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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...
French farmers stand next to their tractors as they block the road during a demonstration at the French-German border in Ottmarsheim, eastern France, on Feb. 1, 2024, as part of nationwide protests called by several farmers' unions over pay, tax, and regulations. / Credit: PATRICK HERTZOG/AFP via Getty ImagesCNA Staff, Feb 1, 2024 / 15:15 pm (CNA).Several of France's Catholic leaders have expressed solidarity with the country's agricultural workers amid historic protests that have seen farmers block major roadways near Paris with their tractors to protest environmental regulations, taxes, and competition from cheap imports. In a Jan. 24 statement, Bishop Jean-Marc Micas of the Diocese of Tarbes-et-Lourdes, which is a largely rural diocese that includes the world-famous Marian shrine of Lourdes, said he wants to "express all my support to the farmers of the diocese." He encouraged all the diocese's parishes and religious communities to pray for those involved in the pr...
Cardinal José Luis Lacunza Maestrojuán. / Credit: Panamanian Episcopal ConferenceACI Prensa Staff, Feb 1, 2024 / 16:30 pm (CNA).The Diocese of David in the province of Chiriquí, Panama, reported that Cardinal José Luis Lacunza Maestrojuán "has officially been missing since Tuesday, Jan. 30, of this year, in the afternoon."In a Feb. 1 statement, the diocese said that a report has been "filed with the authorities of the public prosecutor's office, who immediately began investigations concerning the case.""At this time we ask the holy people of God to join together in constant prayer, so that with the same heart, like the heart of Jesus, we can soon find our diocesan pastor," the communiqué stated.The Panamanian Bishops' Conference also expressed its concern, urging "all the people of God to join in constant prayer so that we can soon know his whereabouts."The Archdiocese of Panama also called for prayers and expressed its concern over Lacunza's disappearance.In a Feb. 1 post on X...
U.S. President Joe Biden, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries bow their heads during the National Prayer Breakfast held in the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall on Feb. 1, 2024. / Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesCNA Staff, Feb 1, 2024 / 17:35 pm (CNA).At the 2024 National Prayer Breakfast, the nation's top political leaders prayed for guidance, safety, reconciliation, and unity.The annual event, organized by the National Prayer Breakfast Foundation, is held to bring America's political leadership together to pray for the nation, the president, and the world.The convocation, now in its 72nd year, was attended by President Joe Biden and high-ranking members of both major parties.Among those featured at the podium were the co-chairs of the National Prayer Breakfast Foundation, Rep. Tracey Mann, R-Kansas, and Rep. Frank Mrvan, D-Indiana; House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana; House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York; Senate Chapla...
Cardinal José Luis Lacunza. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/ACI PrensaACI Prensa Staff, Feb 1, 2024 / 18:10 pm (CNA).The Panamanian Episcopal Conference (CEP) announced that Cardinal José Luis Lacunza was found safe and sound today after being missing since Jan. 30."The Office of Communications of the Panamanian Episcopal Conference (CEP) informs that Cardinal José Luis Lacunza Maestrojuán, bishop of the Diocese of David, has been found, according to a report from the authorities. We are grateful for the prayers and expressions of solidarity," said a statement issued by the conference late Thursday afternoon.The National Police of Panama posted a video on social media in which its general director, John Dornheim, can be seen talking with Lacunza, who was inside a car in the driver's seat. Dornheim was accompanied by additional police officers.In the video, Dornheim can be seen approaching the window of the car, which appears to be located in a rural area. Inside the vehicle, Lacunza ca...
