Arsonists burn down homes of Egypt's beleaguered Christians

A Coptic Orthodox church in Old Cairo, a historic area of the Egyptian capital. / Credit: Sun_Shine via ShutterstockAnn Arbor, Michigan, Apr 24, 2024 / 15:45 pm (CNA).Muslim extremists set on fire several homes of Christians in Minya, a province in southern Egypt, in a continuation of anti-Christian violence less than two weeks before Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter. According to The New Arab, when anti-Christian fanatics failed to dispossess Christians of their homes in retribution for attempting to build a church in Al-Fawakher village, they proceeded to burn down the houses on the evening of April 23.On his official Twitter account, Coptic Orthodox Bishop Anba Macarius wrote on April 24 that Egyptian security forces "brought the situation under control, arresting the instigators and perpetrators," and that the government "will compensate those affected and hold the perpetrators accountable." After noting that calm now reigns in Al-Fawakher, Macarius added: "Ma...

Oklahoma attorney general asks Supreme Court to halt execution of condemned convict

Anti-death penalty activists rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court in an attempt to prevent the execution of Oklahoma inmate Richard Glossip on Sept. 29, 2015, in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Larry French/Getty Images for MoveOn.orgCNA Staff, Apr 24, 2024 / 15:15 pm (CNA).Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond this week asked the Supreme Court to halt the execution of a condemned man whose death sentence has been criticized by an archbishop and other Catholic advocates. Drummond announced the filing on his website on Tuesday. In his petition to the Supreme Court the attorney general detailed "why the execution of Oklahoma death row inmate Richard Glossip should be halted and his conviction remanded back to district court."Glossip was first convicted in 1998 for allegedly ordering a handyman at a motel Glossip managed to murder the motel's owner. Glossip was largely convicted on the handyman's testimony.Since his initial conviction, two independent investigations have unco...

End-of-life resources help Catholics 'finish life faithfully'

null / ShutterstockCNA Staff, Apr 24, 2024 / 14:15 pm (CNA).As euthanasia and assisted suicide are legalized in more jurisdictions throughout the U.S. and the rest of the world, one Catholic-focused ministry is promoting end-of-life resources that the group's founder says will help Catholics finish their earthly journeys while remaining faithful.Aging with Dignity, a nonprofit that for years has been promoting end-of-life support in line with Church teaching, announced this month the release of "Finishing Life Faithfully," a booklet that "makes complex end-of-life decisions easier." The materials address "basic questions" on how to approach end-of-life topics such as pain management, feeding tubes, and other matters surrounding death.The document "summarizes the Catholic Church's guidance on end-of-life decision-making and the ethical considerations involved and helps patients and families better understand these teachings and follow them," the group said this month.Jim Towey, ...

Catholic Charities in Ohio found partially negligent in 5-year-old's 2017 death

null / Credit: Brian A Jackson / ShutterstockCNA Staff, Apr 24, 2024 / 13:35 pm (CNA).Catholics Charities Corporation in Ohio was found partially negligent this week in the 2017 death of a 5-year-old boy who was being supervised by one of the organization's caseworkers at the time he died.A jury in Cuyahoga County ruled in the wrongful death suit that the Catholic charity group was 8% responsible for Jordan Rodriguez's September 2017 death, local media reported. Rodriguez's body was discovered buried in his mother's backyard three months after he died.The boy's mother and her boyfriend earlier pleaded guilty to several charges stemming from his death, including involuntary manslaughter. Jordan was developmentally disabled and incapable of speaking.In the civil wrongful death trial this week, Catholic Charities Corporation was ordered to pay $960,000 into Jordan Rodriguez's estate. Several ...

Cisco CEO meets Pope Francis, signs AI ethics pledge at Vatican

Chuck Robbins, the chief executive of the multinational digital communications conglomerate Cisco, signs the Rome Call for AI Ethics, a document by the Pontifical Academy for Life, on April 24, 2024, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaRome Newsroom, Apr 24, 2024 / 11:06 am (CNA).The CEO of Cisco Systems signed the Vatican's artificial intelligence ethics pledge on Wednesday, becoming the latest technology giant to join the Church's call for ethical and responsible use of AI.Chuck Robbins, the chief executive of the multinational digital communications conglomerate, met privately with Pope Francis on April 24 before signing the Rome Call for AI Ethics, a document by the Pontifical Academy for Life. Pope Francis meets with Chuck Robbins, the chief executive of multinational digital communications conglomerate Cisco, on April 24, 2024, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican MediaThe document, first published by the pontifical academy in February 2020, has previously been signed ...

Redeemed from sexual libertinism, prostitution, and occult, Fran Orvich tells his story

Orvich said he wanted to share his experience with same sex attraction "so that the Lord might touch hearts and that people repent and try returning to a chaste life." / Credit: Fran OrvichACI Prensa Staff, Apr 23, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).For the last five years Fran Orvich, 30, has been living chastely following a conversion process that began after a traumatic childhood and years of sexual libertinism.The young man shared his conversion process in a telephone interview with ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, "for the glory of God and the salvation of souls and to give light, hope, and salvation to these poor brothers of ours who are in the Church and are very confused."Specifically, Orvich said he wanted to share his experience with same-sex attraction "so that the Lord might touch hearts and that people repent and try returning to a chaste life."A difficult childhoodWhile only five years have passed since his conversion, to explain what he has experienced Or...

Could Florida become the first state to defeat an abortion amendment?

People join together during a "Rally to Stop the Six-Week Abortion Ban" held at Lake Eola Park on April 13, 2024, in Orlando, Florida. / Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty ImagesWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 23, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).The Florida Supreme Court recently made national headlines when it issued two significant abortion rulings on the same day. One ruling cleared the way for a law to take effect that protects unborn life at six weeks and beyond. The other allowed a far-reaching abortion proposal, titled the Limiting Government Interference with Abortion Amendment, to be placed on the November ballot.If passed, the amendment would change the Florida Constitution to include a provision reading: "No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient's health, as determined by the patient's health care provider."With the abortion amendment now officially on the ballot in Florida, many will be looking...

Bishops: Catholic Church in Spain unjustly singled out in plan to address sexual abuse

Archbishop Luis Argüello and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. / Credit: Archdiocese of Valladolid; La MoncloaACI Prensa Staff, Apr 23, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).The Spanish government approved today in the Council of Ministers a plan to implement recommendations made in a report on sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. While recognizing some good points in the plan, the Spanish Bishops' Conference (known by its Spanish acronym CEE) issued a statement strongly objecting to what it called unfair treatment and discrimination against the Church by the government.Before giving details of the government's plan, the minister of the Presidency, Justice, and Relations with the Legislature, Félix Bolaños, extrapolating data from a survey commissioned by the People's Ombudsman, estimated that in Spain there are about 440,000 adults who were victims of sexual abuse as minors, representing 1.13% of the adult population in Spain."Around half of these abuses would have been committed...

A year after earthquake, Aleppo's St. George Church rises again

Over a year after the earthquake that hit Syria and Turkey in February 2023, restoration of Aleppo's Church of St. George has been completed. / Credit: Abdul Kareem DanielAleppo, Syria, Apr 23, 2024 / 14:15 pm (CNA).This year's feast of St. George was a particularly joyful one in the Syrian city of Aleppo, especially for the Melkite Greek Catholic community. The church is reopening its doors after undergoing restoration due to damage from a February 2023 earthquake. Additionally, Archbishop George Masri of the Melkite Archdiocese of Aleppo and its environs will celebrate his golden jubilee.The celebrations took place during the visit of Patriarch Joseph Absi, the current patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, who presided over the Divine Liturgy in the restored church on the evening of April 23. The evening before, there was a procession along Holy Bible Street followed by vespers.Restoration of the Church of St. George in Aleppo after the February 2023 earthquake...

'An unprecedented opportunity': Augustine Institute announces move to St. Louis 

The Augustine Institute's new facilities in Florissant, Missouri. / Credit: Boeing Company and Augustine InstituteCNA Staff, Apr 23, 2024 / 13:30 pm (CNA).The Augustine Institute, a Catholic educational and evangelization apostolate based in Denver for nearly two decades, announced on Tuesday that it will be moving its operations to a new campus in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. The institute, founded in 2005 as a Catholic graduate theology school, currently has an enrollment of 550 students. It says on its website that it exists to serve "the formation of Catholics for the new evangelization" by "equip[ping] Catholics intellectually, spiritually, and pastorally to renew the Church and transform the world for Christ."The organization announced on Tuesday that it had purchased the former Boeing Leadership Center in Florissant, Missouri, just outside of downtown St. Louis. The school will "begin transitioning its operations over the next few years," it said in ...