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Irish voters keep motherhood, traditional family in constitution
Posted on 03/9/2024 15:32 PM (EWTN News - World Catholic News)
CNA Newsroom, Mar 9, 2024 / 10:32 am (CNA).
Irish voters by large margins rejected proposed changes to the 1937 Irish Constitution.
8 of the most popular novenas
Posted on 03/9/2024 12:00 PM (EWTN News - US Catholic News)
CNA Staff, Mar 9, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).
A novena is a traditional form of Catholic prayer lasting nine days. Typically, novenas focus on asking God for a specific intention and many are prayed through a saint’s intercession. Novenas are a beautiful way to grow in prayer and nurture your spiritual life.
Here are eight of the most popular novenas:
Novena to the Holy Spirit
Also known as the Pentecost Novena, this was the first novena ever prayed by Jesus’ disciples and the Blessed Virgin Mary after Jesus ascended into heaven. Catholics pray this novena during the nine days that fall between the feast of the Ascension and the feast of Pentecost. The novena asks for the Holy Spirit’s seven gifts: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.
Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
The devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was started by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque after experiencing apparitions of Jesus to spread this devotion. It is also said that St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio) prayed the Sacred Heart novena prayer every day. The Sacred Heart Novena is traditionally prayed during the nine days leading up to the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which is always 19 days after Pentecost.
Novena of Divine Mercy
The Divine Mercy Novena was given to St. Faustina Kowalska by Jesus. He told the Polish nun that the novena was to start on Good Friday and gave her an intention to pray for on each day. The novena consists of praying a Divine Mercy Chaplet followed by the daily prayer intentions. While this novena can be prayed during any time of the year, it is recommended to begin on Good Friday in preparation for the feast of Divine Mercy, which is celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter.
Novena to the Holy Family
The Holy Family Novena is typically prayed during the nine days leading up to the feast of the Holy Family, which is celebrated on the Sunday after Christmas, and encourages the faithful to meditate and reflect on the Holy Family so that we can model our own families after them. It also serves as a great way to grow closer with your family and strengthen your relationships through prayer.
Christmas novena
The Christmas novena starts on Dec. 16 and ends on Christmas Eve. It includes a daily Scripture reading, a meditation, an antiphon, the Magnificat, intercessions, and a closing prayer. Father Charles Vachetta is credited with writing the novena in 1721 in hopes of inspiring his parishioners with the coming of Christ during Advent.
Surrender Novena
In the Surrender Novena, the faithful focus on letting go of their own will for their lives and strive to live their lives according to God’s will for them and place complete trust in him. The novena comes from Father Dolindo Ruotolo, who is a servant of God and candidate for beatification. We can pray this novena whenever we are struggling to let go of worries or doubts and need the Lord to take care of things.
Mother Teresa’s emergency novena
Have you ever found yourself in need of an answer but don’t have the time for prayers of petition for multiple days in a row? St. Teresa of Calcutta would turn to the Blessed Virgin Mary in these cases and pray her “Flying Novena.” The quick novena consists of saying 10 Memorares — a centuries-old prayer asking for the intercession of the Blessed Mother.
The 54-Day Novena
The 54-Day Novena originated in the late 19th century in Naples, Italy, after a young girl suffering from what was thought to be an incurable illness called on the Blessed Virgin Mary for help. The Blessed Mother appeared to the young girl and told her she would be healed if she prayed three novenas. The young girl was miraculously healed. The Blessed Mother appeared once more to the young girl and this time added that those who want their requests granted should pray three novenas in petition and three novenas in thanksgiving.
Therefore, the first 27 days of this novena consist of a rosary said each day in petition followed by another 27 days consisting of a daily rosary said in thanksgiving, whether or not your request has been granted. This novena can be prayed anytime, however, and many choose to begin or end the novena on a Marian feast day.
How St. Frances of Rome became the inspiration for ‘a blessing on cars’
Posted on 03/9/2024 10:00 AM (EWTN News - World Catholic News)
Rome, Italy, Mar 9, 2024 / 05:00 am (CNA).
Francesca Romana dreamed of becoming a nun but found sanctity in her vocation to marriage and for her service to the poor.
Iowa House passes bill to affirm personhood at moment of fertilization
Posted on 03/8/2024 23:20 PM (EWTN News - US Catholic News)
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 8, 2024 / 18:20 pm (CNA).
The Iowa House of Representatives passed legislation that would recognize the personhood of unborn children at the moment of fertilization and increase penalties for those who cause the death of an unborn person without the consent of the mother.
An unborn person, as defined in the bill, is “an individual organism of the species homo sapiens from the moment of fertilization to live birth.” Current law already prohibits the nonconsensual “termination of a human pregnancy,” but this would shift the language to grant legal recognition and protection to the “unborn person.”
The bill would also increase penalties for violations of this law.
Causing death or serious injury to an unborn person during the commission of a “forcible felony” or during the commission of a “felony or felonious assault” would be subject to a Class A felony, which is punishable up to life in prison.
A person who intentionally causes the death of an unborn person “without the knowledge or voluntary consent of the pregnant [woman]” in any other context would be subject to a Class B felony, which is punishable up to 25 years in prison. One who attempts to commit such a crime would be subject to a Class C felony, which is punishable up to 10 years in prison.
The bill would not expressly prohibit in vitro fertilization (IVF), but it does not exempt unborn children who are created through IVF from these protections.
Although it is unclear whether the law would affect IVF in Iowa, critics of the legislation have pointed to an Alabama Supreme Court ruling late last month that ruled that human embryos in the state are covered covered under the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act because the law protects “all children, born and unborn.”
The bill forced several IVF clinics in Alabama to shut down. Shortly thereafter, Republican lawmakers passed legislation to grant civil and criminal immunity to IVF clinics to prevent lawsuits against them. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed the bill on Thursday.
IVF is a fertility treatment opposed by the Catholic Church because it separates the marriage act from procreation and destroys embryonic human life. Through IVF, doctors fuse sperm and eggs to create human embryos. While some are implanted and ultimately born, most are either destroyed or frozen indefinitely. Millions of preborn children have been killed or indefinitely frozen through IVF since the 1980s.
Acknowledging the advances in science available today to those seeking help having children, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops warns Catholics on its website of the ethical issues involved.
“The many techniques now used to overcome infertility also have profound moral implications, and couples should be aware of these before making decisions about their use,” the guidance reads.
The legislation passed by the House does not prohibit abortions commissioned by the mother of the unborn child. In 2018, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed legislation to prohibit abortion at the six-week mark, but that law was blocked by the courts and is currently being reviewed by the Iowa Supreme Court.
Catholic Charities Chicago to cut 300 jobs amid transition away from government contracts
Posted on 03/8/2024 22:35 PM (EWTN News - US Catholic News)
CNA Staff, Mar 8, 2024 / 17:35 pm (CNA).
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago announced large-scale job cuts this week amid a plan to move away from “increasingly complex and uncertain” government contracts and rely instead more heavily on charitable donations.
In a March 7 statement shared with CNA, the organization said as part of a strategic plan it will transition out of 75 government contracts that together fund 12% of its current operating budget. The contracts cover various services, from child care and youth programs to behavioral health counseling, senior care, adult protection, veteran services, and call centers, the group says.
The transition will result in the elimination of roughly 300 jobs, the vast majority of which involve the affected government contracts. “Nearly 1,000 staff” will remain after the cuts, the statement noted.
Catholic Charities Chicago is the official charitable arm of the Church in the country’s third-largest city, which is home to more than 2 million Catholics. The organization reported $179 million in program expenses in 2023 and says it serves more than 350,000 free meals each year to people in need and has resettled 20,000 migrants over the past 18 months.
“Over the last decade, navigating the government services sector has grown more complex, and funding has not kept up with the high rates of inflation,” said Sally Blount, CCC’s president and CEO.
“That means that many contracts no longer cover their direct costs, much less the increasing costs of administering them … Going forward, Catholic Charities will continue to serve the same populations and provide many of the same services but will do so with greater reliance on private funding.”
Currently, CCC annually obtains about $42 million in revenue from private donations and bequests, compared with $142 million from government sources.
“We are lucky to have incredibly generous donors…We regularly raise over $30 million in private funding annually. We are not cutting programming that is funded through our generous private donors. In fact, over time we will be increasing that part of our portfolio,” Blount told CNA.
“As the largest human services provider in our region, Catholic Charities is responsible for regularly engaging in financial and strategic planning. We embarked on a comprehensive, year-long strategic planning effort that resulted in Vision 2030, a seven-year strategic plan designed to ensure CatholicCharities’ long-term mission, financial vitality, and service impact for generations to come,” she said.
Under its new strategic plan — done in concert with a consulting firm called The Bridgespan Group — CCC says it will pilot several new programs and expansions designed to increase services for low-income mothers and seniors across Cook and Lake counties in Illinois. The CCC board also recently voted to open a new community center in the southwest suburb of Summit in fall 2025 and to fund a standing Rapid Response Team, the statement continued.
CCC was in the news last fall after Jim Irsay, the billionaire owner of the Indianapolis Colts, made a $5 million donation in honor of his late cousin, Sister Joyce Dura, who ministered in the Chicago area for decades. Catholic Charities renamed its five-night-a-week supper program at its headquarters in Sister Dura’s honor.
Orthodox, Catholic representatives issue ‘challenging recommendation’ on interfaith marriage
Posted on 03/8/2024 22:05 PM (EWTN News - US Catholic News)
CNA Staff, Mar 8, 2024 / 17:05 pm (CNA).
As interfaith marriages can carry unique theological and pastoral challenges, Orthodox and Catholic Church representatives released earlier this week the latest guidance on these Catholic-Orthodox marriages in more than 30 years.
“The Pastoral Care of Mixed Marriages: Neither Yours nor Mine — but Ours” is a self-proclaimed “dialogue statement” between Catholic and Orthodox representatives that has “no authority” on either Church but instead offers recommendations to theologians and Church leaders.
Most notably, the document recommends that the Orthodox Church recognize Catholic marriage and the Catholic Church take steps to recognize Orthodox remarriages.
Dialogue, not declaration
The North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation, which wrote the recommendations, was “sanctioned by the hierarchies of the two churches to examine divisive issues and to make recommendations regarding ways to overcome them,” according to their website.
“Our Churches are working to overcome and heal the centuries-old separation,” the Consultation noted, adding: “We still stand before the Lord and sadly confess that our estrangement is not healed.”
The Consultation has released 31 statements since its founding in 1965 about Orthodox-Catholic relations that are strictly dialogue, not authoritative teaching.
“Like most dialogue agreed statements, this new text does not speak officially for either Church,” The USCCB noted in a statement on the document on Tuesday. “However, it has been drafted by a group of experienced theologians highly esteemed by their peers and submitted to all the members of both Churches for their prayerful reflection and discussion.”
Cardinal Joseph Tobin, the archbishop of Newark, New Jersey, and Metropolitan Methodios, the metropolitan of Boston, co-chaired the dialogue in Ontario, Canada, last spring.
The Consultation is sponsored jointly by the Bishops’ Committee for Ecumenical Relations of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America, the Committee for Interreligious Affairs of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Recognizing marriage would be a step toward ‘reunification’
On July 16, 1054, the Great Schism separated the Orthodox Church from the Catholic Church. The effects of this still resonate today, and interfaith couples face the challenge of differing theologies of marriage.
The Consultation document makes a number of recommendations regarding marriages between Orthodox and Catholic parties, the most revolutionary of which asks the Orthodox Church to recognize interfaith marriages performed in Catholic churches.
Because the Orthodox Church recognizes the priestly blessing as what establishes “the mystery of Orthodox marriage,” any valid Orthodox marriage needs an Orthodox priest or bishop present.
But in the Catholic faith, the couple confers the sacrament, not the priest. In “extraordinary circumstances, the man and woman can marry without the blessing of a priest,” the Consultation noted. Because of this, a Catholic-Orthodox couple would usually be married by an Orthodox bishop or priest, in an Orthodox Church.
However, the document suggests that the Orthodox Church recognizes these interfaith marriages in a Catholic Church.
Father Walter Kedjierski, who heads the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs for the USCCB, notes that this is a “humble recommendation.”
“Yet from the perspective of our Churches coming closer together, for the Orthodox to recognize Catholic marriage would be a major, major step toward our reunification, which is our ultimate goal,” he said.
The Consultation asks the Catholic Church to recognize Orthodox dissolution of marriages, and by extension, select remarriages between interfaith couples.
The Orthodox understanding of marriage is “lifelong,” but Church leaders can grant “exceptions” out of “pastoral recognition” of human “frailty and error,” the document noted.
The Catholic Church, meanwhile, allows annulments in cases where it can be determined that the initial requirements for the sacrament of marriage were invalid, rendering the marriage void in the eyes of the Catholic Church.
If the Catholic Church were to recognize an Orthodox dissolution of marriage, this would allow the Catholic party of a remarried interfaith couple to receive the Eucharist in the Catholic Church.
Mutually pastoral
Despite theological differences, the representatives of the two Churches recognize the importance of “shepherd[ing] the flock” in light of the cultural changes “in the wider world regarding marriage.”
“Many increasingly view the institution of marriage as superfluous and unnecessary, whether it is sanctioned by the state or by religion,” the Consultation noted. “Where matrimony does occur, civil marriage is becoming normative for many people.”
“We propose that instead of dividing the parties in a mixed marriage into yours and mine, to adopt, as a starting principle, a joint solicitude for the spouses and embark on the pastoral care of each mixed marriage as our concern,” the Consultation continued.
Determining which Church to raise children in can be another challenge of an interfaith marriage, but the Consultation emphasized that mixed marriage families are “our common concern.”
“Ideally, both Churches are jointly responsible for the pastoral care of spouses and children in mixed marriages,” the Consultation stated.
For the future
Kedjierski noted that the “practical effects of this document … have yet to be seen.”
“It all depends upon how well it is received by the bishops from our respective Churches, influential theologians (particularly in this case scholars in canon law) from both Church traditions and the lay faithful in the pews,” he continued.
Scholars will continue to engage the document and give commentary on it, the USCCB noted.
“The process of ecumenical reception takes time,” Kedjierski said. “This document is a point in an over five-decade-long discussion between Catholic and Orthodox Christians.”
Court rules Christian nonprofit does not have to cover gender transition
Posted on 03/8/2024 21:35 PM (EWTN News - US Catholic News)
CNA Staff, Mar 8, 2024 / 16:35 pm (CNA).
In a “resounding victory” for religious freedom, a court in North Dakota ruled this week that the federal government cannot compel religious employers and health care providers to pay for or perform “gender transition” procedures that go against their religious beliefs.
The North Dakota District Court found that the religious beliefs of Christian Employers Alliance (CEA) — a nonprofit group that unites Christian-owned businesses around the cause of religious freedom — were “substantially burdened by the monetary penalties [the group] faces for refusing to violate its beliefs.”
“We are overjoyed our members will not have to choose between the biblically based employee benefits and quality health care they provide, and the threat of federal enforcement and massive costs for practicing their faith,” Shannon Royce, president of CEA, said in a statement on Monday.
The lawsuit, Christian Employers Alliance v. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), filed in October 2021, argued against two federal mandates compelling Christian employers to fund or perform “gender transition” procedures.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, enforced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), prohibited a federally funded health program from denying benefits to an individual based on Title IX.
The second federal mandate, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, bars sex-based discrimination, and per a 2020 Supreme Court decision, also bans discrimination based on “gender identity.”
However, the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) prevents the government from “substantially burden[ing]” a person’s religious exercise “unless imposing such a burden is the least restrictive means of furthering a compelling government interest.”
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) argued on behalf of CEA in court. The nonprofit legal organization defends religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.
ADF argued in the lawsuit that the EEOC misinterpreted Title VII to compel religious employers to provide health insurance coverage for “gender transition” surgeries. The lawsuit also challenged the HHS’ reinterpretation of sex in federal law to include gender identity.
“The court was on firm ground to stop the administration from enforcing these unlawful mandates that disrespect people of faith,” Matt Bowman, senior counsel and director of Regulatory Practice at ADF, said of the verdict.
“All employers and health care providers … have the constitutionally protected freedom to conduct their business and render treatment in a manner consistent with their deeply held religious beliefs,” Bowman said.
“The employers we represent believe that God purposefully created humans as either male or female, and so it would violate their religious beliefs to pay for or perform life-altering medical procedures or surgeries that seek to change one’s sex.”
The court ultimately ruled that “providing health care coverage for gender transition services under the EEOC and HHS coverage mandates impinges upon CEA’s beliefs.”
“CEA must either comply with the EEOC and HHS mandates by violating their sincerely held religious beliefs or else face harsh consequences like paying fines and facing civil liability,” the ruling stated, further noting that “religious freedom cannot be encumbered on a case-by-case basis.”
Royce called the North Dakota District Court’s decision “a resounding victory for all present and future members of the Christian Employers Alliance.”
“This victory is amazing; however, not universal,” Royce continued. “There are thousands of other Christian-owned, -operated, or -led businesses and ministries that still endure intense pressure and scrutiny by agencies, financial firms, and even employees to acquiesce to the culture’s attempt to redefine biology.”
Bishop rules on supposed apparitions of Virgin Mary in Italy
Posted on 03/8/2024 21:05 PM (EWTN News - World Catholic News)
ACI Prensa Staff, Mar 8, 2024 / 16:05 pm (CNA).
After an investigation by a group of experts, an Italian bishop has decreed that the alleged apparitions in Trevignano Romano are not supernatural.
Irish voters mull constitutional amendments downgrading traditional family structure
Posted on 03/8/2024 20:35 PM (EWTN News - US Catholic News)
CNA Staff, Mar 8, 2024 / 15:35 pm (CNA).
Voters in Ireland went to the polls today to decide on whether or not to strip from the country’s constitution recognition of the central role of the traditional family founded on marriage as well as the societal value of women within the home. Final results from the vote aren’t expected until Saturday.
In an interview with “EWTN News Nightly” anchor Tracy Sabol, Maria Steen, an Irish barrister, made the case for rejecting the proposed “Family Amendment” that would both remove a clause about the importance of marriage and family to society as well as legally redefine “family” as either “founded on marriage or on other durable relationships.”
“Now, the government isn’t able to tell us what ‘durable relationships’ means, and although it has been put to them many times, they say it will be up to the courts to decide,” Steen told Sabol. “So, in effect, the Irish people are being asked to vote on something with no definition, that they don’t know who the parties to it are, or the effects that it will have.”
In addition to the “Family Amendment,” the proposed “Care Amendment” would also remove a constitutional clause noting that the “state recognizes that by her life within the home, woman gives to the state a support without which the common good cannot be achieved.”
The proposed “Care Amendment” would also remove an article of the Irish Constitution that says “the state shall, therefore, endeavor to ensure that mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labor to the neglect of their duties in the home.”
“The government is talking about deleting the word ‘woman,’ the word ‘mother,’ and the word ‘home’ from our constitution,” Steen noted.
These clauses would be replaced by an article noting that the state will “strive to support” the care that “members of a family” give to one another “without which the common good cannot be achieved.”
When asked about the response of the women of Ireland to the proposal, Steen noted that there’s “a lot of concern.”
“There’s a feeling among women that the idea, the symbolism of erasing the words ‘woman’ and ‘mother’ from the constitution is, in effect, grotesque,” she said.
When asked about the effects of these amendments, Steen said it could have unintended consequences for things like family inheritance.
“The benefit of marriage is that everybody knows what they’re getting into,” she said in reference to civil marriage, adding: “... Because it is publicly witnessed, everybody knows that both parties have consented to it.”
Without this “external evidence,” the legal category for long-term couples is unclear, she explained.
Steen also noted that the “durable relationship” would be “put at the same level” as a marriage.
“So, for instance, somebody could make a claim for inheritance or maintenance from a former boyfriend or girlfriend at the same level as a husband or wife could,” she explained. “And the other person had never consented to being in a marriage or a marriage-like relationship.”
‘God never tires of forgiving’: Pope Francis hears confessions at Roman parish
Posted on 03/8/2024 19:35 PM (EWTN News - World Catholic News)
Rome, Italy, Mar 8, 2024 / 14:35 pm (CNA).
Choosing the theme “Walking in the New Life,” the pope stressed that the Lenten journey is a moment of interior reflection and transformation.