Sacred Heart Catholic Church

An aerial view of flood damage wrought by Hurricane Helene along the Swannanoa River on Oct. 3, 2024, in Asheville, North Carolina. / Credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Our Lady of Pompei Chapel, Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. / Credit: John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images

National Catholic Register, Oct 21, 2024 / 14:20 pm (CNA).

Beginning on Sunday, Oct. 27, the Eternal World Television Network (EWTN) will launch a nine-day novena in anticipation of the U.S. election on Nov. 5. Catholics and all people of goodwill are invited to join in the “Novena to the Mother of God for the Nation” to pray for the country and all government officials. (Editor’s note: EWTN is the parent company of CNA.)

“As Catholics, we turn instinctively to our Blessed Mother in times of need,” said EWTN Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer Michael Warsaw.

“In this present moment, when there is so much division and unrest in our country, and when many of the values that formed our nation seem to be at risk, we again need to turn to our Blessed Mother,” Warsaw said. “We need to pray for her intercession, that leaders and all who seek public office will follow the path of truth, guarantee religious liberty, and ensure that all human life is valued and protected, most especially the unborn.”

The Novena to the Mother of God for the Nation concentrates on some central truths and Mary’s unique role in salvation. Each day turns to different times and roles in the Gospel and rosary — days dedicated to themes such as “The Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God Day,” “The Divine Motherhood of Mary,” “The Wedding Feast of Cana Day,” “Mary at Calvary Day,” “The Mystery of Easter Day,” and the “Assumption Into Heaven.”

Even in the earliest times of Christianity, the faithful turned to Mary for her intercession in their times of persecution and great need, as did the Catholics who lived in the new republic of the United States.

In 1792, Bishop John Carroll of Baltimore, the nation’s first Catholic bishop, chose the Blessed Mother as “patroness of the United States,” and he entrusted the new United States of America to her maternal care. On May 13, 1846, 54 years later — on the same month and day she would appear years later at Fátima — the nation’s bishops named Mary under the title of “The Immaculate Conception” as the patroness of the United States.

Once again, the bishops solemnly entrusted the U.S. to the Blessed Mother in 1959, when the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception was dedicated in Washington, D.C. 

America’s first president, George Washington, strongly reminded citizens of the need for heavenly help. In his farewell address, he told the nation: “[T]he propitious smiles of heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which heaven itself has ordained.”

Many victories throughout history have been credited to the prayers of the Blessed Mother, such as the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, the Victory of Muret in 1213, the Battle of Vienna in 1683, the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, the defeat of Soviet Communism in Austria in 1955, the defeat of dictatorship in the Philippines in 1986, and more. 

From those earliest of times of Roman persecutions, Christians would pray the simple yet very powerful “Sub Tuum Praesidium”: “We fly to your patronage, O holy Mother of God; despise not our prayers in our necessities, but ever deliver us from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin.”

The Mother of God for the Nation novena’s introduction reminds the faithful that “in times of crisis, Catholics turn instinctively to the Mother of God to heal our wounds. Now we can all do our part in this national effort by praying the Novena to the Mother of God for the Nation. In this powerful supplication, our voices speak as one asking Mary’s intercession to unite us as one nation under God.” 

Each day of the Mother of God for the Nation novena there is a short Scripture reading related to the day’s theme, a reflection, and a prayer. The novena will be broadcast on EWTN in the morning and evening (see the times listed below). To follow along, and for those who cannot watch at those times, EWTN has a free novena eBook and will send each day’s prayers of the novena directly by email. Requesting it is simple and quick. (See below.) 

If possible, during the novena people are also encouraged to do as many of the following five acts as they can (fully explained in the free novena booklet): 1) Attend Mass and receive holy Communion each day of the novena. 2) Go to confession; receive the sacrament of penance. 3) Read Scripture and pray the rosary each day. 4) Make a donation or do something practical to help the poor. 5) Encourage as many people as possible to make the novena. 

The novena booklet reminds those who join the novena that prayer testifies to the Church’s faith that “Jesus Christ is God and Mary is the mother of God and the mother of Christ’s disciples (John 19:25–27). Her maternal relationship to Christ and to all the members of his body is the foundation of Christians’ confidence in her ability to help her children on earth who face any danger.” 

“Here is a wonderful secret of prayer: Christ wants us to go humbly to his mother in search of his help,” the introduction in the novena booklet states. “This is precisely what we are doing in ‘Novena to the Mother of God for the Nation.’”

Join in prayer

If you would like to receive the Novena to the Mother of God for the Nation, please click here. 

The free eBook is available in English and in Spanish. The printed booklet is only available to ship to homes in the U.S., one per household. For a digital version for everyone who prefers one and those outside the U.S., please click “Send me an eBook.”

Make sure to watch the “Novena to the Mother of God for the Nation” on EWTN TV beginning Oct. 27. Check the broadcast times below. Join us and unite with others in prayer to the Blessed Mother.

Schedule on EWTN: 

(Times shown are Eastern time; adjust for other time zones.) 

• Sunday, Oct. 27, at 9:30 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. 

• Monday through Thursday, Oct. 28–Oct. 31, at 9 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. 

• Friday, Nov. 1, at 9:15 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. 

• Saturday, Nov. 2, at 9 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. 

• Sunday, Nov. 3, at 9:30 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. 

• Monday, Nov. 4, at 9 a.m. and 9:30 p.m.

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register on Oct. 21, 2024, and has been adapted by CNA.

The headquarters of the Satanic Temple, a political activist group known for protesting religious symbolism in public spaces and mocking Christianity, is located in Salem, Massachusetts. / Credit: Crisco 1492/Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

CNA Staff, Oct 21, 2024 / 13:20 pm (CNA).

Catholics in Atlanta plan to fervently pray and make reparation ahead of and during an upcoming “black mass,” a sacrilegious event planned for Oct. 25 by the so-called Satanic Temple. 

Archbishop Gregory Hartmayer of Atlanta in an Oct. 8 memo urged all Catholics to counter the Satanic Temple’s “attack on the faith” through prayers of reparation and penance, calling the planned Friday event “a blasphemous and obscene inversion of the Catholic Mass.”

The Satanic Temple, which, according to its website, denies the existence of God and Satan, is a political activist group known for protesting religious symbolism in public spaces and mocking Christianity by offering “unbaptism” and hosting “black masses.”

In 2014, a planned “black mass” at Harvard University sparked considerable outcry from Catholics, as did another one later that year in Oklahoma City. 

A direct mockery of the Catholic Mass, a so-called “black mass” sometimes entails the desecration of the Eucharist, stolen from a Catholic church. The Satanic Temple website briefly describes the “black mass” as “a celebration of blasphemy, which can be an expression of personal liberty and freedom.”

The Atlanta Satanic Temple is selling tickets to the “mass,” which is set to be held at a performance venue northeast of downtown.

Hartmayer reiterated that Catholics should respond to “this attack to our faith through prayer, penance, and prayers of reparation.” He said he has asked each Atlanta parish to conduct a Eucharistic Holy Hour with Benediction to honor the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, ideally on or before Friday, Oct. 25, at 9 p.m. ET.

“Using a consecrated host they claim they obtained illicitly from a Catholic church and desecrating it in the vilest ways imaginable, the practitioners offer it in sacrifice to Satan,” the archbishop said. 

“This terrible sacrilege is a deliberate attack on the Catholic Mass as well as the foundational beliefs of all Christians. It mocks Our Lord Jesus Christ, whom we Catholics believe is truly present under the form of bread and wine in the Holy Eucharist when it has been consecrated by a validly ordained priest.”

“We commend our efforts to the Lord through the loving intercession of Mary, the mother of God,” he concluded.

In recent years, the Satanic Temple has engaged in pro-abortion advocacy, losing the various lawsuits it filed against state pro-life laws in Missouri and Indiana. It also announced last year the creation of an “After School Satan Club” at a Connecticut elementary school.

Critics have long suspected that the group is a hoax or simply exists to “troll” religious people, though the group strongly denies this. 

null / Credit: Image Point Fr/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Oct 21, 2024 / 12:15 pm (CNA).

The Biden administration announced on Monday that it will require insurance companies to cover over-the-counter contraception in what the White House called the “most significant expansion ... in more than a decade” of access to birth control under federal law.

The new rule requires insurance companies to remove the prescription requirement for coverage of contraception. The administration seeks to expand contraception in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, according to a White House press conference.

“The Biden-Harris administration is advancing the most significant expansion of contraception coverage under the Affordable Care Act in more than a decade,” said Jennifer Klein, assistant to the president and director of the White House’s gender policy council, in the White House press briefing.

“For the first time ever, women would be able to obtain over-the-counter (OTC) contraception without a prescription at no additional cost, and health plans would have to cover even more prescribed contraceptives without cost sharing,” Klein said.

The new rule requires insurers to provide OTC contraception to women at no cost without requiring a prescription. The rule also increases the required coverage for prescriptive contraception drugs, requiring one drug per category of contraceptive, such as oral contraceptions or implants.

Following a comment period, the new rule is set to require insurance companies to expand coverage of contraceptives by fully covering multiple methods of birth control including oral contraception, condoms, and “emergency contraception.”

Catholic Church has long condemned artificial contraception

The Catechism of the Catholic Church calls contraception a “morally unacceptable” form of birth regulation, stating that “every action” that “proposes … to render procreation impossible” is “intrinsically evil” (No. 2370).

In his 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI called “the transmission of human life” a “most serious role in which married people collaborate freely and responsibly with God the Creator,” writing that it is “a source of great joy” though it “sometimes entails many difficulties and hardships.”

In the document Paul VI wrote that marriage is designed by God for a husband and wife to develop a union through the “mutual gift of themselves.”

The pontiff condemned “any action which either before, at the moment of, or after sexual intercourse is specifically intended to prevent procreation — whether as an end or as a means.” 

“We must accept that there are certain limits, beyond which it is wrong to go, to the power of man over his own body and its natural functions,” the document read.

The only means of “spacing births” that the Church supports is “tak[ing] advantage of the natural cycles immanent in the reproductive system” through natural family planning (NFP).

Paul VI acknowledged that there are sometimes serious reasons for couples to “decide not to have additional children for either a certain or an indefinite period of time,” depending on “physical, economic, psychological, and social conditions.”

However, “every marital act must of necessity retain its intrinsic relationship to the procreation of human life,” Paul VI wrote. Union and procreation are “both inherent to the marriage act,” Paul VI continued, making contraceptives “unlawful.” 

Over-the-counter contraceptives could also have negative medical consequences for women, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) noted. 

Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, who heads the USCCB’s laity, marriage, family life, and youth committee, condemned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of OTC contraception in 2023. 

Barron noted that giving OTC hormonal contraceptives “without the supervision of a doctor and contrary to the mounting evidence of many harmful side effects — violates the Hippocratic oath by putting the health of women at grave risk.”

Contraception mandates have also led to legal challenges in the past for religious organizations, including the case of the Little Sisters of the Poor.

The religious sisters spent nine years embroiled in a legal struggle as they appealed for a religious exemption from the Affordable Care Act birth control rule. That rule required employers to provide for contraceptive coverage for employees through their health care plans.

The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately ruled in favor of the Little Sisters in 2020.

Cristo Rey students focus on their studies, preparing for success in both college and career. / Credit: Cristo Rey Network

CNA Staff, Oct 20, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

A network of 40 Jesuit Catholic schools around the U.S. is using a unique model to provide quality Catholic education and professional experience for students from low-income families.

The Cristo Rey Network implements a “Corporate Work Study” program that places students at professional jobs once a week during the school year, giving them job experiences while helping fund their education.

The network fills a gap in low-income neighborhoods where many Catholic schools have closed “because their tuition-based model has become unaffordable for families,” Father Jim Gartland, SJ, Cristo Rey Network’s chief mission and identity officer, told CNA.

“The need for accessible Catholic education is especially urgent in low-income neighborhoods, where the Catholic Church has historically been a pillar of support,” Gartland said. “While there is more funding in wealthier neighborhoods, it’s vital that all students, regardless of their socioeconomic status, have access to rigorous academics and a safe environment that Catholic schools provide.”

“Catholic, after all, means universal — and we’re committed to educating all people with excellence,” Gartland said.

A transformational education 

Jason Morrison, president of Cristo Rey Jesuit High School Twin Cities in Minneapolis, said that being part of Cristo Rey Network means being part of a network that works to ensure “that every young person has access to the best education.”

“We can meet students where they are so they can work to achieve college readiness by the time they graduate, giving them choices in their postsecondary future,” Morrison told CNA. “They can choose their path without being forced into one because of a lack of opportunity.”

Morrison called the environment at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in the Twin Cities “transformational.” 

“In addition to transforming the lives of our students and their families, we are transforming the status quo in education,” Morrison said.

With more than 3,000 corporate partners, the network connects students with professional industries, enabling students to get both a quality education and professional experience. Cristo Rey schools also offer college and alumni counseling for students. Cristo Rey Network’s students have an 100% college acceptance rate and average daily attendance rates of 96%, which more than doubles the local districts rates, Morrison noted. 

But the social isolation and remote schooling of the COVID-19 era set many students back, and at Cristo Rey in the Twin Cities, this affected students in both academic life and in the work study program. Gartland noted that the network is facing both a challenge and an opportunity: “adapting to the post-COVID hybrid work environment.” 

Morrison, along with Gartland and other network leaders, have been working to face this challenge. 

“We continue to adapt to new models while maintaining the impactful relationships our students form with employers,” Gartland said. “We’re constantly seeking ways to remain marketable in this changing landscape, ensuring corporate partners can continue to provide hands-on, transformative experiences for our students.”

Morrison said he looks to the founder of Cristo Rey Network, Father John Foley, SJ, for inspiration. 

“Father Foley, the network’s founder, has always challenged us never to be content with doing something small,” Morrison said.

School leaders are “investing in intensive intervention programming,” designed to help struggling students, Morrison noted. For the corporate work study program, school leaders are “looking to new markets for work for our students while rewriting the value proposition for new job types,” he added.

“This is who we are as a school and a network: a community committed to a growth mindset to ensure our students achieve their God-given potential,” Morrison said.

Catholic identity 

Cristo Rey Network has 40 college preparatory schools in 24 different states, totalling more than 12,300 students, Gartland told CNA. The schools work with religious sponsors ranging from the Jesuits to the Dominicans to the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, who ensure the schools “are Catholic in identity and mission, true to the religious charism of their respective order,” Gartland said. 

Cristo Rey Network offers an approach that is “rooted in Catholic values, strengthens students’ knowledge and life skills while helping them fully realize their dreams for the future,” Gartland noted. 

“What started as a single school in 1996 in Chicago has grown to 40 across the country,” Gartland said. “Our founding Midwest Jesuits never thought our first campus — Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in the Pilsen neighborhood in Chicago, a culturally rich community known for its deep Mexican heritage — would expand nationwide with more schools opening year by year.”

“Our work is inspired by the belief that every student, especially those from low-income backgrounds, deserves a quality education that equips them for both college and the workforce,” Gartland noted. “Cristo Rey Network was founded to support economically disadvantaged families, offering students a path to success through education, professional development through relationships with corporate partners, and supporting our alumni to and through college.”

Cristo Rey Jesuit High School is faith-centered and staff incorporate daily prayer, Morrison said. 

“Our Jesuit charism permeates every aspect of Cristo Rey from morning prayer to the daily practice of the examen to grounding each year in an Ignatian theme,” he said. “Our Catholic identity is a lived experience as we commit to ensuring all students graduate with the values of being open to growth, religious, intellectually competent, loving, committed to justice, and work-experienced.”

“For me, faith is what called me to this ministry,” Morrison continued. “A quote often attributed to St. Ignatius and St. Augustine is my guiding force: ‘Pray as though everything depends upon God, and act as though everything depends upon you.’” 

When asked what inspires him at Cristo Rey, Morrison said he “is inspired daily by our students, who dedicate themselves to achieving their dreams,” as well as the faculty and staff who “devote countless hours to creating an environment where all students are seen, valued, and heard.” He also takes inspiration from the corporate partners “who mentor our students and provide meaningful work model leadership,” as well as the generosity of the network’s donors.

“While each school certainly has its own unique environment, the network creates an opportunity for us to implement what might be working at another school and apply it locally,” Morrison said. “We truly can create a space where education is the great equalizer because of our ability to implement the network model within our local context.”

“Cristo Rey is a place where prayers of hope and love are realized, and where each community member owns their role in taking action to achieve greatness,” Morrison added.

Cristo Rey Network recently opened a Cristo Rey Jesuit Seattle High School this school year, while a new Cristo Rey school in Orlando, Florida, is set to open in fall 2025. Plans for another possible Cristo Rey school in Charleston, South Carolina, are underway.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops meets for its fall plenary assembly meeting Nov. 14, 2023, in Baltimore. / Credit: Joe Bukuras/CNA

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 18, 2024 / 18:15 pm (CNA).

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) will gather in Baltimore next month for its 2024 Fall Plenary Assembly.

Major items on the agenda for the plenary assembly, according to a USCCB press release, include reports on the U.S. bishops’ efforts concerning the National Eucharistic Revival and the National Eucharistic Congress, which took place this summer in Indianapolis.

Additionally, coming on the heels of the second session of the Synod on Synodality in Rome this month, bishops attending the Nov. 11–14 plenary assembly will discuss a comprehensive report on the multiyear synodal process begun by Pope Francis in 2021 and concluding this month. 

Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the papal nuncio to the United States, and USCCB president Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, will address the conference. 

While the full schedule is not yet set in stone, the USCCB stated that bishops are expected to discuss updates on resources being developed among several USCCB committees to advance papal initiatives on human dignity and the ministry of catechesis. 

They will also reportedly discuss plans for “pastoral implementation of integral ecology” as articulated by Pope Francis in his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’. 

Bishops will also vote for new chairman-elect for five of the USCCB’s committees and a new USCCB treasurer.

Another highlight for the plenary assembly will be a consultation among the bishops regarding the causes of beatification and canonization for two 20th-century women: Sister Annella Zervas, a Benedictine nun from Minnesota, and teacher and servant of God Gertrude Agnes Barber of Pennsylvania.

Bishop Andrew Cozzens of the Diocese of Crookston, Minnesota, announced in October 2023 that preliminary steps had been taken that could lead to the advancement of the cause for Sister Annella’s canonization, while the process was begun for Barber’s in December 2019. 

Public sessions of the assembly will be livestreamed on Nov. 12 and 13 on the USCCB’s website along with other news updates, texts of addresses, and voting results.

The Supreme Court of Texas said in a post on X late Thursday, Oct. 17, that it had “granted a Texas House of Representatives’ emergency motion” and “effectively [halted] the execution of Robert Roberson,” which was scheduled to take place that night. / Credit: Innocence Project

CNA Staff, Oct 18, 2024 / 17:15 pm (CNA).

A condemned Texas man’s execution has been halted after lawmakers subpoenaed him to appear before the state Legislature amid claims of his innocence. 

The Supreme Court of Texas said in a post on X late Thursday that it had “granted a Texas House of Representatives’ emergency motion” and “effectively [halted] the execution of Robert Roberson,” which was scheduled to take place on Thursday night.

Roberson was convicted in 2003 of the murder of his infant daughter, Nikki, whom he had brought to a local hospital with severe injuries. Roberson claimed the baby had fallen from her bed, but medical experts argued that her injuries were consistent with child abuse. 

Testimony at his trial included the claim that Nikki’s injuries were consistent with “shaken baby syndrome.” Since his conviction, Roberson has attempted to establish his innocence by invoking Texas’s “junk science” law, which allows defendants to argue that scientific evidence used in their conviction was flawed.

A hearing at the Texas capitol on Oct. 21, convened by the Texas House of Representatives Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence, will consider testimony regarding that law. Lawmakers had issued a subpoena for Roberson to appear before the committee to testify. Advocates argued that executing Roberson before that would undermine the authority of the Texas Legislature. 

A district court had ruled to halt the execution to allow Roberson to attend the hearing. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals subsequently struck down that ruling, putting the execution back on schedule. The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday also declined to halt the execution.

In an opinion issued when the Texas Supreme Court halted the execution, Justice Evan Young noted that the Legislature “has subpoenaed an inmate subject to a sentence of death to appear as a witness” and that “if the sentence is carried out, the witness obviously cannot appear.”

Young noted that the dispute raises major questions about the separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches.

The government “[does] not have clear precedent” as to what extent lawmakers can “subpoena an inmate who is subject to an impending death sentence,” Young said. He urged the lower district court to resolve the matter quickly. 

Attorney Gretchen Sween, who is representing Roberson, said in a statement that the condemned man’s advocates were “elated … that a contingent of brave, bipartisan Texas lawmakers chose to dig deep into the facts of Robert’s case that no court had yet considered and recognized that his life was worth fighting for.” 

“He lives to fight another day and hopes that his experience can help improve the integrity of our criminal legal system,” she said.

Texas has executed more criminals than any other state since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, with the state putting 586 people to death since then, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Catholics praise decision

On Thursday, the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops said in a statement that they were “grateful” for the decision to halt the execution. 

“Now is the time for all Texans to demand justice for Robert and denounce the execution of a likely innocent man which violates the laws of God and humanity to which we hold one another accountable,” the bishops said. 

The prelates called for “renewed effort to reform our criminal justice system in Texas, so that the human dignity of every person can be honored and that the principles of restorative justice can be applied to end capital punishment.”

Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, the executive director of the anti-death penalty Catholic Mobilizing Network, likewise praised “the bipartisan, courageous leadership of the Texas legislators who took action that led to this temporary stay of execution.”

“As Catholics, we know that every life is sacred,” Murphy said. “Catholic teaching on the ‘inadmissibility in all cases’ of capital punishment is crystal clear — no exclusions or exceptions.” 

“We will continue to educate, advocate, and pray that soon, every state — including the state of Texas — will be free of the scourge of capital punishment,” she said. 

Bishop David G. O’Connell, auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles, explains his call to the priesthood on EWTN’s “The Call,” which aired on Oct. 3, 2019. / Credit: EWTN

CNA Staff, Oct 18, 2024 / 16:45 pm (CNA).

A judge suspended the criminal proceedings of the alleged murderer of a beloved California bishop as courts evaluate whether the 64-year-old man is mentally fit for trial. 

Carlos Medina was charged with murder last year for allegedly shooting and killing Bishop David O’Connell, Los Angeles’ 69-year-old auxiliary bishop, in his home in Hacienda Heights.

Medina’s attorney argued that he was not mentally fit to stand trial on Thursday, according to a report by the L.A. Times. The criminal proceedings were suspended after a judge ordered that he be evaluated to see whether he can comprehend the charges and help the attorneys in his defense.

A deacon found O’Connell in his home on Feb. 18, 2023, when he went to check on the bishop after he failed to show up for a meeting. When authorities arrived, they discovered O’Connell with multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene. 

A manhunt ensued over the following days, leading to the arrest of Medina, the husband of O’Connell’s housekeeper. Medina has since admitted to murdering the bishop, according to Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón.

But L.A. County Deputy Public Defender Pedro Cortes said that due to Medina’s mental health, he had doubts about the accused’s ability to defend himself. Medina did not appear in court for the preliminary hearing on Thursday, a proceeding that would have determined if there was enough evidence to go to trial.

Medina is set to appear at Hollywood Superior Court on Oct. 31 for court proceedings to evaluate his mental health. If he is found incompetent to stand trial, he will be treated until he is found competent. His proceedings will resume if he is found mentally competent. If convicted, Medina faces 35 years to life in prison. 

Medina was formally charged in February 2023 with one count of murder and a special allegation that he used a firearm.

Medina’s wife was the bishop’s housekeeper and Medina, a handyman, often worked on the home. There were no signs of forced entry. The motive for the murder remains unclear.

Medina was discovered after a tipster reported that Medina was exhibiting “strange” and “irrational behavior,” according to Los Angeles Sheriff Robert Luna. Police identified a dark-colored compact SUV similar to Medina’s vehicle in video footage of the bishop’s house on the day of O’Connell’s murder. 

A native of Ireland, O’Connell was named a bishop in 2015. The news of his murder last year shocked the local and wider Catholic community, who remembered him as a Christ-like man of deep prayer who was dedicated to serving the poor and immigrants.

Ave Maria Parish in Ave Maria, Florida. / Credit: Lee Leblanc cc by nc sa 2.0

CNA Staff, Oct 18, 2024 / 16:15 pm (CNA).

A Catholic university in Florida is set to host a major rally against Florida’s pro-abortion ballot measure on Sunday, with several federal and state legislators as well as actor and producer Eduardo Verástegui scheduled to be in attendance. 

Ave Maria University is hosting the Oct. 20 rally in opposition to a Florida Amendment 4, which would enshrine a right to abortion in the state constitution. The amendment would prevent the government from restricting abortion up until the point of viability and up to birth in cases of the woman’s health.

“We are so excited to host the Respect Life Rally at Ave Maria University,” said Father Joseph Lugalambi, Ave Maria University’s campus chaplain.

“We have been following our bishop, and his support for mothers and the unborn has been inspiring,” Lugalambi told CNA. “This event raises awareness of the harm Amendment 4 will cause to the unborn and their mothers — allowing for late-term abortions, eliminating parental consent laws, and worsening the health care provided to women in crisis.” 

“We are grateful for the opportunity to support life in all its stages!” he said. “Ave Maria University is pro-life!” 

The Ave Maria rally, organized by the Respect Life Ministry at Ave Maria Parish, is set to bring in a number of well-known Floridians.

Mexican producer and actor Eduardo Verástegui, who produced “Sound of Freedom,” starred in “For Greater Glory,” and was a producer for “Little Boy,” “Bella,” and “Cabrini,” will also be speaking at the rally. 

Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart (R-Florida) and State Rep. Lauren Melo (R-Naples) are set to speak at the event, as is Bishop Frank Dewane of the Diocese of Venice. 

“We are humbled to welcome Bishop Dewane and many special guests as we organize our community to get out and vote against this radical pro-abortion amendment,” Sharon Levesque, coordinator of the parish Respect Life Ministry and the Oct. 20 rally, told CNA. 

Speakers also include Manuel Milanés, an “Ave Maria hero” who saved the lives of a mother and her four children by taking a bullet in the chest.

“He’s the strongest embodiment of a pro-life man that we’ve ever seen,” Ave Maria Respect Life Ministry volunteer and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Caputo told CNA. He noted that “it’s the same thing” as protecting unborn babies, but “on the left, only those children are worth saving.”

CatholicVote’s National Political Director Logan Church and members of Doctors Against Amendment 4 are also slated to be in attendance.

If passed, the amendment would change the Florida Constitution to include a provision that reads: “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s health care provider.”

Opponents of the amendment note that the amendment would deregulate pre-viability abortion, removing health and safety regulations to the point that the government could not legally require a doctor to be present to prescribe chemical abortion pills. 

“There’s a lot of fear that Florida will become an abortion vacation destination” if the amendment is passed, Caputo said, noting that the state is already a major vacation destination.  

Proponents argue that abortion decisions should be in the hands of individuals. Proponents from the group “Yes on 4” call Florida’s current abortion law a “near-total abortion ban with no real exceptions,” according to a statement by the group’s campaign director, Lauren Brenzel.

The proposed amendment needs a 60% majority to pass in the state of Florida.

“Florida possesses a vibrant pro-life community,” Seana McGuire, the chair of the politics department at Ave Maria University, told CNA. “Our bishops have rallied the faithful and impressed upon us the gravity of the moral issues at stake with Amendment 4.”

State’s bishops are all in

The Florida bishops have steadfastly opposed the amendment and submitted a brief to the state Supreme Court in November 2023 that argued the proposal’s title “misleadingly suggests that the amendment ‘limits’ government interference when it bans all regulation before viability.”

The bishops “have communicated that Amendment 4 is a radical measure that undermines parental rights and perversely worsens the health care provided to women in crisis,” McGuire continued. “Most importantly, they have reminded us that every life is precious, no matter the stage of development. We are all created in the image and likeness of God. We can be thankful for their message of love for all and their prudence at this critical moment.”

“That is the mission of this town, of this parish, of this university — to support mothers and children,” Caputo added when asked why Ave Maria was hosting the rally.

null / Credit: J.J. Gouin/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Oct 18, 2024 / 15:45 pm (CNA).

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing a doctor for reportedly violating state law by prescribing transgender drugs to underage children.

A law passed by the state Legislature last year prohibits doctors from performing “gender transition” surgeries on minors; it also forbids doctors from prescribing puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children.

The state Supreme Court upheld that law in June of this year. On Thursday Paxton said in a press release that a doctor in the state had violated the law by providing illegal hormones to children.

A Dallas-area doctor “illegally provided high-dose cross-sex hormones to 21 minor patients for the direct purpose of ‘transitioning’ the child’s biological sex,” the release said.

The doctor “allegedly used false diagnoses and billing codes to mask these unlawful prescriptions,” it said. 

The state’s filing in district court alleged that pediatrician May Lau “engaged in deceptive trade practices, including by misleading pharmacies, insurance providers, and/or patients.”

The doctor allegedly falsified medical records in order to prescribe testosterone to young girls for “gender transitions.” 

The state described Lau as a “scofflaw” who put “the health and safety of minors at risk” in the alleged fraud scheme. The hormones were allegedly prescribed to “at least 21 minor patients.” 

“Texas passed a law to protect children from these dangerous unscientific medical interventions that have irreversible and damaging effects,” Paxton said in the press release. 

“Doctors who continue to provide these harmful ‘gender transition’ drugs and treatments will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” he said. 

The availability of transgender treatments for children — including, in some cases, the castration and/or sterilization of boys and girls under the age of 18 — has become one of the most contested parts of the ongoing debates around LGBT politics. 

Earlier this month a watchdog group revealed that nearly 150 Catholic hospitals across the United States provided children with transgender drugs or performed gender-transition surgeries on them between 2019 and 2023. 

Those medical procedures contradict Church teaching and the U.S. bishops’ prohibition on Catholic health care providers offering such interventions.

The U.S. Catholic bishops clarified in March of last year that “gender transition” interventions are not to be performed because they do not respect the fact that God has created each person as a unity of body and soul.

“The body is not an object, a mere tool at the disposal of the soul, one that each person may dispose of according to his or her own will, but it is a constitutive part of the human subject, a gift to be received, respected, and cared for as something intrinsic to the person,” the bishops’ Committee on Doctrine wrote.