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Pope Francis at the Synod on Synodality on Oct. 6, 2023. / Credit: Vatican MediaRome Newsroom, Feb 3, 2024 / 10:30 am (CNA).The Vatican announced on Saturday that Synod on Synodality organizers are inviting 300 parish priests to come to Rome for a meeting of "listening, prayer, and discernment" that will help shape the next Synod assembly discussions.The international meeting of priests will take place from April 28 to May 2 with the goal of "listening to and valuing the experience of parish priests"and providing them with "an opportunity to experience the dynamism of synodal work at a universal level."The General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops said that the meeting is being organized in response to the first Synod assembly's Synthesis Report, which identified a need to "develop ways for a more active involvement of deacons, priests and bishops in the synodal process during the coming year." The participating priests were selected by their local bishops' conference in...
Joseph Cardinal Zen is bishop emeritus of Hong Kong. / Credit: The World Over with Raymond ArroyoCNA Staff, Feb 2, 2024 / 16:22 pm (CNA).In an interview on "The World Over with Raymond Arroyo" that aired Feb. 1, Cardinal Joseph Zen presented his new book, "Cardinal Zen's Lenten Reflections" and addressed recent controversial matters within the Catholic Church. Zen credited his friend Aurelio Porfiri, who had some of the cardinal's previous pastoral letters and homilies translated for publication, for making the project possible.Asked about the sections of Cardinal Zen's Lenten Reflections that speak about persecution, the 92-year-old bishop emeritus of Hong Kong recalled that "the Church is always persecuted." "Jesus said, 'They don't like you because they don't like me,' so we are going to be persecuted," he pointed out."We should not desire persecution. But when the persecution comes, you have to be happy, because the strength which comes to the martyrs [is] not their ow...
A bronze sculpture of St. Josephine Bakhita, patron of trafficking victims. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNAACI Prensa Staff, Feb 2, 2024 / 17:15 pm (CNA)."Journeying in Dignity: Listen, Dream, Act" is the theme of the International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking to be held on Feb. 8, a date established by Pope Francis on the feast of St. Bakhita, an African woman who before becoming a nun was enslaved and who is a symbol in the Church of the fight against this scourge, which affects millions of people.St. Josephine Bakhita, Sudanese by birth and naturalized Italian citizen, experienced firsthand the horrors of slavery for much of her life. The name "Bakhita" means "fortunate" and was given to her when she was 9 years old by slave traders, while the name "Josephine" was given to her 12 years later when she was baptized.A press release from the organizers explained that "human trafficking is the process by which people are coerced or lured by false prospects, r...
null / Credit: Father Vytautas Markünas, SDB / CathopicWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 2, 2024 / 17:45 pm (CNA).Bishop Oscar Solis of the Diocese of Salt Lake City is urging lawmakers to protect the seal of confession when considering legislation that would change sex abuse reporting laws when the reporter is a member of clergy.A proposed bill before the Utah Legislature would extend to members of the clergy the same legal protections when reporting sex abuse that are given to mandatory reporters. Essentially, the legislation would shield clergy from potential civil or criminal liability when reporting a potential abuser if he "reasonably believes that a child is the subject of ongoing abuse or neglect."Unlike similar proposals in 2020 and 2023, the bill would not make the priest a mandatory reporter and would not require the priest to report on information learned when hearing a confession. However, the protection from legal liability would extend to the priest if he were ...
Bishop Mario Eduardo Dorsonville, 1960-2024, officiating at the wedding of Steve and Courteney Simchak in 2019. / Credit: Photo by Jaclyn Lippelmann Photography, courtesy of Steve and Courteney SimchakWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 2, 2024 / 18:15 pm (CNA).After serving the Church for nearly four decades, Bishop Mario Eduardo Dorsonville passed away unexpectedly on Jan. 19, leaving behind a legacy of love, prayer, joy, and passionate service to the poorest of the poor.An immigrant, priest, and bishop, Dorsonville was known and beloved to people from the halls of Congress to the humblest of street corners. An advocate for migrants, refugees, and the poor, Dorsonville was involved in many ministries for the underprivileged and helped to pioneer the U.S. bishops' immigration advocacy.To the many Catholics whose lives he impacted, he was known as a friend, mentor, and, above all, a man of deep prayer and great love.CNA spoke with a few of Dorsonville's many friends who expressed th...
Pope Francis speaks at a Mass on the World Day of Consecrated Life, the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, on Feb. 2, 2024, in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNARome Newsroom, Feb 2, 2024 / 13:55 pm (CNA).On the 28th World Day of Consecrated Life, Pope Francis spoke about the importance of cultivating "an intense spiritual life" that is nourished by Eucharistic adoration, intercessory prayer, and silence.Pope Francis presided over Mass on Feb. 2 for the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, a feast that coincides each year with a day of prayer established by John Paul II for men and women with consecrated vocations in the Church."Ours is a world that often runs at great speed, that exalts 'everything and now,'" Francis said."In such a context, where silence is banished and lost, waiting is not easy, for it requires … the courage to slow our pace, to not be overwhelmed by activities, to make room within ourselves for God's action."Pope Fra...
null / Credit: ShutterstockCNA Staff, Feb 2, 2024 / 14:30 pm (CNA).The Canadian government will postpone until 2027 plans to expand its assisted suicide program to include those suffering from mental illness after a parliamentary report said the country's health system is "not ready."Canada first legalized assisted suicide in June 2016 for adults suffering from irreversibly deadly illnesses. In 2021, the government said it would wait an additional two years to extend those services to citizens suffering from mental illness to "study how MAID [medical assistance in dying] on the basis of a mental illness can safely be provided."The government last year extended that delay by another year. Canadians suffering from mental illnesses were expected to be able to apply for assisted suicide by mid-March 2024. On Thursday the government announced that the extension would be delayed until 2027, stating that the government-run health system "is not yet ready for this expansion."...
Christopher Wray at his confirmation hearing on July 12, 2017. / Credit: Alex Wong/Getty ImagesWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 2, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).More than a dozen senators are demanding that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) come clean about its efforts to surveil traditionalist Catholics, with the lawmakers accusing the agency of deleting records, withholding details, and giving misleading information about those undertakings. Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley and 15 other Republican senators expressed their demands in a Jan. 31 letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray. The letter requested that the FBI provide intact records to the Senate, explain why the bureau allegedly "permanently deleted" files related to an anti-Catholic memo in the bureau's Richmond field office, and clear up perceived contradictions between Wray's testimonies to Congress and newly revealed information of the FBI's surveillance of Catholics.The letter references in part information obtained th...
The Diocese of Plymouth in England said in a statement this week that the ordination of Plymouth Bishop-elect Christopher Whitehead "will not take place on 22 February 2024 as expected." / Credit: © Mazur/cbcew.org.uk|Flickr|CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 DEEDCNA Staff, Feb 2, 2024 / 10:40 am (CNA).The expected ordination of an English bishop-elect has been postponed indefinitely while Church officials conduct a "canonical process." The Diocese of Plymouth said in a statement this week that the ordination of Plymouth Bishop-elect Christopher Whitehead "will not take place on 22 February 2024 as expected.""Canon Paul Cummins continues as the diocesan administrator," the statement said. "A canonical process is currently underway, and no further comments will be made until this has been concluded." "Canon Christopher Whitehead has stepped back from active ministry whilst this process is ongoing," the statement added. No explanation for the cancellation was given. The Plymouth Dioc...
null / Credit: Paul Vinten/ShutterstockRome Newsroom, Feb 1, 2024 / 14:30 pm (CNA).Pope Francis has centered his Lenten message for 2024 on the Book of Exodus, choosing "Through the Desert God Leads Us to Freedom" as its main theme to encourage the faithful that the season is a journey from bondage to spiritual renewal and freedom. The pope framed this reflection on the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, a story that not only represents the journey from bondage to emancipation but also of revelation and spiritual freedom. "When our God reveals himself, his message is always one of freedom," the pope said. The Holy Father went on to note that this process "is a demanding one" and that "it is not answered straight away. It has to mature as part of a journey.""We realize how true this is at those moments when we feel hopeless, wandering through life like a desert and lacking a promised land as our destination. Lent is the season of grace in which the desert can...
