Sacred Heart Catholic Church

Father Michael-Joseph Paris, OCD, in front of St. Thérèse of Lisieux’s tomb. / Credit: Father Michael Joseph/Ascension

CNA Staff, Oct 1, 2024 / 04:00 am (CNA).

Beginning Oct. 1, the feast of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, a 28-day podcast will guide listeners through “Story of a Soul,” the autobiography of St. Thérèse. Season 3 of Ascension’s “Catholic Classics” podcast on the popular saint will be hosted by Dominican Father Jacob Bertrand Janczyk and Father Michael-Joseph Paris, OCD. 

Paris is a Carmelite friar, a member of the same religious order to which St. Thérèse of Lisieux belonged in the late 1800s. He recently spoke to CNA about his own vocation story, the role St. Thérèse played in it, and why this beloved saint’s story is so important for Catholics today. 

Paris said he had a big conversion at the age of 18. “I really had made my life a mess and I was going in a bad direction,” he told CNA. He separated himself from the friends he was hanging out with and began to pray. 

“I just started asking God for help and he just had a certain way of showing me that he was answering my prayers, even though I was such a mess, and he loved me even though I was in a bad spot,” he said. “I started reading the Bible a little bit, the Gospels; the word of Christ just hit me to the heart that my biggest problem was that I didn’t love, that I was so selfish and so caught in myself, and his words just opened that up to me that love is the only path and following Jesus is the only way to really be able to live that love.”

After going back to Mass and confession, within two years Paris was seriously considering the priesthood. He thought that if Jesus had filled him with so much love and happiness, “Why not make my whole life about this?”

A book that helped him in his discerning process was “Story of a Soul.” He shared that reading St. Thérèse’s story gave him the confidence “that if God was calling me to be a priest, I could do it.”

“Before that I was like, ‘There’s no way I could be a priest’ … and reading St. Thérèse was like, ‘Wow, here’s this girl who is just so confident in God’s power in her life and what he could do for her, through her, and why can’t I have that confidence?’” he recalled. “So that really opened me up to the possibility of the priesthood. So I attribute a lot of my vocation to St. Thérèse.”

Paris decided to enter the seminary and after eight years was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. Three years into his assignment, he attended a retreat at a Carmelite convent and took with him a book on Carmelite spirituality. It was here that “everything changed in me. I was like, ‘My whole life should be about this.’”

Within two years of that experience, Paris became a Carmelite novice and took his final vows in 2022 as a Discalced Carmelite friar of the Province of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He shared that St. Thérèse also played a role in his discernment of becoming a Carmelite. 

“Every time I would visit a place or have a big moment of vocational discernment, there would be an image of Thérèse there. Thérèse just made herself very clear, very present that this was a good path,” he said. 

Paris reflected on St. Thérèse’s feelings of inadequacy that she experienced in her life as a young person as a reason so many can relate to this beloved saint.

“That sense of inadequacy, that sense of need … I think that experience [is one] that we can truly connect to St. Thérèse with and she really can teach us how to get out of ourselves and just live a life of love, regardless of what we feel like we’re not great at or whatever is in us that kind of holds us back,” he explained.

He advised that when moments of self-doubt enter our minds, do not to “give in to self-pity” and instead “turn that right to confidence in God.”

As for the podcast, Paris said he hopes listeners will “take away that they are profoundly loved with all their limitations, that they are infinitely and totally loved, and that they can have total confidence that God will make them into great saints, however that will look.”

The new season of Ascension’s “Catholic Classics” podcast follows Season 2, which focused on another great book, “The Confessions of St. Augustine.” The daily podcast also offers Catholic commentary and reflection.

Catholics gather for the second annual Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 28, 2024. / Credit: Jeffrey Bruno

Washington D.C., Sep 30, 2024 / 16:40 pm (CNA).

More than 3,000 Catholics joined Dominican friars to celebrate the Virgin Mary and her gift of the holy rosary for the second annual Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., on Saturday. 

College students, families with young children, and older Catholics filled the basilica to pray the rosary in the upper church surrounded by Marian shrines to hear lectures about the rosary and the Blessed Mother, to partake in adoration and confession, to celebrate the sacrifice of the Mass, and to enjoy an outdoor concert by the Hillbilly Thomists — a folk band composed of Dominican friars.

The daylong pilgrimage, organized by the Dominican Friars of the Province of St. Joseph, saw a growth in participation from the previous year and opened participation to more faithful with a Spanish-language worship track held in the crypt church on the lower level. In addition, they provided more priests for confession and included a concert in the evening — which was not part of the previous pilgrimage.

Many of the faithful had also joined the Dominicans in a nine-month rosary novena leading up to the pilgrimage that preceded the month of the rosary, which begins in October.

Attendees who spoke with CNA were united in their love for the rosary and desire for Catholic community.

Scott Durkin, a graduate student in mechanical engineering at the University of Virginia, told CNA that he came to the pilgrimage with a group of fellow Catholic students who also attended the pilgrimage last year.

“[The novena] continually brought me back to the rosary and made the rosary a [prominent] part of my prayer life,” Durkin said.

“[The rosary is] a very recognizable symbol and a great tool for evangelization,” he added.

Pat Ober, who heard about the pilgrimage at her parish, told CNA she enjoys the community aspect of gatherings like this, saying: “It’s really nice to get pumped up, seeing other people [praying together].”

For most of the scheduled events in the upper church, the faithful filled the pews, which can seat about 3,500 people. Some attendees stood toward the back or along the side aisles and others filtered into the various shrines to the Blessed Mother along the sides of the church, which has limited seating.

One of the English-language lectures, given by Dominican Father James Sullivan, broke down the various mysteries upon which Catholics meditate when praying the rosary. He encouraged the faithful to consider “the Annunciation as a gateway to the rosary,” which he said is “the scenic view we really need in our lives.” The Annunciation is the first joyful mystery, when the archangel Gabriel tells the Blessed Mother she will give birth to the messiah, Jesus Christ. 

“When we pray the rosary, … we stop, we look at a mystery,” Sullivan said. “... [We think] about what that mystery means in [our lives]. [We] can imagine the graces that flowed from that mystery.” 

The four sets of mysteries upon which Catholics meditate when praying the rosary — the joyful, the luminous, the sorrowful, and the glorious — all focus on different aspects of our spiritual lives, according to Sullivan.

He said the joyful mysteries are focused on “the movement of love” and “when we pray the joyful mysteries, we are brought into that love.” The luminous mysteries, he said, focus on the gifts provided by God, such as the institution of the Eucharist, in which “he changes nature completely” to maintain a physical presence with the faithful after his death and resurrection.

The sorrowful mysteries, Sullivan said, focus on reconciliation and saying “I’m sorry” to God and serve as a reminder that “suffering is not an end in itself but it’s a means to something greater.” The glorious mysteries, he added, serve as a reminder to say “thank you” to God for the graces he provides us in our lives.

During the vigil Mass, homilist Father Dominic Verner, OP, focused on the power of the Virgin Mary and the rosary. In one example, he highlighted St. Pius V calling on the faithful to pray the rosary ahead of the Battle of Lepanto — in which Christian states dealt severe damage to the Ottoman navy in 1571, preventing an expansion into southern Europe and saving Christendom. 

At that time, Verner said the pontiff urged the faithful to “take up the sword of prayer [and] call upon Our Lady.” Verner also called on the faithful to employ the power of the rosary to combat modern-day errors, such as the systematic killing of the unborn, a new feminism that “despises motherhood,” the spread of gender ideology, the use of euthanasia on suffering patients, the pride emboldened by social media, and the lack of dignity given to the poor.

“The world does not yet remember, but it is beginning to notice something has been forgotten,” Verner said. 

Father John Paul Kern, OP, the executive director of the Dominican Friars Foundation, told CNA that the rosary is “a means of preaching the Gospel and a spiritual weapon that’s been powerful through mission.” He said the rosary can be used “to reach out to and bring back to the Church those who have been led astray by error — by heresy.”

During the pilgrimage, the Dominicans unveiled a processional statue of the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, which depicts the Blessed Mother extending the rosary to those before her. Father Patrick Mary Briscoe, OP, told CNA that Dominicans will travel the country with the statue to preach the rosary.

Father Joseph-Anthony Kress, OP, promoter of the holy rosary, urged all of the pilgrims to enroll in the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary, which is a community of clergy and laity committed to praying 15 decades of the rosary every week. In response to his invitation, about 1,000 pilgrims committed to enrolling in the confraternity.

The Dominican friars intend to continue the annual pilgrimage next year, which they have scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, at the basilica.

Heavy rains from Hurricane Helene caused record flooding and damage on Sept. 28, 2024, in Asheville, North Carolina. / Credit: Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images

CNA Staff, Sep 30, 2024 / 16:10 pm (CNA).

Catholic agencies in western North Carolina are mobilizing to help with relief efforts amid devastating flooding caused by the remnants of Hurricane Helene, which dumped torrential rain on mountain communities there leaving serious damage and dozens dead. 

Patricia Guilfoyle, assistant director of communications for the Diocese of Charlotte, said churches across the diocese are gearing up to serve as aid distribution points. Municipal water systems have been swamped and damaged, roads and access points have been washed away, and utility lines have been downed since the flooding began in earnest on Friday. 

The city of Asheville, a gateway to the Smoky Mountains, was especially hard-hit along with hundreds of smaller communities. The death toll for Helene continues to rise, standing at at least 121 across six different southern states, The Washington Post reported. This includes at least 35 deaths in Buncombe County, which includes Asheville, local police reported. 

Monsignor Patrick Winslow, vicar general and chancellor of the Charlotte Diocese, and other diocesan leaders have been contacting pastors in the affected areas to survey parishes’ immediate needs and evaluate how best to help, the local Catholic News Herald reported. Asheville is about 125 miles west of Charlotte.

In Hendersonville, North Carolina, flooding and leaks from the roof and windows at Immaculata School inundated multiple classrooms, the gym, and its new STEM lab. The adjacent Immaculate Conception Church also experienced water damage in the sacristy, the diocese reported.

Most of the Charlotte Diocese’s churches, however, including a historic basilica in Asheville that recently received a major renovation grant, are “relatively undamaged, thank God,” Guilfoyle, the diocesan communication professional, told CNA via email.

Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte is running a donation campaign to raise funds for relief efforts. Catholic Charities of East Tennessee, a ministry of the nearby Diocese of Knoxville, is also accepting donations. At least 150 people have been reported missing in Tennessee as of Sunday. 

“Electricity, drinkable water, food, medical care, and cellphone service are in critically short supply in western North Carolina in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Helene,” the Charlotte Diocese noted. 

Emergency relief supplies are being collected at the Charlotte Diocesan Pastoral Center (1123 S. Church St. in Charlotte) this week for daily delivery to parishioners and residents of Hendersonville and other areas of western North Carolina, the diocese said. 

Needed supplies include bottled water, sanitary wipes, nonperishable food, baby food, formula, diapers, pet food, flashlights, zip-close bags, and batteries. Supplies can be dropped off between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday, Sept. 30, through Thursday, Oct. 3.

Bishop Michael Martin of Charlotte on Friday dispensed Catholics from their Sunday Mass obligation in places impacted by the storm. Some churches held Sunday Mass as usual even without power, the diocese noted. 

Helene made landfall in Florida’s sparsely populated Big Bend region on Thursday night as a Category 4, bringing a 9-foot storm surge to some areas and knocking out power for millions. Weakening into a tropical storm over land, it brought deadly flooding and damaging winds inland to Georgia, Alabama, and the Carolinas.

Numerous dioceses in Florida, which bore the brunt of the storm, are collecting donations and coordinating aid with the help of Catholic Charities USA. 

President Joe Biden approved a disaster declaration for 25 North Carolina counties on Saturday, making residents there eligible for federal assistance through FEMA.

null / Credit: Lost_in_the_Midwest/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 30, 2024 / 15:40 pm (CNA).

As Election Day nears and early voting begins, several Catholic bishops are issuing urgent requests to voters, calling on them to oppose sweeping abortion amendments on the ballot in their states. If passed, these measures would make it extremely difficult or impossible to enact pro-life laws. 

In Colorado, where abortion is already legal through all nine months of pregnancy, Denver Archbishop Samuel Aquila is optimistic that Amendment 79 can be defeated, saying: “We have a path to victory” through prayer and action.

The Colorado amendment would modify the state constitution to explicitly ban any restrictions or impediments on the “right to abortion” or health insurance coverage for abortion.

To Aquila, as well as many other bishops, it’s a matter of getting the word out about just how far these amendments go. In an open letter published on Sept. 27, Aquila pointed out that recent polling suggested that if more Coloradans knew how much the amendment would expand abortion, support would fall to 47%, well below the 55% threshold needed for the measure to pass.

“Coloradans need to know that Amendment 79 creates a constitutional right to abortion and bans any limits on late abortion,” he said. “Even restrictions on abortions in the ninth month for healthy mothers and healthy babies would be illegal.”

Kansas City-St. Joseph Bishop James Johnston, meanwhile, expressed trepidation over the possibility of the Missouri amendment passing. In a statement released Sept. 20, Johnston noted that “the present odds appear to favor the culture of death.”

A poll published by St. Louis University and YouGov at the end of August showed that 52% of Missourians supported the abortion amendment, 34% opposed it, and 14% were unsure.

Johnston said that “the magnitude and gravity of the current moment requires a fervent spiritual response.” He expressed hope that all Catholics will “respond to this gathering storm with prayer and action.”

In addition to voting against the amendment and spreading the word about the “extreme” danger it presents to life, Johnston said he wants Catholics to increase their prayer, fasting, and action.

“I hope we can all respond to this gathering storm with prayer and action, aided by the help of Our Lady and the grace of Our Lord,” he said. “As Catholics, we must renew and add to the ways we support women and families experiencing an unexpected pregnancy or difficult diagnosis and their preborn babies through supportive care and love. This is the best response to what Pope Francis has called the ‘throwaway culture.’”

In Florida, where amendments require a 60% threshold to pass and several experts believe the pro-life movement has its best chance of success, the Catholic Church has been at the forefront of efforts to defeat the abortion amendment.

The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops was one of the first groups to oppose the state’s abortion amendment, saying that it was “misleading” and “dangerous.” The Florida bishops have helped organize efforts to defeat the amendment. Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski told CNA in August that the bishops had collectively raised several millions of dollars to spread awareness about the amendment’s dangers and to get out the vote against it.

In a column published in May, Wenski said that “unborn children matter — and so do their mothers.”

“In urging a no vote on Amendment 4, we wish to protect not only the unborn child — the weakest, most innocent and defenseless among us — but we also seek to protect countless women from the harms of abortion,” he said. “This is not to ‘impose our views’ but to ‘make our proposal’ about what is necessary for human flourishing in society. By insisting that every human being matters, we bring to public policy debates on issues of human dignity, justice, and peace an understanding of the human person that, while founded on the Christian Scriptures, is also accessible to human reason.”

As the November elections draw closer, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has also spoken out against the amendments. In a statement marking the start of October as Respect Life Month,” Arlington, Virginia, Bishop Michael Burbidge, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities, urged all Catholics to stand against the “gravely evil ballot initiatives that would enshrine abortion in their state constitutions.”

“What we now see is that 50 years of virtually unlimited abortion has tragically created a national mindset where many Americans have become comfortable with some amount of abortion. This allows the abortion industry to continue to provide any amount of abortion,” Burbidge said.

Like the other bishops, Burbidge said: “We need a revival of prayer and action.”

Burbidge urged all Catholics to join in praying the “Prayer for Life to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.”

These bishops, who have spoken out recently, are joined by their brother bishops representing all 10 states where abortion is on the ballot have weighed in and who have urged voters to oppose these measures.

The makeup of the U.S. Senate could change as a result of the 2024 elections. / Credit: rarrarorro, Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 30, 2024 / 13:53 pm (CNA).

Will the Democrats maintain their narrow majority in the U.S. Senate? The answer could depend on what happens in Montana, Ohio, Texas, and Florida. 

There are 34 seats up in November — 23 are held by Democrats and 11 by Republicans. Currently, the Democrats have 51 seats to the Republicans’ 49 — with the retirement of Sen. Joe Manchin, West Virginia is expected to move to the Republican column in the solidly red state. 

For the Democrats to hold on to their majority, all of their incumbents need to be reelected and they need to either flip a Republican seat or win the presidency. In the event of a 50-50 split, the vice president represents the tiebreaking vote.

Fewer than six weeks until Election Day, here are four races that could determine which party controls the Senate. 

Montana: likely Republican pickup

Three-term Sen. Jon Tester is the most vulnerable Democratic incumbent, making Montana the best chance for Republicans to pick up a seat. Born and raised in Montana, Tester has leveraged his image as a third-generation Montanan farmer against his opponent, former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy, originally from Minnesota. 

However, Sheehy is polling seven points ahead of Tester in his home state despite being tagged as a carpetbagger. In recent years, Montana has welcomed more transplants from other states, according to national census data, which found that 51,600 more people relocated to Montana than any other state in the past four years. 

Montana is also notably one of 10 states where an abortion referendum will appear on the ballot. Tester has repeatedly gone after Sheehy for his stated pro-life views, attempting to bolster his campaign by portraying Sheehy as a “no exceptions” pro-lifer (Sheehy has stated on multiple occasions that he believes in exceptions for rape, incest, and to save the life of the mother). 

Regardless, Tester’s strategy may come to nothing, as the state has a history of splitting its vote. In 2022, Montanans rejected the pro-life Born Alive Infant Protection Act ballot initiative but elected a pro-life candidate, Rep. Ryan Zinke, to its one congressional seat.

Lastly, former president Donald Trump, who won almost 60% of the vote in Montana in 2020, has a double-digit lead over Vice President Kamala Harris, according to polls, and may also help flip the seat.

Ohio: vulnerable Democrat

All eyes are on Ohio, a key swing state where Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown is polling ahead of Republican businessman Bernie Moreno by four points. However, polling for the presidential race shows Trump ahead, making Ohio a possible pickup for Republicans.

According to an Aug. 9 AdImpact report, the race is the first non-presidential race to surpass $300 million in spending on campaign advertising.

In Ohio, as in Montana, the Democratic incumbent is campaigning on the issue of abortion. 

Brown has repeatedly attacked Moreno for his pro-life views, often portraying him as an extremist who would support a national abortion ban based on comments the GOP candidate made in 2022 in which he described himself as “absolutely pro-life, no exceptions.” 

However, Moreno has since appeared to scale back his pro-life stance, expressing support for “commonsense restrictions” after 15 weeks and returning the issue to the states. Moreno has also slammed his opponent and the Democratic Party for seeming to treat its female voter base as though abortion is the only issue they care about. 

Texas and Florida: increasingly vulnerable Republicans

With the races in Montana and Ohio tightening, Democrats have begun rolling out extensive, multimillion-dollar ad campaigns in Texas and Florida — two deeply red states where Republican incumbents are engaged in surprisingly competitive races.  

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee announced the multimillion-dollar ad buy on Thursday, floating the possibility of additional funding rollouts for television ads in both states as the election cycle continues. 

In Texas, incumbent Republican Sen. Ted Cruz is polling only one point ahead of his Democrat challenger, Texas Rep. Colin Allred, whose campaign manager welcomed news of the Democrats’ recent ad spending gamble, describing Cruz as “weaker and more vulnerable than ever” due to the border crisis, his pro-life views on abortion, and concerns among voters about Social Security and Medicare. 

In Florida, the race is also tight between Republican Sen. Rick Scott and his Democrat opponent, former state Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell. A recent poll shows Scott ahead of his opponent by only three points. 

Scott is wrapping up his first Senate term, which he won in 2018 by an even smaller margin of just 0.2 percentage points. 

Floridians in November will also vote on Amendment 4, a measure that would prohibit the state from restricting abortion access up to fetal viability, or around 24 weeks of pregnancy. Scott is pro-life and has publicly said he will be voting against the amendment — a move that could leave him vulnerable as polling predicts the measure’s success. 

Officials break ground at a 19-story affordable housing project in downtown Boston on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. / Credit: Andy Ryan

CNA Staff, Sep 29, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The Archdiocese of Boston broke ground last week on a 19-story affordable housing project in downtown Boston.

The archdiocesan Planning Office for Urban Affairs (POUA) is partnering with the largest day shelter in Massachusetts, St. Francis House, a secular nonprofit that serves about 9,000 individuals annually, to build the residential apartments. Work began on Tuesday, Sept. 24.

The development, located on La Grange Street, is set to include 126 units, about 70 of which will be reserved for people coming out of homelessness. The unit is mixed income, meaning that the shelter will house a variety of middle- and low-income families and individuals.

The development comes amid an increasing homeless problem in Boston as well as an affordable housing crisis in Massachusetts. The city has seen growing homelessness since 2022 and had a 10.6% increase in the homeless population from 2023 to 2024, according to the annual Homeless Census by the Boston Mayor’s Office of Housing. 

Massachusetts, meanwhile, has a rental housing shortage for extremely low-income households, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

“That’s a problem across the board for people that are working-class families, middle-income families; [they] are having a hard time keeping a roof over their heads and providing for their families,” St. Francis House CEO Karen LaFrazia told CNA. “Then it’s almost impossible for anybody who falls into homelessness, that’s extremely low income, to ever find a market-rate apartment.”

“Almost every day, there is an article or story highlighting the high cost of housing, the lack of meaningful affordable rental opportunities, or the zoning restrictions in place that inhibit development, and the impact that each of these has had on individuals, families, and our communities, in Boston especially,” Bill Grogan, the president of POUA, told CNA. 

“It has created the moral, humanitarian, and societal crisis that we find ourselves in today,” he said.

“It’s about building on our common humanity and creating opportunities for people to become neighbors,” LaFrazia told CNA. “We live in an increasingly more polarized world and that is creating divisions between people, and one of the best ways to bring people together is to construct opportunities for people whose lives wouldn’t naturally intersect.”

LaFrazia noted that the housing, which will feature 68 studio apartments, 21 one-bedroom units, and 37 two-bedroom units, is high quality and comparable to the housing in the surrounding areas.  

Grogan said the joint venture between the archdiocese and St. Francis House “represents a unique partnership between experienced, high-quality nonprofit organizations with long track records of serving at-risk and vulnerable populations.”

The two organizations have worked together before, rehabilitating a historic building in downtown Boston into 46 units of affordable housing as well as St. Francis House offices with resources and support designed to “provide opportunities for homeless individuals,” Grogan noted.

“LaGrange Street builds off of our partnership with St. Francis House, combining our development expertise with their expertise as a service provider,” Grogan said. 

St. Francis House was originally founded by the Francsican order at St. Anthony’s Shrine in downtown Boston. It grew into a daytime shelter that provides basic necessities, such as meals, showers, and clothing, as well as support for behavior, health, or medical issues and job search help. 

Though it is a secular organization, LaFrazia said they wanted to work with a group that shared their values, so they are collaborating with the Archdiocese of Boston. 

LaFrazia said faith informs her personally in her work.

“Many of us come to this work from a faith perspective, and that is what certainly drives me,” she said. “But we welcome people of all faiths, of all faith traditions. And I think that our welcoming of people of all faiths is in many ways informed by our faith.”

“We look at every human being that we encounter as our brother and sister: They’re somebody’s brother, somebody’s sister, somebody’s mother, somebody’s child. And so we model our work in that way,” LaFrazia continued. “We can take from Matthew 25 that informs us to be able to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, and we do that.”

“People come to us. They may have challenges, but we don’t just see the way they present and stand in judgment,” she continued.

“We see their humanity, and we’re compelled to welcome that person as Christ would into our home, and then to treat them with respect, with dignity, to acknowledge their value as a human being, and then do everything we can to create opportunities for them to be able to thrive and have a quality of life that they deserve.”

A photographic copy of the Holy Shroud as displayed at its permanent exhibition at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Ann Arbor, Michigan. / Credit: Martin Barillas

Ann Arbor, Michigan, Sep 28, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

For centuries Christians have attributed a first-century date to the Shroud of Turin. Nuclear engineer Robert Rucker says that his latest research on the shroud verifies that.

“The Shroud of Turin is the second-most valuable possession of the human race next to the Bible itself,” Rucker told CNA. The shroud is currently preserved in the Chapel of the Holy Shroud adjacent to St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Turin (Torino), Italy.

For more than 10 years, Rucker has studied the physics of the disappearance of the body of Jesus and its imprint on the shroud. His website, Shroud Research, challenges conclusions that the shroud dates to the period of 1260 to 1380 A.D., leading skeptics to conclude it is a medieval fake.

In 1988, scientists used tiny samples snipped from the shroud to determine the amount of carbon 14 isotopes they contained, destroying the samples in the process. The radioactive carbon 14 isotope is a variant of carbon-containing excess neutrons, which are particles smaller than atoms. Over time, carbon 14 decays into nitrogen 14 in organic materials such as bone and plant matter. The ratio of carbon 14 atoms remaining in a sample provides the data needed to estimate the sample’s age.

Rucker said his calculations show that the 1988 carbon 14 dating is erroneous because it does not take into account the radiation emitted from Jesus’ body at the resurrection, which included neutrons that were absorbed by the shroud and formed new carbon 14 atoms, thus leading to a misinterpretation of the data. 

“Carbon 14 dates can be vastly wrong if something has changed the ratio of c-14 to c-12 in the sample, other than the decay of the carbon 14,” Rucker explained. “There have been six different explanations for the carbon date of 1260-1380. The first explanation was in a letter to the editor of Nature magazine in 1989. Tom Philips, who holds a Ph.D. in particle physics, suggested to Nature that the most obvious explanation is that new carbon 14 atoms were produced by neutron absorption” in the shroud.

“That proposal,” Rucker said, “was never followed up on until I did the nuclear analysis computer calculations in 2014.”

Rucker will offer a workshop about his research on Oct. 6-7 at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor as well as professional engineering certificates in nuclear engineering and mechanical engineering.

Bolstering his credentials are 38 years of experience in the nuclear power industry, which called for making nuclear analysis computer calculations related to nuclear reactor design and statistical analysis of experimental data. He has been researching the shroud since 2013 and has conducted nuclear analysis computer calculations related to its date.

Paola Conti-Puorger, who holds a doctorate in aerospace engineering and a postgraduate degree in shroud studies from the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome, is a parishioner of St. Thomas and manages its permanent Othonia exhibit on the shroud, which includes a photographic reproduction, a 3D hologram, and a bronze likeness of Jesus lying in the tomb before his resurrection, as revealed by the imprint on the shroud.

Othonia is a research center based in Rome devoted to preserving, promoting, and disseminating knowledge about the shroud. It is part of the Science and Faith Institute within the Athenaeum.

“Rucker has studied the shroud for years and can offer an authoritative word about the scientific research on it,” she told CNA.

“The shroud is the very best news we can receive in this life: that our sins are forgiven, that we are loved, that we have an important dignity, that we are called to this image within ourselves, and that we are called to love with the same love. This is the truth and real happiness of humanity,” Conti-Puorger said.

“It is like contemplating the Gospel and seeing it very alive. Like the Eucharist, Christ’s body and blood are there. This is a living presence. It’s not a relic,” she said.

In 2015, Pope Francis prayed before the shroud and during an Angelus address said: “The shroud attracts [us] toward the martyred face and body of Jesus.”

He continued: “At the same time, it pushes [us] toward the face of every suffering and unjustly persecuted person. It pushes us in the same direction as the gift of Jesus’ love.” 

Neither the pope nor his immediate predecessors have made any pronouncements on the authenticity of the shroud.

The shroud has been venerated for centuries in northern Italy where it was guarded by the powerful Savoy family. In 1983, ownership was granted to the pope. When it was exhibited in 1898, permission was granted for photography. It was shown to be a natural negative image and beyond the competence of a medieval forger.

In 1981, an international team of scientists with the Shroud of Turin Research Project determined that the image shows a “scourged, crucified man” not produced by an artist. They said it tested positive for blood. But how the image was produced is a problem that “remains unsolved.”

“The shroud came searching for us,” Conti-Puorger said. “It came to St. Thomas providentially, so I think it is the Lord himself who is calling people to come.”  

“There are people searching for many things,” Father Bill Ashbaugh, pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, told CNA. “They often think that science contradicts faith. But it’s just the opposite. Science is a help to faith.”

A digital and television ad campaign by Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America debunks claims by Vice President Kamala Harris and Democrats that Georgia pro-life laws killed two women, Candi Miller, 41, and Amber Thurman, 28. / Credit: Screenshot used with permission

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

null / Credit: KieferPix/Shutterstock

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

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

North Dakota pro-life law repealed

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

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

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

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

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

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

Texas attorney general sues Austin for funding abortion travel

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

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

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

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

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

Washington stockpiles abortion drugs in event of Trump victory

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

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

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

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

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

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

Judge bars censorship of pregnancy centers in New York

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Maryland State House. / Credit: Jon Bilous/Shutterstock

Baltimore, Md., Sep 27, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).

Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore issued a letter to the Catholics of his archdiocese on Wednesday urging the faithful to reject Maryland’s Question 1, a ballot initiative that he labeled an “extreme step of enshrining the legality of abortion” in the state’s constitution.

Local pro-life activists in Maryland have also redoubled their efforts against Question 1 — spotlighting that the constitutional amendment, if approved by voters, would have a drastic impact on other controversial issues besides abortion — including parental rights related to their child’s procurement of abortion and minors’ “use of puberty-blocking drugs and surgical mutilation of reproductive anatomy.”

The Archdiocese of Baltimore sent Lori’s message via e-mail and posted it on its Flocknote page. The cleric first reiterated the Church’s teaching on “the most fundamental right of all, the right to life.” He also underlined: “We are called by our faith to uphold human dignity at all stages of life, from natural conception to natural death.”

The archbishop continued by outlining the stakes with the ballot measure: “Question 1 seeks to enshrine abortion in the Maryland state constitution, an action that is both unnecessary and harmful ... It is harmful because it would divert resources away from efforts that promote the well-being of women, children, and families.”

Lori added that “[r]ather than taking the extreme step of enshrining the legality of abortion in the Maryland Constitution, we should work to create a culture where no woman feels as though she must choose between the life of her child and a bright future.”

The archbishop issued his letter less than six weeks before Election Day. Meanwhile, pro-life groups in Maryland have mobilized due to the short window of time before the vote.

Maryland Right to Life posted a “Voter Alert” about Question 1 on its website. The nonprofit organization noted the broad scope of the proposal and continued with a list of other possible radical effects of the amendment — including how it “threatens parental rights to make medical decisions for our children,” “restricts free speech and religious exemptions,” and “threatens [the] existence of pregnancy resource centers.” 

The group also promoted the materials of Marylanders For Health Not Harm, a coalition decrying the “deceptive ‘Reproductive Freedom’ amendment.”

Laura Bogley, the executive director of Maryland Right to Life, quoted one of the bill’s sponsors, state Sen. Dawn Gile, who testified that the amendment “would create new and broader rights than abortion, including the right of an individual to alter one’s reproductive anatomy.” Gile’s campaign website also highlights her stance on the main issue: “I am proud to be endorsed by Planned Parenthood and Pro-Choice Maryland.”

Gile stood immediately behind Maryland Gov. Wes Moore as he signed a package of bills in May 2023 — including the one that authorized Question 1. The package also included another piece of legislation that she voted for — the so-called “Trans Health Equity Act” — which, according to an Associated Press report, “expands the number of procedures relating to gender-affirming care that are covered by the state’s Medicaid program ... [including] any medically necessary treatment consistent with current clinical standards of care prescribed by a licensed health care provider for the treatment of a condition related to the individual’s gender identity.”

Bogley also gave her own blunt assessment of the ballot measure: “The deceptive ... [amendment] is a Trojan horse, intended to trick parents into giving up their parental rights for abortion rights already fully protected in state law. ... Maryland’s abortion laws would not substantially change, but parents would lose their rights and potentially lose custody of their children if they refuse to comply with the state’s radical agenda to transition children, causing our kids permanent reproductive harm.”

Maryland is among 10 states that will have ballot initiatives on abortion in November. Nebraska has competing pro-life and pro-abortion state constitutional amendments up for voter approval. Earlier in September, Missouri’s state Supreme Court upheld the inclusion of a pro-abortion state amendment on that state’s ballot. The other states that will have ballot measures on abortion in November are Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Montana, Nevada, New York, and South Dakota.