Rector agrees to delay departure from Rome’s North American College

Archbishop Dennis Schnurr celebrates Mass at the tomb of St. Peter along with other bishops from the United States’ Region VI during their ad limina visit to the Holy See. / David Kerr/CNA

Denver Newsroom, Jul 20, 2021 / 17:01 pm (CNA).

The Archbishop of Cincinnati on Tuesday said he was not informed of President Biden’s upcoming visit to a Catholic university in his archdiocese. He did not approve the university hosting the event.

On Wednesday, July 21, President Joe Biden will appear at a townhall event broadcast by CNN and hosted by Mount Saint Joseph University in Cincinnati. The university is sponsored by the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati.

News of the event’s location was reported on Tuesday. Archbishop Dennis Schnurr then issued a statement saying that he “has not been contacted by any involved party” regarding Biden’s appearance at the university.

“Archbishop Schnurr has therefore not been asked for, nor would he have granted, his approval for any such event to occur on Catholic premises,” the archdiocese stated.

The archdiocese did not immediately respond to CNA’s request for clarification as to why Archbishop Schnurr would have refused approval of the event. Mount Saint Joseph University did not immediately respond to a request for comment by CNA on Tuesday afternoon.

Regarding the July 21 townhall, CNN.com reported that CNN anchor Don Lemon will moderate the one-hour event, which will cover “a wide range of issues facing the nation ranging from Covid-19 to the economy.”

President Biden is the second Catholic president in U.S. history. While the U.S. bishops’ conference has praised some of his administration’s policies on immigration and fighting poverty, conference president Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles stated in January his concern about Biden’s policies on abortion, gender issues, and religious freedom.

“I must point out that our new President has pledged to pursue certain policies that would advance moral evils and threaten human life and dignity, most seriously in the areas of abortion, contraception, marriage, and gender,” Gomez stated.  “Of deep concern is the liberty of the Church and the freedom of believers to live according to their consciences.”

In January, Biden stated his support for Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court’s 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide, on the 48^th anniversary of the ruling.

Biden’s budget request for the 2022 fiscal year included taxpayer-funded abortion by excluding the Hyde Amendment. The amendment has been federal policy since 1976, and prohibits federal funding of abortions in Medicaid. Biden once supported the policy as a U.S. senator, but reversed his support in 2019 as a presidential candidate.

He also supports the Equality Act, legislation which recognizes sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes in federal law; the U.S. bishops’ conference has opposed the legislation, saying it would codify transgender ideology in law and would “punish” religious groups that object to the LGBT agenda.

Biden’s administration is also seeking to reinstate the “transgender mandate,” policy which would force doctors and insurance companies to perform or cover gender-transitioning procedures upon the referral from a mental health professional.

The Sisters of Charity in Cincinnati are members of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR).

[…]

An image of the Immaculate Heart of Mary at St. Peter’s Church, Vienna, Austria. | Pope Francis / Diana Ringo via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 3.0 at) | Vatican Media

Denver Newsroom, Mar 24, 2022 / 15:25 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis will consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on the evening of Friday, March 25, entrusting the nations to Mary’s help and protection amid the ongoing conflict there. The pope has asked everyone in the world to join him.

The consecration itself will take the form of a prayer that Pope Francis will recite during a penitential service in Rome. 

Here’s the prayer. Your diocese or parish is likely organizing a gathering to pray it together.

If you want to join the pope at the beginning of the penitential service, the service will start at 5 p.m. Rome time. EWTN will broadcast the service on cable and online. CNA will also be carrying the livestream on our Facebook page. 

If you want to join in praying with Pope Francis at the exact moment he is praying the prayer of consecration, that will likely happen closer to 6:30 p.m. Rome time, according to the pope.

When is 6:30 p.m. Rome time for you? Here’s a handy cheat sheet:

6:30 p.m. Rome

6:30 p.m. — West Africa Standard Time (Nigeria)

5:30 p.m. — GMT (London)

1:30 p.m. — Eastern Time (New York, Washington, Miami)

12:30 p.m. — Central Time (Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas)

11:30 a.m. — Mountain Time (Denver, Salt Lake City)

10:30 a.m. — Pacific Time (Los Angeles, Seattle)

9:30 a.m. — Alaska Daylight Time (Anchorage, Juneau)

7:30 a.m. — Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time (Honolulu)

04:30 a.m. (Saturday) — Sydney, Melbourne

02:30 a.m. (Saturday) — Japan

01:30 a.m. (Saturday) — Perth; China

8:30 p.m. — Moscow

7:30 p.m. — Helsinki, Kyiv

[…]

Protests in Granada, Nicaragua, April 29, 2018. / Riderfoot/Shutterstock.

Managua, Nicaragua, Oct 25, 2021 / 11:11 am (CNA).
The Nicaraguan bishops’ conference called Thursday on citizens to act freely and to vote according to their conscience a… […]