Ss. Cyril and Methodius Ukrainian Catholic Church

The Hillbilly Thomists perform at St. Francis Hall in Washington, D.C., as part of their ongoing Marigold Tour on Aug. 8, 2024. / Credit: Gigi Duncan/CNA

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 14, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Following the release of their new album, titled “Marigold,” the Hillbilly Thomists performed in Washington, D.C., as part of their ongoing Marigold Tour on Aug. 8, the feast of St. Dominic.

Playing at St. Francis Hall to a sold-out crowd of more than 150 people, the band of Dominican friars played various songs from all four of their albums, including their latest album, which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard bluegrass charts after its July 26 release.

“Our music is influenced by the bluegrass genre, but it’s become our own thing because we’re all Dominicans,” shared Father Peter Gautsch, who plays the guitar. “Bluegrass has a tradition of the Gospel, but we bring a Catholic twist to it.”

For example, band members spoke of their song “Marigold,” sharing how the “marigold flower is associated with Our Lady” and citing their inspiration to write the tune as a “prayer for growing in patience, especially for the good things, and asking [the Blessed Virgin Mary], who is most patient, to pray for us.”

The concert’s crowd consisted of many young people and families who danced and sang along to songs such as “Marigold” as the Dominican brothers interacted with those in attendance before, during, and after the show.

“I first heard about the Hillbilly Thomists when I was involved in college and the Thomistic Institute, which had an annual leadership conference where Father Jonah Teller and Father Thomas Joseph White spoke,” shared Celia Hadjin, a 23-year-old concertgoer. “They played a mini set from their new album at the time, ‘Holy Ghost Power,’ and I really liked their music, so I looked them up afterwards and became a fan.”

Many followed the Dominican brothers throughout their summer tour, which has so far included stops in Knoxville, Tennessee; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Savannah, Georgia. In Savannah, band members were able to visit the birthplace of Flannery O’Connor, a popular Catholic novelist who has inspired many lyrics of the Hillbilly Thomists’ songs — as well as the band’s name.

“Flannery O’Connor said in one of her letters, ‘I am not a hillbilly nihilist, I am a hillbilly Thomist,’” shared Father Thomas Joseph White. “One of her famous stories was called ‘A Good Man Is Hard to Find,’ so we said that a good band is hard to find.”

The band began in 2016 at the Dominican House of Studies (DHS) in Washington, D.C., where the friars often sang as part of their community life and formation.

“As many of you probably know, we don’t perform full time. We do this two weeks out of the year and are blessed to be able to share it tonight with you all,” the band told concertgoers. “We recorded our first album in the DHS just down the street as a homemade project.”

Since then, the Hillbilly Thomists have gone on to engineer-record and release four albums consisting of both original and cover songs as well as perform on tours following each album’s release.

Usually consisting of about 15 shows, the Dominican friars often enjoy ending each concert with night prayer. Having reemerged on stage for an encore at St. Francis Hall, the band acknowledged that they are “first and foremost priests and religious,” sharing that they had been “praying for [the concert attendees] over the past year.”

They then chose to pray by singing the Christian hymn “Just As I Am,” which, according to the band, gets “to the real beauty of our faith, which is that God loves us unconditionally. That oftentimes we can fool ourselves and get confused, thinking that we have to do something to prove our worth to Jesus.”

“But the reality is that God loves us in the good and the bad times, that he doesn’t wait for us to fix our lives to love us, but rather loves us just how we are in the messy, complicated state that we exist in,” they shared.

Similar to this hymn, the Hillbilly Thomists’ music often delves into the themes of Christian suffering, hope, and determination.

“Music is another way to preach. It’s a way into the heart, as you can communicate some beautiful truths about the faith and life through storytelling and music,” Father Justin Teller told CNA. “So there’s kind of authentic, real-life themes that are taken up in the bluegrass, folk-type music. People respond well and really appreciate that we’re singing about maybe some kind of tragedy or suffering that one can go through but also the hope that is given to us as Christians.”

St. Maximilian Kolbe. / Credit: Nancy Bauer/Shutterstock

Rome Newsroom, Aug 14, 2024 / 04:00 am (CNA).

As World War II raged around him in Poland, St. Maximilian Kolbe fought for souls using a printing press and another “weapon” — the Miraculous Medal.

“Even though a person be the worst sort, if only he agrees to wear the medal, give it to him … and then pray for him, and at the proper moment strive to bring him closer to his Immaculate Mother, so that he have recourse to her in all difficulties and temptations,” Kolbe said of the Miraculous Medal.

“This is truly our heavenly weapon,” the saint said, describing the medal as “a bullet with which a faithful soldier hits the enemy, i.e. evil, and thus rescues souls.”

The Miraculous Medal is a sacramental inspired by the Marian apparition to St. Catherine Labouré in Paris in 1830. The Virgin Mary appeared to Labouré as the Immaculate Conception standing on a globe with light streaming from her hands and crushing a serpent under her foot.

“A voice said to me, ‘Have a medal struck after this model. All who wear it will receive great graces, especially if they wear it around the neck,’” Labouré said.

As a Franciscan seminarian studying in Rome in 1917, Kolbe was moved by the story of the role the Miraculous Medal played in the conversion of Alphonse Ratisbonne.

Ratisbonne was a French Freemason and an atheist of Jewish descent who received the grace of conversion while wearing a Miraculous Medal given to him by one of his Catholic friends in Rome. The Virgin Mary appeared to Ratisbonne on Jan. 20, 1842, in a side chapel in the Church of Sant’Andrea delle Fratte in Rome.

St. Maximilian Kolbe chose to celebrate his first Mass on April 29, 1918, in the side chapel in Sant’Andrea delle Fratte, where the Virgin Mary appeared to Ratisbonne.

Ratisbonne went on to be ordained a Jesuit priest and eventually left the order to move to Jerusalem in 1855 to found a convent for sisters in the Congregation of Our Lady of Sion, a congregation founded to “to witness in the Church and in the world that God continues to be faithful in his love for the Jewish people.”

Kolbe went on to give his life in place of a fellow prisoner in Auschwitz, a man who had a wife and children. He died of a carbolic acid injection in the concentration camp Aug. 14, 1941. The Nazi officials cremated Kolbe’s body on the feast of the Assumption of Mary.

Kolbe is known for being an effective evangelist and missionary. Before moving to Japan in 1930, Kolbe made a pilgrimage to the Chapel of the Miraculous Medal on Rue de Bac in Paris.

Pope John Paul II remembered Kolbe’s visit when he prayed in the Paris chapel in 1980.

“I come as a pilgrim, after all those who came to this chapel in 150 years, like all Christians who flock here every day to express their joy, their trust, and their supplications. I come as Blessed Maximilian Kolbe: Before his missionary journey to Japan, just 50 years ago, he came here to seek your support to propagate what he later called ‘the Militia of the Immaculate’ and undertake his prodigious work of spiritual renewal under your patronage, before giving his life for his brothers,” John Paul II said.

Kolbe formed the Militia Immaculata in 1917 to “lead every individual with Mary to the most Sacred Heart of Jesus.” He asked all Militia Immaculata members to wear the Miraculous Medal as a sign of their total consecration to Mary.

“Now in this epoch of the Immaculate Conception the most Blessed Virgin has given mankind the ‘Miraculous Medal.’ Its heavenly origin has been proven by countless miracles of healing and particularly of conversion,” Kolbe wrote.

“The Immaculata herself in revealing it promised all who would wear it very many graces; and since conversion and sanctification are divine graces from God, the Miraculous Medal will be one of the best means for attaining these gifts,” he said.

Kolbe also added to St. Catherine’s prayer associated with the sacramental: “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you.” To this, Kolbe added: “And for all who do not have recourse to you, especially the enemies of the Church and those recommended to you. Amen.”

This article was originally published on CNA on Aug. 14, 2019, and has been updated.

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Superior, which has programs for the disabled, elderly, and impoverished, argued caring for those in need is part of its religious mission. / Credit: Catholic Charities Bureau

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 13, 2024 / 19:18 pm (CNA).

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Superior, Wisconsin, has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a decision to remove its religious organization designation and bar it from receiving a religious tax exemption.

The agency, which operates under the purview of the Diocese of Superior and has programs for the disabled, elderly, and impoverished, argued caring for those in need is part of its religious mission. 

“Catholic Charities Bureau carries out our diocese’s essential ministry of caring for the most vulnerable members of our society,” Bishop James Powers of Superior said in a statement released on the day of Catholic Charities’ appeal to the Supreme Court.

“We pray the court will recognize that this work of improving the human condition is rooted in Christ’s call to care for those in need,” Powers added.

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Superior is appealing a March ruling by the Wisconsin Supreme Court that said the organization isn’t entitled to receive a religious exemption and must pay into the state unemployment system. The 4-3 ruling said that because Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Superior’s activities are not “primarily” religious the group does not qualify as a religious organization.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court also said that to successfully challenge the state’s primarily religious standard, Catholic Charities would have to prove it was unconstitutional “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

On Aug. 9 Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Superior appealed the March ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. The group is being represented by Becket, a firm that specializes in religious liberty cases and has been involved with several high-profile Supreme Court cases.

In its appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, Catholic Charities called the Wisconsin court’s ruling “absurd” and argued that it curtails its First Amendment rights by “penalizing Catholic Charities for engaging in critical parts of its ministry” including “serving those in need without proselytizing.”

“The state denied Catholic Charities an exemption precisely because its religious beliefs and exercise differed from what the Wisconsin Supreme Court thought were ‘typical’ religious activities,” Catholic Charities wrote in its appeal. “That wrongly disfavors those religious traditions that ask believers to care for the poor without strings attached.”

The appeal states that a ruling by the Supreme Court would resolve religious liberty questions impacting churches and faiths beyond just Wisconsin.

The questions Catholic Charities, represented by Becket, are posing to the Supreme Court are: 1) whether a state violates the First Amendment by denying tax breaks to one religious group while denying them to another; and 2) whether a state can impose a beyond a reasonable doubt standard for constitutional challenges.

According to the appeal, the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision “deepens a split among lower courts over whether federal constitutional violations must be proven ‘beyond a reasonable doubt.’”

The appeal argues that this case is the “ideal vehicle” to resolve the split and to “set this important area of law onto a firmer — and constitutionally sounder — footing.”

“It shouldn’t take a theologian to understand that serving the poor is a religious duty for Catholics,” Eric Rassbach, vice president of Becket, said in a statement. “But the Wisconsin Supreme Court embraced the absurd conclusion that Catholic Charities has no religious purpose. We’re asking the Supreme Court to step in and fix that mistake.” 

In his remarks at the ordination of 23 new priests, Bishop Godfrey Igwebuike Onah expressed gratitude and joy for the growing number of priests serving in his Episcopal See in Nigeria’s Catholic Diocese of Nsukka on Aug. 10, 2024. / Credit: Diocese of Nsukka

ACI Africa, Aug 13, 2024 / 18:58 pm (CNA).

The number of Catholic priests serving Nigeria’s Diocese of Nsukka has surpassed 400 following the ordination of 23 new priests on Aug. 10.

In remarks at the end of the ordination, Bishop Godfrey Igwebuike Onah expressed gratitude and joy for the growing number of priests serving in his diocese. 

“I must render one apology to all the Nsukka priests who are not in the sanctuary. With the ordination today we are now 417 priests in this diocese,” Onah said during the Mass at St. Theresa Cathedral. “Now you understand why some of you for the past 10 years have not been able to impose hands on your newly ordained brothers, because if all of us were to impose hands, we would still be [doing it].”

“But in the future, we will find a way to [allow] as many of you as possible to exercise this gesture,” the bishop said.

In his homily, Onah issued a caution about the use of social media platforms in a priest’s ministry.

“There are certain places priests must avoid, certain websites they must not visit, certain apps they must not download, and certain networks they must not engage with. Even their attire must reflect their sacred calling,” he said.

“As priests, they must be discerning about where they go and what they do. They must remember that they are earthen vessels carrying a precious treasure, and they must guard it carefully,” the bishop added.

Onah reiterated the importance of priests living lives that reflect their sacred calling, not only in their ministry but also in all aspects of their behavior.

“Priests are called to stand between the people and God, to offer prayers on behalf of the Church, and to convey God’s message to the people. While the temptation for priests to become activists is great, their true calling is to be men of prayer, leading the faithful in holiness,” Onah said.

He further highlighted the global context of their calling, reminding the 23 deacons being ordained to the priesthood that they belong not just to their local diocese but to the worldwide Catholic Church. 

“Although every priest is ordained for a particular diocese or religious institute, every priest belongs to the Catholic Church and for the whole world. From this moment on, their personal ideas, interests, and charisms will be put in the service of God’s word,” he said.

Drawing parallels to the prophet Jeremiah, who was called to prophesy to the nations, Onah urged the new priests to see their mission as one that transcends borders and to be prepared for the difficult tasks ahead.

“As long as they are faithful to this mission, they need not fear. In Christ, the roles of shepherd, priest, and prophet are combined, and your brothers and friends are now assuming this responsibility,” Onah said.

Onah, who has led Nigeria’s Nsukka Diocese since July 2013, told the newly ordained priests that they are now “profoundly transformed and configured to Christ.” He reminded them that the grace they receive through ordination equips them to fulfill their sacred duties.

“[They will draw people away from sin through baptism, reconcile them through the sacrament of penance, strengthen them in Christ through the Eucharist, and heal them through the sacrament of anointing. Satan will not be pleased with their work. Therefore, they must be cautious, mindful of their fragility as earthen vessels and the preciousness of the treasure they carry,” Onah said.

He told the 23 new clergy that they are not the “result of an accident, no matter what science suggests. Every human being is a unique expression of God’s love — unique and irreplaceable.”

Onah called on the faithful to support the new priests with prayers and to allow them to exercise their ministry without interference. 

He expressed gratitude to “families, parish communities, and all who contributed to the formation of these young men, recognizing the collective effort required to prepare them for their lifelong commitment."

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

Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller — the former head of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) — said there is “no proof” that he mishandled money during his tenure and referred to allegations of financial improprieties as a “defamation strategy” in an EWTN interview that aired on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024. / Credit: EWTN News/The World Over with Raymond Arroyo

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 13, 2024 / 16:46 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller — the former head of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) — said there is “no proof” that he mishandled money during his tenure and referred to allegations of financial improprieties as a “defamation strategy” in an EWTN interview that aired on Thursday, Aug. 8.

“They have no arguments against my ideology, and therefore they want to disavow or make defamation of my person,” Müller said on “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo.”

Pope Benedict XVI appointed Müller as the prefect for the CDF in July 2012, but Pope Francis declined to renew the appointment in 2017.

The Vatican did not disclose why the pontiff would not allow Müller to continue serving in the CDF. However, a report published by the Catholic website The Pillar on July 31, citing anonymous sources, claims the cardinal and the CDF were investigated for “charges of significant financial improprieties” prior to the decision. This report comes more than seven years after his departure.

According to the sources, tens of thousands of euros of the CDF’s funds were kept in office drawers and used as unreceipted discretionary funds. The report claims that Secretariat for the Economy officials witnessed CDF officials moving large sums of cash in plastic bags. It further alleges that 200,000 euros’ worth of CDF funds were deposited into the cardinal’s personal bank accounts, which Francis ordered him to pay back. 

In his interview with Arroyo, Müller said these claims date back to “nine years ago” but that there was “no money missing” and that everything “was clarified with Cardinal [George] Pell,” who led the Secretariat for the Economy at the time. According to Müller, “there were no accusations against myself.”

According to Müller, the cash in the office was “in the hands of our administrator” and was never put into “private pockets.” He said: “They cannot give [any] proof that [there] was any disappearing of money.” The cardinal added that “nobody … took away a penny.” 

Müller also denied any money was put in a “personal account.” He said that “there was an account for the mission … but it was absolutely clear that it was money of the congregation and not my personal money.”

“It was on the responsibility of the prefect, in my function as prefect, and not in a private way,” the former CDF prefect said, adding that “this account [was] in the service of the congregation [and] it was all documented.”

Müller said “the pope was not involved” in any investigation and that the pope never instructed him to return any money.

“I came to Rome with … Pope Benedict and he asked me to lead the congregation … as an expert of theology and [it had] nothing to do with finance,” the cardinal said. “I didn’t come to Rome to make money. As a German bishop, as a priest, we have our livelihood, and the rest of our money [is] for giving, making charity, and not making money to become a rich man.”

Earlier this month, Müller referred to the article as “cheap tabloid literature.”

In his interview with Arroyo, Müller said the timing is likely related to the Synod on Synodality concluding in October. The cardinal, one of 52 delegates personally chosen by Francis to attend the synod, has since criticized some of the attendees for using it as an avenue to promote homosexuality and the ordination of women and advance other ideas contrary to Church doctrine.

“I don’t know who is behind [these allegations] because this was an anonymous strategy,” he told Arroyo. “I asked [myself] if these people have nothing to do in their working time [other than] to arrange strategies of defamation instead of doing their work for the Church.”

After Müller was out at the CDF, he was replaced by Cardinal Luis Ladaria Ferrer, a Spanish Jesuit. The Vatican changed the name of the office to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2022, and it is now led by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández.

null / Credit: Robert Kneschke/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 13, 2024 / 16:16 pm (CNA).

After a new Gallup poll found that 7 out of 10 Americans (71%) support legalized euthanasia, Dr. Scott French, a Catholic emergency physician and researcher, believes that Americans’ broad support for euthanasia is based on a “false dichotomy.”

French told CNA that headlines claiming that “most Americans favor legal euthanasia” are likely exaggerations of the reality based on misleading survey questions.

“Even Gallup has stated that ‘U.S. support for euthanasia hinges on how it’s described,’” French said. “But the assumption that people must choose between death with pain and death without pain is a false dichotomy.”

What did the Gallup poll say?

Published on Aug. 8, the Gallup poll said that American support for legal euthanasia has remained relatively steady since 1996, with 71% of Americans favoring the practice in 2024.

Gallup asked the question: “When a person has a disease that cannot be cured, do you think doctors should be allowed by law to end the patient’s life by some painless means if the patient and his or her family request it?”

Though roughly 7 out of 10 respondents answered yes to this question, Gallup found there was slightly less support for legalized physician-assisted suicide. 

Though often used interchangeably, euthanasia and assisted suicide are different. Euthanasia refers to the practice of a medical professional or other person directly acting to end the life of a patient. Assisted suicide is the act of making the means of suicide — such as a lethal dose of medication — available to the patient, who subsequently acts on his or her own.

According to the study 66% of respondents said they thought doctors should “be allowed by law to assist the patient to commit suicide if the patient requests it.”

The study found that just over half — 53% — of American adults believe that doctor-assisted suicide is morally acceptable. Only 40% of Americans believe doctor-assisted suicide is morally wrong.

Gallup found that moral opinions on doctor-assisted suicide are closely tied to religious attendance and identity. The overwhelming majority — 77% — of those identifying with no religion and 67% of those attending religious services seldom or never believe doctor-assisted suicide is morally acceptable.

Meanwhile, 66% of those attending religious services weekly believe doctor-assisted suicide is morally wrong.

Support among Catholics is nearly split, with 49% of Catholics believing doctor-assisted suicide is morally wrong and 44% believing it is morally acceptable.

Support for legal euthanasia has about doubled from when Gallup first asked the question in 1947. At that time 37% of respondents said they favored legal euthanasia through painless means.

False dichotomy

French, who is on the board of advisers for the Catholic scientific organization the Magis Center, said that based on how the questions were phrased it is “no wonder so many people approve of euthanasia.”

“As we can see from how the two questions are framed, underlying is a false assumption that people are dying a very painful death,” he said. He believes that the idea that many patients facing the end of their lives must choose between a painful death and painless assisted suicide is a false dichotomy.

“As an emergency physician I have witnessed firsthand the vastly improved treatment of end-of-life pain as well as chronic pain and rare pain syndromes,” he said.

There have been “great strides” in hospice and palliative care as well as a “significant increase” in safe and effective pain relief medications, according to French. Because of this, he said that it is rare for a patient to receive inadequate pain treatment at the end of life.

Despite these technological and medicinal advancements, the trend in the U.S. has been toward expanding the legality of assisted suicide.

Federal law prohibits forced euthanasia but takes no stance on assisted suicide. Nine states — California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington — and the District of Columbia have “medical aid in dying” (MAID) laws that allow assisted suicide. Several other states, such as Minnesota and Virginia, are also considering passing similar MAID laws.  

French explained that the result of laws such as these is a “slippery slope” in which patients of all ages who are experiencing depression, disability, or other issues are hastened toward death as the “preferred solution.”

The U.S. bishops have firmly denounced the practice of assisted suicide. In January, Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, wrote in a Word On Fire article that assisted suicide is “intrinsically evil” and “incapable of being morally sanctioned, no matter how extenuating the circumstances or how beneficial the consequences.”

“Though we place a huge premium on it in our culture, I don’t consider autonomy the supreme value. Authentic freedom is not radical self-determination; rather, it is ordered to certain goods that the mind has discerned,” Barron wrote. “Even if a dying person found himself in great pain, actively killing himself would not be morally justifiable.”

Aerial view of Buffalo, New York, with a focus on St. Ann's Roman Catholic Church (left). / Credit: Library of Congress online catalog

CNA Staff, Aug 13, 2024 / 15:32 pm (CNA).

After a viral social media post on Sunday highlighted the sale of a prominent Catholic church in Buffalo to a Muslim group, the timeline for the church’s ultimate conversion to a mosque remains unclear. 

The Diocese of Buffalo sold the former St. Ann’s Church and Shrine to a group associated with the local Downtown Islamic Center in late 2022. 

The Buffalo News reported that Buffalo Crescent Holdings, a group associated with the Downtown Islamic Center, purchased the property in November 2022 for $250,000. The Islamic Center already operates a small place of worship near the former church. 

Plans for a multimillion-dollar project at one point included an Islamic school and college for as many as 3,000 students, a shopping plaza, and a Muslim funeral home, the Buffalo News reported in 2022.

For its part, however, the Downtown Islamic Center has not updated its website with new information about the renovation since July 2022 but appears to still be accepting donations for the project. 

CNA reached out to the Downtown Islamic Center via email to ask about the current status of the mosque’s plans but did not hear back by time of publication. When reached by phone, a volunteer at the Downtown Islamic Center told CNA that only “minor updates” are being done to the former St. Ann’s property at the moment, such as repairing a door and cutting the grass. 

The troubled Diocese of Buffalo, meanwhile, announced the sale of its downtown headquarters in March for nearly $10 million. The diocese had in 2020 formally filed for Chapter 11 reorganization under the U.S. bankruptcy code, and diocesan officials announced in October 2023 that the diocese would be putting forth $100 million to settle the numerous abuse claims lodged against it.

What happened to the church?

St. Ann’s, a historic German parish first established in 1886, was closed more than a decade ago amid estimates that it could take millions of dollars to renovate the property. The parish had been merged with another one in 2007 amid a diocesan-wide parish consolidation process. 

In 2014, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Clergy decreed that St. Ann’s could not be sold or repurposed for profane use (meaning a secular purpose). The Buffalo Diocese had already closed the shrine in 2012 when structural issues were found and originally wanted to demolish the property but later sought to sell the complex to a secular developer. 

The Church’s highest court, the Apostolic Signatura, in 2017 under prefect Cardinal Dominique Mamberti reversed the dicastery’s decree at the request of then-Bishop Richard Malone, allowing the property to be sold.

“Now that the Vatican has ruled, the decision to close the church is final,” Malone said in a statement to the Buffalo News at the time.

“We will do all that we can, within the confines of safety and feasibility, to remove all sacred and artistically significant artifacts.”

The Buffalo News notes that if St. Ann’s does ultimately become a mosque, it would not be the first Catholic church in Buffalo to become one. Darul Uloom Al Madania, an Islamic school, in 1994 bought the former Holy Mother of Rosary Polish National Catholic Cathedral. In 2009, the former Queen of Peace Church was purchased and converted into a mosque.

null / Credit: PUWADON SANG/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Aug 13, 2024 / 14:25 pm (CNA).

The Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board on Monday unanimously rescinded the contract for what would have been the nation’s first religious charter school. 

St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School would have been the first religious charter school in the nation, but in late June the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled against its establishment and ordered the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board to drop the Catholic institution’s contract. A charter school is a privately run, publicly funded school. 

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, a Republican who has opposed the school on religious freedom grounds, requested the Oklahoma school board rescind the contract or face contempt charges. 

“While it is appalling that the Statewide Charter School Board took so long to recognize the authority of the Oklahoma Supreme Court, I am pleased that board members finally fulfilled their duty,” Drummond said in a statement Monday.

St. Isidore has appealed the decision to the United States Supreme Court and requested a stay of the court order for the duration of the legal process, but the request was denied last week. 

Meanwhile, the Virtual Charter School Board — which has since been incorporated into the Statewide Charter School Board — delayed rescinding the contract pending the outcome of the appeal. The school board had met two times previously without complying with the court order to rescind the contract.

The board rescinded the contract on Monday but voted that St. Isidore’s contract would be immediately reinstated if a court were to reverse or nullify the current orders.

While Drummond and others argue that funding the school with taxpayers’ money would violate religious freedom, proponents of St. Isidore argue that rescinding its contract violates religious freedom. 

“The proposed state-sponsored religious charter school, funded by our tax dollars, represents a serious threat to the religious liberty of all Oklahomans,” Drummond said. 

A 2022 Supreme Court ruling found that Maine couldn’t exclude religious schools from a tuition aid program because it violates the free exercise clause. Other states have established voucher systems allowing tuition aid for students to attend private religious schools.

One proponent of St. Isidore’s, Oklahoma state superintendent Ryan Walters — who recently mandated using the Bible as a historical document in schools  — called the decision “shameful.”

“The Oklahoma Supreme Court has failed Oklahomans in their latest dismal ruling against parents and kids,” he said in a statement Monday. 

“They have chosen the path of liberal extremism and Marxism by depriving parents of a choice,” Walters continued. “It’s shameful but predictable from a failed judicial system. They do not represent conservative Oklahoma values.”

St. Isidore is currently working with attorneys from the Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic, formerly the Notre Dame Religious Liberty Clinic, part of the Notre Dame Law School Religious Liberty Initiative, to appeal the decision. 

Clinic director John Meiser told CNA in an email that these developments “have not altered St. Isidore's plans or its commitment to bringing the best educational opportunities possible to communities across Oklahoma.”

“We continue to work to ensure that the school will be able to fulfill this worthy mission and to remedy the Oklahoma Supreme Court's errant decision condoning discrimination against religious educators,’ he said in the statement. 

St. Isidore was initially set to launch in August as an online, tuition-free, Catholic K–12 charter school managed by the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa, with 200 students registered to start in the fall.

This article was updated on Aug. 13, 2024.

Pro-life activist Matthew Engelthaler places signs in front of Camelback Family Planning, an abortion clinic in Phoenix, on April 18, 2024. / Credit: FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images

CNA Staff, Aug 13, 2024 / 12:12 pm (CNA).

A measure to enshrine abortion into the Arizona Constitution will appear on the November ballot.

“The Arizona Abortion Access Act is on the ballot as Proposition 139!” Arizona for Abortion Access announced on its Facebook page on Monday. “This is Arizona’s chance to restore and protect the right to access abortion care, once and for all.”

The pro-abortion activists were required to collect about 380,000 signatures to place the measure on the ballot; they reportedly collected more than 575,000 signatures.

The proposal, if passed, would create “a fundamental right to abortion under Arizona’s constitution.” The government would “not be able to interfere with this fundamental right” prior to “fetal viability” absent a “compelling reason.”

Either before or after viability, meanwhile, the state “will not be able to interfere with the good-faith judgment of a treating health care professional that an abortion is necessary to protect the life or health of the pregnant [woman].”

Arizona currently bans abortion after 15 weeks. 

Nearly a dozen states are considering pro-abortion measures ahead of the November elections. 

Abortion advocates have made gains in recent weeks to place pro-abortion measures on their respective state ballots. 

In June, activists in Nevada succeeded in placing a proposal on the 2024 ballot that would expand abortion by establishing it as a “fundamental right” to be exercised up until fetal viability “without interference from the state.” That amendment will have to be approved by a simple majority of voters in two consecutive elections.

In New York in June, meanwhile, an appellate court ruled in favor of putting a proposed abortion amendment on the Nov. 5 ballot after a lower court had ordered it removed. 

And in Arkansas in July, a pro-abortion group announced that it obtained the necessary signatures to put an abortion proposal on the state ballot. The proposal was rejected by the Arkansas secretary of state; the pro-abortion group is contesting the decision. 

Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz appears at a campaign rally at United Auto Workers Local 900 on Aug. 8, 2024, in Wayne, Michigan. / Credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 13, 2024 / 11:42 am (CNA).

Vice President Kamala Harris’ selection of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate for the 2024 presidential election last week was met with concern from several Catholic leaders, some of whom cited his “extreme” views that they say put him at odds with Catholic teaching. 

Based on his record as governor, here’s a look at where he stands on various issues that matter to Catholics.

Gender ideology

During Walz’s tenure as governor, he has supported the promotion of gender ideology in the classroom setting, backed laws to ensure doctors can perform sex-change operations on minors, and supported a ban on counseling services that discourage minors from changing their gender.

In March 2023, Walz signed an executive order that directed that state agencies must “protect” people who seek sex-change operations, including children, and must refuse to cooperate with other states that are trying to penalize anyone for facilitating a sex-change operation on a minor.

The following month, he signed a bill that allows Minnesota courts to take temporary emergency jurisdiction over child custody disputes if one parent takes a child into the state to obtain a sex-change operation or sex-change drugs. The bill prohibits Minnesota courts from cooperating with court orders from other states if the other parent is trying to prevent the child from obtaining the drugs or the operation.

In April 2023, Walz also signed a bill that prohibits mental health professionals from providing “conversion therapy.” The bill’s definition of conversion therapy includes counseling services that help children with gender dysphoria become more comfortable with their biological sex. Rather, the law explicitly protects counseling that seeks to socially transition a child’s gender. 

Walz’s support of gender ideology also extended to the classroom.

He signed legislation that prohibits local school boards from removing books from school libraries that promote gender ideology and contain controversial material that some parents believe are sexually explicit. The law also prohibits public libraries and colleges from restricting such material. The law states that only professional librarians or someone with certain qualifications can determine what books are provided in the libraries.

Another law signed by Walz requires that schools make tampons and other menstrual hygiene products available in both male and female bathrooms. Republicans sought an amendment to limit the requirement to only female bathrooms, which failed.

Abortion and IVF

Minnesota has some of the most pro-abortion laws in the country: Elective abortions are legal through the entirety of pregnancy, until the moment of birth. Abortionists can also perform an abortion on a minor of any age and at any stage of pregnancy without notifying the child’s parents.

In January 2023, Walz signed the Protect Reproductive Actions Act, which ensures those standards remain in place. The bill states that every person has a right to “obtain an abortion” and prohibits local governments from imposing limits on that right.

Walz signed another bill in April 2023 that prohibits the extradition of someone who is accused of performing an illegal abortion in another state. The law also states that Minnesota won’t recognize civil or criminal subpoenas from other states related to investigations into illegal abortions.

In March, Walz joined Harris during her visit to a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Minnesota. Harris’ visit was the first time a sitting vice president visited an abortion clinic.

Walz has also been a strong supporter of in vitro fertilization (IVF), which the Catholic Church opposes because it separates the marriage act from procreation and destroys embryonic human life. In his first rally as the Democratic candidate for vice president, Walz spoke about his and his wife’s struggle with infertility and his support for IVF.

Religious freedom

As governor of Minnesota, Walz backed several policies that drew the ire of religious freedom advocates. However, in some of those cases, the governor ultimately made changes to those policies after religious groups took legal action.

When Walz began to scale back some COVID-19 restrictions in May 2020, he issued an executive order that reopened some elements of the economy but maintained harsh restrictions on religious services. Under the order, retail stores could open at 50% capacity, but churches were limited to only 10 people.

Catholic bishops and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod sent letters to Walz, informing him they would reopen for religious services despite the restrictions. Both groups argued that the unequal treatment violated the First Amendment. Less than a week later, Walz reached an agreement with the churches and issued a new executive order that permitted them to open at 25% capacity. 

In May 2023, Walz again faced legal action from religious groups — this time from Christian schools. The schools challenged a law he signed that would have prevented any school that requires students to submit a statement of faith from participating in a program that allows high school students to earn college credits. A month later, the state agreed it would not enforce the law while the litigation is ongoing but has continued to defend the law in court.

Walz also signed a bill in 2023 that amended the Minnesota Human Rights Act to include a ban on discriminating against a person’s “gender identity.” The Minnesota Catholic Conference and other religious groups were critical of the law because it did not contain exemptions for religious institutions. About a year later, Walz signed another amended version, which added religious exemptions to the law.

As governor, Walz has also consistently opposed school choice policies such as education savings accounts. A law establishing education savings accounts would allow parents to use public funds to support private education costs, such as home schooling or sending their child to a private or Catholic school. In an interview in August of last year, Walz criticized those proposals, saying: “[What] we end up doing is subsidizing folks who are already attending private religious schools … or home schooling.”