A Catholic priest who serves at St. Mary’s Catholic Cathedral in Amarillo, Texas, was pepper-sprayed while hearing confessions last week, according to a statement from the parish.
The parish said in a statement on Facebook that “someone dealing with mental health issues” sprayed rector Father Tony Neusch with the irritant while he was hearing confessions.
Police are investigating the incident. It’s unclear whether officers have identified a suspect at this time.
“I am okay and do not require medical attention,” Neusch said in the statement.
The cathedral has temporarily suspended its twice-a-week regular confessions, with priests only hearing confessions by appointment for the time being.
Regular confessions will resume after the cathedral installs security cameras in the chapel, according to the statement.
“I am sorry for any inconvenience this may cause, but the safety of our confessors and those waiting to receive the sacrament needs to be preserved,” Neusch said in the statement.
The priest declined comment when reached by CNA on Monday.
The Amarillo Police Department, meanwhile, did not immediately provide the police report to CNA and declined to comment on the incident.
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Bishop David O’Connell of the Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey. / Credit: Courtesy of the Diocese of Trenton
CNA Newsroom, Jan 5, 2024 / 13:05 pm (CNA).
Bishop David M. O’Connell of the Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey, is recovering in a hospital in Rome after suffering a heart attack Thursday, the diocese said.
“He was taken to Santo Spirito hospital where he had surgery to open a completely closed artery,” the diocese said in a written statement Friday. “… Bishop O’Connell is resting comfortably after a successful surgery. He asks that you keep him in your prayers as he recovers.”
O’Connell, 68, was in Italy to lead a pilgrimage of 20 priests and two members of the diocese’s staff to holy sites in Rome and Assisi. The pilgrimage was due to start Friday.
The pilgrims are planning to attend a Mass with Pope Francis at St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday celebrating the solemnity of the Epiphany as well as Masses at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls and the Basilica of St. Mary Major, which are also in Rome.
Bishop David O’Connell enjoys a meal in Rome on Jan. 3, 2024, with priests from the Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey: Monsignor Thomas N. Gervasio, Monsignor Sam Sirianni, Father Juan Daniel Peirano, and Father Jean Felicien. Credit: Courtesy of the Diocese of Trenton
In Assisi, the itinerary includes visits to three basilicas: St. Mary of the Angels, St. Francis, and St. Clare. It also includes a visit to the Church of St. Mary Major to see the tomb of Blessed Carlo Acutis (1991–2006), the Italian teenager who created a website documenting Eucharistic miracles and who helped his classmates and parents connect with the Catholic faith, according to TrentonMonitor.com, the diocese’s news website.
On Tuesday, O’Connell prayed at the tomb of Pope Benedict XVI, who appointed him a bishop. On Wednesday, O’Connell attended a general audience of Pope Francis at the Vatican’s Paul VI Audience Hall, where he greeted the pope twice, according to TrentonMonitor.com.
Bishop David O’Connell greets Pope Francis during the Jan. 3, 2024, general audience in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican. Credit: Courtesy of the Diocese of Trenton
O’Connell is a member of the Congregation of the Mission, which is more commonly known as the Vincentians, after its founder, St. Vincent de Paul.
He shares the same first and last name with Bishop David G. O’Connell (1953–2023), an auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles who was shot to death in his home in February 2023.
O’Connell has a doctorate in canon law from The Catholic University of America, where he later served as president from 1998 to 2010. He has served as bishop of Trenton, which covers four counties in central New Jersey, since 2010.
He has suffered from health problems. In December 2014, O’Connell had the lower part of his left leg amputated because of recurring infections caused by diabetes. After physical therapy, he returned in April 2015 to celebrate Mass on Palm Sunday at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption in Trenton.
In November 2023, he was elected chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Catholic Education, which provides guidance for Catholic elementary schools, secondary schools, and colleges. The committee also, according to the bishops’ conference’s website, “advocates for federal public policies in education that are consistent with Catholic values and that uphold parental rights and responsibilities regarding education.”
CNA Staff, Aug 20, 2020 / 05:35 pm (CNA).- After some caucus meetings at the Democratic National Convention omitted the words “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance, the Knights of Columbus told CNA the words represent a fundamental American belief, and said the group is proud of its role in their addition to the pledge.
“The Knights of Columbus is proud of our instrumental role in persuading Congress to add the words ‘under God’ to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954,” Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Carl Anderson told CNA Aug. 20.
“Those words express a fundamental belief that we have held as a nation since our founding, that we are endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights,” Anderson added.
Anderson’s remark came amid reports that at meetings held as part of the Democratic National Convention, delegates omitted the words “under God” as they led the Pledge of Allegiance. The omissions came during meetings of the DNC’s Muslim caucus and LGBTQ caucus.
The Pledge of Allegiance in its modern form was composed in 1892, and officially recognized by Congress in 1942. The Knights of Columbus were instrumental in encouraging that the words “under God” be officially adopted into the Pledge of Allegiance in the early 1950s.
Along with other groups, the Knights of Columbus advocated for inclusion of the phrase, and in early 1954, Congress passed a bill to do so. President Dwight Eisenhower signed the bill into law on Flag Day, June 14, 1954.
“In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America’s heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country’s most powerful resource, in peace or in war,” Eisenhower said at the time.
The United States Flag Code contains the official text of the Pledge of Allegiance, and contains norms regarding the etiquette for display and care of the U.S. flag.
For his part, Anderson said the phrase reminds Americans of “a fundamental belief that we have held as a nation since our founding, as expressed by President John F. Kennedy in his Inaugural Address that our rights as Americans ‘come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.’”
Pope Francis speaks during the Angelus prayer. / Vatican Media
Vatican City, Oct 17, 2021 / 06:03 am (CNA).
Do good from a spirit of service, not from a desire for personal glory, Pope Francis said on Sunday.In his message before the Angelus pra… […]
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