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Vatican City, Sep 19, 2024 / 11:36 am (CNA).

The Vatican is cooperating with Italian prosecutors on an investigation into the leaking of financial information related to the Vatican's major finance trial that ended last year.

Italian media report that two men are being investigated for having gained unauthorized access hundreds of times to a database of suspicious financial activity shared with Italy by banks, which includes potentially compromising information on Italian politicians and defendants in the Vatican trial.

The database is used by anti-mafia prosecutors and judges in cases of money laundering and terrorism financing.

A brief note to journalists from the Holy See Press Office on Tuesday said Vatican prosecutor Alessandro Diddi and the commander of the Vatican gendarmes, Gianluca Gauzzi, met Sept. 17 with the public prosecutor and deputy public prosecutor of Perugia, Italy.

The public prosecutor of Perugia has jurisdiction over the investigation of crimes committed by magistrates and public prosecutors in Rome.

During the meeting, the two judicial offices agreed to collaborate on an ongoing investigation into "unauthorized access to a computer or telematic system," a crime in Italian law, for the clandestine collection of information on individuals. In common Italian parlance, the action is often called "dossieraggio."

It has not been publicly reported for what purpose the information was gathered and if it was done on behalf of anyone.

The Perugia prosecutor is going after a lieutenant of Italy's financial police, Pasquale Striano, who was working at the National Anti-Mafia and Anti-Terrorism Bureau, as well as one of the bureau's public prosecutors, Antonio Laudati, for having allegedly accessed nonpublic information on possibly up to 172 Italian politicians and other media figures.

Striano is also accused of being the source of reports published by two journalists from the Italian daily Domani, who are also under investigation for allegedly reporting protected information, Italian newspaper Il Giornale reported.

Striano and Laudati have both publicly denied the accusations.

According to the press office's note, Vatican prosecutor Diddi has also opened his own case on the "alleged illegal accesses [to information] made during the course of investigations in the well-known inquiry concerning the purchase of the London building."

Il Giornale also reported last March on accusations that in 2019, Striano was allegedly asked by some unknown person, possibly someone inside the Vatican, to get information on at least five people, all of whom were later charged and convicted in the Vatican's major finance trial that concluded in December 2023: Cardinal Angelo Becciu, Cecilia Marogna, Raffaele Mincione, Fabrizio Tirabassi, and Gianluigi Torzi.

In 2019, the Vatican's prosecutor's office was in the early stages of the investigation into the Secretariat of State's London investment, gathering its case against the 10 individuals later charged with crimes including financial fraud.

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London, England, Sep 19, 2024 / 12:06 pm (CNA).

The Catholic bishops of England and Wales have condemned legislation relating to prayer outside abortion clinics, claiming that the proposal represents a step backward for civic and religious freedom.

Bishop John Sherrington, auxliary bishop of Westminster and spokesperson for the bishops' conference on issues relating to life, said in a Sept. 18 statement that the Public Order Act "constitutes discrimination and disproportionately affects people of faith."

"Religious freedom is the foundational freedom of any free and democratic society, essential for the flourishing and realization of dignity of every human person. Religious freedom includes the right to manifest one's private beliefs in public through witness, prayer, and charitable outreach, including outside abortion facilities," Sherrington said.

"As well as being unnecessary and disproportionate, we have deep concerns around the practical effectiveness of this legislation, particularly given the lack of clarity in relation to the practice of private prayer and offers of help within 'safe access zones,'" he continued.

The passage of the Public Order Act means that starting Oct. 31, buffer zones will be introduced around abortion facilities across England and Wales, constituting a distance of 150 meters (almost 500 feet) of "any part of an abortion clinic or any access point to any building or site that contains an abortion clinic."

A statement from the Home Office published Sept. 18 read: "Safe access buffer zones will make it illegal for anyone to do anything that intentionally or recklessly influences someone's decision to use abortion services, obstructs them, or causes harassment or distress to someone using or working at these premises. The law will apply within a 150-meter radius of the abortion service provider. Anyone found guilty of breaking the law will face an unlimited fine."

The College of Policing and Crown Prosecution Service are due to publish guidance on what exactly will constitute illegal activity in the weeks to come. There remains confusion among pro-life campaigners as to whether silent prayer will constitute "illegal activity" under the new legislation.

This controversial question made headline news after charity worker Isabel Vaughan-Spruce was searched and arrested twice for silently praying outside an abortion clinic in November 2022 and February 2023. However, she was eventually compensated by West Midlands police with an apology and a £13,000 (about $17,000) payout, which raises questions about how far the new legislation will go.

In a statement released Sept. 18, Catherine Robinson, spokesperson for Right to Life U.K., said: "Hundreds of women have been helped outside abortion clinics by pro-life volunteers who have provided them with practical support, which made it clear to them that they had another option other than going through with the abortion."

"The implementation of buffer zones next month will mean that vital practical support provided by volunteers outside abortion clinics, which helps to provide a genuine choice and offers help to women who may be undergoing coercion, will be removed for women and many more lives will likely be lost to abortion," she stated.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 19, 2024 / 14:47 pm (CNA).

Although interreligious dialogue among the Holy Land's Jews, Muslims, and Christians has suffered as a result of the intensification of armed conflict in the region, a Benedictine abbot in Jerusalem said the situation has also led to tighter bonds among the Christians of different backgrounds who remain there.

"Our enemies have a more ecumenical thinking than we because they don't divide us by denomination, they hate us because we're Christians," said Father Nikodemus Schnabel, abbot of the Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem, who has frequently been the target of spitting attacks by Orthodox Jews in the area.

Schnabel, a German citizen who was told by the German government to leave Israel because of the insecurity there, has not only decided to stay but also has begun to organize weekly Sunday lunches for members of different Christian rites and communities in Jerusalem, including Catholics, Armenians, Syrian Orthodox, Anglicans, and others.

The gatherings provide a time for Jerusalem's diverse Christian community to share their struggles and encourage one another to persevere. In the words of Schnabel, the persecution Christians suffer serves as "a call to us to say, 'OK, if we are attacked because of our common baptism, maybe we should also live this common baptism, this common vocation as Christians, more authentic.'"

"We stay voluntarily in this ocean of suffering as islands of hope," Schnabel told EWTN Vatican Bureau Chief Andreas Thonhauser in an interview, aired below on "EWTN News Nightly."

Data released by Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics in December 2023 reported 187,900 Christians living in Israel, and the number has likely declined even further since then.

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CNA Staff, Sep 19, 2024 / 07:50 am (CNA).

A group of nuns and other religious groups with charitable missions are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block a New York state mandate that would force them to cover abortions in their employee health insurance plans.

"New York's abortion mandate is so extreme that not even Jesus, Mother Teresa, or Mahatma Gandhi would qualify for an exemption," said Eric Baxter, vice president and senior counsel at Becket, the nonprofit religious liberty law firm that is arguing on behalf of the nuns. "The justices should exempt religious organizations once and for all so they can focus on caring for the most vulnerable." 

The religious groups challenging the abortion mandate include a group of Carmelite sisters, the First Bible Baptist Church, the Sisterhood of St. Mary, an Anglican Episcopal monastic order of contemplative religious sisters, and Catholic Charities, which provide adoption and maternity services. 

The New York abortion mandate "imposes immense burdens on countless religious entities opposed to abortion as a matter of deep-seated religious conviction," reads the Sept. 18 petition to the Supreme Court.

The petition notes that permitting some religious conduct for preferred subsets of religious groups but forbidding others "is a particularly pernicious form of discrimination under the First Amendment."

The September petition follows a series of legal issues beginning in 2017, when a group of Anglican and Catholic nuns, Catholic dioceses, Christian churches, and other faith-based ministries sued over the mandate, which prohibited insurance policies from excluding coverage for abortions. The lower courts initially ruled against them, but Supreme Court justices reversed the lower court rulings in 2021 and told them to reconsider in light of Fulton v. Philadelphia, which brought up similar free exercise issues. The state courts ruled against the religious organizations again, so the religious groups have returned to the Supreme Court.

"Religious groups in New York should not be required to provide insurance coverage that violates their deeply held religious beliefs," said Noel J. Francisco, partner-in-charge of Jones Day's Washington office, which is also arguing on behalf of the nuns. "We are asking the court to protect religious freedom and make clear that the mandate cannot be applied to this diverse group of religious organizations."

Initially, the proposed abortion mandate allowed all employers with religious objections to receive an exemption. However, New York redefined the exemption to include only religious groups that primarily teach religion and organizations that primarily serve and hire those who share their faith. Ministries such as the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, which runs a nursing home, do not qualify for the exemption because they serve those in need regardless of religious affiliation. 

"It thus places special burdens on religious traditions holding service of others to be a religious command," the lawsuit noted.

In addition to the Carmelite sisters, Lutheran, Episcopalian, and Baptist groups are also "deemed insufficiently religious to qualify for a religious exemption — and so are forced to cover abortions in their employee health plans."

The court will consider whether it will hear the case later this fall. 

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Rome Newsroom, Sep 19, 2024 / 09:23 am (CNA).

In a highly anticipated report on the alleged decadeslong apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Medjugorje, the Vatican's doctrinal office on Thursday endorsed prudent devotion to Mary at the popular pilgrimage site in Bosnia and Herzegovina yet withheld any declaration on whether the alleged visions are supernatural in origin.

The Sept. 19 note from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), signed by prefect Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández and approved by Pope Francis in an Aug. 28 audience, grants a "nihil obstat" to the spiritual experience at Medjugorje. The authoritative judgment means that pilgrims may continue to visit and pray at the site, as some 40 million people from around the world have done since the apparitions allegedly first began 43 years ago. 

Six children, who are now middle-aged, first reported experiencing visions of the Blessed Mother, originally on a hilltop near the rural village of Medjugorje, on June 24, 1981. The Vatican's report notes that the remote site, formerly part of Yugoslavia, is now widely "perceived as a space of great peace, recollection, and a piety that is sincere, deep, and easily shared."

While it offers no definitive judgment on the supernatural authenticity of the alleged apparitions, the Vatican's report highlights the abundant good fruits that have come from Medjugorje.

"The positive fruits are most evident in the promotion of a healthy practice of a life of faith, in accordance with the tradition of the Church," the report states. 

It points to "abundant conversions, a frequent return to the sacraments (particularly, the Eucharist and reconciliation), many vocations to priestly, religious, and married life, a deepening of the life of faith, a more intense practice of prayer, many reconciliations between spouses, and the renewal of marriage and family life." 

"It should be noted," the report emphasizes, "that such experiences occur above all in the context of pilgrimages to the places associated with the original events rather than in meetings with the 'visionaries' to be present for the alleged apparitions."

Fernández presented the report in a two-hour-long press conference at the Holy See Press Office on Sept. 19.

The prelate quoted Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger's 1985 statement that emphasized separating the question of supernatural origin from spiritual fruits.

Fernández pointed out that Ratzinger said even if modern critical thinking might question some aspects, "this doesn't detract from the fact that those pilgrimages were fruitful, useful, important for the life of the Christian people."

On this view, he added, Pope Francis said there was "no magic wand" to determine the authenticity of the phenomena, but "the spiritual pastoral fact cannot be denied."

Spirituality of the messages

A significant portion of the document is a summary of the central points and spirituality of the numerous alleged messages received by the alleged visionaries, identifying "Queen of Peace" as the "most original title in the alleged messages," though Mary most frequently refers to herself as "Mother."

The predominant themes of those communications — which the Vatican stresses should be referred to as "alleged messages" — are calls for conversion, peace, reconciliation, and a return to the sacraments, along with a "constant call to abandon a worldly lifestyle and excessive attachment to worldly goods." 

"One of the prevailing characteristics of the spirituality that emerges from the messages is that of trust in God through a total trust in Mary, in order to become instruments of peace in the world," the Vatican's document says.

The note quotes from some of the messages to illustrate that in the missives, "Our Lady does not place herself at the center but shows herself to be fully directed toward our union with God."

The spirituality of the messages is also one of communion with the pope and with the whole Church, it said, and the spirituality of Medjugorje is overall "joyful, celebratory, and includes a call to live the joy of following Christ."

During Thursday's press conference, Fernández quoted from several of the alleged messages he found to be edifying.

"Most of the messages have a beautiful content that can stimulate the faithful to conversion, to grow in their encounter with Christ, to be peacemakers in the world," he said.

'Misleading messages'

The report also notes that as in other spiritual experiences and alleged supernatural phenomena, "positive and edifying elements are mixed with other elements that are to be ignored," adding: "But this fact should not lead one to spurn the richness and the good of the Medjugorje proposal as a whole."

The report draws attention to a number of "misleading messages" from Mary, particularly when she reprimands or makes threats, or when she insists strongly on listening to her messages: "This risks creating a dependence and an excessive expectation on the part of the faithful, which could ultimately obscure the central importance of the revealed word."

The note said this becomes "even more problematic" when the messages give orders about specific dates, places, and practical decisions "unlikely to be of supernatural origin."

"Although messages of this type are infrequent in Medjugorje, we can find some of them that are explained solely from the personal desires of the alleged visionaries," the note said. "It is reasonable for the faithful, using prudence and common sense, not to take these details seriously nor heed them."

The dicastery also said "those messages that attribute to Our Lady the expressions 'my plan' or 'my project' also show a certain problematic aspect," and these expressions "might create some confusion" because "in reality, everything Mary accomplishes is always at the service of the Lord's plan and his divine plan of salvation."

Another term requiring special attention is "the possible misuse of the word 'mediatrix' in reference to Mary" in the messages.

When the messages say "I am the mediatrix between you and God" (July 17, 1986) and "I desire to be the link between you and the Heavenly Father, your mediatrix" (March 18 2012), they "fail to express adequately the fact that, as St. John Paul II explained, Mary's mediatory cooperation is 'subordinate' to the mediation of Christ," the note explained. 

The DDF said Archbishop Aldo Cavalli, special apostolic visitor to the parish community of Medjugorje, will continue the duties already entrusted to him and will be responsible for authorizing the publication of any future messages.

The dicastery advised people who may visit Medjugorje that pilgrimages should not be made to meet with alleged visionaries but to have an encounter with Mary, Queen of Peace and with her son, Jesus Christ, through participation in the sacraments.

Some of the alleged messages of Mary the Vatican found problematic were those containing explicit and repeated exhortations to the parishioners of the local church, St. James, the Vatican said.

Those messages are "an understandable expression of the alleged visionaries' intense love for their parish community," the note said. "However, Our Lady's messages cannot replace the ordinary role of the parish priest, the pastoral council, and the synodal work of the community regarding decisions that are the subject of communal discernment, through which the parish matures in prudence, fraternal listening, respect for others, and dialogue."

'Nihil obstat'

In accordance with new norms on the discernment of "alleged supernatural phenomena," the local bishop must consult and receive final approval from the Vatican after investigating and judging alleged apparitions and connected devotions.

According to the May 17 norms, a "nihil obstat" judgment means: "Without expressing any certainty about the supernatural authenticity of the phenomenon itself, many signs of the action of the Holy Spirit are acknowledged 'in the midst' of a given spiritual experience, and no aspects that are particularly critical or risky have been detected, at least so far."

In its Sept. 19 note, the DDF explained that "through the 'nihil obstat' about a spiritual event, the faithful 'are authorized to give it their adherence in a prudent manner' (Norms, art. 22, §1; cf. Benedict XVI, Verbum Domini, par. 14)."

"While this does not imply a declaration of the supernatural character of the phenomenon in question (cf. Norms, art. 22, §2) — and recalling that the faithful are not obliged to believe in it — the nihil obstat indicates that the faithful can receive a positive encouragement for their Christian life through this spiritual proposal, and it authorizes public acts of devotion," the dicastery continued.

"Such a determination is possible," it said, "insofar as many positive fruits have been noted in the midst of a spiritual experience, while negative and dangerous effects have not spread among the people of God."

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Rome Newsroom, Sep 19, 2024 / 10:40 am (CNA).

The blood of St. Januarius liquefied on Thursday before a Mass in Naples, Italy, where the archbishop said that the blood of the fourth-century martyr is a powerful reminder that "love is stronger than death."

Archbishop Domenico Battaglia of Naples held up an ampoule containing the relic of the saint's blood in the Naples cathedral on his feast day, revealing the liquefaction to shouts and cheers from the people who had waited in the cathedral since early in the morning. 

"Every drop of this blood speaks to us of the love of God," Battaglia said in his homily. "This blood is a sign of the blood of Christ, of his passion."

The archbishop recalled that Sept. 19 marks the anniversary of St. Januarius' martyrdom more than 1,700 years ago in which the saint chose death in "fidelity to the Gospel" to show that the love of God is "stronger than death, violence, or any power."

Hundreds of people gathered in Naples' Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary for the feast of St. Januarius, known as San Gennaro in Italian. The saint was a Catholic bishop believed to have been martyred during the Christian persecution of Emperor Diocletian.

In Neapolitan lore, the failure of the blood to liquefy signals war, famine, disease, or other disasters. The reputed miracle usually occurs up to three times a year: Sept. 19, the saint's feast day; the first Saturday of May, the day his remains were transferred to Naples; and Dec. 16, the anniversary of the 1631 eruption of the nearby Mount Vesuvius.

In his homily, the archbishop of Naples cautioned against reducing the veneration of the city's saint to mere superstition.

"We do not have to worry if the blood of this relic does not liquefy, but we do have to worry if it is the blood of the downtrodden, the marginalized, and the poor that flows through our streets," he said.

Prince Carlo of the House of Bourbon and Prince Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy were present in the Naples cathedral and exchanged an embrace at the news of the relic's liquefaction, according to Italian media.

The Mass was the culmination of two days of celebrations for the southern Italian city's patron saint. 

St. Januarius "reminds each of us today that the Gospel of Jesus provides the compass we need to live, to live fully, facing head-on and with courage the challenges that each age brings," Battaglia said.

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Madrid, Spain, Sep 19, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The Congress of Catholics and Public Life, which is scheduled to celebrate its XXVI edition in Madrid in November, calls on Catholics to act coherently to offer solid foundations to a society in crisis that lives "as if God did not exist."

Organized by Spain's Catholic Association of Propagandists (ACdP, by its Spanish acronym), a manifesto has been issued for the Congress titled "Quo Vadis? Thinking and Acting in Times of Uncertainty."

The manifesto points out that "the greater the loss of permanent references, the more political and social disorder there is" and refers both to "the concealment of everything that expresses the transcendence of the human being" and to the construction of a society that lives "as if God did not exist."

In contrast, Catholics are encouraged to make "a redoubled effort in defending their foundations" against moral relativism, in an attitude that "is not an exercise in fundamentalism but, on the contrary, means being at the vanguard of the main debate on the future of our societies."

Demoralization in the face of imposed social disorder

In the manifesto, the ACdP recognizes that there is "a feeling of demoralization" in the face of "the systematic imposition of a new society, of a social disorder that has never been explained or voted on." The danger of this despondency, the manifesto warns, is that "it drags us toward a fierce individualism."

Against this background, the manifesto issued in advance of the XXVI Congress of Catholics and Public Life, to be held from Nov. 15–17 in Madrid, holds that both those who consider that all Catholics think the same on political issues are wrong "as well as those who conclude that we have no cohesion in the public sphere, which is why we should refrain from taking any social and political position."

For the ACdP, Catholic commitment in the field of politics, defined by Christian social doctrine as the highest form of charity, must involve "enunciating and articulating a strategy" that helps to become aware "of the seriousness of the situation and aware of the extent to which the humanistic foundations of our civilization are being attacked at their roots." 

"The role of Spanish and European Catholics in this area is essential and decisive. If we don't promote it, no one will," the text underscores.

Finally, it is emphasized that the transformation of "generally silent and irrelevant" social Catholicism into "a creative minority" constitutes "an unavoidable challenge" for the ACdP and a task that must join "other Catholic groups and movements that feel the urgency of the historical moment in which we find ourselves."

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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Jerusalem, Sep 19, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

On Sept. 14 in Jerusalem, a new pilgrimage called "Pilgrims of Hope Way" was inaugurated. The event marked the 60th anniversary of Maison Abraham (Abraham House), a pilgrim guest house created by Secours Catholique-Caritas France.

Abraham House is located on top of a hill in the heart of the Muslim neighborhood of Ras al-Amud in East Jerusalem. From here, the view stretches across the walls of Jerusalem, encompassing the city from Mount Moriah (the Temple Mount/Al-Aqsa Compound) to Mount Zion.

"We host pilgrims of all religions, especially the poorest. That's the mission entrusted to us by Pope Paul VI in 1964," Bernard Thibaud, the director, explained to CNA. "We were also asked to promote the encounter with the inhabitants of the neighborhood."

At that time, the political and geographical situation was very different. The house was under Jordanian rule, and Arabs from all over the Middle East could travel to Jerusalem by bus. Only three years later, and to this day, the house has been located in the Jerusalem area under Israeli occupation.

"We mainly have Christian visitors. Around 10% to 15% are Muslims, especially during Ramadan, and a few groups of Jewish people — those who are comfortable visiting an Arab neighborhood," Thibaud explained.

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary, Pope Francis sent a message of encouragement "to continue this charitable work, so that this house may always remain a place of welcome, encounter, and dialogue for all the children of Abraham who sincerely seek to enter into a relationship with God and with their neighbor." He also expressed the desire that the Way "will be a sign of hope, inspiring the hearts of the people and leaders of this region to feelings of peace."

On Sept. 14, Monsignor William Shomali, general vicar of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, blessed the Pilgrims of Hope Way in the presence of many priests, religious people, and lay faithful — which included Christians, Muslims, and Jews. 

Among the attending authorities were the consul general of France in Jerusalem, Nicolas Kassianides; Monsignor Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of the French Bishops' Conference, who presided over the Mass; Didier Duriez, director of Secours Catholique; and Joseph Hazboun and Anton Asfar, directors of the Pontifical Mission and Caritas in Jerusalem, respectively.

The Pilgrims of Hope Way was conceived as a reflection on the mission of the Abraham House. The route winds beneath the garden and terraces of the house, marked by 15 stations with ceramic tiles featuring quotes from the Bible, the Hebrew Bible, and the Koran. 

"It's inspired by Christian values, but we think that people of all faiths could find inspiration," Thibauld told CNA. The core message is hospitality: We need to practice hospitality, and this should be expanded, which is the essence of mercy, he said.

The first section on the pilgrimage focuses on hospitality and includes five stations. An icon depicting Abraham and Sarah welcoming the three strangers dominates the small square. "Since the beginning of our path we are invited to meditate on the encounter with the eternal through the unconditional welcome of all strangers," Thibaud said.

The second section is called "Faith and Charity" and includes four stations: the faith of Abraham, who was ready to offer his only son on Mount Moriah; the pilgrim's faith represented by Mount Zion; the charity of the good Samaritan; and one of the righteous. 

"That's what Caritas is and what leads us until today," Thibaud said. The name "Pilgrims of Hope" is connected both to the history of Caritas France and to the upcoming Jubilee. (Abraham House was also the founding place of Caritas Jerusalem in 1967.)

The third section is titled "Prayer and Hospitality" and features three stations. It aims to honor the history of the House, which used to be home to the Benedictine community and the Syrian-Catholic seminary (1901–1952). A few quotes from the Rule of Saint Benedict are included, like the famous one "Let all guests who arrive be received like Christ." 

The last section, about "Mercy and Service," is located in the part of the garden facing Mount Zion and the Cenacle. The Way ends in front of the icon of the "washing of the feet." 

"During the Way we learn that hospitality expands with the gesture of Jesus' foot washing, which calls us to practice mercy," Thibaud said. The last station quotes the prophet Micah (6:8) about what is good before God: "practicing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with your God."

On its inaugural day, the pilgrimage took about 45 minutes to complete, with participants stopping at every section and taking time to meditate and pray. In the different areas, there were readings, brief meditations, moments of silence, singing, and prayers.

"We usually refer to all our pilgrimages as a 'Pilgrimage of Hope' — it's like a trademark for us," Thibaud explained. Additionally, the name alludes to the Jubilee. "We are also waiting for pilgrims to visit the Holy Land and show their solidarity and communion with the Church here. When people come as pilgrims, they convey their hope, and the local people welcoming them receive joy and hope that things can start anew. That's exactly what they represent at this moment: pilgrims of hope.'"

Since Oct. 7, 2023, Abraham House has been almost empty. 

"The only ones who are coming are the people experiencing poverty, those who know about difficulties and hope. The same happened during the COVID pandemic," Thibaud shared. "Personally, I find that the poor people can give a testimony of hope to the others who may not have so many difficulties."

Thibaud explained that Secours Catholique-Caritas France has a specific program to help people in need to save money so they can make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The program takes more than a year. 

"They work hard to save money: They run activities, they make cakes, they sell postcards... and we have several weekends of preparation," Thibaud said. 

On the occasion of the anniversary, about 15 pilgrims experiencing poverty in France reached the Abraham House to celebrate and share their own path of faith and hope. 

One of them, Peter S., gave his testimony: "When I came to the Holy Land the first time on a pilgrimage like this, I found myself and I realized that my life was going to change. Now I'm active in the parish, I go to Mass... I'm turning 60, I'm still as poor as before, but I'm happy."

By the time these pilgrims arrive in the Holy Land, they have known each other for a long time.   

Thierry D., a father of five including three children with disabilities, shared: "When I first came, I met people among our pilgrim's group who became family. Even now we're still in contact with each other; they came to my 25th wedding anniversary. That's the meaning of the icons on the Pilgrims of Hope Way: I experienced foot washing in France as well as in Bethlehem, and it changed my life."

In a few months, Thibaud will be retiring from his position as director of Abraham House.

"To me, it was a privilege to be there for four years," he said. "I will always remember the joy of the Palestinian people, whom I worked with, their way of looking at life, of handling all the problems with lots of patience and joy. Since the beginning, my faith has been built by the testimony of the people most suffering and the poor, they keep building my faith through their shining witness through the injustices and difficulties of life."

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CNA Staff, Sep 18, 2024 / 16:20 pm (CNA).

The Vatican this week unveiled a commemorative stamp to mark four decades of diplomatic relations with the United States. 

The two nations first announced diplomatic relations on Jan. 10, 1984. The U.S. Senate subsequently confirmed diplomat William Wilson as the first U.S. ambassador to the Holy See; he had previously served as then-President Ronald Reagan's personal envoy to the pope. Wilson would serve as ambassador until 1986. 

The Vatican likewise named Archbishop Pio Laghi as the first apostolic pro-nuncio of the Holy See to the U.S.; he would serve in that role until 1990. 

In unveiling the stamp on Monday, Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, the president of the governorate of Vatican City State, said the commemoration was "a sign of the attention and importance that the Holy See and the Vatican City State attach to these diplomatic relations."

"In fact, entrusting a stamp with the celebration of an event is like making a small art object that will go around the world and convey the message entrusted to it as a sort of manifesto," the prelate said. 

Alzaga noted that U.S.-Vatican diplomatic relations extend back to 1788, when George Washington allowed that the Holy See could freely appoint bishops in the newly minted country. 

"Since then, a long road has been traveled that has made it possible to arrive at the full diplomatic relations that we enjoy today, at the basis of which there are some common principles, such as the sharing of values and the spirit of goodwill," the cardinal said. 

Laura Hochla, the deputy chief of mission at the Vatican embassy, said at the unveiling that the stamp symbolizes "the long friendship and close collaboration that unites our two countries."

"The protection of human rights, the promotion of social justice, and the protection of the rights of vulnerable populations are the basis of this relationship of cooperation, a relationship that is increasingly strong," she said.

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CNA Staff, Sep 18, 2024 / 16:50 pm (CNA).

Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday amplified claims by several news outlets that a woman has died as the result of pro-life laws. But doctors say that the Georgia woman, Amber Thurman, died because of the abortion pill and medical malpractice. 

ProPublica's disputed report claimed that Georgia's restrictions on abortion delayed access to medical care, causing the death of a woman named Amber Nicole Thurman. Thurman died at age 28 in 2022 after being hospitalized due to an infection after she took abortion pills, according to the report.

Thurman received the abortion pills out of state in North Carolina because she was more than six weeks pregnant, the report says. Georgia law limits abortion after six weeks, but Thurman was about nine weeks pregnant when she procured the chemical abortion, according to the Washington Examiner. 

Harris blamed Thurman's death on Donald Trump on Tuesday, saying: "Women are bleeding out in parking lots, turned away from emergency rooms, losing their ability to ever have children again. Survivors of rape and incest are being told they cannot make decisions about what happens next to their bodies. And now women are dying. These are the consequences of Donald Trump's actions." 

Harris' campaign announced she will speak Friday about Thurman's death in Atlanta as well as that of another Georgia woman, Candi Miller, who died after not seeking medical help following severe complications due to a chemical abortion. 

What caused Amber Thurman's death?

Some news reports blamed pro-life limits on abortion for Thurman's death, but Georgia state law explicitly allows abortions when the mother's life or physical health is at risk. Thurman had a chemical abortion in South Carolina prior to her arrival in the emergency room, and when she arrived, her unborn twins had no heart activity.  

Dr. Christina Francis, CEO of the American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG) and a board-certified OB-GYN who has practiced for two decades, said that Thurman's death "was caused by legal abortion drugs" as well as medical negligence. 

"Amber Thurman's tragic death, recently covered by multiple news organizations, was caused by side effects of legal abortion drugs and medical negligence, not pro-life laws," Francis said in a Tuesday statement.

Thurman went to the emergency room five days after she experienced complications from the abortion pill. Tissue from her deceased babies — unborn twins — remained in her uterus, causing an infection, according to ProPublica. As there was no cardiac activity in the fetuses when Thurman arrived at the hospital, her unborn babies were no longer alive. 

Doctors considered a dilation and curettage "D&C" procedure, which would have removed the twins' remains. The following day, her doctors did not perform the D&C, and by the time she went to the operating room, more serious problems had developed, including hemorrhaging. From her arrival, it took the doctors 20 hours to operate. She died on the operating table.

ProPublica interviewed Thurman's best friend, Ricaria Baker, who went with Thurman to obtain the abortion. According to Baker, Thurman missed her scheduled D&C abortion at the South Carolina clinic due to traffic and was told by an employee to have a chemical abortion using the drug regimen mifepristone and misoprostol. Baker notes that Thurman took the pills as she was directed.

"Despite taking the drugs as she was instructed and seeking timely care when she experienced complications, she still died," Francis commented. "Rather than highlighting the dangers of these drugs, which have caused numerous deaths, abortion proponents are instead trying to blame Georgia's laws in their push to protect induced abortion at all costs."

According to the FDA warning label for the abortion drugs mifepristone and misoprostol, between 2.9% and 4.6% of women will visit the emergency room after taking the drugs.

Abortion pills have four times as many complications as surgical abortions, according to a 2023 report by the Charlotte Lozier Institute. As many as 1 in 5 women will suffer complications after a chemical abortion and as many as 15% will experience hemorrhaging, while 2% will experience infection. 

ProPublica, which first reported on the woman's death, acknowledged in its initial report that "it is not clear from the record available why the doctors waited to provide a D&C" but cites Georgia's abortion limitations as the cause. 

A state committee of 10 doctors said that Thurman's death was preventable and the hospital's delay played a role in the fatal outcome. 

In Francis' opinion, it was the doctors' negligence and the abortion pill complications that killed Thurman — not the state's pro-life laws, which allow abortions and other lifesaving medical procedures in cases where the woman's physical health or life is at risk. 

Georgia state law also has other exceptions for abortions, including exceptions for rape and incest for up to 22 weeks of pregnancy. 

There were also no fetal heartbeats detected in the 9-week-old unborn twins, meaning it would not have been an abortion.

"Amber Thurman's state of Georgia clearly allows physicians to intervene in medical emergencies or when there is no detectable fetal heartbeat, both of which applied to her," Francis said. "Don't be misled by those who advocate for induced abortion over the health and safety of women."

"This woman did not have to die," said Dr. Susan Bane, another doctor with AAPLOG. "Based on the timeline and her symptoms, she should have had [the D&C procedure] done as soon as she could get to the hospital. It was medical negligence and had nothing to do with any sort of law in Georgia or elsewhere." 

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America called the rhetoric around the deaths of Thurman and Miller "deadly misinformation."

"We mourn the senseless loss of Amber, Candi, and their unborn children. We agree their deaths were preventable. But let's be absolutely clear: Georgia's law and every pro-life state law calls on doctors to act in circumstances just like theirs," said Katie Daniel, SBA's state policy director. "If abortion advocates weren't spreading misinformation and confusion to score political points, it's possible the outcome would have been different."

Do pro-life states ban emergency medical care for pregnant women? 

According to the Charlotte Lozier Institute, no pro-life states prevent emergency life-saving medical treatments for pregnant women, according to one research institute.

"Make no mistake: all state abortion bans currently in effect contain exceptions to 'prevent the death' or 'preserve the life' of the pregnant person,' according to KFF," Francis noted. KFF, formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation, is a leading health policy organization.

KFF outlines state laws on abortion and details what exceptions pro-life states have.

Amid reports that women have been barred from medical care due to pro-life abortion limits, the Charlotte Lozier Institute investigated the claim and found that all pro-life states allow doctors to treat women with pregnancy emergencies according to their medical judgment.

"All pro-life state laws allow doctors to exercise their medical judgment to treat women with pregnancy emergencies. No law requires 'imminence' or 'certainty' before a doctor can act to save the patient's life," read the Sept. 13 Charlotte Lozier Institute fact sheet by Tess Cox, Dr. Ingrid Skop, and Mary Harned.  

The institute found that all pro-life states allow emergency treatments during pregnancy-related emergencies, following reports of women allegedly not receiving the medical care they require in cases of miscarriage, ectopic pregnancies, and other emergencies.

The institute found that all but five of these state laws included language allowing abortion when a woman's health was in serious jeopardy, while in states without this language, the law permits doctors to use "reasonable" medical judgment to determine if an abortion is necessary. 

"Every state with a strong pro-life law permits doctors to treat women suffering from spontaneous miscarriages or ectopic pregnancies, and the treatment of these conditions is not considered an abortion under any law," the institute noted. 

"Doctors and hospitals who fail to provide patients with necessary treatment in emergency circumstances may be committing malpractice," the fact sheet noted. 

The institute cites recent cases that raise concerns that state laws may be preventing pregnant women from receiving necessary care. One woman was turned away from a hospital multiple times before an ectopic pregnancy ruptured her fallopian tube. Other articles report instances of hospitals turning away women who were suffering from ectopic pregnancies, incomplete miscarriages, premature rupture of membranes, and other circumstances.

"While it is not always easy to determine from a news article whether medical malpractice occurred, pro-life state laws are clear: Doctors can intervene in medical emergencies," the authors wrote.

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