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Pope Francis appeared in a wheelchair at his general audience on Feb. 28, 2024. / Vatican MediaRome Newsroom, Feb 28, 2024 / 12:01 pm (CNA).Pope Francis this week called for prayers for, and expressed his closeness to, the victims of twin terrorist attacks on Catholic and Muslim communities in the West African country of Burkina Faso."We pray for the victims of the recent attacks on places of worship in Burkina Faso," a papal aide read on behalf of the Holy Father during his Wednesday general audience. The pope's comments come after an official telegram signed by the Vatican's Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin was sent to Bishop Laurent Dabiré, president of the Episcopal Conference of Burkina Faso and of Niger on Monday. That message expressed pain on the pontiff's behalf for the families of those murdered. The Monday telegram denounced the killings and reiterated the pope's appeal for peace, noting that "hatred is not the solution to conflicts." The pope fur...
A statue of Charles de Foucauld in front of the Church of Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune in Strasbourg, France. / Maykova Galina via Shutterstock.Rome Newsroom, Feb 28, 2024 / 12:46 pm (CNA).After a nearly year-long vacancy, Pope Francis has appointed a new head of the French Archdiocese of Strasbourg, which has been subject to an apostolic visitation and two high-profile episcopal resignations in the past several years. The Holy See Press Office announced on Wednesday the appointment of 66-year-old Pascal Delannoy as the diocese's new archbishop. The see had been vacant since the resignation of former Archbishop Luc Ravel in April 2023."I am happy to greet each of you as our Pope Francis has just named me Archbishop of Strasbourg," Delannoy wrote in a Feb. 28 statement. "I welcome this appointment with confidence and serenity and I warmly thank Philippe Ballot, Bishop of Metz, for having administered the diocese during the vacancy of the see following the resignation of Luc R...
null / ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 28, 2024 / 13:32 pm (CNA).Numerous Republican lawmakers are announcing their support for in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures and distancing themselves from an Alabama Supreme Court decision that ruled in favor of some legal protections for human embryos.IVF is a fertility treatment in which doctors fuse sperm and eggs to create human embryos and implant them in the mother's womb without a sexual act. Embryos that are intended to be implanted at a later date are frozen. Undesired embryos are routinely destroyed or used for scientific research, which kills those preborn children. The Alabama Supreme Court recently found in an 8-1 decision that human embryos are covered under the state's "Wrongful Death of a Minor Act." The ruling stems from a lawsuit in which three families argued an IVF clinic should be held accountable for the accidental death of their preborn children, which were frozen embryos under the clinic's care....
Pope Francis addresses pilgrims in St. Peter's Square during his Sunday Angelus on Feb. 18, 2024. / Credit: Vatican MediaCNA Staff, Feb 28, 2024 / 13:37 pm (CNA).Pope Francis' prayer intention for the month of March is for the martyrs of our day and witnesses to Christ."This month, I want to tell you a story that is a reflection of the Church today. It is the story of a little-known witness of faith," Pope Francis stated in a video released Feb. 27."Visiting a refugee camp in Lesbos, a man told me, 'Father, I am Muslim. My wife was Christian. Terrorists came to our place, looked at us and asked what our religion was. They approached my wife with a crucifix and told her to throw it on the ground. She didn't do it, and they slit her throat in front of me.' That's what happened."The Holy Father added, "I know he held no grudges. He was focused on his wife's example of love, a love for Christ that led her to accept, and to be faithful to the point of death."He reminded the faithful...
This photograph shows flowers and candles laid out on the sidewalk after a huge fire killed ten people in a multi-story residential block, in Valencia on February 26, 2024. Ten people have died in a vast fire that ripped through a 14-story apartment block in Valencia in eastern Spain. / Credit: Photo by MAO/AFP via Getty Images)Valencia, Spain, Feb 28, 2024 / 14:37 pm (CNA)."The fire spread super quickly, but people's response has been even quicker." That's how Manuel, a resident of a 14-story apartment building demolished by fire, described the reaction of neighbors, businesses, the local government, and "the whole world" after a blaze on February 22 destroyed an entire residential complex in Valencia, Spain, within minutes.Manuel was speaking with local RTVE news, recounting his perilous escape from the 12th floor with his 80-year-old mother. He took the stairs down after ringing the doorbells of every neighbor possible. The double towers of the complex included 138 apartment...
Texas Right to Life President John Seago speaks to ENN Anchor Tracy Sabol on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024 / EWTNWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 28, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).Texas pro-lifers are rallying in prayer against a "satanic" statue on display at the University of Houston that a pro-life leader says is "advocating for abortion rights."The 18-foot tall golden statue, titled "Witness" by artist Shahzia Sikander, depicts a woman with braids twisted in the shape of ram horns. She is held up by a metal frame meant to proclaim her "authority in the world." John Seago, president of Texas Right to Life, the group that organized the Feb. 28 prayer rally, told EWTN News Nightly on Tuesday that the commissioners of the statue are "embracing satanic imagery." Ram horns are often associated with Satan and satanism in Western art. The statue, one of two sculptures constituting a project called "Havah…to breathe, air, life," was transported from Madison Square Park in New York Ci...
Pope Francis appears in a wheelchair at his general audience on Feb. 28, 2024. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Feb 28, 2024 / 07:43 am (CNA).Pope Francis went to the hospital on Rome's Tiber Island on Wednesday morning after meeting with the public at his general audience.The Vatican confirmed on Feb. 28 that the pope underwent "diagnostic tests" at the Gemelli Isola Tiberina Hospital before returning to his Vatican residence shortly after noon.According to the Holy See Press Office, the pope has had "a mild flu-like condition" since at least Saturday when he canceled his scheduled public appearances.The 87-year-old pope appeared in a wheelchair at his Wednesday audience in Paul VI Hall where he had an aide read his speech for him after telling the crowd that he was still not well."Dear brothers and sisters, I still have a bit of a cold," Pope Francis said in a soft-spoken voice as he explained that Monsignor Filippo Ciampanelli would read the text of his catechesis for hi...
Pope Francis greets pilgrims at his Wednesday general audience in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican on Feb. 28, 2024. / Credit: Vatican MediaRome Newsroom, Feb 28, 2024 / 07:44 am (CNA).Pope Francis, still visibly suffering from a "cold," visited a Rome hospital for diagnostic tests on Wednesday following his weekly general audience, at which an aide read the Holy Father's prepared remarks.The Holy See Press Office later confirmed the hospital visit, adding that the pope already had returned to the Vatican."I still have a bit of a cold, which is why I asked Monsignor [Filippo] Ciampanelli to read today's catechesis," Pope Francis said at the start of the morning general audience in the Paul VI Audience Hall. He arrived at the hall in his wheelchair shortly before 9 a.m. and did not walk to his chair with a cane as he typically does.The pope also had an aide read his prepared remarks at an earlier morning meeting Wednesday with members of the Synod of Bishops of the Patri...
null / Billion Photos / Shutterstock.CNA Staff, Feb 28, 2024 / 10:18 am (CNA).A former priest was sentenced to 15 months in prison this week for molesting an Ohio minor suffering from cancer. The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office announced the indictment of Luis Barajas in November of last year. Barajas had been "acting in the capacity of a retired priest" when he "went to the victim's residence" in order to "give her a blessing before her chemotherapy treatment." During the blessing, Barajas "inappropriately touched the victim under a blanket," the office said. The girl was 15 years old at the time of the assault. Barajas subsequently pleaded guilty to the felony of gross sexual imposition. Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Andrew Santoli announced the 15-month sentence on Tuesday. Barajas received time served and will be in prison for just under a year. "You admitted to sexually assaulting a child, which in and of itself is an absolutely horr...
Pope Francis meets at the Vatican with bishops from the Armenian Catholic Church o Feb. 28, 2024. / Credit: Vatican MediaCNA Staff, Feb 28, 2024 / 10:30 am (CNA).Pope Francis on Wednesday urged the bishops of the Armenian Catholic Church to "take up the cry for peace" amid ongoing threats of conflict and religious persecution in the region. Armenia and Azerbaijan are engaged in peace talks following Azerbaijan's violent takeover of the Nagorno-Karabakh region late last year. The region has been a point of contention for years since the dissolution of the Soviet Union.All but a few ethnic Armenians in the Nagorno-Karabakh region fled their ancestral homeland following Azerbaijan's takeover. Human rights leaders last year warned of a possible "religious cleansing" of Armenian Christians during the conflict. In his address on Wednesday, Pope Francis urged the Synod of Bishops of the Patriarchal Church of Cilicia of the Armenians to pray for ...
