Beloved Disciple Parish

Parents protest the Montgomery County School Board's policy blocking them from opting out their children from pro-homosexual and transgender materials. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Becket

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 2, 2024 / 16:00 pm (CNA).

The United States Supreme Court will begin its October term in less than a week — and several lawsuits related to the First Amendment’s guarantee of religious freedom could potentially land on the docket.

Although the nation’s highest court did not consider any religious liberty cases in its last term and has not yet committed to hearing any in the upcoming term, several lawsuits that touch on the subject have been appealed to the court. To get a lawsuit on the docket, four of the nine justices must agree to hear the case.

Religious liberty in the classroom

The most high-profile religious liberty case being appealed to the Supreme Court deals with religious freedom and parental rights in the classroom. The case, Mahmoud v. Taylor, seeks to protect parents’ right to opt their children out of coursework that conflicts with their religious beliefs.

Catholic, Orthodox, and Muslim parents are suing the Montgomery County, Maryland, Board of Education for not allowing parents to opt their children out of course material that promotes homosexuality, transgenderism, and other elements of gender ideology. The parents are arguing the curriculum, which includes reading material for children as young as 3 and 4 years old, violates their First Amendment right to direct the religious upbringing of their children.

The parents are represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the parents, but the lawyers appealed the case to the Supreme Court on Sept. 12.

Catholic and Anglican nuns fight abortion mandate in New York

A coalition of Christian religious organizations, which includes Catholic and Anglican nuns, are suing the state of New York over a regulation designed to force organizations to cover abortions in their health care plans. The case, Diocese of Albany v. [Adrienne] Harris, argues that the organizations should be exempt from the mandate on religious freedom grounds.

The regulation, issued by the New York Department of Financial Services, requires health insurance plans to cover “medically necessary” abortions. Although it includes a narrow religious exemption, the strict criteria for qualifying for that exemption may not apply to all faith-based groups, according to the lawsuit.

In 2020, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Little Sisters of the Poor when they challenged a similar regulation at the federal level. However, that ruling was based partially on the religious freedom protections in the Religious Freedom Restoration Act — which only applies to federal regulations. Although the same First Amendment concerns are in play, the sisters in New York cannot rely on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to win their case. 

The coalition is also represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. The New York Court of Appeals — the state’s highest court — ruled that the mandate does not infringe on religious liberty. The lawyers appealed the case to the Supreme Court on Sept. 17. 

Whether a Wisconsin Catholic charity is a ‘religious’ organization

A Catholic charity based in Wisconsin is suing its state’s Labor & Industry Review Commission after officials removed its designation as a religious organization — deciding, instead, that its mission is not primarily religious in nature. 

The commission removed the religious designation from Catholic Charities Bureau because it claims the organization is not “operated primarily for religious purposes.” That decision prevents the charity from using a Church-run unemployment system and forces it to use the state-run system instead. According to its lawyers, the designation decision could also set a dangerous precedent that could lead to refusing other religious liberty exemptions to faith-based charities.

In Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin Labor & Industry Review Commission, the charity argues that its charitable functions, such as serving the poor, the disabled, and the elderly, are part of living out the Catholic faith. The commission stated that because the charity serves people of all faiths and does not focus on evangelization, it does not qualify as a religious organization.

The charity is also represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. An appellate court ruled against the charity and the lawyers appealed the case to the Supreme Court on Sept. 17.

Other potential Supreme Court cases

A few other religious liberty cases could also land on the Supreme Court’s docket. 

One case, Landor v. Louisiana Dept. of Corrections, would determine whether a prisoner could seek monetary damages for violations of his religious liberty. Damon Landor, a Rastafarian, had his hair forcefully cut off while in custody even though keeping one’s hair in dreadlocks is part of his religious practice. 

In another case, Young Israel of Tampa v. Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority, a Jewish group is challenging a local ban on religious advertising on public transit.

Another appeal, in Apache Stronghold v. United States, seeks to prevent the federal government from transferring ownership of a sacred Apache site to a British-Australian mining company.

null / Credit: Minerva Studio/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 2, 2024 / 14:45 pm (CNA).

The Diocese of Burlington filed for bankruptcy on Monday in an attempt to adequately resolve its fourth and largest wave of sex abuse lawsuits filed against it since the clergy sex scandal broke in 2002. 

“While my heart is heavy with the decision to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy, such weight pales in comparison to the pain suffered by victims of abuse,” Bishop John McDermott said in a video statement released on Wednesday in which he addressed the decision to file and apologized to victims of clergy abuse. 

“This chapter in the Church’s history is horrific, and the harm it has caused, immeasurable,” McDermott said. “I know that the decision to file for reorganization may be challenging or even triggering for some survivors. For that and for every aspect of dealing with the crimes of these clergy, I sincerely apologize.” 

The diocese currently faces 31 lawsuits — with allegations dating back as far as the 1950s — after the state Legislature repealed the statute of limitations on filing civil claims in 2019 and 2021.

Previously, the diocese had spent approximately $2 million to settle its first nine cases in 2003. In 2010, it paid over $20 million to resolve 29 more cases and settled 11 cases for $6.75 million in 2013, according to the affidavit. 

To resolve these cases, the diocese utilized its unrestricted funds and liquidated most of its available assets, including its 32-acre Burlington Chancellery on Lake Champlain for $10 million in 2010 and its 26-acre Camp Holy Cross in Colchester for $4 million in 2012. 

The lawsuit will not affect the individual parishes and organizations that operate within the diocese, as their respective assets remain in separate trusts — a move the diocese made in 2006 to protect local parish community funding intended for their own religious and educational purposes from being siphoned into legal settlements. 

In his statement, and in the affidavit he filed on Monday, the bishop explained that filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy was found to be the only way for the diocese to fairly compensate victims of abuse in current lawsuits — and any who might come forward in the future — since the diocese has limited funds, depleted assets, and lacks insurance coverage.

“Through Chapter 11 reorganization, funds will be allocated among all those who have claims against the diocese while hopefully allowing the diocese to maintain its essential mission and ministries,” McDermott stated.

McDermott further highlighted the diocese’s efforts to address the scandal and prevent future abuse through its diocesan victims assistance coordinator and its office of safe environment programs.

According to the affidavit, the diocese released a list in 2019 of 40 of its credibly accused priests, which included information about who they were and where they had been assigned in the dioceses. The diocese removed all accused clergy from priestly ministry, 30 of whom are now deceased.

“Due to the diocese’s efforts since 2002, there has only been one credible and substantiated claim of abuse,” he stated in the affidavit, adding that no current clergy face allegations of sexual abuse.

Pope Francis addresses participants of the first meeting of the full assembly of the Synod on Synodality on Oct. 2, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican City, Oct 2, 2024 / 14:05 pm (CNA).

At the first meeting of the full assembly of the Synod on Synodality on Wednesday, Pope Francis said a bishop’s ministry should include cooperation with laypeople and that the synod will need to identify “differing forms” of the exercise of this ministry.

That bishops, laymen and laywomen, priests, and religious are all synod delegates was an intentional choice, the pontiff said in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall on Oct. 2, and it “expresses a way of exercising the episcopal ministry consistent with the living tradition of the Church and with the teaching of the Second Vatican Council.”

“Never can a bishop, or any other Christian, think of himself ‘without others,’” he continued. “Just as no one is saved alone, the proclamation of salvation needs everyone and requires that everyone be heard.”

“Differing forms of a ‘collegial’ and ‘synodal’ exercise of the episcopal ministry” in dioceses and in the universal Church, Francis said, “will need to be identified in due course, always respecting the deposit of faith and the living tradition, and always responding to what the Spirit asks of the Churches at this particular time and in the different contexts in which they live.”

The Synod on Synodality reflects this “inclusive understanding” of a bishop’s ministry, the pope underlined, adding that bishops and laypeople must learn how to better cooperate in the Church going forward.

Pope Francis in his speech addressed the more than 400 participants in the second session of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of Bishops on the first day of the Oct. 2–27 Vatican gathering on synodality. The 2024 meeting has 368 voting members (delegates), 272 of whom are bishops and 96 of whom are not bishops. Among the 96 non-bishops, about half are women.

The first general gathering, or “congregation,” as it is called, was dedicated to opening greetings by Pope Francis and Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes as well as introductory speeches from synod leaders Cardinal Mario Grech and Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, SJ.

During the three-and-a-half-hour meeting, delegates also watched informational videos about the synod including videos presenting the 10 theological study groups and a canonical commission formed by Pope Francis.

In his remarks, the pontiff assured that the presence of non-bishop delegates at a Synod of Bishops does not diminish or put limitations on the authority of individual bishops and the college of bishops. “Rather, it points to the form that the exercise of episcopal authority is called to take in a Church that is conscious of being essentially relational and therefore synodal,” he said.

“Harmony is essential,” Francis emphasized, noting that there are two dangers to avoid: the danger of becoming too abstract and the danger of “pitting the hierarchy against the lay faithful.”

Earlier in the day, Pope Francis became the first pope since 1974 to view a historic relic of the chair of St. Peter.

The wooden chair believed to have belonged to St. Peter, the first pope, is usually encased inside the massive chair monument created in the 17th century by sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini and located on the furthest back wall of the apse of the Vatican basilica over what is called the “Altar of the Chair.”

The relic was last removed from the Bernini monument for study from 1968–1974. It has been removed now during restoration work.

The chair is a symbol of the primacy of the pope. Pope Francis was able to view the important relic in the Ottoboni sacristy of the basilica after Mass was celebrated in St. Peter’s Square for the start of the second session of the Synod on Synodality on the morning of Oct. 2.

The October 2024 gathering is the last part of the discernment phase of the synodal process begun in 2021.

Recalling the focus of the monthlong meeting, which is to reflect on how to be a Church in mission, the pope added that the Church also needs to ponder how to be more merciful.

He also recommended synod delegates read Dante Alighieri’s sonnet “Vita Nuova” to meditate on the virtue of humility.

“We cannot be humble apart from love,” he said. “Christians ought to be like those women described by Dante Alighieri in one of his sonnets. They are women who grieve the loss of their friend Beatrice’s father: ‘You who bear humble semblance, with eyes downcast, showing sorrow.’”

“I encourage you to meditate on this fine spiritual text and to realize that the Church — ‘semper reformanda’ — cannot pursue her journey and let herself be renewed without the Holy Spirit and his surprises without letting herself be shaped by the hands of God the Creator, his son, Jesus Christ, and his Holy Spirit,” Francis continued.

On Oct. 1, the eve of the synod, a two-day retreat for synod participants at the Vatican concluded with a penitential liturgy in St. Peter’s Basilica.

At the prayer service, which more than 500 people attended, cardinals, bishops, religious, and laypeople shared testimonies and asked forgiveness on behalf of the Church for sins, including the sin of abuse or sins committed in war.

Pope Francis in his reflection said the Catholic Church must first acknowledge its sins and ask for forgiveness before it can be credible in carrying out the mission Jesus Christ entrusted to it.

“We are worried about every human being in Lebanon because there is a big, big difference between what Lebanese people want and [how] the political parties are behaving these days,” said Holy Spirit University of Kaslik President Father Talal Hachem. / Credit: "EWTN News Nightly"/Screenshot

CNA Staff, Oct 2, 2024 / 12:50 pm (CNA).

In the midst of intensifying Israeli raids against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, Father Talal Hachem, president of Holy Spirit University of Kaslik located just north of Beirut, said in an interview with “EWTN News Nightly” that “because we have faith, because we have hope, we are seeking peace.” 

An estimated 1 million people in Lebanon have been displaced, according to the country’s prime minister, following Israel’s latest targeted ground raids in southern Lebanon against the terrorist group Hezbollah.

The Iranian-backed terrorist group, which has been a major player in the Lebanese political system, had set up the villages as staging grounds “for an Oct. 7-style invasion,” according to a statement by Israel Defense Forces.

Iran has since directly fired on Israel, targeting 10 million civilians with hundreds of ballistic missiles on Tuesday. That attack comes on the heels of Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Most of the missiles were intercepted.

“Our people in Lebanon are struggling today. They are worried. They are shocked, but they have faith and they pray and we pray for them,” Hachem told “EWTN News Nightly” anchor Tracy Sabol during a visit to Washington just before returning to Lebanon on Wednesday. 

The Holy Spirit University of Kaslik in Jounieh, Lebanon, is run by the Lebanese Maronite Order, a monastic group also known as the Baladites. Hachem said he is “not afraid” to go back and wants to be there with his community.

“We are worried about every human being in Lebanon because there is a big, big difference between what Lebanese people want and [how] the political parties are behaving these days,” Hachem said. 

Though Hachem’s particular community is “a bit far off from the military tension,” he said, “we have many Lebanese people who are Catholic that are near this tension. That’s why we are worried. We are worried about them.” 

Lebanon is about 70% Muslim and about 30% Christian, according to a 2022 international religious freedom report by the U.S. Department of State. The nation is home to the largest concentration of Catholics in the Middle East and has the highest proportion of Christians in the Middle East. 

The majority of Catholics in Lebanon are Eastern-rite Catholics. The Maronite Church, an Eastern Catholic rite with roots in Syriac rituals, is centered in Lebanon. 

When asked what faith means to him in a time like this, Hachem said: “Because we have faith, because we have hope, we are seeking peace and at least stability.”

“Our hope is to get this peace as soon as possible so people can live safely,” he said.

Pope Francis makes the sign of the cross as he opens the second assembly of the Synod on Synodality with a Mass on Oct. 2, 2024, in St. Peter’s Square. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican City, Oct 2, 2024 / 12:17 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis opened the second assembly of the Synod on Synodality on Wednesday with a Mass concelebrated by over 400 priests, bishops, and cardinals in St. Peter’s Square in which he warned synod delegates against imposing their own “agendas” during the nearly monthlong discussions.

“Let us be careful not to see our contributions as points to defend at all costs or agendas to be imposed,” the pope said in his homily on Oct. 2.

“Otherwise we will end up locking ourselves into dialogues among the deaf, where participants seek to advance their own causes or agendas without listening to others and, above all, without listening to the voice of the Lord,” he added.

The second session of the 16th Ordinary Synod of Bishops, running from Oct. 2–27, marks a critical phase in the Church’s global synodal process that began three years ago.

Building off of the discussions in the October 2023 synod assembly, the 368 voting delegates in this year’s session are expected to produce a final report to advise Pope Francis on how to enhance the “communion, participation, and mission” of the Catholic Church.

With some of the most controversial issues off of the agenda for the synod assembly, discussions are expected to focus on concrete proposals for instituting a listening and accompaniment ministry, greater lay involvement in parish economics and finances, and more powerful parish councils and bishops’ conferences.

The synod’s opening Mass began at 9:30 a.m. under partly cloudy skies with a procession that included 76 cardinals, 320 bishops, hundreds of priests, and lay synod delegates. The pope presided over the Mass on the feast of the Guardian Angels, emphasizing the importance of listening and harmony in his homily.

“Ours is not a parliamentary assembly but rather a place of listening in communion,” Francis said.

“It is not about majorities and minorities … What is important, what is fundamental, is harmony, the harmony that only the Holy Spirit can achieve,” he added. “The Holy Spirit is the master of harmony and is capable of creating one voice among so many different voices.”

The assembly format mirrors that of the previous year, with daily prayers, theological reflections, and small-group discussions organized by language. However some of the more controversial subjects discussed at last year’s assembly, including women deacons and “synodal” formation for future priests, have been delegated to the competency of 15 study groups formed starting late last year. 

The synod assembly is the culmination of a multiyear global process that has involved diocesan, national, and continental stages. The discussions this month are anticipated to cover a range of proposals, from expanding the role of women in diocesan leadership to whether bishops’ conferences should be recognized as “ecclesial subjects endowed with doctrinal authority.”

In preparation for the assembly, participants engaged in a two-day retreat that concluded with a penitential vigil in St. Peter’s Basilica where individuals shared experiences of trauma related to sexual abuse, war, and indifference to migrants. 

In his homily, Pope Francis used the word “listen” or “listening” nearly a dozen times. The pope encouraged delegates to “receive all the contributions collected during these three years with respect and attention, in prayer and in the light of the word of God.”

“With the help of the Holy Spirit, we must listen to and understand these voices — that is, the ideas, the expectations, the proposals — so as to discern together the voice of God speaking to the Church,” Francis said.

In a surprise announcement at the end of his homily, Pope Francis revealed that he will personally go to Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major on Sunday to pray the rosary for peace on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel.

Pope Francis also called for a global day of prayer and fasting on Oct. 7 amid the escalating violence in the Holy Land.

“Brothers and sisters, let us resume this ecclesial journey with an eye to the world, for the Christian community is always at the service of humanity, to proclaim the joy of the Gospel to all,” he said. “We need it, especially in this dramatic hour of our history, as the winds of war and the fires of violence continue to ravage entire peoples and nations.”

Diocese of Charlotte Vicar General Monsignor Patrick Winslow speaks to “EWTN News Nightly” anchor Tracy Sabol on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. / Credit: “EWTN News Nightly”

CNA Staff, Oct 2, 2024 / 11:30 am (CNA).

Monsignor Patrick Winslow, the vicar general and chancellor of the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina — an area heavily impacted by the recent Hurricane Helene — said in an interview with “EWTN News Nightly” on Tuesday that the storm’s impact has been “extremely difficult” throughout the state.

Hurricane Helene passed through multiple southeastern states during its trek through the U.S. last week. The storm killed more than 160 people, with hundreds more reported missing. 

The Category 4 storm further left millions of people stranded without electricity and hundreds of thousands in flooded areas. The power outages are still affecting hundreds of thousands of people in North and South Carolina and Georgia as of Wednesday morning. 

“For us, the impacted area includes 44 churches,” Winslow told “EWTN News Nightly” anchor Tracy Sabol. The area includes “more than half the counties that constitute western North Carolina, the Diocese of Charlotte — and that’s an enormous amount of territory.”

Many of the affected areas were far inland. The city of Asheville was hit particularly hard, as were hundreds of smaller communities. Local authorities reported at least 40 deaths in Buncombe County, where Asheville is located.

Winslow said communication has made it “extremely difficult” to process the impact, “in large part because we’ve had such limited and sketchy contact with people, because the communication lines have been out, with cell towers down, with roads being blocked, [and] with bridges being out.”

Since the storm passed on Friday, Winslow said they have been able to make more contact with people and get more resources out.

“We’ve been communicating ever since the storm passed us in the hours of noon, 1 o’clock on Friday, making some contact with some people who have been reflecting on how tragic and how difficult circumstances are,” he said.

“From that moment on, we’ve been mobilizing, getting our resources out to those people who need basic things: diapers, baby food, water, things of that nature.”

When asked about how he approaches the emotional and spiritual side of this tragedy with the faithful, he said: “It’s a heartache.”

“It’s a heartache, especially when people who are at a distance have their loved ones, their friends, and they can’t reach them, they can’t make contact with them. That’s extremely difficult,” he said. “Then you have the people that are there who’ve lost loved ones already. That’s very disorienting, and it’s hard to make sense of.”

Winslow noted that there are also many people who are missing.

“We have a number of people where we have their identities, but we don’t know exactly what they are, and so we’re not sure if they’re safe or if they’re in harm’s way or if the worst has happened,” he said. “And so this is just an extremely difficult position to be in.”

The priest said he is not without faith.

“As I reflect upon it from a spiritual perspective, my first thought is, in the midst of all this tragedy and difficulty, how through ordinary events of life, on a regular day, the most important things that matter always seem to hide in plain sight,” he said.

“But as we confront these challenges, this darkness, these difficulties, how the things that matter the most start to come out of the shadows: loving our neighbor, relying on God, asking God for his grace and his help, just recognizing how frail we all are.”

“And those things, I think, are inspiring our communities, inspiring the faithful of western North Carolina in the Diocese of Charlotte,” Winslow continued. “We’re beginning to make some real inroads and bringing resources to bear, and we begin to see how the strength of faith is able to really give people that hope that they need.”

When asked about the response of the public so far, Winslow said it has been “tremendous.”

“They’re actually calling our offices, wanting to know how they can give,” he said. “We’re going to be having a special second collection this upcoming Sunday at Masses. We have our websites which are available, our Catholic Charities of Diocese of Charlotte website, which you can also get there through our charlottediocese.org website.”

North Carolina Catholics, including Catholic Charities and the local diocese, have been mobilizing to bring together aid. Emergency relief supplies running from bottled water to formula to flashlights are being collected at the Charlotte Diocesan Pastoral Center for delivery to neighboring areas affected by the disaster.

Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, and Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, participate in a debate at the CBS Broadcast Center on Oct. 1, 2024 in New York City. / Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 2, 2024 / 09:15 am (CNA).

In their first and only vice presidential debate this election season, Republican Sen. JD Vance and Democratic Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday night clashed on whether abortion should be a federal or state issue and sparred over each other’s records on abortion limits and protections for infants born alive from botched abortions.

During the Oct. 1 CBS debate, moderated by network anchors Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan, both candidates quarreled over abortion policy and about which presidential ticket has the best track record on handling illegal immigration and the economy.

Vance is an incumbent senator from Ohio running on former president Donald Trump’s ticket, while Walz is the incumbent governor of Minnesota serving as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate. Vance is a convert to Catholicism and Walz was raised Catholic but now attends a Lutheran church. 

Much of the debate remained civil, with both candidates occasionally trading kind words with each other.

In some cases, Vance and Walz agreed on policy goals — such as reducing illegal immigration, lowering housing costs, and making child care more accessible — but feuded over whether Trump or Harris has the best plan and track record for achieving those goals.

Late-term abortion and infants born alive

The main dispute on abortion policy focused on whether it should be handled by the federal government or at the state level. Walz backed a federal law to legalize abortion nationally, which would overturn state-level pro-life laws. Alternatively, Vance advocated a state-by-state approach to regulating abortion.

Walz defended a 2023 Minnesota bill he signed establishing that every person in the state has a right to “obtain an abortion” and prevents local governments from limiting that right. The bill does not include any restrictions on abortion at any point in pregnancy and state law permits elective abortion through the ninth month of pregnancy for any reason.

“What we did was restore Roe v. Wade,” Walz said. “We made sure that we put women in charge of their health care. … How can we as a nation say that your life and your rights — as basic as the right to control your own body —  is determined [by] geography?” 

When asked by O’Donnell whether Walz supports abortion “in the ninth month,” the governor said “that’s not what the bill says.” He did not say whether he would support any restrictions on late-term abortions but said, “We trust women [and] we trust doctors.”

Vance pressed Walz on another bill he signed as governor that removed language that had previously required doctors to “preserve the life and health of the born-alive infant” after a failed abortion. The new standard only requires doctors to “care for the infant who is born alive” but does not expressly require them to take lifesaving measures.

“[This law] says that a doctor who presides over an abortion, where the baby survives, the doctor is under no obligation to provide lifesaving care to a baby who survives a botched late-term abortion,” Vance argued. “That is … fundamentally barbaric.”

Walz interrupted to say “that’s not true” and accused Vance of “trying to distort the way a law is written to try and make a point.” The governor did not further explain his understanding of the law but claimed, “That’s not what the law says.”

Vance also questioned Walz on whether he would “want to force Catholic hospitals to perform abortions against their will,” which the governor did not directly answer. 

“We can be a big and diverse country where we respect people’s freedom of conscience and make the country more pro-baby and pro-family,” Vance said. 

When asked about abortion, Vance said a Trump administration would seek to “be pro-family in the fullest sense of the word” by supporting “fertility treatments” and making it easier for parents to afford to have children by expanding the child tax credit and reducing housing costs. 

“We’ve got to do so much better of a job at earning the American people’s trust back on this issue where they frankly just don’t trust us,” Vance said.

“The proper way to handle this — as messy as democracy sometimes is — is to let voters make these decisions,” the senator added. “Let the individual state make their abortion policy.”

Vance further noted that Ohio voters adopted a referendum to enshrine a right to abortion in the state constitution, which was “against my position.” He also said he “never supported a national ban.”

Illegal immigration and the economy

Both candidates agreed that lawmakers need to work to reduce illegal immigration, but the two argued over whether Trump or Harris is more qualified to solve the problem. 

“A lot of fentanyl is coming into our country,” Vance said. “I have a mother who struggled with opioid addiction and has gotten clean. I don’t want people who are struggling with addiction to be deprived of their second chance because Kamala Harris let in fentanyl into our community at record levels.”

Vance said the federal government should build a wall on the American border with Mexico and re-implement mass deportations of immigrants who entered the country illegally, beginning with those who have committed additional crimes after coming into the country. 

Walz criticized the Trump administration, saying “less than 2% of that wall got built and Mexico didn’t pay a dime.” He argued that Harris would be better on illegal immigration and chided Republican lawmakers for sinking a border bill earlier this year. 

“[Harris] is the only person in this race who prosecuted transnational gangs for human trafficking and drug interventions,” Walz said, referencing the vice president’s work as a prosecutor in California.

Vance also argued that illegal immigration under the Biden-Harris administration is one of the causes of the higher cost of housing because migrants compete for homes. He said a Trump administration would also lower the cost of housing by using federal land to build homes and driving down energy costs.

“We have a lot of land that could be used,” Vance said. “We have a lot of Americans that need homes. We should be kicking out illegal immigrants who are competing for those homes and we should be building more homes for the American citizens who deserve to be here.”

Walz promoted Harris’ plan to provide assistance for down payments on houses, impose price controls on certain products, and expand small business tax credits. 

“We’ll just ask the wealthiest to pay their fair share,” Walz said. “When you do that, our system works best, more people are participating in it and folks have the things that they need.”

Both candidates expressed their intent to make child care more accessible and expand the child tax credit.

Pope Francis greets the crowd at the end of a Mass for the opening of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in St Peter's Square. / Credit: ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images

Vatican City, Oct 2, 2024 / 06:49 am (CNA).

Pope Francis has called for a global day of prayer and fasting on Oct. 7 to mark the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel amid escalating violence in the region.

The pope’s surprise announcement, made at the end of his homily at Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, comes the morning after Iran launched hundreds of missiles toward Israel following the launch of the Israeli military’s ground offensive in Lebanon.

Pope Francis said on Oct. 2 that the Church is always at the service of humanity, “especially in his dramatic hour of our history, as the winds of war and the fires of violence continue to ravage entire peoples and nations.”

“I ask everyone to take part in a day of prayer and fasting for peace in the world,” he said.

Pope Francis also revealed that he will personally go to Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major on Sunday to pray the rosary on the eve of the anniversary “to invoke the gift of peace through the intercession of Most Holy Mary.”

The pope made his plea for peace during the opening Mass for the second assembly of the Synod on Synodality, which is taking place at the Vatican Oct. 2–27.

Speaking to the more than 400 priests, bishops, cardinals, and lay synod delegates gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the Mass on the feast of the Guardian Angels, the pope invited the members of the synod to join him in the Marian basilica to pray the rosary for peace.

“Brothers and sisters, let us resume this ecclesial journey with an eye to the world, for the Christian community is always at the service of humanity, to proclaim the joy of the Gospel to all. We need it, especially in this dramatic hour of our history, as the winds of war and the fires of violence continue to ravage entire peoples and nations,” he said.

“To invoke the gift of peace through the intercession of Most Holy Mary, on Sunday I will go to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where I will pray the holy rosary and address a heartfelt plea to the Virgin; if possible, I also ask you, members of the synod, to join me on that occasion.”

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, has urged the importance of “prayer, fasting, and penance” for peace and reconciliation in the Holy Land. The cardinal published a prayer for peace, which he has asked Catholics to pray along with the rosary during the Marian month of October.

The Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility is seen at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation on June 30, 2005, near Richland, Washington. / Credit: Jeff T. Green/Getty Images

CNA Staff, Oct 2, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The Catholic University of America’s (CUA) Vitreous State Laboratory (VSL) recently received a $31 million four-year contract to help the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) with a massive nuclear waste cleanup effort at a storied research site in Washington state. 

The VSL, founded in 1968, assists with nuclear cleanup efforts in areas around the country by researching safer and more cost-effective methods of converting waste into glass — a process called vitrification — which immobilizes and stabilizes the hazardous material so it can be stored safely. 

Located on the campus of CUA in Washington, D.C., the VSL has been assisting with cleanup at the Hanford site in Benton County, Washington, since 1996. 

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the Hanford site consists of a 26-square-mile piece of land located 35 miles north of Richland, Washington, along the Columbia River, where nine water-cooled plutonium reactors were constructed between 1943 and 1963. 

While operational, the site supplied plutonium to the Manhattan Project, which produced the atomic bombs used against Japan at the end of World War II.

The last of the nine reactors ceased operations in the late 1980s. While they were operating, the facilities dumped contaminated water containing radioactive materials into the Columbia River and into the surrounding soil and groundwater.

The goal for the current project is to convert 56 million gallons of radioactive waste currently stored in 177 aging underground tanks at the site into glass. To do this, the Department of Energy contract will see the VSL collaborate with several other agencies to construct the largest nuclear waste vitrification facility in the world, the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant. 

The VSL has received grants worth millions of dollars in the past for Hanford site projects, but this is the largest single award yet, according to a CUA press release. The VSL maintains the largest collection of glass melters in the United States, including a 30-ton, one-third scale prototype of the glass melters that will be used at Hanford.

“This contract is a real vote of confidence in what we have done in the past and our capabilities going forward,” said Ian Pegg, VSL director and professor of physics at CUA. “It’s a recognition of the expertise, experience, and unique facilities of the VSL.”

The yet-to-be-built high-level waste facility will melt waste using glass-forming chemicals in two large melters operating at 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit. The molten glass will then be poured into stainless steel containers for interim safe storage, prior to permanent disposal, the press release continues. 

Testing of the system without radioactive waste is expected to begin by 2032. 

In addition to Hanford, VSL conducts research and development for nuclear waste treatment programs at sites in South Carolina and Idaho as well as abroad at sites in the U.K. and in Japan.

Josemaría Escrivá, founder of Opus Dei. / Credit: Courtesy of Opus Dei

CNA Staff, Oct 2, 2024 / 05:00 am (CNA).

Founded on Oct. 2, 1928, by Spanish priest Father Josemaría Escrivá, Opus Dei was a movement borne of Escrivá’s vision to help lay Catholics understand the baptismal calling of holiness and evangelization. The priest desired to demonstrate that all Catholics are called by God to become saints, and he sought to develop programs of Catholic formation to assist them in his mission.

He called the organization Opus Dei to emphasize his belief that its foundation was a “work of God” — or, in Latin, “Opus Dei.”

The organization began as a program of Catholic spiritual and intellectual formation for laymen and began admitting women to its programs of formation two years after its foundation.

Technically, Opus Dei is a “personal prelature,” which, according to canon law, is a Church structure that “consists of presbyters and deacons of the secular clergy” joined together to “accomplish particular pastoral or missionary works.”

The priests and deacons of the prelature are not members of a religious order, like the Jesuits or Benedictines, and therefore they do not make public vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience as religious priests and brothers do. Instead, they are secular clerics, as are diocesan priests, which means that like diocesan priests, they are obliged to celibacy and to obedience, but they are not bound to poverty or to other aspects of monastic or religious life.

Opus Dei’s work and structure also involves lay Catholics who associate themselves to the mission of the prelature by means of individual agreements as defined by the organization’s statutes, or governing documents. In fact, the majority of those involved in the work and mission of Opus Dei are laypeople.

Lay association comes at different levels: Some unmarried Catholics collaborate with Opus Dei as “numeraries,” who dedicate much of their life and time to Opus Dei and its mission; “supernumeraries” are typically married and share in Opus Dei’s work and mission in the context of their families; “associates” are celibate collaborators who do not reside in Opus Dei centers; “cooperators” may be married or unmarried laity who collaborate with or support Opus Dei at a less-committed level. There are also diocesan priests and bishops associated with Opus Dei through an organization called the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross.

While they are formally connected to the prelature, numeraries, supernumeraries, and cooperators remain subject to the jurisdiction of their own diocesan bishops and pastors. The prelate, or head, of Opus Dei does not exercise ecclesiastical jurisdiction for those collaborators except in regard to specifically delineated matters related to collaboration in the prelature’s mission. The educational and spiritual work of Opus Dei, including formation, is subject to the oversight of the diocesan bishop in each place where the prelature operates.

In 2023, there were more than 2,100 priests and more than 93,000 laypeople directly affiliated with Opus Dei. The prelature is operative in approximately 90 countries and is headquartered in Rome.

In the United States, Opus Dei supports Catholic schools, generally segregated by sex, in several cities. The organization offers formation through spiritual direction, retreats, “evenings of recollection” at which priests offer spiritual guidance and confession, and through “circles,” small group meetings of spiritual formation.

Opus Dei has been criticized by some observers who say the organization is inconsistent in its practices in different regions, promotes secrecy about its practices and governance, and focuses its recruiting on persons of wealth or influence.

Opus Dei’s spirituality is rooted in the writings and thought of Escrivá, who was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2002. Escrivá’s work focused on becoming holy in ordinary life by means of a deep prayer life, offering to God sacrifices and challenges, and the cultivation of virtue.

This article was first published on Jan. 8, 2019, and was updated on Sept. 30, 2024.