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CNA Staff, Aug 2, 2024 / 15:05 pm (CNA).

The California Catholic Conference (CCC) urged government officials this week to "shepherd" the homeless population into mental health and housing programs, with the state's bishops issuing the call as Gov. Gavin Newsom orders officials to clear homeless encampments throughout the state.

"The greatest travesty would be for those whose camps are removed to be then left in this hot climate without shelters or to become incarcerated because of their forced transiency," the bishops' executive committee said in a July 29 statement.

A 2023 annual federal report estimates that more than 181,000 people were homeless in California, making up 28% of all people experiencing homelessness in the U.S. Newsom's executive order to clear encampments, issued last week, followed a June U.S. Supreme Court ruling that ruled cities can arrest or fine homeless individuals for camping in public spaces.

"The continuing human tragedy of the homeless epidemic in California does not have an easy solution," the bishops said in their statement this week. 

"The Catholic Church in California has been a staunch advocate and resource for unhoused populations, providing both emergency shelter and pathways to permanent housing." 

The bishops emphasized that homeless people must be "treated with respect in keeping with their human dignity."

"It is a tragedy that people live in roadside encampments," the bishops stated. "It is a tragedy that mental health and substance abuse needs are not met."  

The CCC highlighted recent legislative action in the state designed to help homeless people.

The bishops said they urged "in the strongest terms" the "dignified and respectful removal of homeless encampments and concurrently desire that the unhoused who are being displaced are shepherded into the mental health or housing programs that Gov. Newsom has championed and that the voters approved with the passage of [Proposition] 1 in March."

Passed in March of this year, Proposition 1 includes a $6.4 billion bond measure designed to transform the California mental health system and tackle homelessness by funding 10,000 treatment and housing beds as well as drug addiction treatment. 

Newsom has argued that the measure should allow an enhanced state response to homelessness. "Local governments now have the tools they need to address the decades-long issue of homelessness," he said in a post on X last week.

"Today we've invested over $1 billion in encampment resolution grants, not only to clean up sites … but to address the underlying issues in the first place," the governor said in a video posted on X announcing the executive order this week. 

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Toronto, Canada, Aug 1, 2024 / 17:16 pm (CNA).

In response to the concerns for the rising numbers of incarcerated Canadians asking to end their lives by medical assistance in dying (MAID), Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Toronto has brought together two organizations that serve the marginalized of society in a unique collaboration to provide end-of-life care for prisoners.

With a contribution of $15,000, Catholic Charities has provided the financial groundwork for Dismas and Journey Home to work together to meet the need for hospice care for prisoners. 

Opened in 2018, Journey Home Hospice is a palliative care facility in downtown Toronto that provides a home for the homeless in the last days of life. The Fellowship of Dismas is a network of small groups in southern Ontario that accompanies former prisoners as they take steps to reintegrate into the community.

Father Matt Durham, director of Hospice Palliative Care and Community Development for the Saint Elizabeth Foundation, reported the new program is off to a good start.

"We had our first patient transition into Journey Home Hospice through this program and it's been seamless," Durham said."The volunteers from Dismas were able to visit the patient in the hospice and continue journeying with them as they moved towards end-of-life." 

While most of their rights are forfeit, Canadian prisoners retain a right that is unique in the world: They have the right to die. 

For those involved in prison ministry, offering quality end-of-life care for prisoners with terminal illnesses is understood as not only a work of mercy but also as a small step toward providing an alternative to MAID. 

Deacon Paul Bar, president of the charity that supports the Dismas Fellowship, told The Catholic Register that "one of the major reasons people say they choose MAID is because they don't want to be a burden or they don't want to be alone."

"The halfway houses and the prisons don't have the facilities to handle this kind of specialized palliative care and accompaniment. I think the concern is that prisoners would look at MAID as being a pretty viable alternative to dying alone in prison or on the streets."

With an aging prison population, the number of prisoners requesting MAID continues to go up. According to Correctional Service Canada, there have been 40 requests and 11 MAID procedures carried out since euthanasia was legalized in 2016. Almost half of both requests and procedures took place in the past two years.

Chaplain Juliane Martin, director of spiritual care at a group of Toronto transitional homes for former federal prison inmates, was one of the team that accompanied the first patient referred by Dismas to Journey Home. Martin stressed the need for Christian organizations to offer real alternatives to prisoners at the end of their life.

"The idea of coming out leads them to question what they are coming out to. They don't have family members that are waiting for them — either because their family has passed away or they're completely disenfranchised from their family and friends," Martin said. "I think what ends up happening is they stay in prison longer than they should, and then there aren't options for them. I think some people might choose MAID because they really believe that's the best choice."

Martin said she doesn't argue for or against MAID with her clientele.

"I think it is like whenever you're trying to talk to somebody who has suicidal ideation. You don't just focus on why they shouldn't. You talk about why they should live."

Martin said that providing quality palliative care with spiritual accompaniment for prisoners is a way to answer the "why" question.

"One individual that I journeyed with had not spoken to his brother in a very, very long time, and his brother was able to be at his bedside when he passed. I was able to be there too, and I am still in contact with the family. That wouldn't have happened if he hadn't gotten out."

For both Martin and Bar, there is a Gospel imperative that is laid on all Christians to care for the sick and visit the imprisoned.

"We're all called to love our neighbor, to serve our neighbor even when it's extremely uncomfortable, even when it's easy to judge," Bar said.

"There is hope to be had, but it's really hard to foster hope behind the prison walls," Martin said.

Both said they are thankful for the work of Journey Home, for the new collaboration with Friends of Dismas, and for the message of hope it provides.

This article was first published by The Catholic Register, from Canadian Catholic News, and is reprinted here with permission.

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CNA Staff, Aug 1, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).

A new study on student debt by a major Catholic research group, released today, sheds light on the challenges debt poses to prospective Catholic priests and religious as well as to U.S. dioceses and religious institutes. 

The researchers found that a discerning person's student debt can be a barrier to entry, as some candidates choose on their own not to continue with a vocation because of their debt, and in less frequent cases, a religious institute or diocese may ask the person to delay or rescind their candidacy due to high levels of student debt. 

The study, conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University and commissioned by the Labouré Society, was designed to measure the impact of educational debt on the men and women who inquire about and apply to religious life or seminary. In addition, the study looked at the policies and practices of religious institutes and dioceses regarding vocational inquirers and candidates with student debt. 

John Flanagan, executive director of the Labouré Society, noted that canon law requires those entering religious life to be free from debts that they are unable to pay. He said among other things, the Labouré Society, which provides financial and spiritual support to those wishing to enter vocations, has observed those wishing to enter the priesthood or religious life waiting until later in life when they have finally paid off their debts. 

"It's hard to pay a debt when you take a vow of poverty," Flanagan told EWTN News Nightly anchor Tracy Sabol. "For those entering into diocesan life, yes, they get a stipend, but for many that [debt] burden can be more than they can pay on that priestly stipend."

Labouré says it has helped more than 400 individuals raise $11 million to help with their student debt over the past 20 years. Flanagan said the group has done this by seeking to invite other people into the vocations of those struggling with debt. 

"It's really about evangelization and invitation. We work with the aspirants to be able to help them share their story and invite people into it," he said.

The study consisted of surveys mailed to 196 diocesan vocations directors and the vocation directors of 742 religious institutes of men and women. Among those responding, 185 major superiors and two diocesan vocation directors reported that the survey did not apply to them as they have not had candidates in the last five years. Ultimately, 42% of the diocesan vocations directors and 37% of religious institutes contacted were able to participate. 

"The Labouré Society aims to use insight from this report to continue tailoring its program serving religious communities and dioceses nationwide," the organization says. 

Dioceses and archdioceses

The average number of priests among responding dioceses was 111, with an average of 18 seminarians in formation. Responding dioceses also said they are in contact with 306 serious discerners — about 35 per diocese — for the priesthood.

Overall, of those serious inquirers, nearly a quarter have student debt. That figure was not necessarily evenly distributed, however, as 4% of responding dioceses reported that more than three-quarters of their serious inquiries have student debt. A similar percentage of formal applicants to dioceses brought student debt with them.

Nine responding dioceses reported that 23 serious inquirers did not enter seminary because of their student debt, which accounts for 3% of the total number of serious inquirers with educational debt. In addition, a total of 17 responding dioceses asked 26 serious inquirers with educational debt to delay their application until they paid or reduced the debt. 

Just two responding dioceses — among 56 responding — reported a total of two formal applicants who were turned away because of their educational debt.

Large dioceses were more likely than small dioceses to report that their serious inquirers were carrying debt. However, the average amount of debt brought to small dioceses far eclipsed the average amount brought to large dioceses. The average debt carried by a candidate for the priesthood at time of acceptance is $68,333 for small dioceses, $23,286 for medium dioceses, and $21,864 for large dioceses, the study found. 

In terms of the policies governing the assumption of a seminarian's student debt, more than half of responding dioceses said they have a written policy or accepted practices on educational debt. The most common way that dioceses handle educational debt is to ask candidates to defer their loans, with 85% saying they ask their candidates to do so. Half of responding dioceses said they take on candidates' debt and pay it off over time. 

More than 3 in 5 responding dioceses (63%) that assume educational debt do so after priestly ordination, while an additional 12% do so only after the candidate has entered his theology studies. Smaller dioceses are more likely to take on a candidate's debt at the college seminary level than are large dioceses. 

In terms of the most common ways of paying off the student debt, nearly 4 in 10 responding dioceses or their candidates have received funds from individual donors or patrons of the diocese, followed by the Knights of Columbus Fund for Vocations.

Nearly a fifth of dioceses said that the diocese has experienced financial strain due to the student debt of candidates or members.

Religious institutes of men and women

Responding institutes had an average of eight formal applicants since the beginning of 2018 — an average of 10 for each institute of men and seven for each institute of women. The number of applications ranged from 87 to zero, and half of all responding institutes reported having no more than six applicants since Jan. 1, 2018.

At least a fifth of religious institutes that responded said they have noticed an upward trend in the amount of student debt their inquirers are carrying, the study found. Those that responded said that on average, 1 in 4 serious inquirers in the past four years have brought student debt with them — more than $45,000 on average. Men brought with them an average of $39,685 in debt, and women brought an average of $48,555.

Among those who make a formal application, about 21% have student debt, with a $23,000 average.

Nearly half of institutes take on their applicants' debt — a reported total of $2 million in the past five years — with religious institutes of women more likely than those of men to take it on. Most institutes have a limit to how much of a candidate's debt they will take on, with an average of $30,000 for men and $10,000 for women.

Of those institutes that take on their candidates' debt, a majority assume the debt and pay it off over time. Nearly half of institutes ask candidates who leave to reimburse the institute for student debt payments they've made. In addition, about half of those institutes take on the debt during a person's candidacy, postulancy, or during novitiate, and half wait until a person's temporary or perpetual profession. Some institutes only pay the interest on a candidate's loans rather than the principal.

Eighteen responding institutes say they turned away 28 serious inquirers because of their educational debt, which accounts for 2% of the total number of serious inquirers with educational debt. A larger number of institutes reported asking candidates to delay their application until they paid or reduced the educational debt.

"This is higher than other students' educational borrowing habits," the study reads.

"In the 2020-2021 academic year, 37% of undergraduate students attending a public, four-year institution took out student loans averaging $7,500. In that same year, 53% of undergraduate students at private, not-for-profit institutions (including Roman Catholic colleges and universities) took out student loans averaging $8,800."

This heavy burden of debt has caused a dampening effect on religious institutes. About 1 in 5 report that at least some serious inquirers have not pursued the application process because of their educational debt, a number slightly lower among formal applicants. One in 10 institutes have experienced financial strain due to the educational debt of candidates or members.

In terms of policies to address the issue of student debt, more than two-thirds of responding religious institutes have a written policy or an accepted practice on educational debt. Many make use of funds from the Knights of Columbus and the Labouré Society to help them pay off the debts.

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CNA Staff, Aug 1, 2024 / 09:21 am (CNA).

Pope Francis' prayer intention for the month of August is for political leaders. 

"Today, politics doesn't have a very good reputation: corruption, scandals, and distance from people's day-to-day lives," Pope Francis said in a video released July 30. 

"But can we move ahead toward universal fraternity without good politics? No," he continued. "As Paul VI said, politics is one of the highest forms of charity because it seeks the common good."

"I'm talking about POLITICS with all capital letters, not politicking. I'm talking about politics that listens to what is really going on, that's at the service of the poor, not the kind that's holed up in huge buildings with large hallways."

The Holy Father explained that he's speaking about the politics "that's concerned about the unemployed and knows full well how sad a Sunday can be when Monday is just one more day not being able to work. If we look at it this way, politics is much more noble than it appears."

Pope Francis encouraged the faithful to "be grateful for the many politicians who carry out their duties with a will to serve, not of power, who put all their efforts toward the common good."

He concluded with a prayer: "Let us pray that political leaders be at the service of their own people, working for integral human development and the common good, taking care of those who have lost their jobs and giving priority to the poorest."

Pope Francis' prayer video is promoted by the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network, which raises awareness of monthly papal prayer intentions.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 1, 2024 / 10:47 am (CNA).

In celebration of the next World Youth Day (WYD), the Catholic Church in South Korea hosted a grand launch event at the Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul on July 28.

The occasion, which drew more than 1,000 young attendees, consisted of various events intended to reflect the theme "Hope Ignites in Seoul. Success for WYD Seoul 2027."

During the inauguration ceremony, a flag parade was held in which both young Koreans and international attendees carried colorful flags from 193 different countries into the cathedral.

Following the parade, a puzzle ceremony commenced in which the young participants pieced together the various flags to form the words "WYD SEOUL 2027."

According to LiCAS News, the highlight of the ceremony was the kickoff declaration in which Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-taick shared that preparing for World Youth Day would be a good opportunity for young people to become "miracle-makers."

Chung, who serves as the chair of the local organizing committee for WYD Seoul 2027, marked the official start of preparations with this declaration alongside two young Korean delegates.

Gleison De Paula Souza, secretary of the Vatican's Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life, also discussed Seoul's rich cultural history and selection as the host city for WYD.

Additionally, a research team conducted by the KDI School of Public Policy and Management's Professor Taejun Lee presented an analysis forecasting the economic impact of WYD Seoul 2027. Among the projections of trillions of dollars expected to be generated from the event, it is forecast that 24,725 jobs will also be created related to World Youth Day 2027, according to LiCAS News.

The ceremony's concluding Mass, which included a universal prayer said in multiple languages, was celebrated by Chung alongside Cardinal Andrew Soo-jung Yeom, Bishop Paul Kyung-sang Lee, Bishop Titus Sang-Bum Seo, and Bishop Job Yo-bi Koo.

In his homily, Chung shared his aspiration that the Church "offer a platform for the youth of our time — a stage where they can emerge as the protagonists of their own narratives."

"I believe that WYD represents an invaluable opportunity for youth from across the globe, including our Korean youth, to reflect upon and engage with these challenging tasks," he continued. "It is imperative that we unite our hearts, pray together, and discern the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we earnestly prepare for this journey."

According to its website, World Youth Day is a "worldwide encounter with the pope" that occurs every three years in a different country, serving as "an opportunity to share with the whole world the hopes of many young people who are committing their lives to Christ and his Church."

At last year's WYD in Lisbon, Portugal, an estimated 1.5 million people attended the event's closing Mass, in which Pope Francis was the main celebrant alongside 10,000 priests and 700 bishops concelebrating.

Since then, the Archdiocese of Seoul has estimated that between 700,000 and 1 million pilgrims, including 300,000 from overseas, will attend World Youth Day 2027, the first WYD to take place on mainland east Asia.

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CNA Staff, Jul 31, 2024 / 16:02 pm (CNA).

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond this week is petitioning the state Supreme Court to force education officials to comply with an earlier court order, one that directed them to cancel the state's contract with a Catholic charter school.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court earlier this summer ruled against the establishment of St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School. The publicly funded, Catholic-directed institution would be the first of its kind in the nation.

The court argued that extending public funding to a religious school would be a "slippery slope" that could lead to "the destruction of Oklahomans' freedom to practice religion without fear of governmental intervention." It ordered the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board to rescind the school's contract. 

St. Isidore, managed by the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa, is appealing the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. The virtual charter school board, meanwhile — which has since been incorporated into the Statewide Charter School Board — has delayed rescinding the contract pending the outcome of the appeal.

On Tuesday Drummond petitioned the Oklahoma Supreme Court asking that the court "compel" the charter board to comply with the June 25 order to rescind the contract and "to make clear that further refusal … will be grounds for the issuance of a contempt citation." 

For "nearly a month, the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board has ignored this court's patently clear order requiring rescission of the unlawful contract," the filing reads.

"Every day the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board refuses to comply with this court's order is another day that a state-established religious school persists," it says. "That is repugnant to Oklahoma and federal law and must be immediately remediated."

Drummond in a Tuesday statement said he would "continue to protect the religious liberty of all 4 million Oklahomans by upholding their constitutional rights."

The school has requested a stay of the earlier high court order as it awaits the results of its U.S. Supreme Court appeal.

Officials argue that a stay would "preserve the current contract in the event the U.S. Supreme Court reverses [the Oklahoma Supreme Court's decision]" without allowing the school to open or receive funding.

St. Isidore is working with attorneys from the Notre Dame Religious Liberty Clinic, part of the Notre Dame Law School Religious Liberty Initiative.

Set to launch in August as an online, tuition-free, Catholic K–12 charter school, St. Isidore had 200 students registered to start in the fall.

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ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 31, 2024 / 16:32 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis left the Vatican on Wednesday afternoon go to Ostia, a seaside town not far from Rome, to greet Sister Geneviève Jeanningros and the employees of the Summer Park Festival at Luna Park.

According to the Holy See Press Office, the pontiff visited Jeanningros, an 81-year-old nun who has been serving homosexuals and "transgender" people at the Italian Luna Park for 56 years.

The nun lives there in a trailer with another nun named Anna Amelia, with whom she also accompanies the community.

The Holy Father took the opportunity to greet the fairground workers and circus artists, who put on a show.

He also blessed a statue of "Our Lady, Protector of the Traveling Show and the Circus" and greeted the families and children present.

Earlier this year, on June 5, Pope Francis greeted the nun after the general audience at the Vatican. On that occasion, Jeanningros noted that the pontiff had previously received the LGBT "community" that she assists.

"They love him so much because this is the first time that a pope welcomes trans and gay people. They thank him because they have finally found a Church that has reached out to them," said the nun of the Little Sisters of Jesus.

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, Jul 31, 2024 / 17:02 pm (CNA).

Archbishop Malcolm McMahon of the Archdiocese of Liverpool urged Catholics to join him in prayer for the victims of a stabbing attack at a children's dance class in Southport, England, which left three young girls dead and nearly a dozen people injured.

"For those who have been injured, for those who are parents, family, and friends of the injured, for all involved in the emergency services, we pray for God's blessing, God's peace, and God's presence today," McMahon said in a statement on Monday, July 29, after the attack. 

"Let us commend all to the loving intercession of Our Lady, Comforter of the Afflicted as we pray for peace, healing, and justice," the archbishop said. "My prayers are with you."

Three children — 6-year-old Bebe King, 7-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, and 9-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar — died in the stabbing attack, which occurred at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in the northwest English town, according to Merseyside police. Law enforcement arrested a 17-year-old male in connection with the stabbing but have not yet determined a motive.

Another eight children who attended the dance class, five of whom are in critical condition, suffered stab wounds, according to police. Two adults who were injured are also in critical condition.

McMahon also joined with Auxiliary Bishop Tom Neylon and nine local Protestant Christian leaders to issue a joint statement expressing their condolences and condemning the violence.

"Life is a precious gift, and for it to be taken from children so young is truly heartbreaking," the joint statement read.

"We offer our sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of all of those whose lives have been lost," they said. "We pray for those who remain critically ill and injured. We hold everyone affected by this awful event in our hearts and our prayers and call upon people of all faiths and none to come together to support them in whatever way we can."

"We commit ourselves afresh to standing against brutality and violence in every form and doing all we can to build safe, caring, and strong communities," the statement concluded.

The stabbing attack led to civil unrest and a riot on Tuesday night, which injured 49 officers and four other people, according to police. Rioters attacked police and a local mosque, following an online rumor that the attacker was Muslim. According to the British Broadcasting Corporation, the suspect was born in the United Kingdom and his parents are immigrants from Rwanda, a predominantly Christian country in central Africa.

Police have not released the name of the suspect. According to police, "a name has been shared on social media in connection with the suspect," but "this name is incorrect and we would urge people not to speculate on details of the incident while the investigation is ongoing."

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ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 31, 2024 / 17:32 pm (CNA).

The drag-queen-led parody of the Last Supper featured during the opening ceremonies of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games sparked outrage around the world and has led C Spire, a U.S. mobile phone and internet company, to make the decision to pull all its advertising from the Olympics.

"We were shocked by the mockery of the Last Supper during the opening ceremonies of the Paris Olympics. C Spire will be pulling our advertising from the Olympics," the Mississippi-based company announced in a post on X.

Commenting on the move, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said on X: "I am proud to see the private sector in Mississippi step up and put their foot down. God will not be mocked. C Spire drew a common-sense, appropriate line."

More than 390,000 signatures demand a formal apology

In addition, more than 390,000 signatures have been collected in two campaigns — one by the CitizenGo platform, with more than 250,000, and another by the Christian Lawyers Foundation in Spain, with almost 140,000 — to request a formal apology from the organizers of the Olympic Games for the parody of the Last Supper.

The archbishop of Malta and deputy secretary of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Charles Scicluna, also said he has written to the French ambassador in Malta to express the "distress and disappointment of many Christians at the gratuitous insult during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics" and encouraged others to do the same.

"Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group. [The opening ceremony] tried to celebrate community tolerance. We believe this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offense we are really sorry," said Anne Descamps, spokeswoman for Paris 2024, at a July 28 press conference, according to Reuters.

An opportunity for evangelization and forgiveness

The bishop of Córdoba in Spain, Demetrio Fernández, pointed out in his July 29 homily that with the parody of the Last Supper and with it the Eucharist, "they are trying to offend Christians, Jesus who has left us in this sacrament the essence of his life."

"These blasphemies are very significant, but we have to show the capacity of Jesus Christ and his Church to forgive," the prelate noted.

"Furthermore, this becomes an opportunity for evangelization that no one else can offer; only Christians are capable of forgiving even when they know the pain that this offense causes," the Spanish bishop emphasized.

"The forgiveness of Jesus Christ for each one of us is greater than our offenses and the forgiveness of Christians is capable of being conveyed even when they feel deeply wounded," Fernandez emphasized.

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, Jul 31, 2024 / 18:02 pm (CNA).

Three more pro-life activists have been sentenced for violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act through their involvement in a 2021 blockade of a Tennessee abortion clinic.

James Zastrow, Eva Zastrow, and Paul Place were sentenced to 90 days in home detention and three years of probation for a "rescue" attempt in which they blockaded the Carafem Health Center Clinic in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, according to reporting by ABC News. The sentences were carried out by U.S. District Judge for the Middle District of Tennessee Aleta Trauger.

The sentencing for Eva Edl, an elderly pro-life activist who was also found guilty of being involved in the same rescue attempt, was delayed until August. Edl is 89 years old and a survivor of a communist concentration camp.

This comes after an FBI investigation and the U.S. attorney's office prosecution led to the four pro-life activists and seven others being found guilty of criminal charges against the FACE Act in April.

An April press release by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Tennessee said that evidence proved that the activists "violated the FACE Act by using physical obstruction over the course of several hours to interfere with the clinic's employees and a patient, because the clinic was providing, and the patient sought, reproductive health services."

The blockade was documented in a March 5, 2021, video posted on Facebook. The video shows a large group of pro-life activists ranging from elderly to young children walking into an abortion clinic and blocking the door by sitting in front of it. The activists can be seen singing Christian hymns and praying while police demand they leave. Some comply with the police requests, but some do not, leading to their arrests.  

The FACE Act was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994. It imposes criminal penalties on individuals convicted of "violent, threatening, damaging, and obstructive conduct" that interferes with access to abortion clinics, places of worship, and pregnancy centers.

Several House and Senate Republicans have been calling for the FACE Act to be repealed because they say it is being unequally applied to target pro-life advocates.

The FACE Act has also garnered criticism for imposing harsh sentences on nonviolent violators such as Paulette Harlow, a 75-year-old woman with a debilitating medical condition who was sentenced to two years in prison for her involvement in a rescue attempt at the Washington Surgi-Clinic, a late term abortion clinic in Washington, D.C. Jean Marshall, 74, and several other pro-life activists were also sentenced to years in prison for the same incident. 

According to the Daily Caller, 97% of all 211 FACE Act cases have been against pro-life activists.

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