USCCB after 9 killed in San Jose shooting: “Something fundamentally broken in our society”

The Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration from the Our Lady of Solitude Monastery in Tonopah, Arizona, accompanied by their local priest. / Mother Marie Andre Campbell

Denver, Colo., Aug 11, 2023 / 10:13 am (CNA).
On Aug. 11, the Catholic Church c… […]

Washington D.C., Nov 23, 2019 / 06:50 am (CNA).- Ashley Stricklin says she had a typical Texan upbringing. She was raised a Southern Baptist in a town outside of Dallas, with a family who was active in her church. Her father was a deacon in their Baptist church, and she accepted Jesus into her heart when she was nine.

Although Stricklin lived near a Catholic church, she had never been inside it, nor did she really know any Catholics–that is, until she went off to Baylor University, one of the largest Baptist-affiliated universities in the world. There, she met faithful Catholics, and embarked on a long, and at times even secretive, journey into the Catholic Church.

The Catholics Stricklin met at Baylor were “always so joyful,” which prompted her to begin to wonder what exactly was so different between the Catholic faith and the faith she was raised in. Despite her faithful Baptist upbringing, Stricklin said that she always felt as though “something was missing,” in her life, but could not quite put her finger on it.

Her new Catholic friends invited her to Eucharistic adoration, which was the first time Stricklin had ever seen the Blessed Sacrament–and she began to see exactly what she had been missing.

After that, everything changed, and she says she “started her journey” toward Catholicism. Three years later, that journey would reach a milestone, when she was received into the Church on April 28, 2019–Divine Mercy Sunday.

Stricklin received her first communion and confirmation at St. Peter’s Student Center, which is a campus ministry of the Diocese of Austin for students of Baylor University and nearby colleges.

Like many new Catholics, there were significant hurdles that Stricklin had to overcome before being received into the Church–both in the doctrinal sense and in the personal. For Stricklin, it was easy for her to come to accept teachings she had previously believed were wrong, such as the Immaculate Conception of Mary and Mary’s role as mediatrix of grace.

“I actually did a Marian consecration before I was confirmed,” said Stricklin. “And so it just went full circle for me.”

It was the reaction of her Baptist parents, however, that proved to be one of Stricklin’s biggest anxieties before entering the Church. Although Stricklin knew from early on in college that she wanted to become Catholic, she delayed entering the Church until her senior year, because she was afraid of how they would react.

“I definitely thought my parents were going to disown me,” Stricklin said. “That’s why I waited until I was a senior, because I didn’t think my parents would continue to pay for college.”

In the meantime, Stricklin read book after book about Catholicism, nearly exhausting the Baylor library’s section on Catholicism. She read everything from “Rome Sweet Home” to the “Summa Theologica,” eventually concentrating on conversion stories and books about the Eucharist.

Still, she kept all of her religious curiosity and plans a secret from her parents–for three years.

“I would hide my books,” she said. “I cleaned my (web) browsers, which was really not a good idea looking back now.”

Fearful still of her parents’ rejection, Stricklin waited until just two months before her First Communion and Confirmation to tell them what she was planning on doing. To her astonishment, while they were certainly taken aback, they neither abandoned her nor cut her off.

“I told my mom in February and she thought I was joking, like she just thought it was a joke,” she said, laughing. “I was like, ‘Oh no, mom, it’s not a joke.’”

Despite her fears, Stricklin’s mother attended her First Communion, and her father is supportive of her religious journey, both of which were pleasant surprises. Her grandparents, however, still do not know she has converted.

Stricklin chose St. John Paul II as her confirmation saint, something that she was hesitant to do as she thought it would reveal that she was a convert. Eventually, she realized this was silly, and went with him anyways. She said she chose St. John Paul II due to both her interest in Eastern Europe, and because she found his papacy and writings to be “truly inspiring.”

Stricklin is now a student at Creighton University School of Law, where will graduate in 2022. About seven months into her new journey as a fully-initiated Catholic, Stricklin remains intrigued and fulfilled by the Eucharist, and she continues to delve more into her faith.

After initially being intrigued by the Eucharist at her first-ever adoration, Stricklin says now that she considers the sacrament to be “such a joy” and that she eagerly looks forward to receiving it. And despite her initial troubles, fears, and everything else associated with the process of converting to Catholicism, she says things have been smooth sailing.

“It’s been an interesting journey, and each day I just continue to strive for sainthood and just keep trying to increase and my relationships with God, so, yeah, it’s been good,” she said. “It’s been a cool journey so far.”

This story is part of a CNA series profiling new converts to the Catholic faith.

[…]

Jefferson City, Mo., Apr 21, 2017 / 08:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Stronger medical standards for abortion clinics were thrown out in Missouri by a federal judge who cited a Supreme Court decision on a similar law in Texas.

The Missouri law required abortion clinics to have the same standards as similar outpatient surgical centers. The clinics’ doctors were also required to have hospital privileges.

U.S. District Judge Howard Sachs of the Western District of Missouri in Kansas City said April 19 that “relief should be prompt, given the needs of women seeking abortions and the need for available clinics to serve their needs.” He cited the 5-3 ruling of the 2016 Supreme Court decision Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt.

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley said he would appeal the decision, the St. Louis Dispatch reports.

“Today a federal court struck down large portions of Missouri law that protect the health and safety of women who seek to obtain an abortion,” he said. “Missouri has an obligation to do everything possible to ensure the health and safety of women undergoing medical procedures in state-licensed medical facilities.”

The surgical center standards, implemented for abortion clinics in 2007, include wide halls and doorways that can accommodate emergency personnel and equipment; separate male and female changing rooms for personnel; and a recovery room with space for at least four beds with sufficient clearance around each bed.

The law was credited for closing some abortion clinics in the state that could not meet the surgical standards.

There had been only one abortion provider in the state before the judge’s decision.

Now, Planned Parenthood has said it would start to restore abortion services in Columbia and Kansas City. It plans to begin performing the procedures in Joplin and Springfield.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2016 ruling said that the Texas law under consideration placed an “undue burden” on a woman’s right to an abortion and posed a “substantial obstacle” to that right without showing the benefit of regulation.

At the time of the decision, Deirdre McQuade, assistant director for pro-life communications at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, said the court “rejected a common-sense law protecting women from abortion facilities that put profits above patient safety.”

[…]