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Father Marcel Taillon, 58, has been appointed the new interim vocations director for the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA. / Credit: Father Marcel TaillonCNA Staff, Jan 30, 2024 / 14:40 pm (CNA).The Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, has appointed a new interim vocations director to focus on recruiting more Catholic chaplains to address the ongoing shortage of priests.Father Marcel Taillon, the new vocations director, told CNA Tuesday that after 17 years serving at St. Thomas More Parish in Narragansett, Rhode Island, he feels "called" to serve in his new role."I feel called to it. I do. I love priesthood. I love soldiers. I love seminarians. I love my life. I'm happy here, but I feel like I can hopefully bring something and bring some energy and some support to these guys," Taillon said. Taillon, 58, has served as the vocations director for the Diocese of Providence and as the director of spiritual formation at Our Lady of Providence Seminary. His paris...
The cross of the German "Synodal Way." / Credit: Maximilian von Lachner/Synodaler WegCNA Newsroom, Jan 30, 2024 / 10:52 am (CNA).In light of a Protestant abuse study unveiled in Germany, a Catholic lay group has called into doubt the "persistent narrative of the Synodal Way attributing systemic causes of abuse to specifically Catholic factors."Published on Jan. 25, the ForuM study identified 1,259 accused individuals and 2,174 survivors of abuse since 1946 within the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), according to a report by CNA Deutsch, CNA's German-language news partner. This study's findings starkly contrast with the claims of an "alleged Catholic-specific dimension of sexual abuse," stated "Neuer Anfang," a German lay group critical of the Synodal Way.The German Synodal Way, which voted for women's ordination and transgender ideology, among other issues, linked its resolutions to the MHG Study, an investigation of clerical sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in Germany.H...
null / Credit: liseykina/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Jan 30, 2024 / 11:30 am (CNA).The fertility rate in Texas rose by a statistically significant amount in the wake of the state's pro-life laws, a University of Houston study has found. Texas, which prohibits abortion except in the case of medical emergencies, was among the numerous states with "trigger laws" in place that went into effect upon the Supreme Court's repeal of Roe v. Wade in June 2022. The state also enacted a "heartbeat" law that went into effect in 2021 and survived numerous legal challenges before Roe's repeal. The law effectively prohibited abortion after six weeks of gestation.A study out of the University of Houston's Institute for Research on Women, Gender, and Sexuality found this month that the state's fertility rate rose markedly after the heartbeat ban went into effect. The "2022 overall fertility rate rose 2% in Texas" after the heartbeat bill, the researchers said in their stu...
null / ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 29, 2024 / 14:10 pm (CNA).A highly publicized study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that estimated there have been 64,565 pregnancies resulting from rape in states with near-total abortion bans has raised questions about its methodology since its publication last week.The study's lead researcher was Planned Parenthood of Montana's medical director, Dr. Samuel Dickman. According to the study, it was conducted "to assess how abortion bans affected survivors of rape." Yet, the research did not use any data about rapes, pregnancies, or pregnancies from rapes collected during the times in which the pro-life laws were in effect."To our knowledge, no recent reliable state-level data on completed vaginal rapes … are available," the authors explained.The researchers instead used surveys from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2016 to 2017 to estimate how many rapes were likely to ha...
Pope Francis meets with members of the Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) on Friday, Jan. 26, 2024. / Credit: Vatican MediaWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 29, 2024 / 14:40 pm (CNA).Pope Francis suggested that the opposition to the Vatican's approval of nonliturgical blessings for same-sex couples mostly comes from "small ideological groups" with the exception of Africa, which he said is "a special case.""Those who vehemently protest belong to small ideological groups," Francis said in an interview on Monday with the Italian newspaper La Stampa, according to an English translation from the Church-run Vatican News. Regarding the bishops in Africa, who have expressed some of the strongest criticisms of such blessings, the pontiff said they are "a special case" because "for them, homosexuality is something 'ugly' from a cultural point of view; they do not tolerate it."The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), led by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández...
Turkish police stand guard outside the scene of an armed attack at a Catholic church in Istanbul, Turkey, on Jan. 28, 2024. / Credit: Rudolf Gehrig/EWTNRome Newsroom, Jan 29, 2024 / 07:27 am (CNA).The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack on a Catholic church in Istanbul during Sunday Mass that left one man dead.Two suspects described as members of the Islamic State group have been arrested following the shooting on Jan. 28 at Santa Maria Church in Istanbul's Sariyer district.Turkish Minister of the Interior Ali Yerlikaya announced late on Sunday night that police had conducted raids on 30 locations across Istanbul following the attack during which the arrests were made."Both of the suspects are foreign nationals. One of them is from Tajikistan and the other is Russian, and we evaluated them to be with the Islamic State," Yerlikaya said, according to Reuters.The minister also identified the victim of the attack as 52-year-old Turkish national Tuncer Cih...
Teacher Rose Dussault reads aloud to pre-K students at St. Benedict Classical Academy in Natick, Massachusetts. / Credit: George MartellCNA Staff, Jan 29, 2024 / 05:00 am (CNA).The 50th anniversary of National Catholic Schools Week kicked off this week, celebrating the more than 5,200 Catholic grade schools in the country that educate more than 1.3 million students.Celebrated since 1974, this week is marked by special Masses, open houses, and events for students and families. This year's theme is "Catholic Schools: United in Faith and Community."CNA spoke with four different Catholic schools about the creative ways they have fostered their Catholic identity and grown in faith. 'Knowing by heart'Our Lady of Lourdes Classical School, a K-8 school in Denver, focuses on classical education coupled with a vibrant parish life. With a waitlist overflowing with parish families and other students, Lourdes Classical opened a second campus in 2018. But in 2011, it was a failing school. Wh...
Father J.J. Mech, rector of the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit, stands next to the life-sized statues of the apostles that have now been installed in the cathedral's worship space, along with first-class relics of each apostle. The "Journey with the Saints" pilgrimage, which will be dedicated Feb. 8, 2024, in a special ceremony with Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron, is part of the cathedral's ongoing transformation into an "apostolic center for the arts and culture." / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament and Detroit CatholicDetroit, Mich., Jan 29, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).At the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit, the band is getting back together. The band of Christ's 12 apostles, that is. On Feb. 8, Detroit's mother church will publicly unveil its long-awaited "Journey with the Saints" project, a permanent installation of 14 "larger than life" statues accompanied by first-class r...
Pope Francis delivers the Sunday Angelus from the window of his study overlooking St. Peter's Square, Jan. 28, 2024. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Jan 28, 2024 / 12:18 pm (CNA).Pope Francis warned on Sunday that the devil wants to "chain our souls" and enslave us with many temptations, while "Jesus came to free us from all of these chains."In his Angelus address on Jan. 28, the pope said that "the devil always takes away your freedom" and named some of the temptations that the evil one uses to ensnare us.Pope Francis encouraged people to learn how to "say 'no' to the temptations of evil before they creep into the soul" by invoking the name of Jesus.When facing a temptation, do not attempt to "negotiate with the devil," Pope Francis said."We must call on Jesus," he underlined. "Call on him where we feel the chains of evil and fear tighten most strongly.""There are many chains in our life," the pope explained."I am thinking of addictions, which enslave [so we are] alw...
The scene outside a Catholic church in Istanbul, Turkey, where a reported armed attack took place on Jan. 28, 2024. / Credit: Rudolf Gehrig/EWTNRome Newsroom, Jan 28, 2024 / 06:53 am (CNA).Two masked assailants opened fire in a Catholic church in Istanbul during Mass on Sunday morning, reportedly killing one person during the consecration.Bishop Massimiliano Palinuro, the apostolic vicar of Istanbul, told EWTN News on Jan. 28 that a parishioner was killed "during the consecration" in the attack on Santa Maria Church in Istanbul's Sariyer district.Turkish Minister of the Interior Ali Yerlikaya has confirmed that the attack occurred around 11:40 a.m. local time and that "a full-scale investigation" has been launched as authorities work to apprehend the assailants."We strongly condemn this vile attack," Yerlikaya said.Turkish Police stand guard outside the scene of an armed attack at a Catholic Church in Istanbul, Turkey, on Jan. 28, 2024. Credit: Rudolf Gehrig/EWTNIn an interview...
