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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 27, 2024 / 15:45 pm (CNA).

Here's a roundup of the latest developments in the U.S. regarding abortion and pro-life issues.

North Dakota pro-life law repealed

An order signed by North Dakota District Court Judge Bruce Romanick on Thursday officially repealed the state's law protecting unborn life at conception because it violates the state constitution.

Romanick said in the order that North Dakota's pro-life law is unconstitutional because it infringes on a "woman's fundamental right to procreative autonomy" and "takes away a woman's fundamental rights to liberty and her fundamental right to pursue and obtain safety and happiness."

This puts into effect a 24-page ruling Romanick issued 14 days earlier that declared abortion legal in North Dakota up to the point of viability, typically defined as 22 or 23 weeks of pregnancy.

The ruling overturned the law that North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, a Republican, signed in April 2023. The law allowed abortion only in certain cases, such as pregnancies caused by rape or incest, within the first six weeks of pregnancy and cases of serious health risk for the mother.

When he signed the bill, Burgum said the measure "clarifies and refines existing state law, which was triggered into effect by the Dobbs decision and reaffirms North Dakota as a pro-life state."

Mike Nowatzki, a representative for Burgum, told CNA that the state attorney general will appeal the ruling to the North Dakota Supreme Court. Nowatzki said the governor "generally doesn't comment on pending litigation."

Texas attorney general sues Austin for funding abortion travel

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing the city of Austin for using public funds to give grants for out-of-state abortion travel.

According to local news outlet KXAN, Austin City Council Member Vanessa Fuentes announced earlier this month that the city was moving forward with its Reproductive Health Grant. The grant allocates $400,000 in taxpayer funding from the city's 2024 and 2025 fiscal budgets to be given to Austin women seeking out-of-state abortions. The funds are meant to be used for travel, lodging, child care, and food while seeking an abortion.

Paxton filed his lawsuit on Friday in the state district court for Travis County, where Austin is located. The attorney general is seeking a restraining order against the city to stop it from using tax dollars to promote abortion.

In a Friday press statement, Paxton said the city of Austin is "illegally seeking to use public funding to support travel expenses for out-of-state abortions."

"No city in Texas has the authority to spend taxpayer money in this manner," Paxton said. "The Texas Constitution prohibits governmental entities from doing so."

Washington stockpiles abortion drugs in event of Trump victory

The state of Washington is reportedly stockpiling abortion drugs in the event that former president Donald Trump is reelected to the presidency this November.

Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, told Reuters this week that the state is maintaining a stockpile of at least 30,000 doses of the abortion drug mifepristone. According to Reuters, the stockpile is enough to supply the state's abortion needs "for an estimated three years."

Last year, a federal judge in Texas ordered the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) to revoke its approval of mifepristone because the agency did not follow proper testing and safety protocols when it approved the drug in 2000. The ruling was ultimately overturned by the Supreme Court, which said the doctors who brought the case forward did not have standing to sue the FDA. The Supreme Court's ruling left open the possibility for other challenges to mifepristone in the future.

Inslee told Reuters that "the Supreme Court decision was not definitive in protecting mifepristone regarding the FDA authorization. The court said there was no standing, which leads them later on to be able to pull the rug out from underneath women with the help of Donald Trump. So as long as Trump is on the scene, that risk exists, and so I'm glad that we have that [sic] stockpiles."

Inslee added that the struggle over abortion access "is a long-term threat."

"Those who want to take away reproductive health for women, they're not going to stop last week, this week, or next week. It is a multi-decadal effort, and we have to continually keep people out of public office who can threaten women in this country, that certainly includes this November," he said.

Judge bars censorship of pregnancy centers in New York

Federal Judge John Sinatra issued an order this week that extended his previous ruling blocking efforts by the state to censor pregnancy resource centers. This week's ruling extends the blockage to an additional center, the Summit Life Outreach Center.

The rulings temporarily block New York Attorney General Letitia James' attempt to keep the pregnancy centers from promoting abortion pill reversal medications.

This comes after Sinatra issued a temporary injunction against the state in August to apply to some 51 pregnancy centers.

Abortion pill reversal — sometimes referred to as APR — is a medication meant to stop a chemical abortion after the process has already been initiated.

While the chemical abortion pill mifepristone works by cutting off progesterone, essentially starving the unborn baby to death, abortion pill reversal can restore progesterone flow in the womb, reversing the effects of mifepristone.

James sued 11 faith-based pregnancy centers in the state in May, claiming the centers' promotion of abortion pill reversal was spreading "false and misleading" information and endangering women.

Sinatra's rulings mean that the pregnancy centers involved in the suits will continue to be able to promote abortion pill reversal while the cases make their way through the courts.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 27, 2024 / 17:27 pm (CNA).

One of the country's leading pro-life groups has launched a $500,000 television and digital ad campaign debunking misinformation that Georgia laws protecting unborn life killed two women.

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, the group behind the ad, said the two women, Amber Thurman and Candi Miller, were victims of "reckless misinformation" being spread by Democrats about Georgia's pro-life laws.

"Candi and Amber should be alive; the left's scare tactics are deadly," the ad's narrator says, adding that "Democrats' abortion lies put women at risk."

The 30-second ad, which will reach cable and broadcast markets in Atlanta, Augusta, Macon, and Savannah in Georgia as well as targeted digital audiences, says that "no Georgia law blocks lifesaving care for women or treating complications after abortion."

Miller, 41, and Thurman, 28, both died from infection due to complications after taking the abortion pills mifepristone and misoprostol.

The left-leaning outlet ProPublica reported earlier this month that Georgia's laws protecting unborn life starting at six weeks caused medical providers to delay giving Thurman the care necessary to save her life. In Miller's case ProPublica said she chose to not even visit a medical provider "due to the current legislation on pregnancies and abortions."

Several doctors, experts, and lawmakers, however, have debunked that claim by pointing out that Georgia law explicitly allows exceptions for abortion in cases in which the mother's life is in danger. This means that Miller and Thurman could have legally been given the care they needed promptly.

Nevertheless, Democrats have continued to advance the narrative that pro-life laws, and former president Donald Trump, are responsible for the deaths of Miller, Thurman, and many other women across the country. 

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris appeared on a televised town hall with Oprah Winfrey last week in which she spoke with Thurman's family and blamed Trump and Republicans for what she called a maternal "health care crisis."

Georgia is one of the swing states that will be critical in deciding the outcome of this year's presidential election. Both Trump and Harris have been devoting significant amounts of time and money to making their case to Georgians.

The latest poll from FiveThirtyEight shows support for the two candidates within the margin of error, with Trump polling just 0.9 percentage points ahead of Harris (48.3% versus 47.4%).

Harris has largely focused her pitch to Georgia voters on expanding abortion access in the state and across the country. Trump, meanwhile, has focused his rhetoric on other issues such as the economy and the border.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-Life America, said it is crucial to the well-being of women to spread the truth about pro-life laws. In a press statement shared with CNA, Dannenfelser said that "Amber, Candi, and their babies should be alive today" and that "there would be no confusion if abortion advocates were not spreading confusion."

"Georgia's law, like pro-life laws in every other state, allows emergency care, miscarriage care, and treatment for ectopic pregnancy. The laws do not penalize women who have abortions and they use plain, commonly accepted legal language," she said. "Democrats are putting countless lives at risk and we will relentlessly call them out." 

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Rome Newsroom, Sep 27, 2024 / 09:11 am (CNA).

In Belgium's Laeken Castle, Pope Francis confronted the Catholic Church's long-standing clerical abuse crisis in the country, declaring unequivocally that "the Church should be ashamed" and must seek forgiveness for its failures.

Speaking before approximately 300 dignitaries, including King Philippe and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, the pope remarked that child abuse is "a scourge that the Church is tackling resolutely and firmly, listening to and accompanying the wounded and implementing a widespread prevention program throughout the world."

"The Church is both holy and sinful," Francis said in the castle's Grand Gallery on Sept. 27 in his first speech since his arrival in Belgium. "The Church lives in this perennial coexistence of holiness and sin, of light and shadow, with outcomes often of great generosity and splendid dedication, and sometimes unfortunately with the emergence of painful counter-witnesses."

"I am thinking of the dramatic incidents of child abuse," he added. "The Church should be ashamed and ask for forgiveness and try to solve this situation with Christian humility."

The pope's comments come on the heels of his decision to laicize former Bruges Bishop Roger Vangheluwe many years after the former prelate admitted to repeatedly sexually abusing his nephews. A previous archbishop of Brussels, the late Cardinal Godfried Danneels, reportedly called on a victim of Vangheluwe's abuse to remain silent.

The Catholic Church in Belgium is facing a significant decline in public trust. Only 50% of Belgians identified as Catholic in 2022, a drop of 16% from a decade earlier, with only 8.9% attending Mass at least once a month.

According to a recent report, the number of Catholics requesting to have their names removed from baptismal registers rose to 1,270 in 2023. 

The pope spoke about clerical abuse in an off-the-cuff response following De Croo's sharp condemnation of the Church's handling of clerical abuse. 

De Croo implored the Church to prioritize the needs of victims, stating: "Today, words alone do not suffice. We also need concrete steps." King Philippe also joined the call for accountability in his speech, stating that the Church must work "incessantly" to atone for the crimes and aid in the healing of victims.

The visit by Pope Francis follows a series of scandals that have plagued the Belgian Church, culminating in a devastating report released in 2010 that revealed that more than 500 individuals had come forward with allegations of abuse by priests. The fallout from these revelations has led to significant scrutiny of Church leadership and practices, with many calling for a more transparent approach to handling abuse allegations.

A recent documentary, "Godvergeten" ("Godforsaken"), aired on Belgian television showcasing victims sharing their harrowing stories, further fueling public outrage and prompting investigations into the Church's practices.

Both the prime minister and King Philippe made their most pointed remarks in Dutch, the language of Flanders, where the abuse cases have gained particular notoriety.

The pope's address also touched upon Belgium's troubled history of "forced adoptions," a practice that persisted until the 1980s and saw unwed mothers coerced into giving up their children. "Often the family and other social actors, including the Church, thought that in order to remove the negative stigma … it was preferable for the good of both mother and child that the latter be adopted," he lamented, adding that this mindset contributed to deep societal wounds.

In his speech, Pope Francis also spoke of Belgium's unique role in Europe, calling it a bridge between cultures and a center for peace. "These are the two calamities of our time — the hell of war … and a demographic winter," he said. 

"This is why we have to be practical: Have children! Have children!" the pope added.

Francis did not, however, address the controversial topic of euthanasia in Belgium, a notable omission in his speech given ongoing discussions around the issue in Catholic health care settings in the country.

After the pope's speech at Laeken Castle, he visited a residence for the elderly in financial difficulty run by the Little Sisters of the Poor. The pope is also expected to meet with victims of sexual abuse on Friday evening. 

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Rome Newsroom, Sep 27, 2024 / 10:55 am (CNA).

Pope Francis visited Laeken Castle on Friday, where he met with King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of the Belgians.

King Philippe ascended the Belgian throne in 2013 and holds the title "Rex Catholicissimus," or "(Most) Catholic Majesty."

Queen Mathilde, as a Catholic queen, has the "privilège du blanc," meaning she is one of only a few women in the world who can wear white, rather than the customary black, when meeting the pope for an official private audience at the Vatican. 

The papal privilege is currently granted only to the Catholic royalty from Spain, Luxembourg, Belgium, and Monaco, as well as the House of Savoy.

On his first full day in Belgium on Sept. 27, Pope Francis celebrated a morning Mass in private before making his way to the castle.

A mounted guard of honor accompanied him to the main palace entrance, where he was greeted by the Belgian royal family. 

The meeting included an exchange of gifts and an opportunity for the pope to sign the Book of Honor, symbolic gestures that reinforce the ties between the Vatican and the Belgian monarchy. 

"I am grateful to visit Belgium, a sign and bridge of peace, where different languages, cultures, and peoples live in mutual respect. May God bless Belgium!" the pope wrote in the castle's Book of Honor.

Nearly 50% of Belgians identify as Catholic, according to the Pew Research Center. The members of the Belgian Royal Family are Catholic but do not have an official role within the Catholic Church in the country.

King Philippe and Queen Mathilde were married in 1999 in Belgium's 11th-century Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula in Brussels and have four children. Their eldest daughter, Princess Elisabeth, is first in the line of succession.

After the formal reception, the pope met privately with the King and Queen before moving to the castle's Grand Gallery, where he addressed 300 dignitaries and political authorities, including Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.

In the speech, the pope lamented the country's clerical abuse crisis and advocated for peace.

"There are two calamities at the moment," Pope Francis said. "The hell of war … which could turn into a world war and a demographic winter. This is why we must be practical. Have children! Have children!"

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 26, 2024 / 17:36 pm (CNA).

At a hearing held by U.S. Senate Democrats this week doctors, experts, and Republicans disputed claims that former president Donald Trump and state pro-life laws enacted after the overturn of Roe v. Wade are causing the deaths of women across the country.

Dr. Christina Francis, an OB-GYN, along with several doctors from the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, testified that pro-abortion misinformation, not pro-life laws, is responsible for "dangerous" delays in women receiving emergency care. 

Francis said the hearing, titled "Chaos and Control: How Trump Criminalized Women's Health Care," was "an attempt to redirect the public's attention away from the true danger to women's health, unregulated and dangerous abortions."

Speaking with CNA after the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday, Francis said that "one major takeaway from this hearing is that misinformation about abortion laws has real impacts on both physicians and patients."

"Even though state-level pro-life laws offer clear exceptions allowing physicians to intervene in pregnancy in medical emergencies, and even though these laws do not prosecute women for seeking induced abortions, false narratives to the contrary are sowing fear and confusion among physicians," she said. "It's misinformation about these laws that may have cost these women their lives." 

Republicans on the committee meanwhile called out Democrats for holding an overtly political hearing during a heated election cycle. Minnesota Republican Sen. Ron Johnson said that "the title of this hearing is more dangerous and threatens more lives than the [pro-life] laws."

What did Democrats claim? 

Several Democratic senators asserted that many of the pro-life laws enacted since the overturn of Roe v. Wade violate the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act — also known as EMTALA — which requires all federally funded hospitals with emergency departments to provide care to patients in need.

"As a result of Republicans' yearslong crusade on women's reproductive freedoms, women in America are facing the prospect of losing yet another pillar of reproductive care, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act," said committee chair Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon.

Wyden pointed to the case of Amber Thurman, a 28-year-old mother in Georgia who died from sepsis in 2022 due to complications after taking abortion pills. Thurman was nine weeks pregnant with twins when she consumed the abortion drugs mifepristone and misoprostol, according to the Washington Examiner. The drugs killed the babies but failed to expel the children from Thurman's womb leading to her developing an infection.

The left-leaning news source ProPublica claimed in a report published last week that doctors at the suburban Piedmont Henry Hospital delayed performing a dilation and curettage procedure because they were afraid it would violate the state law protecting unborn life after six weeks of pregnancy. 

Several experts have expressed skepticism about the ProPublica report, which blames Georgia's pro-life law for Thurman's death. Though abortion after six weeks is illegal under Georgia law, the state makes exceptions if the child is conceived due to rape or incest, or if the life of the mother is at risk.

Georgia state Rep. Mark Newton, a Republican, told Fox News that "unless someone had a complete misunderstanding or just failed to be aware of what Georgia's law was, [the pro-life law] has nothing to do with the timing of the decision-making." 

According to Newton, who is also an emergency physician, Thurman's situation was "clearly a medical or a life-threatening emergency" in which Georgia law explicitly allows an exception for abortion.

Since the publication of ProPublica's report, Democrats, including presidential candidate Kamala Harris, have attempted to blame Trump and Republicans for Thurman's death. 

"Amber's story," Harris said in a town hall with Oprah Winfrey, "highlights the fact that among everything that is wrong with these bans and what has happened in terms of the overturning of Roe v. Wade is a health care crisis."

Pro-life advocates respond

There was significant disagreement among the senators and those testifying in the hearing on whether Thurman's and other women's deaths had been caused by pro-life laws or misinformation spread about what those laws do.

Heather Hacker, a Texas-based attorney who has represented the state and Texas Right to Life in several cases and is deeply familiar with state-level pro-life laws, testified during the hearing that "regardless of the state, laws restricting abortion do not prevent physicians from treating ectopic pregnancies, miscarriages, or women suffering life-threatening complications, including complications from abortion."

"There is a lot of misinformation and confusion surrounding the law regarding the medical treatment of pregnant women and abortion restrictions. But the confusion is not because of the law, which is clear," Hacker said. 

"To the extent that this has been reported by the media, it is incorrect. To the extent that doctors have claimed that their hands are tied in treating patients in these circumstances, they are mistaken. And to the extent that women believe that any law will prevent them from receiving lifesaving care, they are sadly misinformed." 

Louis Brown, executive director of the Catholic health care advocacy group the Christ Medicus Foundation, told CNA that the true danger lies with chemical abortion drugs that he said "so imperil the health of women that it is shocking that these drugs are available."

"The abortion industry is engaging in lies and deception because its dangerous chemical abortion drugs and largely unregulated abortion procedures are harming the health and safety of pregnant moms," he said. "The Catholic and pro-life community need to continue to reject the abortion industry's immoral lying that is confusing and potentially causing harm to pregnant moms."

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Rome Newsroom, Sep 26, 2024 / 13:45 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis landed in Luxembourg on Thursday, the first stop in a four-day tour of two historically Christian countries in Europe, both of which are experiencing steep declines in religious adherence amid the spread of secularization.

Before taking a 55-minute flight to the neighboring country of Belgium on the afternoon of Sept. 26, the 87-year-old pope spent one day visiting the tiny but wealthy Luxembourg, where he called on politicians to be led by spiritual values and local Catholics to carry out a "missionary proclamation" of the Gospel.

Stopping in the Gothic 17th-century Notre-Dame Cathedral, Francis echoed the words of St. John Paul II during his 1985 visit to Luxembourg, saying he "would like to emphasize that we are in need of a Europe and a world in which the Gospel will be shared through the words you proclaim together with your loving actions."

A constitutional monarchy, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is the European Union's second-smallest country and the richest per capita. It has an estimated population of 672,000 people.

Luxembourg is also the seat of several institutions of the European Union, including the Court of Justice of the European Union, the highest judicial authority.

Just days after canceling two audiences because of a mild flu, Pope Francis arrived to find cool and rainy weather in the country, where he was greeted by modest crowds lining the streets in raincoats, holding umbrellas and small Luxembourg flags.

The Church in Luxembourg

Luxembourg has just one ecclesiastical territory, the Archdiocese of Luxembourg, which is led by Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, SJ, the relator-general of the Catholic Church's Synod on Synodality.

Hollerich told "EWTN News Nightly" that the Catholic Church in Luxembourg is "a poor Church in a rich country."

According to Vatican statistics from 2022, the archdiocese is estimated to have 271,000 Catholics, which is 41% of the population — a steep decline from 2018, when an estimated 63% of the population identified as Catholic.

The statistics on the practice of the Catholic faith are even more dismal, however. A 2022 TNS Ilres survey found that of the population that considers itself religious, the vast majority of whom are Catholic, only 6% say they go to Mass weekly and 30% say they "never or almost never" attend Mass.

"We once used to be as Catholic as Ireland was," Hollerich said. "And like Ireland, not much has been left from that time."

The cardinal noted that Luxembourg is very international: Just 30% of the population was born in Luxembourg and about half are not citizens — demographics that are reflected in the Church as well.

"So, we have a migrant society, and we have thriving communities, Portuguese-speaking, English-speaking, French-speaking, Polish-speaking, and they are signs of hope for our Church," Hollerich said.

During his audience with the Catholic community in Notre-Dame Cathedral, Pope Francis listened to the testimony of Sister Maria Perpétua Coelho Dos Santos, who said the local Church is "rich with linguistic communities," including immigrants from Vietnam, Cape Verde, Ukraine, Philippines, Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and different African countries.

"If it is true that our diversity is a daily challenge, we live it above all as a richness," she said.

At the Luxembourg cathedral, Pope Francis also heard the testimony of a young resident, Diogo Gomes Costa, who spoke about how his faith was reignited by attending World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal. He also listened to Christine Bußhardt, vice president of the diocesan pastoral council, who said "in the multicultural society of Luxembourg, our Christian mission is that of giving voice to God.

"The worldwide synodal process offers a historic opportunity for a much-needed renewal, and the seed of the synodal Church is already starting to germinate," she said.

The pope then watched the performance of an original theatrical dance reenacting important moments from the life of St. Francis of Assisi.

According to the Archdiocese of Luxembourg, within eight hours after registration opened, more than 10,000 people had applied for one of 650 available spots for the meeting with Pope Francis in the Luxembourg cathedral. The seats were assigned through a random lottery and giant screens were set up outside where hundreds watched the encounter.

"The Church in Luxembourg lives in a strongly secularized society, with its suffering and difficulty, but also with its paths of hope," Hollerich said in his greeting to Pope Francis in the cathedral. 

As part of his visit, the pope opened a Marian Jubilee Year for the Archdiocese of Luxembourg, which commemorates 400 years of devotion to the country's patroness, Mary, Consoler of the Afflicted.

"This Marian title corresponds well to the theme you have chosen for this visit: 'To serve,'" Francis said. "Consoling and serving are in fact two fundamental aspects of the love that Jesus has given to us, the love he has entrusted to us as our mission and that he has shown as the only path to full joy."

The pontiff also gave the cathedral a small, golden sculpture of a rosebush, a long-standing papal tradition known as the "golden rose." Long ago, the sculpture was traditionally bestowed upon people, but in more recent decades, popes have given it to Marian shrines as a sign of the places' Marian devotion.

Meeting Luxembourg's royal and political leaders

In the morning, Francis' first appointment was a visit to the grand duke of Luxembourg, Henri, and his wife, Grand Duchess María Teresa, at their official residence, the Grand Ducal Palace.

During the meeting, the pope posed in a gold-adorned ballroom for a photo with the royal couple, their five children, and seven of their eight grandchildren.

The pontiff then met the prime minister of the grand duchy, Luc Frieden, before addressing members of the government, civil society, and the diplomatic corps at a Luxembourg administrative building, Cercle Cité.

In his remarks at Cercle Cité, Pope Francis told the country's leaders to "not forget that having wealth includes responsibility."

"I ask for constant vigilance so that the most disadvantaged nations will not be neglected and that they be helped to rise from their impoverished conditions," he said, adding that this is one way to help decrease the number of people forced to emigrate from their countries.

"With its particular history, and its equally particular geographical location, with just under half of its inhabitants coming from other parts of Europe and the wider world, may Luxembourg be a help and an example in pointing the way forward in welcoming and integrating migrants and refugees," he said.

Francis also said the reemergence of war on the European continent means the daily lives of people and their leaders need "to be motivated by noble and profound spiritual values" in order to heal rifts and hostilities.

"As the successor of the Apostle Peter, and on behalf of the Church, which is an expert in humanity, I am here to testify that the Gospel is the life source and the ever-fresh force of personal and social renewal," the pope said.

Pope Francis told Luxembourg's politicians: "It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ alone that is capable of profoundly transforming the human soul, making it capable of doing good even in the most difficult situations, of extinguishing hatred and reconciling parties engaged in conflict. May everyone, every man and woman, in full freedom, know the Gospel of Jesus." 

Referencing the motto of his visit, "to serve," the pope added that "for all of us this call 'to serve' is the highest title of nobility, the principal task, the way of life to be followed each day."

On his drive to Cercle Cité under the rain, Pope Francis' car stopped several times to bless babies and greet children, to whom he gave a rosary and a piece of candy.

Within the mostly quiet crowds lining the streets, small groups occasionally broke out in chants of "Papa Francisco!" and brief cheers when they caught glimpses of the pope.

After lunch at the archbishop's residence, the pontiff made a surprise visit at a nearby café, Cafe Cycliste, by stopping for a coffee with some of his assistants, according to the Holy See Press Office. On the way, he blessed a pregnant woman.

The night before leaving Rome, Sept. 25, Pope Francis made his customary visit to the Basilica of St. Mary Major to pray before the icon of Mary Salus Populi Romani and to ask for Mary's protection over the trip.

The morning of the flight, the pope received at his Santa Marta residence approximately 10 homeless men and women who sleep under the columns of St. Peter's Square, accompanied by the papal almoner, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the Holy See Press Office said.

The pope's four-day trip will continue in Belgium, where he will visit three cities to mark the 600th anniversary of the Catholic universities of Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve before returning to Rome Sept. 29.

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CNA Newsroom, Sep 26, 2024 / 14:15 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis has elevated the Apostolic Administration of Estonia to the status of a diocese, creating the first Catholic diocese in the Baltic country.

The Vatican made the announcement on Sept. 26, coinciding with the start of the pope's apostolic journey to Luxembourg and Belgium.

The newly established Diocese of Tallinn encompasses the entire territory of Estonia and remains immediately subject to the Holy See. The pope appointed the current apostolic administrator, Philippe Jean-Charles Jourdan, as the first bishop of the new diocese.

Jourdan, 64, a native of France, has led the Catholic community in Estonia since 2005. In a recent interview with Omnes, he discussed the historical context of the Catholic presence in Estonia.

"Although we are now celebrating 100 years of apostolic administration, this does not mean that Catholics arrived in 1924. We have had a Catholic presence in Estonia since the 13th century."

The official website of the Church in Estonia retells the historic roots of Christianity in the region: "At the beginning of the 13th century, Estonia was conquered by the German Teutonic Order during the Livonian Crusade and thus was one of the last territories in Europe to be Christianized."

According to the latest census in 2021, Catholics make up approximately 0.8% of the Estonian population. Jourdan noted the growth of the Catholic community in recent decades.

From "five [Estonian Catholics] in the 1970s, we have grown more than a thousandfold today. It has been a great grace of God."

The bishop also highlighted the challenges faced by Catholics during the Soviet occupation: "Many fled and others were killed or deported, like my predecessor [Archbishop] Eduard Profittlich, who died in prison. The Catholic Church survived, but with great suffering for more than 40 years."

Estonia, known as "Maarjamaa" or "Land of Mary," has retained this name despite its predominantly Lutheran history.

Jourdan explained: "For some reason, Our Lady has remained in the language even after the Reformation. I have researched the consecration of Estonia to Our Lady by Innocent III, and apparently we are the second country in the world consecrated to Our Lady."

The Holy See Press Office stated that the creation of the Diocese of Tallinn "testifies to the stability of the situation of the Catholic Church in Estonia and is also a recognition by the Catholic Church of the pastoral and organizational maturity of the Estonian Catholic community."

Marge-Marie Paas, communications director of the new Diocese of Tallinn, wrote in a contribution for Vatican News that the change "means that the local Catholic Church in Estonia has developed the human, material, and spiritual resources necessary to fully assume the responsibilities of a diocese."

Paas added that the elevation to a diocese "is also an acknowledgment of the growth and importance of the Estonian Catholic community in Estonia, while also strengthening its spiritual and missionary spirit among the people of God in the territory of the Estonian Republic."

The Apostolic Administration of Estonia was originally established by Pope Pius XI in 1924. At that time, the Catholic community numbered about 2,000 faithful. The elevation to a diocese comes as the Catholic Church in Estonia marks its centennial year as an independent ecclesiastical jurisdiction.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 26, 2024 / 14:50 pm (CNA).

The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, has invited the faithful to participate in a day of prayer and fasting on Oct. 7, one year after Hamas launched its brutal surprise attack on Israel. 

"The month of October is approaching," Pizzaballa wrote in a Sept. 26 letter addressed to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, "and with it the realization that for the past year the Holy Land, and not only, has been plunged into a vortex of violence and hatred never seen or experienced before."

"The intensity and impact of the tragedies we have witnessed in the past 12 months have deeply lacerated our conscience and our sense of humanity," Pizzaballa added, noting how the conflict has "struck a profound blow" to the social and political consciousness of the region.

According to the latest reports, Hamas terrorists killed an estimated 1,200 Israelis during the attacks on Oct. 7, taking an additional 251 civilians hostage. 

The Hamas-run Palestinian Health Ministry estimates that a total of 40,005 Palestinians, and a further 623 in the West Bank, including Hamas militants, have been killed since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. 

Meanwhile, the situation between Lebanon and northern Israel has continued to escalate, with ongoing bombings and missile strikes launched on both sides since Oct. 7. 

In the latest Sept. 23 attack, Israel unleashed a series of bombs on Lebanon, which resulted in the deaths of at least 558 people, including 50 children and 94 women. A further 1,800 were also injured in the attacks. 

Israeli forces have since intercepted a Hezbollah ballistic missile fired at Tel Aviv on Sept. 25. It is believed to be the first ballistic missile launched by Hezbollah into Israel.

Since the start of the conflict, Pizzaballa has tirelessly advocated for peace and a cease-fire in the region. In the letter, the Latin patriarch declared that the faithful must continue to call on leaders to recommit themselves to justice, freedom, dignity, and peace. 

"We too have a duty to commit ourselves to peace, first by preserving our hearts from all feelings of hatred, and instead cherishing the desire for good for everyone," he said. "By committing ourselves, each in our own community contexts and in the forms we can, we should support those in need, help those who are personally invested to alleviate the suffering of those affected by this war, and promote every action of peace, reconciliation, and encounter."

Pizzaballa also reminded his audience in the missive that the Church celebrates the feast of Mary, Queen of the Rosary, on Oct. 7. 

"May each of us, with the rosary or in whatever form he or she sees fit, personally but better again in community, find a moment to pause and pray, and bring to the 'merciful Father and God of all consolation' (2 Cor 1:3) our desire for peace and reconciliation," he concluded.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 26, 2024 / 15:20 pm (CNA).

The Culture Project International has announced the appointment of its new chief executive officer, Greg Schleppenbach, a veteran leader in the pro-life movement who held the position of executive director for the organization since 2022. Schleppenbach will spearhead the Catholic culture initiative as it further expands its reach to dioceses across the country.

Inspired by St. John Paul II's vision of love and human dignity, The Culture Project was founded in 2014 by Cristina (Barba) Whalen, the former CEO, to be a missionary organization that seeks to "restore culture through the experience of virtue." According to a press release, the organization has trained more than 100 young men and women who have spoken to more than 100,000 teens across the U.S.

"Under Mr. Schleppenbach's leadership, The Culture Project will continue to train young men and women as missionaries who share their personal stories, educate students on the value of human dignity, and provide a moral compass through a focus on sexual integrity," the nonprofit organization stated in a press release. 

Schleppenbach has worked for over 30 years in the pro-life movement, fighting what he described to CNA in an interview as "the supply side of abortion." His previous roles include associate director of the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and executive director of the Nebraska Catholic Conference. 

Schleppenbach told CNA he is excited to shift gears and "really focus on impacting young people's lives so we reduce the demand of abortion" and help young people live virtuously by educating them about the Church's teachings on human dignity, sexuality, and chastity, and living in the age of social media.

"I recognized that if we're going to change this culture and create a civilization of life and love," he said, "we have to focus on young people and making sure they fully understand who they are as children of God, that they understand the dignity of their lives and their sexuality, or we're fooling ourselves if we think we're going to change the culture."

"The genius of this mission," he said, "is that we are not only fundamentally helping to change how young people see themselves, their identity, and their purpose in life as children of God, but we're also investing significantly in the formation of our missionaries."

"I would say the most impacting part of this mission so far for me," Schleppenbach continued, "has been seeing these amazing, beautiful souls in the missionaries who are giving of themselves in a way that they recognize is going to change the culture."

The Culture Project, which currently serves the Diocese of Toledo, Ohio; the Diocese of Cleveland; the Archdiocese of Omaha; and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, also announced in the release that it will begin serving the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas, this fall at the request of Archbishop Joseph Naumann. 

"[The archdiocese] reached out to me as a result of that announcement that I was leaving USCCB and going to The Culture Project to say, 'Hey, we'd like to talk about bringing The Culture Project to the Archdiocese of Kansas City,' because they had just had the defeat of the [abortion] ballot initiative around that same time," Schleppenbach said.

In his new role as CEO, Schleppenbach is working to further expand The Culture Project's recruiting efforts in order to reach more dioceses. The organization currently has about 25 missionaries spread across its five dioceses. Next year, Schleppenbach hopes to have about 40 more and to be able to serve in dioceses with financial difficulties.

"I am confident that Greg's vast experience and deep-rooted passion for our mission will enable The Culture Project to flourish in this next chapter," said Cristina Whalen, the project's founder and former CEO. "With increasing demand for our programs across the country, Greg is the ideal leader to guide us through this expansion while ensuring that we continue to inspire young people to live lives of virtue."

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ACI MENA, Sep 26, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

On the afternoon of Sept. 17, Father Marwan Ghanem, the head of the Nusroto Al-Anashid Charity Association and Brotherhood of Prisons in Lebanon, was on his way to Beirut for a medical appointment. Before reaching his destination, he witnessed some of the pager explosions that rocked the country.

Aiding three wounded

In an exclusive interview with ACI Mena, CNA's Arabic-language news partner, Ghanem recounted his experience. He was driving in the Ghobeiry district toward his appointment when he stopped to ask a motorcyclist for directions. Suddenly, he heard a faint popping sound, and the motorcyclist fell toward Ghanem's car, bleeding from the stomach. Ghanem's shirt was also stained with blood.

Shortly after that, another motorcycle collided with the rear of Ghanem's car, and the injured rider fell to the ground. Ghanem was shocked, as he had not heard any sounds of an airstrike or shelling in the area. All he could see were people falling around him and lying in pools of blood. At that moment, a large number of pager devices owned by Hezbollah members had exploded.

Wearing his black clergy robe, Ghanem lent a helping hand, carrying three wounded individuals to cars heading to nearby hospitals. Afterward, he drove on and saw dozens of injured people making their way to the Sahel Hospital in Ghobeiry, suffering from wounds to their stomachs, hands, faces, and eyes. 

Another car collided with the rear of Ghanem's vehicle due to the widespread panic. The rear and rear-left windows of his car were damaged, and in Ghanem's eyes, the scene was a river of blood.

The face of Christ in the wounded

Ghanem explained that when he got out to help the three wounded people, he did not consider whether they were Muslim or Christian. Instead, he recognized "the face of the wounded Christ on the road." In such dire circumstances, he said, there is no distinction between a Christian and a Muslim, but rather everyone is human, created in the image of God.

The Maronite priest added that he had fulfilled God's will by helping the wounded. Even if he only could get them to the hospital, he managed to help instead of leaving them to bleed on the road. He said he considers it a sin to not help the injured. He also noted that by getting out of his car, fear didn't exist anymore — courage compelled him to help.

A miraculous escape

Ghanem also revealed that after the incident, he wondered what God wanted from him, as he had miraculously escaped the explosions. The doctor he was visiting had a pager in his office that had exploded, but the doctor was unharmed because he was in the next room with Ghanem. In an adjacent office, someone was injured and died. Ghanem believed that if he had been in the doctor's office, he would have been injured as well. He thanked God for the long drive that delayed his arrival and said that he felt God's grace had protected him, wanting him to continue his work in prisons and other humanitarian activities.

Ghanem said he considers all parties involved in the war to be losers. He reassured anxious Lebanese people and asked them to review their relationship with God, who does not abandon anyone.

How did the pagers explode?

The explosions of Hezbollah's pagers killed 12 people and injured nearly 2,800 others, according to the Lebanese acting health minister, Firas Abiad. 

Two analyses emerged regarding the cause of the explosions: One suggests that Israel had booby-trapped Hezbollah's pagers before they were imported; the other hints at wave interference and battery heating.

The day following these device explosions, walkie-talkies also belonging to members of Hezbollah exploded throughout Lebanon.

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

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