In an Instagram post responding to his five-month ban, Judo athlete Nemanja Majdov of Serbia said he “did not want to apologize for the [sign of the cross], and of course I did not, nor will I ever.” / Credit: CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images

CNA Staff, Sep 20, 2024 / 16:23 pm (CNA).

An Olympic judo athlete has been banned from competition in part because he made the sign of the cross at this year’s Olympic Games.

Serbian judo world champion Nemanja Majdov was hit with a five-month ban by the International Judo Foundation (IJF) after having made the ancient Christian sign while competing in the Paris games in July.

In a statement posted to its website on Wednesday, the IJF criticized what it said were “numerous false claims and erroneous information that are currently circulating in the public domain” regarding the ban.

While the IJF admitted that Majdov was banned in part because he violated the league’s rules on having made a “clear religious sign” on the field of play, the conference said he broke several other league directives as well.

Specifically, Majdov “refused to bow to his opponent at the end of the contest,” and he also “removed [his] judogi in the field of play.” A judogi is the official uniform of the martial art. 

Majdov had “antecedent incidents involving conduct,” the IJF added in its statement; the federation said it had warned him in 2018 and 2022 about his conduct and that his “claims of not knowing about the rule which forbids the display of any religious, political, ethnic, or other sign on the field of play in judo” were “not accurate.” 

The ban on religious symbols in the federation’s competitions “is strictly related to the field of play, which is a space dedicated exclusively for judo and where only the judo specific signs and rules are on display, equally for all,” the statement said. 

In an Instagram post responding to the decision, Majdov said he “did not want to apologize for the [sign of the cross], and of course I did not, nor will I ever.”

“The Lord has given me everything, both for me personally and for my career, and he is No. 1 for me and I am proud of that,” the athlete said. 

“And that will not change under any condition. Glory to him and thanks for everything.”

Majdov is Serbian Orthodox. He has shared photos on Instagram of his participation in Orthodox ceremonies. 

Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana. / Credit: Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend

CNA Staff, Sep 20, 2024 / 14:10 pm (CNA).

The Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, released guidelines on Sept.12 affirming that diocesan schools and institutes must practice the Church’s teaching on sexuality and gender while being compassionate toward those struggling with gender dysphoria. 

Bishop Kevin Rhoades notes in the policy that all diocesan institutes must use pronouns that align with a student’s biological sex. The policy does not permit the use of “‘preferred pronouns” in any capacity.

It further requires that students use the uniforms and bathrooms that match their biological “God-given sexual identity” and attend single-sex sports and programs that match their biological sex as well. 

The 11-page document, approved earlier this month by Rhoades, also prohibits “public advocacy for, or celebration of, sexual behavior or ideologies contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church.”

“Active, hostile, and public defiance of these teachings is prohibited since it is harmful to the institution’s Catholic identity and mission,” Rhoades writes. 

Regarding the treatment of people struggling with gender dysphoria, Rhoades recommends a compassionate response that does not involve life-altering surgeries or sterilizing drugs. 

Diocesan institutions may not cooperate in “transgender” surgical or chemical interventions such as puberty blockers or surgery on diocesan property, the guidelines say. 

“While we strongly support efforts to alleviate the suffering of those who struggle with their sexual identity, we cannot support interventions which we believe ultimately harm them,” Rhoades notes. “We support pastoral and counseling services to alleviate their suffering and assist them in accepting the God-given gift of their sexual identity.”

Rhoades highlights the importance of chastity for all people. Single people must live chastity in continence, while married couples must live “conjugal chastity.”

“One of the greatest challenges today is the criticism and rejection by many of the Catholic Christian anthropology,” he writes. “In particular, the truths we uphold regarding sexual identity, sexuality, and marriage have become increasingly unpopular after decades of a cultural shift away from a previous consensus on these matters.” 

Rhoades’ diocese has faced challenges in this area in recent years. The bishop last year spoke out against the all-female Catholic St. Mary’s College, accepting any students who “identify” as women. The college has since reversed the policy.

In the diocesan guidelines, Rhoades highlights the importance of “compassion and sensitivity” toward all those who struggle with gender dysphoria and same-sex attraction. 

The diocese expects all who work with young people to uphold Church teaching while affirming people’s “God-given dignity and worth, and to treat them with the love and compassion of Christ.” 

“Ministers have a special responsibility to assist those who are hurting or struggling, including those dealing with confusion about their sexual identity or with same-sex attraction,” Rhoades writes. “Ministers must not tolerate any ridiculing, bullying, or hostile speech or behavior directed against them.”

The bishop provided guidance on pastoral accompaniment of those struggling with gender dysphoria or same-sex attraction. 

“It is important, through listening, to gain an understanding of the needs, difficulties, and challenges experienced by the young people regarding their sexual identity or regarding their same-sex attraction,” Rhoades notes. “These are often complicated realities.”

Rhoades notes that when talking to young people who may be distressed about this, it is important to “be attentive to their pain, to listen to their voicing of their pain with a compassionate ear and heart, to assure them that they are not alone in their suffering.”

“The dialogue and conversation should proceed according to the needs of each individual young person, their questions, and their personal struggles,” he writes. 

Rhoades notes that in some cases, it may be helpful or necessary to provide referrals to mental health counselors or psychologists “who are faithful to authentic Catholic Christian anthropology.”

“It is also good to help them to bring their needs to God in prayer, to rest in his love, and to have recourse to the Lord’s grace and healing in the sacraments, especially reconciliation and the holy Eucharist,” Rhoades adds. 

“It is a special challenge for us to educate and guide our young people according to the Church’s teachings on sexuality and chastity,” Rhoades notes. “It is important that we present these teachings as a path of love, a way to human flourishing, happiness, holiness, and true freedom.” 

null / Credit: Ulf Wittrock/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Sep 20, 2024 / 11:43 am (CNA).

Two lawsuits filed this month are accusing the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau and the Diocese of Jefferson City, both in Missouri, of covering up and enabling decades of sexual abuse against minors dating back to the 1960s through the 1990s.

The two suits, filed in U.S. District Court and employing identical language in many cases, claim that diocesan officials “knowingly enabled, covered up, and concealed for multiple decades” sexual abuse perpetrated on minors, what the suits call a “shameless cover-up” that “spanned decades and allowed various bishops and other employees to access and sexually abuse numerous children.”

The suits were filed on behalf of numerous unnamed individuals identified only by their initials. The alleged victims were almost all minors at the time of the reported abuse; one plaintiff in the Jefferson City suit was identified as a “vulnerable adult” at the time of the alleged abuse. The incidents reportedly took place at multiple parishes and schools in the respective dioceses.

The Springfield-Cape Girardeau suit alleges abuse from several priests, including Father Leonard Chambers, who is on the diocese’s list of clergy with allegations of abuse and misconduct.

The filing contains several errors, including spelling mistakes as well as identifying the defendant as the “Diocese of St. Louis.” Rebecca Randles, a Kansas City, Missouri-area lawyer representing the plaintiffs in both lawsuits, said the legal team was “in a rush to get it out the door because we wanted to file it within five years of the attorney general report” released in 2019.

“The errors are typographical in nature and have no impact on the legitimacy of the lawsuit,” she said.

The five-year deadline, meanwhile, was “symbolically important — especially since some of the priests on the list have not been revealed in the diocese’s list of credibly accused,” she said.

Then-Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt in September 2019 released a report on his investigation into sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clerics in the state; the prosecutor at the time referred 12 former clerics for potential criminal prosecution.

The investigation ultimately found credible allegations of 163 instances of sexual abuse or misconduct by diocesan clerics against minors. The offenses ranged from boundary violations — such as inappropriate discussion or correspondence — to rape.

“The individuals named in that report have still not been prosecuted,” Randles told CNA.

In a statement after the filing of the suit, the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau said it “takes these allegations seriously.”

“These new claims will be examined and the diocese will continue to attend to those who have been harmed by abuse as outlined in the U.S. Bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People and our own safe environment policies and procedures,” the statement said. 

“As a precaution, all clergy, employees, and volunteers who are accused of abuse or misconduct involving minors or vulnerable adults may be placed on temporary administrative leave by the diocese,” the diocese continued. “The presumption of innocence, which is also set out in the charter, should be accorded to those who are presently accused.”

“The diocese seeks truth and justice. It holds accountable those who have abused children and the vulnerable,” the statement added.

The Jefferson City lawsuit, meanwhile — which also at one point appears to identify the diocese as “St. Louis” — makes similar claims, naming multiple priests as having allegedly abused children, including at least two on the diocese’s list of credibly accused priests.

In a Thursday statement, Jefferson City Bishop W. Shawn McKnight said the diocese was “treating this matter with the utmost seriousness and investigating the allegations.”

The bishop noted that “none of the five priests named in the lawsuit are currently active in ministry in the Diocese of Jefferson City.” 

Another, Father Francis Gillgannon, died in 2004, the bishop said. “We were not aware of any allegations made against him before this lawsuit,” he said.

One priest in the lawsuit is identified only as “Father Darr.” McKnight said in his statement that there is “no record of a ‘Father Darr’ ever serving in the Diocese of Jefferson City.”

The bishop said officials were further working to determine the identity of a priest identified only as “Father Dave” in the suit. “We have confirmed that this allegation does not refer to any priest named ‘David’ currently serving in our diocese,” he said. 

“I invite everyone to continue praying for all survivors of abuse and misconduct,” the bishop said. “We also encourage anyone who has been abused to come forward.”

null / Credit: vesperstock/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Sep 20, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Catholics in the U.S. don’t vote as a bloc, and in this election cycle there has been considerable debate about whom Catholics should vote for. Even Pope Francis has weighed in, quipping that Americans in November must choose “the lesser evil” when deciding between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. 

The Catholic Church has long supported voting as part of participation in public life — as a contribution to a nation’s common good and to the flourishing of its people.

What the Church does not do is dictate to Catholics whom exactly they should vote for or exactly which policies to support. However, Catholics have been given numerous guiding principles for making decisions about voting. 

Here is an explanation of some of these principles. 

What does the Church teach about voting?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that it is “the duty of citizens to contribute along with the civil authorities to the good of society in a spirit of truth, justice, solidarity, and freedom.”

“The love and service of one’s country follows from the duty of gratitude and belongs to the order of charity. Submission to legitimate authorities and service of the common good require citizens to fulfill their roles in the life of the political community.”

It also states that “submission to authority and co-responsibility for the common good make it morally obligatory to pay taxes, to exercise the right to vote, and to defend one’s country.”

In 2007, the U.S. bishops’ conference issued “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” a guide to participation in public life, which includes a section on voting. The bishops have periodically updated it since, with the latest edition approved in late 2023.

In the document, the bishops wrote that “responsible citizenship is a virtue, and participation in political life is a moral obligation.” Quoting Pope Francis in Evangelii Gaudium, the bishops also note that public service, when it seeks the common good, is a “lofty vocation.”

The bishops envision voters who are guided by their moral convictions and not their attachment to any one party or interest group. A Catholic’s engagement in politics ought to be “shaped by the moral convictions of well-formed consciences and focused on the dignity of every human being, the pursuit of the common good, and the protection of the weak and the vulnerable.”

Catholics should vote for candidates to the extent that they will promote the common good, a concept defined in the catechism as “the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily.”

“Catholics have a serious and lifelong obligation to form their consciences in accord with human reason and the teaching of the Church,” the document continues.

“Conscience is not something that allows us to justify doing whatever we want, nor is it a mere ‘feeling’ about what we should or should not do. Rather, conscience is the voice of God resounding in the human heart, revealing the truth to us and calling us to do what is good while shunning what is evil. Conscience always requires serious attempts to make sound moral judgments based on the truths of our faith.”

Reasons not to vote for a candidate

“Forming Consciences” states in paragraph 34: “A Catholic cannot vote for a candidate who favors a policy promoting an intrinsically evil act, such as abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, deliberately subjecting workers or the poor to subhuman living conditions, redefining marriage in ways that violate its essential meaning, or racist behavior, if the voter’s intent is to support that position.”

“As Catholics we are not single-issue voters,” the bishops note, and “a candidate’s position on a single issue is not sufficient to guarantee a voter’s support.” At the same time, Catholics should not vote for a candidate if his or her “position on a single issue promotes an intrinsically evil act.”

However, the bishops say it could be possible to vote for someone who supports something intrinsically immoral, but only for “other morally grave reasons.” Before he became Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger described those as “proportionate reasons.”

In a 2004 letter to U.S. bishops, Ratzinger wrote: ”When a Catholic does not share a candidate’s stand in favor of abortion and/or euthanasia but votes for that candidate for other reasons, it is considered remote material cooperation, which can be permitted in the presence of proportionate reasons.”

The idea of “proportionate reasoning” recognizes that there are no perfect candidates. The job of Catholic voters is to weigh the positions of all candidates and to avoid choosing a candidate who supports something immoral, unless something good outweighs that immorality.

Nonnegotiable issues

In a 2006 address to a European parliamentary group, Pope Benedict XVI laid out several issues related to the public good that are “not negotiable” for Catholics.  

Those issues as laid out by Pope Benedict are as follows:

• Protection of life in all its stages, from the first moment of conception until natural death.

• Recognition and promotion of the natural structure of the family as a union between a man and a woman based on marriage, and its defense from attempts to make it juridically equivalent to radically different forms of union that in reality harm it and contribute to its destabilization, obscuring its particular character and its irreplaceable social role.

• The protection of the right of parents to educate their children.

The U.S. bishops further say that abortion and euthanasia — in their words, “preeminent threats to human life and dignity” — weigh heavily when deciding whether it is morally acceptable to vote for a candidate.

In 2019, the bishops said: “The threat of abortion remains our preeminent priority because it directly attacks life itself, because it takes place within the sanctuary of the family, and because of the number of lives destroyed.”

In acknowledging the importance of voting against abortion, the Church and Church leaders do not say that abortion is the only issue but that it is “preeminent” — a foundational consideration about the moral acceptability of a candidate.

Pope Francis asks in Laudato Si’: “How can we genuinely teach the importance of concern for other vulnerable beings, however troublesome or inconvenient they may be, if we fail to protect a human embryo, even when its presence is uncomfortable and creates difficulties?”

In Christifidelis Laici, St. John Paul II taught that “the right to health, to home, to work, to culture is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination.”

In 2008, Bishop (now Cardinal) Kevin Farrell released a joint statement with Bishop Kevin Vann, saying that in their view, “there are no ‘truly grave moral’ or ‘proportionate’ reasons, singularly or combined that could outweigh the millions of innocent human lives that are directly killed by abortion each year.”

In 2008, Archbishop Charles Chaput said that Catholics who support pro-abortion candidates “need a compelling proportionate reason to justify it.”

“What is a ‘proportionate’ reason when it comes to the abortion issue? It’s the kind of reason we will be able to explain, with a clean heart, to the victims of abortion when we meet them face to face in the next life — which we most certainly will. If we’re confident that these victims will accept our motives as something more than an alibi, then we can proceed,” Chaput said.

So… whom to vote for?

The bishops say that well-formed Catholic voters could reach different conclusions about whom to support. The bishops also do not rule out the possibility of not voting, or of voting for third-party candidates.

“When all candidates hold a position that promotes an intrinsically evil act, the conscientious voter faces a dilemma. The voter may decide to take the extraordinary step of not voting for any candidate or, after careful deliberation, may decide to vote for the candidate deemed less likely to advance such a morally flawed position and more likely to pursue other authentic human goods” (“Forming Consciences,” paragraph 36).

In 2016, Bishop James Conley offered this summary of the “Faithful Citizenship” guide’s voting advice: 

“In good conscience, some Catholics might choose to vote for a candidate who, with some degree of probability, would be most likely to do some good, and the least amount of harm, on the foundational issues: life, family, conscience rights, and religious liberty. Or, in good conscience, some might choose the candidate who best represents a Christian vision of society, regardless of the probability of winning. Or, in good conscience, some might choose not to vote for any candidate at all in a particular office.”

This story was first published Sept. 18, 2020, and has been updated. Jonah McKeown contributed to the update.

Fishing boats moored in Brixham harbor on March 2, 2016, in Devon, England. / Credit: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

Brighton, England, Sep 20, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Last month, BBC One Scotland aired “Disclosure: Slavery at Sea,” which accuses the Scottish fishing company TN Trawlers of modern-day slavery and trafficking. 

Haitians sit down to eat their meal at a Haitian restaurant in Springfield, Ohio, on Sept. 12, 2024. / Credit: ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 20, 2024 / 05:00 am (CNA).

Ohio’s Catholic bishops are urging the faithful and all people of goodwill to treat Haitian migrants in Springfield with “respect and dignity” as the small city seeks to dispel internet rumors about the population. 

“As the residents of Springfield, Ohio, struggle with violent threats and life disruptions fueled by unfettered social media posts, we exhort the Catholic faithful and all people of goodwill not to perpetuate ill will toward anyone involved based on unfounded gossip,” read a letter signed by bishops in all six Catholic dioceses in Ohio.

“Instead, we ask for prayers and support for all the people of Springfield as they integrate their new Haitian neighbors and build a better future together,” added the letter, published by the Ohio Catholic Conference.

Bishops of the Eastern Catholic eparchies also signed the message.

More than half of Haiti is Catholic and a large majority of the country belongs to some Christian denomination. 

“They’re eating the dogs — the people that came in,” Trump said. “They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country and it’s a shame.”

The Springfield Police Division issued a statement to the media saying that there have been no credible reports of immigrants harming or abusing pets.

In the letter, the bishops noted that the Haitian migrants in Springfield were granted temporary protected status to legally remain in the country. The letter states that Haitians and others are “feeling inhumane conditions in their countries” to enter the United States. 

“Like all people, these Haitians should be afforded the respect and dignity that are theirs by right and allowed the ability to contribute to the common good,” the bishops added. 

The bishops also wrote in the letter that the influx of migration “has caused a strain on the city’s resources.” However, they also emphasized that people can “view newcomers first as children of God” while also “understanding the need to enforce reasonable limits to legal immigration.”

“We applaud all those community groups working hard to advance the flourishing of Springfield, given the need to integrate newcomers into the social fabric,” the bishops wrote. “If we remain true to our principles, we can have a dialogue about immigration without scapegoating groups of people for societal issues beyond their control.”

The bishops warned: “Today, our nation is divided by partisanship and ideology, which blind us to the image of God in our neighbor, especially the unborn, the poor, and the stranger.” They added that “these negative sentiments are only exacerbated by gossip, which can spread quickly across social media with no concern for the truth or those involved.”

“From the beginning, the human race was made in the image of God, which distinguishes us from all other created things,” the bishops continued.

“The arrival of Jesus Christ in human history confirms the dignity God has given to each of us, without exception,” they added. “It is our belief in the dignity of human life that guides our consciences and rhetoric when engaging in politics or personal conversation. Each of us, therefore, must turn to God and ask for eyes to see the infinite dignity of every person.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Maybe it is a sign of aging, Pope Francis said, but he is increasingly concerned about what kind of world he and his peers will leave for younger generations -- and the prognosis is not good.

"This isn't pessimism," the pope told about two dozen representatives of popular movements and grassroots organizations meeting Sept. 20 at the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

Pope Francis said he feared adults are leaving behind "a world discouraged, inferior, violent, marked by the plundering of nature, alienated by dehumanized modes of communication," and "without the political, social and economic paradigms to lead the way, with few dreams and enormous threats."

But, he said, if people join forces, especially with those who are most often the victims, things can change.

And he prayed that "the cry of the excluded" would "awaken the slumbering consciences of so many political leaders who are ultimately the ones who must enforce economic, social and cultural rights."

Pope Francis was meeting with representatives of movements and organizations from Europe, North and South America, Africa and Asia, including those that organize informal workers who collect and recycle trash, gather people who live in the informal settlements on the outskirts of cities, rally citizens to promote care of the environment, assist subsistence farmers and rescue migrants at sea.

Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, told the representatives that "justice cannot be an intellectual or even a juridical matter. It must be rooted deep within us, as urgent and impossible to ignore as hunger and thirst."

"To raise our voices for the voiceless," the cardinal said, Christians must follow the example of Jesus and be "humble, not caught up in pride, success, money and fame; in solidarity with those who suffer, capable of weeping with them and comforting them; meek, acting without violence or boasting, but with a deep thirst for justice."

Pope Francis told the leaders that the injustices that keep too many people poor, malnourished, unemployed and on the margins of their community's social and political life fuel violence and ultimately war.

Gloria Morales-Palos, a member of Christ the King Parish in San Diego and an officer in the local, state and national offices of the PICO Network, a faith-based community organizing group, told Catholic News Service she feared Pope Francis was right; "In America, this is the first generation of children who will not be better off than their parents."

"The political environment is very harsh right now and scary for many Latinos," especially those who have family members in the United States without legal papers, she said.

"The immigration laws are old, broken and need to change," Morales-Palos said. "People always say, 'They should get in line,' but there is no line."

Pope Francis told the group that he has been criticized for never speaking up for the middle class, "and I apologize for that," he said. But at the same time, "it was Jesus who put the poor at the center."

"Millionaires should pay more taxes," the pope said. They draw their wealth from the goods of creation, which God made for everyone, and from which everyone should benefit.

People with money like to speak of the economy as a "meritocracy," but oftentimes, they are rich through no merit of their own, he said. Their money comes from "inheritance, they are fruit of the exploitation of people, of the pollution of nature," or "they derive it from corruption or from organized crime."

"The blind competition to have more and more money is not a creative force, but an attitude, a path to perdition," the pope said. "It is reckless, immoral, irrational behavior. It destroys creation and people's lives."

Too many people, and not just the rich, want to have someone they can look down on so they feel superior, he said. They "look from afar, look from above, look with indifference, look with disrespect, look with hate."

"This is how the silence of indifference is exercised," the pope said, and "it is silence and indifference that enliven the roar of hate. Silence in the face of injustice opens the way to social division. And social division opens the way to violence."

The answer and the key to hope is love, he said. The fight for social justice, for respect for the sacredness of all human life and for care for creation must all be motivated by love.

A man prays at the Candlelight Chapel at the National Shrine to Czestochowa in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, on April 2, 2005, the day Pope John Paul II died. / Credit: William Thomas Cain/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 19, 2024 / 17:15 pm (CNA).

Former President Donald Trump is no longer planning to attend an event with Polish President Andrzej Duda at a Catholic Marian shrine in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 22.

The campaign’s scheduled stop at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Doylestown has been canceled. The reason for the change in Trump’s schedule is unclear.

On Sunday afternoon, the Polish-American Smolensk Disaster Commemoration Committee will unveil a monument at the shrine’s cemetery to commemorate the Polish solidarity movement and its fight for independence against the Soviet-backed communist regime of the 1940s through the 1980s.

A spokesperson for the shrine could not be reached for comment. 

The shrine pays homage to the historic Black Madonna icon in the southern Polish city of Czestochowa. According to legend, the original icon in Poland was painted by St. Luke the Evangelist on a tabletop that was built by Jesus Christ when he was a carpenter. The existence and veneration of the icon in Poland are well documented as early as the 1300s.

The eastern Pennsylvania shrine was constructed in 1955 and underwent renovations in the 1960s. The icon of the Black Madonna in Doylestown is a copy of the Polish icon and was blessed by St. John XXIII, according to the shrine’s website.

Bucks County is an important battleground in the swing state of Pennsylvania. President Joe Biden won the county by less than 4.4 percentage points in 2020 and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won the county by about three-quarters of a percentage point in 2016.

This statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary is on Apparition Hill, overlooking the village of Medjugorje, a town in Bosnia-Herzegovina. / Credit: Adam Jan Figel/Shutterstock

National Catholic Register, Sep 19, 2024 / 16:45 pm (CNA).

More than 40 million pilgrims from around the world have flocked to the small village named Medjugorje since 1981.

Vice President Kamala Harris arrives to speak during her visit to a Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Paul, Minnesota, on March 14, 2024. / Credit: STEPHEN MATUREN/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 19, 2024 / 15:45 pm (CNA).

Catholic supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential candidacy hosted a national organizing call with the campaign on Wednesday night in which speakers downplayed some of the faithful’s concerns about her support for abortion.

The “Catholics for Harris-Walz National Organizing Call,” held on Sept. 18 at 8 p.m., was designed to rally Catholic support behind Harris’ campaign. It was organized by a coalition of nonprofits, including Catholics Vote Common Good, which is part of the broader Vote Common Good organization that encourages faith groups to support progressive candidates.

Speakers on the call included Sister Simone Campbell, the director of NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice; Joe Donnelly, former United States ambassador to the Holy See under President Joe Biden; Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Connecticut; and Anthea Butler, chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

Campbell, who is a member of the religious community the Sisters of Social Service, contended that polls show most Catholics supporting legal abortion. 

“Our faith does not require the outlawing of abortion,” Campbell asserted in an apparent contradiction of what the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches.

“Protecting life is what we’re about, and we also trust each individual to have a well-formed conscience for making decisions — in this case, for her well-being, and [we trust] that a couple working together can make a good decision when this complicated, stressful horror of a difficult pregnancy is dealt with,” Campbell said.

Butler discouraged Catholics from being single-issue voters on abortion, saying that “we have to respect human dignity of all forms … [from] conception until the end of life,” adding: “You don’t get to pick which part of life is more important to you.” She argued that poverty, the preferential option for the poor, and education should be important issues for Catholics.

Additionally, Butler criticized former president Donald Trump for his assertion during the presidential debate that Haitian migrants are “eating the dogs” and “eating the cats” in Springfield, Ohio. She said that type of rhetoric is not “a way to respect human beings” and is “against a Catholic community,” noting that “many Haitians are Catholics.”

According to the catechism, “the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion” since the first century. It adds that abortion “is gravely contrary to the moral law” and that “life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception.” It calls both abortion and infanticide “abominable crimes.”

“The inalienable right to life of every innocent human individual is a constitutive element of a civil society and its legislation,” the catechism further teaches.

In November 2023, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops approved a voter guide that calls “the threat of abortion” their “preeminent priority because it directly attacks our most vulnerable and voiceless brothers and sisters and destroys more than a million lives per year in our country alone.”

The U.S. bishops first issued “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” in 2007 and have updated the voting guide every four years — in 2011, 2015, and 2019 — ahead of the next presidential election. At last year’s fall assembly, however, the bishops voted to postpone a full revision until after the 2024 election.

Campbell quoted Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate, which says the human dignity of “those already born” is “equally sacred” to the lives of “the innocent unborn” and references poverty, euthanasia, and human trafficking as issues damaging to human dignity. 

In the same paragraph, the pontiff also says: “Our defense of the innocent unborn … needs to be clear, firm, and passionate, for at stake is the dignity of a human life, which is always sacred and demands love for each person, regardless of his or her stage of development.”

Francis said in 2022 that Biden supporting legal abortion as a Catholic is an “incoherence.” Biden’s bishop in Washington, D.C., Cardinal Wilton Gregory, said “the president is not demonstrating Catholic teaching” with his support for legal abortion.

Harris supports codifying the abortion standards set by Roe v. Wade, which would prevent states from passing laws that protect unborn life prior to fetal viability. In the Sept. 12 debate with Trump, Harris refused to say whether she supports late-term abortion in the seventh, eighth, and ninth months of pregnancy.

More than 9,000 late-term abortions are performed in the United States annually after the 21st week of pregnancy.

Other topics discussed on the call

Campbell also spoke positively of an interaction she had with Harris when receiving a presidential medal of freedom from Biden for her work on “economic justice, immigration reform, and health care policy.”

“We had a lovely conversation about what mattered,” Campbell said, noting that they discussed affordable health care and other issues.

Donnelly discussed working closely with Biden and Pope Francis while serving as ambassador to the Holy See. He said Harris “acts in the same exact way as President Biden has” by having a desire to “focus on those who are struggling” and “stand up for the least among us.” He asserted that “her work is driven by the Bible and God.”

Additionally, Donnelly criticized Trump’s debate comments about Haitian migrants, calling the president’s remarks “cruel, as un-Christian [and] as un-Catholic as I can think of.”

DeLauro said on the call that “this election is vital for the future” and that it is “essential that Catholic voices be present [and] truly represented in our public discourse.” She discussed issues such as expanding the child tax credit, expanding health care access, and providing paid leave. She also emphasized “welcoming the stranger.” 

“[This is the] Christian principle of caring for our neighbors,” DeLauro said. 

DeLauro alleged the Republican Party is “beholden to giant corporations” and that its policies would “exacerbate the inequality that already exists in this country.”

As a member of Congress, DeLauro has consistently voted in favor of abortion. She has an “F” rating from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.

Trump also launched a “Catholics for Trump” coalition earlier this month. The coalition lists its priorities as the defense of religious liberty, traditional values, and the sanctity of human life.