St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church

Father John Nepil of the Archdiocese of Denver celebrates Mass on top of Wetterhorn Peak in the San Juan Mountains in Colorado. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Father John Nepil

Denver, Colo., Oct 13, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The state of Colorado is home to 54 “14ers” — mountain peaks that are at least 14,000 feet above sea level. The difficulty of these summits ranges from easy to what many would consider dangerous. Many Coloradoans have completed at least one 14er, but Father John Nepil, the vice rector and a professor of theology at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in the Archdiocese of Denver, is one of the few who can say he has summited all 54 peaks — not once but twice.

Nepil hiked his first 14er when he was in seventh grade and hated it. However, soon after, “something awoke in me and I fell in love, and I’ve been climbing them ever since,” he told CNA in an interview.

When Nepil was in his 20s he completed all 54 14ers for the first time. Last year, on the feast of the Guardian Angels, atop Mount of the Holy Cross, he completed the 54 for a second time — this time as a priest and with the celebration of Mass at the top of each peak.

The first Mass he celebrated at the top of a 14er was a week after his ordination in May 2011. Now, after 13 years, he can say he has celebrated Mass on every 14er in the state.

“Saying Mass on the summit of 14ers is probably the greatest gift and privilege of my whole life,” he said. “I don’t think there’s anything I’ve desired more that’s awoken my interior depths more profoundly. It’s just absolutely truly the summit of my priestly life.”

“Then of course being a priest and being a shepherd and a guide spiritually,” he added, “helping people physically climb to the heights and doing that in such a way as to lead them to the spiritual heights in Christ — that to me is what has made priestly life so deeply meaningful and impactful.”

Another aspect Nepil touched on was how taking individuals on hikes serves as an opportunity for fellowship and evangelization. 

Nepil shared that when he was a newly ordained priest, he was assigned as the chaplain at the University of Colorado in Boulder. He realized very quickly that there were “a lot of great students there but a lot of their friends didn’t feel comfortable coming to Mass and didn’t want anything to do with church.”

He decided to start an outdoor club called Aquinas Alpine and began to take people on “adventures in the mountains, and that’s really where it became a ministerial life,” he said.

“You just hang out with people on the mountains and all the questions start to naturally come and the relationships form. It’s just an amazing atmosphere for facilitating communion but also for conversion.”

In his work now in the seminary, Nepil shared how he constantly encourages the men “to do hard things together.”

“Our world is built right now to eliminate discomfort, and that’s actually bad for our humanity,” he said. “As humans, we need to live with intention. We need to be challenged. Muscles need to be broken down so they can be rebuilt. It’s the same with relationships — that if we just kind of float on the surface and live comfortably we’re actually never growing and relationships aren’t being strengthened.”

“So we have to actively go into the backcountry and embrace a kind of preindustrial, non-technological life in order to recover our humanity, and when we do that together, it authenticates our relationships and deepens them in the reality of who we are as created beings.”

As for what individuals who go on hikes with him are taking away from the experience, he said he hopes it’s that they have a “qualitatively different experience of relationship.”

“As things slow down, things crystallize, perception is heightened, and that awakens spiritual questions and hopefully it begins to form a spiritual vision to interpret reality,” he said. “We’re made to interpret. Things are meaningful … but we only find true happiness and wholeness as persons when we interpret being and the experiences in our life as meaningful, and I think that the conditions of being in creation on a backcountry adventure really facilitates that in a deep way.”

Dallas Jenkins, creator, writer, and director of “The Chosen,” at ChosenCon 2024 in Orlando, Florida. / Credit: EWTN News screenshot/Francesca Pollio Fenton/CNA

CNA Staff, Oct 13, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

When fans of the hit series “The Chosen” gathered at the Orlando World Center Marriott in Orlando, Florida, for the second annual “ChosenCon” in late September, CNA spoke with the creator and several of the cast members on the teal carpet about the future of the show and what fans can expect from Season 5, which focuses on the events of Holy Week.

Dallas Jenkins, the show’s creator, director, and writer, told CNA that Season 5 is “sad at times; it’s actually heartbreaking at times because we know we’re getting closer and closer to the cross … We’re going to get to see some iconic moments from Scripture, but we’re also going to, I believe, be drawn closer to who Jesus was because of his suffering.”

Ryan Swanson, one of the writers of “The Chosen,” added that Season 5 is “truly going to feel like a different kind of series. After Season 4’s dread and doom and foreshadowing, this is when the wick is lit.”

When asked how the writers prepare to portray the important and historical events of Holy Week, Swanson emphasized the importance of relying on Scripture and pointed out that “as much as 30% of the Scriptures is about this week.”

“We get a huge assist from the Bible because there’s no other part of it that’s written as chronologically and as clearly as to the events of the week in time as this week. So all of that stuff is laid out for us,” he said. “I think our challenge becomes how do we tell it in a new way, especially to the initiate.”

“What we’re trying to do is we’re trying to tell the story honestly, factually, historically, but also to give it that ‘Chosen’ twist of what were these moments like for people who would’ve been there,” Swanson explained.

Knowing what lies ahead for her character and the impactful moments she is a part of, Elizabeth Tabish, the actress who portrays Mary Magdalene, shared that she has “tried to not think about that too much.”

“It’s daunting and I really want to do it well and honor that moment in the Gospels. So, I think I’m a little nervous,” she said. “In terms of preparation, I think I’m just going to pray a lot about it.”

Another character who will also be experiencing suffering in Season 5 is Mother Mary, portrayed by Vanessa Benavente.

“I still struggle to find exactly how she must’ve gone through this,” Benavente told CNA.

“She knows that her son has to fulfill his mission, but at the same time it’s her son. It’s that thing where you as a mother you have to learn how to let go of your children, but in this case, you know you’re letting him go do something that is to meet his end,” she shared.

“With my 2024 brain, being a mother myself, it’s so humongous, it’s so big, and I always go down to her faith must’ve been just as big, because it’s literally every mother’s nightmare what she will be going through in the next couple of seasons.”  

As for Season 5 of “The Chosen,” an official release date has not yet been announced but fans can expect it to be released in 2025.

You can read more about the announcements made at ChosenCon regarding new projects here.

null / Credit: stockbob/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Oct 12, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

As with any U.S. election season, the 2024 presidential election is filled with endless “fact checks” and accusations of falsehoods against various politicians. Separating lies from facts is ultimately up to the voter and lying may seem unimportant these days in the grand scheme of things, but what does the Catholic Church teach about it?

Unsurprisingly, after 20 centuries, the Church has a lot to say about lying, one of the most common phenomena of the human experience. 

One of the Ten Commandments is “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor” and the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “Lying is to speak or act against the truth in order to lead someone into error” (No. 2483). 

“By injuring man’s relation to truth and to his neighbor, a lie offends against the fundamental relation of man and of his word to the Lord,” the catechism continues. 

The catechism notes in No. 2484 that a lie’s severity “is measured against the nature of the truth it deforms” and that one must consider “the circumstances, the intentions of the one who lies, and the harm suffered by its victims.” A lie that constitutes a venial sin “becomes mortal when it does grave injury to the virtues of justice and charity.”

Some of the Church’s most towering thinkers have similarly condemned lying. St. Thomas Aquinas said lying was “directly and formally opposed to the virtue of truth.”

St. Augustine, meanwhile, argued that “whoever shall think there is any sort of lie that is not sin, will deceive himself foully, while he deems himself honest as a deceiver of other men.” 

There seems to be little disagreement among moral authorities as to the wrongness of lying in general. But there has been some debate as to whether or not some types of falsehoods can be justified in certain circumstances, such as when telling some or all of the truth would bring about unjust harm against innocents. 

One fabled example concerns St. Athanasius, who legend has it was rowing away from his persecutors on a river. When he encountered a group of searchers who asked if he knew where Athanasius was located, he reportedly responded: “He’s not far away!” after which he was able to flee. 

Other examples involve similarly extreme circumstances, such as if a murderous villain demands to know the location of an innocent person he intends to kill. 

Patrick Lee, a professor of philosophy at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, told CNA: “My view is that St. Thomas and St. Augustine and the catechism are right, that all lying is wrong.”

He acknowledged that there are “difficulties” in that prohibition, such as the famous example of someone hiding Jewish refugees in their home and having to respond to Nazis searching for them. 

Still, “the rules are really, really clear in Scripture,” he argued. He cited Jesus’ sharp words in John 8 in which Christ points out that Satan “does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him,” that in lying the devil “speaks according to his own nature,” and that he “is a liar and the father of lies.”

“It really does sound like you have an obligation to the truth,” Lee said. Satan, he argued, “is the source of lying — all lying.”

Nevertheless, there have been attempts among Catholic thinkers over the years to justify some forms of lying or dishonesty. The Jesuits many years ago popularized the practice of “mental reservation,” a controversial philosophical principle that critics have argued is tantamount to lying. 

Jimmy Akin, a senior apologist at Catholic Answers, told CNA that when practicing mental reservation, “one says something that is technically true but withholds or reserves part of the truth.”

“On the basis of this partial disclosure of truth, the person to whom one is speaking may draw an incorrect conclusion, but one would not have said something technically false and thus not lied,” he said. 

An example of mental reservation could be when an abusive husband demands to know where his wife is hiding. The woman’s protector might respond, “I have not seen your wife,” while thinking to himself, “...in the last 30 seconds.” 

“The concept of mental reservation has been criticized on the ground that many mental reservations involve telling a truth in a deliberately misleading way and thus involve deliberate deception, making them functionally equivalent to lying,” Akin said. 

Akin noted that in recent years some Catholic moral theologians “have been exploring other theories that seek to balance the importance of truth-telling with the seeming practical need to use deception in some circumstances.” 

“This may be in part a response to the totalitarian regimes that arose in the 20th century and the need to deceive them in order to protect human life,” he said. 

The idea of using falsehoods to save innocent victims from violent aggressors received renewed attention several years ago when Pope Francis admitted that, as a young priest in Argentina, he participated in what it could be argued were false and duplicitous actions as part of efforts to work against the dictatorship there. 

Akin wrote in 2013 that the faithful should be “cautious of drawing implications from this,” in part because “people can and do make mistakes.” Additionally, at the time, Francis “was not yet pope and did not have the responsibility and the graces of that office.”

He pointed out to CNA, however, that at one point the Catechism of the Catholic Church qualified its prohibition on lying: It previously held that “to lie is to speak or act against the truth in order to lead into error someone who has the right to know the truth.” The “right-to-know” proviso was removed in 1997.

“To my knowledge, the Holy See didn’t comment on the reason for the change,” Akin said, “but it presumably was to avoid adopting one, specific, recent theory of lying when others were still legitimate also.”

The older directive “seemed to support a theory in moral theology that would permit lying in cases where the person had no right to know the truth, such as in the famous example of lying to Nazis about the location of hidden Jewish individuals,” Akin said. 

Lee said lying represents a fundamental betrayal of the person to whom you are telling the falsehood.

“You’re inviting someone to trust you that what you’re saying is in your mind,” he said. “So you, in a way, betray that trust. You ask them to believe you in the sense that what you’re saying is what you think. You’re presenting a false self and blocking community with them.”

Akin, meanwhile, pointed out that “historically, the most prominent view has been the one supported by St. Thomas Aquinas.”

“He held that lying is intrinsically wrong as a perversion of the human faculty of speech, which he saw as oriented toward communicating truthful information in a way that would preclude lying,” Akin said.

“On his view, lying is never permissible, and so one could not lie to Nazis about hiding Jews in one’s attic. One would have to do something else.”

“Examples of things a non-exception-making Thomist might do include shutting the door in the Nazis’ faces without saying anything or using a mental reservation of some kind,” he said.

“The difficulty for the Thomist,” Akin pointed out, “is finding something that would be effective (if you shut the door, the Nazis may just kick it in and search the house) and that would not involve deliberate deception (as many mental reservations do).”

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks during a campaign rally for Vice President Kamala Harris on July 29, 2024, in Ambler, Pennsylvania. / Credit: Hannah Beier/Getty Images

CNA Staff, Oct 11, 2024 / 19:40 pm (CNA).

Michigan’s Catholic bishops on Friday condemned a video sketch of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and a journalist for what some have called a “mocking” of the Eucharist.  

The video, posted on Thursday and which quickly went viral, shows Whitmer feeding the journalist a Dorito chip.

The skit took place during “Chip Chat,” a session with Liz Plank, a Canadian author, journalist, and influencer with 610,000 followers on her Instagram page “feministabulous.”

The video has garnered criticism because Plank’s kneeling posture and the placement of the Dorito on the tongue appeared to mock reception of holy Communion to many viewers. 

The caption of the video, which was edited, references the “CHIPS Act,” a 2022 Biden administration law known as the “Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science Act.”

An edited caption of Plank’s Instagram post read: “If he won’t, Gretchen Whitmer will. Chips aren’t just delicious, the CHIPS Act is a game-changer for U.S. tech and manufacturing, boosting domestic production of semiconductors to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers! Donald Trump would put that at risk.”

Defenders of Whitmer have said the move was part of a TikTok trend when a person is fed by another person.

Plank responded to the criticism in a post on X saying: “This is the trend weirdos chill out,” in reference to the “feeding someone trend” on TikTok.

But the sketch has led to controversy as many Catholics saw it as a mockery of the Eucharist. 

“The skit goes further than the viral online trend that inspired it, specifically imitating the posture and gestures of Catholics receiving the Holy Eucharist, in which we believe that Jesus Christ is truly present,” said Paul Long, Michigan Catholic Conference president and CEO, in a statement on Friday.

“It is not just distasteful or ‘strange’; it is an all-too-familiar example of an elected official mocking religious persons and their practices,” Long continued. “While dialogue on this issue with the governor’s office is appreciated, whether or not insulting Catholics and the Eucharist was the intent, it has had an offensive impact.”

A spokesperson for Whitmer said in a statement to Fox News Digital that “the governor’s social media is well known for infusing her communications with pop culture.”

“This popular trend has been used by countless people, including Billie Eilish, Kylie Jenner, and Stephen Colbert, and the fact that people are paying attention to a video promoting President Biden’s CHIPS Act proves it’s working,” the statement continued. “Republicans want to distract from the fact that Democrats have invested billions of dollars into local economies to create a record number of jobs and bring supply chains back from overseas, while Donald Trump’s policies would kill these jobs and send them back to China.”

Notably, the referenced trends do not usually involve someone kneeling before the other person. 

The full video on Plank’s YouTube channel also included a discussion of abortion where Plank and Whitmer joke about “post-birth abortions,” in reference to Trump’s comment about the abortion bill signed into law by Minnesota Gov. and 2024 Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz.

But the Michigan Catholic Conference’s Long is demanding that those in public office respect religious people. 

“People of this state and across the country have grown tired of and continue to express their alarm at the bar of civility and respect toward people of faith lowering by the day,” Long said.

“Michigan is a religiously diverse state and includes thriving communities of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim believers,” Long continued. “The time is now for those in public office, their handlers, and strategists to return a level of respect, civility, and appreciation for those who have found peace and fulfillment in life by worshipping God and serving their neighbor.”

Whitmer’s office did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

People hold up signs during a pro-abortion rally on the second anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade in West Palm Beach, Florida, on June 24, 2024. / Credit: MARCO BELLO/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 11, 2024 / 16:30 pm (CNA).

Here’s a roundup of abortion-related developments that took place across the country this week.

New poll suggests Florida abortion amendment will fail

A new survey published this week by The New York Times and Siena College found that only 46% of Florida voters support a ballot measure amendment that would legalize full-term abortion. This is well below the 60% threshold required for the amendment to pass.

If the Florida amendment — which is set to appear on the ballot this Election Day — fails, it will become the first pro-abortion amendment to be defeated at the polls.  

Titled the “Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion” or simply “Amendment 4,” the measure would invalidate both Florida’s six-week and 15-week pro-life protections for the unborn.

The amendment would also allow abortion past the point of viability through all nine months of pregnancy if determined by a health care provider to be necessary for the health of the mother.

Though the poll found that only 38% of voters oppose the amendment, the measure will still fail by 14 points if the New York Times/Siena poll is accurate. According to the poll, 16% of Florida voters are still undecided.

The amendment is supported by 68% of registered Democrats and 46% of independents. Meanwhile, 58% of registered Republicans oppose the measure.

A poll taken in August by Mainstreet Research and Florida Atlantic University found that 56% of Floridians supported the amendment, 21% were opposed, and 23% were undecided.

This comes after a slate of broad abortion amendments in California, Ohio, Michigan, and Vermont passed by wide margins. There are nine other states with abortion amendments on the ballot this November.

Several pro-life leaders have told CNA that defeating the Florida abortion amendment could help to reverse the momentum in the national abortion fight.

Congressional health plans illegally fund abortion

More than two dozen Republican members of the House and Senate are raising the alarm that most congressional health plans are illegally subsidizing abortion.

Four senators and 22 House members sent a letter to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on Wednesday warning the agency that it must stop illegally funding abortion.

According to the letter, OPM, which oversees health plans for members of Congress and their staff, is violating the Smith Amendment, which for decades has prohibited any congressional health plans from either directly or indirectly funding abortion.

Further, the letter said that with the planned withdrawal of an Aetna health plan in 2025, there are only two remaining health plans not subsidizing abortion that “may” be available to members of Congress and staffers.

The letter said that “the situation has now deteriorated to the point that members of Congress and their designated staff have only two plans available to them in 2025.”

“The law is specific,” the letter stated. “Under the Smith Amendment, OPM is prohibited from engaging in administrative activity in connection with any plan that subsidizes elective abortion, let alone almost all of them.”

The members of Congress are demanding that OPM cease administering health plans that illegally fund abortion and instead direct the D.C. Health Link, the health insurance marketplace that covers the District of Columbia, to provide Smith-compliant health plans for Congress.

“The severity of OPM’s specious implementation of — or perhaps malicious disregard for — the law must be finally and permanently remedied and brought into compliance with congressional intent,” the members of Congress said.

The Smith Amendment was introduced by Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, and has been consecutively renewed by Congress over the last several decades.

Montana Supreme Court upholds temporary block on pro-life laws

The Montana Supreme Court issued two rulings on Wednesday to uphold temporary blocks on several measures protecting unborn life. The measures prohibited dilation-and-evacuation surgical abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, telehealth chemical abortions, and restricted the use of tax-dollar Medicaid funds for abortion.

The rulings center on several pro-life laws passed by the state Legislature and signed by the governor in 2023. This means the laws will remain blocked as the cases against them progress through the courts.

The state has been blocked from enforcing the laws since a May 2023 ruling by the Lewis and Clark County District Court that enjoined them shortly after passage.

In both rulings, the majority of the five-person state Supreme Court said the laws likely violate the right to privacy. Both rulings said the lower court was correct to enjoin the laws because the abortion providers suing the laws are “likely to succeed on the merits, would be irreparably harmed absent an injunction … and the injunction is in the public interest.”

Montana Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte issued a response Wednesday in which he said he is “deeply disappointed” in the court’s ruling against the law banning taxpayer funding for abortion.

“I believe all life is precious and must be protected,” Gianforte said. “This extreme ruling means Montana taxpayers are forced to foot the bill for elective abortions.”

Poll finds abortion is top issue for women under 30

A new poll by the left-leaning health news source KFF found that abortion has surpassed inflation as the top issue for women voters under 30.

According to the poll, inflation continues to be the top issue for women. However, there was a slight increase from the summer — 10% to 13% — in the level of women of all ages who said abortion is their top issue.

Meanwhile, the most recent poll found that among women under 30, 4 out of 10 — 39% — say that abortion is their top concern. This well surpasses the percentage of women under 30 (28%) who say inflation is their top concern.  

The poll also registered an increase in the percentage of women who say they are motivated to vote. According to KFF, 64% of women said they are more motivated to vote than usual compared with 45% when the question was asked in June when President Joe Biden was the Democratic candidate.

A Dominican friar blesses the faithful with the Eucharist during Benediction at the Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC, on Sept. 28, 2024. / Credit: Jeffrey Bruno

CNA Staff, Oct 11, 2024 / 15:30 pm (CNA).

The U.S. bishops have approved a new translation of texts used during Eucharistic adoration and Communion outside of Mass.

The texts from the ritual book “The Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharistic Mystery Outside Mass” serve as a liturgical resource for Eucharistic worship. 

The Vatican approved the new translation on March 7, 2023, more than a year after the U.S. bishops approved it in November 2021. 

Though the translation received Vatican approval earlier this year, parishes were granted the option to use the new translation on Sept. 14. The translation will be required beginning Dec. 1.

The ritual book includes prayers and guidelines to be used when the Eucharist is distributed outside of Mass, which can happen in certain circumstances such as when a Catholic is ill or nearing death. These rituals are known as the Order of Distributing Holy Communion Outside Mass and the giving of Communion and Viaticum to the sick by an extraordinary minister. 

A person may receive the Eucharist as viaticum when nearing death, in addition to the sacrament of the anointing of the sick. Receiving the sacrament as viaticum is considered “the last sacrament of the Christian,” according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (Nos. 1524–1525).

The new translation of the ritual book also affects any other distribution of Communion outside of Mass, which may take place when there are pastoral needs, such as when someone is unable to attend Mass for health reasons. A Eucharistic minister may carry the Eucharist in a pyx, a small round container for the Eucharist, and carry it in a small burse, a cloth or leather bag around the minister’s neck to bring Communion directly to the person in need.

The ritual book also includes instructions on Communion services not offered by a priest in which a deacon may offer Communion when no priest is available. If no deacon is present, an acolyte — a lay Catholic authorized to give Communion as a special minister — may do so in certain circumstances.  

The new translation of the ritual book also affects prayers sung or said at Benediction, such as the hymns “O Salutaris Hostia” and “Tantum Ergo.” The translation of “O Salutaris Hostia” is the first to become standardized in English, while in past years translations have had slight variances. The hymns may still be sung in Latin if desired.  

The previous translation of the ritual book from the Latin text was approved by the U.S. bishops in 1976.

Father Rodolfo Martinez-Guevara. / Credit: Ventura County Sheriff’s Office

CNA Staff, Oct 11, 2024 / 13:55 pm (CNA).

A priest in California has pleaded no contest to charges of possessing hundreds of images of child sexual abuse material, with his conviction coming just over a year after his arrest. 

The Ventura County district attorney’s office said in a press release on Thursday that Father Rodolfo Martinez-Guevara “pled no contest to one felony count of possession of child sexual abuse material.” He had been associated with several churches, including Our Lady of Guadalupe in Oxnard, California. 

As part of that plea, the 39-year-old priest also admitted that he possessed “over 600 images of child sexual abuse material, including images and videos of prepubescent minors under the age of 12.”

Martinez-Guevara was arrested in September 2023. In announcing the priest’s plea this week, District Attorney Erik Nasarenko said Martinez-Guevara “betrayed the law and the trust placed in him as a religious leader.”

“Child sexual abuse material preys on the most vulnerable members of our society, and we will continue to ensure that anyone who engages in such heinous crimes is held accountable, no matter their position or title,” the prosecutor said.

The priest is a member of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit. The religious congregation said in a statement following Martinez-Guevara’s plea that his crimes “[do] not reflect the values of our congregation, and we are deeply saddened by his actions.”

“Our hearts go out to all the victims who were hurt and whose lives were harmed in this horrendous way,” the institute said.

Martinez-Guevara’s “canonical process of loss of clerical state will move forward” following the guilty plea, the group said. 

Investigations into Martinez-Guevara were initiated in April 2023 after reports were made to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. A task force of multiple law enforcement agencies participated in the investigation. 

The priest is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 9 in Ventura County. 

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles told media last year that Martinez-Guevara was “not a priest of [the archdiocese]” but had possessed “faculties to minister” there. After his arrest he was “removed from ministry by the archdiocese and his order,” the statement said.

“The archdiocese stands against any sexual misconduct and is resolute in our support for victim-survivors of any misconduct,” the statement added.

The Missionaries of the Holy Spirit currently have members in several dozen communities in multiple countries, though the majority are in Mexico. Priests with the group are also located in Italy, Colombia, and Spain. 

Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia. / Credit: Kate Veik/CNA

CNA Staff, Oct 11, 2024 / 13:25 pm (CNA).

Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, recently urged Catholics to treat gambling with caution, reminding the faithful that the Church opposes any gambling that puts a person’s financial stability at risk. 

The impetus for Burbidge’s remarks, made on the Arlington Diocese’s “Walk Humbly” podcast, is an effort by some lawmakers to allow residents of Northern Virginia to vote to create a new casino in Fairfax County near Washington, D.C. 

The plan has proved contentious — in part because of fears of decreased property values and increased crime around the casino — and a vote is not expected to happen until 2025 if at all. 

“Addiction is a threat to our freedom … I don’t see the need for casinos in Northern Virginia. But that’s up to the community and elected officials to decide,” Burbidge said on the Oct. 7 podcast. 

“We all like good fun, and we like to enjoy ourselves, and things like that. That’s fine,” the bishop acknowledged. 

“But never when we’re using the resources God has given us, our hard-earned money, [in] places that could put ourselves and family in great need. So just be vigilant, everyone. Just be prayerful.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “games of chance,” such as card games and wagers, are not “in themselves contrary to justice” (No. 2413).

Gambling becomes morally unacceptable, however, when it deprives a person of “what is necessary to provide for his needs and those of others.” 

“The passion for gambling risks becoming an enslavement,” the catechism notes, adding that cheating at games and making unfair wagers constitute “grave matter, unless the damage inflicted is so slight that the one who suffers it cannot reasonably consider it significant.” 

Burbidge advised Virginia lawmakers to carefully consider whether a new casio will “cultivate virtue” in the commonwealth. 

“Lawmakers, please don’t forget this — all legislation should make liberty the priority, understood as the freedom of all persons to pursue what is good and virtuous,” the bishop said. 

“So let’s pray on this. Let’s think about it and how we might always work towards progress in virtue and improving our communities.”

The Virginia controversy over the casino comes amid a push in recent years to expand gambling options, particularly sports betting, in numerous states. Made easy and accessible online and on smartphone apps, sports betting has exploded in popularity since a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling opened the door to states legalizing it. 

Americans spent nearly $120 billion on sports betting in 2023, up 27.5% from 2022 and a new record, according to the American Gaming Association’s Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker. The sports-betting industry has been widely criticized for its deleterious effects on those who take part, especially the young.

Notably, Missouri is poised to become the 39th state to legalize sports betting if its citizens approve the practice in the November general election.

Catholics join in prayer for the 2019 International Week of Prayer and Fasting at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. / Credit: IWOPF

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 11, 2024 / 09:25 am (CNA).

Catholics around the world are gathering for the commencement of the 32nd annual International Week of Prayer and Fasting (IWOPF) under the theme “Conquering the Darkness: Triumph of Mercy, Hope, and Healing.”

This year’s event will kick off on Saturday, Oct. 12, with an in-person conference at St. Mary of Sorrows Church in Fairfax, Virginia, followed by a three-day virtual speaker series. Relics of St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio) and Blessed Carlo Acutis will also be available for veneration on Saturday. 

IWOPF is a grassroots movement joined by various pro-life groups and the Legion of Mary that invites Catholics and Christians around the world to pray and fast for peace, the conversion of all peoples, the sanctity of marriage, building a culture of life, and for all priests and vocations. 

It has received two apostolic blessings from St. John Paul II and one from Pope Francis, along with support from St. Teresa of Calcutta as well as from EWTN foundress Mother Angelica.

This is the first year that International Week of Prayer and Fasting events are not taking place at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. Flynn told CNA that the basilica was only available in early November and many of the participants did not want to be in D.C. so close to the presidential election on Nov. 5. 

“I didn’t want to change it,” IWOPF co-founder Maureen Flynn said. “But sometimes things happen — things happen for a reason.” 

“So we’re just trusting the Lord, and we’re just encouraging everybody [for] nine days, from Oct. 12–20, [to] really to pray for our country in a big way, pray for the elections, pray for our leaders, our families, and for peace in the world,” she said. “Because as you know, we just read the news, and we really need prayer.” 

Flynn co-founded the movement with her husband, Ted, and friend John Downs in 1989 after Flynn had been struck by an article in the Washington Post that featured two grandmothers who she said had been “bragging about being pro-abortion.”

“I remember thinking, ‘Oh, my gosh, how can these grandmothers be pro-abortion, be for the killing of the innocent?’” Flynn told CNA. The incident inspired her to organize a day of prayer. However, Downs encouraged her to organize a week of prayer instead, insisting that one day “is not enough.” 

Although the movement started with the sole intention of praying for the unborn, Flynn recalled that “as the time went on, there were all these other issues that kept coming up: We began to pray for our families, our children, our leaders. It expanded. Now we have five goals over 32 years.” 

The movement particularly emphasizes the power of the rosary, Flynn told CNA, “to stop wars, for healing in families, and for healing of addictions.” 

“Our Lady has told us we need to use weapons of prayer and fasting because we’re dealing with diabolical forces, and things are ratcheting up in that way as far as evil,” Flynn continued.

“And so we need to use the treasures of the Church, what Our Lord and Our Lady has told us, of the good weapons today.”

While the in-person event will be held in Fairfax, anyone can sign up to view the talks online for free. The talks will be available for up to a year if viewers purchase an all-access pass. Speakers for the event include film producer Jim Wahlberg and Bishop Emeritus Robert J. Baker of Birmingham, Alabama.

Flynn encouraged families to think of ways they can participate in a week of prayer and fasting independently.

“The key is to participate somehow,” she said, recalling that when her kids were younger, their family would have smaller meals, such as soup, during the week, offering it up for the unborn or for families that are struggling.

“They remember that,” she said of her children. “It was a way that we could participate.”

University of Mary students gather to celebrate the Blessed Mother’s birthday at the school’s grotto. / Credit: Mike McCleary/University of Mary

CNA Staff, Oct 11, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Amid low enrollment at academic institutions across the country, Catholic colleges and universities with strong Catholic identities have bucked the trend, boasting high enrollment for fall 2024.

College enrollment has been declining since 2010 by approximately 12%. Enrollment at private four-year colleges decreased by 54% from 2010 to 2021. Meanwhile, enrollment nationwide declined by 7% from 2019 to 2022.

But at 11 Catholic colleges, enrollment is up, some with record enrollment rates. What these thriving colleges have in common is a “strong Catholic identity,” according to the Newman Guide, an education resource for Catholics by the Cardinal Newman Society. CNA caught up with some of these Catholic schools to ask their leaders why they believe their schools are thriving.

University of Mary (North Dakota)

University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota, had its largest incoming class for its second year straight, the media relations specialist for “UMary,” Tom Ackerman, told CNA. This fall, enrollment increased from 3,805 students in 2023 to 3,861 students.

UMary Vice President for Public Affairs Rachael Brash credited the growth to UMary’s “authentic” Catholic identity.

“When you are mission-centric in everything that you do for students, it shows,” Brash told CNA. “It goes in direct opposition to what’s happening in so many parts of our culture today.” 

UMary has 24-hour-a-day adoration at its Benet Chapel and offers eight different Catholic student groups, including the Knights of Columbus and FOCUS. 

“I think that the students, prospective students, and their families are seeking authenticity,” she said. “At the University of Mary, what we hear the most out of our students is that we are who we say we are. And that’s why I think so many places, including the University of Mary, are succeeding in bucking against that trend of declining enrollment. It’s because we have kept ourselves ordered correctly and understanding who we’re serving.”

“We want our students to feel like they come home when they come to our campus,” Brash said of UMary. 

“We have an environment where we want students to flourish throughout the whole of their life,” Brash said. “And so our students come prepared, not just with the current relevant skill sets and the newest technology, but the ability to understand the world and interact in it in a way that is true to both our mission, but that’s true to serve them throughout the whole of their life.” 

Belmont Abbey College (North Carolina)

Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, North Carolina, just outside Charlotte, announced its fourth-highest enrollment rates in the college’s history. The college had a 2% increase in enrollment since last year, with 1,687 students enrolled, including in-person and online undergraduate and graduate students.

Belmont Abbey College as well as UMary both feature maternity programs for student mothers. Belmont’s maternity program for pregnant college students is known as MiraVia. UMary’s St. Teresa of Calcutta Community for Mothers program made headlines last year after its first student mom graduated with her daughter.

“It’s providing these young mothers with a great opportunity to go to school and get their bachelor’s degree,” Brash said of UMary’s program. “But we’re equally as blessed to have these young children on our campus and for students to be babysitting them and for these mothers to be helping each other and for their opportunity to go to a job here on campus.”

“We talk about being pro-life, and of course, you know this, that in our culture, that’s talked mainly about abortion and end of life,” she said. “But for life, so much of it happens between birth and death.”

Franciscan University of Steubenville (Ohio)

Franciscan University of Steubenville (FUS) in Ohio has hit its 10th consecutive year of record-breaking enrollment, John Romanowsky, director of marketing and media relations, told CNA. FUS welcomed its largest-ever incoming class of 812 students. The university has a total of 3,977 students enrolled in both its in-person and online programs. 

At least four Masses are offered daily on campus, often with standing room only, Stephen Hildebrand, vice president for academic affairs and a theology professor at FUS, told CNA last December. 

FUS has continued its growth by launching a Washington, D.C., program this fall for students that prioritizes evangelization, formation, and bringing a Catholic perspective to the capital.

The Catholic University of America (Washington, D.C.)

The Catholic University of America (CUA), America’s oldest Catholic research university, experienced slight growth in enrollment amid challenges, Vice President for University Communications Karna Lozoya told CNA. 

“Like many Catholic universities nationwide, this enrollment cycle presented challenges in first-time fall enrollment due to the well-documented FAFSA delays and the resultant cost uncertainty,” Lozoya said. “Despite these obstacles, we are pleased to report a slight increase in overall student enrollment.”

CUA has had increased interest in applications as part of “an upward trend in interest we’ve seen over the past several years,” Lozoya noted.

Ave Maria University (Florida)

Ave Maria University in Florida also had record-high enrollment in fall 2024 while increasing its GPA standards for applicants.

“Students want to come here,” Susan Gallagher, vice president of marketing and communications, said, “especially when they visit and see the Ave joy — joy in the truth.” 

Ave Maria also has the highest percentage of Catholic students in more than a decade, at 93%. 

University of Dallas (Texas)

Another university that has seen increased enrollment is the University of Dallas, where freshman enrollment was up significantly over last year, with a class of nearly 400 — a 14% increase from last year, Clare Venegas, vice president of marketing and communications, told CNA. 

“Our strong Catholic identity coupled with the academic rigor of our curriculum are both key reasons students cite for choosing UDallas,” Venegas said.

University of St. Thomas, Houston (Texas)

University of St. Thomas, Houston, another Catholic university in Texas, also welcomed a record-breaking undergraduate class this fall, with 683 freshmen and more than 200 new transfer students, according to Sara Nevares Johnson, dean of admissions.

She said the school has been taking steps to increase enrollment and development. 

“At the University of St. Thomas, we’re witnessing a growing desire among students to develop holistically — in mind, body, and spirit,” Nevares Johnson told CNA. “Our year-over-year increase in inquiries and applications reflects a rising interest in pursuing a liberal arts education right here in the heart of Houston, standing in contrast to the national trend of declining university enrollment.”

“Rooted in the traditions of the Basilian Fathers, our mission resonates with students seeking a deeper understanding of their purpose and place in the world,” she said.

Benedictine College (Kansas)

A liberal arts college in a small city of 10,000 has been growing for the past 20 years. Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, has seen “another year of record enrollment, with 2,213 full-time undergraduates,” Benedictine College’s Director of Marketing and Communications Stephen Johnson told CNA. 

“This is a continuing trend of positive enrollment growth over the past 20-plus years,” he added. 

Benedictine is seeing growing freshmen classes as well as “large increases” in transfer students, Johnson noted.

Benedictine highlights Catholic values such as being “Christ-centered” and community- and faith-oriented, according to its website.

The small but mighty

Most liberal arts colleges are on the small side, with numbers in the thousands, compared with public universities, which can reach tens of thousands. Some Catholic liberal arts colleges are designed for an even smaller number of students. In spite of being small by design, these colleges are still setting records.

Thomas More College of Liberal Arts (New Hampshire)

The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in New Hampshire, which keeps its student body intentionally small, hit its largest number of students this year: 98, the college president, William Edmund Fahey, told CNA. The college’s student body has more than doubled since 2009.

Fahey said the college is “at the point at which we will need to run a building campaign so as to house the increase.”

Christendom College (Virginia)

Another school that is intentionally small but growing is Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia. Christendom reached its enrollment cap for the past four years, instituting a waiting list each year. 

“We had to institute a waiting list for the fourth year in a row this year, due to the continued high demand for a Christendom education,” Christendom Director of Communications Zachary Smith told CNA. “In fact, over the past 10 years, Christendom has grown by 40%, helping us to achieve our cap of 550 students.”

“We keep the school intentionally small in order to keep class sizes smaller,” Smith explained. “This fosters more discussion in the classroom and better connections between students, their peers, and their professors.”

Thomas Aquinas College (California and Massachusetts)

Another intentionally small school, Thomas Aquinas College, has expanded to two campuses to grow. “TAC” keeps its student body intentionally small given its Socratic style classes and focuses on a tight-knit community. TAC has two campuses, one in California and one in New England. 

The two campuses combined hit record-high enrollment this fall at 566 students, Christopher Weinkopf, the college’s executive director for college relations, told CNA. The California campus was near capacity, at 372 students, and the New England campus has its largest student body yet, at 194 students, about a 13% increase since last year, according to Weinkopf.  

“These numbers are very much in keeping with the overall trend: California has been at maximum capacity for years, and the number of students on our New England campus has nearly quadrupled since its launching in 2019, in keeping with our campus growth plan,” Weinkopf explained. 

John Paul the Great Catholic University (California)

John Paul the Great Catholic University in California is another school that focuses closely on a small number of students, with 288 students enrolled this year. Known as “JPCatholic,” the university focuses on creative arts and business innovation. The school has seen growth in the past year, despite uncertainty. 

“The flawed new FAFSA rollout caused great uncertainty to college-bound students in 2024, and this impacted JPCatholic,” James Crowell, mission advancement officer at JPCatholic, told CNA. “Despite this, JPCatholic had a 1% increase in fall student enrollment over 2023.”

“We are a niche school, so our focus is a small number of kids but the highest quality of education,” he added.

JPCatholic has also recently added a fashion program and plans are underway to double the school’s academic space through its new creative arts academic complex.

Other Newman Guide schools including Wyoming Catholic College are known for their Catholic identity but did not respond with enrollment data in time for publication.

This story was updated on Oct. 11, 2024, at 5:42 p.m. ET with information on John Paul the Great Catholic University.