National Catholic Register, Jul 25, 2024 / 12:30 pm (CNA).

Pope Pius XII’s Vatican was on the verge of removing from the priesthood the founder of the Legionaries of Christ over sexual abuse allegations in 1956, 50 years before he was removed from active ministry, documents from the time show.

Father Marcial Maciel (1920–2008), who founded the religious congregation as a young seminarian in Mexico in 1941, was investigated in the mid-1950s on claims that he sexually abused boys and abused morphine, according to a story published Sunday by The Associated Press. He was temporarily removed as head of the Legionaries but later regained control over the congregation not long after Pius XII died in 1958.

In 2006 — 50 years after that Vatican investigation — Pope Benedict XVI removed Maciel from active ministry based on an investigation the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith conducted when Benedict headed it before his election as pope in 2005. Benedict invited Maciel to a life of prayer and penance.

Maciel sexually abused at least 60 minors, most between the ages of 11 and 16, according to a report issued by the Legionaries of Christ in December 2019. He also carried on sexual relationships with several women and fathered several illegitimate children and lived in luxury while ordering other members of the congregation to live a life of prayer, poverty, and mortification.

Maciel survived largely through denials of wrongdoing and his ability to cultivate friends in high places in the Church, including bishops and cardinals, during his long time as head of the Legionaries. He also had the confidence of St. John Paul II, who died in 2005.

The AP story noted that, in 2012, Mexican victims of Maciel published 200 leaked Vatican documents online and a related book called “La Voluntad de no Saber” (“The Will Not to Know”).

The Vatican opened its Pius XII archives in March 2020.

A spokesman for the Legionaries of Christ said the information published in the AP story this past weekend was already known through the 2012 publication of Vatican documents “by unofficial sources.”

“In the Legion of Christ we continue to want to know of any revelations about our past that would allow us to know and be able to live in the truth about our history, and we thank the Holy See for opening these archives in 2020 and for the possibility of accessing them,” the Legionaries spokesman said in a written statement.

Between 1995 and 2011, the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, was owned by Circle Media, a ministry of the Legionaries of Christ.

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, and has been adapted by CNA.

CNA Newsroom, Jul 25, 2024 / 10:51 am (CNA).

A Catholic priest in Germany has barred an altar server and lector from his duties because he works for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. According to a report by CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner, the party has announced legal steps in response, but the archdiocese is backing the priest’s decision.

In early July, parish priest Father Ralf Dunker informed 20-year-old Julian-Bert Schäfer that he could no longer serve as an altar server, lector, and organist in the Parish of St. Francis of Assisi in Hamm in northwestern Germany. Dunker cited Schäfer’s active involvement with the AfD as incompatible with these volunteer duties.

While polling has shown the AfD as the second most popular party in Germany, the party is variously described in the media as a populist, right-wing, or far-right extremist outfit. 

The banned altar server, an AfD member for four years and office manager for the party in the Hamm city council, denounced the decision.

“It is outrageous that a priest arbitrarily decides, without consulting the pastoral team, which political convictions are compatible with participation in Church life,” Schäfer said in a statement on Facebook. He added: “This exclusion is not only a violation of my rights as a believer but also a betrayal of the principles of tolerance and respect that the Church preaches.”

CNA Deutsch reported that the AfD official has engaged a lawyer, reportedly an AfD federal Parliament member, to challenge the decision. The legal battle is expected to revolve around the interpretation of Article 3 of the German Constitution, which prohibits discrimination based on political convictions.

Schäfer said the challenge would draw on the relevant article of the Basic Law, “which guarantees equality before the law.”

However, the Archdiocese of Paderborn is standing firmly behind Dunker’s decision. A spokesperson for the archdiocese stated, according to katholisch.de: “Based on the German Bishops’ Conference’s declaration ..., it is justified to inform an active AfD functionary that he cannot exercise a voluntary office in the Catholic parish.”

The German Bishops’ Conference has taken a clear stance against the AfD. In February, it issued a declaration on nationalism that said: “Right-wing extremist parties and those that are rampant on the fringes of this ideology ... cannot be a place of political activity for Christians and cannot be voted for.”

Pressure against Catholic members of AfD

The case of the dismissed altar server is not an isolated incident. In May, Bishop Stephan Ackermann of Trier upheld the dismissal of Christoph Schaufert, an AfD state parliamentarian, from a parish administrative council. Ackermann defended the decision, stating: “The exercise of political mandates for the AfD is incompatible with the exercise of the elected office in the administrative council of a parish in the Diocese of Trier.”

During protests against an AfD party congress in Essen in July, Klaus Pfeffer, vicar general of the Diocese of Essen, praised the event, according to CNA Deutsch.

However, the AfD’s popularity is rising, with recent polls showing it at about 20% nationally, making it the second-strongest political force behind the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). In eastern German states, where crucial elections are set for 2024, the AfD is polling above 30% in Saxony, Thuringia, and Brandenburg.

This rise reflects broader European trends, where parties critical of mass migration, Islam, and leftist ideologies have gained significant ground, such as Marine Le Pen’s National Rally in France and Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom in the Netherlands. Analysts attribute this also to wider concerns over demographic decline, economic uncertainties, and disillusionment with mainstream politics and media.

For the Catholic Church in Germany, the AfD’s growing strength presents a complex challenge. Church leaders have unequivocally opposed the party but risk ignoring the reality that some Catholics support — and are members of — the AfD.

As Germany approaches its next federal election in 2025, and with critical state elections sooner, the Catholic Church’s approach to the AfD will likely remain contentious. The cases of Schäfer and Schaufert may presage further conflicts as the Church balances political pressures while struggling with a steep decline in relevance and influence.

German bishops have called for dialogue with AfD voters to understand their concerns, even as they assert that “right-wing extremist parties cannot be a place of political activity for Christians.”

ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 25, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The Diocese of Matamoros in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas on the border with the U.S. announced two changes in its pastoral government: Its name will change to the Diocese of Matamoros-Reynosa and the Our Lady of Guadalupe church in Reynosa will be its co-cathedral.

In a statement shared Monday, the Mexican diocese said the changes will not be immediate. In the coming days the date will be announced when the new name will be official and a Mass will be celebrated at which time Our Lady of Guadalupe Church will be elevated to a co-cathedral.

According to the statement, the Vatican Dicastery for Bishops approved the changes, which had been requested by the bishop of Matamoros, Eugenio Andrés Lira Rugarcía, considering that “Reynosa, which is part of the territory of the Diocese of Matamoros, is the municipality with the largest population in the state of Tamaulipas and its ecclesial life is very solid.”

The city of Reynosa is located in the country’s northeast, also in the state of Tamaulipas, and borders Hidalgo County, Texas. It has a population of 704,767 inhabitants, according to 2020 data from the Mexican government’s Ministry of Economy, whereas Matamoros has a population of 118,337. In the area served by the Catholic Church in ​​Reynosa alone there are 34 churches.

The episcopal seat of what will be the Diocese of Matamoros-Reynosa will remain in Matamoros, where the cathedral of Our Lady of Refuge and the offices of the diocesan curia are located. However, “some liturgical celebrations and diocesan services will take place in the new co-cathedral,” which is located in downtown Reynosa.

The Royal Spanish Academy defines co-cathedral as “a church with the dignity of a cathedral, united to that of the historical seat of the same diocese.”

With the addition of the one in Reynosa, there will be five co-cathedrals in Mexico. Currently they are the Co-Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary in Chilapa, in the Diocese of Chilpancingo-Chilapa, Guerrero state; the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Chetumal, of the Diocese of Cancún-Chetumal, Quintana Roo state; the Co-Cathedral of St. Peter in Madera, in the Diocese of Cuauhtémoc-Madera, Chihuahua state; and the Co-Cathedral of the Sweet Name of Mary in Sisoguichi, in the Diocese of Tarahumara, also in Chihuahua.

Father José Luis Cerra Luna, pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, shared a message on Facebook expressing his joy at the Vatican’s decision.

“God calls us to feel even more closely united to our bishop, Eugenio Andrés Lira Rugarcía, but also to the entire diocesan community. Being a co-cathedral is a vocation to unity, not only within our parish but for the entire Diocese of Matamoros-Reynosa,” Cerra said.

According to the website of the Diocese of Matamoros, its territory covers the towns of Matamoros, Reynosa, Valle Hermoso, Río Bravo, Camargo, Díaz Ordaz, San Fernando, and Méndez, all in northern Tamaulipas.

The diocesan territory has an area of ​​about 7,500 square miles with a population of approximately 1.5 million.

The diocese has 76 churches and a presbyterate made up of 125 diocesan priests as well as various religious communities, lay organizations, educational institutions, and social works.

The Diocese of Matamoros was created by Pope Pius XII on Feb. 16, 1958, and is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Monterrey.

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

ACI MENA, Jul 25, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

On July 25, 1967, Pope Paul VI set foot on Turkish soil — the first papal visit to the city of Istanbul since it was called Constantinople. 

After traveling to Istanbul for a celebration at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, the pope visited the Orthodox Patriarchal Church of St. George with the Ecumenical Patriarch, Athenagoras I, Orthodox archbishop of Constantinople, three years after exchanging a kiss of peace together during a pilgrimage and peace tour of the Holy Land. Jerusalem was the only place in the world where the heads of the Eastern and Western churches could meet 910 years after the Church split in 1054.

On the first day of his two-day visit, July 25, Paul VI also met the Armenian patriarch and the leaders of the Muslim and Jewish communities as well as the Turkish authorities, who welcomed his visit in a warm and cordial manner. He also met then-president of the Turkish republic Cevdet Sunay, with whom he discussed problems in the Middle East and Cyprus. Sunay underlined the Holy Father’s efforts in favor of peace.

The following day, after celebrating Mass at the Basilica of St. Anthony in Istanbul, the pope’s journey continued to Smyrna (Izmir), where he first met with authorities, the local population, and the faithful before moving on to Ephesus, where he visited the house of the Virgin Mary, addressing the faithful of Ephesus as well as representatives of the Eastern Orthodox churches. It is noteworthy that Mary is mentioned some 50 times in the Koran and is also venerated by Muslims.

A celebration at St. John’s Cathedral in Izmir brought the official trip to a close. The only blemish on the trip was Paul VI’s prayer at the Hagia Sophia museum — the first official prayer there by a Christian leader since 1453. The Muslim world was taken aback, and the act was described as a “gaffe.”

Despite that, the visit truly marked the renewal of ecumenical relations between the Catholic world and the Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople — a fundamental step toward unity between the two churches.

The “Charter of the Unity of the Churches of the East and West,” a basic ecumenical document, was read out in Istanbul’s Holy Spirit Cathedral on July 25 in the presence of the pope and Patriarch Athenagoras.

Now, decades later, Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew I, the archbishop of Constantinople and ecumenical patriarch, have been working in a committed fashion toward unity, as evidenced by their numerous meetings since 2013 (in Jerusalem and Rome), followed by the patriarch’s invitation to Francis to attend the feast of St. Andrew in Istanbul in 2014.

In addition, on the occasion of the 1,700th anniversary of the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, which will be celebrated in 2025, Bartholomew I has once again invited Francis to the historic celebration. At the end of June, Francis declared: “This is a trip I wish to make with all my heart.”

This story was first published by ACI Mena, CNA's Arabic-language news partner, and has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Nothing is known of St. James the Greater's early life, though it has been established that he is the son of Zebedee and Salome and brother of John the disciple. The title "the Greater" was added to St. James' name to help distinguish him from the Apostle James "the Less," who is believed to have been shorter than James "the Greater." Saint James the Greater was one of Jesus' first disciples. James was fishing with his father and John the Apostle when Jesus came to the shores of the Sea of ...

Archaeologists have uncovered a long-lost altar at the site where Jesus is believed to have been buried and resurrected. This remarkable find was made by construction workers who turned over a giant stone slab, covered in graffiti, that was leaning against a wall of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

Let me pause as I begin this new day to give it to You, Lord. Before the tumult of activities breaks in; before breakfast plates crash through my still sleepy mind; for this last moment in my bed, thank you, Lord. Let me hold Your promise of new life. Keep me from slipping back for I know that what is forgiven is as if it never were. Each new day, Your grace gives me a fresh start to walk in Your light again. May the Lord support us all the day long, till the shades ...

Archaeologists have uncovered a long-lost altar at the site where Jesus is believed to have been buried and resurrected. This remarkable find was made by construction workers who turned over a giant stone slab, covered in graffiti, that was leaning against a wall of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 24, 2024 / 18:30 pm (CNA).

The community of Discalced Carmelites of San José monastery in Lucena in Spain’s Córdoba province, to whom Pope Francis sent several messages because of his friendship with a former prioress, is being forced to leave after the order’s presence of more than 400 years in the city due to lack of vocations.

Mother Mary Magdalene of St. John of the Cross, prioress of the small community, explained in a statement that “with great pain and great sadness, because there are only three nuns left, the scarcity of vocations and being requested by another Carmel in need, we saw that it is God’s will that our mission here had concluded,” reported the Iglesia en Córdoba (The Church in Córdoba), a weekly newspaper of the Spanish diocese.

Thus the 412-year uninterrupted presence of the Discalced Carmelites in the Lucena monastery will end. The nuns arrived there in 1612 from the city of Cabra, where the community was founded in 1603.

According to the newspaper ABC, the death of the former prioress, Mother Adriana of Jesus Crucified, in September 2023 left the community below the minimum number of five nuns. However, the community was granted a special status that had the support of Pope Francis and the bishop of Córdoba, Demetrio Fernández.

With the recent departure of another sister, the future of the community was sealed. The three nuns will soon move to a community located in the Diocese of Salamanca to which they are joined by a “long and close relationship of sisterhood.”

The community’s ties with Pope Francis

This community of Discalced Carmelites became more known in recent years due to the friendship that their prioress at the time, Mother Adriana of Jesus Crucified, maintained with Pope Francis when he was auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires. Two other Argentine nuns in the congregation had also known Francis.

On Dec. 31, 2013, the pontiff called the nuns and left a New Year’s message of encouragement, hope, and joy on their answering machine. Hours later, he was finally able to converse with them for 15 minutes.

According to Iglesia en Córdoba, when Mother Adriana’s death was imminent, Pope Francis “comforted the nun in her last moments of life” and, after her passing, “recontacted the monastery to convey condolences to the rest of the community of nuns.”

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

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 24, 2024 / 18:00 pm (CNA).

With President Joe Biden bowing out of the 2024 presidential race following intense pressure from within his own party, Vice President Kamala Harris is the likely Democratic nominee to face former president Donald Trump in November’s general election.

Harris was raised by a Christian father and a Hindu mother and attended both Hindu and Christian services as a child. As an adult, Harris was a member of a Black Baptist church. Her husband, Douglas Emhoff, is Jewish and attended a Reform Synagogue growing up.

Throughout her career — as vice president, senator, and attorney general of California — Harris has taken a variety of stances that could pose problems for Catholic voters, a key voting bloc. 

Harris has consistently promoted abortion, scrutinized Catholic judicial nominees, and opposed pro-life pregnancy centers and activists. She has also embraced gender ideology as well as transgender and contraception mandates that have, at times, jeopardized religious freedom.

Leading Biden administration’s pro-abortion efforts

As vice president, Harris has taken the lead on many of the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to promote abortion, including the effort to codify Roe v. Wade’s abortion standards into federal law.

In September of last year, the vice president embarked on a tour stopping at various college campuses called the “Fight for Our Freedoms College Tour” to promote abortion and other aspects of the administration’s agenda. 

At the beginning of 2024, she launched another speaking tour to promote abortion called “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms.” During this tour, Harris became the first sitting vice president to visit an abortion clinic in March when she toured a Planned Parenthood facility in Minneapolis. At the event, she praised abortionists and chastised pro-life lawmakers who voted to put limits on abortion.

In an interview with ABC in 2023, Harris criticized states that adopted pro-life laws and urged Congress to pass legislation that would establish federal abortion standards that prevent states from enforcing pro-life laws. In 2022, the vice president claimed that religious Americans can support abortion without abandoning their faith.

As a senator, Harris co-sponsored legislation that would have prevented states from passing abortion restrictions, and she voted against a bill that would have required doctors to provide medical care to a child who is born after a failed abortion attempt.

Scrutinizing judicial nominees’ Knights of Columbus memberships

As a senator, Harris pressed three judicial nominees about their affiliations with the Knights of Columbus: Brian Buescher, Paul Matey, and Peter Phipps. Her questions suggested that the nominees’ ties to the Catholic fraternal organization could make them biased because the group adheres to Church teachings about life and marriage. 

In written questions to Buescher, for example, Harris asked the nominee whether he knew “that the Knights of Columbus opposed a woman’s right to choose when [he] joined the organization.” She questioned whether he agreed with then-Supreme Knight Carl Anderson that abortion is “the killing of the innocent on a massive scale.” She asked him whether he knew “that the Knights of Columbus opposed marriage equality when [he] joined the organization.”

Buescher, responding to Harris, informed her that “the Knights of Columbus is a Roman Catholic service organization with approximately 2 million members worldwide.”  

“The organization has a religious and charitable purpose,” he continued. “I joined the Knights of Columbus when I was 18 years old and have been a member ever since. My membership has involved participation in charitable and community events in local Catholic parishes.”

Raiding pro-life activist’s home

In 2016, as California attorney general, Harris’ office launched a raid on the pro-life activist David Daleiden’s home.

The raid was in response to Daleiden’s undercover investigation of Planned Parenthood, which showed organization officials discussing costs for fetal tissue and body parts. It is illegal to sell fetal tissue and body parts.

Harris claimed that Daleiden broke several laws when obtaining videos of Planned Parenthood officials. He was charged with 15 felonies related to allegations of falsification of identity and invasion of privacy. He pleaded not guilty, but the case is still ongoing. 

As attorney general, she never launched an investigation into the allegations against Planned Parenthood. She received thousands of dollars in campaign funds from Planned Parenthood.

Regulating the speech of pro-life pregnancy centers

As California’s attorney general, Harris co-sponsored and promoted the Reproductive FACT Act, which required pro-life pregnancy centers to post notices that provided information on where to obtain abortions.

Pro-life pregnancy centers sued the attorney general’s office, arguing that the law violated their First Amendment rights. In 2018, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the law violated the right to free speech because it compelled speech. 

The legislation served as a model for lawmakers in other states, such as Vermont and Illinois, who tried to regulate the speech of pro-life pregnancy centers. 

Opposing religious liberty, embracing gender ideology

Throughout her career, Harris has been against strong protections for religious freedom and has supported gender ideology.

In 2014, Harris was one of 14 state attorneys general to file an amicus brief with the Supreme Court that asked the court to force Hobby Lobby to cover contraception — which included potentially abortifacient drugs — in its health insurance policies despite the ownership’s religious opposition. 

As a senator, Harris went further, co-sponsoring the Do No Harm Act and the Equality Act. The former would have ended religious exemptions for certain government mandates, such as laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and rules that force insurance coverage of abortion and sex change surgeries. The latter would have prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. 

As vice president, Harris has further promoted gender ideology. She has criticized Republican states for prohibiting doctors from performing sex-change surgeries on minors, restricting female sports to only biological women and girls, and preventing teachers from pushing gender ideology onto students.