said she noticed "their personalities are all so unique."

Venzor's daughter Therese was born three months premature. She lived for only two weeks. 

"My personal experience is those two weeks were beautiful," Venzor said. "They were wonderful."

"We never knew if we were going to get one second with her," he recalled. "We didn't know if when she was delivered, she was going to make it. To have any amount of time with her was precious, not only in the womb but outside of the womb, and to look at her, to see her face. It taught us how to love more deeply. She taught us how to love."

Nebraska's pro-abortion measure also creates a right to abortion after the baby is viable outside the womb "when needed to protect the life or health of the pregnant patient, without interference from the state or its political subdivisions," according to the text of the ballot measure.

"I think 439 is vague intentionally, and that's so that people don't understand what it's saying," Brooks said. "But from a medical perspective and a legal perspective, it's allowing abortion at any gestation for any reason."

Youman noted that Nebrasa's pro-life measure is a unique opportunity for voters in the U.S. this year. 

"They're giving voters another option, an option to say: We're going to vote to protect children past the 12-week mark but also, importantly, allow the legislator there in Nebraska to continue to protect children in the womb before 12 weeks," Youman said of the measure.

"The pro-life vote is alive and well," Youman said, even though there is "a massive campaign of misleading disinformation" and "fear-mongering" around abortion ballot measures. 

"It took the pro-abortionists seven months to get the requisite amount of 200,000 signatures. It took the pro-lifers only three months to get the same amount of signatures," Youman said. "So don't always believe the polling. Don't always believe what mass media is telling you. The pro-life vote is alive and well and active like it never had been. Now is that time for us to lean in more than ever."

Youman noted that there is misinformation about medical emergencies and abortion. 

For instance, in September, Vice President Kamala Harris amplified claims by several news outlets that a woman died as the result of pro-life laws, while a group of doctors responded that the Georgia woman, Amber Thurman, died because of the abortion pill and medical malpractice. 

"The truth is, in pro-life states, all 50 states protect women from medical emergencies," Youman said. "That's not only a Supreme Court requirement but at the state level of statutory requirements." 

Youman said that having conversations about these issues is essential and that voting "on these issues in these states will be the loudest thing we can do to send that message to protect the unborn."

"The longer that we have these conversations at the grassroots, at the church level, at the local level, with our families and communities, the more people realize the value of innocent human life, and the more people realize how extreme these measures are," Youman said.

"This election, more than ever, as pro-life voters, we need to show up and tell them we will not stand for a country that aborts innocent children in the womb," Youman said. "We will vote for pro-life measures, and we want to hold our candidates accountable to protecting innocent life in the womb."

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CNA Staff, Oct 21, 2024 / 15:30 pm (CNA).

Weeks after deadly Hurricane Helene dumped record rainfall on western North Carolina, the Diocese of Charlotte is encouraging parishes to band together to create "sister" partnerships for mutual material aid and spiritual support over the next six months.

Bishop Michael Martin noted in an Oct. 10 email to the diocese's 160 priests that parishes need to be ready to help each other and the community even if they themselves did not suffer serious damage.

"While some of the immediate needs have been cared for, our longer-term walking with the people affected … remains an important ministry of our local Church," the bishop said as reported by the local Catholic News Herald.

Parishes that are partnered with a "sister" can hold second collections to help offset lost operating revenue in their sister parish, offer monthly Holy Hours to pray for their sister parish, and check in with the parish regularly about the need for pastoral help or volunteers, the bishop noted.

Parishes can sign up for the program and the diocesan chancery will pair up parishes based on their resources and level of need.

Helene made landfall in late September in Florida's sparsely populated Big Bend region, bringing a nine-foot storm surge to some areas and knocking out power for millions.

Weakening into a tropical storm over land, it wrought deadly flooding and damaging winds inland in Georgia, Alabama, and the Carolinas.

The city of Asheville, North Carolina, a gateway to the Smoky Mountains about 125 miles west of Charlotte, was especially hard-hit along with hundreds of smaller communities. Nearly 100 people have died in North Carolina as a result of the storm.

Martin told CNA earlier this month that he and diocesan staff took a trip to several of the harder-hit areas in the Charlotte Diocese to survey the destruction and offer aid to stricken residents, including in the towns of Hendersonville and Swannanoa. 

The diocese has been heavily involved in relief efforts, with the diocese's first truckload of supplies from Charlotte arriving in Hendersonville 48 hours after the storm. 

The diocese has since, as of Oct. 17, delivered 48 box trucks and 16 pickups and trailer loads of supplies to the communities of Asheville, Boone, Brevard, Hendersonville, Linville, Swannanoa, and Waynesville.

Monsignor Patrick Winslow, vicar general and chancellor of the Charlotte Diocese, recently consulted with pastors who lived through Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana to get advice on how to transition from addressing immediate to long-term needs. 

Donors from "all 50 states and six countries" have donated some $3.8 million as of Oct. 17 to response-and-recovery efforts led by the diocese's parishes, schools, central administration, and its Catholic Charities agency, the diocese said. 

People can learn how to pray for North Carolina's recovery and donate financially by visiting this page.

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Vatican City, Oct 21, 2024 / 16:00 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Víctor Fernández on Monday reaffirmed Pope Francis' position against women's access to the diaconate, an issue that will continue to be evaluated by a specialized commission while the Synod on Synodality continues to reflect on the role of women in the Church outside of ordained ministry.

During his speech at the general congregation on Oct. 21, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith recalled that for the Holy Father the question of the female diaconate "is not ripe," and for this reason he specifically asked the members of the synod not to get sidetracked on this possibility now.

However, the cardinal indicated that those who "are convinced that it is necessary to go deeper" into this question can send their considerations to the commission established by the Holy Father in 2020 to further study the subject. The commission is chaired by Cardinal Giuseppe Petrocchi.

In a similar way to what he said at the beginning of the synod, Fernández emphasized that "rushing to ask for the ordination of deaconesses is not today the most important response to promote women."

However, he underscored that the pontiff "is very concerned" about the role of women in the Church and therefore called for further reflection "without concentrating on holy orders."

Other forms of women's participation in the Church

Fernández referred once again to the reflections led by group 5, charged during the synod with exploring, among other things, "the question of the necessary participation of women in the life and leadership of the Church."

He pointed out that this group has analyzed different forms such as the lay ministry of catechists in communities without priests, an option that emerged after Querida Amazonia and was not widely accepted.

The prelate recalled that Pope Francis has pointed out that priestly power, linked to the sacraments, "is not necessarily expressed as power or authority, and that there are forms of authority that do not require holy orders."

Continuing his reflection, he renewed his invitation to send to the dicastery "testimonies of women who are truly community leaders or who perform important functions of authority."

"I ask especially the women members of this synod to help collect, explain, and send to the dicastery various proposals, which we can hear in their context, on possible paths for the participation of women in the leadership of the Church," he added.

Likewise, after the "misunderstanding" that was caused by his absence from a meeting of synod delegates in which they interacted with the Vatican study group on this issue, the cardinal confirmed that there will be a new meeting on Thursday, Oct. 24, at 4:30 p.m. local time where he will listen to ideas and proposals.

He also expressed his hope that concrete steps can be taken to understand that "there is nothing in the nature of women that prevents them from occupying very important positions in the guidance of the Churches. What truly comes from the Holy Spirit cannot be stopped."

Draft of final document already in hands of synod members

Paolo Ruffini, secretary-general of the General Secretariat of the Synod, reported during today's press conference that the draft of the final document was delivered this morning to the members of the synod.

The document, which will be presented to Pope Francis, is being prepared by a commission made up of a president, three secretaries, seven members representing each continent, and three members appointed by the pope.

Present at the briefing at the Holy See Press Office, cardinal-designate Father Timothy Radcliffe, OP, urged against seeking "headlines" in this document, as he "this would be a mistake." He also noted that "the synod is a profound renewal of the Church" and a "new way" of imagining it.

For her part, Sister Nathalie Becquart, undersecretary of the General Secretariat of the Synod, stated that the synod also represents a "new way of articulating the primacy" of the Petrine ministry.

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, Oct 21, 2024 / 16:30 pm (CNA).

A new report sheds light on the repression faced by 10 Catholic bishops in China who have resisted the Chinese Communist Party's attempt to exert control over religious matters since the 2018 China-Vatican agreement on the appointment of bishops. 

The report, authored by Nina Shea for the Hudson Institute, documents the harrowing experiences of Vatican-approved bishops who have suffered detention without due process, surveillance, police investigations, and banishments from their dioceses for refusal to submit to the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPCA), a state-managed group controlled by the CCP's United Front Work Department. 

"This report shows that religious repression of the Catholic Church in China has intensified since the 2018 China-Vatican agreement on the appointment of bishops," Shea said.

"Beijing targeted these 10 bishops after they opposed the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, which requires its members to pledge independence from the Holy See," she added.

The Hudson Institute published the report days before the expected Vatican announcement of whether the Holy See will renew its provisional agreement with Beijing on the appointment of bishops. 

The provisional agreement was first signed in 2018 and then renewed in 2020 and 2022. The most recent two-year renewal signed in 2022 expires this week on Oct. 22. 

News that a new coadjutor bishop of Beijing is expected to be installed on Oct. 25 in agreement with the Holy See suggests that the Sino-Vatican agreement is likely to be renewed.

The report also outlines steps that U.S. policymakers can take to advocate for the release of detained Catholic bishops in China.

Here is a look at the 10 Chinese Catholic bishops featured in the report: 

Bishop Vincent Guo Xijin

Bishop Vincent Guo Xijin, 66, of the Mindong Diocese in Fujian province has faced multiple detentions over 30 years, including one in 2019, during which he was placed under surveillance of two guards and subjected to coercive "tactics of persuasion." After the signing of the Sino-Vatican agreement in 2018, he was asked to step down as the principal bishop of Mindong to allow the government-appointed Bishop Zhan Silu to take his place. Although Guo agreed to serve as an auxiliary bishop, he continued to face relentless pressure to register with the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, including by cutting off electricity and water to his residence and then evicting him in January 2020. He resigned in October 2020 at the age of 62.

Bishop Augustine Cui Tai

Bishop Augustine Cui Tai, 74, of the Xuanhua Diocese in the province of Hebei has been subjected to repeated detention, house arrest, and forced labor over the past 31 years. He has been detained four times since the 2018 China-Vatican agreement and has not been seen since he was taken into police custody in April 2021. His diocese has repeatedly called for his release from detention but to no avail.

Bishop Julius Jia Zhiguo

Bishop Julius Jia Zhiguo, 90, of the Zhengding Diocese in Hebei has a long history of persecution, having been detained multiple times since 1963. His most recent detention began in August 2020 as the China-Vatican agreement was on the verge of renewal for the first time. His "crime" was having allowed in his church the singing of hymns without government permission, according to the report. Jia remains in detention since his 2020 arrest and the Chinese government has acknowledged that he suffers from illness largely developed from his times in detention. Police also dismantled the bishop's orphanage for disabled children that he operated with the help of Catholic nuns for over 30 years.

Bishop Thaddeus Ma Daqin

After publicly declaring his refusal to cooperate with the CPCA at his episcopal ordination in 2012, Bishop Thaddeus Ma Daqin, 56, of the Diocese of Shanghai was detained and isolated at a seminary and has remained under house arrest ever since under constant surveillance, restrictions, and detention. The China-Vatican agreement did not improve his situation.

Bishop Peter Shao Zhumin

Bishop Peter Shao Zhumin, 61, of the Wenzhou Diocese in Zhejiang has been arrested at least six times since the 2018 agreement. His most recent detention occurred in January without due process, and he remains imprisoned today. Authorities have repeatedly pressured him to join the CPCA, but he has consistently refused.

Bishop Melchior Shi Hongzhen

At 95 years old, Bishop Melchior Shi Hongzhen, 95, of the Tianjin Diocese has been under house arrest for over 15 years. He is confined to his parish church compound and occasionally allowed out to perform religious duties. In 2024, the Vatican reported that China officially recognized him as a bishop, though his age and ongoing restrictions now make it difficult for him to fulfill his ministry.

Bishop James Su Zhimin

Bishop James Su Zhimin, 92, of the Diocese of Baoding in Hebei has been in continuous secret detention for over 27 years, having been arrested in 1997 while leading a religious procession to a Marian shrine. His location remains undisclosed, and he is one of the longest-detained Catholic leaders in China. The bishop's nephew told UCA News in 2020 "it is feared that Bishop Su is no longer alive."

Bishop Joseph Xing Wenzhi

Bishop Joseph Xing Wenzhi, 61, of the Shanghai Diocese disappeared under mysterious circumstances in 2011. The CCP claimed he had resigned from his post, but no further information has been provided. The Vatican has expressed hope for a resolution to his case, but his fate remains unclear.

Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun

A vocal critic of the CCP, Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, 92, of Hong Kong has faced ongoing pressure since China's imposition of the national security law in Hong Kong. He was arrested in 2022 on charges of "colluding with foreign forces" and was released on bail hours later. Zen was convicted for failing to register a fund that helped pay for the legal fees and medical treatments of Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters and forced to pay a fine.

Bishop Joseph Zhang Weizhu

Bishop Joseph Zhang Weizhu, 66, of the Xinxiang Diocese in Henan was long prevented from entering his diocese and then was arrested in May 2021, while recovering from a cancer surgery, and continues to be held without trial. Authorities also raided and shut down his seminary, labeling it illegal. In March 2023, Asia News confirmed that the bishop remained detained by the local police.

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ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 21, 2024 / 17:00 pm (CNA).

Father Marcelo Pérez of the Mexican Diocese of San Cristóbal de las Casas was murdered on Saturday, Oct. 19, by unknown assailants. The priest was shot dead after he had finished celebrating Mass and was on his way in his car to continue his pastoral duties.

According to the news site El Heraldo de Chiapas, the crime occurred after the priest had finished celebrating the Eucharist at the church located in the Cuxtitali neighborhood and was heading to the church in the Guadalupe neighborhood when some men riding a motorcycle reportedly shot him.

The murder was condemned by the Mexican Bishops' Conference (CEM by its Spanish acronym) in an Oct. 20 statement, which said the act "not only deprives the community of a dedicated pastor but also silences a prophetic voice that tirelessly fought for peace with truth and justice in the region of Chiapas."

"Father Marcelo Pérez was a living example of priestly commitment to the most needy and vulnerable in society. His pastoral work, characterized by his closeness to the people and his constant support for those who needed it most, leaves a legacy of love and service that will endure in the hearts of all those he touched with his ministry," the CEM wrote.

In its statement, the CEM also expressed its "solidarity and spiritual closeness" to the bishop of San Cristóbal de las Casas, Rodrigo Aguilar Martínez, and to the local Catholic community.

The statement also demands that authorities carry out "an exhaustive and transparent investigation that leads to solving this crime and justice for Father Marcelo Pérez," the implementation of "effective measures to guarantee the safety of priests and pastoral workers," and the redoubling of "efforts to combat the violence and impunity that afflict the region of Chiapas" and the country in general.

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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ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 21, 2024 / 17:30 pm (CNA).

Thousands of Colombians took to the streets in some 30 of the country's cities over the weekend to demand the repeal of External Memorandum 115 of the national government's Superintendency of Health (Supersalud) that sanctions sex changes for minors.

Sponsored by several organizations that defend life and the family, including Unidos por la Vida (United for Life) and Unión Familia (Family Union), the marches saw wide participation by the country's citizens, including families, religious leaders, and health professionals.

In addition to Bogotá, there were demonstrations in Cali, Medellín, Barranquilla, Cartagena, and Santa Marta, among other cities. 

The demonstration in Bogotá, the country's capital, started from National Park and headed to Bolívar Plaza.

Family Union stated on Instagram that "more than 30 cities have raised their voices to say 'not with children'" in reference to the memorandum Supersalud published on Sept. 21 that provides "general instructions for inspection, oversight, and control to guarantee the right to health of trans people in Colombia."

Section H is dedicated to "trans children and adolescents who are in the process of development" and states that the objective is for minors to have "healthy development and support in the affirmation of identity and/or gender expression in these stages of the life cycle."

In support of its action, the Supersalud document cited in footnote 26 rulings by the Constitutional Court backing sex changes for minors.

Although at the beginning a small group of trans activists in Bogotá tried to stop the demonstration in the country's capital city, marchers continued their course toward the city's historic downtown with signs demanding respect for the integral well-being of minors, including the march's slogan, "Don't mess with children."

The slogan was directed especially at Superintendent of Health Luis Carlos Leal, who was appointed to that position by President Gustavo Petro.

In declarations made prior to the demonstration, the president of United for Life, Jesús Magaña, charged that Leal "has issued this memorandum to promote hormone therapy and sex changes, according to his ideology."

He also said that it's "a very clear project of President Petro, through his superintendent of health."

"They don't care about destroying the family, destroying children; they don't care about respecting the rights of parents because they want to do it to minors," the pro-family leader told ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner.

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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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 21, 2024 / 17:50 pm (CNA).

Three states have picked up a lawsuit previously dismissed by the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over its removal of safety restrictions on abortion drugs. 

In June 2023, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision saying the group of pro-life doctors and organizations who filed the original case lacked standing as they could not show they had been harmed by the abortion drug mifepristone's widespread availability. 

The states of Missouri, Kansas, and Idaho argue in the new lawsuit, filed in the same Texas federal court as the original case, that "women should have the in-person care of a doctor when taking high-risk drugs."

Since the FDA rolled back its regulations, the states wrote in the filing, abortion drugs have been "flooding states like Missouri and Idaho [where abortion is otherwise regulated] and sending women in these states to the emergency room."

The plaintiffs describe the FDA's move to deregulate the drug as "reckless," noting that the FDA's own label estimates that about 1 in 25 women who take mifepristone "will visit the emergency room." Though side effects of the drug include severe bleeding, life-threatening infections, and ruptured ectopic pregnancies, abortion providers are no longer required to report nonfatal complications.

"This elimination was based on past data collected under the originally approved safety standards, not the new deregulated regime," the states pointed out, calling the deregulation "unreasonable."

The original FDA requirements for the drug upon its approval in 2000 limited use to 49 days of pregnancy, required three in-person visits, and could only be administered by certified health care providers at a clinic or health care center. In 2016, the gestational limit was extended to 70 days and the number of in-person consultations reduced to a singular visit.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the FDA dropped its consultation requirement altogether and further authorized all certified health care professionals to be able to distribute the drug. Telehealth providers were initially given the temporary ability to distribute the drug via mail that same year. The Biden administration eventually solidified the practice as a norm in 2023. 

Although most of the country requires parental consent for the drug to be prescribed, 18 states — including California, Colorado, Maryland, and Illinois — do not require parental consent for minors to access mifepristone. 

The states also claim in the filing that the FDA "ignored the potential impacts that the removal of commonsense safeguards would have on adolescent girls" and that the administration purposefully categorized pregnancy as a "disease" to avoid having to complete otherwise necessary safety assessments among pediatric patients to approve the deregulations. 

The new filing calls for the drug to be prohibited among patients under the age of 18. 

"The FDA has acted unlawfully," the states concluded in the amended complaint. "Now, the state plaintiffs ask the court to protect women by holding unlawful, staying the effective date of, setting aside, and vacating the FDA's actions to eviscerate crucial safeguards for those who undergo this dangerous drug regimen."

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 21, 2024 / 18:10 pm (CNA).

Sen. JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, at an Oct. 20 faith rally in Waukesha, Wisconsin, accused the Biden-Harris administration of persecuting Christians and Catholics in particular.

In his speech, Vance also spoke about religious liberty and the impact of inflation, illegal immigration, and drug addiction.

"There are a lot of Catholics … [who] I think rightfully feel abandoned by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' leadership, and they're just looking for somebody to protect their rights and make this country an affordable and decent place to raise a family," Vance said at the Sunday afternoon rally in the battleground state. 

"I think that's true of a lot of Catholics," Vance said. "It's true of non-Catholics, too. But we cannot have an American government that is persecuting Christians for living their faith. We should be rewarding people and encouraging people to live their faith."

Vance took Harris to task for her support for "suing Catholic nuns to force them to perform procedures that violate their conscience." 

The allegation appears to be in reference to Harris' 2019 support for the Do No Harm Act, which would have ended religious liberty exemptions for certain government mandates, including for health insurance coverage. It would have scaled back the protections in the Religious Freedom Restoration Act so the government could force religious employers to include coverage for abortion and transgender surgeries in their health insurance plans.

Democratic lawmakers introduced the legislation to push back against the Little Sisters of the Poor, a Catholic community of religious sisters who were suing the federal government over a mandate that their health insurance plan cover abortion. The sisters won at the Supreme Court.

"I think that's ridiculous," Vance continued. "I think we're a big enough country where we can actually respect the right of people of faith to live according to their conscience and not try to force Kamala Harris' progressive values down their throat."

The Trump campaign has also been critical of Harris for scrutinizing judicial nominees for being members of the Knights of Columbus and for a leaked internal Richmond FBI memo that called for an investigation into a supposed link between so-called "radical traditionalist Catholics" and "the far-right white nationalist movement." Trump also criticized Harris for skipping the Al Smith dinner, which raises money for Catholic charities and is traditionally attended by both major-party candidates.

"Kamala Harris is the candidate of anti-Christian and anti-Catholic bigotry," Vance said. "She brags about it. That's her policy record. Donald Trump is the candidate of defending your First Amendment right to practice your faith however you want to, because this is the United States of America, and we believe in religious liberty in this country."

Vance also blamed Harris and President Joe Biden for the rising cost of living, resulting from high levels of inflation. He blamed government spending for the inflation, which he said harmed families and "made groceries unaffordable for American citizens."

Additionally, Vance blamed Biden and Harris for the flood of migrants illegally entering the United States. He said their border policies have made Americans less safe and sparked a rise in fentanyl-laced drugs in the country.

On a personal note, Vance referred to his mother's past struggle with opioid addiction, saying she "has been clean and sober for 10 years, and we're proud of her."

"That, to me, is the grace of God," he said. "I know in this room, [many people] believe that God sometimes works in mysterious ways, but he does work every single day in the lives of citizens of this state and of this country. I'm living proof of it, my friends."

"But while we pray to God for recovery and we fight every single day for those of our loved ones who are getting caught up in this stuff, wouldn't it be nice to have a president of the United States who stopped this poison from coming into our country in the first place?" Vance added.

Hundreds of people turned out for Vance's rally, which took place outside of Milwaukee, the state's largest city. Several people held campaign signs that read "Catholics for Trump." Vance is a convert to Catholicism and noted during the speech that he was "baptized for the first time in 2019" and "returned to my faith as a young man."

"I know all of you are praying for me, and I know we got a lot of Catholics for Trump," Vance said. "I see the signs here. Thank you, Catholics for Trump."

While he was speaking, one attendee loudly yelled "Jesus is king," to which Vance responded: "That's right — Jesus is king" and received loud cheers and applause from the crowd. This appeared to be in reference to an incident that took place at a Harris rally two days earlier. Two college students say they were asked to leave a Harris rally after reportedly shouting, "Jesus is Lord." A video circulating on social media, however, shows that someone in the audience also shouted "Liar! Liar!" before Harris told them they were "at the wrong rally." 

"Whether you're a person of [the] Christian faith or not, Donald Trump and I are going to fight for your right to live your values because that's what the First Amendment protects," Vance said.

According to a polling average from RealClearPolling, Trump and Harris are virtually tied in Wisconsin, a state with 10 Electoral College votes. In all seven battleground states with the tightest races, polls show Trump with very narrow leads, with Harris less than two percentage points behind in each — well within the margin of error.

Some recent polls show that Catholic voters are nearly evenly divided on the 2024 presidential election. According to a September Pew Research Center survey, about 52% of Catholics support Trump and 47% support Harris. A poll conducted by the National Catholic Reporter found that Catholics in the seven most tightly contested swing states preferred Trump 50% to Harris' 45%.

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