St. Andrew Catholic Church

Young people were among the crowds gathered in downtown Columbus, Ohio, on Oct. 4, 2024, for the Ohio March for Life, the first such gathering to be held in the state since Ohio voters approved a sweeping constitutional amendment to expand abortion. / Credit: Rachel del Guidice

CNA Staff, Oct 4, 2024 / 17:55 pm (CNA).

Crowds of people gathered in downtown Columbus, Ohio, today for the Ohio March for Life, the first such gathering to be held in the state since Ohio voters approved a sweeping constitutional amendment to expand abortion. 

Photos and videos posted on social media show marchers holding handmade signs on the theme “With Every Woman, for Every Child,” which mirrors the theme for the annual national March for Life that took place in January in Washington, D.C. The organizers of the national march — which bills itself as the world’s largest annual human rights demonstration — have also been focusing on developing state-level pro-life marches in recent years. 

Speakers at this year’s Ohio march included Bishop Robert Pipta of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Parma and Aaron Baer, president of the Center for Christian Virtue. 

Kevin Jorrey, director of the Diocese of Toledo’s Office for Life and Justice, told local news outlet The Blade that local communities, including churches, must be there for the most vulnerable, including young mothers.

“No matter what happens legislatively, politically, we’re out here to stand up and stand for life,” he told The Blade. “We get to be the voice for the voiceless, no matter what the political landscape is.”

Attendance figures for this year’s march have not yet been released; at last year’s march in Columbus, 5,000 people were expected. 

The new constitutional amendment in Ohio, passed late last year, added a new section to the Ohio Bill of Rights in the state constitution that guarantees that “every individual has a right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decision,” including, but not limited to “abortion.” Although the amendment’s language allows the state to impose some restrictions “after fetal viability,” the amendment does not establish a clear cutoff for when viability occurs.

The measure was approved by voters in Ohio by a margin of about 13 points on Nov. 7, 2023. 

The Ohio Catholic Conference, which represents the state’s bishops, had strongly opposed the amendment. The “no” campaign also received financial backing from both the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal organization, and the Catholic Diocese of Columbus, Ohio.

Ohio has been a battleground state for abortion for the past several years. Notably, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine in 2019 signed a “heartbeat” abortion law that was later blocked in court. The state also briefly had a six-week abortion ban on the books after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which was blocked by a federal judge in October 2022. 

Abortions ticked up in Ohio in 2023 compared with 2022, according to a new report from the Ohio Health Department. According to the report, the total number of abortions in Ohio in 2023 was 22,000, an increase from the 2022 number but relatively on par with abortion numbers in the state over the last 10 years. The majority — 63% — of those abortions were performed on women who were fewer than nine weeks pregnant.

Closing the first week of meetings, Synod on Synodality participants from different continents put a spotlight on the plight of the world’s poor and vulnerable at a press briefing held in the Vatican on Oct. 4, 2024, the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi.  / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican City, Oct 4, 2024 / 17:35 pm (CNA).

Closing the first week of meetings, Synod on Synodality participants from different continents put a spotlight on the plight of the world’s poor and vulnerable at a press briefing held in the Vatican on the Oct. 4 feast day of St. Francis of Assisi. 

Bishop Anthony Randazzo of Broken Bay, Australia, told journalists on Friday that people often forgotten by the wider Church are the poor and vulnerable, including those who are economically disadvantaged, migrants, displaced communities, and women who are excluded or “pushed to the margins into places of poverty and violence.”

In Oceania, Randazzo said several communities living in Pacific Ocean countries that are rich in natural resources are some of “the most vulnerable on the planet” because of exploitation by wealthy companies and nations.

He stated that churches and communities in wealthier countries overly concerned with “niche Church issues” can feel very comfortable and forget vulnerable or oppressed people fighting for survival in other parts of the world.

“Others cannot live, or exist simply, because of people of might and power and authority and wealth decide that those niche issues are the most important ones,” Randazzo said during the Friday press briefing. “Please do not forget the most vulnerable.”

“Women, who in many parts of the Church and in the world are treated as second-class citizens and are totally ignored. This is scandalous!” he added.

According to the 2024 World Migration Report, several Sub-Saharan migrants who moved to North Africa to flee poverty or hunger due to severe droughts are often exposed to violence, abuse, or exploitation after leaving their homelands.

During the press conference, Cardinal Archbishop Cristóbal López Romero of Rabat, Morocco, stated that though his diocese of 25,000 faithful is comparatively small, they are from different countries. He said an increasing number of Sub-Saharan migrants who belong to Rabat’s diocesan communities participated in regional synodal gatherings since 2021.

“We are a Church for the kingdom of God. It was something. It was really a way of putting synodality into practice in a simple but effective way. I think this should be repeated in some way in all dioceses, by organizing things depending on the local situation and the possibility of getting together,” López Romero told journalists.

Sister Xiskya Paguaga from Nicaragua, a journalist and communications expert who works in the area of “digital evangelization,” highlighted that many of the world’s poor and vulnerable can also be found in virtual spaces.

In line with the theme “Mission in the Digital Environment” of the Instrumentum Laboris, Paguaga noted that the Church should also place special attention on vulnerable people who seek consolation and support through online communities and social media platforms.

“We must reach out to these people. People wounded through their journey in life and who express themselves through digital tools,” Paguaga told journalists. “That is where we should focus our discernment.”

The Synod on Synodality will start its second week of discussions on Monday, Oct. 7, the day Pope Francis has called for a day of prayer and fasting for peace in the world to mark the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel as violence continues to escalate throughout the region.

Former first lady Melania Trump joins Republican presidential nominee former president Donald Trump on stage at the Republican National Convention on July 18, 2024, in Milwaukee. / Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 4, 2024 / 17:15 pm (CNA).

Former first lady Melania Trump has stirred criticism from the pro-life movement after sharing her pro-abortion views in her upcoming memoir and in a video message on X.

In her self-titled memoir “Melania,” set to be released Oct. 8, one month before Election Day, the former first lady writes about her life, her family, her time in the White House, and briefly about her support for legal abortion. Some excerpts from the book were published by The Guardian on Wednesday evening.

“It is imperative to guarantee that women have autonomy in deciding their preference of having children, based on their own convictions, free from any intervention or pressure from the government,” Melania Trump, the second Catholic first lady in American history, wrote in the autobiographical book.

“Why should anyone other than the woman herself have the power to determine what she does with her own body?” Melania Trump added. “A woman’s fundamental right of individual liberty, to her own life, grants her the authority to terminate her pregnancy if she wishes.”

“Restricting a woman’s right to choose whether to terminate an unwanted pregnancy is the same as denying her control over her own body,” she wrote. “I have carried this belief with me throughout my entire adult life.”

On Thursday, Melania Trump doubled down on this position in a video posted on X, which advertised the memoir.

“Without a doubt, there is no room for compromise when it comes to this essential right that all women possess from birth: individual freedom,” she said. “What does ‘my body, my choice’ really mean?”

Former president Donald Trump, who faces Vice President Kamala Harris in his bid for a second nonconsecutive term in the White House, responded to his wife’s comments without endorsing them or disavowing them.

“We spoke about it and I said, ‘You have to write what you believe — I’m not going to tell you what to do,’” Donald Trump told Fox News reporter Bill Melugin.

“I said, ‘You have to stick with your heart,’” Donald Trump added. “I’ve said that to everybody: ‘You have to go with your heart.’ There are some people that are very, very far-right on the issue, meaning without exceptions. And then there are other people that view it a little bit differently than that.”

Pro-life movement responds to Melania Trump

Many leaders in the pro-life movement have expressed frustration over Melania Trump’s abortion comments. Some pro-life advocates are still focused on securing a Donald Trump victory over Harris, while others are expressing dismay over the campaign’s movement away from pro-life values.

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America president Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a statement provided to CNA that the organization’s top priority “is to defeat Kamala Harris and the Democrats’ push to nationally mandate no-limits abortion on demand funded by every taxpayer.”

However, Dannenfelser still took issue with Melania Trump’s comments, saying: “Women with unplanned pregnancies are crying out for more resources, not more abortions.” 

“We must have compassion for them and for babies in the womb who suffer from brutal abortions,” she added. “Tens of thousands of abortions a year are performed on children after the point when they can feel excruciating pain.”

Kristan Hawkins, the president of Students for Life Action, told CNA that “the bottom line is that it’s not just her body in that moment” when a woman is pregnant, adding: “Two people or maybe more are there.”

“Melania Trump had a chance to inspire in her book but, instead, chose to push broken feminism that puts women at war with their own bodies,” Hawkins continued. “I won’t be buying a copy of the book.”

Some pro-life activists have offered harsher criticism of Donald Trump’s campaign after Melania Trump’s comments. 

Live Action President Lila Rose asserted in a post on X that Melania Trump and Harris have “functionally the same exact position on abortion.” In late August, Rose indicated she might not vote for Donald Trump because his campaign has not been pro-life enough.

Robert P. George, a legal scholar at Princeton University and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, said in a Facebook post that he shared with CNA that he believes Melania Trump’s abortion comments were prompted by Donald Trump’s campaign.

“The campaign sent her out to signal to pro-abortion voters that the ‘right to abortion’ would be fully protected in a second Trump administration,” George said. “Her message is that Donald, having thrown pro-life Americans under the bus, will keep us under the bus.”

“Her record has been one of saying little or nothing on political issues,” he continued. “Now, suddenly, she is releasing videos passionately claiming that the protection of abortion, even late-term abortion, must be given the highest priority. Things like that don’t just happen.”

George told CNA that he believes Harris is “even worse on abortion” and “appallingly awful” on the issue.

Where the candidates stand on abortion

Donald Trump appointed three of the six Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, which allowed states to restrict abortion and pass pro-life laws. In his 2024 campaign, the former president has sought to moderate the Republican Party’s approach to abortion and has attempted the difficult task of maintaining support from the pro-life voting bloc without alienating independents and moderates.

Earlier this week, he said in a post on X he would veto any legislation that would prohibit abortion “because it is up to the states to decide, based on the will of their voters.” He asserted that Democrats support the “radical position of late-term abortion … in the seventh, eighth, or ninth month [of pregnancy].”

Harris supports a federal law that would legalize abortion nationwide — at least until the point of viability, which occurs around the 23rd or 24th week of pregnancy. She has not said whether she supports restrictions on late-term abortion.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate, signed a bill that further solidifies the state’s abortion laws, which permit abortion throughout the entirety of pregnancy, including in the ninth month, for any reason. He signed another bill that scaled back legal protections in the case of an infant who is born alive after a failed abortion attempt.

From left to right: Actor Mason Thames (Noah), Noah Cottrell (Ben), Julian Lerner (Eugene), and Abby James Witherspoon (Sammy) in the new movie "Monster Summer." / Credit: Pastime Pictures

CNA Staff, Oct 4, 2024 / 16:45 pm (CNA).

The creators of “Monster Summer,” a new movie directed by Catholic actor David Henrie and starring Mel Gibson that opens in theaters today, sought to make a adventure-thriller movie parents will want to take their kids to see.

“Faith-based movies are working,” Henrie, known for his role as Justin Russo in Disney’s “Wizards of Waverly Place,” said. “We specifically are releasing Oct. 4 because we want a Halloween event, family movie, which is counter-programming to a lot of the hard R horror stuff that is coming out. So, we want a clean alternative that’s still fun, still spooky.”

The spooky family-friendly film tells the story of a young group of friends who confront a mysterious force in Martha’s Vineyard. After one of the young boys faces a near-death experience, he and his friends seek the help of an aging detective, played by Gibson, director of “The Passion of the Christ,” to track down the monsters.

Henrie, in an interview with Deacon Charlie Echeverry at the Napa Institute’s annual conference this summer, cited the quote “Evil only triumphs when good men do nothing” to describe the feeling the group of teenagers in the movie are experiencing.

“They seem to see something that they see as objectively wrong, but everyone else says it’s not wrong,” he explained, adding that he believes this dilemma is “very relevant” in life.

Like the movies “The Goonies” and “The Sandlot,” which it has been compared to, “Monster Summer” aims to appeal not only to children but also to parents.

Producer John Blanford told Echeverry that the movie was made with the intention of “co-viewing,” meaning that the whole family can watch it together.

He explained that currently in Hollywood, filmmakers feel the need to make it very clear who their target audience is — it’s either “slapsticky kid humor for kids or it’s super mature adult.” 

This, he said, is where “the white space is. We think that’s where the opportunity is.”

“I think the adolescents are being left behind and that’s where this coming-of-age-story really plays — is with that 9- to 16-year-old. I feel like there’s not stories being told for them, but what’s amazing about telling stories for them is it does give you the opportunity to have even younger kids kind of rise to the occasion a little bit and kind of think, ‘Oh, I want to be like my older brother or sister,’” he shared.

“And there’s mature enough themes that the kids are dealing with, and in the relationship in our film, particularly with Mel Gibson, that parents can actually really resonate with what’s going on in the story,” he said.

“To us, that’s the magic of this film, is that it really is something that a family can go enjoy together.”

Blanford emphasized the need for more movies that families can watch together and that portray “wholesome, traditional values.” The filmmakers are hoping “Monster Summer” will “prove the demand for that.”

Blanford also spoke of the “duty for Christian filmmakers” to not only make movies that promote traditional values but also to “create a more dignified, prosperous work environment” for all those involved. 

“I think as a community, as we’re doing this work, that we have an eye on content and the stories we’re telling and the impact of those stories, but how we’re making them is also super important.”

Children with the Southwark Singing Programme sing the hymn “The Power of the Cross” at St. George's Cathedral in Southwark, London, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. / Credit: The Archdiocese of Southwark

CNA Staff, Oct 4, 2024 / 16:15 pm (CNA).

The Archdiocese of Southwark in London released a series of choir videos this week in the hopes of helping to “preserve [the] great tradition” of liturgical music and leading more people to the Catholic Church. 

The archdiocese, centered in central London at St. George’s Cathedral, Southwark, said on its website that the cathedral released the videos “to promote the power of worship through music and song.”

“The Church’s musical tradition is a treasure of inestimable value, and musicians have a duty to preserve this great tradition,” Jonathan Schranz, the director of music for the archdiocese, said in the release.

“In our own way, in Southwark, we are privileged to be able to use our voices to direct hearts and minds upwards on a weekly basis through liturgical singing,” he said.

St. George’s has an extensive choir program featuring singers of multiple ages and skill levels. The church’s Cathedral Choir, which dates back to the 1840s, “is made up of boy and girl choristers aged 7 to 12 along with nine professional singers known as Lay Clerks,” the cathedral’s website says.

The Cathedral Consort, meanwhile, was formed in 2019 and consists of “a select group of teenagers aged 13 and upwards.”

The Southwark Singing Program, meanwhile, was launched in 2022 as “a diocesan music education program which works in partnership with schools and parishes to develop musical provision and sacred singing across the diocese.” 

That program features “whole-class singing sessions in primary and secondary schools on a weekly basis,” which “feed into local after-school choirs which serve parish and school liturgies.”

Archdiocesan spokesman Patrick Kinsella told CNA that the choirs “are always performing and practicing.”

“We put on these sessions to promote the power of worship through music, showcasing the talented choirs,” he said. “By using social media, we hope to reach as many people as possible.” 

“It’s not just people who go to Mass every day or week we want to inspire, but those who haven’t been for a while too,” he said.

“By hearing the beauty of the music, we pray it leads to people returning to church.”

‘A particular joy to work with children’

The performances recently shared by the archdiocese include modern songs such as “10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)” and “The Power of the Cross,” performed by children in the Southwark Singing Programme.

Also featured are more traditional and ancient works such as “O nata lux” and “Tantum ergo,” performed by the Cathedral Consort and the Cathedral Choir.

Also among the musical performances published by the archdiocese is the Gregorian chant “Veni Creator Spiritus” performed by the Lay Clerks. 

Schranz said in the archdiocese’s release that it was “a particular joy to work with children from our archdiocesan schools on these recordings.”

“The passion the children have for singing and music is one we should not only embrace but fervently encourage,” he said. 

On its website St. George’s Cathedral says its original choir “was formed in 1848 when the cathedral was opened.”

The choir sings weekly at Sunday Mass “and on major events of the year, such as Advent, Christmas, Holy Week, and Easter.”

A team of nuns measures photographic plates for the Carte du Ciel project, circa early 1900s. / Credit: On Being, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0, via Flickr

CNA Staff, Oct 4, 2024 / 15:45 pm (CNA).

Scientists recently named four asteroids after four Catholic religious sisters who helped catalog about 500,000 stars in the Vatican portion of the Carte du Ciel “Celestial Map” star atlas of the early 1900s.

Sisters Emilia Ponzoni, Regina Colombo, Concetta Finardi, and Luigia Panceri expected to be working as nurses when they joined the Suore di Maria Bambina community in Milan. Instead, they spent up to 11 years researching 481,215 celestial bodies for the Vatican Observatory. Their discoveries were then published in a 10-volume catalog.  

In June and September of this year, scientists announced their decision to name four asteroids after the four Catholic religious sisters, the last of whom passed away in 1982.

The four asteroids named for the religious were discovered at the Mount Graham Observatory in Arizona, where the Vatican Observatory operates the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope about 200 miles southeast of Phoenix.

Asteroid naming is a long process. A celestial body must be observed, registered, reported, and given an identification number; the data is reviewed for any duplicate unidentified celestial bodies. 

Once an exact orbit is determined, the researcher who calculated the orbit — not the asteroid’s discoverer — has the right to propose a name. The name is then reviewed by the Working Group: Small Bodies Nomenclature (WGSBN), which is run by the International Astronomical Union. 

Vatican helped lead star-mapping effort in early 20th century

Jesuit Father John Hagen undertook the star mapping project for the Vatican Observatory in the early 1900s and approached the Suore di Maria Bambini order for help. The order specialized in nursing and education, but at the request of Hagen, the order sent a pair of sisters — Sister Emilia and Sister Regina — to the observatory to join the project in 1910. 

Years later, in 1917, another pair followed: Sister Concetta and Sister Luigia. By 1921 the sisters had jointly cataloged nearly 500,000 stars.

The Vatican’s mapping project was part of a worldwide endeavor to create a celestial map. The Vatican had a select part of the night sky to map through photography and analyses, while nearly 20 other observatories worked on their respective sections. The project involved recording the brightness and position of 5 million stars.  

Popes Benedict XV and Pius XI later honored the sisters for their services. Vatican Observatory archivist Father Sabino Maffeo, SJ, at the age of 94, rediscovered the identity of the sisters almost a decade ago.

Jesuit Father Gabriele Gionti, who works at the Vatican observatory, also had an asteroid named after him this year, becoming the 41st Jesuit to have a celestial body named for him.

One of the oldest observatories in the world, the Vatican Observatory’s earliest roots date back to the 16th century and the reform of the Gregorian calendar. The observatory is located outside of Rome in the town of Castel Gandolfo and continues to make scientific breakthroughs.

Campaigners against assisted dying gather outside the Houses of Parliament ahead of a House of Commons vote that rejected the legislation on Sept., 11, 2015, in London. Members of Parliament have voted 330 to 118 against a bill that would have allowed doctors to help some terminally ill people end their lives. Campaigners from both sides of the debate gathered outside Parliament, holding placards and voicing their opinions ahead of the first House of Commons vote on assisted dying for 20 years. / Credit: Rob Stothard/Getty Images

London, England, Oct 4, 2024 / 15:15 pm (CNA).

U.K. church and pro-life leaders have warned Prime Minister Keir Starmer that plans to introduce assisted suicide will put vulnerable people at risk.

Labour Member of Parliament Kim Leadbeater is proposing a bill that would give terminally ill people in England and Wales the right to end their life. The issue was last voted on in 2015, when members of Parliament roundly rejected assisted suicide. This time they will vote on the bill Oct. 16.

Bishop John Sherrington, head of life issues for the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, pointed to places where euthanasia has been legalized, such as Canada and Oregon, as a warning sign.

“The legalization of assisted suicide undermines the sanctity and dignity of human life. There is also now ample evidence across the world that the legalization of assisted suicide puts the most vulnerable members of society at risk,” he said.

“I wish to reaffirm that the Catholic Church has always been opposed to assisted suicide in every circumstance.”

Sherrington praised the work of “hospices and other health care institutions” that play a key role in “helping the terminally ill and dying to leave this world whilst preserving their dignity. They truly provide assistance to those who are dying.”

In the 2015 vote, a proposed bill to enable terminally ill people to take their own lives was defeated, with 118 votes for and 330 against. The prime minister, who personally supports a change in the law, was one of the 118 to vote for the bill. He has previously said he would give members of Parliament a free vote on the issue, but Catholic peer David Alton of Liverpool warned of the “floodgates opening” if the law is passed.

Alton issued a stark warning to those supporting the new bill and encouraged the government to put more resources into palliative care. 

Warning against rushing the legislation through, Alton said: “Before the U.K. Parliament opens the euthanasia floodgates, it should first dispassionately consider outcomes in jurisdictions that have ditched protection of the vulnerable with ineffective safeguards. [Members of Parliament] should put their energy into better palliative care.”

Alton was referring to Holland, where euthanasia has been legal since 2002. Twenty-four confirmed cases of euthanasia have taken place where the individuals concerned were diagnosed with autism or having a learning disability.

Alton also referred to Canada, where euthanasia was first legalized in 2016 through its medical aid in dying (MAID) legislation. In 2021, Canada repealed the requirement that the natural death of those applying for MAID should be “reasonably foreseeable.” In December 2022, the government announced its intention to allow it for those suffering from mental illness. This is expected to be introduced in 2027.

Figures have shown that the number of people making use of assisted suicide or euthanasia has markedly increased. Alton said: “MAID has led to premature deaths, an increase in discrimination and stigma towards disabled people in Canada. Yet this is a law many campaigners in the U.K. support?”

“Euthanasia is a one-way ticket with no return. The challenge is to provide more palliative care, more hospice care at home, and an ethos which upholds human dignity and the sanctity of life.”

The issue of assisted suicide has come to the fore in the U.K. after popular journalist and television presenter Esther Rantzen, who has terminal cancer, called for a vote on assisted suicide earlier this year.

Leadbeater said “now is the time” to vote on the issue, but pro-life group Right to Life UK dismissed the plans to introduce assisted suicide as a “disaster in waiting” — again referring to the effect of the legislation on vulnerable people. 

Right to Life UK spokesperson Catherine Robinson said: “Making assisted suicide legal poses an acute threat to vulnerable people, especially in the context of a struggling health care system.”

“Every suicide is a tragedy, and this remains the case for those suffering at the end of their life. In such cases, vulnerable people may feel pressured to end their lives prematurely. This would be an extremely poor indictment of our health care system and society as a whole. The U.K. needs properly funded high-quality palliative care for those at the end of their life, not assisted suicide.”

Bishop Willy Ngumbi Ngengele of the Goma Diocese presides over the Oct. 1, 2024, funeral Mass for Edmond Bahati Mbarushimana, a Catholic journalist in the Democratic Republic of Congo who was murdered Sept. 27. / Credit: Kivunyota

ACI Africa, Oct 4, 2024 / 14:45 pm (CNA).

A Catholic journalist in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is being remembered as a man of peace after he was murdered on Sept. 27 in the Ndosho district of Goma. Edmond Bahati Mbarushimana was shot at close range on his way home from work.

During the Oct. 1 funeral Mass at St. Joseph Cathedral for the late Radio Maria Goma journalist, Bishop Willy Ngumbi Ngengele of the Goma Diocese said: “I came to know Edmond through Radio Maria as a man of peace, a self-effacing man and a faithful servant, committed and conscientious in everything he did.”

“It’s hard to understand why such a man would be murdered,” Ngumbi said. “I don’t think the most important thing today is to look for answers to all the questions we ask ourselves, but I think the most important thing is to turn to the Lord in communion with all those who mourn Edmond.”

On Sept. 30, authorities arrested 35 individuals in connection with the murder. Among those detained were the alleged killers. The suspects were presented to the mayor of Goma on the same day.

“Mr. Mayor, we present the results of the investigation conducted by the intelligence service of the 34th military region immediately following the murder of the Radio Maria journalist. Our forces have identified the perpetrators, including both the primary and accomplice, who now stand before you,” said Lt. Col. Guillaume Ndjike Kaiko, spokesman for the Armed Forces of DRC (FARDC) in North Kivu.

One of the suspects admitted to the press that he was paid $5 to carry out the journalist’s murder.

In his homily, Ngumbi called on the local authorities to shed more light on the case, urging the faithful not to harbor feelings of hatred.

“We must pray for the conversion of the murderers. We must not harbor feelings of hatred toward them. Hatred must never win our hearts. Nor any feeling of revenge,” said Ngumbi, a member of the Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers).

He added: “We can only pray for their conversion, that they learn to be responsible men, committed to building a world of peace, justice, and brotherhood.”

In his eulogy during the Mass, the editor-in-chief of Radio Maria Goma, Father Adeodatus Muhigi, said: “It’s painful and unacceptable to lose a dynamic agent, concerned and full of initiatives for the development of our radio and the well-being of his colleagues and volunteers.”

“We call on the political and military authorities to take their responsibility seriously and ensure the safety of the population. Otherwise, we risk dying like animals being led to the slaughterhouse,” Muhigi added.

“For his dignity and the eternal rest we sincerely wish for him, we are doing our utmost to ensure that his name is not associated with any form of political exploitation.”

Muhigi described Bahati as a man dedicated to his faith and the mission of the radio station. 

“We must therefore honor his beliefs and commitment, which have always distinguished him as a voice for the Virgin Mary,” the Congolese priest said.

Bahati was laid to rest in his hometown, Rutshuru, on Wednesday. He leaves behind a wife and three children, the youngest only 10 days old.

This story was first published by ACI Africa, CNA's news partner in Africa, and has been adapted by CNA.

Toronto Archbishop Francis Leo speaks with EWTN News President Montse Alvarado about assisted suicide and euthanasia on “EWTN Pro-Life Weekly” on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. / Credit: EWTN News

CNA Staff, Oct 4, 2024 / 14:15 pm (CNA).

Toronto Archbishop Francis Leo told EWTN News this week that Catholics “must keep firm in our faith, proclaiming the gospel of life and a civilization of love” as assisted suicide grows in popularity around the world.

Physician-assisted suicide was legalized in Canada under the “Medical Aid in Dying” (MAID) program in June 2016. In the U.S. assisted suicide is legal in 10 states including Oregon, Washington, and Colorado as well as Washington, D.C.

“It is a travesty, honestly, that euthanasia is going strong,” Leo told EWTN News President and COO Montse Alvarado on “EWTN Pro-Life Weekly” on Thursday. 

“Unfortunately, in different parts of the country more than others, [it is] not only legalized but being promoted,” the prelate said.

MAID is the fifth-leading cause of death in Canada, tied with cerebrovascular diseases, and the program is expanding. It is “the world’s fastest-growing assisted-dying program,” according to August research by the Christian think tank Cardus. This summer a Canadian nonprofit filed a legal challenge to allow physician-assisted suicide for those suffering from mental illness.  

But Leo said that assisted suicide and euthanasia are “not the answer.” 

“Thou shall not kill. Thou shall not kill, starting with yourself,” he said. “And we worship the Lord of life, and he is the Lord of life and death.” 

“‘The Lord has come that we might have life, and life in abundance,’” the archbishop said, citing John 10:10, which he described as “one of my favorite passages.” 

The prelate stressed the need “to live life abundantly here while we journey on earth and then enter into eternal life, the abundant life in heaven.”

“But as we are here, amidst the temptations that are around us, we must keep firm in our faith, proclaiming the gospel of life and a civilization of love, which is both at the beginning of life in the womb and the end of life, when people are so vulnerable and are tempted to suicide,” Leo continued. 

When asked how the Church is countering the physician-assisted suicide movement, Leo said that Canadian bishops are promoting palliative care and the sacredness of life. 

“Assisted suicide, euthanasia, medical aid and dying: It’s a travesty, [it] should never have taken place,” Leo continued. “We fought tooth and nail — the conference of Catholic bishops — and what we’re doing right now is we are helping people to realize that the only alternative is palliative care.”

The Canadian bishops promote Horizons of Hope, a toolkit for Catholic parishes on palliative care, which is a medical caregiving approach that strives to improve quality of life and mitigate suffering for people with serious or terminal illnesses.

“We’re encouraging our communities to set up groups in the parish to help people understand the evils of euthanasia and assisted suicide and the benefits of palliative care within an even larger context of life and the gift of life,” Leo explained. 

Leo admitted that the mission to promote life is a challenge.

“It’s always a challenge because the culture is not very welcoming to that — but that doesn’t scare us at all,” he said. 

“But it is a challenge, and one to which we are engaged in, and with the strength of the insights of the Holy Spirit, I think we will definitely do our best,” he said.

“I’ve already heard stories of people who, because someone went to their deathbed and someone spoke to them about faith and about the love of God, they changed their mind — that’s what we’re called to do to be ministers of the Lord, of the new covenant and of life.”

“Just this past summer, we had the conference of bishops in the Archdiocese of Toronto, in conjunction with the Pontifical Academy for Life, [put on] a wonderful international interfaith symposium on palliative care,” Leo continued.

“We’re looking forward to the fruits of that: How to strengthen the Church’s proclamation of the gospel of life and encourage people to understand the giftedness of life, the sacredness of life given by God,” he said.

“And so the challenge is there,” Leo said. “But we’re up to it.”

Volunteers smile while distributing relief supplies at Immaculata Catholic School in Hendersonville, North Carolina, October 2024. / Credit: Immaculata Catholic School

CNA Staff, Oct 4, 2024 / 13:45 pm (CNA).

A Catholic school in North Carolina has become a major distribution point for critical relief after Hurricane Helene devastated the region last week with deadly flooding and massive power outages.

Immaculata Catholic School in Hendersonville, North Carolina — about half an hour south of Asheville — shared on Facebook this week that it had become a “distribution center” for aid supplies after Helene tore through the state, killing dozens and knocking out power to millions.

The school “converted Sunday into a drive-thru pickup area, with volunteers handing out everything from hot meals to diapers to bottled water,” Immaculata posted on its Facebook page.

Catholic agencies in western North Carolina have been mobilizing to help with relief efforts amid devastating flooding caused by the remnants of the hurricane, which dumped torrential rain on mountain communities there leaving serious damage and dozens dead.

Even Immaculata itself was not spared. Flooding and leaks from the roof and windows at the school inundated multiple classrooms, the gym, and its new STEM lab. 

“Even in the face of mass tragedy, we see hope and God’s grace each day,” Immaculata Principal Margaret Beale said in the post. “Each day when we’ve run out of water, somebody comes by with a truck to resupply.”

The school said that “more than 1,500 families have been helped,” nearly all of them requesting water.

“This distribution will continue as long as needed,” said Father David O’Connor, parochial vicar at Immaculate Conception Church in Hendersonville.

Beale, meanwhile, said local restaurants have contributed hot food to distribute to victims of the storm.

“You don’t really know what a luxury hot food is until it’s not available,” she said.