​​Etsurō Sotoo is an enthusiastic advocate of the cause of canonization of Gaudí, known as “God's architect.” / Credit: Public Domain CC-BY-SA-4.0 Wikimedia Commons

Madrid, Spain, Sep 20, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).

For the first time, a sculptor and native of Japan will be awarded the Ratzinger Prize.

His name is Etsurō Sotoo, born in 1953 in Fukuoka, Japan, and a graduate of Kyoto University.

A 1978 visit to Spain changed the course of his life forever. 

Arriving in the city of Barcelona, he was impressed by the construction of the Sagrada Familia basilica and asked to work there as a sculptor.

Following instructions left by Antoni Gaudí, the renowned Spanish architect of the monument, still under construction, Sotoo began his work on the basilica’s Nativity façade.

During his stay in Barcelona, ​​Etsurō Sotoo converted to Catholicism and received the sacrament of baptism. 

Sotoo is an enthusiastic advocate of the cause of canonization of Gaudí, known as “God’s architect.”

Sotoo’s handiwork is found in various parts of the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia and in other places in Spain as well as in Japan and Italy, in the Cathedral of Florence.

Pope Benedict XVI consecrated the Sagrada Familia basilica during a trip to Barcelona in 2010, expressing his great appreciation for the figure and art of Antoni Gaudí. 

Cyril O’Regan

Irish theologian Cyril O’Regan is also a winner of the 2024 Ratzinger Prize.

Since 1999, he has been a professor of systematic theology in the Department of Theology at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

He studied philosophy in Ireland and earned a doctorate, also earning another doctorate in theology at Yale University in Connecticut. 

O’Regan is the author of numerous articles and several books, including “The Heterodox Hegel” (1994), “Gnostic Return in Modernity” (2001), “Theology and the Spaces of Apocalyptic” (2009), “Anatomy of Misremembering,” and “Newman and Ratzinger” (publication in progress).

His lectures are highly appreciated by his students, and he has dedicated several relevant articles to the figure and teachings of Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI).

“I am delighted and also feel incredibly honored given the caliber of scholars and thinkers who have received it before me,” O’Regan said of the recognition.

Nov. 22 award ceremony and Mass

On Friday, Nov. 22, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, secretary of state of the Holy See, is scheduled to present the prize to both professor O’Regan and Sotoo. 

The ceremony will take place in the Sala Regia of the Apostolic Palace. That same morning, a Mass will be celebrated in memory of Pope Benedict XVI at his tomb in the Vatican Grottoes. The two winners will be received by Pope Francis.

What is the Ratzinger Prize?

The Ratzinger Prize was started in 2011 to recognize scholars whose work demonstrates a significant contribution to theology in the spirit of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Bavarian theologian who became Pope Benedict XVI.

The awardees are chosen by Pope Francis based on the recommendations of a committee made up of five cardinals who are members of the Roman Curia.

It is currently made up of Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity; Cardinal Luis Ladaria, prefect emeritus of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith; Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Culture; Archbishop Salvatore Fisichica, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization; and Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer Regensburg, president of the Pope Benedict XVI Institute.

With the 2024 edition, the total number of Ratzinger prize winners ascends to 30. These are mainly eminent personalities in the studies of dogmatic or fundamental theology, sacred Scripture, patristics, philosophy, law, sociology, or in artistic activity such as music, architecture, and now sculpture. 

The winners, who hail from 18 different countries on five continents, are not only Catholics but also belong to other faith traditions, such as Anglicanism, Lutheranism, and Judaism.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Credit: vesperstock/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Sep 20, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Catholics in the U.S. don’t vote as a bloc, and this election cycle there has been considerable debate about whom Catholics should vote for. Even Pope Francis has weighed in, quipping that Americans in November must choose “the lesser evil” when deciding between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. 

The Catholic Church has long supported voting as part of participation in public life — as a contribution to a nation’s common good and to the flourishing of its people.

What the Church does not do is dictate to Catholics whom exactly they should vote for or exactly which policies to support. However, Catholics have been given numerous guiding principles for making decisions about voting. 

Here is an explanation of some of these principles. 

What does the Church teach about voting?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that it is “the duty of citizens to contribute along with the civil authorities to the good of society in a spirit of truth, justice, solidarity, and freedom.”

“The love and service of one’s country follows from the duty of gratitude and belongs to the order of charity. Submission to legitimate authorities and service of the common good require citizens to fulfill their roles in the life of the political community.”

It also states that “submission to authority and co-responsibility for the common good make it morally obligatory to pay taxes, to exercise the right to vote, and to defend one’s country.”

In 2007, the U.S. bishops’ conference issued “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” a guide to participation in public life, which includes a section on voting. The bishops have periodically updated it since, with the latest edition approved in late 2023.

In the document, the bishops wrote that “responsible citizenship is a virtue, and participation in political life is a moral obligation.” Quoting Pope Francis in Evangelii Gaudium, the bishops also note that public service, when it seeks the common good, is a “lofty vocation.”

The bishops envision voters who are guided by their moral convictions and not their attachment to any one party or interest group. A Catholic’s engagement in politics ought to be “shaped by the moral convictions of well-formed consciences and focused on the dignity of every human being, the pursuit of the common good, and the protection of the weak and the vulnerable.”

Catholics should vote for candidates to the extent that they will promote the common good, a concept defined in the catechism as “the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily."

“Catholics have a serious and lifelong obligation to form their consciences in accord with human reason and the teaching of the Church,” the document continues.

“Conscience is not something that allows us to justify doing whatever we want, nor is it a mere ‘feeling’ about what we should or should not do. Rather, conscience is the voice of God resounding in the human heart, revealing the truth to us and calling us to do what is good while shunning what is evil. Conscience always requires serious attempts to make sound moral judgments based on the truths of our faith.”

Reasons not to vote for a candidate

“Forming Consciences” states in paragraph 34: “A Catholic cannot vote for a candidate who favors a policy promoting an intrinsically evil act, such as abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, deliberately subjecting workers or the poor to subhuman living conditions, redefining marriage in ways that violate its essential meaning, or racist behavior, if the voter’s intent is to support that position.”

“As Catholics we are not single-issue voters,” the bishops note, and “a candidate’s position on a single issue is not sufficient to guarantee a voter’s support.” At the same time, Catholics should not vote for a candidate if his or her “position on a single issue promotes an intrinsically evil act.”

However, the bishops say it could be possible to vote for someone who supports something intrinsically immoral, but only for “other morally grave reasons.” Before he became Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger described those as “proportionate reasons.”

In a 2004 letter to U.S. bishops, Ratzinger wrote: ”When a Catholic does not share a candidate’s stand in favor of abortion and/or euthanasia but votes for that candidate for other reasons, it is considered remote material cooperation, which can be permitted in the presence of proportionate reasons.”

The idea of “proportionate reasoning” recognizes that there are no perfect candidates. The job of Catholic voters is to weigh the positions of all candidates and to avoid choosing a candidate who supports something immoral, unless something good outweighs that immorality.

Nonnegotiable issues

In a 2006 address to a European parliamentary group, Pope Benedict XVI laid out several issues related to the public good that are “not negotiable” for Catholics.  

Those issues as laid out by Pope Benedict are as follows:

• Protection of life in all its stages, from the first moment of conception until natural death.

• Recognition and promotion of the natural structure of the family as a union between a man and a woman based on marriage, and its defense from attempts to make it juridically equivalent to radically different forms of union that in reality harm it and contribute to its destabilization, obscuring its particular character and its irreplaceable social role.

• The protection of the right of parents to educate their children.

The U.S. bishops further say that abortion and euthanasia — in their words, “preeminent threats to human life and dignity” — weigh heavily when deciding whether it is morally acceptable to vote for a candidate.

In 2019, the bishops said: “The threat of abortion remains our preeminent priority because it directly attacks life itself, because it takes place within the sanctuary of the family, and because of the number of lives destroyed.”

In acknowledging the importance of voting against abortion, the Church and Church leaders do not say that abortion is the only issue but that it is “preeminent” — a foundational consideration about the moral acceptability of a candidate.

Pope Francis asks in Laudato Si’: “How can we genuinely teach the importance of concern for other vulnerable beings, however troublesome or inconvenient they may be, if we fail to protect a human embryo, even when its presence is uncomfortable and creates difficulties?”

In Christifidelis Laici, St. John Paul II taught that “the right to health, to home, to work, to culture is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination.”

In 2008, Bishop (now Cardinal) Kevin Farrell released a joint statement with Bishop Kevin Vann, saying that in their view, “there are no ‘truly grave moral’ or ‘proportionate’ reasons, singularly or combined that could outweigh the millions of innocent human lives that are directly killed by abortion each year.”

In 2008, Archbishop Charles Chaput said that Catholics who support pro-abortion candidates “need a compelling proportionate reason to justify it.”

“What is a ‘proportionate’ reason when it comes to the abortion issue? It’s the kind of reason we will be able to explain, with a clean heart, to the victims of abortion when we meet them face to face in the next life — which we most certainly will. If we’re confident that these victims will accept our motives as something more than an alibi, then we can proceed,” Chaput said.

So… whom to vote for?

The bishops say that well-formed Catholic voters could reach different conclusions about whom to support. The bishops also do not rule out the possibility of not voting, or of voting for third party candidates.

“When all candidates hold a position that promotes an intrinsically evil act, the conscientious voter faces a dilemma. The voter may decide to take the extraordinary step of not voting for any candidate or, after careful deliberation, may decide to vote for the candidate deemed less likely to advance such a morally flawed position and more likely to pursue other authentic human goods” (“Forming Consciences,” paragraph 36).

In 2016, Bishop James Conley offered this summary of the “Faithful Citizenship” guide’s voting advice: 

“In good conscience, some Catholics might choose to vote for a candidate who, with some degree of probability, would be most likely to do some good, and the least amount of harm, on the foundational issues: life, family, conscience rights and religious liberty. Or, in good conscience, some might choose the candidate who best represents a Christian vision of society, regardless of the probability of winning. Or, in good conscience, some might choose not to vote for any candidate at all in a particular office.”

This story was first published Sept. 18, 2020, and has been updated. Jonah McKeown contributed to the update.

Fishing boats moored in Brixham harbor on March 2, 2016, in Devon, England. / Credit: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

Brighton, England, Sep 20, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The Catholic maritime charity Stella Maris is urging the U.K. government to take action to protect fishermen following a BBC program that shows cases of modern-day slavery on fishing vessels.

Stella Maris is the maritime agency of the Catholic Church in the U.K. 

Last month, BBC One Scotland aired the documentary “Disclosure: Slavery at Sea,” which accuses Scottish fishing company TN Trawlers of modern-day slavery and human trafficking. 

The BBC said that, between 2012 and 2020, the U.K. Home Office officially recognized 35 individuals employed by TN Trawlers from the Philippines, Ghana, India, and Sri Lanka as victims of modern slavery.

“The authorities and welfare organizations must get better at recognizing what modern-day slavery is, reporting it, and supporting swift criminal prosecutions against those few bad operators,” said Tim Hill, the CEO of Stella Maris. 

The BBC described its documentary as “a three-year investigation” that “uncovers allegations of modern slavery aboard U.K. fishing vessels. Reporter Chris Clements hears the stories of migrant workers who came to these shores in search of a better life only to find hardship and misery.”

Stella Maris said it is providing “continued support to mistreated fishers in a small number of ports across the U.K.”

In one example, Joel Quince from the Philippines is shown in the program to have found a position with TN Trawlers working as a deckhand. On one occasion, in 2012, Quince was repairing one of the ship’s metal nets on the Philomena ship when rough weather struck, causing him to bang his head on board and fall unconscious. 

Despite the injury, skipper Tom Nicholson Jr. did not take Quince to the hospital, instead giving him paracetamol and a bandage. Quince, who was in considerable pain, said: “It’s not acceptable. He doesn’t see me as a person. He doesn’t care about my life. He doesn’t care about his crew.”

Quince eventually found support, using his own resources, at a Fishermen’s Mission. 

Other cases reported in the program are a cause for concern for Stella Maris, who is now calling for action on cases similar to Quince’s.

“We are urging the U.K. Home Office and law enforcement agencies to do more to protect fishers,” the charity said. “Stella Maris has reported several cases to the police over the years, but found prosecutions ‘painfully slow,’ with fishers left in limbo in the U.K. while their cases are assessed.”

TN Trawlers said it “accepted responsibility” for Quince’s case but disputed wider claims of mistreatment of workers. A TN Trawlers spokesperson said that workers’ “overwhelming experience” was of being “well treated and well remunerated.” 

However, Hill lamented the cases found in the BBC program and is glad the issue has been given such publicity.

“We are delighted to see the BBC broadcast this program, bringing some much-needed awareness of a deeply troubling issue,” he said. “This is a tragic case of abuse and exploitation for which there is no place in this world. Our commitment is never-ending, and we continue to support these fishermen and other more recent cases, with friendship, pastoral care, and financial support.”

The mission of Stella Maris involves helping thousands of seafarers each year who are struggling with loneliness, exhaustion, bullying, and exploitation. 

“It is our goal to ensure that all fishers are treated equally with respect and dignity so that people can live happy and prosperous lives, free from exploitation and abuse,” Hill said.

The work of Stella Maris has been praised by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, archbishop of Westminster and president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales. Paying tribute to the work and mission of Stella Maris port chaplains, Nichols said: “For many of the ships, [the support from port chaplains] is hugely important in terms of seafarers’ religious belief and practice. Really this is great work that goes on.”

Haitians sit down to eat their meal at a Haitian restaurant in Springfield, Ohio, on Sept. 12, 2024. / Credit: ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 20, 2024 / 05:00 am (CNA).

Ohio’s Catholic bishops are urging the faithful and all people of goodwill to treat Haitian migrants in Springfield with “respect and dignity” as the small city seeks to dispel internet rumors about the population. 

“As the residents of Springfield, Ohio, struggle with violent threats and life disruptions fueled by unfettered social media posts, we exhort the Catholic faithful and all people of goodwill not to perpetuate ill will toward anyone involved based on unfounded gossip,” read a letter signed by bishops in all six Catholic dioceses in Ohio.

“Instead, we ask for prayers and support for all the people of Springfield as they integrate their new Haitian neighbors and build a better future together,” added the letter, published by the Ohio Catholic Conference.

Bishops of the Eastern Catholic eparchies also signed the message.

More than half of Haiti is Catholic and a large majority of the country belongs to some Christian denomination. 

“They’re eating the dogs — the people that came in,” Trump said. “They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country and it’s a shame.”

The Springfield Police Division issued a statement to the media saying that there have been no credible reports of immigrants harming or abusing pets.

In the letter, the bishops noted that the Haitian migrants in Springfield were granted Temporary Protected Status to legally remain in the country. The letter states that Haitians and others are “feeling inhumane conditions in their countries” to enter the United States. 

“Like all people, these Haitians should be afforded the respect and dignity that are theirs by right and allowed the ability to contribute to the common good,” the bishops added. 

The bishops also wrote in the letter that the influx of migration “has caused a strain on the city’s resources.” However, they also emphasized that people can “view newcomers first as children of God” while also “understanding the need to enforce reasonable limits to legal immigration.”

“We applaud all those community groups working hard to advance the flourishing of Springfield, given the need to integrate newcomers into the social fabric,” the bishops wrote. “If we remain true to our principles, we can have a dialogue about immigration without scapegoating groups of people for societal issues beyond their control.”

The bishops warned: “Today, our nation is divided by partisanship and ideology, which blind us to the image of God in our neighbor, especially the unborn, the poor, and the stranger.” They added that “these negative sentiments are only exacerbated by gossip, which can spread quickly across social media with no concern for the truth or those involved.”

“From the beginning, the human race was made in the image of God, which distinguishes us from all other created things,” the bishops continued.

“The arrival of Jesus Christ in human history confirms the dignity God has given to each of us, without exception,” they added. “It is our belief in the dignity of human life that guides our consciences and rhetoric when engaging in politics or personal conversation. Each of us, therefore, must turn to God and ask for eyes to see the infinite dignity of every person.”

A man prays at the Candlelight Chapel at the National Shrine to Czestochowa in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, on April 2, 2005, the day Pope John Paul II died. / Credit: William Thomas Cain/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 19, 2024 / 17:15 pm (CNA).

Former President Donald Trump is no longer planning to attend an event with Polish President Andrzej Duda at a Catholic Marian shrine in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 22.

The campaign’s scheduled stop at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Doylestown has been canceled. The reason for the change in Trump’s schedule is unclear.

On Sunday afternoon, the Polish-American Smolensk Disaster Commemoration Committee will unveil a monument at the shrine’s cemetery to commemorate the Polish solidarity movement and its fight for independence against the Soviet-backed communist regime of the 1940s through the 1980s.

A spokesperson for the shrine could not be reached for comment. 

The shrine pays homage to the historic Black Madonna icon in the southern Polish city of Czestochowa. According to legend, the original icon in Poland was painted by St. Luke the Evangelist on a tabletop that was built by Jesus Christ when he was a carpenter. The existence and veneration of the icon in Poland are well documented as early as the 1300s.

The eastern Pennsylvania shrine was constructed in 1955 and underwent renovations in the 1960s. The icon of the Black Madonna in Doylestown is a copy of the Polish icon and was blessed by St. John XXIII, according to the shrine’s website.

Bucks County is an important battleground in the swing state of Pennsylvania. President Joe Biden won the county by less than 4.4 percentage points in 2020 and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won the county by about three-quarters of a percentage point in 2016.

This statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary is on Apparition Hill, overlooking the village of Medjugorje, a town in Bosnia-Herzegovina. / Credit: Adam Jan Figel/Shutterstock

National Catholic Register, Sep 19, 2024 / 16:45 pm (CNA).

Since June 24–25, 1981, the eve and feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, when six children in a small village in Bosnia-Herzegovina first reported seeing and receiving messages from the Blessed Virgin Mary, more than 40 million pilgrims from around the world have flocked to the small village named Medjugorje. 

Pilgrims attend Masses at Medjugorje’s St. James Church during the day and the evening Mass is celebrated outdoors to accommodate huge crowds. They climb rocky Podbrdo — Apparition Hill — bearing a statue of Our Lady, marking where she allegedly appeared. Pilgrims also climb up Mount Križevac, praying the Stations of the Cross, journeying to the huge cross nearly 40 feet tall built by villagers in the early 20th century. They fill the lines at all the confessionals, as the sacrament of penance is offered daily.

Franciscan priests have administered to the needs of the souls of the Croatian people in the parish and region with its Mediterranean climate and fertile plains for farmers and vineyards since the 13th century, and they have been closely involved with the visionaries and pilgrims from the start of the apparitions.

The visionaries

The six visionaries are Marija Pavlovic-Lunetti, Ivan Dragicevic, Vicka Ivankovic-Mijatovic, Jakov Colo, Mirjana Dragicevic-Soldo, and Ivanka Ivankovic-Elez. Always called “the visionaries,” they are now adults. While Vicka, Ivan, and Marija still reportedly receive a daily apparition at the specific time of 6:40 p.m., the others do so now only on particular dates. Mirjana allegedly receives apparitions once a month — plus once a year on March 18, her birthday — with Ivanka reporting once a year on June 25, the anniversary of the first apparition, and Jakov once a year on Christmas Day.

The message

Our Lady came to Medjugorje to show the faithful the way to peace and help convert lives so as to return to God, according to the visionaries, including to bring people to her son, Jesus. Early in the apparitions, she reportedly identified herself as the “Queen of Peace.”

“Dear children, this is the reason for my presence among you for such a long time: to lead you on the path of Jesus. I want to save you and, through you, to save the whole world. Many people now live without faith; some don’t even want to hear about Jesus, but they still want peace and satisfaction! Children, here is the reason why I need your prayer: Prayer is the only way to save the human race” (July 30, 1987).

Five ‘stones’

As David had five stones to defeat Goliath (see 1 Samuel 17:40), priests in Medjugorje explain Our Lady’s messages and directions as five stones to defeat Satan and save souls. They are:

1. Daily prayer, especially the daily rosary.

2. Fasting — on Wednesdays and Fridays because, through fasting, wars can be stopped and natural laws suspended. 

3. Reading the Bible daily and placing it in a prominent place in the home. 

4. Confession. According to the visionaries, Mary requested regular monthly confession: “Monthly confession will be a remedy for the Church in the West. One must convey this message to the West.” Even Sts. John Paul II and Teresa of Calcutta availed themselves of this sacrament weekly. Mary also reportedly said: “Pray, pray! It is necessary to believe firmly, to go to confession regularly, and, likewise, to receive holy Communion. It is the only salvation.” 

5. Mass and the Eucharist: Our Blessed Mother has been said to emphasize Sunday Mass and receiving the Eucharist in a state of grace, noting that Jesus gives us his graces in the Mass, and Our Lady is also said to have added the importance of going to daily Mass when possible.

Formal commissions

In 1986, as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger formed a commission among the bishops of Yugoslavia to investigate the alleged apparitions. In 1991, the official statement from the Yugoslavia Bishops’ Conference stated that it was not determined yet if the apparitions are of supernatural origin; pilgrims are allowed to go to Medjugorje; and priests are also allowed to tend to the spiritual needs of pilgrims.

On March 26, 2010, then-Pope Benedict XVI appointed Italian Cardinal Camillo Ruini to head a commission of cardinals, theologians, psychologists, and others to examine Medjugorje. In 2016, the commission finished its report, and a year later, it was given to Pope Francis by the CDF. At that point, it had split the examination into two phases: the first seven appearances between June 24 and July 3, 1981, and all those happening later and still reportedly continue. The report recognized the supernatural nature of the first seven appearances. 

The report had four recommendations: Place Medjugorje under Vatican control; allow church-organized pilgrimages; declare Medjugorje a pontifical shrine; and declare the first apparitions authentic and supernatural. Then, in an in-flight press conference in 2017, Pope Francis said: “Concerning the alleged current apparitions, the report expresses doubts.”

A year after the pope expressed personal suspicions about the events, in May 2018, Francis assigned Polish Archbishop Henryk Hoser to help oversee all aspects of pastoral ministries in Medjugorje, thus putting Medjugorje under Vatican control. Consequently, Hoser, officially named apostolic visitor, authorized official diocesan and parish-organized pilgrimages to promote the good fruits while not authenticating everything. In 2019, Pope Francis formally authorized organized pilgrimages to Medjugorje. In November 2021, after the death of Hoser, Pope Francis appointed Italian Bishop Aldo Cavalli to continue the mission in Medjugorje. 

10 ‘secrets’

Each of the visionaries is said to have been given 10 “secrets” concerning events in the world in the near future. None can be revealed yet, except for the so-called “Third Secret.” Our Lady promised to leave a supernatural, indestructible sign on the mountain of her first appearance. It will be a sign for atheists, she supposedly said, adding:

“You faithful must not wait for the sign before you convert; convert soon. This time is a time of grace for you. You can never thank God enough for his grace. The time is for deepening your faith and for your conversion. When the sign comes, it will be too late for many.” 

As soon as the Blessed Mother finishes her appearances, it has been reported, three warnings will be given to the world. Mirjana is to reveal them to Father Petar Ljubicic 10 days before they happen, and he will announce them. After the first, there will apparently be a time of great graces and conversions. 

Abundant fruits

The spiritual fruits are apparent. Countless numbers of the more than 40 million people who have come to Medjugorje since the beginning — whether with true spiritual intent or out of curiosity — have returned home stronger in their faith and determined to put our Blessed Mother’s directives into practice, according to accounts.

There have been many reports of conversions and returns to the faith. Healings of various kinds, from bodies to souls, have also apparently happened. Numerous vocations have been reported coming out of Medjugorje. Since 1989, when two of the Franciscan priests there organized the Medjugorje International Youth Festival, known as Mladifest, as an annual festival of Catholic youth, 50,000 young people have come annually to attend every Aug. 1–6.

In 2023, Pope Francis sent a message to those at Mladifest, saying: “I joyfully address you who are participating in the Youth Festival in Medjugorje, an occasion to celebrate and renew your faith. I hope you will live these days as a spiritual pilgrimage that will lead you to encounter the Lord Jesus in the Eucharist, in adoration, in confession, in biblical catechesis, in silent prayer and the rosary, and also through testimonies.”

Many of those going to Medjugorje have taken to heart what Our Blessed Mother, Queen of Peace, is reported to have said: “I have come to tell the world that God exists. He is the fullness of life, and to enjoy this fullness and peace, you must return to God.”

The Vatican held a conference Thursday on the “spiritual experience” of Medjugorje, endorsing “a prudent devotion to Mary at the popular pilgrimage site,” though it withheld any declaration on whether the alleged visions are of supernatural origin.

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA's sister news partner, and has been adapted by CNA.

Family members of Mafia victims take part in a demonstration organized by Libera on the occasion of the National Day of Remembrance and Commitment to Remembering the Victims of the Mafia on March 21, 2023, in Milan, Italy. / Credit: Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images

Vatican City, Sep 19, 2024 / 16:15 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis on Thursday called on participants of the Conference on the Social Use of Assets Confiscated from the Mafia to work toward recovering the well-being — not just the assets — of victims and communities wounded by organized crime.

“I invite you to focus the conversations of these days on the urgency of recovering the well-being of all people, men and women, the good of each one, where everyone counts and no one is discarded,” the pope said in his message originally written in Spanish on the occasion of the conference taking place at the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences at the Vatican on Sept. 19–20.

The Holy Father insisted that it is neither “possible nor tolerable” to forget the damage done to the dignity of millions of men and women who suffer “hunger and fear of violence, oppression, or injustice” because of transnational criminal operations.

“Only by understanding this damage can we discern how to assist, protect, and repair aspects essential to resolving conflicts and bringing about peace,” the pope said.

The conference, organized by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and the Italian anti-Mafia organization Libera, aims to highlight the need for international cooperation and an integrated approach to mitigate the activities and impact of criminal networks and structures.    

Pope Francis asked conference participants also to be guided by Catholic social teaching on human dignity and the principle of the common good as outlined in Gaudium et Spes (No. 26), the Second Vatican Council’s 1965 pastoral constitution on the Church in the modern world.

The Holy Father also referred to the protocols outlined in the United Nations’ Palermo Convention (2000) as an aid in discussing criminal justice.

In his message, the pope stated organized crime is an attack on the common good that requires political will and a coordinated global response to fight against “one of the most important challenges for the international community.”

“Organized crime, which is defined as a structured group that establishes itself over time and acts together to commit crimes with the aim of obtaining a material or economic benefit, has a transnational vocation and covers all major trafficking,” he said.

“Together with terrorism, [organized crime is] the most important nonmilitary threat to the security of each nation and international economic stability,” he added.

The pope also praised Italian anti-Mafia initiatives dedicated to rebuilding peace and the common good by directing criminal profits “toward repairing the damage caused to victims and to society.”

Before concluding his message with well wishes and the promise of his prayers for those attending the conference, the Holy Father stressed that study and reflection on law and justice should lead participants to take action to build a better world.

“And with these sentiments, I reaffirm my prayers for you and your families, I bless you, and I ask you, please, to pray for me.”

Vice President Kamala Harris arrives to speak during her visit to a Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Paul, Minnesota, on March 14, 2024. / Credit: STEPHEN MATUREN/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 19, 2024 / 15:45 pm (CNA).

Catholic supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential candidacy hosted a national organizing call with the campaign on Wednesday night in which speakers downplayed some of the faithful’s concerns about her support for abortion.

The “Catholics for Harris-Walz National Organizing Call,” held on Sept. 18 at 8 p.m., was designed to rally Catholic support behind Harris’ campaign. It was organized by a coalition of nonprofits, including Catholics Vote Common Good, which is part of the broader Vote Common Good organization that encourages faith groups to support progressive candidates.

Speakers on the call included Sister Simone Campbell, the director of NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice; Joe Donnelly, former United States ambassador to the Holy See under President Joe Biden; Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Connecticut; and Anthea Butler, chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

Campbell, who is a member of the religious community the Sisters of Social Service, contended that polls show most Catholics supporting legal abortion. 

“Our faith does not require the outlawing of abortion,” Campbell asserted in an apparent contradiction of what the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches.

“Protecting life is what we’re about, and we also trust each individual to have a well-formed conscience for making decisions — in this case, for her well-being, and [we trust] that a couple working together can make a good decision when this complicated, stressful horror of a difficult pregnancy is dealt with,” Campbell said.

Butler discouraged Catholics from being single-issue voters on abortion, saying that “we have to respect human dignity of all forms … [from] conception until the end of life,” adding: “You don’t get to pick which part of life is more important to you.” She argued that poverty, the preferential option for the poor, and education should be important issues for Catholics.

Additionally, Butler criticized former president Donald Trump for his assertion during the presidential debate that Haitian migrants are “eating the dogs” and “eating the cats” in Springfield, Ohio. She said that type of rhetoric is not “a way to respect human beings” and is “against a Catholic community,” noting that “many Haitians are Catholics.”

According to the catechism, “the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion” since the first century. It adds that abortion “is gravely contrary to the moral law” and that “life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception.” It calls both abortion and infanticide “abominable crimes.”

“The inalienable right to life of every innocent human individual is a constitutive element of a civil society and its legislation,” the catechism further teaches.

In November 2023, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops approved a voter guide that calls “the threat of abortion” their “preeminent priority because it directly attacks our most vulnerable and voiceless brothers and sisters and destroys more than a million lives per year in our country alone.”

The U.S. bishops first issued “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” in 2007 and have updated the voting guide every four years — in 2011, 2015, and 2019 — ahead of the next presidential election. At last year’s fall assembly, however, the bishops voted to postpone a full revision until after the 2024 election.

Campbell quoted Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate, which says the human dignity of “those already born” is “equally sacred” to the lives of “the innocent unborn” and references poverty, euthanasia, and human trafficking as issues damaging to human dignity. 

In the same paragraph, the pontiff also says: “Our defense of the innocent unborn … needs to be clear, firm, and passionate, for at stake is the dignity of a human life, which is always sacred and demands love for each person, regardless of his or her stage of development.”

Francis said in 2022 that Biden supporting legal abortion as a Catholic is an “incoherence.” Biden’s bishop in Washington, D.C., Cardinal Wilton Gregory, said “the president is not demonstrating Catholic teaching” with his support for legal abortion.

Harris supports codifying the abortion standards set by Roe v. Wade, which would prevent states from passing laws that protect unborn life prior to fetal viability. In the Sept. 12 debate with Trump, Harris refused to say whether she supports late-term abortion in the seventh, eighth, and ninth months of pregnancy.

More than 9,000 late-term abortions are performed in the United States annually after the 21st week of pregnancy.

Other topics discussed on the call

Campbell also spoke positively of an interaction she had with Harris when receiving a presidential medal of freedom from Biden for her work on “economic justice, immigration reform, and health care policy.”

“We had a lovely conversation about what mattered,” Campbell said, noting that they discussed affordable health care and other issues.

Donnelly discussed working closely with Biden and Pope Francis while serving as ambassador to the Holy See. He said Harris “acts in the same exact way as President Biden has” by having a desire to “focus on those who are struggling” and “stand up for the least among us.” He asserted that “her work is driven by the Bible and God.”

Additionally, Donnelly criticized Trump’s debate comments about Haitian migrants, calling the president’s remarks “cruel, as un-Christian [and] as un-Catholic as I can think of.”

DeLauro said on the call that “this election is vital for the future” and that it is “essential that Catholic voices be present [and] truly represented in our public discourse.” She discussed issues such as expanding the child tax credit, expanding health care access, and providing paid leave. She also emphasized “welcoming the stranger.” 

“[This is the] Christian principle of caring for our neighbors,” DeLauro said. 

DeLauro alleged the Republican Party is “beholden to giant corporations” and that its policies would “exacerbate the inequality that already exists in this country.”

As a member of Congress, DeLauro has consistently voted in favor of abortion. She has an “F” rating from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.

Trump also launched a “Catholics for Trump” coalition earlier this month. The coalition lists its priorities as the defense of religious liberty, traditional values, and the sanctity of human life.

“If we are attacked because of our common baptism, maybe we should also live this common baptism,” said Father Nikodemus Schnabel, abbot of the Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem. / Credit: “EWTN News Nightly” screenshot

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Isabel Spruce-Vaughn was arrested twice for praying outside abortion clinics. / Credit:ADF UK

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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