8 quotes from saints on guardian angels

Gabriel Vance of Columbus, Ohio, prays the rosary, with his three young sons beside him, during the pro-life Men’s March in Baltimore on Nov. 15, 2021. / Shannon Mullen

Baltimore, Md., Nov 15, 2021 / 17:24 pm (CNA).

When the call went out for men to march and pray for the unborn in Baltimore on Monday, Gabriel Vance and his extended family turned out in droves.

A caravan of 20 of his family members made the seven-hour trek from Columbus, Ohio, including his own three boys, his brothers-in-law, and their sons.

“The greatest social issue we face is the issue of abortion, because it takes the lives of 2,300 human beings every day in America, and 200,000 human beings every day in our world,” said Vance, 26, who co-founded the pro-life group Catholics for Life with his wife Anna earlier this year.

“The Catholic Church,” he said, “needs to be taking a stand against that.” And that means Catholic men — bishops, priests, deacons, and laymen — can’t remain silent, he added.

Approximately 200 men and boys from across the country took part in the pro-life Men’s March on Monday. Held to coincide with the start of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ fall assembly, the march began in front of a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic and ended with the recitation of the rosary and speeches outside the Marriott Waterfront hotel, where the bishops are meeting this week.

Some of the youngest participants donned snow suits and mittens, because it was a cold, blustery November day, but the men and older boys marched in suits and ties, as the organizers requested. “We’re not here as protesters,” explained participant Larry Cirignano. “It was a simple message of Catholic men in support of life.”

But there also was a message marchers sought to deliver to the bishops. Signs and speeches called on the leaders of the Catholic Church in the U.S. to enforce Canon 915 of the Catholic Church’s Code of Canon Law, which says, in part, that those “obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin” should not be admitted to Holy Communion.

One of the chief items on the bishops’ agenda this week will be a vote on a proposed new document on the Eucharist. Though the document grew out of discussions over whether adamantly pro-abortion Catholic politicians, such as President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, ought to be allowed to receive Communion, the draft text under consideration doesn’t include any reference to politicians, nor any criteria for denying the sacrament in such cases.

“We simply want them to live the faith and fulfill the sacred offices that they hold,” said Jim Havens, a Catholic radio talk show host in Fort Myers, Fla. who co-organized Monday’s march with Father Stephen Imbarrato, a pro-life activist.

“Canon 915 is there. If it applies in any situation, it certainly applies with pro-abortion politicians. They have been talked to many, many times. They’re obstinate. It’s public, manifest grave sin, and then they’re still going forward and receiving the Holy Eucharist,” Havens said.

“We cannot say this is OK. Out of charity, out of love for them, as well as out of love for others, we have to say no, we have to apply Canon 915,” he said. 

Havens said he disagrees with those bishops who believe withholding Communion from pro-abortion politicians would politicize or “weaponize” the sacrament.

“This is not about politics. This is about morality. These are real people being murdered. So we have to push to make [abortion] illegal and unthinkable,” he said. “Not because it’s politics, but because it’s moral; it’s the morally right thing to do.”

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 26, 2021 / 08:15 am (CNA).- The Vatican’s doctrinal congregation has exonerated retired Bishop Joseph Hart of Cheyenne over numerous accusations of the sexual abuse of minors, but issued a canonical rebuke. 

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Madison, Wis., Mar 7, 2018 / 03:22 pm (CNA).- Fr. Alfred Kunz was a 67-year-old parish priest at St. Michael’s church in the rural town of Dane, Wisconsin.

He recorded radio shows and was known for his love of the traditional Latin Mass, serving as a parish priest for 31 years. He often cooked cod at the local fish fries on Friday nights in an effort to raise money for the parish school.

On March 4, 1998, Fr. Kunz was found dead in a pool of blood with a slit across his throat inside St. Michael’s school.

The killer was never found.

In an effort to revive Fr. Kunz’s cold case 20 years later, the local police department is launching a social media campaign to see if there is any new information on who killed the priest.

“On the 20th anniversary, we thought we would start releasing information to the public that has not been publicly released,” said David J. Mahoney, a Dane County Sheriff, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

“I’m at a position in this case now, that if we haven’t solved it in 20 years, we need to do something different,” Mahoney continued.

Theories behind the murder abound, ranging from an attempt to prevent the priest from exposing sexual abuse to the work of a Satanic temple active near the parish. Fr. Kunz was reported to have a harsh, controlling personality, and police officials had told reporters that there were suggestions of financial and sexual impropriety in connection with the priest.

The social media campaign includes posts from the police department with the hashtag #whokilledfatherkunz. The posts include information about the case, such as the murder weapon, which was never found, and various conversations that Fr. Kunz had in the last days of his life.

In addition to the campaign, Kunz’s cold case will be featured on season three of the podcast “Unsolved,” which is currently under production.

William Yallaly, chancellor of the Diocese of Madison, told CNA that the sheriff’s office initiated the investigation, but the diocese is in full support.

He noted that Bishop Robert Morlino, who currently heads the diocese, arrived several years after the death of Fr. Kunz, but said that the bishop has affirmed the sheriff in undertaking the campaign to re-open the case.

“We want the truth to come out, whatever it is,” Yallaly said.

Regarding reports of possible motives, he noted, “We have heard rumors, gossip, and third party accusations, but have not received any concrete accusations of romantic, sexual, or financial improprieties.”

He encouraged the faithful to “pray for the repose of the soul of Fr. Kunz.”

Over the weekend a Requiem Mass was celebrated in honor of Fr. Kunz, marking the twentieth anniversary of his death.

“He was a very holy man,” said Fr. Richard Heilman of St. Mary’s parish.

Although two decades have passed since his death, Mahoney hopes that the killer will come forward with a guilty conscience, or a perhaps a family member of the killer will offer new information.

In the initial investigation of the murder, the sheriff said, investigators may have focused too narrowly on one suspect, although there were several other people of interest.

However, Mahoney is hopeful that the new campaign could give them the second wind they need to close the case.

“We’re at the 10-yard line, but we’re pitted against a pretty strong defense and we need a good Aaron Rodgers to get us across the goal line.”

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