My young daughter often asks me at bedtime about my favorite childhood memories. As I share them with her, I have come to realize they often involve other people. Playing outside in nature with the neighborhood children until the darkness, immersing myself in the imaginary worlds of other characters through books, visiting families and friends […]

The post What Catholics can learn from Islam about the pursuit of happiness appeared first on U.S. Catholic.

CNA Staff, May 22, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The Canadian government’s abolishment of a government ministry for disabled citizens underscores the government’s “demeaning attitude” toward disabled people, advocates say, particularly after the country opted to expand the national euthanasia program to include those with disabilities. 

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, the Liberal Party leader who assumed office in March, unveiled his new cabinet last week vowing a government that will promote “new ideas, a clear focus, and decisive action.” 

Notably missing from the cabinet, however, was any minister charged directly with administering to the needs of disabled Canadians. 

The position was held most recently by Kamal Khera, who served as the country’s minister of diversity, inclusion, and persons with disabilities until March before she became the Canadian minister of health. 

Direct support for disabled Canadians has been ministered via a variety of government positions over the years. The position most recently vacated by Khera was first created in 2019. Following Khera’s departure it was consolidated under the minister of jobs and families. 

‘Demeaning attitude towards disabled Canadians’

Advocates have criticized the abolishment of the cabinet position that directly provided support for disabled Canadian citizens. Data show that slightly more than 25% of Canadians report having a disability of some kind.

Disability advocates say the removal of the ministry is particularly troubling in light of the government’s permitting disabled Canadians to seek euthanasia under the country’s medical assistance in dying (MAID) law. The government in 2021 expanded the law to allow euthanasia for people who are not actively dying — an option known as “Track 2” — including those with disabilities. 

The Carney government’s “glaring omission of a minister for disabled Canadians” reflects “the demeaning attitude of the Liberal Party towards disabled Canadians,” said David Cooke, the campaigns manager for Campaign Life Coalition, a Canadian pro-life group. 

Cooke argued that the Carney government is “prioritizing euthanasia over improving medical and social supports for this vulnerable and marginalized group.”

The 2021 expansion of the euthanasia law, Cooke said, “defined disabled Canadians as ‘killable,’ allowing them to qualify for consensual death by lethal injection on the basis of their disability.”

Cooke pointed out that the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities last month called for Canada to repeal the Track 2 provision of the euthanasia law. The U.N. committee said in its report that the expansion of the law was made “on the basis of negative, ableist perceptions of the quality and value of the life of persons with disabilities.”

Amanda Achtman, a pro-life activist who launched the anti-euthanasia group Dying to Meet You in 2023, said the abandonment of a disability cabinet position suggests disabled Canadians “have become less of a priority for the federal government.”

“The fact that the Canadian government now has a minister of artificial intelligence but not a minister for persons with disabilities is symptomatic of a broader cultural shift,” she said. 

Achtman pointed out, however, that the presence of a disabilities minister did not stop the expansion of the country’s euthanasia law to cover disabled Canadians. Earlier disability ministers voted for both the original 2016 law and the 2021 expansion. 

“There is a kind of social euthanasia that happens whenever a person is discarded, dismissed, or discounted,” she said of the law. 

Alex Schadenberg, the executive director of the Canadian Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, agreed. The disability ministry “was an important appointment,” he said, “except for the fact that the ministers who had the role did not share the point of view of the disability community concerning MAID.”

“The government needs to focus on providing the needs for people with disabilities but this should be done from the point of view of people with disabilities,” he said. 

Government data indicate a high percentage of individuals seeking euthanasia under Track 2 are disabled. The most recent Canadian government report on euthanasia found that, of those who reported a disability prior to being euthanized, more than 58% were under Track 2, meaning their deaths were not “reasonably foreseeable.”

The government in its report claims that “several enhanced safeguards are in place for individuals under Track 2 to provide additional protections.” Yet there are “some concerns regarding the quality and reliability” of data regarding disabilities, the government admitted. 

There are further possible expansions of Canada’s euthanasia law on the horizon: The federal government in 2027 will consider expanding MAID provisions to those suffering from mental illness.

The government has also considered allowing so-called “mature minors” to request to be killed by doctors, and the government is also debating whether to allow citizens to prearrange to be euthanized at a time when they are unable to consent to the procedure. 

Achtman acknowledged the “disappointment at the removal of this portfolio from cabinet,” though she said it presented “an opportunity to citizens to offer a corrective to the shortcomings of government when it comes to disability advocacy.” 

She quoted Pope Francis, who in his encyclical Fratelli Tutti wrote: “Only a gaze transformed by charity can enable the dignity of others to be recognized.”

“That gaze is at the heart of the authentic spirit of politics,” the late Holy Father wrote. “It sees paths open up that are different from those of a soulless pragmatism.”

Achtman argued that both Canadians and Americans should work to “find creative ways to ‘give voice’ to those with disabilities as Pope Francis said.”

This “depends on encounter, solidarity, and presence, experiences of which we are all capable,” she said.

WASHINGTON – Pope Leo XIV has appointed Most Reverend Michael Pham, auxiliary bishop of San Diego and diocesan administrator, as the Bishop of San Diego.

The appointment was publicized in Washington, D.C. on May 22, 2025, by Monsignor Većeslav Tumir, chargé d’ affaires, a.i. of the Apostolic Nunciature, in the temporary absence of Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Bishop Pham’s biography may be found here.

The Diocese of San Diego is comprised of 8,852 square miles in the State of California and has a total population of 3,454,921 of which 1,381,968, are Catholic.

###

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Recognizing themselves as members of the one body of Christ, all Catholics should sense an urgency to share the Gospel message of God's love with others and to welcome them as brothers and sisters, Pope Leo XIV said.

"Our world, wounded by war, violence and injustice, needs to hear the Gospel message of God's love and to experience the reconciling power of Christ's grace," the pope said May 22 as he met more than 120 national directors of the Pontifical Mission Societies.

Working in coordination with the Dicastery for Evangelization, the societies are: the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, the Society of St. Peter Apostle, the Holy Childhood Association and the Missionary Union of Priests and Religious.

The societies raise awareness about the foreign missions, educate Catholics of all ages about their responsibility to be missionary disciples and raise money to support the missions and missionaries. 

The work of the societies "is indispensable to the church's mission of evangelization, as I can personally attest from my own pastoral experience in the years of my ministry serving in Peru," said the pope, who spent more than two decades in Peru as a missionary and a bishop.

Raising missionary awareness among all Catholics and helping them take responsibility for sharing the Gospel "remains an essential aspect of the church's renewal as envisioned by the Second Vatican Council," the pope said, and it is "all the more urgent in our own day."

"We are to bring to all peoples, indeed to all creatures, the Gospel promise of true and lasting peace, which is possible because, in the words of Pope Francis, the Lord has overcome the world and its constant conflict 'by making peace through the blood of his cross,'" he said.

Recognizing "our communion as members of the body of Christ naturally opens us to the universal dimension of the church's mission of evangelization," he said, and it should inspire Catholics "to transcend the confines of our individual parishes, dioceses and nations, in order to share with every nation and people the surpassing richness of the knowledge of Jesus Christ."

Pope Leo asked the national directors "to give priority to visiting dioceses, parishes and communities, and in this way to help the faithful to recognize the fundamental importance of the missions and supporting our brothers and sisters in those areas of our world where the church is young and growing." 

And he asked them to focus on cultivating and promoting "the vision of the church as the communion of believers, enlivened by the Holy Spirit, who enables us to enter into the perfect communion and harmony of the blessed Trinity."

"Indeed, it is in the Trinity that all things find their unity," the pope told them.

"This dimension of our Christian life and mission is close to my heart and is reflected in the words of St. Augustine that I chose for my episcopal service and now for my papal ministry: 'In Illo uno unum' ('In the One (Christ), we are one')," the pope said.

"Christ is our savior and in him we are one, a family of God, beyond the rich variety of our languages, cultures and experiences," Pope Leo said.
 

It will take me quite a while to unpack everything from my dad’s recent and sudden death. A Discalced Carmelite Friar told me it takes a minimum of 5 years to grieve. That makes sense in cases like the loss of a father. I’m still in the period of mourning when I cry most days. […]

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St. Rita of Cascia was born in 1381 in Roccaporena, a small village near Cascia, Italy. From a young age, she desired to join a convent, but out of obedience to her parents, she married instead. Her marriage was marked by difficulty, as her husband was abusive and involved in feuds. Through her patience, prayer, […]

Puebla, Mexico, May 21, 2025 / 19:22 pm (CNA).

The Mexican Bishops’ Conference expressed its “profound consternation” following the assassination of two senior officials of the Mexico City government, which occurred Tuesday in the Mexican capital.

The victims of the shooting are Ximena Guzmán, private secretary to Clara Brugada, Mexico City’s mayor, and José Muñoz, adviser to the city government. 

“We join in the grief of their families, friends, and colleagues. To them, we express our closeness, prayers, and solidarity, asking God to grant them comfort, hope, and strength in the face of this painful loss,” the Mexican bishops expressed in a message following the assassinations.

The Mexico City government reported in a statement that the “direct attack” occurred in the Moderna neighborhood of the Benito Juárez borough, approximately four miles south of Mexico City’s historic Zócalo (main square).

“Personnel from the Mexico City Secretariat of Citizen Security and the attorney general’s office, both with support from the Mexican [federal] government, are already conducting the corresponding investigations to determine the motive for the attack. Additionally, video surveillance cameras in the area are being analyzed to identify the probable perpetrators, who are known to have been traveling on a motorcycle,” the Mexico City government stated. 

“There will be no impunity; those responsible will be arrested and must face justice,” the statement assured.

The Mexico City attorney general’s office stated that “according to initial reports, the incident occurred while the victims were in the course of their daily routines, when the vehicle they were traveling in was intercepted by individuals who reportedly opened fire from a motorcycle.”

“Departmental, forensic, and investigative police personnel are carrying out the corresponding investigations to determine the facts of the case,” he said, indicating that they are analyzing recordings “from video surveillance cameras in the area” and gathering information from witnesses “that will allow us to identify and locate the probable perpetrators.”

May Christ ‘sustain us in this dark moment’

In their statement, the Mexican bishops lamented that this recent crime “joins a painful chain of violent events that, as we noted in our statement of May 19, following the massacre of seven young people in Guanajuato, ‘is an alarming sign of the weakening of the social fabric, impunity, and the absence of peace in vast regions of our nation.’”

“As shepherds of the people of God, we do not resign ourselves to living with fear nor with violent death. We trust that, with the power of the Gospel and the collaboration of all, it is still possible to build a Mexico where life, justice, and peace flourish,” the bishops said.

“May Christ, our peace, sustain us in this dark moment. May Our Lady of Guadalupe, queen of peace, intercede for our nation,” they concluded.

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

CNA Staff, May 21, 2025 / 17:33 pm (CNA).

In response to national outcry over the case of Adriana Smith, a brain-dead pregnant woman on life support, the Georgia attorney general’s office released a statement clarifying that the state’s heartbeat law, which prohibits abortions after detection of a fetal heartbeat, does not require Smith be kept alive.

“There is nothing in the LIFE act that requires medical professionals to keep a woman on life support after brain death,” said the statement, issued by Attorney General Chris Carr’s office last week.  

Quoting the law itself, the statement continued: “Removing life support is not an action ‘with the purpose to terminate a pregnancy.’”

Doctors at Emory University Hospital declared Smith, who was nine weeks pregnant at the time, brain dead in February after she was diagnosed with multiple blood clots in her brain. 

According to Smith’s mother, April Newkirk, doctors told her that Georgia’s law protecting unborn children with a heartbeat required that they keep Smith on life support until her child could be safely delivered.

Echoing the attorney general’s statement, a spokesperson for the Georgia state House told the Washington Post this week that the LIFE Act is “completely irrelevant” regarding Smith’s situation, saying “any implication otherwise is just another gross mischaracterization of the intent of this legislation by liberal media outlets and left-wing activists.”

Although he supports the hospital’s decision to keep the unborn child alive until viability, state Sen. Ed Stetzer, the original sponsor of the LIFE Act, told CNA last week that “the removal of the life support of the mother is a separate act” from an abortion.

David Gibbs III, a lawyer at the National Center for Life and Liberty who was a lead attorney in the Terri Schiavo case, said he thinks there may be a misunderstanding about which law the hospital is invoking in Smith’s case. Georgia’s Advance Directive for Health Care Act may be the law at play here, Gibbs told CNA.

Section 31-32-9 of that law states that if a woman is pregnant and “in a terminal condition or state of permanent unconsciousness” and the unborn child is viable, certain life-sustaining procedures may not be withdrawn.

“The majority of states have advance directive laws with a pregnancy exclusion,” Gibbs explained. 

“When in doubt, the law should err on the side of life,” he said.

A pregnancy exclusion means that if a patient is pregnant, the law prioritizes the survival of her unborn child over her stated wishes in an advance directive if there is a conflict between her wishes and the child’s well-being.

Several Democratic Georgia legislators have continued to demand the attorney general provide clarification of the heartbeat law, and some are calling for its repeal.

In a letter sent to the attorney general’s office last Friday, state Sen. Nabilah Islam Parkes characterized the hospital’s decision to keep Smith on life support to sustain the life of her unborn child as “inhumane” and called it “a grotesque distortion of medical ethics and human decency.” She asked the attorney general to “speak clearly and candidly” about the applicability of the law. 

In a statement released Monday, state Reps. Kim Schofield, Viola Davis, and Sandra Scott called Smith’s case “barbaric” and cited the “emotional torture” her family is enduring. They are calling for the repeal of Georgia’s heartbeat law, even though Carr made it clear on Friday that the LIFE Act does not require Smith be kept alive.

Joe Zalot, an ethicist and director of education at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, told CNA Wednesday: “I don’t know what’s barbaric or inhumane about seeking to sustain the life of the unborn child, who is a fellow human being.”

For its part, Emory Healthcare released a statement saying that while it cannot comment on particular patients, it “uses consensus from clinical experts, medical literature, and legal guidance to support our providers as they make individualized treatment recommendations in compliance with Georgia’s abortion laws and all other applicable laws.”

“Our top priorities continue to be the safety and well-being of the patients we serve,” the statement continued.

Newkirk told 11Alive last week that Smith was transferred to Emory Midtown recently because she was told that the hospital is better at providing obstetric care.

On a GoFundMe page Newkirk has set up since the story broke last week, she said she was saddened to have “no say so regarding [Smith’s] lifeless body and unborn child,” who, she claimed, “will suffer disease which will lead to major disabilities.” 

Newkirk could not be reached for comment by time of publication.