Brooklyn, N.Y., Jul 6, 2017 / 09:11 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Police are investigating a possible hate crime after a man threatened to kill a nun who was praying inside a Catholic Church in Brooklyn yesterday afternoon.
The nun is the Mother Superior of her community, according to the Diocese of Brooklyn, and was praying inside the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph around 2 p.m. when a shirtless man approached her.
In the video, the man can be seen meandering through the entrance and the nearly-empty church before he stops in at the pew in front of the praying nun.
He told the nun: “I don’t believe in this because you don’t help the poor.” When she did not respond, he said, “What did I say?”
At that moment, the nun looked around the church at a woman in another pew.
“She can’t help you. I’m going to kill you,” the man said. The video then shows the nun running out of the church to call for help.
In a press release, the Diocese described the man as African-American, bald, about 6’ tall with a medium build. He was wearing khaki shorts and white sneakers, and was carrying a white baseball-style cap in his hand and a shirt in his back pocket.
The nun was praying in the church while another sister from the parish is leading a service mission to assist the poor in West Virginia.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
CNA has reached out to the Diocese for additional comment.
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A young woman holds a pro-life sign during a rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on June 24, 2023, marking the first anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. / Joseph Portolano/CNA
Washington D.C., Jun 25, 2023 / 06:40 am (CNA).
Marking the first anniversary of Roe being overturned, a group of pro-life leaders rallied hundreds to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial Saturday with the message that they were united around the fight for full, legal protection for the unborn from the moment of conception in all 50 states.
Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, told those gathered on a sunny, hot summer day that while she celebrated the 25 states that have passed strong pro-life laws, “we are in fact living in a divided states of America” where “a person’s location determines if they will survive the abortion gauntlet as we did.”
Hawkins said the country must become “an America where every human being is recognized as the unrepeatable person as they are with equal rights and equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment guaranteed, not because of what state their mother resides in or if they are perceived to be convenient or the circumstances of their conception.”
Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, addresses the crowd at a pro-life rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial on June 24, 2023, marking the first anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Joseph Portolano/CNA
Hawkins told CNA that pro-life leaders are uniting around the belief “that every human being is a human person at conception” and that the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal justice clauses should be equally applied to persons in the womb.
“At a very minimum if you’re running for federal office, you should be able to acknowledge that abortion is a federal issue,” she said. “We want to see every presidential contender join with us to acknowledge what is so clearly written in the Fourteenth Amendment: that all human beings are human persons and deserve equal protection of our laws.”
Lila Rose, president of the pro-life group Live Action, called the Fourteenth Amendment “one of the most beautiful notes in our national song” and lamented that “when it comes to preborn children we have failed to extend these protections.”
Speaking at a rally in front of of the Lincoln Memorial on June 24, 2023, Lila Rose, president of the pro-life group Live Action, called it a “tragic contradiction” that “while our society celebrates advancements in prenatal care and technology, we simultaneously deny personhood and rights, the personhood and rights of these very same children.”. Joseph Portolano/CNA
Rose called it a “tragic contradiction” that “while our society celebrates advancements in prenatal care and technology, we simultaneously deny personhood and rights, the personhood and rights of these very same children. It is inconceivable that we would selectively deny these rights to one group of human beings solely based on their location: the womb.”
Republican presidential candidate and former Vice President Mike Pence, who recently called on his fellow GOP presidential candidates to join him in backing a “minimum” nationwide 15-week abortion limit, made an appearance at the rally.
“As we celebrate this anniversary, let us here resolve that we will work and we will pray as never before to advance the cause of life in the laws of the land in every state in America. That we will support women in crisis pregnancies with resources and support for their care, for the unborn, and for the newborn as never before,” Pence said.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, a 2024 GOP presidential candidate, addresses the crowd at a pro-life rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial on June 24, 2023, marking the first anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Joseph Portolano/CNA
“We stand for the babies and their unalienable right to life,” he said, pledging that he and his family “will never rest and never relent until we restore the sanctity of life to the center of American law in every state in the land.”
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-life America, shared words of advice for the growing list of 2024 presidential candidates: “Get your act together. Figure out what you’re for and advance it. Don’t wait,” she urged.
“We have consensus in this country,” she added. “Start with that and be the president you’re called to be in justice and love for moms and justice and love for their babies.” Consistent Gallup polling shows that the majority of Americans would prefer to limit abortion to the first three months of pregnancy.
There were many young people in the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial, including Katriel Nyman, a 17-year-old from Washington state who is with Students for Life Tri-Cities. She told CNA that it was “really encouraging to see a bunch of people who believe in rights from conception.”
She said she’d “like to see more pro-lifers continue to persevere through this” post-Dobbs fight because “even if abortion isn’t legal in your state, you should be fighting for the rights of infants that are soon to be born in other states.”
Sameerah Munshi, a recent graduate of Brown University who is interning with the Religious Freedom Institute, holds a sign with a verse from the Quran about the sanctity of life that reads “We have dignified the children of Adam,” at a pro-life rally at the Lincoln Memorial on June 24, 2023. Lauretta Brown/CNA
Sameerah Munshi, a recent graduate of Brown University who is interning with the Religious Freedom Institute, held a sign with a verse from the Quran about the sanctity of life that read “We have dignified the children of Adam.”
She told CNA that she wanted to make her voice heard as a Muslim who believes, based on her faith, that abortion is wrong in most cases. She said many Muslims followers feel, as she does, that life begins “in the first couple weeks after conception.”
Munshi said that in the year since the Dobbs decision, “a lot of people that I know who don’t have strong opinions on abortion have been coming out either in favor or against” abortion. She sees it as valuable that there’s more discourse about the abortion issue and people are “coming to more conclusions for themselves as opposed to maybe rhetoric that they’ve seen in the news or rhetoric that they feel has been a part of their political platform.”
Jessica Newell, a Catholic student who is interning with Live Action and entering her third year at Coastal Carolina University, told CNA that “it’s so important for people who are indoctrinated by this culture to learn the truth about biology and the truth about God and that they’re made in the image of God.”
She emphasized that the pro-life movement still has so much to do and part of that work is “letting people know that they’re loved, that is a big step in changing the culture to a culture of life.”
Melissa Ohden, who survived a saline-infusion abortion at 31 weeks gestation, stands alongside her oldest daughter Olivia, 15, at a pro-life rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on June 24, 2023. Joseph Portolano/CNA
Melissa Ohden, who survived a saline-infusion abortion at 31 weeks gestation, stood at the rally alongside her oldest daughter Olivia, 15, and a sign which read “Babies survive abortions. I am one of them.”
“This was a very personal thing for Roe to be overturned,” she told CNA, “It is a day that we can celebrate, but it has not been a chance to pause, take our breath, it has been a time of continuing to hit the ground running.”
In her work heading the Abortion Survivors Network, Ohden said that since the Dobbs decision she’s heard from “more women than ever reaching out to us after their chemical abortions have failed.” She said it’s important to reach moms who are vulnerable to chemical abortions which make up the majority of abortions in the country.
Ohden said that since Dobbs the pro-life movement “has continued to be the side that is providing resources and support whether it’s in communities, at the state level, pushing for federal policy that supports mothers and children and families in a greater way.”
Her daughter Olivia said it was “amazing” to be at the rally with her mom and called the issue an emotional one because “people like my mom should be protected no matter who they are, where they are.”
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 21, 2023 / 13:15 pm (CNA).
The chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party warned on Thursday of efforts from the Chinese government to subver… […]
Irondale, Ala., Aug 1, 2017 / 05:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- J.D. Flynn, a Catholic commentator currently serving the Diocese of Lincoln, has been named the new editor-in-chief of Catholic News Agency, which is part of the EWTN family.
“J.D. is a very talented writer and editor, and has very broad experience with the Church in the United States,” said Alejandro Bermudez, executive director of CNA. “This will be great for CNA and for the Church.”
Michael P. Warsaw, chairman of the board and CEO of EWTN, announced the appointment Aug. 1.
“I’m very glad to have him on board,” Warsaw said. “J.D.’s extensive background in diocesan administration and communications, and his work and training as a canon lawyer, bring a unique perspective to Catholic News Agency.”
EWTN said Flynn will manage CNA’s reporting for its news syndication service and for its social media audience. He will work to advance greater collaboration between CNA and the news coverage of EWTN news outlets the National Catholic Register and EWTN News Nightly.
Flynn will succeed former CNA editor-in-chief Marianne Medlin, who is pursuing her Ph.D., and will move to the role of editor-at-large.
“We’re thrilled to have J.D. with us,” Medlin said. “His reputation precedes him, and we are greatly looking forward to our collaboration moving forward.”
Flynn has written for First Things, National Review, the National Catholic Register, Catholic Vote and other publications. He holds a licentiate in canon law from the Catholic University of America as well as a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Franciscan University of Steubenville. He will begin his position Aug. 28.
“Both Michael Warsaw and Alejandro Bermudez are remarkable leaders – and CNA’s writers and editors are a talented and dynamic team,” Flynn said. “This is a group of people writing and thinking from the heart of the Church, telling important stories through the eyes of faith. I’m humbled to be offered this opportunity.”
He voiced gratitude to Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, whom he presently serves as special assistant and as the Diocese of Lincoln’s communications director. He said it was “a privilege” to serve Bishop Conley in Lincoln. Flynn has previously served as chancellor of the Archdiocese of Denver.
CNA has bureaus in the U.S., Europe, and South America. EWTN acquired CNA in 2014.
EWTN Global Catholic Network is the largest religious media network in the world. Its 11 television channels reach 268 million households in over 145 countries and territories. Its radio services includes Sirius/XM, iHeart Radio, and over 500 domestic and international radio affiliates.
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