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St. Thomas Aquinas uttered a last prophecy and an emotional prayer before his departure to Heaven. / Credit: Renata Sedmakova - ShutterstockACI Prensa Staff, Mar 7, 2024 / 16:30 pm (CNA).March 7 marks the 750th anniversary of the death of St. Thomas Aquinas, the patron saint of Catholic education, who uttered a last prophecy and an emotional prayer before his departure to heaven. In addition, the saint reportedly spoke the lyrics of a beautiful hymn of his that is sung to this day throughout the Catholic Church.The account of the death of St. Thomas, written by Friar Guillermo de Tocco, biographer of the saint, which was published by the website tomasdeaquino.org run by the Institute of the Incarnate Word, relates how the Angelic Doctor was heading to Rome but was having health problems.Passing near the Fossanova Abbey of the Cistercian monks south of Rome, he agreed to stay there to regain his strength.In the cloister, he spoke the following prophecy to his companion: "Reginal...
Four of the six priests who regularly appear in "The Sacristy of the Vendée" program on YouTube. / Credit: Screenshot/Sacristy of the VendéeACI Prensa Staff, Mar 7, 2024 / 17:05 pm (CNA).Father Francisco José Delgado, a Spanish priest who hosts "La Sacristía de la Vendée" ("The Sacristy of the Vendée") program on YouTube, announced the suspension of the program "until further notice" following the controversy sparked by a "comment in bad taste" made about Pope Francis by one of the priests during a recent episode."After much reflection and of our own volition, wanting to avoid putting our bishops in the position of having to make a difficult decision that would grant victory to our enemies, we have decided to make a strategic retreat," the priest said during a live broadcast March 6."Perhaps losing a battle but avoiding losing the war, that is, let no one be mistaken: No one is forcing us to do anything, nor were we forced to apologize, rather we're taking that step f...
Pope Francis delivers an address during his Wednesday general audience on Feb. 14, 2024, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaCNA Newsroom, Mar 7, 2024 / 17:30 pm (CNA).Economics, international relations, and other social sciences may have not existed in their contemporary form when St. Thomas Aquinas died 750 years ago. But according to Pope Francis, experts in these fields should turn to the 13th-century theologian for help in answering some of today's most dire social challenges.In a letter to a Vatican gathering of social scientists on March 7, the anniversary of Aquinas' death, the pope said the Angelic Doctor's "rigorous study" of the philosophical and theological implications of the fact that man is made "in the image of God" was not only a precursor to the development of the social sciences but also can be an invaluable aid to them today."While his influence in shaping the moral and legal thinking of modernity is beyond doubt, a recovery o...
Pope Francis joines the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors in prayer at the Vatican on March 7, 2024. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Mar 7, 2024 / 17:50 pm (CNA).Pope Francis encouraged the papal commission tasked with combatting clergy abuse to move forward in their efforts to make the Church a safer environment for both minors and vulnerable adults.Acknowledging that it is easy to feel discouraged when confronting the realities of the sexual abuse crisis, the pope told the the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors on Thursday morning that "our commitment must not wane.""Indeed, I encourage you to move forward so that the Church will be, always and everywhere, a place where everyone can feel at home," Pope Francis said. Underscoring the importance of listening "firsthand" to abuse victims, the pope stressed to the body that "we cannot help others to bear their burdens unless we shoulder them ourselves, unless we show genuine closeness an...
The purported skull of St. Thomas Aquinas in the Italian town of Priverno. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNARome Newsroom, Mar 7, 2024 / 14:00 pm (CNA).On the eve of the 750th anniversary of St. Thomas Aquinas' death, a skull revered as a relic of St. Thomas Aquinas was carried in a solemn procession through the cobblestone streets of the southern Italian town of Priverno.Bishop Mariano Crociata led the procession to honor the medieval philosopher and theologian widely considered one of the greatest thinkers in Western civilization who died in the nearby Fossanova Abbey on March 7, 1274.The procession of the purported skull of St. Thomas Aquinas in Priverno, Italy, March 7, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNAThe relic has been venerated in the town's 12th-century cathedral since it was found in the altar of nearby Fossanova Abbey in 1585 with notarized documents indicating that it was the skull of the Angelic Doctor.Father Alessandro Trani, the rector of the Priverno Co-cathedral of Sant...
Stephen Destin is executive director of the Partnership for the Reconstruction of the Church in Haiti. / Credit: Screenshot/EWTN News NightlyCNA Staff, Mar 6, 2024 / 15:30 pm (CNA).During the latest round of violence in Haiti, heavily armed gangs tried to seize control of the country's main international airport, after gangs attacked the country's two biggest prisons and released thousands of inmates. The Toussaint Louverture International Airport was closed when the attack occurred and had no passengers on site, but gang members exchanged gunfire with police and soldiers.In an interview with EWTN News Nightly anchor Tracy Sabol, Stephen Destin, executive director of the Partnership for the Reconstruction of the Church in Haiti, said "international intervention is mandatory … to avoid bloodshed." Destin says there's "no possible way" to leave the country because "all commercial flights [are] being canceled," while "the main routes in and out of the capital" are being ...
United States Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) on his way to a vote in the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 2, 2021. / Credit: Drew Angerer/Getty ImagesWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 6, 2024 / 16:10 pm (CNA).United States Senator Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) is demanding that President Joe Biden protect Catholic churches from the "growing number of attacks" they have suffered since the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. In a March 5 letter addressed to the nation's second Catholic president, Rubio cited a tracker that found more than 400 attacks against Catholic churches since May of 2020. The tracker, last updated on March 5, lists numerous examples of property damage, including arson, statue destruction, rocks and bricks being thrown through windows and the spray painting of satanic messages. "These attacks are not random nor are they the result of a temporary lapse in judgment by perpetrators," Rubio, who is Catholic, wrote. "They are motivated by a deep and abiding animosi...
Monsignor Aurelio Gazzera, coadjutor Bishop-Elect of the Diocese of Bangassou in the Central African Republic (CAR). / Credit: ACNACI Africa, Mar 6, 2024 / 16:20 pm (CNA).Monsignor Aurelio Gazzera, coadjutor bishop-elect of the Diocese of Bangassou in the Central African Republic (CAR), has promised to promote dialogue with various rebel groups operating in the country, noting that he seeks to be a "symbol of peace" in his leadership. In a Monday, March 4 report by the Catholic pontifical and charity foundation, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International, Gazzera, who was appointed bishop on February 23, said CAR remains "very difficult and unstable" as the situation is still "precarious in large parts of the country.""I will try to listen to everyone and, with my limited powers, to be a symbol of peace," Gazzera said.Monsignor Aurelio Gazzera, coadjutor Bishop-Elect of the Diocese of Bangassou in the Central African Republic (CAR). Credit: ACNHe added, "I will do every...
A bill granting protections for IVF procedures is heading to the desk of Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey. / Public DomainWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 6, 2024 / 17:12 pm (CNA).Thirteen of the country's leading national pro-life groups are urging Alabama Governor Kay Ivey to veto a recently passed bill that would institute broad protections for in vitro fertilization (IVF) providers in the state.The bill, already passed by both the Alabama House and Senate, gives blanket immunity to IVF providers for the "damage or death of an embryo" conceived through IVF.IVF is a fertility treatment, opposed by the Catholic Church because it separates the marriage act from procreation and destroys embryonic human life. 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 implicati...
Quebec Cardinal Gérald Lacroix speaks at the International Eucharistic Congress in Budapest, Hungary, Sept. 7, 2021. / Daniel Ibáñez/CNA.Lima Newsroom, Mar 6, 2024 / 17:40 pm (CNA).The Archdiocese of Quebec in Canada has announced that Pope Francis has appointed a retired judge to lead an investigation into the accusations of sexual abuse against Cardinal Gerald Lacroix, charges that the cardinal "categorically" denies.In a March 4 statement, the Archdiocese of Quebec said that it was informed "last Feb. 8 that Pope Francis has commissioned André Denis, a former judge of the Superior Court of Quebec, to conduct an investigation" into the accusations against Lacroix.What is Lacroix accused of?Cardinal Gerald Lacroix, the archbishop of Quebec and member of the Council of Cardinals that advises Pope Francis, has been accused of abusing a 17-year-old girl almost four decades ago, as part of a lawsuit against his archdiocese. The cardinal has previously denied the accusation.Accordi...
