St. James the Apostle Roman Catholic Church

The Church of the Gesù, where a Mass and prayer vigil for LGBT Christians are scheduled in September 2025 in Rome during the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope. / Credit: essevu/Shutterstock

National Catholic Register, Dec 11, 2024 / 17:35 pm (CNA).

An Italian association of LGBT Christians has said it has received official Vatican approval to make a pilgrimage to next year’s jubilee in Rome, although the Vatican’s jubilee organizers say they are neither supporting nor opposing the event while the figures behind it are declining to comment. 

The association called La Tenda di Gionata (“Jonathan’s Tent”) asked its members to “save the date” — Sept. 6, 2025, at 3 p.m. — and invited “all associations and groups dedicated to supporting LGBT+ individuals and their families to join us as we officially cross the Holy Door of the jubilee at St. Peter’s Basilica.”

In the evening, the LGBT pilgrims, their parents, and pastoral workers have been invited to a Mass at the Jesuit Church of the Gesù, the historic baroque church in central Rome, celebrated by the vice president of the Italian Episcopal Conference, Monsignor Francesco Savino. The Gesù will also host a prayer vigil for the pilgrims the evening before. 

Jubilee 2025, which begins with the opening of the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 24 and runs until Jan. 6, 2026, is expected to attract 32 million pilgrims to Rome from around the world who will be able to receive a plenary indulgence and attend a variety of spiritual and cultural events. 

Agnese Palmucci, an official spokesman for the jubilee, told the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, that the La Tenda di Gionata association proposed making a pilgrimage to the Holy Door and so it has been “included in the general calendar as a pilgrimage, along with all the other pilgrimages that other dioceses will make.” 

“It is not a jubilee event sponsored or organized by us,” Palmucci continued. “It is a pilgrimage organized by this association which, like the other dioceses, bodies, and associations, will make the pilgrimage as they wish.”

The Italian daily Il Messaggero called the planned event an “absolute novelty, unthinkable until a few years ago, the fruit of pastoral care that extends to groups usually considered on the margins.” 

Francis DeBernardo, editor of the LGBT advocacy website New Ways Ministry, said the news touched his heart “deeply” as he remembered the resistance to homosexuality in Rome during the 2000 jubilee. “While 2025’s event may seem like a small step, when compared with how the Vatican reacted to the presence of gay people in Rome during 2000, we can see what a sea change has taken place in terms of responding to LGBTQ+ people,” he wrote on New Ways’ website. “This development did not happen overnight but has many small steps which paved the way for it.” New Ways has been denounced by both the U.S. bishops’ conference and the Vatican’s doctrinal office for causing confusion on sexual morality among the Catholic faithful.

Writing in the Catholic daily La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana, Luisella Scrosati called the planned events a “defeat not only of the moral doctrine of the Church but also of its pastoral activity” and noted that these associations that promote homosexuality as an identity and won’t tolerate being corrected “will enter St. Peter’s.” 

Scrosati further noted that members of these associations “were created by God male or female” but are being “told the great lie that their tendency, completely disharmonious with what is expressed by their body, is not disordered.” 

Il Messaggero reported that the proposal was met with “internal resistance” but that Pope Francis had “accepted the idea of ​​Father Pino Piva, a Jesuit from Bologna, who has always been dedicated to the rainbow world.” 

The Register asked Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni if the pope was supporting the association’s planned events, but he did not respond. 

Italian media also said Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, the archbishop of Bologna and head of Italy’s bishops; Archbishop Rino Fisichella, organizer of the holy year; and the superior general of the Jesuits, Father Arturo Sosa, have all given the initiative their positive support. 

Asked by the Register via email to confirm that he supported the event and whether he was concerned it would further deepen divisions in the Church, Zuppi said: “The question should be put to the organizers of the jubilee at the Holy See.” When asked again whether or not he supported the initiative, he did not reply.

The rector of the Church of the Gesù was also approached for comment, but he said he would not give interviews over the telephone. The Register then emailed him a set of questions to which he did not answer. 

La Tenda di Gionata also did not reply to general questions about the event, including the pressing question of whether same-sex couples will receive nonliturgical blessings in the Church of the Gesù, as allowed by the 2023 Vatican declaration Fiducia Supplicans. 

Asked whether or not the jubilee organizers were nevertheless supporting the event, Palmucci said: “In reality, we do not support every association or entity that proposes and makes its pilgrimage. It’s not a matter of supporting or not. We do not give our support to anyone; we do not give an approval; we do not give a judgment on an event. So each diocese, each association, each entity that wants to pass through the Holy Door asks us, and we put it in the calendar; but it is an event that’s, let’s say, autonomous.” 

He continued: “Since as a dicastery we manage the entrances to the Holy Doors, if an association comes to us and asks to be able to pass through the Holy Door on that date, what we do is simply see if that date is free.” If it is free, he said they register the group and its numbers of pilgrims so they “can pass through the Holy Door on that day. That’s all we do.” 

Palmucci said the jubilee office only really manages “the big jubilee events,” which number 36 in total, and “those are the ones that are in the [main] calendar.” As a follow-up, the Register asked Palmucci if there are any groups the organizers would not permit to pass through the Holy Door, but he did not respond.  

Scrosati said that with this jubilee event, “false mercy will enter triumphantly into St. Peter’s, with the blessing of the pope, the cardinals, and the bishops.” 

Quoting Matthew 24:15, she asked: “Could this be the new ‘abomination of desolation’ standing in a holy place?”

The Register asked Cardinal Gerhard Müller as well as two African bishops opposed to such events — Archbishop Andrew Nkea of Bamenda, Cameroon, and Bishop Emmanuel Badejo of Oyo, Nigeria — if they would like to comment on the plans but they had not responded by press time. 

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

The most recent murder of a priest in Mexico occurred Oct. 20, 2024. / Credit: Martha Calderón/ACI Prensa

Puebla, Mexico, Dec 11, 2024 / 16:30 pm (CNA).

The Catholic Multimedia Center (CCM, by its Spanish acronym), an organization that tracks violence against members of the Church in Mexico, released a report Dec. 9 documenting that since 1990 some 80 Catholic priests have been murdered in the country.

The director of CCM, Father Omar Sotelo Aguilar, during a press conference in which he presented the report, noted that “as never before in the history of Mexico, violence has reached worrying levels, striking all sectors of society.”

Between 2018 and 2024, during the six-year term of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador — founder of the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA, by its Spanish acronym) party — homicides reached their highest level in modern Mexican history, totaling 199,621. The surge in violence took place during the implementation of López Obrador’s controversial policy of “abrazos, no balazos“ (“hugs, not bullets”) against organized crime.

The idea behind the strategy was to address the root causes of the violence with social programs rather than cracking down on the drug cartels through vigorous enforcement of the law. 

This context of violence and “the power vacuum and the dismantling of the rule of law,” the priest said, has forced pastoral workers, laypeople, priests, and ministers of other churches to assume “the role that the authorities have declined.”

“Someone must take responsibility for what the state has failed to do, due to inability or, worse still, by working in collusion with the criminal evildoers in a destructive combination: corruption and impunity,” Sotelo emphasized.

The CCM report also documents other forms of aggression that hinder the work of Catholic priests, such as threats, robberies, and acts of violence.

Among the high-profile murders, Cardinal Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo, the archbishop of Guadalajara, was gunned down on May 24, 1993, in the Guadalajara airport. The crime has remained unsolved for 31 years. His successor, Cardinal Juan Sandoval Íñiguez, alleged that the murder was orchestrated by state actors. 

The last six years

According to the CCM report, during López Obrador's six-year term, 10 priests were murdered, another 14 priests and bishops were attacked, a weekly average of 26 churches were attacked, desecrated, or assaulted, and nearly 900 cases of extortion and death threats against members of the Catholic Church were recorded.

The report found a decrease in homicides compared with previous six-year presidential terms. During the administration of Felipe Calderón (2006–2012) 17 Catholic priests were murdered, and during the administration of Enrique Peña Nieto (2012–2018) the figure rose to 19.

Priests

The first case recorded during the López Obrador government took place in October 2018 when Father Ícmar Arturo Orta Llamas of the Archdiocese of Tijuana in the state of Baja California was found dead inside his vehicle with “gunshot wounds.”

In 2019, Father José Martín Guzmán Vega, a priest of the Diocese of Matamoros in Tamaulipas state, was also murdered. According to the CCM report, he was making “tough and severe denunciations of the state government.”

The year 2021 was especially tragic. Father Juan Antonio Orozco Alvarado, a Franciscan priest, died in a “crossfire” during a confrontation between cartels on the border of the states of Durango and Zacatecas. Father Gumersindo Cortés González and Father José Guadalupe Popoca Soto were murdered in Guanajuato and Morelos states, respectively.

In 2022, there were also three cases of priests being murdered. Among them was Father José Guadalupe Rivas of the Archdiocese of Tijuana, who was a migrant advocate.

That same year, one of the most emblematic cases of violence against priests took place: the Jesuits Javier Campos Morales and Joaquín César Mora Salazar were murdered inside their church in an Indigenous community in the state of Chihuahua. The priests tried to protect a man who was seeking refuge in the church in the town of Cerocahui located in the Sierra Tarahumara while he was being pursued by an armed criminal.

The violence continued in 2023 with the murder of Father José Angulo Fonseca of the clergy of the Diocese of San Juan de los Lagos in Jalisco state, at the hands of his own brother, and of Father Javier García Villafaña of the Archdiocese of Morelia, who was shot to death while driving in the state of Michoacán.

Seminarians

In 2022, seminarian José Dorian Piña, who was in his third year of theology at the seminary of the state of Zacatecas, was murdered when criminals opened fire on his family while trying to steal their car.

Attacks on bishops and priests

The CCM documented at least six attacks against bishops. Among them, the case of the archbishop of Durango, Faustino Armendáriz Jiménez, stands out. In 2023, he was attacked by an 80-year-old man with a knife. In another incident, armed men broke into a rectory in the Diocese of Cancún-Chetumal in 2024, victimizing several clerics. In all, seven serious attacks on priests were recorded.

Churches as targets of extortion

According to the report, approximately 26 sacred sites each week, “from small chapels and oratories to large churches or premises all across the Church, are desecrated by the commission of high-impact crimes, minor crimes, sacrileges, or profanations.”

The report also highlights that, of the attacks on religious sites, 42% of them are committed by “organized crime professionals specialized in the theft of sacred art.” Another 37% were carried out by groups that “attack for various motives of religious intolerance and discrimination,” while 21% of the attacks were carried out by “criminals specializing in the quick theft of religious objects on a smaller scale and of little value.”

As for extortion and fraud, the report highlights that these practices “are on the rise.” However, it warns that “the unreported figure is higher than the complaints filed,” which means that “there is no clear picture of the crime figures and which dioceses have the highest prevalence of these crimes.”

This information comes from complaints covered in the news media and on social media. However, the exact figure for financial losses is still unknown.

Outlook

Sotelo shared with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, his concern about the trend of murders in the country, warning that “there may be more bloodshed, there may be more incidents of violence.”

He pointed out that, during the time that President Claudia Sheinbaum’s new administration has been in place, since Oct. 1, “we have seen massacres occur in various places in the country” targeting civilians. In addition, he noted that “several priests in Mexico are being extorted or facing death threats,” which makes it clear that the situation “is latent.”

Although he expressed his hope that this wouldn’t happen, he lamented that “the trends are, unfortunately, unfavorable.”

“That’s not what we want; I hope we’re wrong. Believe me, we would really like to be wrong about this situation,” the Mexican priest said.

A few weeks after the beginning of the Sheinbaum administration, on Oct. 20, the murder of Father Marcelo Pérez was reported. Pérez was shot by two men after he had celebrated Mass. The priest was known for being a staunch defender of the Indigenous people of Chiapas and a “tireless apostle of peace.”

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

Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy (third from the left, with president of ABC Entertainment Karey Burke, Caitlin Jenner, and producer Jane Cha Cutler at at fundraiser event for the Center for Transyouth Health and Development-Children's Hospital on Feb. 1, 2020) is being sued by a woman who says she was rushed into a gender transition. / Credit: Michael Tullberg/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 11, 2024 / 15:35 pm (CNA).

A 20-year-old California woman is alleging that doctors, a children’s hospital, and a pediatric gender clinic negligently pushed her into a hormonal and surgical gender transition beginning when she was only 12 years old in a lawsuit filed late last week.

The lawsuit, filed by UCLA student Kaya Clementine Breen, claims that “her body has been profoundly damaged in ways that can never be repaired” following the hormone therapy and surgeries she received to make her body appear similar to a boy.

Breen was prescribed puberty blockers at age 12 after one visit to a gender clinic, received testosterone at age 13, and had a double mastectomy at age 14 to remove both breasts, according to the court filing. She suffered mental health problems and irreversible physical changes after the procedures.

The lawsuit alleges the doctors failed to properly assess her mental health problems and provided her parents with false and misleading information to encourage the gender transition she now regrets. She is seeking monetary damages for ongoing physical and mental repercussions.

“This so-called ‘treatment’ of Clementine by her providers represents a despicable, failed medical experiment and a knowing, deliberate, and gross breach of the standard of care that was substantially certain to cause serious harm,” the lawsuit asserts.

Immediately prescribed puberty blockers at age 12

According to the lawsuit, Breen first expressed to a school counselor that she felt “life would be so much easier if she were a boy” when she was 11 years old in the fall of 2016. When the counselor informed her parents, they took her to the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at the Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles (CHLA).

Breen was put under the care of Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy, the medical director of the center whom she met on Dec. 27, 2016, shortly after Breen turned 12, according to the lawsuit. The suit states that Olson-Kennedy “immediately diagnosed [Breen] with gender dysphoria and told her that she was ‘trans’ … within minutes during her very first visit.”

According to the lawsuit, Olson-Kennedy “immediately” recommended puberty blockers to be surgically implanted into her arm — a procedure Breen received on March 6, 2017.

The lawsuit asserts Olson-Kennedy “performed no mental health assessment” and “did not ask about things like past trauma, abuse, or mental health struggles or diagnoses” before her recommendation. For this reason, Breen’s lawyers allege that Olson-Kennedy did not learn of the “prolonged sexual abuse she suffered around the ages of 6 and 7” or the numerous mental health problems she struggled with, including anxiety, depression, and undiagnosed PTSD. 

Breen, the lawsuit states, was “struggling with the thought of developing into a woman, not surprising given the sexual abuse she had suffered.”

A spokesperson for CHLA told CNA that the hospital does “not comment on pending litigation; and out of respect for patient privacy and in compliance with state and federal laws, we do not comment on specific patients and/or their treatment.”

“The Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has provided high-quality, age-appropriate, medically necessary care for more than 30 years,” the spokesperson said. “Treatment is patient- and family-centered, following guidelines from professional organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association, and Endocrine Society.”

Olson-Kennedy has come under scrutiny after the New York Times reported that she concealed the results of a taxpayer-funded study about the mental health effects of providing children transgender drugs because her research could not find any mental health benefits.

Jordan Campbell, one of Breen’s lawyers, told CNA that Breen was “one of the patients in that study.”

Olson-Kennedy did not respond to CNA’s request for comment.

Both the CHLA and Olson-Kennedy are named as defendants in the lawsuit.

Testosterone at 13, transgender surgery at 14

During Breen’s third visit to the transgender clinic on Sept. 9, 2017, the lawsuit alleges that Olson-Kennedy questioned her about whether boys in her school were going through puberty and recommended that she receive testosterone to “keep you on track.” It adds that Breen “expressed doubt” about testosterone, but Olson-Kennedy told her she “would be more likely to fully ‘pass’ as a ‘cis male.’”

The lawsuit asserts that Breen “hesitantly agreed” to receive testosterone, but her parents “were very much against the suggestion.” It alleges Olson-Kennedy “lied” to the parents and told them Breen was “suicidal” and “if they did not agree to cross-sex hormone therapy, [Breen] would commit suicide.” 

“She bluntly asked them if they would rather have a living son or a dead daughter,” the lawsuit asserts. “In tears, [Breen’s] parents would ‘consent’ to allowing Dr. Olson-Kennedy and her team [to] inject their confused, suffering child with life-altering testosterone.”

The lawsuit alleges Olson-Kennedy failed to discuss the “irreversible effects” and did not discuss alternatives. Breen began receiving testosterone on Jan. 26, 2018, when she was 13.

During her sixth visit to the gender clinic on Sept. 5, 2018, the lawsuit states Olson-Kennedy recommended a double mastectomy to remove both of her breasts. It alleges she “misled them by emphasizing the supposed importance of getting such a radical procedure early.”

Breen received the surgery on May 14, 2019, when she was 14. According to the litigation, Breen “had a brief, 30-minute pre-op meeting” with the doctor, Scott Mosser, and was given a consent form that was “facially deficient, including but not limited to failing to disclose the experimental nature of the procedure, failing to list the known risks, and failing to list all alternative forms of treatment.” 

CNA reached out to the Gender Confirmation Center, where Mosser is employed, to ask him for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication. He is named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

Following the surgery, the lawsuit states Breen had “thoughts of suicide” and her “mental health had begun to spiral” with depression and intense anger. She also developed psychosis and had “auditory and visual hallucinations,” attempted “suicide by hanging,” and began “cutting her wrists.” 

Campbell told CNA the doctors were “completely ignoring her rapidly decreasing mental health” and acted “negligently” by prescribing “life-altering treatment” to a “deeply troubled, traumatized child.”

The lawsuit states Breen “began to realize that she may not actually be ‘trans’ but rather had been suffering from PTSD and other issues related to her unresolved trauma.” She scaled back the testosterone and her mental health issues began to resolve. She eventually stopped taking testosterone.

“Once she stopped, her mental health issues improved even further,” the lawsuit adds. “Her psychosis and hallucinations went away. Her depression went away. Her attention problems went away. Her anxiety went away. She began to have a healthy view of her body. In short, she began to heal.”

Campbell said Breen is trying to “recapture her femininity” and is now taking estrogen to reverse some of the effects of testosterone and intends to get chest reconstruction surgery, but added that “of course, it’s not the same thing as having her healthy breasts.”

“All the damage from the hormones, the surgery, is pretty much irreversible,” Campbell said. 

The lawsuit adds that Breen is likely infertile, “would not be able to breastfeed” even if she could get pregnant, and is “at risk for bone-related problems later in life.”

Breen is seeking monetary damages for medical expenses, pain, and suffering, and the cost of the lawsuit. Her lawyers are seeking a trial by jury.

In 24 states, lawmakers have banned transgender drugs and surgeries for children, and two states have banned just the surgeries. Both procedures remain legal in 24 states.

The interior of St. Boniface is seen in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. / Credit: John Maurer

CNA Staff, Dec 11, 2024 / 15:05 pm (CNA).

Parishioners in a small Wisconsin city have launched a GoFundMe as part of an effort to save a nearly 150-year-old church from permanent closure. 

Advocates for St. Boniface Church in Manitowoc are hoping to raise $8,000 to bankroll an appeal at the Vatican to stop the Diocese of Green Bay from shuttering the church. The parish itself dates to the 1850s while the current building was constructed in 1886. 

The diocese ordered the parish to merge with several others in 2005, with the last regularly scheduled Mass taking place there that year and the most recent Mass taking place in 2013. 

Bishop David Ricken issued a decree last year ordering that the 137-year-old building be relegated to “profane but not sordid use,” meaning it can be sold and used for nonreligious purposes so long as they are not immoral or offensive to the Catholic faith.

The bishop said in the decree that the building had not regularly been used since 2005 and was “no longer necessary for the care of souls in the community.” He also cited the building’s physical decline and the accompanying financial burden, as well as a decline of Catholics in the area.

John Maurer and Emily Baumann, who are leading a GoFundMe fundraising effort, told CNA that they hope to preserve St. Boniface’s status as a church. 

The present GoFundMe campaign — which aims to raise $8,000 — is small by the standards of many church preservation efforts. Mauer said the funds are meant solely to help pay for attorney’s fees at the Vatican where the parish’s advocates are currently arguing their case. 

“We’ve been going back and forth at the diocesan level,” he said. “The bishop sustained his decree two years ago. That’s why it went to Rome.”

“We went to the Court of the Dicastery for the Clergy. They ruled in favor of Bishop Ricken’s decree,” he continued. “We then went to the Supreme Tribunal. They sided with the lower court. Now we’re at the Congresso of the Apostolic Signatura.”

Though the $8,000 campaign will go toward the attorney at the Vatican, Baumann noted that advocates have already raised a considerable amount of money to help fund a church restoration.

“We can’t quite do anything with restoration until we get approval to be in the church and use the church,” she said. “But we already have secured all the money necessary for a full restoration. We’ve had it for a few years now. We just haven’t had the permission.”

In his decree, Ricken said the structure of St. Boniface is “in danger of decay and damage.” Baumann, on the other hand, argued that the church is in good physical shape and mostly requires cosmetic updates.

“We had contractors in to assess the roof and structure, and they said this building is in really good shape,” she said.

“That’s part of the reason we’re fighting so strongly. If most of the parish were able to walk through the doors today, they’d be shocked at what a good condition it’s in.”

A diocesan spokesperson declined to comment directly on the present fundraising effort. Mauer said there is “definitely huge support” throughout the local Catholic community to see the church restored.

“It’s not some small fringe group,” he said. “People are pledging money. We have to turn them away because we can’t take the money now. But they want to see it restored.”

Baumann said she has observed similar eagerness from community members to see the church preserved. “There’s really a deep-seated desire as a whole to see that building used,” she said.

“Our hope is with all we’re doing, maybe it deserves a second look,” she added.

Philippe Villeneuve, the architect of the restoration of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris, speaks with EWTN News’ Colm Flynn about his devotion to Our Lady on “EWTN News In Depth.” / Credit: Screenshot/“EWTN News In Depth”

CNA Staff, Dec 11, 2024 / 14:35 pm (CNA).

The chief architect of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris shared in an interview with EWTN that he felt Our Lady guided the restoration of the 861-year-old cathedral following the fire that ravaged the building in April 2019.

In an interview with Colm Flynn on “EWTN News In Depth,” architect Philippe Villeneuve said that he was a believer with a “particular devotion to Mary.”

When asked if he was “a man of faith,” Villeneuve explained that he had kept this private during the rebuilding, but now he is ready to reveal it.

“I spent five years saying nothing about this because I’m a civil servant in a secular republic, and therefore, I couldn’t say something like this,” Villeneuve told Flynn. “But now, I have to reveal that yes.”

“I have a particular devotion to the Virgin Mary, and at the risk of sounding totally crazy — or like Joan of Arc — I never stopped feeling support coming from up there,” he said. 

The architect shared that without Mary’s guidance, he didn’t think the restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris would have been possible. 

The reconstruction of Notre Dame was no small undertaking. A team of more than 2,000 people worked on the 800 million euro (about $840 million) restoration. The original building had taken nearly 200 years to build, but Villeneuve had only five years to restore it. 

“I don’t think this project would’ve been possible otherwise, and I think that’s what gave me the strength and determination to move forward because I knew I was supported from up there,” Villeneuve said.

The fire had destroyed the cathedral’s roof, spire, and three sections of the vault — but the organ, paintings, stained glass, and furniture were intact. 

With pressure from the French government and the 340,000 private donors from around the world, Villeneuve had to ensure that original techniques and materials were used as much as possible. 

“It was an enormous amount of work,” he continued. “I realize it now looking at where we came from. I’m really amazed by the beauty — amazed by the work, by the quality of work.”

Villeneuve has long had a love for the historic cathedral. 

“I’ve been madly in love with Notre Dame de Paris since I was little,” he said. “Growing up, it was inside the cathedral where I felt good.” 

Villeneuve shared that he had made a model of the cathedral when he was 16 years old.

“I was really captivated by it, moved by it,” he said. “And little did I know as a kid when I was building the cathedral out of card and paper that one day I would be working on the real cathedral.”

The doors of the newly restored cathedral were officially reopened to the public Saturday evening, Dec. 7, just over five years after a blaze ravaged the iconic structure’s roof, frame, and spire. More than 1,500 people attended the opening ceremony, including about 40 world leaders such as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as 170 bishops. The archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, celebrated the first Mass and consecrated the altar on Dec. 8, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. 

“When I laid the last stone of the vault in the north transept, it brought me back,” the architect recalled. “And I saw myself as a kid again building this vault with paper and cardboard.” 

The cathedral has a deeper spiritual meaning, not just for its architect, but for those across France and even around the world.   

Monsignor Olivier Ribadeau Dumas, the rector and archpriest of Notre Dame Cathedral, called the building “the soul of France.” 

“Because this cathedral is something of the soul of France, the history of our country is intimately linked with the history of the cathedral,” Dumas told Flynn.

But its “influence extends far beyond France,” the rector noted. 

“The cathedral does not belong to Parisians, nor to Catholics, nor to the French, but it is the common good of all humanity,” Dumas continued. “And its stones speak of God because they have been animated by prayer for more than 800 years.” 

Trois-Rivières Bishop Martin Laliberté (right), the president of the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Quebec, said the bishops there were “deeply concerned about the erasure of people and believing communities from Quebec’s public space” after Quebec Premier François Legault (left) said last week that praying in public parks and streets “is not something we want in Quebec.” / Credit: Lea-Kim Chateauneuf, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Michel Montembeault, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, Dec 11, 2024 / 12:40 pm (CNA).

Bishops in Quebec are expressing alarm after a prominent government official said he wanted to end prayer in public spaces in the Canadian province.

Quebec Premier François Legault said last week that praying in public parks and streets “is not something we want in Quebec.” The premier said he wished to “send a very clear message to the Islamists” who he suggested were a danger to “the values ​​that are fundamental to Quebec.”

“When we want to pray, we go to a church, we go to a mosque, but not in public places,” he said. “And yes, we will look at the means where we can act legally or otherwise.” 

In a Monday letter, Trois-Rivières Bishop Martin Laliberté, the president of the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Quebec, said the bishops there were “deeply concerned about the erasure of people and believing communities from Quebec’s public space.”

The suggested ban, the bishop argued, “would be inapplicable” under Canadian law.

“Public parks welcome all kinds of practices that require temporarily limiting access to a given sector: think of a ball or ballgame,” Laliberté wrote. “That some of these practices claim a more or less assertive spiritual or religious dimension is just as legitimate.”

Arguing that “praying is not dangerous,” the bishop asserted that the effects of the proposed ban would fall on “minority religious groups that are perceived as different and, for this reason, threatening to Quebec identity.” Catholicism, they noted, has long been an integral part of Quebec’s identity.

“For their part, like Pope Francis, the Catholic bishops are of the opinion that sincere and benevolent interreligious dialogue is now essential to build a resilient society in these times of environmental and socio-economic crises,” Laliberté said.

The bishop pointed to the U.N.’s 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees freedom of religion. That document demonstrates the “very real risk that authorities try to confine the association to the private sphere for religious or spiritual purposes,” he said. 

It is “essential to act with great caution, in order to respect the rights and dignity of all people,” the prelate said. 

Tensions have arisen in Canada in recent years over the country’s relatively high level of Muslim residents. Data indicate that the share of the population identifying as Muslim more than doubled from 2001 to 2021. 

Reported attacks on Canadian Muslims have allegedly skyrocketed in recent years. Among the more shocking incidents, in January 2017, six people were killed and 17 injured after gunmen opened fire inside the Islamic Cultural Center of Quebec.

Pope Francis at the time “strongly condemned” the violence, asking God “for the gift of mutual respect and peace” amid the tragedy. 

Pope Francis addresses pilgrims gathered in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican for his general audience on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican City, Dec 11, 2024 / 10:25 am (CNA).

Pope Francis told thousands of pilgrims attending his general audience on Wednesday that “the strength of arguments” is not enough to convince people about Jesus Christ and his Church.

Concluding his 17-part catechetical series on “The Spirit and the Bride” this week, the Holy Father said “the first and most effective form of evangelization” is the love we show others. 

“The apostle Peter exhorted the first Christians with these words: ‘Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you’ (cf. 1 Pt 3:15),” the pope told his listeners gathered inside the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall.

“But he added a recommendation,” he continued. “‘Do it with gentleness and respect.’”

During this week’s catechesis, the Holy Father explained that Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are inseparable “in the economy of salvation.”

Describing the Holy Spirit as “the ever-springing source of Christian hope,” the pope added that the theological virtue of hope “is the most beautiful gift that the Church can give to all humanity.” 

Using the analogy of the Church as a boat, the Holy Father described the Holy Spirit as the “sail that propels it forward through the sea of history today as in the past.” 

“Hope is not an empty word or a vague wish that things will turn out well,” the pope told his listeners on Wednesday. “No, hope is a certainty because it is founded on God’s faithfulness to his promises.

“That is why it is called a theological virtue, because it is infused by God and has God as a guarantor,” he added. 

Prayers for peace, stability in Syria

Following the recent developments in Syria with the fall of the five-decade-long Assad regime in the country on Dec. 8, Pope Francis invited his audience to pray for the intercession of Our Lady to bring peace in the Middle East. 

“I follow what’s happening in Syria at this delicate moment in our history,” he said. “I hope that we will reach a political solution that will not add to the division and conflict but will establish stability in the country.”

“I pray for the intercession of Our Lady that the Syrian population will live in peace, in security in their homeland and [that] the different religions can walk together in friendship in mutual respect for the good of the nation, afflicted by so many years of war,” he continued.

Before imparting his papal blessing to the thousands of international pilgrims inside the hall, the pope also asked for prayers for those suffering injustice in Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, and Myanmar. 

“War is always a defeat. Let us pray for peace,” he said. 

Father Juan Miguel Ferrer Grenesche of the Archdiocese of Toledo in Spain is an expert in popular piety. / Credit: Nicolás de Cárdenas/ACI Prensa

Madrid, Spain, Dec 11, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Father Juan Miguel Ferrer Grenesche, a Spanish priest and an expert in liturgy and popular piety, explained in anticipation of Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to Corsica on his 47th apostolic journey that the pontiff “has highly valued popular piety” throughout his life.

Popular piety, in this sense, means the piety characteristic of a people, often manifested in public expressions of faith. 

On Dec. 15, the pope will visit the city of Ajaccio, the capital of the French island, to close a conference on popular religiosity in the Mediterranean in which Ferrer will participate, speaking about processions and popular faith in Spain.

In an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, Ferrer explained how he believes the pope will approach his participation in this conference, since “in Latin America he has greatly valued popular piety,” especially with his participation in the meetings of the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops’ Council (CELAM, by its Spanish acronym).

After the Second Vatican Council, the priest explained, the Latin American bishops decided at a conference held in Medellín, Colombia, in 1968 to distance themselves in some way from popular religiosity, considering that it was “too contaminated by pagan elements, superstitions, witchcraft, and other things.”

This reluctance changed at the conference held in Puebla, Mexico, in 1979, Ferrer explained, noting that “if care is taken, there are many elements that can be helpful and complement the great contribution of the liturgy, which the council said did not exhaust the spiritual life of the Church.”

Pope Francis was consecrated as a bishop in 1992 and six years later he became archbishop of Buenos Aires. In 2001, St. John Paul II made him a cardinal. In that capacity, he participated in the CELAM conference held in Aparecida, Brazil, in 2007.

“As cardinal of Buenos Aires he played a key role in the final document, because in it popular religiosity is clearly seen as an element that expresses the inculturation of Christianity in the masses of people on the entire continent,” Ferrer explained.

Pope Francis “wants the Church to present what remains of popular religiosity as a platform for encounter, as an Areopagus for evangelization,” the Spanish priest summed up.

Popular piety, ‘last lifeline’ for many

Regarding the content of the conference that Pope Francis will close, the Spanish priest explained that, in a secularized society, popular piety is for many people “the last lifeline to connect with transcendence and not to completely break with the Christian religious tradition.”

He also commented that the Church likes to talk more about “popular piety” than “popular religiosity” because understood in this latter sense it can be considered “excessively aseptic or disconnected from Christian sources or roots.”

In evangelization, popular piety also allows us to reach those who don’t know the depth and richness of formal liturgy and through “a cultural adaptation” is able to “preserve the connection between the human heart’s thirst for God and the sources of revelation: the word of God, the life of Christ, the sacraments, the Church itself.”

Preserving the religious sense of life

Ferrer also pointed out that “where there is a strong popular religiosity, the religious sense of life is preserved,” despite sins, “doctrinal lapses,” neglect, or laziness.

In this context, it’s possible that “someone who has a religious sense of life can receive the Christian message more easily. On the contrary, where all manifestations of popular religiosity or popular piety have been eliminated, we could say that people’s souls have dried up.”

In this regard, the expert pointed out that psychologist Victor Frankl discovered that even more pathologies “arise from the repression of the religious instinct” than from the repression of the sexual instinct, as his teacher, Sigmund Freud, maintained.

“In societies where people’s souls have dried up, where everything has to be rational, where everything has to be empirical, where there is no room for the religious or the transcendent, then phenomena of crises, we might say, arise and sowing the Gospel becomes very difficult,” the priest observed.

Ferrer also explained that popular piety, expressed through processions, with their statues, music, etc., attracts many people of different ages in whom different emotions are awakened.

However, “for a Catholic Christian that’s not enough, but it’s also true that if we then add to the mixture with skill and pastoral art, with presence, liturgical celebration and formation, it becomes a source of volunteers for any task in the parishes or, in the dioceses, a source of vocations for our religious communities and for our seminaries.”

Popular piety in Corsica

When asked about the particularities of popular piety in Corsica, Ferrer said that Corsica “has a strong tradition of confraternities and brotherhoods [that typically sponsor and organize processions],” with influences from Italy and southern France, “coming very much from the Dominicans and Franciscans who preached and looked after these areas of the Mediterranean.”

Over the years, “people took it up as something very much theirs and very much their own, and in addition, much of the singing has been preserved, which is very important in Corsica” and is characterized by being “very peculiar, nasal, very striking.”

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

Pope Francis meets with members of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) on Friday, Jan. 26, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Dec 11, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), the Vatican body responsible for questions of doctrinal orthodoxy in the Catholic Church, has a group of outside consultants. What is the role of these experts in one of the Roman Curia’s most prominent dicasteries?

This past September, Pope Francis appointed 28 new consultants for the dicastery, headed since July 2023 by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández.

The majority of the latest crop of DDF consultants are Italian priests-theologians, experts in canon law and Scripture, as well as six women — two religious and four lay theologians — and two lay male theologians. Among those appointed is a Jesuit priest who holds a doctorate in sacred Scripture, Father Juan Manuel Granados Rojas.

Speaking with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, Granados, a Colombian, explained the details of the new role that he is taking up as “a humble service” to the Catholic Church and the Holy Father.

Granados explained that on Dec. 2, he and his fellow recently appointed consultors took the oath for their new service in a “simple ceremony” where they committed themselves “to safeguard the faith received from the apostles and to keep the pontifical secret.” 

The event, said the professor at the Pontifical Biblical Institute and member of the Catholic Biblical Association, was presided over by the cardinal prefect (Fernández) and took place in a private chapel of the dicastery. Pope Francis was not present.

During the ceremony, the experts recited the Creed in Latin and read “a series of personal commitments to the Catholic Church,” added the Jesuit priest, who is also a member of the team of translators of the Bible of the Church in America (BIA, by its Spanish acronym).

“Consultants are appointed for a period of six years,” Granados explained, “and our role is to respond as quickly as possible to the questions that the dicastery sends us. The questions are asked ad hoc according to the competencies of each consultant.”

In this context, he noted that there are two branches in the DDF: the disciplinary and the doctrinal. He added that most of the new consultants have been appointed for consultations related to the dicastery’s disciplinary role.

In the case of Granados, he said he can expect “consultations that involve biblical material or where the doctrinal statements have to do with the holy Scriptures.”

He received the news of his new role, which he assures will be carried out with “due scientific rigor,” from the undersecretary of the DDF, Archbishop Philippe Curbelié.

“When I asked if I could decline the appointment, he respectfully informed me that by virtue of my fourth vow of obedience I could not do so,” the religious explained, in reference to the commitment of obedience to the pope that Jesuits make.

Granados also noted that almost all of the consultants are professors of ecclesiastical faculties and that the number of laypeople “is greater than in previous years.”

“During the explanation of our responsibilities, the cardinal prefect made us understand that the new group reflects, or is intended to reflect, the initiative of the Holy Father in favor of the synodal character of the Church,” he said.

Granados also emphasized that “the personal opinion of the consultants does not influence either the decisions or the documents issued by the DDF” and that their collaboration is done anonymously.

“We help the cardinal prefect and the other officials stay up to date on academic theological discussions. They will eventually ask us for summaries or opinions on the questions that other dicasteries or bishops address to the DDF,” the Jesuit explained.

In that case, he added, “we will have to give our professional opinion.”

“That doesn’t mean that it coincides or has to coincide with the opinion of the DDF, nor with the decision or document that the DDF subsequently works up. It’s a humble and anonymous service,” he said.

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

St. Austin Catholic Church and School once the construction project was underway. / Credit: St. Austin Catholic Church and School

Seattle, Wash., Dec 11, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The Catholic Church in the United States is facing a real estate reckoning. Declining congregations, shifting demographics, and aging infrastructure have left thousands of Church properties underutilized or vacant. As dioceses merge and parishes close, leaders grapple with determining the future of these valuable yet costly assets.

The Church’s predicament is a delicate balancing act between financial pressures and mission objectives. Burdened by immense financial obligations — maintenance deficits often soaring into the millions — these properties are more than assets on a ledger. They are sacred spaces with spiritual significance, historical landmarks, and community pillars. These values transcend monetary measurement, yet decisions must be made.

“Many of these properties are dilapidated or just unused, and the overhead costs are immense,” said Michael Lyons, founder of [Y] Impact Ventures, an impact investment firm focusing on driving social good and financial return by boosting the value of housing through community building. “At the same time, the Church lacks funds from a ministry standpoint. There’s an arbitrage that needs to be addressed.”

Amid a national housing shortage and the aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic, some dioceses are adopting creative approaches to repurpose Church properties, aligning financial obligations with their mission.

Austin’s blueprint for balancing mission and finances

Facing mounting costs to maintain aging facilities, St. Austin Catholic Parish in Austin, Texas, saw an opportunity in its prime location near the University of Texas. In 2020, the parish entered a 99-year ground lease for half of its acreage with developer Greystar.

“The income from that lease allowed us to rebuild our school,” said Trish Dolese, partner at Emmaus Projects LLC, who guided the parish. “We tore down everything except the church and now have brand-new school and ministry spaces.”

Dolese highlighted the challenges the Church faces in real estate decisions. 

“The Church always thinks long term,” she said. “This can make them reluctant to make quick decisions about investing in real estate assets, which often conflicts with development timelines.”

The $45 million project was primarily funded by lease income, covering 88% of the costs. The parish raised an additional $7 million to complete financing. Despite the development, St. Austin retains ownership of the land and will regain full control — including all improvements — when the lease concludes.

“They built a 29-story student housing tower with affordable units and included a gym for our school and parish,” Dolese explained. “Because it’s a school, we can take tax-exempt status.”

By leveraging their proximity to the university, the parish found a win-win solution. “We still own the property, and life continues to happen in this church,” Dolese said.

Lyons points to this project as a model. “Instead of having to fire-sale the property, they maintained control and bought themselves time and financial runway,” he said.

Mission-driven repurposing of Church properties

Many parishes prioritize mission-driven initiatives, using their properties to serve vulnerable populations.

In Philadelphia, the Sisters of St. Joseph transformed a former convent into a men’s transitional home for immigrants and refugees. Since 2017, the SSJ Newcomer Housing Alliance has provided shelter and support to over 50 men from various countries.

“Each of those has been a success story,” said Sister Eileen McNally, the refugee coordinator. Building on this success, they plan to renovate another convent to accommodate 12 families of newcomer women and children within the year.

Their efforts won the “To the Heights Award” at the Church Properties Conference at the University of Notre Dame. “The $15,000 prize money will probably go to repairs,” McNally added.

“It’s about more than just housing,” she said. “We’re offering a supportive environment where newcomers can adjust to life in the United States.”

Reviving sacred spaces for redemption

In Cincinnati, the Serenelli Project aims to build a supportive community for individuals transitioning out of incarceration. Named after Alessandro Serenelli — who experienced a profound conversion after murdering St. Maria Goretti — the initiative seeks to restore the unused Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church.

“We expect to close on the church and rectory by the end of 2025,” said Marty Arlinghaus, founder of the project. “We’re actively searching for a director of community life to kick-start the monastic brotherhood.”

“Our goal is to provide a place where men can live in a structured, faith-based environment,” Arlinghaus said. “It’s about healing, redemption, and giving individuals a second chance.”

Navigating challenges and charting a path forward

Despite innovative projects, many Church leaders struggle with managing real estate assets effectively. The complexities of property management, combined with the Church’s mission, present significant hurdles.

“There is a broad lack of appreciation for the financial realities of Church property,” said Maddy Johnson, program manager of the Church Properties Initiative at Notre Dame’s Fitzgerald Institute for Real Estate. “Many of these properties are running seven-figure maintenance deficits.”

According to a 2020 Faith Communities Today report, two-thirds of churches in the U.S. have annual incomes of less than $100,000. “They face capital repairs that easily run into millions, plus ongoing costs to maintain these buildings,” Johnson said.

Administrators often have “dollar signs at the top of their minds” for good reason, she added. “A paradigm shift is required if these properties are to be reused within the life of the Church.”

Timing is another significant hurdle, as institutional processes can impede prompt decisions. “There are high bars bishops have to pass to divest property,” Dolese explained. “We have to balance our long-term vision with development timelines.”

Prolonged deficits pose additional challenges. “It’s crucial for dioceses to get ahead of these issues,” Lyons said. “Those who recognize issues early can pursue innovative solutions.”

Yet, Johnson sees a positive shift.

“We’re witnessing dioceses adopting creative, mission-aligned strategies,” she said. “Groups like the Loretto movement and the Sant’Egidio Community are laypeople united in ecclesial forms. This is a promising model for transferring responsibility when an asset can still be used within the Church.”

“There’s a lot of hope in this,” Lyons affirmed. “By finding creative solutions that align financial realities with the Church’s mission, we can help institutions adapt while staying true to their core values.”

Dolese believes reimagining Church properties is essential.

“The future use has more to say than our current use,” she said. “There’s value in preserving that legacy while adapting to new realities.”