An 18-inch pipe bomb was found behind a Catholic church in Philadelphia and removed by the police department’s bomb squad.
According to a police report, a passerby found the pipe bomb behind St. Dominic Catholic Church in the Holmesburg neighborhood of the city at 1:39 p.m. on Sunday. The bomb squad removed the device and conducted an analysis of it. The report states that the bomb was a PVC pipe with capped ends and a black powder on it, but that the type of powder was still unknown. Part of Frankford Avenue was temporarily shut down while the bomb squad removed the device.
The church, which was constructed in 1896, is one of the oldest in Philadelphia. In August 2019, the Philadelphia Historical Commission added it to its official Register of Historic Places.
The area in which the pipe bomb was located was also near railroad tracks.
Philadelphia Police did not respond to questions about whether they believe the church had been targeted or whether they have any suspects, but instead referred CNA to the original police report. Neither the Archdiocese of Philadelphia nor St. Dominic Catholic Church could be reached for comment by the time of publication.
Although the target of the pipe bomb is still unclear, there have been at least 248 incidents of arson, vandalism, or other types of destruction against Catholic churches since May 2020, according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ tracker. Criminal acts include churches being set on fire, statues being defaced with paint or having the limbs or the head cut off, gravestones defaced with swastikas, and defacing church buildings and property with anti-Catholic language.
Among recent incidents, less than a month ago a woman was arrested after defacing the “Christ in Death” statue at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Fargo, North Dakota. The statue portrays Christ’s corpse lying on a burial shroud. On Jan. 10, a man shattered a glass window on the door of St. Mary Catholic Church in Escondido, California. This was the third time the Escondido church had been vandalized since Christmas of last year. On Jan. 16, two Catholic churches in Billings, Montana, were vandalized. In both incidents, some Church property was defaced and some of it was stolen. Two other non-Catholic churches were also vandalized in the same week in Billings.
In addition to attacks on Catholic churches, pro-life pregnancy centers have also been subject to vandalism. These attacks saw an uptick after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. There have been 57 attacks on pro-life pregnancy centers since May 2022, yet there have been very few arrests in relation to these crimes.
On Jan. 11, the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed a resolution condemning the attacks on pro-life pregnancy centers, pro-life organizations, and churches. The resolution passed 222-209 with only three Democratic lawmakers in the chamber supporting the measure: Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas; Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pennsylvania; and Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Washington. Three Republicans did not vote, but every other Republican voted in favor of the resolution.
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Leon is a baby boy cared for and loved at Mary’s Shelter, a pro-life maternity home in Fredericksburg, Virginia. / Courtesy of Mary’s Shelter
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 24, 2022 / 13:15 pm (CNA).
Amid a shortage of baby formula in the U.S., experts recommend parents scour smaller drug stores, check online, and join social media groups sharing information.
But here’s another, perhaps lesser-known, option they can also turn to for help: pregnancy resource centers.
Nearly 3,000 pro-life pregnancy centers serve millions of people each year in the United States. They offer women and parents in need everything from health care and material assistance to educational classes and job support — at little to no cost. Right now, for many of these centers, their work also includes connecting struggling families to baby formula.
One center in Michigan, an affiliate of Heartbeat International, a pro-life pregnancy resource center network, revealed to CNA that it has a surplus of formula.
“At this time, we haven’t heard of formula shortages at the pregnancy centers,” Andrea Trudden, vice president of communications and marketing at Heartbeat International, told CNA. “Quite the contrary, actually!”
Trudden recommended families turn to their local pregnancy help organizations for assistance and use OptionLine.org as a tool to find the center closest to them.
“Since pregnancy centers are equipped to help pregnant women and new families with practical resources such as diapers and formula,” Trudden said, “they have been able to step into that gap during this time.”
Some pro-life maternity homes in states such as Virginia and North Carolina said mothers are in desperate need and exploring all of their options, including feeding their babies with formula samples. But, these homes tell CNA, they are walking with mothers in their search, every step of the way.
What is this shortage about?
The nationwide baby formula shortage was caused, and then exacerbated, by a series of factors: supply-chain issues, recalls, the closure of a major production plant in February, and even U.S. trade policy. The result, data-firm company Datasembly found, is that more than 40 percent of baby formulas were out of stock in early May.
Babies with special needs and allergies rely on formula, along with babies in general. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 63.3% of infants were exclusively breastfeeding seven days after birth in 2018. Three months after birth, only 46.3% of infants exclusively breastfed. Six months after birth, that percentage changed to 25.8%
The trouble with formula began partially with the Covid-19 pandemic. Parents stockpiled baby formula at the beginning, which increased production, only to later discover that they had a surplus to use up, which decreased production.
After consuming formula from an Abbott plant in Sturgis, Michigan, four babies became sick, including two who died, from bacterial infections. This led to a recall and the plant shutting down in February.
These incidents exposed the formula market as one not structurally prepared for emergencies, with just four companies largely in control of supply in the United States. U.S. and regulatory trade policy only added to the problem, restricting the exchange of formula internationally, The Atlantic reported.
Months into the shortage, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reached an agreement with Abbott, one of the largest U.S. baby formula manufacturers, to reopen its Sturgis plant in the coming weeks. President Joe Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to prioritize the production of formula. And, in the meantime, the U.S. military has begun importing formula from Europe.
Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have called for action. Senate Democrats are pushing a bill that would send $28 million in emergency funding to the FDA. Congress passed, and Biden signed into law, a bill to expand access to formula for lower-income families during emergencies.
In the meantime, before the shelves are fully stocked once more, pregnancy centers and maternity homes around the country are helping parents in need.
“I have never seen this much formula. We have an overflow!” Lois Stoll, a volunteer who manages the formula supply at the center, said in a press release. The center, one of Heartbeat International’s 1,857 affiliate locations, accumulated its surplus over the last two years, during the pandemic.
“It really is the result of an unexpected set of circumstances,” Bryce Asberg, the executive director, added in the release. “During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of clients fell but donations continued to come in.”
Baby formula is stored on shelves at Helping Hands Pregnancy Resource Center in Hillsdale, Michigan. Courtesy of Helping Hands
Asberg told CNA that the center has been running a material assistance program for several years where it provides mothers and families with baby clothes, diapers, wipes, and baby food or formula.
“We still offer all those items to clients who come in, but recently we have noticed a surge of interest in formula,” he said. “God has been building our supply of formula for many months, and we didn’t know why we had so much. Now we do!”
Washington, D.C.
In Washington, D.C., Janet Durig, the executive director of Capitol Hill Pregnancy Center, said that her center also has baby formula on hand.
“We’ve had some phone calls seeking help and we’ve had formula to give them,” she told CNA. But, she emphasized, the supply is limited because they rely on donations.
“We have it to help people on a limited basis and are helping people on a limited basis,” she said, adding that the center welcomes donations of unopened bottles or cans of formula as long as they have not expired.
Connecticut
Leticia Velasquez, executive director and co-founder of Pathways Pregnancy in Norwich, Connecticut, encouraged moms and families to reach out if they need formula.
She told CNA that the three-year-old center is there for any woman or mom in need.
“We just say, ‘How can we fill the need? That’s what we’re here for,’” she said. “We definitely stand with them in any crisis, whether it be a formula shortage or an unplanned pregnancy.”
Parents in eastern Connecticut looking for baby formula can text the center at (860) 222-4505.
North Carolina
Debbie Capen, the executive director of MiraVia, said that the baby formula shortage is affecting her group’s work in supporting and providing resources to new moms in need. The Catholic nonprofit runs an outreach center in Charlotte and a free college residence at nearby Belmont Abbey College where a pregnant student — from any university or college — can stay until her child turns two years old.
“Yes, the mothers we serve are very concerned about the baby formula shortage,” Capen told CNA. “We always encourage breastfeeding for our expectant mothers, but for those who cannot breastfeed, they usually rely on vouchers for baby formula through the USDA’s WIC program.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s WIC program, also known as the “Special Supplementation Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children,” offers federal grants to states for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant and postpartum women, and young children at nutritional risk.
Capen highlighted that WIC only covers one specific brand of formula, which means that moms must pay full price for any other label. Formula is at a premium price right now, she added, which only puts more stress on their limited resources.
In each state, baby formula manufacturers bid for exclusive rights to provide formula to WIC participants in that state. In return, they offer the state discounts, or rebates. For those who rely on WIC, this means that they face limited options.
In response to the scarcity, the mothers at MiraVia are turning to alternatives: food pantries and the MiraVia community.
“They communicate with our staff and each other when they find formula at a certain location, as well as contact stores to find out when shipments are expected,” Capen said. “They substitute with generic brands when possible and reach out to their pediatricians for recommendations and even free samples.”
Capen listed some ways that people can help during this shortage, beginning with communication and the sharing of resources.
“For example, you can help by searching posts on social media and community apps like NextDoor or OfferUp to find those with formula and suggest where it can be donated,” she said. “Remind friends and family not to stockpile so that the supply of formula can flow to those in most urgent need. If you are pregnant and have received free samples of formula, donate what you won’t use to food pantries or programs for new mothers.”
Virginia
Kathleen Wilson, the executive director of Mary’s Shelter, a faith-centered maternity home in Fredericksburg, Virginia, agreed that “our moms have had many difficulties.”
She told CNA about one of their mothers who gave birth to her fourth baby three months ago. At first, she used a formula brand called Enfamil Reguline. After it became unavailable, she began switching between brands and using whatever she can find, Wilson said. The mother has also tried ordering on Amazon and turned to her pediatrician for samples.
Yaretzi is a baby girl cared for and loved at Mary’s Shelter, a pro-life maternity home in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Courtesy of Mary’s Shelter
“This is a mom who is trying to hold down a job, with an infant and other children to tend to,” Wilson stressed the “very difficult” situation.
Wilson said that two of the other mothers spent days driving around at one point to try to find formula for their babies. When necessary, they are also turning to sample packets of baby formula.
“Our staff and volunteers have been assisting with this and picking up and delivering formula when they can get their hands on it,” Wilson said, adding that donors have also pitched in.
“We are blessed with wonderful donors,” she said. “A friend just stopped in this morning with two cans of formula that he was able to find.”
“If donors are willing and can find formula, we would be thrilled to take their donation,” she said, concluding that she is “praying this comes to an end soon.”
Washington D.C., Jan 26, 2023 / 14:00 pm (CNA).
The Catholic bishops of Minnesota urged lawmakers to vote down a bill that would codify the right to abortion, proposing instead a slate of pro-family measures that they say will reduc… […]
Christ’s Appearance to Mary Magdalene after the Resurrection / / Alexander Ivanov
ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 10, 2023 / 05:00 am (CNA).
On Easter Monday, the Catholic Church celebrates what’s called “Monday of the Angel.” In many countries in Europe and South America, this day, also known as “Little Easter,” is a national holiday.
In a Vatican Radio recording in 1994, Pope John Paul II gave an explanation for Monday of the Angel:
“Why is it called that?” the pope asked, highlighting the need for an angel to call out from the depths of the grave: “He is risen.”
These words “were very difficult to proclaim, to express, for a person,” John Paul II said. “Also, the women that were at the tomb encountered it empty but couldn’t tell ‘he had risen’; they only affirmed that the tomb was empty. The angel said more: “He is not here, he has risen.”
The Gospel of St. Matthew puts it this way: “Then the angel said to the women in reply, ‘Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ Behold, I have told you” (Mt 28:5-7).
Angels are servants and messengers of God. As purely spiritual beings, they have intellects and wills. They are personal and immortal. They surpass all visible beings in their perfection.
Christ himself gives testimony to the angels when he said: “The angels in Heaven always see the face of my father who is in Heaven!” (Mt 18:10).
Christ is the center of the universe and angels belong to him. Even more so, because he made them messengers of his plan of salvation: an angel announced his conception to the Blessed Mother at the Annunciation and an angel proclaimed his Resurrection to Mary Magdalene.
From Easter Monday until the end of Easter at Pentecost, the Church prays the Regina Caeli instead of the Angelus at the noon hour.
On Monday of the Angel in 2008, Pope Benedict XVI said the text of the Regina Caeli “is like a new ‘Annunciation’ to Mary, this time not made by an angel but by us Christians who invite the Mother to rejoice because her Son, whom she carried in her womb, is risen as he promised.”
He continued: “Indeed, ‘rejoice’ was the first word that the heavenly messenger addressed to the Virgin in Nazareth. And this is what it meant: Rejoice, Mary, because the Son of God is about to become man within you. Now, after the drama of the Passion, a new invitation to rejoice rings out: ‘Gaude et laetare, Virgo Maria, alleluia, quia surrexit Dominus vere, alleluia’ — Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia. Rejoice because the Lord is truly risen, alleluia!”
Regina Caeli (English)
V. Queen of Heaven, rejoice, alleluia.
R. For he whom you did merit to bear, alleluia.
V. Has risen, as he said, alleluia.
R. Pray for us to God, alleluia.
V. Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia.
R. For the Lord has truly risen, alleluia.
V. Let us pray. O God, who gave joy to the world through the resurrection of Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, grant we beseech Thee, that through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, His Mother, we may obtain the joys of everlasting life. Through the same Christ our Lord.
R. Amen.
Regina Caeli (Latin)
V. Regina caeli, laetare, alleluia.
R. Quia quem meruisti portare, alleluia.
V. Resurrexit, sicut dixit, alleluia.
R. Ora pro nobis Deum, alleluia.
V. Gaude et laetare, Virgo Maria, alleluia.
R. Quia surrexit Dominus vere, alleluia.
V. Oremus. Deus, qui per resurrectionem Filii tui, Domini nostri Iesu Christi, mundum laetificare dignatus es: praesta, quaesumus; ut per eius Genetricem Virginem Mariam, perpetuae capiamus gaudia vitae. Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum.
R. Amen.
This article was originally published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news parter. It was translated and adapted by Jeanette De Melo at the National Catholic Register on March 4, 2021, and updated April 6, 2023.
Given all the attacks that have been directed at the church and pro-life centers, it should be obvious this bomb was intended to damage or demolish the church. It would appear that the pro-abortion movement has recently escalated it’s violence from just killing babies to also potentially killing any passerby who happens to get in the way of their bombs and point of view. You had to know that the new Roe decision would not end with simple death threats to supreme court justices and their families. Little by little their violence has escalated, in large part because the Democrats will do nothing to stop it, not even enforce the laws which would help stem the violence.That democrat government officials would refuse to condemn the violence directed against pro-life centers in it’s recent vote is an indictment against those democrats in particular, the democratic party, it’s entire platform, and those who vote to support them being in office. I am not young, and never in my life have I seen such corrupt, morally bankrupt and conscience-free people running our government. Those who voted them into office need to spend this Lent repenting for their actions.
I appreciate your condemnation of Catholics who continue to vote for Democratic Party candidates in spite of the many evidences that the Democratic Party Platform advocates pro-abortion/pro-death laws. Many Catholic and Protestant Democrats insist that the Democrats are the party of the poor, the minorities, the working class, the women and children, and that the Democratic Party is anti-war.” What’s worse is that they insist that the Republican Party is the Party of “rich fat cats” who oppress the poor, the minorities, the working class, the women, and the children” and that Republicans are “war-mongers.” Somehow, Catholics and other Christians must come to grips with reality. I know the Church cannot preach politics from the pulpit–but lay Catholics can speak up and tell their fellow Catholics to vote PRO-LIFE, even if that means voting for the “rich fat cat Republicans”. As Christians, we do not need the government to enable us–we are capable and ready to help the poor and the oppressed, fight racism, support companies that offer living wages and benefits to their workers, help women to achieve their highest goals, and PROTECT children!!! We’re already doing all that and have done so for 2000 years! It is the Democrats, not the Republicans, who are obstructing our efforts to do good in this world. I’m fed up with the “forbidding of politics” in the Church!!! I don’t want a “Moral Majority” movement, but I also think that Catholics need to stop living in the John F. Kennedy “Camelot” era and start wising up about their votes! If we don’t, I expect that in the near future, CATHOLICISM will be outlawed as a “hate group” by the Democratic legislatures.
Given all the attacks that have been directed at the church and pro-life centers, it should be obvious this bomb was intended to damage or demolish the church. It would appear that the pro-abortion movement has recently escalated it’s violence from just killing babies to also potentially killing any passerby who happens to get in the way of their bombs and point of view. You had to know that the new Roe decision would not end with simple death threats to supreme court justices and their families. Little by little their violence has escalated, in large part because the Democrats will do nothing to stop it, not even enforce the laws which would help stem the violence.That democrat government officials would refuse to condemn the violence directed against pro-life centers in it’s recent vote is an indictment against those democrats in particular, the democratic party, it’s entire platform, and those who vote to support them being in office. I am not young, and never in my life have I seen such corrupt, morally bankrupt and conscience-free people running our government. Those who voted them into office need to spend this Lent repenting for their actions.
I appreciate your condemnation of Catholics who continue to vote for Democratic Party candidates in spite of the many evidences that the Democratic Party Platform advocates pro-abortion/pro-death laws. Many Catholic and Protestant Democrats insist that the Democrats are the party of the poor, the minorities, the working class, the women and children, and that the Democratic Party is anti-war.” What’s worse is that they insist that the Republican Party is the Party of “rich fat cats” who oppress the poor, the minorities, the working class, the women, and the children” and that Republicans are “war-mongers.” Somehow, Catholics and other Christians must come to grips with reality. I know the Church cannot preach politics from the pulpit–but lay Catholics can speak up and tell their fellow Catholics to vote PRO-LIFE, even if that means voting for the “rich fat cat Republicans”. As Christians, we do not need the government to enable us–we are capable and ready to help the poor and the oppressed, fight racism, support companies that offer living wages and benefits to their workers, help women to achieve their highest goals, and PROTECT children!!! We’re already doing all that and have done so for 2000 years! It is the Democrats, not the Republicans, who are obstructing our efforts to do good in this world. I’m fed up with the “forbidding of politics” in the Church!!! I don’t want a “Moral Majority” movement, but I also think that Catholics need to stop living in the John F. Kennedy “Camelot” era and start wising up about their votes! If we don’t, I expect that in the near future, CATHOLICISM will be outlawed as a “hate group” by the Democratic legislatures.