Ss. Cyril and Methodius Ukrainian Catholic Church

Ian Church, head of the “Launching Experimental Philosophy of Religion” grant project and a professor of philosophy at Hillsdale College, welcomes attendees of the capstone conference at Hillsdale’s Blake Center for Faith and Freedom in Somers, Connecticut. / Credit: Rebecca Dorsey

CNA Staff, Sep 9, 2024 / 16:06 pm (CNA).

A $2.3 million research grant intended to kickstart a multidisciplinary field of study known as “experimental philosophy of religion” concluded at the end of August after three years of study.

The John Templeton Foundation in September 2021 granted the “Launching Experimental Philosophy of Religion” grant to Ian Church, a professor of philosophy at Hillsdale College, who headed a team of academics and six sub-grant projects.

“Experimental philosophy of religion has seen a flurry of activity in recent years and is quickly emerging as a new and exciting area of scholarly research,” Church told CNA.

Experimental philosophers use empirical data — often gathered through surveys — to research philosophical questions. The budding area of experimental philosophy of religion applies experimental philosophy, as well as psychology and cognitive sciences, to various questions within the philosophy of religion.

“In a sense, experimental philosophy of religion is both old and new,” Church noted. “Old, insofar as the kind of questions that experimental philosophers of religion are typically interested in have been a part of philosophy of religion since its very inception. But experimental philosophy of religion is also new insofar as experimental philosophy has really only been flourishing in the philosophical literature over the past 20 or so years, with experimental philosophy of religion being a latecomer to that literature.” 

In other words, philosophers are using a new method to answer old questions. 

The Templeton Foundation wanted to launch the new field of interdisciplinary research through funding initiatives. The foundation reached out to various research institutions and scholars for sub-grant proposals, resulting in in six sub-grant research projects with academics from top universities.

“Philosophers of religion frequently rely on empirical claims that can be either verified or disproven but without exploring whether they are,” the Templeton website reads. “And philosophers of religion frequently appeal to intuitions which may vary wildly according to education level, theological background, etc., without concern for whether or not the psychological mechanisms that underwrite those intuitions are broadly shared or reliable.”

Experimental philosophy of religion can be instrumental for gathering the data behind these appeals to intuition.

“Experimental philosophy of religion is the project of taking the tools and resources of the human sciences — perhaps especially psychology and cognitive science — and bringing them to bear on important issues within philosophy of religion toward philosophical ends,” Church said. 

“Where do our religious intuitions come from? And do we have a reason to think the cognitive origins of such intuitions are reliable? How might culture, ethnicity, gender, religious tradition, and more shape how we engage with seminal arguments within philosophy of religion? And where intuitions diverge, do we have a principled reason to prioritize our own intuitions over the intuitions of others?” he asked. “These are some of the core questions at the heart of this emerging field of research.”

The program featured a research team at Hillsdale College led by Church as well as Hillsdale philosophy professor Blake McAllister, honorary professor of theology and the sciences at the University of St. Andrews Justin Barrett, Arete Professorial Fellows Paul Rezkalla and Jim Spiegel, project administrator Cindy Hoard, and a team of undergraduate research assistants.

A Catholic response to new philosophies 

When asked how Catholics should engage with new philosophies, Marshall Bierson, a philosophy professor with expertise in philosophy of religion at The Catholic University of America, noted that “Catholics should never be afraid to engage with any new discoveries.”

“Where there is truth, that truth is God's truth and it is something that we should embrace,” Bierson said. “Of course, there will be elements of any human philosophy that will be wrong. So just because we embrace truth does not mean we should embrace any new philosophy or methodology wholesale. But it does mean we should be eager to learn what truths we can.” 

Bierson explained that we should approach philosophies with both charity and discernment. 

“We should always approach views with charity. Concretely, what that means is that we should first and foremost be trying to figure out and embrace what is good and true in a new perspective. Only secondarily do we try to identify and reject what is false,” he noted. 

“That said, it is important to be discerning. It can always be tempting to adopt a new perspective because it seems new or cutting edge,” Bierson continued. “But mere newness itself does not count for anything. It is truth that we are after, and we need to remember that truth itself does not change (though of course, we can get better at discovering truths over time).” 

Experimental philosophy of religion is new, and it has its skeptics. Bierson himself is a skeptic, having “technical concerns” about the methodology of experimental philosophy as well as “broader skepticism” about how it applies to the realm of philosophy.

“The much greater source of skepticism from philosophers stems from the worry that [experimental philosophy] just does not tell us anything of philosophical interest,” he said. “For example, suppose that these studies show that most people cannot think of any good reason why God would allow this animal to suffer. Does that show that there is no good reason? It’s hard to see why maybe God has some reason we did not think of.”

But Church believes that experimental philosophy of religion can help us see past our blind spots to have better dialogue.

When asked why the study is important, Church said “it’s always good to reflect deeply on what can change our mind about important issues, to think about where we might be blind to evidence.”

“Looking into the cognitive mechanisms that underwrite our belief helps us to be reflective in this way and to better develop virtuous intellectual characters,” he explained.

“I think experimental philosophy of religion can help us better see where our perspective on the divine, purpose, evil, and humanity might be idiosyncratic,” Church continued. “This helps us dialogue across religious and cultural boundaries, and it also helps us to be more aware of our own presuppositions and biases. It helps us be more humble and modest.”

The Missouri Supreme Court building in Jefferson City. / Credit: Henryk Sadura/Shutterstock

St. Louis, Mo., Sep 9, 2024 / 14:40 pm (CNA).

A proposed constitutional amendment in Missouri that would dramatically expand abortion in the state could be removed from the Nov. 5 ballot after a judge’s ruling over the weekend teed up an expected Tuesday final decision by the Missouri Supreme Court. 

Missouri’s proposed Amendment 3, which qualified for the November ballot in August after garnering thousands of signatures, would mandate that the government “shall not deny or infringe upon a person’s fundamental right to reproductive freedom.” 

It would “prohibit any regulation of abortion, including regulations designed to protect women undergoing abortions and prohibit any civil or criminal recourse against anyone who performs an abortion and hurts or kills the pregnant women,” according to the secretary of state’s office.

A judge in Cole County — which includes the state capital, Jefferson City — on Friday ruled that the full text of Amendment 3 fails to mention the specific laws to be repealed if voters approve the measure. By Missouri law, a ballot measure text must “include all sections of existing law or of the constitution which would be repealed by the measure.” 

A hearing before the Missouri Supreme Court is scheduled for Tuesday morning with a quick decision expected by the high court ahead of a 5 p.m. deadline for finalizing the state’s November ballot. 

Missouri law currently protects unborn babies throughout all of pregnancy with the only exception being cases of “medical emergency.” Missouri is currently one of 10 states that will vote on abortion-related measures in November. 

In his Sept. 6 ruling, Cole County Circuit Judge Christopher Limbaugh wrote that the pro-abortion groups proffering the amendment argued that the only way to know which laws the amendment would affect was through future litigation challenging the constitutionality of a particular statute. That theory, “of course, is not an exception” to the state’s ballot measure requirements, he wrote. 

Limbaugh said his “opinion does not suggest that every initiative petition should speculate as to every single constitutional provision or statute that it could affect.” But, he said, the defendants’ failure to “include any statute or provision that will be repealed, especially when many of these statutes are apparent, is in blatant violation of” state law. 

The Thomas More Society, a Catholic public interest law firm based in Chicago, had filed the lawsuit challenging the pro-abortion amendment language in August on behalf of Missouri state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, pro-life advocate Kathy Forck, state Rep. Hannah Kelly, and Peggy Forrest, president and CEO of Our Lady’s Inn, a St. Louis pro-life pregnancy center. 

“We are confident the reviewing court will also hold that Missouri voters have a right to know what they are voting on and to vote on one matter at a time … We will not allow Missourians to be deceived into signing away dozens of current laws that protect the unborn, pregnant women, parents, and children,” Mary Catherine Martin, Thomas More Society’s senior counsel, said in a statement.

Missouri’s seven-member Supreme Court is made up of five Republican appointees and two Democratic appointees. The hearing on the abortion amendment is scheduled for 8:30 a.m.

The Missouri Catholic Conference, which advocates policy on behalf of the state’s Catholic bishops, has called the proposed ballot measure “an extreme constitutional amendment that legalizes abortion at any stage of pregnancy with no protections for the preborn child, even when the child is capable of feeling pain.” Pro-life leaders are leading a “vote no” campaign to counter the measure if it makes it to the ballot. 

Pro-abortion amendment efforts in other states, most recently Ohio, have demonstrated that the broad language of “reproductive freedom” can encompass far more than abortion, with advocates warning that the Missouri amendment could enshrine a “right” for minors to seek permanent gender-transition procedures.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York. / Credit: Jonah McKeown/CNA

CNA Staff, Sep 9, 2024 / 12:28 pm (CNA).

Catholic bishops in New York state are warning ahead of the November election that an “equal rights amendment” proposal on the ballot this year could have “dangerous consequences” if it is approved by voters. 

The state constitutional amendment would establish broad rights to “reproductive health care” by prohibiting any discrimination based on “pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive health care and autonomy.”

It would also prohibit discrimination based on a person’s sex, sexual orientation, “gender identity,” and “gender expression.”

In a statement from the New York State Catholic Conference last week, the New York bishops — including New York archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan as well as the state’s auxiliary and emeritus bishops — argued that the proposal was “a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” The statement was emailed to 35,000 mailing list subscribers and sent to parishes and diocesan media outlets for distribution.

The title of “equal rights amendment,” the bishops argued, “suggests a noble cause, as all children of God should be treated equally under the law.” 

“However, this proposed amendment to the state constitution is broadly written and could have dangerous consequences if enacted, which is why we oppose it and urge you to vote no,” the prelates said.  

The bishops noted that the amendment would effectively “permanently legalize abortion without restriction and up until the moment of birth in New York.” 

The state has already “stripped away all abortion limitations,” they pointed out, but the proposed amendment “would render impossible any change to the law if the hearts and minds of New Yorkers were ever to shift toward protecting the child in the womb.”

Furthermore, the amendment would forbid discrimination based on “age,” which the bishops said “could also lead to parents’ rights being stripped away.” 

“Courts could decide that parents have no authority over their minor children on important matters and permit children to make destructive and permanent decisions on their own, which they could well live to regret, including but not limited to so-called ‘gender affirming’ treatments and surgeries,” they said. 

The bishops said the measure “could lead to darkness for many New York families.” 

Catholics in the state “should consider these consequences and vote no” on the proposal, they said. 

A court in the state had earlier this year blocked the amendment from appearing on the November ballot after a judge ruled that lawmakers did not follow proper procedures for putting it before voters. 

An appeals court subsequently ruled that the measure could appear on the ballot, arguing that the statute of limitations to challenge the measure had passed.

New York is one of about a dozen states considering pro-abortion measures in the 2024 election.

Dainelys Soto, Genesis Contreras, and Daniel Soto, who arrived from Venezuela after crossing the U.S. border from Mexico, wait for dinner at a hotel provided by the Annunciation House on Sept. 22, 2022 in El Paso, Texas. / Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

CNA Staff, Sep 9, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Long a champion of immigrants, particularly those fleeing war-torn countries and impoverished regions, Pope Francis last month delivered some of the clearest words in his papacy yet in support of migrants — and in rebuke of those who turn away from them. 

“It must be said clearly: There are those who work systematically and with every means possible to repel migrants,” the pope said during a weekly general audience. “And this, when done with awareness and responsibility, is a grave sin.”

“In the time of satellites and drones, there are migrant men, women, and children that no one must see,” the pope said. “They hide them. Only God sees them and hears their cry. This is a cruelty of our civilization.”

The pope has regularly spoken out in favor of immigrants. In June he called on the faithful to “unite in prayer for all those who have had to leave their land in search of dignified living conditions.” The Holy Father has called the protection of migrants a “moral imperative.” He has argued that migrants “[must] be received” and dealt with humanely.

The Catholic Church has long been an advocate and protector of immigrants. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) notes on its website that “a rich body of Church teaching, including papal encyclicals, bishops’ statements, and pastoral letters, has consistently reinforced our moral obligation to treat the stranger as we would treat Christ himself.” 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that prosperous nations “are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and means of livelihood which he cannot find in his country of origin.”

Popes throughout the years, meanwhile, have expressed sentiments on immigration similar to Francis’. Pope Pius XII in 1952, for instance, described the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt as “the archetype of every refugee family.”

The Church, Pius XII said, “has been especially careful to provide all possible spiritual care for pilgrims, aliens, exiles, and migrants of every kind.” 

Meanwhile, “devout associations” throughout the centuries have spearheaded “innumerable hospices and hospitals” in part for immigrants, Pius XII said. 

Implications and applications of Church teaching

Chad Pecknold, an associate professor of systematic theology at The Catholic University of America, noted that the catechism “teaches that nations have the right to borders and self-definition, so there is no sense in which Catholic teaching supports the progressive goal of ‘open borders.’”

“There is a ‘duty of care’ which is owed to those fleeing from danger,” he told CNA, “but citizenship is not owed to anyone who can make it across a national border, and illegal entry or asylum cannot be taken as a debt of citizenship.”

Paul Hunker, an immigration attorney who previously served as chief counsel of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Dallas, agreed. 

“States have to have responsibility for their own communities, they have to look out for them,” he told CNA. “So immigration can be regulated so as to not harm the common good.”

Still, Hunker noted, Catholic advocates are not wrong in responding to immigration crises — like the ongoing irregular influx through the U.S. southern border — with aid and assistance.

Many Catholic organizations offer shelter, food, and legal assistance to men, women, and children who cross into the country illegally; such groups have been overwhelmed in recent years with the crush of arriving migrants at the country’s southern border.

“It’s the responsibility of the federal government to take care of the border,” he said. “When the government has created a crisis at the U.S. border, Catholic dioceses are going to want to help people.”

“I completely support what the Catholic organizations are doing in Mexico and the United States to assist people who are there,” Hunker said. “The people responding are not responsible for these crises.”

Latest crisis and legal challenge

Not everyone feels similarly. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched an investigation of multiple Catholic nonprofits that serve illegal immigrants in the state. Paxton alleges that through the services it provides to migrants, El Paso-based Annunciation House has been facilitating illegal immigration and human trafficking.

A lawyer for the group called the allegations “utter nonsense,” though attorney Jerome Wesevich acknowledged that the nonprofit “serves undocumented persons as an expression of the Catholic faith and Jesus’ command to love one another, no exceptions.”

There are considerable numbers of Church teachings that underscore the need for a charitable response to immigrants. In his 1963 encyclical Pacem in Terris, Pope John XXIII argued that man “has the right to freedom of movement and of residence within the confines of his own state,” and further that “when there are just reasons in favor of it, he must be permitted to emigrate to other countries and take up residence there.”

In the encyclical Caritas in Veritate, meanwhile, Pope Benedict XVI in 2009 acknowledged that migration poses “dramatic challenges” for nations but that migrants “cannot be considered as a commodity or a mere workforce.” 

“Every migrant is a human person who, as such, possesses fundamental, inalienable rights that must be respected by everyone and in every circumstance,” the late pope wrote. 

Edward Feser, a professor of philosophy at Pasadena City College in California, noted that the Church “teaches that nations should be welcoming to immigrants, that they should be sensitive to the hardships that lead them to emigrate, that they ought not to scapegoat them for domestic problems, and so on.”

Catholic teaching does not advocate an ‘open borders’ policy

Yet Catholic teaching does not advocate an “open borders” policy, Feser said. He emphasized that the catechism says countries should accept immigrants “to the extent they are able,” and further that countries “may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to various juridical conditions.”

There “is nothing per se in conflict with Catholic teaching when citizens and politicians call on the federal government to enforce its immigration laws,” Feser said. “On the contrary, the catechism backs them up on this.”

In addition, it is “perfectly legitimate,” Feser argued, for governments to consider both economic and cultural concerns when setting immigration policy. It is also “legitimate to deport those who enter a country illegally,” he said.

Still, he acknowledged, a country can issue exceptions to valid immigration laws when the moral situation demands it.

“Of course, there can be individual cases where a nation should forgo its right to deport those who enter it illegally, and cases where the manner in which deportations occur is associated with moral hazards, such as when doing so would break up families or return an immigrant to dangerous conditions back in his home country,” he said.

“Governments should take account of this when formulating and enforcing policy,” he said.  

The tension between responding charitably to immigrants and ensuring a secure border was perhaps put most succinctly in 1986 by the late Father Theodore Hesburgh, who served as chairman of the U.S. Select Commission for Immigration and Refugee Policy that was created by the U.S. Congress in the early 1980s.

Writing several years after the commission, Hesburgh explained: “It is not enough to sympathize with the aspirations and plight of illegal aliens. We must also consider the consequences of not controlling our borders.” 

“What about the aspirations of Americans who must compete for jobs and whose wages and work standards are depressed by the presence of large numbers of illegal aliens?” the legendary late president of the University of Notre Dame reflected. “What about aliens who are victimized by unscrupulous employers and who die in the desert at the hands of smugglers?”

“The nation needn’t wait until we are faced with a choice between immigration chaos and closing the borders,” Hesburgh stated nearly 40 years ago.

Left to right, Victor Fenik, J.P. Ledermann, Jocelyn Reiter, and Anna Picasso distribute bottles of holy water to new and returning students during the involvement fair on Aug. 26, 2024, at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. Members of Detroit Catholic Campus Ministry have been distributing holy water at the start of the academic year at local colleges and universities for the past three years. / Credit: Valaurian Waller/Detroit Catholic

Detroit, Mich., Sep 8, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

For three years, members of Detroit Catholic Campus Ministry have kicked off the academic year at local colleges and universities by offering new students a small, simple bottle of holy water and a prayer.

The gesture attracts students to its table at local college campus involvement fairs, serving as an invitation for new students not only to join in fellowship with Catholics on campus but also to take a blessing with them wherever they live during their first year at college.

Detroit Catholic Campus Ministry serves students at Wayne State University, the University of Michigan-Dearborn, and surrounding campuses, including Henry Ford College and the College for Creative Studies.

Fall outreach for clubs and groups on campus is an important time for campus ministries, chaplain Father Matthew Hood explained, and holy water has served as a unique draw. 

“People are so interested in the bottles that a lot of people come up to the table and say, ‘What are those? Can I have one?’ It is a great conversation starter to tell people what holy water is and how it is used,” Hood told Detroit Catholic. “Students are always very interested in it, and they usually go fairly quickly once we get to campus.”

Most of the students who approach “have no idea what holy water is,” Hood continued. “We communicate that it is a way to take a blessing with you, to bless the space that you are in, and bless yourself with the holy water.”

Students don’t have to be Catholic to take a bottle and are encouraged to use holy water to bless their dorms or apartments or, if they are commuters, their cars and homes.

The bottles themselves have a blessed history, Hood said. Each year, members of Detroit Catholic Campus Ministry organize drives to collect them from parishes, who receive them on Holy Thursday during the chrism Mass with Detroit Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron. The bottles originally contained holy oils blessed by the archbishop and used throughout the year in parishes across the Archdiocese of Detroit.

“Every year, there are old holy oil bottles that nobody needs anymore and that have to be properly disposed of; you aren’t supposed to just throw them out, you are supposed to make sure that the oil is burned properly and that they are purified and cleaned properly as well,” Hood said. “What happens in a lot of parishes is they end up farther and farther in the back of the shelf in the sacristy because they haven’t had a chance to do that.”

Hood said Detroit Catholic Campus Ministry has been able to collect and repurpose the bottles, some of which are very old, that would otherwise be collecting dust.

Campus ministers then invite student members to participate in the proper cleaning and purification of the bottles, which includes making sure all the holy oil is burned, outreach coordinator Anna Picasso told Detroit Catholic. 

“It’s an awesome opportunity to teach students about sacramentals as our students help us through the whole purification process,” Picasso said. “We teach them about the reality of these tangible signs.”

Picasso added the entire process presents a dual opportunity to engage students already involved in campus ministries and to invite new members.

“Holy water is actually something that students are often fascinated by, and that’s in many ways thanks to a lot of cultural horror movies,” Picasso said. “But this gives us an opportunity to actually teach them what holy water is and also a means to reach them and open up a conversation to convey the reality of the care that we desire for them as they bless their spaces, their cars, and their homes while they are on campus.”

Picasso said upperclassmen involved in Catholic campus ministries have told her and Hood that they still have their bottles from freshman year. 

“I still have my bottle to this day. That is how I was interested in [Detroit Catholic Campus Ministry’s] table, because I saw they had shirts that said ‘God loves Detroit,’ and I saw holy water on their table,” Wayne State University junior Idalia Shadhaya told Detroit Catholic. “I thought that was really neat, so I grabbed one and sparked a conversation.”

Shadhaya, 20, has been an active participant ever since, serving as a liturgical minister during student Masses. Shadhaya is currently preparing to start her own Bible study small group. 

“[The ministry] has made a huge difference in my college experience,” Shadhaya said. “It really promotes fellowship and growing alongside one another and really getting to know people on a deeper spiritual and friendship level.” 

Shadhaya said she keeps the bottle of holy water from her freshman year on the windowsill in her off-campus apartment and uses it to bless all the doorways in her home in addition to blessing herself.

“It is cool to see it every day and be reminded of my faith and of Jesus and how sacred the Catholic Church is,” Shadhaya said. “It is a daily representation of my role in Detroit Catholic Campus Ministry.”

Picasso said she is grateful such a small gesture has stuck with students like Shadhaya. 

“The holy water is a great opportunity to encounter students and invite them into a relationship with Jesus. That’s the whole purpose behind it,” Picasso added. 

This article was first published by Detroit Catholic on Aug. 30, 2024, and has been reprinted here with permission.

null / Credit: szefei/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Sep 7, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

In a dating culture that consists of swiping through photos of potential dates on a smartphone, one Catholic dating app is working to create a space where individuals can create genuine connections online. Candid Dating, launched in January, is a virtual speed-dating site for single Catholics.

Taylor O’Brien, CEO and co-founder of the site, had the idea to create the platform when things started opening back up after the COVID-19 pandemic. She felt a deep desire to form Catholic friendships and began to host meetups in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for young Catholic women to foster fellowship.

A topic of conversation that kept coming up among the women was dating and the struggle to find available Catholic men. O’Brien, who was newly single at the time after ending an engagement, began to think about this topic. She continued to host these meetups and shared the information for them on her Instagram page. Soon enough, men started to find her events and began reaching out saying they wanted to meet Catholic women, too. 

“From a bird’s-eye view I was able to really look and see — the men are there, the women are there, everyone’s just missing each other,” O’Brien explained to CNA in an interview.

O’Brien decided to get all these single Catholics together for an in-person event. She posted a Google doc on her Instagram for people to register to attend. Thinking she would maybe have 50 singles sign up, in less than 48 hours 400 people signed up. With the help of a friend, she hand-matched individuals based on different demographics and interests and held an in-person event. It was then that she realized this could be something even bigger, so she spent the next two years putting together a team and creating what is now the Candid Dating platform.

“Candid is a Catholic speed-dating platform exclusively for Catholics,” O’Brien explained. “We have no profiles, no swiping, and users create an account and during their account creation, they just answer a series of onboarding questions like age, interest, location, just a little bit about them, and then once their account is approved, our algorithm does its thing.”

The algorithm works to send individuals a list of virtual events that pertain to them based on their specific interests and location. Once they sign up for an event, they meet five to seven men or women for five to seven minutes at a time. At the end of the conversation, they are sent one question: “Do you want to continue the conversation? Yes or No.” If the pair both say “yes,” they will receive a notification saying that they matched and can message each other and exchange further contact information.

In addition to the current dating culture’s habit of swiping left or right on people based on their physical appearance, O’Brien pointed out that “we’ve lost the art of conversation.”

“What I love about what Candid does is it forces you to be able to have a conversation with someone, even if you know, maybe like after minute 2, that this may not be the best match,” she said, adding: “How are you able to then spend the next five minutes? Are you able to receive the person who’s sitting across from you? Are you able to give them the gifts that God has given you? How can we really share in communion as brothers and sisters in Christ knowing that maybe you’re not my person … but I don’t have control over that outcome and I should be able to just sit and enjoy my brother or sister in Christ.”

O’Brien shared that her goal with Candid Dating is to “rewire the way we think about dating and undo some of those wires that have been crossed in the swiping culture.” 

“Swiping culture has done such a disservice especially as Catholics in the way that we look at dating. We start to objectify,” she emphasized. “The same motion that we use to shop for groceries or a pair of jeans in the swiping is the same thing that we’re doing to human beings.”

She added: “I think whenever we’re out there in the secular world and we see the way dating is going, sometimes we feel like maybe it’s just better if I sit this out for a while. So I think that a lot of people are getting discouraged in that way.”

“So my prayer and my goal with Candid would be that it would just help us rethink and be a little bit more intentional about the way that we’re approaching dating as a whole.”

For those who might be hesitant to take part in something like this dating approach or desire to meet their future spouse in person rather than online, O’Brien encouraged those people to “release a little bit of that control.”

“We always like to pretend like we know exactly the way that we’re going to meet someone until we actually meet them in a way that God surprises us and then all of that went out the window and we don’t even care because we’re just so happy that we met the person we’re supposed to be with,” she said. 

Has the platform had any success stories yet? 

O’Brien shared a message she received from a user hours before speaking to CNA. It read: “Hi, I participated in one of your events on April 11 and as a result I’ve got the best girlfriend a guy could ask for. I love her dearly and you all have my deepest appreciation. Thank you.”

This is not the first such message O’Brien has received, she said, but each one leaves her “blown away” and amazed at how “the Lord has really provided each next step for us.”

Georgetown University, located in Washington, D.C., is the nation’s oldest Catholic and Jesuit university. / Credit: Rob Crandall, Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 6, 2024 / 13:15 pm (CNA).

The Georgetown University Police Department is investigating two “potential hate crimes” after a processional crucifix was found damaged inside the university’s chapel and a statue of the Blessed Mother was found to be displaced and on the ground.

“We are currently investigating them as potential hate crimes,” Vice President for Mission and Ministry Father Mark Bosco and Associate Vice President of Public Safety Jay Gruber wrote in a jointly signed letter sent out to Georgetown staff and students.

“Anti-Catholic acts and desecration of religious symbols are deeply concerning, hurtful, and offensive,” the letter read. “Acts of vandalism, especially of sacred spaces, have no place in our campus community.”

Georgetown University, established in 1789 and located in Washington, D.C., is the oldest Catholic and Jesuit university in the United States.

According to the letter, Georgetown University police received a report on Friday, Aug. 30, that the large processional crucifix in the Dahlgren Chapel of the Sacred Heart was “inappropriately moved and sustained damage after being placed against the door.” Later that morning, staff found that “the statue of the Blessed Mother by the Heyden Observatory and Gardens was displaced and on the ground.”

The university does not know the identity or “motivation of the person or persons responsible,” according to the letter, and does not know whether anyone involved is associated with the university.

After reviewing video surveillance, the police department identified “a light-complexioned male wearing a dark-colored hoodie and dark-colored pants entering Dahlgren Chapel around 11:40 p.m.” the night before, the letter states. However, it adds that the university does not know whether “these incidents are related.” Police are investigating whether “these incidents are related to other reported irregularities at these sites in recent weeks,” the letter said.

When reached by CNA to ask whether there have been any updates to the investigation, a spokesperson for the university referred CNA back to the original letter. The Georgetown University Police Department referred CNA to the university’s communications office.

The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Dahlgren Chapel provides a spiritual home for our Catholic community and a welcoming place for reflection and prayer for all members of our community,” the letter read. “In this sacred space, generations of students, faculty, staff, and alumni have attended Mass, exchanged sacred vows at weddings, found reconciliation in confessions, were baptized into the faith, or simply reflected in a quiet moment to re-center their lives.”

According to the letter, all services at the Dahlgren Chapel would continue as normal and police are increasing patrols of religious spaces on campus. The letter also asks anyone who can assist in the investigation to contact the Georgetown police through the phone at 202-687-4343 or through email at police@georgetown.edu.

This is a developing story.

A pro-life supporter stands on a lamppost and holds a sign that reads "MAKE ABORTION UNTHINKABLE" in front of the Supreme Court on June 20, 2024, in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 6, 2024 / 11:15 am (CNA).

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

Florida investigating abortion amendment signatures for fraud

Brad McVay, Florida deputy secretary of state for legal affairs and elections integrity, is conducting a review of some 36,000 signatures in support of a broad abortion amendment, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

The Tampa Bay Times reported that McVay asked officials in four counties — Hillsborough, Orange, Palm Beach, and Osceola — to submit signatures gathered in their jurisdiction. McVay suspects some of the more than 1 million signatures submitted to get the abortion amendment on the ballot may have been fraudulent.

In an email written by McVay to officials in Hillsborough County, McVay said that “most” of the circulators listed on the abortion amendment petition “represent known or suspected fraudsters.”

McVay also said that “several” other petition circulators “have very concerning invalidity rates.”

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.

IVF takes center stage in 2024 election

As both Democrats and Republicans rush to support access to in vitro fertilization (IVF), several pro-life activists are highlighting the destruction of human life brought about by these treatments.

Lila Rose, a Catholic and president of the national pro-life group Live Action, posted to X on Wednesday that in the IVF process “15 children on average are created per one live birth.”

“The remaining children are destroyed, experimented on, then killed, miscarried, or frozen indefinitely until they ‘need to be used,’” Rose said.

This comes after Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump pledged that “under the Trump administration your government will pay for, or your insurance company will be mandated to pay for, all costs associated with IVF treatment.”

Meanwhile, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has made supporting IVF a central part of her campaign along with her abortion advocacy.

Shortly after announcing his IVF policy, Harris hosted a press call highlighting “Donald Trump’s threat to reproductive freedom, including IVF.”

Newsweek reported that during the call, Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren said: “American women are not stupid, and we know the only guaranteed protection for IVF is a new national law, which Kamala Harris supports and Donald Trump opposes.”

Warren asserted that “anyone who cares about IVF will vote for Kamala Harris for president and Democrats for Congress.”

Texas sues Biden administration to investigate illegal abortions

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing the Biden Department of Health and Human Services over changes to federal medical privacy laws that restrict the state’s ability to investigate illegal abortion.

The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas on Wednesday.

The new rule, finalized by the Biden administration in April, modified certain provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the U.S. Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information to stop states from obtaining patient information from doctors relating to abortion.

The HHS said the changes were necessary to protect the private health information of individuals seeking “reproductive health care” amid the “shifting legal landscape” around abortion after the overturn of Roe v. Wade.

Paxton’s office, however, asserted that “the Biden administration’s motive is clear: to subvert lawful state investigations on issues that the courts have said the states may investigate.”

“This new rule actively undermines Congress’ clear statutory meaning when HIPAA was passed, and it reflects the Biden administration’s disrespect for the law,” Paxton said. “The federal government is attempting to undermine Texas’ law enforcement capabilities, and I will not allow this to happen.”

Texas law protects unborn babies beginning at conception, with the only exception being for the life of the mother.

Morrissey performs live on stage at Wembley Arena on March 14, 2020, in London. / Credit: Jim Dyson/Getty Images

CNA Staff, Sep 4, 2024 / 14:46 pm (CNA).

Morrissey, the mononymous frontman of the legendary ’80s British rock band the Smiths, has sent Pope Francis a letter imploring the pontiff to condemn what the singer calls the “atrocity” of bullfighting and help bring an end to the violent sport.

Numerous activists have recently called on the pope to take a stand against bullfighting. The spectator sport has long been associated with Catholic observances in countries with Catholic majorities.

The town of Valladolid, Spain, for instance, hosts numerous bullfights as part of its annual San Pedro Regalado Fair, while the Feria de Pâques celebration in France includes bullfighting as part of its festivities.

Activists with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) recently disrupted Pope Francis’ general audience with a protest against bullfighting. And Father Terry Martin, a Catholic priest from West Sussex, England, partnered this past summer with PETA in an advertisement for the Tablet denouncing bullfighting, with the priest calling for Francis to condemn it. 

In his recent letter to the pope, meanwhile, Morrissey urged the Holy Father to “condemn the sinful spectacle of bullfighting.” 

“You chose the name of St. Francis — patron saint of animals and the environment — because you wish to make nature protection your legacy, but the torture, torment, and killing of bulls for sport flies in the face of his teachings and yours,” Morrissey, who was raised Catholic, wrote to the pope. 

“You can never be a protector of animals while bullfighting and Catholicism are bedfellows,” the singer argued.

Morrissey pointed to Pope Pius V’s 1567 edict that prohibited bullfighting under the threat of excommunication. The ban was eventually relaxed, though Morrissey noted that bullfighting’s popularity “has plummeted” in recent years, including in both Spain and Mexico.

Noting that the vast majority of young people are against bullfighting in Spain, the singer argued in his letter: “If the Church won’t condemn this atrocity, it won’t only be bulls slowly hemorrhaging but also Catholicism’s relevance among young people.”

Quoting his 2014 song “The Bullfighter Dies” in which he sang “We all want the bull to survive,” Morrissey wrote to the pope: “Please show mercy and kindness to these animals and condemn bullfighting.”

Though raised in the Church, Morrissey has described himself as a “seriously lapsed Catholic.” He dressed up in mock priest attire for the music video of the 2004 song “I Have Forgiven You Jesus.” In a 2018 interview, meanwhile, he argued that animal rights “must come before religion.”

PETA U.K. promoted Morrissey’s letter on its website, with the group saying it was “putting our faith in Pope Francis to condemn the despicable practice.”

The group quoted Francis’ influential 2015 environmental encyclical Laudato Si’, in which the Holy Father observed that “every act of cruelty toward any creature” is “contrary to human dignity.”

The historic Church of the Immaculate Conception in Saint-Omer, in the Pas-de-Calais department of northern France, was ravaged by arson on the night of Sept. 2, 2024. / Credit: Courtesy of Father Sébastien Roussel

Budapest, Hungary, Sep 4, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The historic Church of the Immaculate Conception in Saint-Omer, in the Pas-de-Calais department of northern France, was ravaged by arson on the night of Sept. 2.

The suspect, a multi-recidivist who has attempted to set fire to numerous places of worship in the past, was apprehended a few hours after the blaze was brought under control.

According to local authorities, the fire started at around 4 a.m. It then spread to the side and central aisles, then to the roof and bell tower, which rapidly collapsed. The fire was contained by 7:15 a.m. thanks to the efforts of 120 firefighters.

While no injuries were reported, some 60 local residents living near the building were evacuated as a precaution.

The initial investigation revealed that a 39-year-old individual allegedly broke into the premises, smashing a stained-glass window. Arrested and taken into police custody on the evening of Sept. 2, the suspect, identified as Joël Vigoureux, is said to have been convicted on numerous occasions of similar acts of destruction by fire in recent years.

While the images released by the media showed only the metal skeleton of the church steeple and the exact extent of the damage has yet to be determined, the intervention of the parish priest, Father Sébastien Roussel, enabled the rescue of the Blessed Sacrament and some 20 other religious artifacts, including the reliquary bust of St. Corneille.

“With the authorization and under the supervision of the firefighters, I was able to enter the church when the fire was under control to take what is most important, namely the ciborium in the tabernacle at first, then several statues and elements of the liturgical furniture,” he told CNA. 

In another interview, Roussel added that “the stained-glass windows, particularly the beautiful ones in the choir, dedicated to Mary, are not too damaged.”

Of neo-Gothic inspiration, the church was completed in 1859 and was completely renovated by the municipality in 2018 at a cost of 5 million euros. 

Quoted in Le Figaro, the president of the Hauts de France region, Xavier Bertrand, assured that his administration “will be at the side of the town of Saint-Omer for the reconstruction, to see this heritage brought back to life.”

The French outlet also reported that a meeting was held Tuesday at the town hall and attended by the architect who coordinated the renovation and prefectural officials to rapidly envisage the reconstruction, which is nevertheless expected to take several years.

A time of prayer in front of the church will be held Wednesday followed by a Mass celebrated by the bishop of Arras, Olivier Leborgne, at the Basilica of Notre-Dame-des-Miracles in Saint-Omer.

The images of the flames devouring the roof and steeple of the monument that has turned into an open-air church continue to generate anger and consternation on social media, not least because of their over-familiarity.

In recent years numerous iconic Catholic structures in France — including Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris — have been severely damaged by fire. On July 11, the spire of Rouen Cathedral also caught fire, with firefighters quickly bringing the blaze under control.

On July 12, the Observatoire du Patrimoine Religieux, an association working to preserve and promote France’s religious heritage, told AFP that 27 churches had been burnt down in 2023 and 12 in the first six months of 2024. Attacks on religious monuments in recent years account for approximately 90% of the 1,000 or so anti-Christian acts recorded annually by the country’s Ministry of Interior.