null / Credit: Ivon19 / Wikipedia (public domain) (CC-BY-SA-4.0)
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 8, 2022 / 21:00 pm (CNA).
Vermont will be among the first states to enshrine abortion rights in its constitution, according to a local news outlet that reported a pro-abortion proposal in that state passed Tuesday.
VTDigger, which covers news in Vermont and is a project of The Vermont Journalism Trust, Ltd., announced that Article 22, also known as Proposal 5, passed in that state through a ballot initiative during the midterm elections.
“With more than 142,000 votes counted, ‘yes’ votes for Proposal 5 outnumbered ‘no’ votes by a margin of 72%-22%, according to a preliminary vote count released by the Secretary of State’s Office at 9:10 p.m. Tuesday,” the outlet reported. “Roughly 5% left the question blank.”
Following VTDigger’s conclusion, several other organizations considered the proposal passed, including the ACLU.
As of 10:15 p.m. EST, the New York Times reported 26% of votes counted, with 76.1% voting “yes” and 23.9% voting “no.”
Americans in five states voted on the issue of abortion during the 2022 midterm elections. Three states — California, Michigan, and Vermont — proposed constitutional amendments to advance abortion. At the same time, citizens in Kentucky were weighing a pro-life amendment and Montana voters were deciding a measure that promises to protect babies who are born alive after attempted abortions.
On Election Day, Vermont citizens voted on the constitutional amendment Article 22, or Proposal 5, which promotes abortion.
Its text reads: “That an individual’s right to personal reproductive autonomy is central to the liberty and dignity to determine one’s own life course and shall not be denied or infringed unless justified by a compelling State interest achieved by the least restrictive means.”
Abortion is legal in the state up until birth.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington, which includes the entire state of Vermont, republished an article in its diocesan bulletin warning that the amendment “promises to enshrine unlimited, unregulated abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy in our state’s founding document” and “would permanently block any attempt to protect the unborn — even those who can survive outside the womb.”
Led by pro-abortion groups, Vermont for Reproductive Liberty Ballot Committee argued instead that “we need this amendment because important medical decisions should be guided by a patient’s health and well-being, not by a politician’s beliefs.”
This is a developing story.
If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!
Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.
Cardinal Marc Ouellet takes part in the Pontifical Council for Culture’s Plenary Assembly on Women’s Cultures in Rome on Feb. 6, 2015. / Bohumil Petrik/CNA.
CNA Newsroom, Apr 5, 2024 / 13:10 pm (CNA).
A French court in Lorient, in Brittany, on Wednesday fined Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, PSS; the Dominican Sisters of the Holy Spirit in Pontcallec; and two apostolic visitors, Jean-Charles Nault and Maylis Desjobert, for the wrongful dismissal of Sabine Baudin de la Valette, whose religious name was Mother Marie Ferréol, according to LaCroix International.
Baudin de la Valette, 57, had reportedly lived in the monastery since 1987 without any significant incidents and then in 2011 denounced “serious abuses and facts” happening in the community. The situation then escalated, her lawyer said.
After 34 years of religious life, Baudin de la Valette was dismissed from her community in October 2020 after a visit from Ouellet. It was never made public what exactly the Vatican accused her of, and a complaint to Pope Francis against her dismissal was unsuccessful, according to The Tablet, which reported that the former sister said the dismissal decree “accused her of having an evil spirit but gave no concrete reasons.”
The French court has now said that the dismissal decree signed by Ouellet is not legally binding.
According to the court’s ruling, “in canon law, as in civil law, anyone who claims to be delegated must prove his delegation.” However, Ouellet did not present a specific mandate from the pope and was therefore not authorized to execute decrees of dismissal in a religious order. All decrees were signed by the cardinal or his secretary.
The court also said it was “surprised” that Ouellet “did not resign in his capacity as a close friend of one of the sisters of the Institute of the Dominican Sisters of the Holy Spirit.”
The court accused the religious community, among other things, of not correctly following the dismissal procedure. There was no prior warning and no reason for the dismissal from the community.
In addition, the court said, the community breached its duty of care when dismissing Baudin de la Valette, who was not offered any financial compensation that would have enabled her to “enjoy appropriate civil living conditions after 34 years of religious life and service to her community in the spirit of justice and charity as set out in canon law.”
With regard to the two apostolic visitors Nault and Desjobert, the court found that Nault had “impaired the exercise of the fundamental rights of the defense.” Every person, regardless of status, has “the right to know the exact nature of the acts they are accused of before being sentenced.”
“The visitors were not authorized to ignore the rules of canon law and general legal principles,” the court said.
After the verdict was announced, the attorneys for the Dominican Sisters and the apostolic visitors immediately announced they would appeal the decision.
Washington D.C., Oct 26, 2021 / 13:40 pm (CNA).
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I discussed religious freedom and climate change with U.S. leaders on Monday in Washington, D.C., and announced an interfaith initiati… […]
Saint Peter’s Chapel and Native American Museum at Saint Kateri Tekakwitha National Shrine and Historic Site in Fonda, New York. / Photo courtesy of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha National Shrine and Historic Site
Chicago, Ill., Jul 13, 2023 / 12:00 pm (CNA).
Shrines to various saints can be found in every part of the world, including every state in the U.S. Each one is dedicated to faith and prayer, but one shrine in the northeastern United States also has a distinct mission of connecting pilgrims with Native American culture and sharing the fascinating history of Kateri Tekakwitha, the first American Indian to be canonized a saint.
The Saint Kateri Tekakwitha National Shrine and Historic Site in Fonda, New York, honors not only the life of St. Kateri, whose feast day is July 14, but also the life and history of the local Indigenous people to whom she belonged.
“We have cultivated strong ties to both the Catholic Mohawk community and the traditional Mohawk community,” said Melissa Miscevic Bramble, director of operations at the St. Kateri Shrine, in an interview with CNA. “We see it as our mission to educate about her Mohawk culture as well as her Catholic faith.”
Who was St. Kateri?
Called the Lily of the Mohawks, Kateri Tekakwitha was the child of a Mohawk father and a Christian Algonquin mother but was orphaned at age 4 when the rest of her family died of smallpox. Her own early bout with the illness left lasting scars and poor vision.
She went to live with an anti-Christian uncle and aunt, but at age 11 she encountered Jesuit missionaries and recognized their teaching as the beliefs of her beloved mother. Desiring to become a Christian, she began to privately practice Christianity.
Beginning at about age 13, she experienced pressure from her family to marry, but she wanted to give her life to Jesus instead. A priest who knew her recorded her words: “I have deliberated enough. For a long time, my decision on what I will do has been made. I have consecrated myself entirely to Jesus, son of Mary, I have chosen him for husband, and he alone will take me for wife.”
At last, she was baptized at about age 19, and her baptism made public her beliefs, which had been kept private up until then. The event was the catalyst for her ostracism from her village. Some members of her people believed that her beliefs were sorcery, and she was harassed, stoned, and threatened with torture in her home village.
Tekakwitha fled 200 miles to Kahnawake, a Jesuit mission village for Native Amerian converts to Christianity to live together in community. There, she found her mother’s close friend, Anastasia Tegonhatsiongo, who was a clan matron of a Kahnawake longhouse. Anastasia and other Mohawk women took Kateri under their wings and taught her about Christianity, and she lived there happily for several years until her death around age 23 or 24.
Although she never took formal vows, Tekakwitha is considered a consecrated virgin, and the United States Association of Consecrated Virgins took her as its patron. She is also the patron saint of traditional ecology, Indigenous peoples, and care for creation.
A shrine with a special mission
The Saint Kateri Tekakwitha National Shrine and Historic Site has a unique mission of archaeological and historical research related to Kateri Tekakwitha and her people. Welcoming several thousand visitors per year, the shrine ministers not only to Christians but also to all American Indians.
According to its website, the shrine and historic site “promotes healing, encourages environmental stewardship, and facilitates peace for all people by offering the natural, cultural, and spiritual resources at this sacred site.” Describing itself as a sacred place of peace and healing with a Catholic identity, its ministry and site are intended to be ecumenical and welcome people of all faiths.
In keeping with this mission, the shrine’s grounds include an archaeological site, the village of Caughnawaga, which is the only fully excavated Iroquois/Haudenosaunee village in the world. St. Kateri lived in this village, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. Visitors can also visit the Kateri Spring, where Kateri Tekakwitha was baptized.
“The water from the Kateri Spring is considered holy water by the Catholic Church,” Bramble said. “People are welcome to come take the waters, and we regularly get reports of healing. We’ve sent that water all over North America to folks who have requested it.”
Besides the archaeological site, the main grounds of the shrine include St. Peter’s Chapel, housed in a former Dutch barn built in 1782; museum exhibits of Native American culture and history; St. Maximilian Kolbe Pavilion; a Candle Chapel dedicated to St. Kateri; Grassmann Hall and the Shrine office; a friary; a gift shop; an outdoor sanctuary; and maintenance facilities. The 150-acre property includes hiking trails that are open to the public year-round from sunrise to sunset.
Peace Grove at Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Shrine and Historic Site in Fonda, New York. Photo courtesy of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Shrine and Historic Site
Outside the Candle Chapel, which is always open for prayer, visitors can participate in a ministry of “Kateri crosses.”
“St. Kateri was known for going into the forest, gathering sticks, binding them into crosses, and then spending hours in prayer in front of crosses she created,” Bramble said. Sticks are gathered from the shrine grounds and visitors are invited to make their own “Kateri crosses” and take them home to use as a prayer aid. Bramble shared that the shrine sends materials for Kateri crosses to those who aren’t able to visit, including recently to a confirmation group.
The feast day weekend
The Saint Kateri Tekakwitha National Shrine has a schedule of special events planned for St. Kateri’s feast day on July 14. Bramble said they anticipate several hundred visitors for the feast day events this year, which include Masses, a healing prayer service, and talks. (A listing of the full schedule can be found here.)
The weekend Masses, which include special blessings and the music of the Akwesasne Mohawk Choir, “incorporate American Indian spiritual practices in keeping with the Catholic Church,” Bramble said. “The Akwesasne Mohawk Choir is made up of descendants of St. Kateri’s community who lived in the area historically.”
Bramble described numerous events each year that partner with the local American Indian community, such as the fun-filled “Three Sisters Festival” in May (celebrating corn, beans, and squash — the “three sisters” that were staples of Native cuisine), healing Masses during Indigenous Peoples’ Week in October, and a recent interfaith prayer service with Mohawk elders.
“There is a reestablished traditional Mohawk community a few miles west of the shrine, and we feel very blessed that we’ve been able to cultivate a very cooperative and mutually respectful relationship with the folks there,” Bramble said.
The Saint Kateri Shrine is also a great place for families. Events often include activities and crafts for children, there is an all-ages scavenger hunt available at the site, and the shrine’s museum is “a phenomenal educational opportunity.”
Bringing together American Indian archaeology and history with the story of St. Kateri, the shrine and its programs shed light on the saint’s story and keep alive the traditions and history of her people.
Leave a Reply