News Briefs

Pope Francis calls for a ‘spirit of service’ on feast of Mary’s assumption

August 15, 2023 Catholic News Agency 2
Pope Francis speaks to the crowd assembled in St. Peter’s Square on Aug. 15, 2023, for the recitation of the Angelus on the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. / Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Aug 15, 2023 / 07:41 am (CNA).

Pope Francis on Tuesday urged the faithful to adopt a “spirit of service,” pointing to the example of the Blessed Mother who went in haste to help her expectant cousin Elizabeth.

The pope spoke to a crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the recitation of the Angelus on the feast of Mary’s assumption into heaven.

In his reflection before leading the Marian prayer, Pope Francis drew on the day’s Gospel reading — Luke’s account of Mary’s Visitation — which the Holy Father said shows the Mother of God to be a “woman of service” to her neighbor.

“Our Lady, who had just conceived, travels almost 150 kilometers [about 93 miles] from Nazareth to reach Elizabeth’s house,” Pope Francis noted. “Helping is costly, to all of us! We always experience this in the fatigue, patience, and worries that taking care of others entails.”

Pilgrims carry a sign in St. Peter's Square on Aug. 15, 2023, during Pope Francis' Angelus reflections on the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Vatican Media
Pilgrims carry a sign in St. Peter’s Square on Aug. 15, 2023, during Pope Francis’ Angelus reflections on the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Vatican Media

The pope warned, however, that “service risks being barren without praise to God.”

“Indeed, when Mary enters the home of her cousin, she praises the Lord,” the pope said. “She does not talk about her weariness from the journey, but rather a song of jubilation springs from her heart. Because those who love God know praise.”

“Let us try to ask ourselves: Do I live my work and daily occupations with a spirit of service, or with selfishness?” the pope said. “Do I devote myself to someone freely, without seeking immediate advantages? In short, do I make service the ‘springboard’ of my life?”

He continued: “And thinking about praise: Do I, like Mary, exult in God? Do I pray, blessing the Lord? And, after praising him, do I spread his joy among the people I meet? Each one of you, try to answer these questions.”

Following the recitation of the Angelus, Francis also offered a customary blessing of the crowd.

“Today, we entrust to Mary assumed into heaven our supplication for peace in Ukraine and in all war-torn regions: There are so many of them, unfortunately,” he said.

“The clamor of weapons drowns out attempts at dialogue; the law of force prevails over the force of law,” he continued. “But let us not be discouraged, let us continue to hope and to pray, because it is God, it is he who guides history. May he listen to us!”

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Cincinnati archbishop urges Catholics to reject state abortion amendment in November

August 14, 2023 Catholic News Agency 2
A sonogram picture of a fetus in the second trimester of a woman’s pregnancy / Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 14, 2023 / 11:04 am (CNA).

Cincinnati Archbishop Dennis Schnurr on Saturday urged Catholics in the state of Ohio to reject a November ballot measure that would enshrine abortion rights under the state’s constitution.

The prelate said in a letter posted to the archdiocesan website that the proposed amendment, titled the “Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety,” would legalize the right to “take the lives of innocent children in the womb while harming women and families in the process.”

The amendment, if passed, would dictate that Ohio “shall not, directly or indirectly, burden, penalize, prohibit, interfere with, or discriminate against” a woman’s attempt to get an abortion.

State law currently prohibits abortion after the point at which an unborn child’s heartbeat is detected, generally around six weeks of pregnancy.  

Under the amendment, lawmakers could prohibit abortion “after fetal viability,” or when a child could survive outside its mother’s uterus, generally at around 24 weeks of pregnancy. The state would be prohibited from doing so, however, in cases where a doctor determined that an abortion was necessary to protect the mother’s “life or health.”

Schnurr in his letter said the proposal is an “extraordinary and dangerous attempt to radically reshape Ohio through a constitutional amendment that does nothing to aid women or promote life.”

“As Catholics, we are morally obliged to uphold the dignity of life of all vulnerable humans — immigrants, the poor, preborn children,” Schnurr wrote. “We cannot remain silent on a direct ballot question like the one in November.”

The archbishop urged Catholics to pray for the amendment’s defeat, to raise awareness of the measure, and to vote against the initiative in the Nov. 7 general election.

“Beyond that, we must continue our commitment to caring for women, children, and families,” Schnurr said, calling also on the intercessions of St. Mary and St. Joseph for the state of Ohio.

The campaign to include the abortion measure on the November ballot was led by the pro-abortion group Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom. The group said last month it was aiming to counteract what it called “draconian reproductive health care policies imposed by extremists.”

Ohioans earlier this month rejected a proposed rules change that, had it been passed, would have made it more difficult to adopt constitutional amendments via citizen-proposed ballot measures. The proposal was voted down by a margin of 57-43%. 

The August measure would have dictated that amendments like the abortion measure secure 60% of the vote to pass. With that proposal’s failure, the abortion amendment will only need the votes of a simple majority of Ohio voters to pass it. 

The August measure was criticized by pro-abortion activists who said the initiative was an effort by conservative and pro-life Ohioans to scuttle the abortion amendment in November. President Joe Biden called the August proposal an “attempt to weaken voters’ voices” and “erode the freedom of women to make their own health care decisions.”

A USA Today poll from July showed nearly 60% of Ohio voters supporting the November abortion amendment.

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‘An open wound’: Pope Francis decries thousands of deaths in Mediterranean Sea this year

August 13, 2023 Catholic News Agency 0
Pope Francis blesses the crowd from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square at the end of his Sunday Angelus address Aug. 13, 2023. / Vatican Media.

Vatican City, Aug 13, 2023 / 07:46 am (CNA).

Pope Francis called attention Sunday to the thousands of people who have lost their lives trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to immigrate to Europe in 2023.

“It is an open wound of our humanity,” he said after reciting the Angelus prayer at the Vatican on Aug. 13. He added that the deaths bring “pain and shame.”

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimates that 2,175 men, women, and children are either missing or dead in the Mediterranean Sea as of Aug. 13, 2023. In 2022, in the same period, the estimated dead and missing was 1,361.

Speaking to a crowd of around 15,000 people gathered in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis said he had prayed for the 41 migrants who died in the latest Mediterranean shipwreck tragedy.

Survivors rescued off the coast of the small Italian island of Lampedusa reported the migrant shipwreck on Wednesday, according to CNN.

An estimated 90,763 migrants have arrived in Italy by sea in 2023 as of Aug. 6, a large uptick from the previous year, authorities say.

“I encourage political and diplomatic efforts that seek to heal [the wound of migrant deaths] in a spirit of solidarity and brotherhood,” Pope Francis said on Sunday, “as well as the efforts of all those working to prevent shipwrecks and rescue migrants.”

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