null / Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 24, 2022 / 10:05 am (CNA).

An 84-year-old pro-life volunteer was shot on Sept. 20 while going door-to-door in her community to talk about a ballot measure concerning abortion in Michigan, the group she was volunteering with said.

The woman from Lake Odessa was speaking about Proposal 3, a proposed state constitutional amendment that would advance abortion, according to a Right to Life of Michigan (RLM) press release. 

The press release said that the woman was shot in the back-shoulder area while leaving a residence during a heated conversation. The man who shot her was not involved in the conversation and the pro-life volunteer does not know his identity or motive.

RLM said that the victim, who wishes to remain anonymous, is still recovering from her gunshot wound.

Chris Gast, the education coordinator for RLM, told CNA that “She is at home recovering and in good spirits. She should be OK.”

Local news outlet WOOD TV8 reported police as saying that the pro-life volunteer was handing out pamphlets when she was shot, after getting into what police called an “alleged verbal altercation.”

The outlet noted that, after getting shot, the woman drove herself to the Lake Odessa Police Department. From there, she was taken to the hospital where she was treated and released.

The RLM press release said that the Michigan State Police are investigating the case, and will forward the results to the Ionia County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. 

This is a developing story.

Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch was among the honorees of Live Action's Life Gala in Dana Point, California, on Sept. 17, 2022. / Screenshot of ETWN YouTube video

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 24, 2022 / 10:00 am (CNA).

For the past several years, Live Action has hosted its annual Life Awards Gala to recognize pro-life leaders for their outstanding work in the defense of life. This year, nearly 500 people gathered in Dana Point, California, on Sept. 17 for the third annual event, the first to be held in a post-Roe America.

This year's awardees included Pastor Lee Jong-Rak; Mary Wagner, a Canadian pro-life activist; and Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch. EWTN Pro-Life Weekly spoke with two of the awardees and the president and founder of Live Action, Lila Rose.

Jong-Rak is the founder of a ministry in South Korea that gives mothers an option other than abortion. Mothers who determine they are unable to care for their baby can anonymously leave their child in a climate-controlled baby box. To date, these baby boxes have helped save more than 1,500 lives.

“When I met the first baby, I was so shocked and I was so moved,” Jong-Rak said. “I prayed to God, and I believe that God gave me a mission to do.”

Meanwhile, Fitch received a standing ovation when given her award. It was her state’s case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, that led the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade.

“Now that we’ve changed the entire narrative in American history, this is a new chapter,” Fitch said. “It truly means so very much to me, but to accept this award not only for myself but for my entire team.”

Rose also shared in the excitement of a post-Roe America: “There’s a lot of joy. There’s so much to celebrate. We have so many heroes in the room tonight,” she said.

“But there’s also the message that our work is just getting started in many ways. We have so much left to do in our movement,” she added.

“So, while we take a pause to celebrate, we’re also making the battle plan for the work ahead to change hearts and minds, to shift public opinion, and to establish legal protection for preborn children in every state of the country,” she said.

Rose also took a moment to comment on her recent interview on the Dr. Phil show and said he, along with many members of the audience, seemed “completely blindsided by pro-life facts — facts about human development, the science of when life begins, by facts on the harm of abortion.”

“People need to hear these facts,” she emphasized. “They’ve been given misinformation, or there’s ignorance about abortion, about its harm, and so we should be prepared to share the facts.”

Rose concluded: “It’s really winsome — when people hear that it gives them an opportunity to see the humanity of the baby, to learn about the evil of abortion, and to have a vision for something better.”

null / Photo credit: Chanintorn.v / Shutterstock

Denver Newsroom, Sep 24, 2022 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Catholics who struggle with mental illness, and their loved ones who want to help them, will soon find more formal support in the Phoenix Diocese. Bishop John Dolan has announced the launch of an office dedicated to Catholic mental health ministry.

“There are lots of people who are dealing with loved ones who are in crisis,” Dolan told CNA Sept. 19. “It’s a quiet work of charity, and obviously they need all the help they can get.”

The bishop hopes the new office will “let people know that they’re not alone when it comes to mental health.” He emphasized the need to help people talk and communicate about mental illness.

Dolan announced the office on Sept. 4 at Sts. Simon and Jude Cathedral during a Mass of Remembrance for those who died by suicide, the diocesan newspaper The Catholic Sun reported.

During the Mass, the bishop led a procession of clergy. Joined by others in the congregation, they placed carnations in baskets in front of a shrine at the cathedral. Each carnation represented a person who died by suicide. The diocese had solicited suicide victims’ names to be commemorated during the Mass and had received more than 1,200.

The issue is personal for the new bishop. In a video message “Sharing My Story: A Life Changed by Suicide,” posted to the diocese’s YouTube channel, Dolan recounted how his family lost an older brother, a sister, and her husband to suicide.

“Losing a loved one is very, very hard. When we lose a loved one through suicide, it’s doubly difficult,” Dolan said in the video. “I had support from the Church but not ongoing support, real opportunities to continue to talk about it. I buried so much that I just never really looked into growing as I should have grown.”

Dolan, who was installed as bishop of Phoenix on Aug. 2, has co-edited a pastoral handbook, “Responding to Suicide.”

Mental illness is relatively common. The National Institutes for Mental Health says that as of 2020, nearly one in five U.S. adults — about 53 million people — were living with a mental illness. An estimated 14.2 million U.S. adults — 5.6% of the adult population — suffer from a severe mental illness. Of these, only 65% received mental health treatment in the previous year.

The planned focus of the Office for Catholic Mental Health Ministry includes mental health education for clergy and laity. The office aims to provide opportunities for Catholics to find support in accompanying friends and loved ones who struggle with mental illness.

The new office will provide priests with a mental health “first-aid kit” to help them advise or respond to those in need, Dolan said.

The educational aspect will aim to help clergy and religious know more about mental health and get basic training “so that they don’t jump to conclusions and kind of over-spiritualize behavior,” Dolan said. This educational effort should help inculcate in clergy “a broad view of what mental health is” so that they don’t “try to solve the issues on their own.”

Education will come through the National Council for Mental Wellbeing. The council, founded in 1969, is an advocacy and educational group that represents more than 3,100 mental health and substance use treatment organizations.

“They basically try to train them about what to expect and what to look for,” Dolan said. “It’s strictly clinical in education; it doesn’t focus on any of the spiritual aspects.”

The organization’s Mental Health First Aid program has trained more than 2.6 million people in the U.S. “to identify, understand, and respond to signs and symptoms of mental health and substance use challenges.” The training covers common signs and symptoms of mental health challenges and substance use challenges, how to interact with a person in crisis, and how to connect a person with help. It also includes content on trauma, substance use, and self-care.

The psychological sciences have a role to play in Catholic thought and practice, Dolan said.

“We see the science of psychology and psychiatry as a valued gift to our human person. We should not shy away from that,” he told CNA.

The aim is not to increase the burdens on priests. Rather, they will have a resource to which they can direct those in need. Dolan aims to have locations in each of the diocese’s 15 deaneries for people suffering from mental health problems, behavioral issues, trauma, or bereavement.

Dolan said he is not yet familiar with the particulars of how the diocese’s current seminarians are being prepared.  

Speaking generally of seminarians, he said that “counseling is perhaps one aspect of their training” and future priests receive only “little samplings” of psychology unless they are taking classes on the subject in their university or seminary.

A 2016 document from the Dicastery for the Clergy, “Ratio Fundamentalis,” discusses the formation of seminarians. It notes that the “useful contribution” of psychology to pastoral theology will benefit seminarians’ education as future pastors.

The Office for Catholic Mental Health Ministry will also have an advocacy role. It will seek to improve government policy and increase funding that addresses mental health. Dolan said this will help “to make sure that mental health is at the front of all of our conversations, particularly as we’re seeing more and more people on the streets with mental health disorders.”

According to the bishop, there are a “whole host of reasons” why some homeless people live on the streets, including trauma, mental disorders, or drug use disorders. The simple situation of experiencing homelessness causes additional anxiety and mental problems, he added.

The office, set to open in January 2023, has financial support from the Phoenix-based Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust. Those responsible for organizing the new office are Dr. Anne Vargas-Leveriza of the diocese’s Office of Child and Youth Protection and Dr. Maria Chavira, the diocese’s chancellor.

Dolan, a former auxiliary bishop of San Diego, noted previous Catholic statements like the California bishops’ 2018 letter on caring for those who suffer from mental health.

He said Catholic dioceses in San Diego, San Francisco, and Orange are already working to address mental health, often under the efforts of other diocesan departments. He noted the work of the University of San Diego-based Catholic Institute for Mental Health Ministry, which seeks to train mental health ministry leaders at the diocesan and parish level across the U.S.

Pope Francis at the Economy of Francesco conference for young economists, researchers, and activists in Assisi, Italy, Sept. 24, 2022. / Vatican Media.

Rome Newsroom, Sep 24, 2022 / 07:42 am (CNA).

Pope Francis on Saturday lamented the loss of spiritual meaning in the lives of many young people today — a lack that is often replaced by an undue focus on material goods, he said.

“Human beings, created in the image and likeness of God, are seekers of meaning before being seekers of material goods. That is why the first capital of any society is spiritual capital,” he said at an international conference on the economy in Assisi, Italy, Sept. 24.

“Young people especially suffer from this lack of meaning,” the pope said. “Faced with the pain and uncertainties of life, they often find their souls depleted of the spiritual resources needed to process suffering, frustration, disappointment and grief.”

“Look at the youth suicide rate, how it has gone up,” he added.

“Technology can do much: it teaches us the ‘what’ and the ‘how’: but it does not tell us the ‘why,’” he said, “and so our actions become sterile and do not bring fulfillment to life, not even economic life.”

Pope Francis spoke about the importance of spirituality in an address to participants in The Economy of Francesco, a Sept. 22-24 conference for young economists, entrepreneurs, and researchers from around the world.

The initiative followed a call from Pope Francis to young people to build “a different kind of economy” based on greater care for the poor and the environment.

Francis traveled to Assisi for the final day of the meeting on Sept. 24. Before addressing attendees, the pope watched a skit based on Isaiah 21:1-12, followed by a meditation on the meaning of the scripture passage.

There was also a musical performance, presentations, a video of the first two days of the conference, and participant testimonies from economists, and activists for the environment, women’s rights, and social issues from Italy, Benin, Argentina, Thailand, Kenya, Afghanistan, and Poland.

‘I am counting on you’

Throughout his speech, Pope Francis emphasized the need for young adults to put their energy and creativity to good, practical, use to build a more just economy.

“You young people, with the help of God, know what to do, you can do it,” he said.

“According to Scripture, young people are the bearers of a spirit of knowledge and intelligence. It was the young David who humbled the arrogance of the giant Goliath,” he pointed out.

“Indeed,” he continued, “when civil society and businesses lack the skills of the young, the whole of society withers and the life of everyone is extinguished. There is a lack of creativity, optimism, enthusiasm. A society and an economy without young people is sad, pessimistic and cynical.”

“I say this with seriousness: I am counting on you. Please don’t leave us undisturbed, and lead by example.”

‘Poor at the center’

The pope also reflected on the example of Saint Francis of Assisi and what it means to help the marginalized. “Developing an economy inspired by [Saint Francis] means committing ourselves to putting the poor at the center,” he said.

“Starting with them, we look at the economy; starting with them, we look at the world,” he noted. “There is no ‘Economy of Francesco’ without respect, care and love for the poor, for every poor person, for every fragile and vulnerable person — from conception in the womb to the sick person with disabilities, to the elderly person in difficulty.”

“As long as our system ‘produces’ discarded people, and we operate according to this system, we will be accomplices of an economy that kills,” he underlined, challenging young economists to ask themselves if they are doing enough to change structures, or if they are content with just slapping a coat of paint on the house.

“Perhaps our response should not be based on how much we can do but on how we are able to open new paths so that the poor themselves can become protagonists of change,” he said.

He closed his address with a prayer to God the Father, asking his “forgiveness for having damaged the earth, for not having respected indigenous cultures, for not having valued and loved the poorest of the poor, for having created wealth without communion.”

“Living God, who with your Spirit have inspired the hearts, hands and minds of these young people and sent them on the way to a promised land, look kindly on their generosity, love and desire to spend their lives for a great ideal. Bless them in their undertakings, studies and dreams; accompany them in their difficulties and sufferings, help them to transform their difficulties and sufferings into virtue and wisdom,” he prayed.

Economy of Francesco Pact

At the end of the encounter, Pope Francis joined participants in signing a pact promoting “an economy of the Gospel.”

The full text of the pact is below:

We, young economists, entrepreneurs, and changemakers, called here to Assisi from every part of the world, aware of the responsibility that rests on our generation, commit ourselves today, individually and all collectively to spending our lives so that the economy of today and tomorrow becomes an economy of the Gospel, and therefore:

an economy of peace and not of war, an economy that opposes the proliferation of arms, especially the most destructive, an economy that cares for creation and does not misuse it, an economy at the service of the human person, the family and life, respectful of every woman, man, and child, the elderly, and especially those most frail and vulnerable, an economy where care replaces rejection and indifference, an economy that leaves no one behind, in order to build a society in which the stones rejected by the dominant mentality become cornerstones, an economy that recognizes and protects secure and dignified work for everyone, an economy where finance is a friend and ally of the real economy and of labor and not against them, an economy that values and safeguards the cultures and traditions of peoples, all living things and the natural resources of the Earth, an economy that fights poverty in all its forms, reduces inequality and knows how to say with Jesus and Francis, “Blessed are the poor,” an economy guided by an ethics of the human person and open to transcendence, an economy that creates wealth for all, that engenders joy and not just riches, because happiness that is not shared is incomplete.

We believe in this economy. It is not a utopia, because we are already building it. And some of us, on particularly bright mornings, have already glimpsed the beginning of the promised land.

Chloe Cole in her AirBnb in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 21, 2022. A self-described “former trans kid,” she de-transitioned after undergoing years of puberty blockers and an irreversible double mastectomy at the age of 15. / Edie Heipel/CNA

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 24, 2022 / 06:30 am (CNA).

An 18-year-old woman is rapidly becoming one of the most powerful voices against transitioning children at a moment in which most politicians and media outlets lack the courage to speak out. 

Chloe Cole is a self-described “former trans kid” who de-transitioned after undergoing years of puberty blockers and an irreversible double mastectomy at the age of 15. 

Cole is now traveling across the country to share her story and raise the alarm about gender transition procedures on children, a growing trend she calls “child abuse” and “medical experimentation.”

“I’m planning to keep doing this until it stops,” Cole told CNA Wednesday in an interview.

Cole, who grew up in Northern California, was just 11 years old when she was first exposed to gender ideology through online platforms.

“I kind of lacked female role models growing up,” Cole told CNA, citing body image issues, early exposure to LGBTQ content, and unmonitored internet access as factors that propelled her struggle with gender dysphoria.   

Cole was also diagnosed with autism and ADHD at age 7, which she says are “common comorbidities with gender dysphoria.”

The link between autism and gender dysphoria has been scientifically studied and reported on by independent journalist Abigail Shrier, suggesting that children on the spectrum are particularly vulnerable to the pull of transgenderism.

A ‘false’ choice

It didn’t take long before medical professionals fast-tracked Cole into medically transitioning from a girl into a boy, a trend she says has exploded among children.

Cole said Wednesday that her parents “were scared and desperate for answers” when she first told them she was a boy and that their decision to sign off on transitioning her was “forced under extreme duress.”

“The gender clinic presented my parents with the classic false dichotomy: Would you rather have a dead daughter or a living son?” Cole said. 

Cole was put on puberty blockers and testosterone at just 13 years old, which caused a ripple of negative side effects including unbearable hot flashes and what she describes as an endless feeling of boredom. 

“For me it was pretty bad, like they were making my whole body really itchy. There were certain days that I couldn’t even wear sweaters or long pants in cold weather,” Cole told CNA.

“I felt like there was this feeling of boredom that just wouldn’t go away. I would just wake up waiting for the next best thing,” she remembered. 

Cole continues to experience joint pain from weakened bone density — a known side effect of puberty blockers — as well as certain allergies and ongoing urinary tract infection symptoms. 

But all of this pales in comparison to the double mastectomy Cole underwent at age 15, which permanently removed both of her breasts. 

“The name of the operation I went under was ‘double mastectomy with nipple grafts,’ meaning they make cuts under the breast and take out the tissue underneath,” she explained. 

Cole added that the surgeons also surgically removed her nipples and grafted them back on in a “more masculine position” — creating serious side effects that she will deal with for the rest of her life. 

“They severed the nerve endings. The sensation is never the same again and there are permanent changes in pigmentation — it might not ever look the same,” she explained. 

Cole says she was given the impression from doctors that her grafts would mostly be healed by a year and a half after the surgery, but she still has complications more than two years later. 

“The top layer of skin is not really healing over. It emits this fluid constantly so I have to wear non-adhesive bandages over them all the time.” 

But what Cole most regrets is how “the beauty of motherhood” was stripped from her at an age when she wasn’t able to fully comprehend the loss. 

“At 15, I wasn’t really thinking. I was a kid, just trying to fit in — not thinking about the possibility of becoming a parent.” 

Cole told CNA she went through a long period of grief as she came to regret the mastectomy and de-transitioned in 2021 — a realization that catalyzed after she took a psychology class studying the attachment between mothers and infants. 

The study, which examined rhesus monkeys, observed the importance of mother-child bonding through breastfeeding. 

“At the time when I was taking this class, I was 11 months post-op. I realized what I took away from myself because I was allowed to make this decision when I was barely in my mid-teens,” Cole said.

“I’ll never have the experience, or even the option, of breastfeeding my children and bonding with them in that way.” 

‘Adults need to take a stand’

Cole has no plans to back down from advocating against gender transitions for children and hopes her story opens the eyes of parents of children struggling with gender dysphoria as well as lawmakers who have remained silent. 

“Spend time with your kids, keep them off technology for as long as possible. Let them know they’re loved and stay in touch with them. If they’re on the internet, monitor their usage,” she urged parents. 

“Adults need to take a stand,” Cole emphasized. “Complacency is what led to this happening to me in the first place.” 

“If you look away for even a second, it’s very contagious,” Cole said, speaking of what she calls “skewed information” that medical professionals are sharing on the internet.

Cole referenced Dr. Sidhbh Gallagher, a gender-affirming surgeon from Miami who advertises transition procedures to minors on her Tik-Tok account.  

“There’s definitely a money incentive, especially for those who are doing gender-affirming surgeries,” Cole said. “Surgeons get the most money out of this.” 

So far, Cole has traveled to five states across the U.S. — including her home state of California, Louisiana, Florida, Ohio, and Washington, D.C. — to bear witness to lawmakers about her experience and urge them to take a stand. 

In September, Cole testified against California Democrat Scott Weiner’s proposed S.B. 107, which would make the state a “sanctuary” for children to obtain irreversible gender surgeries without parental consent. 

Alliance Defending Freedom and over 40 other parental rights organizations wrote to California Gov. Gavin Newsom protesting the bill.

“This legislation allows the ‘taking of a child’ to California (without parental knowledge or consent) to obtain gender transition procedures — including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and irreversible surgeries — and impermissibly gives California courts the power to strip custody from lawful and well-intentioned parents,” ADF urged.

Cole says that for the most part, politicians on both sides of the aisle have “just shied away from the issue.”

“Mostly they get into petty fights over it, but nothing has really been done about it,” she said.

CNA interviewed Cole the day after she testified outside Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., in favor of a bill proposed by U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, that would criminalize gender procedures on minors. 

Greene’s Protect Children’s Innocence Act, H.R. 8731, would make it a Class C felony to perform gender transition procedures — including mastectomies, phalloplasties, and vaginoplasties — on minors. The bill is being supported by over 40 other Republican lawmakers.

“No child deserves to suffer under the knife of a gender-affirming surgeon,” Cole said in a press conference Sept. 21 unveiling the bill. “America’s children — all children — deserve better.”

“Chloe’s story is so important,” Taylor-Greene told CNA. “We’re so proud of her for being brave enough to come out and tell it, but her story isn’t the only one — there are many beyond her. If anyone is pushing this on children, they’re on the wrong side of history, and we will show that to be true.”

Suzanne Satterfield, a parental-rights activist based in Virginia, spent extensive time with Cole over her trip to D.C. to testify against child transitions.

“Chloe’s a ray of sunshine in the darkness that is looming over the children of today,” Satterfield said to CNA. 

“She could easily stay out of the public’s eye and live a much different life. But she has a big heart and has chosen to sound the alarm of the irreversible damage being done to children at the hands of ‘trusted health care providers.’”

When asked if she was happy, Cole’s face broke into a smile as she nodded vigorously.  

“I’m a lot happier today,” she said, her eyes shining.

“Doing what I’m doing now is giving me a purpose. That’s something that I’ve been seeking for quite a while.”

California State Governor Gavin Newsom. / Matt Gush/Shutterstock

Denver, Colo., Sep 23, 2022 / 18:56 pm (CNA).

When Gov. Gavin Newsom of California unveiled his plan for a billboard advertising campaign inviting women to travel to his state to have abortions, he was swiftly condemned by Catholics, who called the ads “unconscionable” and “blasphemy.”

Why the strong reaction? The abortion-selling ads include a passage from Scripture:

“Need an abortion? California is ready to help,” reads the message to be displayed along Indiana and Oklahoma highways.

In smaller lettering, the ads cite Jesus Christ’s words in the Gospel of Mark: “Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no greater commandment than these. -Mark 12:31”

“It is unconscionable that these ads distort Scripture to support abortion, specifically in states that have already dramatically limited abortion in favor of supporting life,” Kathleen Domingo, executive director of the California Catholic Conference, told CNA Sept. 23.

Funding ads in other states is “nothing more than a political stunt by our governor,” she said. “It is virtue-signaling that California, with our extremely permissive abortion laws, is superior to red and purple states enacting abortion restrictions.”

Newsom, a Democrat, is expected to win re-election as California governor this fall. On Sept. 15 he announced seven versions of the pro-abortion ads that would run on billboards in seven states that restrict abortion.

The ads, which list an abortion access website hosted by the California state government, note that they are paid for by Newsom’s gubernatorial campaign. His campaign committee had almost $24 million cash on hand as of June 30, according to filings available on the website of the California Secretary of State.

Domingo said the use of scripture to back abortion was misleading.

“If we truly loved our neighbor as ourselves, we would want the best for our neighbor, which means true comprehensive support services so that no mother or father is misled or coerced into ending a child’s life, and no mother or father walks their parenthood journey alone,” she told CNA.

She added that basic needs aren’t being met in Newsom’s home state.

“California is not just providing abortions but promoting abortion as a solution for women,” said Domingo. “When California families are struggling to pay for gas, afford rent, and put food on the table, promoting the violence of abortion solves none of the urgent problems countless families are facing.”

CNA sought comment from several Catholic dioceses in California, Mississippi and Oklahoma but did not receive a response by publication.

Chris Check, president of the California-based apologetics organization Catholic Answers, said the ads “commit blasphemy by co-opting Sacred Scripture in service of abortion.”

Writing in a Sept. 21 commentary for Catholic Answers, Check noted that the biblical quotation refers to another commandment in which it should be grounded, the preceding Bible verse where Jesus says: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.”

Check cited other verses which stressed the need to care for widows and orphans. A woman abandoned by her husband or boyfriend is a sort of widow, and the unwanted unborn child is “a sort of orphan,” he said.

Christianity has rejected abortion from its earliest years. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says "since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion."

Pope Francis has spoken of abortion as an aspect of a "throwaway culture" that also rejects those in need.

As for Newsom, his political rhetoric has labeled bans on abortion “un-American.” He contended that his Republican foes are “literally killing women.”

“The idea that these Republican politicians are seeking to ‘protect life’ is a total farce,” Newsom said on Sept. 15. “They are seeking to restrict and control their constituents and take away their freedom.”

Newsom’s billboard ads refer to a California abortion access website that includes information about abortion and financial aid for the procedure. The website includes telehealth information about receiving abortion drugs by mail. It provides information for specific groups including those under age 18, those who live outside of California, and immigrants and undocumented people.

The website also repeats criticism of crisis pregnancy centers that do not perform abortions, saying they may provide “false, medically inaccurate information” to convince women not to have an abortion. It links to a Planned Parenthood blog post about pregnancy centers and a California Department of Justice bulletin. The bulletin attempts to distinguish crisis pregnancy centers from “reproductive healthcare facilities” and claims crisis pregnancy centers “do not provide comprehensive reproductive healthcare.”

Newsom said the ads will run in seven of the states with the “most restrictive” anti-abortion laws. In the governor’s view, the ads “explain how women can access care — no matter where they live.”

“To any woman seeking an abortion in these anti-freedom states: (California) will defend your right to make decisions about your own health,” he said.

Billboard ads are also planned for Indiana, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota and Texas. The ads tell potential readers that these states “don’t own your body. You Do.” Some of these ads show the back of a woman in a white dress, with her hands handcuffed behind her.

These five ads do not include the citation from the New Testament but still refer to the State of California’s abortion website.

For the Catholic commentator Check, the ads should be a cause for fear, prayer and action.

“These blasphemies of Gavin Newsom and the other leaders of California should fill us with fear — fear for him, of course, whose soul is in grievous danger of a fate too horrible to comprehend,” said Check, who also voiced concern for those he might influence.

He encouraged prayers for the governor and for Newsom’s local Catholic bishop. He also encouraged Catholics to engage in their own spiritual formation and to support the work of crisis pregnancy centers, pro-life sidewalk counseling outside abortion clinics and the work of other pro-life non-profits.

Planned Parenthood gets millions of dollars in federal support each year. / Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 23, 2022 / 17:56 pm (CNA).

A Catholic speaker and author who regularly prays the rosary outside an abortion clinic in Philadelphia was charged Friday with physically assaulting a Planned Parenthood clinic escort last year.

Mark Houck, 48, of Kintnersville, Pennsylvania, is the co-founder and president of the Catholic ministry The King’s Men, which aims to give spiritual formation to Catholic men. 

News of Houck’s arrest on Friday morning was widely shared on social media after another well-known Catholic speaker, Chris Stefanick, posted about it online. Houck’s wife, Ryan-Marie Houck, told CNA about the arrest Friday.

“A SWAT team of about 25 came to my house with about 15 vehicles and started pounding on our door,” Ryan-Marie Houck said. “They said they were going to break in if he didn't open it. And then they had about five guns pointed at my husband, myself, and basically at my kids,” she added.

She said that multiple agencies were present at the arrest and that she was handed a warrant after she requested to see it.

The FBI confirmed to CNA Friday that Houck was arrested outside his residence Friday morning “without incident.” In a press release, the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said that Houck is being charged with a violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, more commonly referred to as the FACE Act.

The federal indictment says that Houck twice assaulted a 72-year-old man who was a patient escort at a Planned Parenthood clinic at 1144 Locust St. in Philadelphia on Oct. 13, 2021. First, Houck shoved the escort, identified only with the initials B.L., to the ground as B.L was attempting to escort two patients, the indictment says. Houck also “verbally confronted” and “forcefully shoved” B.L. to the ground in front of Planned Parenthood the same day, the indictment says. The indictment says that B.L. was injured and needed medical attention.

If he is convicted, Houck could face up to 11 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $350,000, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. 

The FACE Act “prohibits violent, threatening, damaging and obstructive conduct intended to injure, intimidate, or interfere with the right to seek, obtain or provide reproductive health services,” according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). 

Violating the FACE Act is a federal crime and protects “all patients, providers, and facilities that provide reproductive health services, including pro-life pregnancy counseling services and any other pregnancy support facility providing reproductive health care,” accoding to the DOJ.

Ryan-Marie Houck told CNA that her husband prays the rosary outside one of two different Planned Parenthood’s every Wednesday and hands out literature to anyone who wants it. She said that praying outside the clinic is part of The King’s Men ministry. 

“This was a gross over-reach from the ‘justice’ department with excessive use of force and trumped up allegations and our story needs to be told truthfully,” Ryan-Marie Houck said in a text. “These are false allegations.”

She said that he had his first appearance before a judge and was subsequently released on Friday. Her husband declined to comment, she said. 

In a statement Jacqueline Romero, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said that there is no tolerance for violating the FACE Act.

“Assault is always a serious offense, and under the FACE Act, if the victim is targeted because of their association with a reproductive healthcare clinic, it is a federal crime,” she said in the press release.

“Our Office and the Department of Justice are committed to prosecuting crimes which threaten the safety and rights of all individuals,” she added.

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Denver Newsroom, Sep 23, 2022 / 16:00 pm (CNA).

This week it was announced that 54 members of Colombia’s Congress, including representatives and senators, joined the new pro-life caucus created to defend life, family, and religious freedom.

The announcement of the formation of the new multiparty caucus was made in a statement posted on social media Sept. 21 by several parliamentarians and by the United for Life organization.

Its creation was approved by the steering committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives, accepting the request of congressmen from various political parties, including the Conservative Party, Fair and Free Colombia, Democratic Center, Liberal Party, Radical Change, Green Alliance, and the Social Party of National Unity.

The statement explained that this new caucus “will give continuity to the efforts made by the Pro-Life Caucus that was constituted in the year 2020.”

“It will be made up of congressmen supporting the protection of life from conception to natural death, the safeguarding of the family in accordance with the provisions of Article 42 of the Political Constitution, and the defense of the guarantees for the exercise of freedom of religion and worship in the context of recent national and international events,” the statement explained. 

In a video posted on Twitter, the members of the pro-life caucus stated that “there is a major commitment to life, family, and religious freedom.”

The new pro-life caucus is made up of 25 representatives and 29 senators. Its members include Yenica Sugein Acosta, Daniel Restrepo, Teresa Enriquez, Juan Espinal, Mauricio Giraldo, and Luis Miguel López.

In February, Colombia’s Constitutional Court ruled 5-4 to decriminalize abortion up to six months, or 24 weeks of pregnancy.

By a 6-3 vote, the Constitutional Court decriminalized assisted suicide in May. 

In late August, Colombian authorities dismantled the Catholic chapel in El Dorado International Airport located outside Bogotá to turn it into “a space for worship and neutral reflection.”

Just days ago, a member of the Liberal Party introduced a measure in the House of Representatives to dismantle the Catholic chapel in the capitol building where the Congress meets and turn it into a “a space of neutral worship,” despite the fact that there is already a space set aside for interreligious services.

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

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 23, 2022 / 15:00 pm (CNA).

Armed men kidnapped more than 80 Christians last week in attacks on two separate churches in north-central and northwest Nigeria, reported Morning Star News.

On Sept. 17, militants raided the Cherubim and Seraphim Church in Suleja in Niger state and abducted dozens of worshippers gathered together for an all-night vigil, according to the report.

Morning Star News, a news service that covers the persecution of Christians worldwide, identified some of the attackers as Fulani herdsmen based on reports from witnesses.

Suleja resident Elisha Musa told a reporter from the news service: “The Fulani herdsmen kidnapped the pastor of the church and some of his members.”

“Soldiers from Zuma Rock Barracks, Suleja, who rushed to the church to rescue worshippers and repel the attackers got there hours after the attackers had left with the kidnapped victims,” Musa added.

Only days before the attack in Suleja, “suspected Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists” kidnapped at least 57 Christians during another all-night prayer vigil held at another Cherubim and Seraphim Church located in Kasuwan Magani in Nigeria’s Kaduna state, sources told Morning Star News.

More than a dozen escaped and 43 remain captive, said the Rev. John Joseph Hayab, Kaduna state chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria. The terrorists have demanded a ransom of 200 million Naira, or $465,294, according to the report.

In 2021 alone, 4,650 Christians were killed in Nigeria, according to the Christian nongovernmental organization Open Doors. In addition to Fulani herdsmen, the terrorist groups Boko Haram and ISWAP are believed to have been responsible for attacks on both Christians and Muslims in Nigeria.

Sixty-eight religious freedom advocates called on U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Sept. 19 to redesignate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) in the State Department’s International Religious Freedom Report.

In November 2021, the State Department removed Nigeria from the list of CPCs despite the worsening situation for Christians in that country.

The Cherubim and Seraphim Church in Suleja and the Christian Association of Nigeria did not respond to requests for comment before publication time.

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Denver Newsroom, Sep 23, 2022 / 14:00 pm (CNA).

The bishop of Orihuela-Alicante in Spain, José Ignacio Munilla, reminded the Belgian bishops that the blessing of gay unions goes against the teaching of the Catholic Church.

“It’s not that the Church doesn’t love. It’s that she has no authority to do such a thing," he cautioned.

The prelate underscored in his Sixth Continent program on Radio Maria in Spain that the Belgian bishops’ prayers for the blessing of gay unions are “clearly not compatible” with the declaration of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on this issue that was published March 15, 2021.

Munilla stressed that this incompatibility is manifest “no matter how much they’ve tried to force (the meaning of) words to the maximum," calling the Belgian bishops' initiative a “moment for prayer.”

In this respect, the spokesman for the Belgian Bishops’ Conference, Jesuit Father Tommy Scholtes, defended the blessing of same-sex couples since “it has nothing to do with marriage.”

In a statement to the Associated Press, Scholtes said that it’s “an opportunity for homosexual couples to pray together and for others to pray for them as well.”

Munilla noted that the Belgian bishops’ blessing includes “expressions of commitment” between the homosexual persons who receive it and the commitment of ecclesial community to them.

“Let’s not play with words,” the bishop reiterated, pointing out that “we must be sincere and transparent and say that it absolutely contradicts” what was affirmed by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Munilla emphasized that what the Vatican dicastery has stated “is not that the Church doesn’t love. It’s that she has no authority to do such a thing” as bless homosexual unions.

Blessings are sacramentals

The Church has no such authority because a blessing is a sacramental. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1667, sacramentals “are sacred signs which bear a resemblance to the sacraments. They signify effects, particularly of a spiritual nature, which are obtained through the intercession of the Church.” 

The text continues: “By them men are disposed to receive the chief effect of the sacraments, and various occasions in life are rendered holy."

The Spanish bishop explained that blessings, therefore, “must be objectively and positively ordered to the will of God” and that “the good will of those who receive them is not enough.”

There is no ‘unjust discrimination’

Thus, “it’s not lawful to impart a blessing on these relationships, even if they are stable, because they imply a sexual relationship outside of marriage,” the bishop explained, in line with what was stated by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

For example, Munilla pointed out that the Church cannot bless the union between a man and a woman living in adultery.

Thus, it’s not about “unjust discrimination” against people with homosexual inclinations, but about reclaiming “the truth of the liturgical act.”

“You can bless people with homosexual inclinations, but not a union that is not in accordance with the design of nature and God’s design,” the prelate stressed, because “it’s one thing to bless the sinner and another thing to bless the sin.”

Munilla said that, unlike the sacraments, sacramentals “can be received without being in the state of grace, but they call for conversion.”

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