Vatican City, Feb 5, 2020 / 09:20 am (CNA).- Pope Francis said Wednesday that a focus on achieving fame or having a perfect image in the eyes of the world denies God’s call to poverty of spirit and is a tiring and lonely endeavor.
The “poo… […]
Vatican City, Feb 5, 2020 / 08:10 am (CNA).- After a German Catholic weekly reported that Archbishop Georg Gänswein was asked to take a leave of absence from his position as head of the papal household, the Vatican has said it cannot confirm the report, and the archbishop is still in his job.
Die Tagespost reported Feb. 5 that the German archbishop had recently been asked by Pope Francis to “focus on his role as private secretary to pope emeritus Benedict XVI.”
A Vatican source told CNA that the Die Tagepost report was on the mark. Gänswein has been requested to “stay away from his office [as prefect of the papal household] indefinitely,” the source said.
But the Holy See press office told CNA Wednesday that it has no information regarding Ganswein being on a leave of absence from the prefecture
Regarding the bishop’s absence from papal audiences in recent weeks, the press office stated “it is due to an ordinary redistribution of the various commitments and duties of the Prefect of the Papal Household, who, as you know, is also the personal secretary of the Pope emeritus.”
In January, Gänswein was absent for several weeks from his usual official seat at public appearances of the pope – such as the general audiences on Wednesdays – due to being ill with bronchitis.
Gänswein’s continued absence in the immediate wake of controversy over a new book on priestly celibacy written by Cardinal Robert Sarah and Benedict XVI, led to speculation the personal secretary of the pope emeritus had been removed as head of the papal household for this reason.
Fr. Leonardo Sapienza, regent of the prefecture, has been filling in for Gänswein at general audiences as representative of the papal household.
Vatican City, Feb 5, 2020 / 04:50 am (CNA).- Pope Francis in January met and shook hands with the woman at whom he lost his patience after being grabbed in St. Peter’s Square Dec. 31.
After his general audience Jan. 8, Pope Francis spoke briefly… […]
, Feb 5, 2020 / 12:40 am (CNA).- A California state university has this week agreed to revise its policies and pay more than $240,000 in fees after a federal court last summer found that the university had discriminated against a student pro-life group… […]
Atlanta, Ga., Feb 4, 2020 / 06:01 pm (CNA).- Georgia’s heartbeat-based abortion ban is tied up in court, but six pro-abortion rights legislators in the state have reacted by proposing a bill to remove ultrasound and other informed consent requirements for women seeking abortions.
Ann Beall, director of the Kolbe Center for Life in Macon, is a critic of their bill.
“It is so horrifying to me that anyone, particularly six women, would bring this forward when that’s just taking us backwards,” Beall told the Macon-based news station WGXA. “Why would a women not want all of the information possible before having a procedure that’s going to change her life, kill her unborn child?”
Beall praised the regulations of the 2005 Women’s Right to Know Act, which also require women seeking an abortion to wait 24 hours before procuring one.
House Bill 746, called the Woman’s Right to Immediate Access Act, would remove the requirement that a woman seeking an abortion certify that she has seen informational materials and an ultrasound. It has six sponsors in the House of Representatives, all Democratic women.
“Give physicians and give women the right to waive the requirements that women would not get those unnecessary burdens to access to have immediate access to have an abortion,” State Rep. Darshun Kendrick, a sponsor of the bill, told WGXA .
Kendrick said that the existing regulations puts obstacles before women seeking abortions.
Under current Georgia law, elective abortion is legal through 20 weeks into pregnancy.
The legislation is not likely to pass. The Republican Party holds the governor’s seat and has a majority in both chambers of the state legislature.
A heartbeat-based abortion ban passed the House of Representatives last year by a vote of 92-78. It would bar abortion after a heartbeat is detectable, about six weeks into pregnancy.
However, that ban is currently temporarily blocked pending the completion of legal challenges in the federal court system.
Kendrick said she filed her bill against abortion regulation in response to the heartbeat-based abortion ban, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
For Beall, it was “gut-wrenching” to think abortion is the only option. She said, “helping moms make better decisions is going to make a healthier society.”
La Plata, Argentina, Feb 4, 2020 / 05:22 pm (CNA).- Pope Francis has dismissed from the clerical state Argentine priest Roberto Juan Yannuzzi, founder and superior of the Miles Christi (Soldier of Christ) Institute, who has been found guilty of abuse.
… […]
Washington D.C., Feb 4, 2020 / 04:06 pm (CNA).- Ahead of President Donald Trump’s annual State of the Union address on Tuesday, Feb. 4, pro-life activists and Christian leaders say they hope the president will use his address to advocate for the right to life and to protect religious minorities.
“I hope President Trump takes the opportunity to call Americans to unity on the human right to life. We need to move beyond partisanship and rally around a shared vision for Americans who especially need solidarity, love, and care,” said Tom Shakely, chief engagement officer at Americans United for Life.
Trump could offer, “a national appeal to build a culture of life, a real spectrum of life-affirming choices that rejects violence and self-harm, in every state, city, and town,” said Shakely. This potential message “would be a powerful and important moment in our history.”
On Tuesday afternoon, the White House revealed that two of the guests at the State of the Union would be Ellie and Robin Schneider, from Kansas City, Missouri. Ellie, who is two years old, was born to her mother Robin at just 21 weeks and six days gestation.
“With the help of an incredible medical team–and the prayers of her parents and their community–Ellie kept beating the odds, exceeding milestones, and fighting for life,” said a press release announcing guests attending the address.
Across the country, there were 36 state laws passed in 2019 that sought to preserve a legal right to abortion. This number is an increase from just five in 2018. Many states passed laws that legalizes abortion in the third trimester.
The Schneiders’ presence at the State of the Union suggests that Trump will endorse a new pro-life policy initiative at the federal level.
The State of the Union address covers a multitude of topics, but does not always include nods to each of the president’s policies. Last year, Trump did not mention religious freedom or the plight of persecuted religious minorities worldwide in his address.
While in the year since his speech, the president has pledged to support those groups, advocates hope he will raise the issue during his speech.
Edward Clancy, director of outreach at Aid to the Church in Need, told CNA that he hopes Trump uses his address “to remind the world community that there are vulnerable religious minorities in harms’ way around the world, and to deal proactively with the conditions that cause danger.”
Those conditions, explained Clancy, include governmental corruption, a lack of access to education, particularly among women, and “foreign actors who seek to instill violence and repression to control or eliminate” minority groups.
Kristen Day, president of Democrats for Life, told CNA that while she is interested in what Trump will have to say related to abortion and family leave, she is more concerned with how her party chooses to respond to the address. The official Democratic Party response will be delivered by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
“Clearly, President Trump is going after the pro-life vote,” said Day. “So what I’m more interested in this evening is what the the governor of Michigan says to the pro-life voters out there.”
Day said that she will be waiting most to see how Whitmer categorizes the abortion issue.
“Is she going to talk about abortion and how important that is to the values of the party,” asked Day. “Or is she going to try to think about the big tent, diversity, and trying to appeal to the pro-life voters to bring them back to the party?”
A 2019 Gallup Poll showed that 14% of Democrats said they believed that abortion should be illegal in all circumstances, and that 39% said it should be legal under any circumstances.
Approximately 59% of Democrats support at least some restrictions on abortion.
The Democratic Party’s 2016 platform called for abortion to be available without any restrictions, as well as a repeal of the Hyde Amendment.
Pro-Life Democrats are “most interested in what the Democrats are saying cause you know, we’re told we don’t belong and we’re no longer going to be taken for granted,” said Day.
“We need to hear that we are part of this (Democratic) party. No more litmus tests, no more telling us that we can’t run unless we change our position. We should be valued members of the party and not left out, and it’s a big tent.”
Buffalo, N.Y., Feb 4, 2020 / 02:45 pm (CNA).- The interim leader in the Diocese of Buffalo announced Tuesday that the diocesan seminary will suspend its operations at the end of the current semester.
Although Christ the King Seminary has been at the c… […]
Lagos, Nigeria, Feb 4, 2020 / 02:01 pm (CNA).- Following the death of an 18-year-old seminarian in Nigeria at the hands of his kidnappers, the Archbishop of Lagos urged government officials to make changes to security measures.
“I received with great sadness the news of the murder of the fourth seminarian, Mr. Michael Nnadi who was kidnapped recently in Kaduna. This was a young man who abandoned all with the desire to serve His creator and humanity, now murdered for no just cause,” Archbishop Alfred Martins said Feb. 3.
“This is just one of several cases of innocent Nigerians being killed on daily basis by gun men while our security services and their chiefs watch as if they were helpless,” he added.
“This appalling situation must come to an end. We cannot just fold our arms and allow these monstrous activities to continue to thrive. The consequences of the dastardly acts on the psyche of Nigerians can only be imagined. The Federal Government must act now before things get out of hand,” he said.
“For a while now, many Nigerians from different walks of life have been calling for a revamping of the security arrangements in the nation even if it means the replacement of the Heads of the various Security Agencies in order to give room for new ideas,” the archbishop stated.
“It is beyond doubt that the gains of the past few years are being lost because those at the helm of affairs and the soldiers in the thick of the war are tired and need to be replaced. The strategy for executing the war needs to be reexamined to determine its effectiveness.”
Nnadi was one of four seminarians kidnapped last month in northwestern Nigeria. The other three were released, but Nnadi’s death was announced Feb. 1.
Pius Kanwai, 19; Peter Umenukor, 23; Stephen Amos, 23; and Michael Nnadi, 18, were taken from Good Shepherd Seminary in Kaduna, around 10:30 pm on Jan. 8 by gunmen.
Nearly 270 seminarians live at Good Shepherd.
Good Shepherd Seminary is located just off the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria Express Way. According to AFP, the area is “notorious for criminal gangs kidnapping travelers for ransom.”
Schoolgirls and staff from a boarding school located near the same highway were kidnapped in October, and were later released.
Nnadi was killed along with another abductee, the wife of a doctor.
Kanwai, Umenukor, and Amos were all released by their captors.
“The security situation in Nigeria is appalling”, Thomas Heine-Geldern, executive president of ACN International, said Jan. 13. “Criminal gangs are further exploiting the chaotic situation and making matters still worse.”
He compared the situation in Nigeria to that of Iraq prior to the Islamic State’s invasion: “Already at that stage, Christians were being abducted, robbed and murdered because there was no protection by the state. This must not be allowed to happen to the Christians of Nigeria. The government must act now, before it is too late.”
Kidnappings of Christians in Nigeria have multiplied in recent months, a situation that has prompted Church leaders to express serious concern about the security of their members and to call on the government to prioritize the security of its citizens.
Tallahassee, Fla., Feb 4, 2020 / 01:19 pm (CNA).- Several states this legislative session have introduced bills aimed at curtailing access to transgender surgery and puberty-blocking drugs for minors, as well as restricting biological males from compet… […]
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