Pope Francis on record-low fertility rate: ‘Human life is not a problem, it is a gift’
Pope Francis greets a young girl at a conference on Friday, May 10, 2024, on the state of birth rates in Italy and the wider West at the Auditorium della Conciliazione in Rome. / Credit: Vatican Media
Rome Newsroom, May 10, 2024 / 10:00 am (CNA).
When Pope Francis took to the stage on Friday to speak at a conference on the state of birth rates in Italy and the wider West, he did not equivocate.
“The problem of our world is not the children that are born — it is selfishness, consumerism, and individualism, which make people full, lonely, and unhappy,” the pope said to the audience gathered in the Auditorium della Conciliazione in Rome.
This year’s edition of “Stati Generali della Natalità,” or “General State of the Birth Rate,” is based on the theme “More Young People, More Future.” It is the fourth edition of the gathering, which was launched back in 2021 as a joint project with then-Italian premier Mario Draghi and Gigi De Palo, the president of the Forum of Family Associations.
Italy, like many countries in Western Europe, has been facing an acute demographic crisis in recent years. Births in Italy dropped to a historic low in 2023. Italy’s national statistics bureau recorded 379,000 births last year, a 3.6% decline from 2022 and a 34.2% drop from 2008.
Arriving shortly after 9 a.m., Pope Francis took his seat at center stage, flanked by sitting children on both sides, and delivered a speech that, while cautionary and at times striking a dire tone, was also rooted in hope, with the Holy Father arguing that it is “important to meet and work together to promote birth rates with realism, foresight, and courage.”
“The number of births is the first indicator of a people’s hope. Without children and young people, a country loses its desire for the future,” the pope said.
“Unfortunately,” the pope continued, “if we were to rely on this data, we would be forced to say that Italy is progressively losing its hope for the future, like the rest of Europe.”
“The Old Continent is increasingly transforming into an old, tired, and resigned continent, so committed to exorcizing loneliness and anxieties that it is no longer able to enjoy, in the civilization of the gift, the true beauty of life,” Francis continued.
The Holy Father sharply rebuked population alarmism pushed by some theories such as Malthusianism, which posits that unchecked birth rates will quickly exhaust agricultural resources, leading to famine and war. The pope called those theories “long out of date.”
Striking a very different tone, he said: “Human life is not a problem, it is a gift.”
The pope did touch upon the effects of climate change, suggesting that it is not the effect of population growth but rather a consequence of prevailing economic models and consumer attitudes, or “rampant materialism,” which “attacks the existence of people and society at the root.”
“The problem is not how many there are in the world but what world we are building,” Francis added. “It is not children, but selfishness, which creates injustices and structures of sin, to the point of intertwining unhealthy interdependencies between social, economic, and political systems.”
The pope also appealed for change on an institutional level, imploring governments to spearhead pro-family initiatives so that mothers are not in the position “to choose between work and caring for her children” and so younger couples are not faced with “the burden of job insecurity and the inability to buy a house.”
In line with this broader reflection of the importance of the family, Pope Francis underscored the importance of valuing the elderly, calling the ostracization of the elderly “cultural suicide.”
“The future is made by the young and the old together, courage and memory, together,” the pontiff continued.
Despite the exigent demands to reverse the negative trends, the pope ended his speech striking a more optimistic tone, encouraging young people to not “give up” and to “have faith.”
“I know that for many of you the future may appear disturbing, and that between birth rates, wars, pandemics, and climate change it is not easy to keep hope alive. But don’t give up, have faith, because tomorrow is not something inevitable: We build it together, and in this ‘together’ first of all we find the Lord.”
The miracle that led to the canonization of St. Damien De Veuster
Painting of Father Damien De Veuster and images with lepers and his first church on Molokai Island, Hawaii, from Mary, Star of the Sea Catholic Church. / Credit: Claudine Van Massenhove/Shutterstock
CNA Staff, May 10, 2024 / 09:08 am (CNA).
In 2008, the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints ruled that a Hawaiian woman’s cure from cancer was a miracle linked to her prayers to Father Damien De Veuster. This led to the missionary priest — renowned for working with leprosy patients on the island of Molokai, Hawaii — being canonized on Oct. 11, 2009, by Pope Benedict XVI in Rome.
Audrey Toguchi, a retired schoolteacher from the county of Honolulu, became ill in 1997 with a lump on her left thigh that was discovered to be cancerous. She asked her sisters to accompany her to Kalaupapa to pray at Father Damien’s grave.
“I prayed that he would ask God to heal me,” Toguchi told the Honolulu Star Bulletin.
After surgery in January 1998, Dr. Walter Chang told Toguchi that her rare form of cancer, liposarcoma, had spread to both lungs.
“He said, ‘I cannot do anything for you. No surgery is possible,’” she said.
“I went back to Kalaupapa,” Toguchi continued. “I went to Mass and received Communion and then I went to Damien’s grave. I said, ‘Please, ask God to cure this cancer.’
“Doctor Chang took pictures of my lungs and every month, it was less and less until after four months, the cancer was gone. He was flabbergasted.”
According to the Star Bulletin, Toguchi told no one besides her family about her cure. Instead, she wrote to Pope John Paul II about the cancer’s disappearance, and this began the investigation into the miracle.
Father Damien was credited with his first miracle after the spontaneous recovery of a terminally ill French nun in 1895 was attributed to his intercession. He was beatified in 1995, but one more confirmed miracle was required for his canonization to be considered. The cure was documented in the Hawaii Medical Journal in October 2000.
Toguchi’s life, faith, and medical history were also examined by Church authorities. She was interviewed by a local panel and by Monsignor Robert Sarno from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Sarno notified Toguchi of the congregation’s decision by email.
Toguchi’s identity had been shielded by her doctor and Church officials but was then made public by Bishop Larry Silva of Honolulu in a statement.
The miracle paved the way for Father Damien’s canonization, which happened one year later. The saint of Molokai’s feast day is celebrated by the universal Church on May 10.
This article was first published on May 1, 2008, and has been updated.
First Catholic college in South Carolina to open in fall 2024
Rosary College logo. / Credit: Rosary College
CNA Staff, May 10, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).
Author and Anglican convert Father Dwight Longenecker along with a number of Catholic scholars are launching the first Catholic college in South Carolina, a two-year liberal arts college set to open this fall.
Rosary College will offer an associate of Catholic studies in integrated humanities degree, which can be transferred to a number of other universities. The college offers “an affordable, transferable credit for students who are either going on to a four-year Catholic college or those who are going into the workforce and/or trade school,” Longenecker explained in a post on X.
“Our focus is with our foundation on truth, beauty, and goodness, and in alignment with our primary value of Catholic identity,” Mike Shick, founding president of Rosary College, told CNA in an interview. “We want to ensure that we’re in alignment with the magisterium of the holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church.”
While 20% of Americans are Catholic nationwide, only 10% of South Carolinians are Catholic, according to Pew Research. South Carolina is predominantly Protestant (about 66%), while 19% of South Carolinians are unaffiliated “religious nones.”
Greenville, South Carolina, however, has a “robust community” of Catholics, drawing people from all over the U.S., said Shick, who moved his family of 10 from Virginia to the city of 70,000 last year.
“While the percentage in the number of Catholics that are here [is low], many of the folks that are here now have come from various different areas around the United States, all because it’s, anecdotally, a fervent Catholic area,” Shick said.
Rosary College will take inspiration from the Benedictine tradition of prayer and work, Shick said, as they build the college “brick by brick.”
“We feel that calling to be able to support our students, be able to help them develop, through not only contemplation but … that they’re being able to evangelize through who they are, through their work,” Shick said. “Not through apologetics, but through being principled, having integrity, and [being] ordered toward truth, beauty, and goodness.”
The curriculum will include classes on Euclidean geometry, the foundations of science, and business while also offering various literature courses, Latin, philosophy, and Catholic theology.
“It helps our kids navigate those first two v[ery] tricky years of college successfully,” Longenecker explained in the post. “It consolidates the Catholic worldview necessary to keep the faith and succeed in life.”
To help students easily transfer their credits, Rosary College partnered with two Newman-guide recognized Catholic colleges: Ave Maria University in Ave Maria, Florida, and Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, New Hampshire.
Renowned Catholic scholars Joseph Pearce, prolific author and host of an EWTN series about Shakespeare, and Jared Staudt, former dean of the St. Augustine Institute, are members of the board of trustees for Rosary College.
Tuition will be $450 per credit hour, with an estimated full-time student tuition of $7,150 per semester. For a non-student auditing a course, the cost will be $675 per course. For its first years, Rosary College will operate out of rented classrooms.
“We are much closer in alignment with the cost for tuition at local community college, secular community college,” Shick noted. “It’s not a one for one, but we’re a lot closer to that. And so from a price-point perspective, we are certainly well positioned for those families with a larger number of children and things of that nature. I got to tell you, as a father of eight, I certainly can appreciate that.”
But while their tuition cost is similar to community college tuition, Shick pointed out that “nearly all” of the faculty hold doctorate degrees.
“I’m just thrilled to be a part of… I wouldn’t call it a renewal, but setting a foundation to ensure that we are in alignment with the magisterium, that we can provide that authentic education that people are so much looking for, that’s rigorous and affordable,” Shick added. “I’m thrilled to be a part of it, and I’m really looking forward to the offerings and the things to come.”
More information can be found on Rosary College’s website.
Class of ’24: Commencement speakers range from ‘The Chosen’ actor to a Catholic cardinal
Clockwise, from top left: Catholic actor Jonathan Roumie, Cardinal Stephen Chow of Hong Kong, Harrison Butker of the Kansas City Chiefs, and Father Mike Schmitz of Duluth, Minnesota, will address the Class of 2024. / Credits: Shane Anthony Sinclair/Getty Images; Edward Pentin/National Catholic Register; Benedictine College; and FOCUS
National Catholic Register, May 10, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).
Commencement ceremonies are underway at the nation’s Catholic colleges and universities, many of which are annually highlighted in the National Catholic Register’s “Catholic Identity College Guide.”
Notable speakers include Cardinal Stephen Chow at Boston College on May 20 and “The Bible in a Year” and “The Catechism in a Year” podcast host Father Mike Schmitz, who serves as chaplain at the University of Minnesota-Duluth’s Newman Center and who spoke to Ave Maria University’s Class of 2024 on May 4.
“Life takes courage ... because love takes courage. And every one of you is called to love, even if you don’t do it perfectly. ... Do the things you’ve learned, and you will be blessed,” Schmitz exhorted the graduates.
In the nation’s capital, the Catholic University of America (CUA), the national university of the Catholic Church in the United States, announced that Catholic actor Jonathan Roumie, the star of “The Chosen,” will deliver the commencement address on May 11.
Catholic University boasts 529 graduates for its spring semester. Roumie was selected to address the graduating class, CUA President Peter Kilpatrick said in a press release, because the actor “exemplifies the importance of struggle and practicing your faith in the workplace. … In his work we see him expressing his own faith, and it’s making an impact. Countless people have had their lives changed for the better by Jonathan through his portrayal of Jesus Christ.”
Elsewhere, at the University of Notre Dame, Holy Cross Father John Jenkins, the university’s outgoing president, will be the principal speaker at the May 19 commencement.
Across the nation, the Class of 2024 is comprised of an impressive group of young men and women, Kevin Murphy of the Cardinal Newman Society told the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, and their numbers are growing at colleges with strong Catholic identity.
“I love what I’m seeing,” Murphy said. “Enrollment is growing in colleges where Christ is incorporated into all subjects and there is ready availability of Mass, confessions, and spiritual direction.”
Among the colleges experiencing noteworthy growth is Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, which will see 483 seniors graduate on May 11, with Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, an outspoken pro-life Catholic, delivering the keynote address. Stephen Minnis, Benedictine’s president, will also address the graduating class. Minnis told the Register that he planned to congratulate the graduates for their “perseverance through the crisis” of the 2020 pandemic restrictions. “I’m proud of them,” Minnis said.
“It is truly an honor to be asked to give the commencement address at Benedictine,” Butker told the Register. “When I was reminded by President Minnis that this class missed out on so many important milestones during their senior year of high school, I just couldn’t say no. I’m eager to give a powerful and truth-filled speech that I pray, if it’s God’s will, will be remembered by them for a lifetime.”
Sarah Rodriguez is among Benedictine’s graduates. An architecture major who is going on to a job at an architectural firm in Atlanta, she referred to her time at Benedictine as “transformative: I wouldn’t be the person I am without my time here.”
She said Benedictine offers its students an “authentically Catholic” environment, with staff committed to “shaping truly well-rounded individuals” who will favorably “transform the culture of America.”
Levi Streit is another Benedictine graduate, a biology major going on to medical school. He said he appreciated the many opportunities he has had to grow in his faith on campus, with daily Mass and access to the sacraments as well as opportunities for service, such as going on mission trips.
Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia, will see 127 seniors graduate from its 45th class when it holds its commencement ceremonies May 10-11.
Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, where the college is located, will celebrate a baccalaureate Mass for graduates and families, the second of two annual visits he makes to the campus. Professor Tracey Rowland, the St. John Paul II chair of theology for the University of Notre Dame in Australia, will deliver the commencement address and receive an honorary doctorate of humane letters. Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, and president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, will also be on hand to receive the college’s Pro Deo et Patria Award.
Amanda Graf, acting executive vice president at Christendom, also lauded the Class of 2024 for its COVID-19 restriction resiliency and noted that the cohort had “shown a tremendous amount of joy, creativity, intellectual curiosity, and academic ability. They have grown into a tight-knit class, finding ways to encourage each other’s growth in the academics, sports, clubs, and the spiritual life.”
Zach Smith, Christendom’s director of communications, said the school has offered students an important Catholic formation that will lead them to future success: “Here, students are able to learn the truth, live the faith, and thrive as Catholics.”
Personal growth
Thomas Aquinas College (TAC) will graduate 108 students: 78 at its Santa Paula, California, campus May 11 and 30 at its relatively new Northfield, Massachusetts, campus May 18.
O. Carter Snead, a University of Notre Dame professor of law, will serve as keynote speaker, and Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Slawomir Szkredka will celebrate the baccalaureate Mass in California; Cardinal Raymond Burke will offer the baccalaureate Mass and serve as keynote speaker in Massachusetts.
Stephen Shivone, assistant dean for student affairs on the New England campus, praised TAC’s Class of 2024, noting that “they have been marked by the extraordinary dedication and lively seriousness with which they have pursued the intellectual life laid out by our program. I don’t think they’ve ever had a dull discussion or quiet class. Like this campus’ first two graduating classes, they have courageously pioneered the founding of this campus and have worthily perpetuated the life and traditions they have inherited.”
Senior Andrew Grumbine, student speaker for the California class, observed: “I’m leaving TAC more confident, more selfless, more charitable, and more understanding — in short, happier — than I was before. That’s not a coincidence; rather, I’d say that being so surrounded by truth, goodness, and beauty in the academic program and the people here is a major reason for that change. How could it not be?”
Aquinas College in Nashville, Tennessee, is among the smaller Catholic colleges, graduating 10 as it held its baccalaureate Mass, celebrated by Nashville Bishop Mark Spalding, and commencement on May 2. Five are undergraduates and five are master’s students; five are Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, and five are lay students.
All five sisters and three of the lay students will use their degrees to teach. Additionally, eight seminarians from the Diocese of Nashville have completed the school’s one-year Certificate in Propaedeutic Studies program.
Dominican Sister Cecilia Anne Wanner, Aquinas’ president, referred to the graduates as “exemplars of dedication and excellence” and celebrated their “commitment to teacher education, spending countless hours in classrooms, developing their professional skills and inspiring both educators and students alike. Their strong sense of community, characterized by shared prayer, fellowship, and mutual support, serves as a testament to the transformative bonds forged during these past few years of study.”
Among the graduates is Dominican Sister Laura Immaculata Clarke, who is looking forward to teaching.
“The subject we teach, our successes, and even our students’ successes are not the goal,” she said. “Relationship with Christ is our goal, and so we are prepared to teach Christ, formed to witness to Christ and brought to deep encounter with Christ during our time at Aquinas.”
Record graduation class
Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio will graduate its largest-ever class of 896. Its commencement ceremonies will be May 10-11, with Bishop Frank Caggiano of Bridgeport, Connecticut, celebrating a baccalaureate Mass and being honored for his work as an evangelist and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito serving as the keynote speaker.
Ann Dulany, Franciscan’s dean of academic advising, praised the Class of 2024 as one of diverse talents, comprised of graduates who “love the Lord, seek to grow in their faith, and want to make a difference in the world and the Church.”
Among those in the student body are religious; Dulany specifically pointed to a relationship with the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which brought many of their young sisters to campus to study for teaching careers, and highlighted upcoming projects, which will include facilities for training in evangelization, a renovation of the chapel to increase its size, and the launching of a Ph.D. program in theology and a master’s program in criminal justice.
Stefan Fiandeiro of San Jose, California, has “loved” his time at Franciscan, “where everyone not only knows you but actually wants to see you succeed. I’ve developed a unique relationship with many of the professors I’ve had over the years because of their availability and their desire to mentor.”
The spiritual formation offered “has built me into the man that I am today,” he reported, citing the ready availability of Mass and confession, perpetual adoration, and being surrounded by a group of like-minded “brothers,” adding: “I also cannot understate how important it is to be surrounded by a few thousand other young people completely in love with their faith and desiring to succeed in life not just in a worldly sense but in an eternal sense as well.” He plans to attend the Pennsylvania Police Academy and pursue a career in law enforcement.
Mary Therese Druffner is graduating from Franciscan with a major in theology and plans to work in the Minneapolis area, where she is from, in youth ministry; she is eager to work with teens “to introduce them to who Christ is and what true Christianity is.”
“I’ve particularly enjoyed my study of Scripture and its relationship with Church tradition,” she said of her college years.
She, too, is grateful for the opportunity she had to nourish her spiritual life with regular Mass and confession as well as participation in perpetual adoration.
At Wyoming Catholic College, commencement Mass and exercises will be held May 12-13, with Bishop Robert Pipta of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Parma as the commencement speaker.
In addition, Thomas More College of Liberal Arts will host Carl Anderson, former Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, as the commencement speaker on May 18.
Many of the students expressed gratitude for their time in college.
Catherine Schmidt, a Christendom College graduate, noted that her years in college were life-changing: “I have cultivated friendships that are founded upon a relationship with Christ, developed a love for the truth and the ability to articulate it well, and received mentorship in how to apply abstract truths into practical, everyday life. Learning at Christendom College has equipped me well to bring Christ to the world.”
This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA's sister news partner, and has been adapted by CNA.
Qatar’s St. Charbel Maronite Church prepares to welcome worshippers
Ongoing construction work on St. Charbel Maronite Church in Doha, Qatar, in April 2024. / Credit: Father Charbel Mhanna
ACI MENA, May 10, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).
Construction is nearing completion on the St. Charbel Maronite Church in Doha, Qatar, with plans to open its doors to worshippers in 2025, coinciding with the Catholic Church’s Jubilee Year, according to Father Charbel Mhanna from Qatar’s Maronite parish.
In an interview with ACI Mena, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, Mhanna explained that with a capacity of about 3,000 people, St. Charbel will be the country’s largest church, open to all Catholics. Once completed, it will be Qatar’s second Catholic church, joining the existing Church of Our Lady of the Rosary.
While precise statistics on the Christian population in Qatar are lacking, Mhanna estimates there are close to 1 million Christians there, of which about 70% are Catholic. Approximately 12,000 belong to the Maronite rite, which is in full communion with the pope.
Religious tolerance lauded
Regarding religious freedom in Qatar, Mhanna expressed his appreciation for the country’s open policy toward building churches and commended its pioneering role in promoting religious tolerance and acceptance.
“All Catholic and non-Catholic churches practice their faith in the religious complex,” he said. “We, as Maronites, practice all our rituals with complete freedom within the religious complex, to avoid any problems.”
Mhanna noted that before holding any liturgies or events, the church must obtain permission from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which oversees both churches and embassies, with a dedicated office for that purpose.
“We make it a priority to participate regularly in the annual interfaith dialogue conference organized by the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue,” Mhanna said. “Representatives from all religions and denominations present in Qatar take part.”
State support and community contributions
While the Qatari government provides land for church construction, as was the case with the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary built on a plot donated by the former emir in 2006, the faithful and generous donors finance the actual construction costs.
“This is how the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary was built,” Mhanna explained. “The former emir of the country, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, donated the land in 2006. The church was inaugurated in 2008.”
Mhanna highlighted the diversity within the community in Qatar, noting that “all the faithful from the Eastern churches participate in our Masses and activities.”
Mhanna said the community relies on donations from the faithful and looks forward to celebrating the consecration of St. Charbel Church’s altar next year during the Church’s Jubilee Year, as well as the launch of catechism classes and many other activities.
This article was originally published by ACI Mena, CNA's Arabic-language news partner, and has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Cyberattack on largest Catholic hospital chain in the U.S. disrupts care
Crittenton Hospital Medical Center in Rochester, Michigan belongs to the network of Ascension Health facilities in 19 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. / Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Denver Newsroom, May 9, 2024 / 19:13 pm (CNA).
Ascension Health, the largest chain of Catholic hospitals in the U.S., is investigating a cyberattack, according to a May 9 press release.
“On Wednesday, May 8, we detected unusual activity on select technology network systems, which we now believe is due to a cybersecurity event,” Ascension indicated. “At this time we continue to investigate the situation.”
The cyberattack had affected “access to some systems” and caused “disruption to clinical operations,” the press release noted.
The impact of the cyberattack is not yet clear, and Ascension — the fourth-largest hospital chain in the U.S. — is working to determine whether patients’ data was stolen.
“Together, we are working to fully investigate what information, if any, may have been affected by the situation,” the release stated. “Should we determine that any sensitive information was affected, we will notify and support those individuals in accordance with all relevant regulatory and legal guidelines.”
The hospital chain has notified the authorities and is working with a third-party expert, Mandiant, to “assist in the investigation and remediation process,” but whether any sensitive information was stolen is unknown.
“We responded immediately, initiated our investigation and activated our remediation efforts,” the release noted. “Access to some systems have been interrupted as this process continues.”
Ascension noted that it is working to minimize any disruption to its clinical operations.
“Our care teams are trained for these kinds of disruptions and have initiated procedures to ensure patient care delivery continues to be safe and as minimally impacted as possible,” the statement read. “There has been a disruption to clinical operations, and we continue to assess the impact and duration of the disruption.”
This is not the first health organization to experience cyberattacks in recent weeks. UnitedHealth Group in April paid ransom to protect its patient data after a February cyberattack on its subsidiary Change Healthcare.
With a deeply rooted Catholic legacy, Ascension credits its foundation to several religious orders that came together to sponsor its beginnings, including the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Nazareth, and three other religious groups. There are now 140 Ascension hospitals in the U.S., and Ascension provided $2.2 billion in care to people living in poverty in the fiscal year 2023, according to its website.
PHOTOS: Catholics gather at site of Jesus’ ascension in Jerusalem
An external view of the Chapel of the Ascension on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem during the procession of the Franciscan friars after the first vespers of the Ascension solemnity on May 8, 2024. The procession circled the chapel three times. / Credit: Marinella Bandini
Jerusalem, May 9, 2024 / 18:45 pm (CNA).
On the solemnity of the Ascension, Christians in Jerusalem ascended to the top of the Mount of Olives, where tradition places the exact location of Jesus’ ascension into heaven. It is the only day of the year when they have the right to celebrate the liturgy in the Chapel of the Ascension, which is currently under Muslim control.
The octagonal chapel visible today is what remains of the Crusader-era church. (The first church dates back to the fourth century.) Inside, a rock is venerated on which it is believed that the last earthly footprint of Jesus before ascending to heaven is imprinted.
On the afternoon of Wednesday, May 8, local Christians began gathering at the site of the Ascension. In the absence of the custos of the Holy Land, the custodial vicar, Father Ibrahim Faltas, performed the solemn entry and presided over the first vespers of the solemnity, followed by a procession that circled the chapel three times.
The Latin parish of Jerusalem organized a communal recitation of vespers, with a large group of faithful in attendance.
Emily Turjman is a fixture in the parish and lives a form of private consecration to the Lord. “I come here every year,” she told CNA, proudly showing the rosaries she crafts with embroidery. “I love the Lord and want to be close to him.”
Joelle and George Sammour are siblings and came with their mother. It is their first time attending this celebration. Joelle is 14 years old and part of the parish choir. She told CNA: “I’m excited to have come to pray in the actual place of the Ascension. By coming to these places, I want to be closer to God and Jesus.”
George said he never misses Sunday Mass as he is one of the altar boys serving in the parish and is very proud of this task. “I wanted to come here to learn more about the Ascension of Jesus. I want to know more about Jesus and his life,” he told CNA. “I also like to see how the friars celebrate in the holy places; I want to observe and learn.”
Outside the chapel, four large tents were set up, erected that morning. They accommodated the sacristy, pilgrims, and a small field kitchen for the friars who stay to keep vigil and ensure a presence at the site throughout the night.
After the Franciscans celebrate the vigil Office, the Masses begin and go through the entire night in half-hour shifts. Besides inside the chapel, Masses can also be celebrated at two portable altars outside.
Seeing buses of Christian pilgrims in Jerusalem has been rare since the war in Gaza broke out. However, for the feast of the Ascension, several buses arrived in the early hours of the night, especially from Nazareth and Galilee.
This is a pilgrimage launched about 30 years ago by the late Franciscan friar Jack Karam, and since then it has never stopped.
“We have come here to celebrate this feast together because it’s the only day when this place is open for us Christians,” Samia Abu Sini, who works at the French hospital in Nazareth managed by the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, told CNA. “They told us about this place and this celebration, and I wanted to come and visit.”
Don Prince Toussoun is a Salesian priest who is originally from Egypt but has lived in various places in the Holy Land, and for six years he has been in Nazareth in the parish dedicated to “Teenage Jesus.” On Wednesday night, he participated with a group of about 60 people in the vigil celebration.
“Every year we come for the Ascension,” he told CNA. “We pray during the bus journey, we stop here for the vigil celebration, then we celebrate the Mass at Dominus Flevit, and we spend some hours praying in the Holy Sepulcher.”
While waiting her turn to enter the Chapel of the Ascension in the middle of the night, Rawya Graisy from Nazareth shared with CNA her joy of being in this place for the first time. “I had heard about this church and wanted to see it,” she said. “We are here to pray to God. We pray to God to stop the war, to help all the people suffering because of it, and to grant us peace.”
At 8 o’clock in the morning, the faithful of Jerusalem returned to the site of the Ascension for the parish Mass. The solemn Mass of the Franciscans of the custody followed.
Among the attendees were also a group of Christians from the Melkite Parish of the Annunciation in Nazareth led by their pastor, Father Said Hashem. They also come to Jerusalem every year, contemplating the mystery of the Ascension in the place where it happened and visiting the most significant sites of the Holy City.
Already in the fourth century, pilgrims spoke of this place, which they called “Imbomon” (a term derived from Greek meaning “on the top” or “on the hill”). In her diary, the pilgrim Egeria reports that the community of Jerusalem gathered at the Imbomon on Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, every afternoon during Easter week, and on Pentecost Sunday.
With the conquest of Jerusalem in 1188, Saladin assigned “the land of the Mount of Olives” to two Muslim families and transformed it into an Islamic foundation. The central chapel of the church was converted into a mosque, but today it is not used for worship.
The Chapel of the Ascension is open to visitors and pilgrims throughout the year, but on Ascension Day Christians can celebrate the liturgy inside thanks to a concession granted to the Franciscans of the Custody of the Holy Land.
Haiti in danger of ‘a real genocide,’ priest warns
People flee their neighborhoods on May 2, 2024, after armed gangs terrorized the Delmas 24 and Solino areas on the night of May 1 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. / Credit: CLARENS SIFFROY/AFP via Getty Images
ACI Prensa Staff, May 9, 2024 / 18:25 pm (CNA).
The tragedy that Haiti is experiencing has reached a point where “it runs the risk of provoking a true genocide in the country,” warned Father Henry Marc Siméon, director of the communications office of the Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince, the country’s capital.
In an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, Siméon pleaded for support: “The people [of Haiti] who are crying out for help today need men and women of goodwill from all countries to come to their aid to help us, to get out of this situation we’re living in.”
The priest noted that Pope Francis has made repeated calls for peace and in support of the people of Haiti. Just on April 28, on the occasion of the recitation of the Regina Caeli when he was in Venice, the Holy Father prayed “that the God of peace illuminate hearts so that the will for dialogue and reconciliation may grow in everyone.”
Siméon shared the drama they are experiencing daily: “Some say that today Port-au-Prince has become an open-air cemetery. You walk down the street amid corpses. There is not a day when, if we walk through the center of the city, we don’t come across corpses of people whose identity and origin we don’t know, and whose families sometimes cannot give them a decent burial.”
The Haiti crisis
Haiti, according to the World Bank, is the poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean region. In the nation of 11.5 million people, there are major socioeconomic and political challenges, including extreme poverty, political instability, and violence.
The country has faced multiple humanitarian crises from which it has not been able to recover. In 2010 the country was shaken by a 7.1-magnitude earthquake. Eleven years later, without being able to overcome the damage from the previous tragedy, a new earthquake, this time measuring 7.2, occurred in the country on Aug. 14, 2021. A few days later Tropical Storm Grace brought even more destruction to Haiti.
Along with the natural disasters, violence in the country has become increasingly rampant. In July 2021, the then-president of Haiti, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated by a group of armed men.
Political tensions due to disputes over elections and anti-government protests have continued ever since, despite the efforts of the international community. On April 25 of this year Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who was serving as the country’s interim leader, resigned, and Michel Patrick Boisvert took over, also on an interim basis.
According to the United Nations, “almost 5 million Haitians are going hungry and need food assistance, according to recent U.N. figures, but the violence and related insecurity created by heavily armed rival gangs operating mainly in the capital are posing more questions about how to make sure those beleaguered people get enough to eat, now and in the future.”
Gangs force people to pay ‘tolls’
The same U.N. report states that almost 90% of the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince is controlled by gangs. The priest further lamented that “we cannot leave ... to go to another district of the country without going through a point controlled by the bandits. We have to pay tolls.”
Siméon recalled a recent call from a nun who told him that “they stopped her car with nuns and laypeople aboard. They charged them the toll to proceed and kidnapped a person who came with them.”
Although “some religious congregations [continue] to operate” in the country, he said, “there are many difficulties for religious communities to function and continue their mission.”
“On several occasions, gang members have kidnapped religious men and women,” he noted, including six nuns of the Sisters of Sainte-Anne, six Brothers of the Sacred Heart, and three Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny. All the sisters and four of the brothers were later released.
The Church and efforts to ‘stop the violence’
The director of the communications office of the Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince highlighted the work that the Catholic Church is doing with young people in an effort to change the future of the country.
Many of the young people, he said, “understand what is happening and understand the need to work together to stop the violence.”
“There are many initiatives through which we support young people and help them understand the reality of violence, security, and the impact that this violence has on the country and on their own lives and future,” he said.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Orthodox Church ordains female deacon
Angelic Molen of Zimbabwe was ordained a deaconess in the Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and of All Africa, a part of the Eastern Orthodox Church. / Credit: St. Phoebe Center for the Deaconess
Ann Arbor, Michigan, May 9, 2024 / 18:05 pm (CNA).
The Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa ordained Zimbabwean Angelic Molen as a deaconess in the Orthodox Church. Taking place on May 2, Orthodox Holy Thursday, the ordination was conducted at St. Nektarios Mission Parish near Harare, Zimbabwe, by the archbishop of Zimbabwe, Metropolitan Serafim.
The St. Phoebe Center for the Deaconess, a U.S.-based organization that has advocated for reviving the ancient female diaconate, said in a press release that Molen’s ordination would prepare the way for the restoration of the role in other branches of the Orthodox Church. The group’s board chair, Dr. Carrie Frost, wrote: “Being the first to do anything is always a challenge, but the Patriarchate of Alexandria has courageously chosen to lead the way with Metropolitan Serafim laying his hands on Deaconess Angelic.”
According to the release, Molen said: “At first I was nervous about going into the altar, but when Metropolitan Serafim blessed me to enter the altar as part of my preparation this week, those feelings went away and I felt comfortable. I am ready.” According to the St. Phoebe Center, Molen was well received by her community and parish.
“The Alexandrian Patriarchate in Africa felt the need to revive this order to serve the daily pastoral needs of Orthodox Christians in Africa,” the release read. Metropolitan Serafim said that Molen will have both liturgical and pastoral roles. He said: “She is going to do what the deacon is doing in the liturgy and in all the sacraments in our Orthodox services.”
Serafim added that “one of the most important fields of work of the deaconess was the exercise of the works of love. They were the angels of mercy and the visiting sisters of the sick, the ‘grieving’ and poor women, imparting to them the gifts of Christian love.”
One of the important functions of deaconesses will be to distribute the Eucharist, even while their role will not be identical to the work of their counterparts of more than 1,000 years ago. However, he noted that “we must admit that women can offer the Orthodox Church a great missionary work,” as well as evangelism and teaching, and highlighted their missionary, catechetical, and teaching work. After her ordination, Molen distributed the holy Eucharist, which in the Byzantine rite is given via spoon and includes the body and the blood.
The Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa has been on the way to diaconal ordination of women for several years. At a 2016 synod in Alexandria, Egypt, the Patriarchate voted to reinstate the female diaconate. In 2017, the Patriarchate ordained six sub-deaconesses in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Among the functions of deaconesses may be baptism, which in Orthodox churches is conducted by full immersion. In the early Church, full immersion for adults was followed by anointing of the whole body, which required the assistance of deaconesses for the sake of propriety.
According to the 1917 Catholic Encyclopedia, the only mention of a deaconess in the Bible is in St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans (16:1), which refers to Phoebe as diakonos or “servant,” even while no official status was implied. However, citing testimony by Roman author Pliny, the encyclopedia says “there can be no question that before the middle of the fourth century women were permitted to exercise certain definite functions in the Church and were known by the special name of diakonoi or diakonissai.” The fourth-century apostolic constitutions include instructions for the ordination to the female diaconate.
Despite the ancient practice, Pope Francis has declared it is impossible for women to be ordained to the priesthood or diaconate.
Department of Justice goes after pro-life former Rep. Fortenberry again
Rep. Jeff Fortenberry addresses young pilgrims to the March for Life from his Nebraska district outside the U.S. Capitol in January 2019. / Credit: Christine Rousselle/CNA
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 9, 2024 / 17:45 pm (CNA).
Federal prosecutors have refiled charges against pro-life former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry in relation to allegations that he made false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) amid an investigation into allegedly illegal campaign donations received by his 2016 campaign.
Fortenberry was indicted on one count of falsifying and concealing material facts and one count of making false statements. He is accused of lying to the federal agents about his campaign receiving $30,000 in illegal campaign donations from a foreign national.
The federal indictment accuses the former congressman of taking the money despite knowing that the donor was a foreign national and that receiving the money would violate the law.
Fortenberry had previously been tried and convicted of these same crimes in March 2022, but the conviction was overturned in December 2023 after an appellate court ruled that he had been charged in an improper venue. Although he was tried in Los Angeles, the court ruled that he should have been tried in Washington, D.C., or Nebraska.
The new charges were filed in Washington, D.C.
Under the previous conviction, Fortenberry did not receive prison time but only probation and community service.
Chad Kolton, a spokesperson for Fortenberry, said in a statement that the “case should never have been brought in the first place, and it shouldn’t have been pursued again,” according to Nebraska Public Media.
“The man the Biden Justice Department is about to spend massive amounts of time and money prosecuting for a second time,” Kolton said, “was described by the District Court judge in his previous trial as ‘by all accounts … a man of exceptional character. And when I say “by all accounts,” I don’t mean simply based upon one-sided submissions on the part of the defense. I mean by all accounts, including the evidence that was presented by the government at trial.’”
“This is a disgraceful misuse of prosecutorial power and an egregious waste of resources at the time when the Justice Department is letting actual crime run rampant,” Kolton added.
Fortenberry is a former Republican lawmaker from Nebraska from 2005 until 2022; he resigned one week after his conviction. He had an A+ rating from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and introduced the Care for Her Act in 2021, which would have facilitated support to women who face unplanned pregnancies. He also co-signed a congressional amicus brief that urged the United States Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade.
The former lawmaker represented Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District and was replaced by current Republican Rep. Mike Flood during a special election.