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Incidents of violence and persecution against Christians shoot up in India

Catholic faithful offer prayers during an Ash Wednesday Mass at St. Mary's Basilica in Secunderabad, the twin city of Hyderabad in India on Feb. 14, 2024. / Credit: NOAH SEELAM/AFP via Getty Images

Bangalore, India, Mar 27, 2024 / 14:00 pm (CNA).

A watchdog group that monitors violence committed against Christians in India has released a study documenting 161 such crimes in the first 75 days of 2024.

These numbers may underestimate the number of crimes and acts of persecution committed against Christians in India, according to A.C. Michael, a Catholic and coordinator of the United Christian Forum (UCF), which released the report. 

“These figures are based only on the complaints registered on our toll-free helpline number (1-800-208-4545) to report incidents of anti-Christian violence. The actual numbers will be certainly much more,” Michael told CNA on March 27.

“We feel frustrated that despite documenting and making public the shocking data regularly, there has been no response from the government nor any effort has been made to curb the steadily rising number of violent incidents,” he said.

Categorizing the 161 incidents, Michael listed 71 cases of detainment/arrest by the police, 18 incidents of social ostracization, 72 cases of physical violence, 15 cases of forced “reconversion,” one incident of a church being sealed, and another in which a church was torched, with mob violence being part of most of these incidents.

Violence and persecution against minority Christians, who account for only 2.3% of India’s 1.41 billion people (nearly 80% of whom are Hindu), have been on a steady rise since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rose to power under the stewardship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi after winning the 2014 national election. In May 2019, the BJP was reelected with an increased majority.

UCF had recorded only 147 incidents of violence against Christians in 2014, Michael said. The number of incidents went up to 177 in 2015, 208 in 2016, 240 in 2017, 292 in 2018, 328 in 2019, 279 in 2020, 505 in 2021, 599 in 2022, and 731 in 2023.

The UCF statement also highlighted the victimization of Christians in BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh state in central India, which reported “incidents with dignity of burial rights denied to Christian families.”

“Chhattisgarh, a state notoriously known for social ostracization of Christians, is the No. 1 leading state in assaults against Christians with 47 incidents of reported violence,” the UCF pointed out.

“Christians are being denied access to water from the community borewells of the village. Sadly, even dead Christians are not spared, as many were denied burial as per Christian rituals. Local [Hindu fundamentalist] villagers have been threatening to cremate the bodies as a final act of reconversion,” UCF decried.

Such blatant attacks on the Christians, Michael said, are rooted in BJP leaders’ anti-Christian rhetoric. He noted that Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai accused “Christian missionaries of carrying out religious conversion under the guise of providing education and health care facilities while warning to stop the practice.”

But, Michael pointed out, Christians in Chhattisgarh account for just 2% of the state’s 25 million people.

The UCF statement also highlighted the persecution of Christians in BJP-ruled northern Uttar Pradesh, which has a population of 231 million and “ranks second [among] states where Indian citizens are being persecuted for practicing Christianity.” 

“There is clear evidence of state-sponsored harassment of Christians in this state as the police file false allegations of conversion against the pastors even for praying in birthday parties and other social gatherings. UCF helpline has recorded over 30 incidents of arrests and detentions of pastors under the UP Freedom of Religion Act,” the Christian Forum noted.

CNA has reported in detail how Father Babu Francis, social service director of Allahabad Diocese in Uttar Pradesh state, was jailed for over 80 days after being arrested on charges of false conversion in early October. 

Similarly, CNA also reported about how Father Dominic Pinto, director of the Pastoral Centre of Lucknow Diocese, was arrested in February on a false conversion charge. Pinto was released on bail on March 13. 

Of the 161 incidents recorded in the first 75 days of 2024, UCF pointed out: “There are 122 Christians who have either been detained or arrested on the false allegation of conversions.”

The UCF data was released on the eve of the March 22 National Day of Prayer that the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) called for in the wake of increasing atrocities against Christians and religious polarization in the country. 

Thousands of churches across the country held special prayers on the day with special holy hours, rosaries, and Stations of Cross in response to the CBCI appeal for “peace and harmony.”

Meanwhile, the 2023 year report of the Religious Liberty Commission of Evangelical Fellowship of India expressed anguish over “the alarmingly steep rise in the number of violent incidents against the Christian community.”

“The Indian political apparatus, its law enforcement agencies, and its justice system, specially at the level of villages and small towns, have been found wanting and slow in its responses despite urgent pleas for help from victims, church leaders, and civil society,” the report lamented.

Despite Church warnings, tigers and elephants threaten lives in Kerala, India

Asian elephant. / Credit: Filiz Elaerts / Unsplash (CC0)

CNA Newsroom, Mar 27, 2024 / 13:00 pm (CNA).

Despite repeated protests from Catholic bishops, wildlife attacks continue to pose a severe threat to the lives and properties of both Catholics and other residents in the Southern Indian state of Kerala. 

On Wednesday, local media reported significant damage from two elephants in Kerala’s Idukki district, alongside a tiger’s attack on livestock. 

This year alone, elephant attacks have resulted in 27 fatalities in the region. Video footage of a Catholic man trampled to death on Feb. 10 made headlines and sparked protests, only to be followed by news of a potential mauling by a tiger of a Catholic woman on her way to Mass four days after the fatal attack. 

Further fatal elephant tramplings followed the incident.

The Catholic Church in Kerala has been leading the charge in urging the government to take decisive action to protect human lives. 

“The series of shocking elephant killings has terrorized the people. They are even scared to go out now,” Bishop Jose Porunnedam of Mananthavady, in the district of Wayanad, told the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, on March 4.

Several major Catholic organizations, including the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC) and the Kerala-based Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, have issued statements calling for the prioritization of protecting human beings from marauding wild animals.

On Palm Sunday, Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil, head of the Syro-Malabar Church, warned of a misconception “that wild animals are given more importance than human beings.” 

The bishops’ council urged the state government not to trivialize people’s concerns. 

“Over time, Kerala has seen a rise in the quantity and intensity of wildlife attacks. There has been a noticeable rise in wildlife attacks in Wayanad and neighboring districts in the past year,” noted the KCBC in its Feb. 18 statement.

The March 27 attacks in Idukki are part of a longer-term trend of increasing wildlife attacks. Government data for 2022-23 registered 8,873 wildlife attacks leading to 98 deaths. 

In response to the crisis, India’s federal government has announced plans to erect elephant-proof barriers across Kerala. This measure aims to prevent further tragic incidents and addresses the call from Church representatives for more effective protection strategies.

Kerala’s geography, bordering the Western Ghats — a mountain range known for its biodiversity, including approximately 25% of the world’s wild Asian elephants — complicates the situation. The onset of the dry season in February, which leads to a scarcity of forest resources, has driven wild animals to encroach more frequently on human habitats, thereby increasing the likelihood of conflict.

More than 30% of Wayanad district’s population of 800,000 are Catholics, alongside additional Christian denominations.

In letter to Holy Land Christians, Pope Francis deplores the war, expresses closeness 

Students and teachers from Jerusalem Christian schools walk the Way of the Cross on the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem. The yearly event was organized by the Custody of the Holy Land on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, on the occasion of Lent. / Credit: Marinella Bandini

Rome Newsroom, Mar 27, 2024 / 12:00 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis on Wednesday issued a letter to the Christians of the Holy Land in preparation for Good Friday, expressing his solidarity with a community that continues to suffer amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

“Dear brothers and sisters, allow me to tell you once more that you are not alone. We will never leave you alone but will demonstrate our solidarity with you by prayer and practical charity,” the pope wrote in his Holy Wednesday letter.

“In these bleak times, when it seems that the dark clouds of Good Friday hover over your land, and all too many parts of our world are scarred by the pointless folly of war — which is always and for everyone a bitter defeat — you are lamps shining in the night, seeds of goodness in a land rent asunder by conflict,” the pope continued. 

Emphasizing his “paternal affection,” the pope joined the beleaguered population in sharing in their “sufferings” and “struggles.” 

“I embrace those most affected by the senseless tragedy of war: the children robbed of their future, those who grieve and are in pain, and all who find themselves prey to anguish and dismay,” the pope continued. 

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, called the situation “objectively intolerable” in an interview last week with Italian television station TV2000. 

Imploring upon the world’s leaders to find an end to the carnage, Pizzaballa noted that there have always been many economic hardships, “but there has never been hunger before.” According to the Gazan Health Ministry, 27 children have died from malnutrition and dehydration. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to press forward with the offensive to the densely populated city of Rafah in Southern Gaza, where more than 1.5 million people are sheltering. The United Nations Security Council voted on Monday for a resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire. 

In his letter the pope reflected on his own visit to the region in May 2014, marking the 50th anniversary of the historic meeting between Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I in Jerusalem, and again stressed the imperative for peace.  

Quoting from Paul VI’s 1964 apostolic exhortation Nobis in Animo, Francis wrote: “The continuing tensions in the Middle East, and the lack of concrete progress toward peace, represent a constant and dire threat not only to the peace and security of those peoples — and indeed of the entire world — but also to values supremely dear, for different reasons, to much of mankind.” 

The pope also highlighted the particular importance of Easter, “the heart of our faith,” for Holy Land Christians, given its geographic centrality in the story of revelation and the place where Christ’s passion and death occurred.  

“The history of salvation, and indeed its geography, would not exist apart from the land in which you have dwelt for centuries,” the pope wrote. “There you want to remain, and there it is good that you should remain. Thank you for your testimony of faith, thank you for the charity that exists among you, thank you for your ability to hope against all hope.” 

Trump touts ‘God Bless the USA’ King James Bible ahead of Easter

Former President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at 40 Wall Street on March 25, 2024, in New York City. / Credit: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

CNA Staff, Mar 27, 2024 / 11:30 am (CNA).

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump this week is advertising United States-themed Bibles ahead of Easter, urging supporters to purchase a copy of the holy book and help “make America pray again.”

Trump announced the commemorative Bible offering on social media this week, saying he partnered with country singer Lee Greenwood on the initiative. Greenwood’s 1984 song “God Bless the USA” is traditionally played before Trump's campaign rally and event speeches.  

“This Bible is the King James Version and also includes our Founding Father documents,” Trump said. 

The book contains the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Pledge of Allegiance, the former president noted.

“It’s just very important and very important to me,” Trump said in the announcement. “I want to have a lot of people have it. You have to have it for your heart, for your soul.”

The former president, who is Joe Biden’s presumed challenger in the 2024 election, said the United States is “going haywire” because “we’ve lost religion in our country.”

“All Americans need a Bible in their home, and I have many. It’s my favorite book. It’s a lot of people’s favorite book,” Trump said, urging supporters to “stand up, speak out, and pray that God will bless America again.”

The website offering the Bibles for sale notes that it also comes transcribed with a “handwritten chorus to ‘God Bless the USA’ by Lee Greenwood.” It is touted as “the only Bible endorsed by President Trump.”

The book, which is retailing for $59.99, “is not political and has nothing to do with any political campaign,” the website says. 

The King James Bible has traditionally been used by Anglicans and other Protestant denominations. It is distinct from the version of the Bible approved by the Catholic Church, which in the U.S. includes the New American Bible among other approved translations.

Cardinal leads Holy Week prayer vigil for recently martyred Christians

Catholics gather in Rome’s Basilica of St. Bartholomew on Tiber Island on Holy Tuesday, March 26, 2024, for a prayer vigil honoring Christians who have been killed for their faith in recent years. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Rome Newsroom, Mar 27, 2024 / 10:45 am (CNA).

Catholics gathered in Rome on Holy Tuesday for a prayer vigil honoring Christians who have been killed for their faith in recent years.

A monk in Nigeria who was kidnapped and brutally murdered last fall, catechists in Mexico killed on their way to a Eucharistic procession in June, and Catholics who died in Myanmar when an airstrike hit their church last year were among those honored by the prayer vigil.

Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, the prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life, presided over the vigil on March 26 in Rome’s Basilica of St. Bartholomew on Tiber Island.

“Persecuted Christians show us, in every age, that nothing … is superior to the bond with Christ. In the martyrs, we see that communion with Jesus is far more precious than earthly life, family ties, everything,” Farrell said.

Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, the prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life, presides over a prayer vigil honoring Christians who have been killed for their faith in recent years on March 26, 2024, in Rome’s Basilica of St. Bartholomew on Tiber Island. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, the prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life, presides over a prayer vigil honoring Christians who have been killed for their faith in recent years on March 26, 2024, in Rome’s Basilica of St. Bartholomew on Tiber Island. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

“This ‘witness of blood’ that the martyrs give to Christ is a powerful prophetic voice and a great sign of hope because the kingdom of God will continue to spread; indeed, thanks to the martyrs, it will be even better known and loved.

The prayer vigil was held on Holy Tuesday, a day in which the Church reflected on Jesus’ words to Peter at the Last Supper in the Gospel of John: “Will you lay down your life for me?”

Candles were lit during the vigil as the names of more than 50 Christians killed for their faith in the past century were read aloud. 

Catholics gather in Rome’s Basilica of St. Bartholomew on Tiber Island on Holy Tuesday, March 26, 2024, for a prayer vigil honoring Christians who have been killed for their faith in recent years. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
Catholics gather in Rome’s Basilica of St. Bartholomew on Tiber Island on Holy Tuesday, March 26, 2024, for a prayer vigil honoring Christians who have been killed for their faith in recent years. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

The congregation sang “Kyrie Eleison” after each name, which included Shahbaz Bhatti killed in Pakistan in 2011, Father Olivier Maire killed in France in 2021, and the Missionaries of Charity killed in Yemen in 2016. 

“Many who have suffered for their faith and lost their lives in China” were also remembered.

Four crucifixes and palm branches were carried in procession to honor those killed in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, the Americas, and Africa respectively.

The names of more than 10 Catholic priests and brothers killed in Africa last year were honored, including Father Jacques Yaro Zerbo killed in Burkina Faso, Father Charles Onomhoale Igechi killed in Nigeria, and Father Pol Feyen killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Members of the local Orthodox and Protestant Christian communities also took part in a prayer vigil honoring Christians who have been killed for their faith in recent years in Rome’s Basilica of St. Bartholomew on Tiber Island on Holy Tuesday, March 26, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
Members of the local Orthodox and Protestant Christian communities also took part in a prayer vigil honoring Christians who have been killed for their faith in recent years in Rome’s Basilica of St. Bartholomew on Tiber Island on Holy Tuesday, March 26, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Members of the local Orthodox and Protestant Christian communities also took part in the prayer vigil at the St. Bartholomew basilica organized by the Catholic Community of Sant’Egidio and the Diocese of Rome.

The basilica was so packed for the prayer vigil that overflow seating was needed in the piazza outside of the church on the overcast night in Rome.

The basilica of ‘new martyrs’

The Basilica of St. Bartholomew on Tiber Island is devoted to Christian martyrs of the 20th and 21st centuries, referred to as the “new martyrs,” connecting the tradition of Rome’s apostolic martyrs to the persecution of Christians today.

The church was first commissioned in 998 by German Emperor Otto III to receive the remains of St. Bartholomew, who was flayed alive for his faith, and St. Adalbert, bishop of Prague who was martyred in 997 during the evangelization of Poland.

Catholics gathered in Rome’s Basilica of St. Bartholomew on Tiber Island on Holy Tuesday, March 26, 2024, for a prayer vigil honoring Christians who have been killed for their faith in recent years. The basilica was so packed for the prayer vigil that overflow seating was needed in the piazza outside of the church on the overcast night in Rome. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
Catholics gathered in Rome’s Basilica of St. Bartholomew on Tiber Island on Holy Tuesday, March 26, 2024, for a prayer vigil honoring Christians who have been killed for their faith in recent years. The basilica was so packed for the prayer vigil that overflow seating was needed in the piazza outside of the church on the overcast night in Rome. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Today the basilica houses some of the relics of the apostle and medieval evangelist alongside those of St. Maximilian Kolbe, martyred in Auschwitz, and Sister Leonella Sgorbati, a missionary nurse in Somalia in the height of the country’s civil war. Her last words as she was murdered in 2006 were “I forgive them, I forgive, I forgive.”

The basilica also has the breviary of Father Jacques Hamel, who was killed in 2016 by ISIS terrorists in France while celebrating Mass. 

Pope Francis gave the basilica a little wooden bird from the Orthodox Church of the Holy Mother of God in Syria, a church that burned during the bombing of Aleppo in the Syrian civil war. The bird was brought back to Rome with the humanitarian corridors of the Catholic Community of St. Egidio, a lay movement dedicated to works of charity, who have been entrusted with the spiritual care of the Basilica of St. Bartholomew.

The basilica is flanked on either side by chapels containing relics of Christians martyred under communism and Nazism respectively, marking the 20th century as the bloodiest century in the history of the Catholic Church.

Today Rome’s Basilica of St. Bartholomew on Tiber Island houses some of the relics of the apostle and medieval evangelist alongside many others, including those of St. Maximilian Kolbe, martyred in Auschwitz, and Sister Leonella Sgorbati, a missionary nurse in Somalia in the height of the country’s civil war. The basilica also has the breviary of Father Jacques Hamel, who was killed in 2016 by ISIS terrorists in France while celebrating Mass. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
Today Rome’s Basilica of St. Bartholomew on Tiber Island houses some of the relics of the apostle and medieval evangelist alongside many others, including those of St. Maximilian Kolbe, martyred in Auschwitz, and Sister Leonella Sgorbati, a missionary nurse in Somalia in the height of the country’s civil war. The basilica also has the breviary of Father Jacques Hamel, who was killed in 2016 by ISIS terrorists in France while celebrating Mass. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

The story of the basilica’s dedication to the “new martyrs” began with St. John Paul II. In 1998, Pope John Paul II established the Commission for the New Martyrs of the Great Jubilee, giving them the task “not only to document Catholic martyrs but also Protestant and Orthodox, saying in the blood of the martyrs, the Church is already united. There was this vision of the ecumenicism of the blood.”

The Basilica of St. Bartholomew continues the ecumenical focus today by honoring the Anglican martyrs of the Solomon Islands, a brotherhood working for reconciliation among the ethnic groups who were killed in 1992-93 and Russian Orthodox Father Alexander Men, who was assassinated in Moscow in 1990.

Ahead of the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee, Pope Francis has tasked a new commission within the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints with creating an archive of the lives of Christian martyrs, both Catholic and non-Catholic, killed in the last quarter-century.

A prayer vigil on March 26, 2024, honoring recent martyrs took place facing a large icon in the basilica of the “New Martyrs and Witnesses to the Faith of the 20th and 21st centuries,” which was blessed by both an Orthodox patriarch and the cardinal vicar of Rome. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
A prayer vigil on March 26, 2024, honoring recent martyrs took place facing a large icon in the basilica of the “New Martyrs and Witnesses to the Faith of the 20th and 21st centuries,” which was blessed by both an Orthodox patriarch and the cardinal vicar of Rome. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Tuesday’s prayer vigil took place facing a large icon in the basilica of the “New Martyrs and Witnesses to the Faith of the 20th and 21st centuries,” which was blessed by both an Orthodox patriarch and the cardinal vicar of Rome.

“Brothers and sisters, in this time wounded by war and terrorism, let us walk together seeking the light of Easter,” Farrell said at the vigil.

“May the witness of contemporary martyrs strengthen us in faith, ignite in us the fire of charity, and help us to hope in the victory over evil and death of Christ Jesus Our Lord.”

Amid Holy Week, Pope Francis points to ‘beautiful testimony’ of fathers who lost daughters

Pope Francis waves to pilgrims gather in Paul VI Audience Hall for his Wednesday general audience on March 27, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Mar 27, 2024 / 09:30 am (CNA).

Pope Francis on Wednesday used the example of two men — one Palestinian, one Israeli, both of whom lost their daughters in violent conflicts — to reflect on Christ’s suffering and his patience as the Church prepares for Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

Calling attention to the two men present at his general audience in the Paul VI Hall, the Holy Father told the assembly: “Both lost their daughters in this war and both are friends. They don’t look at the enmity of war, but they look at the friendship of two men who love each other and who went through the same crucifixion.”

“Let us think of this very beautiful testimony of these two people who suffered with their daughters from the war in the Holy Land. Dear brothers, thank you for your testimony.” 

Pope Francis addresses the faithful at his Wednesday general audience on March 27, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Francis addresses the faithful at his Wednesday general audience on March 27, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media

Before the opening of the general audience, Pope Francis met briefly with the two fathers, exchanging embraces and several gifts. 

Rami Elhanan lost his 14-year-old daughter, Smadar, in 1997 when she was killed by a Palestinian suicide bomber while out shopping with friends in the center of Jerusalem.

Bassam Aramin lost his 10-year-old daughter Abir in 2007. She was shot dead outside her school by a young Israeli soldier. 

Both men have dedicated themselves to working toward peace in the war-torn region through the Parents Circle Families Forum, an association of Israeli and Palestinian families who recount their process of bereavement and spearhead projects aimed at greater dialogue and peace initiatives. 

Pope Francis meets with two bereaved fathers — one Israeli, one Palestinian — before his general audience on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Francis meets with two bereaved fathers — one Israeli, one Palestinian — before his general audience on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media

“Brothers and sisters, let us pray for peace,” the pope said. “May there be peace in the Holy Land. May the Lord give peace to all, as a gift of his Easter”

The general audience, which was scheduled to take place in St. Peter’s Square, was moved to the Paul VI Audience Hall as central Italy headed into its second day of heavy rain. 

“Today the audience was scheduled in the square, but due to the rain it was moved inside. It’s true that you will be a little crowded, but at least we won’t be wet! Thank you for your patience,” the pope said.

Reflecting on the passion reading from Palm Sunday, the pope opened his remarks by noting that the suffering of Christ showcases his patience and love. 

“It is precisely in the Passion that Christ’s patience emerges, as with meekness and mildness he accepts being arrested, beaten, and condemned unjustly,” the pope said. “He does not recriminate before Pilate. He bears being insulted, spat upon, and flagellated by the soldiers. He carries the weight of the cross. He forgives those who nail him to the wood; and on the cross, he does not respond to provocations but rather offers mercy.”

Pope Francis greets American pilgrims at his Wednesday general audience on March 27, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Francis greets American pilgrims at his Wednesday general audience on March 27, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media

“Patience,” the pope continued, “is not only a need but a calling: If Christ is patient, the Christian is called to be patient.” 

Responding to the question of how to grow in patience, Pope Francis implored the faithful to “broaden one’s outlook” and “to contemplate the Crucified One” as a way to cultivate greater patience with others, especially against the backdrop of Holy Week. 

“It starts by asking to look at them with compassion, with God’s gaze, knowing how to distinguish their faces from their faults.”

The pope ended by challenging the faithful to “go against the tide” of instant gratification and to instead cultivate this virtue in order to challenge “haste” and “impatience,” which “are the enemies of spiritual life.” 

“God is love, and those who love do not tire, they are not irascible, they do not give ultimatums but know how to wait.”

Holy Land priest recommends 4 ways to live a worthwhile Holy Week

null / Credit: Romolo Tavani/Shutterstock

ACI Prensa Staff, Mar 27, 2024 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Father Juan María Solana, LC, director of the Magdala Center in the Holy Land, has made four recommendations for living a worthwhile Holy Week in 2024.

1. Holy Week is an opportunity to receive grace.

Solana, a Mexican priest, shared with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, that “the first guidance I can give you is to think about how we have an opportunity, an opportunity to take advantage of a grace, as St. Augustine said, a grace that passes by and doesn’t come back.”

The priest highlighted the importance of keeping in mind during these days that “Jesus is going to suffer in Jerusalem, to die, to give his life for us.”

2. Pray a lot during Holy Week.

Solana recommends praying a lot on these days and going to Holy Thursday Mass, which commemorates the institution of the Eucharist and the priesthood. 

He also recommended having a special awareness on Good Friday at 3 p.m., the hour of the Lord’s death, to pray, for example, three Hail Marys and three Our Fathers along with some short prayers thanking Jesus, who at that moment “is giving his life for us on the cross.”

“Wherever we are, let us not lose sight of Jesus, who is going to Jerusalem and is going to offer his life for love of us. He is our salvation. He is our hope. He is our resurrection,” he added.

3. Accompany Jesus “in the Holy Land.”

The Legionary priest told ACI Prensa that “Holy Week is a small pilgrimage to the Holy Land, that is, it’s accompanying Jesus more or less in a chronological and geographical order in what pertains to his passion, the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the first days of the week, in that sadness, in that anguish where he lives with his friends Lazarus, Martha, and Mary, and finally his passion ensues.”

After the Last Supper and “Jesus’ prayer and agony in Gethsemane, he suffers, he is taken to the Sanhedrin. In the morning he is brought before Pontius Pilate. He endures two trials, one religious and one civil. And finally they condemn him and he dies on the cross.” From place to place you can spiritually accompany the Lord, the priest said.

4. Accompany the Virgin Mary during the great silence.

On Holy Saturday, the priest continued, one must “accompany the Virgin a lot. “Be very close to the Virgin Mary because she is our hope.”

“She was faithful at the foot of the cross, suffering the unspeakable, so let us accompany the Virgin Mary in that silence, that great silence that some fathers of the Church tell us about,” he encouraged.

To conclude, the priest emphasized: “And on Sunday rise with Jesus: Christ, our hope, has risen. Christ, our peace, Christ our light, the one who gives us life. A life that will die no more.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Here’s what the Holy Thursday Seven Churches Visitation devotion is all about

null / Credit: licesio/www.shutterstock.com

CNA Staff, Mar 27, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).

The Visitation to Seven Churches is a Holy Thursday devotion primarily practiced in Latin America, Italy, Poland, and the Philippines — though it is also practiced in many other places.

The devotion involves traveling to seven local churches after the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on the evening of Holy Thursday. These visits recall the final seven places Jesus went from his arrest on Holy Thursday to his death on Good Friday.

In each church, the pilgrim kneels before the altar of repose, meditates on the appropriate Scripture, and offers prayers and adoration. In this way, pilgrims seek to spiritually accompany Christ as he enters his passion.

The first church recalls Jesus going from the Cenacle, where he celebrated the Last Supper with his disciples, to the Garden of Gethsemane, where he earnestly prayed and sweat blood in his agony over what was about to take place (see Luke 22:39-46).

In the second church, the pilgrim meditates on Jesus being taken from the Garden of Gethsemane by the armed crowd to the house of Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas the high priest, where he was interrogated and slapped in the face (see John 18:19-22).

In the third church, the prayer focuses on Jesus being brought to the house of Caiaphas, where he was beaten, spat upon, insulted, and endured a painful night in captivity (see Matthew 26:63-68).

The focus of the reflection for the fourth church is the first time Jesus was brought before Pilate, the Roman governor of the region. There Jesus was accused by the Jewish religious authorities of being a rival king to Caesar (see John 18:35-37).

In the fifth church, the pilgrim follows the Lord as he is taken to King Herod, who along with his guards mock him (see Luke 23:8-9; 11).

The sixth church recalls Jesus being taken from Herod and brought before Pilate for the second time and then scourged, crowned with thorns, mocked, and condemned to death (see Matthew 27:22-26).

The last church commemorates Christ carrying the cross on his shoulders from the Praetorium, where Pilate yielded to the crowd’s demand for his crucifixion, to Mount Calvary where he suffered excruciating pain, died, and was laid to rest in a nearby tomb until his resurrection from the dead on Easter Sunday (see Matthew 27:27-31).

This article was originally published on April 1, 2021, and has been updated.

Why is today called Spy Wednesday?

Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss, 14th-century fresco in the Collegiata of San Gimignano, Italy. / Credit: jorisvo/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Mar 27, 2024 / 04:00 am (CNA).

You might hear today referred to as “Spy Wednesday.” What does that mean and why do some people call it that?

The name actually derives from the Gospel reading for today — also called Holy Wednesday, as it is the Wednesday of Holy Week — in which Judas Iscariot betrays Jesus for 30 pieces of silver:

“One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?’ They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over” (Mt 26:14-16).

At that point, Judas “spies” on Jesus, secretly plotting the most opportune time to turn him in to the Sanhedrin, the council of Jewish elders at the time who sought to condemn Jesus.

Today’s reading follows yesterday’s account of the incident from the Gospel of John, in which Jesus says: “Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me” (Jn 13:21). Simon Peter asks John — “the one whom Jesus loved” — to ask Jesus what he means. Jesus replies:

“‘It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it.’ So he dipped the morsel and [took it and] handed it to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot. After he took the morsel, Satan entered him. So Jesus said to him, ‘What you are going to do, do quickly’” (Jn 13:26-27).

Now the stage is set, so to speak, for the events of the night of the Last Supper through the Lord’s passion and death on Good Friday.

Use of the term “Spy Wednesday” for this day appears to have originated in England and Ireland in the 1800s, according to WordHistories.net. The website noted mentions of the term in Irish newspapers on several occasions throughout the century, with a clear definition given in 1881.

Pope Francis referred to the day as Spy Wednesday in his homily at a Mass on April 8, 2020.

Many use this day to discuss Judas’ betrayal, asking how and why someone who was so close to Jesus could do what he did.

“Judas gave up everything to follow Jesus for three years … Why would he betray him?” asked Dr. Edward Sri in a March 2021 podcast. “Perhaps a more important question we should all ponder is: Could something like that ever happen to me? Is it possible that I could turn away from Jesus?”

Bishop Robert Barron observed in an April 4, 2023, reflection: “Those of us who regularly gather around the table of intimacy with Christ and yet engage consistently in the works of darkness are meant to see ourselves in the betrayer.”

In his general audience catechesis on the Twelve Apostles in 2006, Pope Benedict XVI said God used Judas’ betrayal as part of his plan for salvation.

“The word ‘to betray’ is the version of a Greek word that means ‘to consign.’ Sometimes the subject is even God in person: It was he who for love ‘consigned’ Jesus for all of us (Rm 8: 32). In his mysterious salvific plan, God assumes Judas’ inexcusable gesture as the occasion for the total gift of the Son for the redemption of the world,” the pope said.

“We draw from this a final lesson,” Benedict concluded. “While there is no lack of unworthy and traitorous Christians in the Church, it is up to each of us to counterbalance the evil done by them with our clear witness to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.”

This article was originally published on April 5, 2023.

PHOTOS: Pro-life and pro-abortion activists hold dueling rallies outside Supreme Court

Hundreds of pro-life and pro-abortion demonstrators hold rallies alongside each other as the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the high-stakes abortion pill case Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. Food and Drug Administration, March 26, 2024. / Credit: Peter Pinedo/CNA

Washington D.C., Mar 26, 2024 / 18:15 pm (CNA).

Several hundred pro-life and pro-abortion activists held dueling rallies outside the Supreme Court building on Tuesday as the justices heard oral arguments in the high-stakes abortion pill case, Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. Food and Drug Administration (AHM v. FDA).

At issue in the case is whether the FDA should restore certain restrictions on the abortion drug mifepristone that were in place prior to 2016, most notably those removed by the Biden administration such as prohibiting administering the pills through the mail or via telemedicine. 

At the pro-life rally, abortion demonstrators blasted loud music in an attempt to drown out the pro-life speakers.

Many pro-abortion demonstrators wore pink and held homemade signs such as one that read: “Leave my mifepristone alone.” Other signs held by abortion activists had vulgar messages on them, with some mocking conservative Supreme Court justices.

Pro-lifers, meanwhile, held signs reading: “Chemical abortion hurts women” and “Women’s health matters,” while some prayed. 

During a few tense moments, Capitol Police officers, who lined the street, had to intervene to separate the two groups as demonstrators got into each other’s faces and shouted slogans over megaphones.

CNA spoke with some of the demonstrators to learn why they came. Here is what they said:

‘My daughter has rights’ 

Savanna Deretich (left) with Students for Life and Savannah Evans (right) with Live Action stand in front of the Supreme Court building as pro-life demonstrators, March 26, 2024. Credit: Peter Pinedo/CNA
Savanna Deretich (left) with Students for Life and Savannah Evans (right) with Live Action stand in front of the Supreme Court building as pro-life demonstrators, March 26, 2024. Credit: Peter Pinedo/CNA

Savannah Evans, a pro-life activist with Live Action, traveled from Florida to stand for life in front of the Supreme Court. Evans, who is 34 weeks pregnant, lifted her sweater to reveal her baby bump on which she had written the words “Human Too.”

“Human life begins with fertilization, and anything after that is the killing of a human being,” Evans said.

“I’m out here because I’m 34 weeks pregnant, and I believe that my daughter has rights.”

‘Force the FDA to do their job’

Ken Meekins, a student from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, said he came because he believes that “the abortion pill does hurt women.”

“I’m here to stand for women’s health,” he said. “I think that it’s awful because the majority of abortions are chemical abortions. And not only that, they’re even more dangerous than surgical abortions because they’re done at home. And so, I’m out here today to ask the Supreme Court to force the FDA to do their job.”

 ‘The pope should not dictate what medications we’re allowed to take’

Ashley Wilson (left) and Kate Hoeting (right) with Catholics for Choice stand in front of the Supreme Court on March 26, 2024. Credit: Peter Pinedo/CNA
Ashley Wilson (left) and Kate Hoeting (right) with Catholics for Choice stand in front of the Supreme Court on March 26, 2024. Credit: Peter Pinedo/CNA

Ashley Wilson and Kate Hoeting, members of a group that calls itself “Catholics for Choice,” were in front of the Supreme Court building advocating for abortion. They claimed to represent what they said was the majority of Catholics who “disagree with the bishops on abortion.” Wilson called the attempt to regulate abortion pills an example of “religious overreach.”

“One in four abortion patients in this country is Catholic,” Wilson said. “So, we trust a woman’s conscience-informed decision to have an abortion if she needs one.”

Pro-abortion demonstrators cheer as Catholics for Choice President Jamie Manson gives a speech in front of the Supreme Court building, March 26, 2024. Credit: Peter Pinedo/CNA
Pro-abortion demonstrators cheer as Catholics for Choice President Jamie Manson gives a speech in front of the Supreme Court building, March 26, 2024. Credit: Peter Pinedo/CNA

 Jamie Manson, president of Catholics for Choice, was one of the speakers at the pro-abortion rally. She called the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the movement to place more restrictions on abortion “part of a coordinated long game to undermine democracy and establish a theocracy.”

“The pope should not dictate what medications we’re allowed to take in the United States,” she went on. “We want doctors, not doctrine, to shape our health care.”

‘I came to D.C. today to stand up for my patients’

There were a large number of pro-life doctors, many from the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG), who rallied in front of the Supreme Court, March 26, 2024. Credit: Peter Pinedo/CNA
There were a large number of pro-life doctors, many from the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG), who rallied in front of the Supreme Court, March 26, 2024. Credit: Peter Pinedo/CNA

Dr. Susan Bane, an OB-GYN from North Carolina and member of the American Association of Pro-Life OB-GYNs (AAPLOG), spoke at the pro-life rally. 

She told CNA that she is advocating for restrictions on mifepristone because of the life-threatening dangers the drug poses to women. She said it is especially dangerous to administer mifepristone without medical supervision. 

“I came to D.C. today to stand up for my patients as well as the thousands of pro-life members of AAPLOG to care for women,” she said.

“The FDA’s own labeling says 1 in 25 women who use abortion drugs will go to the emergency department and they show up with potentially life-threatening complications, retained tissue infections requiring antibiotics, bleeding that’s so severe that they need transfusions or emergency surgery.”

“So, women should have the ongoing care of a doctor when taking high-risk drugs. And that’s why we want to see these safeguards put back in place,” she went on. “We want the FDA to do their job, and their job is to protect our patients.”

‘Science tells us that there is a life in the womb’ 

Hayden Laye, a member of the Democrats for Life of America, traveled to D.C. from South Carolina. Credit: Peter Pinedo/CNA
Hayden Laye, a member of the Democrats for Life of America, traveled to D.C. from South Carolina. Credit: Peter Pinedo/CNA

Hayden Laye, a member of Democrats for Life of America, traveled to D.C. from South Carolina. He said that his belief in science tells him that “there is life in the womb.”

“As a Democrat, I’m against killing human beings, and that includes human beings in the womb,” he said.

He added that he felt “compelled” to come to express his support for restoring safeguards on the abortion pill out of concern for his community.

“I just want to make sure that both women and children in my state, in my community, are safe, are protected. I hope and pray that the Supreme Court upholds the safety laws for women regarding the abortion bill.”

‘We look to protect the women and children of Texas’ 

Jade and Casey Casias from Amarillo, Texas, traveled over 1,500 miles to show support for the pro-life side. Credit: Peter Pinedo/CNA
Jade and Casey Casias from Amarillo, Texas, traveled over 1,500 miles to show support for the pro-life side. Credit: Peter Pinedo/CNA

 Jade Casias and her husband, Casey Casias, came to demonstrate for life. They flew over 1,500 miles from Amarillo, Texas, where AHM v. FDA originated.

“In Texas, we’re really big on our pro-life issue,” Jade said. “We don’t come up to Washington, D.C., regularly to protest or anything. I haven’t been here in years, and this is my husband’s first time. But because that case originated in Amarillo, we felt like it was necessary to really represent our culture.”

Despite abortion being illegal through all nine months of pregnancy in Texas, Jade said that mifepristone, which can be obtained via mail and administered without any doctor’s supervision, still threatens Texan women’s lives.

“We’re seeing that abortion pills are being mailed to our women,” she said. “We’re here to say, mifepristone, we don’t want that across state lines, but more than that, we want to have a call to say everyone needs to have some action in this.”

‘Pray, pray, pray. I think that’s the answer’ 

Joan McKee, a Catholic pro-lifer from D.C., said what we need is to "pray, pray, pray." Credit: Peter Pinedo/CNA
Joan McKee, a Catholic pro-lifer from D.C., said what we need is to "pray, pray, pray." Credit: Peter Pinedo/CNA

Joan McKee, a Catholic pro-lifer from D.C., said she came to “help these people stop murdering their children.”

While tensions were high between the two crowds, with people trying to out-scream one another, McKee was holding a rosary in her hand. She said she was praying for not only an end to abortion but also the conversion of those advocating for abortion.

“Pray the rosary, pray to St. Joseph, the Holy Family,” she said. “Pray, pray, pray. I think that’s the answer.”