Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at a Cesar Chavez Day event at Union Station on March 30, 2024, in Los Angeles. / Credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 9, 2024 / 17:25 pm (CNA).
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has endorsed completely unrestricted abortion “even if it’s full term.”
“My belief is that we should leave it to the woman, we shouldn’t have government involved,” Kennedy said on an episode of “The Sage Steele Show” aired on Wednesday.
Steele, who is a Catholic, pressed Kennedy further on whether he holds this position for the entirety of pregnancy, saying that “as a Catholic that definitely is a concern with many practicing Catholics.”
Kennedy responded by confirming that he would leave the decision to the pregnant woman “even if it’s full term.”
“I don’t think it’s ever OK,” Kennedy added. “I think we should do everything in our power to make sure that never happens, everything that we can do. But I think ultimately, nobody sets out to do that and there are always some kind of extenuating circumstances that would make a mother make that kind of choice, a terrible, terrible choice which is, you know, you can’t overstate how bad that is, but ultimately, I think we have to trust the woman.”
He admitted that he believes “there is a very good argument that the state has an interest in protecting a fully formed fetus,” but went on to say: “I come down to the fact that I don’t trust the state and I think we need to trust the woman.”
Kennedy’s running mate, Nicole Shanahan, a tech entrepreneur and health activist, meanwhile, was surprised by this stance, saying in another episode of “The Sage Steele Show” that unrestricted abortion until birth “is not Bobby’s position as I understand it.”
“My understanding is that he absolutely believes in limits on abortion, and we’ve talked about this,” Shanahan said, adding: “I don’t know where that came from.”
Stefanie Spear, a spokesperson for Kennedy’s campaign, confirmed with CNA that though Kennedy believes “late-term abortions are horrifying,” he “believes the mother has the final say, and moral responsibility, in such decisions.”
Spear did not respond to CNA’s question asking if Kennedy, like Biden, would support efforts to “codify” Roe v. Wade by passing a federal law to overrule state pro-life measures.
She did say that Kennedy is “committed to reducing the abortion rate by supporting mothers and families and implementing universally affordable child care.”
Kennedy’s independent run has attracted a considerable amount of traction. Among Kennedy, Trump, and Biden, Kennedy is the only candidate to have a positive favorability rating. In terms of national support, he is currently polling at 10.1%, well behind former President Donald Trump, who leads at 41.3%, and incumbent President Joe Biden, who is polling at 40.7%, according to the latest poll by 538.
A Catholic and the nephew of the first Catholic president in U.S. history, Kennedy has said that his relationship with God is “the centerpiece of my life.”
In an interview with EWTN in April, Kennedy said that he believes “every abortion is a tragedy” and proposed a plan to subsidize day care “to make sure that no American mother ever has an abortion of a child that she wants to bring to term because she’s worried about her financial capacity to raise that child.”
“I would like to maximize choice but also minimize the number of abortions that occur every year,” Kennedy said.
He also said he would not reverse the Biden administration’s approval of expanding access to the abortion pill in stores like CVS and Walgreens. However, he added that “we ought to know what the side effects are, what the risks are, [and] what the benefits [are].”
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Washington D.C., Sep 28, 2017 / 09:55 am (CNA).- The Trump administration announced on Wednesday it plans to resettle a maximum of 45,000 refugees in 2018, fewer than in 2017 and far fewer than the U.S. accepted in 2016.
Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly speaks with EWTN News President and COO Montse Alvarado on Thursday, July 11, 2024, regarding the organization’s decision to cover mosaics by the accused abuser Father Marko Rupnik in chapels in Washington, D.C., and Connecticut. / Credit: EWTN News
Rome Newsroom, Jul 11, 2024 / 12:00 pm (CNA).
The Knights of Columbus announced Thursday they will cover mosaics by the accused abuser Father Marko Rupnik in Washington, D.C., and Connecticut, a dramatic move that represents the strongest public stand yet by a major Catholic organization regarding the former Jesuit’s embattled art.
The 2.1-million-member lay Catholic fraternal order said July 11 it would use fabric to cover the floor-to-ceiling mosaics in the two chapels of the St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington and in the chapel at the Knights’ headquarters in New Haven, Connecticut — at least until the completion of a formal Vatican investigation into the Slovenian priest’s alleged abuse.
Patrick Kelly, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, told EWTN News Thursday the opaque material would be installed “very soon” but gave no firm timetable. The Knights said in a statement released Thursday afternoon that the artwork may later be more permanently hidden with a plaster covering after the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issues its ruling on Rupnik.
The decision by the Knights to cover the sprawling works, which envelop both spaces, was made at the end of a comprehensive, confidential review process that included consultations with sexual abuse victims and those who minister to them, art historians, pilgrims to the shrine, bishops, and moral theologians.
“The Knights of Columbus have decided to cover these mosaics because our first concern must be for victims of sexual abuse, who have already suffered immensely in the Church, and who may be further injured by the ongoing display of the mosaics at the shrine,” Kelly said in the statement.
“While opinions varied among those consulted,” he said, “there was a strong consensus to prioritize the needs of victims, especially because the allegations are current, unresolved, and horrific.”
Kelly reiterated that point in his interview with EWTN News.
“Our decision process really came down to multiple factors. But the No. 1 factor was compassion for victims,” Kelly said. “We needed to prioritize victims over anything, any material thing. So that was our primary consideration.”
The first segment of Kelly’s interview with EWTN News will air on “EWTN News Nightly” Thursday at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. ET. Additional comments will air on “EWTN News In Depth” on Friday at 8 p.m. ET.
Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly speaks with EWTN News President and COO Montse Alvarado on Thursday, July 11, 2024, regarding the organization’s decision to cover mosaics by the accused abuser Father Marko Rupnik in chapels in Washington, D.C., and Connecticut. Credit: EWTN News
Once a renowned artist Rupnik, whose mosaics are featured in hundreds of Catholic shrines, churches, and chapels around the world, was expelled from the Jesuits in June 2023.
His expulsion followed a long review of what the society called “highly credible” accusations of serial spiritual, psychological, and sexual abuse of as many as 30 religious sisters by the priest spanning decades. Some women allege Rupnik’s abuse sometimes happened as part of the process of creating his art at the Centro Aletti, an art school he founded in Rome.
The Vatican announced in late October 2023 that Pope Francis had waived the statute of limitations in the Rupnik case, allowing the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to do a canonical investigation into the abuse allegations.
There has been no further communication from the Vatican about the inquiry, and it is unclear whether Rupnik may still be living in Rome despite having been given priestly faculties in a diocese of his home country of Slovenia last year.
Growing public outcry
What to do with Rupnik’s once widely-praised works, colorful mosaics characterized by grand, flowing figures and large eyes, has proven to be a divisive question in the wake of the numerous allegations against him, which first came to public attention in December 2022.
While some want to await Vatican judgment before dismantling and replacing Rupnik’s works, much of it made in collaboration with other artists of the Centro Aletti — a Rupnik-founded art school and theological center in Rome — the public outcry for the removal of his art has intensified.
The Knights also announced several immediate changes that would be enacted at the shrine in solidarity with abuse victims, including providing educational materials about the mosaics, making clear that their display during the consultation process “was not intended to ignore, deny, or diminish the allegations of abuse.”
Every Mass at the St. John Paul II National Shrine will now also include a prayer of the faithful for victims of sexual abuse, and saints with connections to abuse victims, such as St. Josephine Bakhita, will be specially commemorated.
The group said it became aware of the allegations against Rupnik in December 2022 — and noted that the artist, while under investigation, remains a priest in good standing in the Diocese of Koper, Slovenia.
“This decision is rooted in a foundational purpose of the Knights of Columbus, which is to protect families, especially women and children, and those who are vulnerable and voiceless,” Kelly said in the July 11 statement.
The “Redemptor Hominis” chapel of the National Shrine of St John Paul II in Washington, DC, is decorated with mosaics by Fatherr Marko Rupnik. Credit: Lawrence OP|Flickr|CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
The St. John Paul II National Shrine is a pastoral initiative of the Knights of Columbus, established in 2011, and designated a national shrine by the U.S. Catholic bishops in 2014.
Rupnik’s mosaics were installed at the shrine in 2015. The Holy Family Chapel at the Knights’ headquarters has featured Rupnik’s art since 2005.
Highlighting the John Paul II shrine’s mission of evangelization, the supreme knight said, “the art we sponsor must therefore serve as a stepping stone — not a stumbling block — to faith in Jesus Christ and his Church.”
Rupnik has not made any statements since the allegations came to light.
An eye on Lourdes
The Knights’ move to conceal the mosaics follows just a week after the bishop of Lourdes, France, said that despite his personal feelings that Rupnik’s artwork at the renowned Marian shrine there should be removed, he has decided to wait to make a final decision due to “strong opposition on the part of some.”
After forming a special commission in May 2023, Bishop Jean-Marc Micas of Tarbes announced July 2 that more time was needed “to discern what should be done” about Rupnik’s mosaics at the Marian apparition site, because his belief that they should be torn down “would not be sufficiently understood” and “would add even more division and violence” at this time.
As a “first step,” the French bishop said he had decided the mosaics will no longer be lit up at night during the shrine’s nightly candlelight rosary processions.
In his interview with EWTN News, Kelly said the Lourdes bishop’s intent to make a decision of some kind this spring galvanized the Knights to act at this time.
In his July 11 statement, Kelly thanked the Lourdes bishop for his “thoughtful decision” and said it “both informed and confirmed us in our own decision-making. Shrines are places of healing, prayer, and reconciliation. They should not cause victims further suffering.”
Emphasizing the importance of discernment based on mission and context, the supreme knight said: “Every situation is different. In the United States, Catholics continue to suffer in a unique way from the revelations of sexual abuse and, at times, from the response of the Church. It is clear to us that, as a national shrine, our decision must respect this country’s special need for healing.”
The Knights of Columbus was founded in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1882 by Blessed Michael McGivney, a parish priest. Dedicated to the advancement of the group’s key principles — charity, unity, fraternity, and patriotism — its members in 2022 provided 50 million service hours and nearly $185 million to charitable causes in their communities.
National Catholic Register Editor-in-Chief Shannon Mullen contributed to this story.
Oaxaca, Mexico, Mar 8, 2021 / 11:41 am (CNA).- A group of feminists taking part in a women’s rights march in Oaxaca City on Sunday attacked Ss. Cosmas and Damian parish, as well as other buildings, both public and private.
As part of the protests organized in Mexico for International Women’s Day, masked women armed with stout sticks broke open the outer doors of Ss. Cosmas and Damian March 7, smashed the windows of the inner doors, gained entry and stormed inside to tag the interior with graffiti, destroy glass cases, windows, pews, and a confessional.
A statue of Saint Jude was also destroyed, and one of the pews was damaged and thrown out onto the street.
Mujeres forzaron la entrada de la iglesia de San Cosme y San Damián, ubicada en J. P. García, en la ciudad de #Oaxaca, y realizaron destrozos. | Alondra Olivera pic.twitter.com/IrYAgAYc3M
As they passed through the city, they also damaged the Oaxaca Cathedral, the state Ministry of Health, and other private and public buildings.
According to the Mexican news agency Quadratín, the women were protesting commonplace sexual harassment, rapes, killings, and disappeared women, and called for “an end to femicide and transfemicide.”
RFK Jr has never held any political office, but seems to think that he should be President. If his last name was not Kennedy, would anyone pay attention to him?
Why should anyone be surprised when McCarrick was the family chaplain? And where are the bishops who should be excommunicating this evil clown and his political twin Biden?
Confused and confusing, IMHO.
His support for abortion means he’s turned his back on Christ and does not deserve the support of any faithful Catholic.
RFK Jr has never held any political office, but seems to think that he should be President. If his last name was not Kennedy, would anyone pay attention to him?
Why should anyone be surprised when McCarrick was the family chaplain? And where are the bishops who should be excommunicating this evil clown and his political twin Biden?