Capt. (Father) Daniel Mode — who remains a priest in good standing — has been reassigned to an “administrative position” in the U.S. Navy Chief of Chaplains Office, according to the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA. / Credit: Public Domain

CNA Staff, Apr 30, 2024 / 17:10 pm (CNA).

The U.S. Coast Guard removed a Catholic priest Wednesday as its head chaplain over his failure to “take appropriate action” after being made aware of “pre-service sexual misconduct by another chaplain.”

Capt. (Father) Daniel Mode — who remains a priest in good standing — has been reassigned to an “administrative position” in the U.S. Navy Chief of Chaplains Office, according to the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA.

The Coast Guard did not provide the identity of the unnamed chaplain involved in the sexual misconduct case. But the military branch said the individual “has already been removed from the Coast Guard and Navy,” according to Stripes.com.

In that statement, the Coast Guard said that an “administrative investigation found that Capt. Mode did not take appropriate action when made aware of pre-service sexual misconduct by another chaplain.”

Mode did not violate any laws or policies requiring punitive action, the Coast Guard said, but instead demonstrated a “failure in judgment below what is expected from his key leadership position.”

The priest has served as the branch’s head chaplain since 2022 and has been ministering and serving in the military since 1988.

Mode was the chaplain for the “Lone Survivor” SEAL team in Afghanistan and authored a book about the famed “Grunt Padre,” Father Vincent Capodanno.

In a statement Friday, the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, said that Archbishop Timothy Broglio “is confident that within hours of receiving documentation of the 2011 incident of sexual misconduct, Father Mode ensured and directed that key Coast Guard personnel and chaplains responsible for advising and briefing their commanders were emailed all of the detailed and pertinent documents.”

The priest told Broglio that “he believed that his initial report in 2022 would be more broadly communicated,” the statement said. 

“However, having reviewed the Coast Guard’s investigation findings, Father Mode now realizes that his presumption that all field commanders involved in the case were informed following the initial report was incorrect,” the statement said. 

Mode told Broglio that he “fully embraces” the core values of the Coast Guard, the statement said. The priest “has earnestly worked to ensure his priorities were aligned with the commandant’s expectations,” the archdiocese said.

“[Mode] stressed the importance of recognizing ‘biases and barriers’ to intervention regarding allegations of sexual assault and apologized profoundly for the circumstances that led to his removal as chaplain of the Coast Guard, which he views as his own leadership failure,” the statement said.

Mode fully supports the Coast Guard’s efforts to address sexual assault “with full accountability and transparency,” the statement said.

“Archbishop Broglio expressed his continued confidence in Father Mode’s giftedness as a Catholic priest and chaplain and his dedication to building and maintaining a safe environment in the Church,” the statement concluded. 

Lara Al-Sayegh, a Catholic from Gaza, collapsed and died of heatstroke as she and her mother tried to leave Gaza and find safe haven in Egypt on April 24, 2024. The 19-year-old lived in northern Gaza and the family had already lost their father and husband after he died at Gaza’s Latin Holy Family Church due to a lack of adequate medical care. / Credit: Fady Al-Sayegh

ACI MENA, Apr 30, 2024 / 16:30 pm (CNA).

Among the heartbreaking stories to emerge from the war in Gaza is the death of a young Catholic woman named Lara Al-Sayegh. The 19-year-old Gazan perished while fleeing with her mother from the northern Gaza Strip to the south in a desperate attempt to reach Egypt and find safe haven. 

Midway through their arduous journey, Al-Sayegh succumbed to severe fatigue, lack of water, and fatal heatstroke. Tragically, her father had already been lost during the war when he died at Gaza’s Latin Holy Family Church due to a lack of adequate medical care.

A brother’s anguished testimony

In an exclusive interview with ACI Mena, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, Al-Sayegh’s brother, Fady Al-Sayegh, who has resided in Egypt since earlier this year, shared his pain at receiving the devastating news about his sister.

“It was an unexpected moment when I got the heartbreaking update through Father Iusuf Assad, the pastor of the Holy Family Latin Church in Gaza,” Fady recounted. “He sent me a condolence message. I asked, ‘Condolences for whom?’ His answer was, ‘It’s Lara, your sister.’”

“I couldn’t believe it ... How could I believe it?” Fady said, his voice thick with grief. “I asked my brother Khalil, hoping against hope that the news was false. But the painful truth was inescapable. Just yesterday, it seems, Lara was here with us. We were talking, planning for a promising future together. I was waiting for her on the Egyptian side of the border. Everything we dreamed of was within our grasp, and suddenly ... we lost all that we had, as if it had never been.” 

Fady’s sorrow is compounded by the plans they had made. “We had hopes of attending university together, as Lara aspired to study journalism and media in order to give voice to the untold stories,” he said.

A journey cut tragically short

According to the testimony of Lara’s mother, Fady explained that on Tuesday, April 23, both Lara and her mother’s names were included on a list of those permitted to cross into Egypt from Gaza. They decided to leave the following day, heading to the Netzarim Corridor, which separates northern Gaza from the south and remains under Israeli control.

“They were in a car driving them to a specific point in the south,” Fady explained. “From there, they had to walk on foot until reaching the Rafah Crossing into Egypt. Lara was walking briskly and quickly, but she suddenly stumbled and collapsed to the ground. Some people tried to revive her, thinking she had merely fainted due to the extreme heat. But the painful reality was that Lara had died.”

Their mother also fainted from the trauma and is now recovering. Fady noted with great sorrow that Lara was buried in southern Gaza, far from her church home, and her funeral has not yet been held. 

Fady blamed some Arabic media outlets for ignoring the plight of Gaza’s small Christian minority amid their harsh living conditions, including killings, loss of property, displacement, and forced migration. The ancient Christian community there has endured continuous suffering and is on the brink of extinction due to migration, displacement, and now the war. 

Fady also expressed hope that the world would work toward achieving justice and peace in the region. He called on churches around the globe to pray for Gaza, to be a voice for the oppressed, and to help raise awareness about the struggle of minority communities in the area.

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

Pope Francis receives a baby for a blessing as pilgrims gather in St. Peter’s Square for the pope’s general audience on Wednesday, April 10, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Apr 30, 2024 / 16:03 pm (CNA).

A man arrested earlier this month in St. Peter’s Square while carrying three 8-inch knives is a former convict and fugitive from the law in New York state.

Moises Tejada, 54, is on the Most Wanted Fugitives list of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision because, authorities there say, he violated the terms of parole from state prison on kidnapping and robbery convictions. 

Tejada twice immobilized real estate agents and stole from them while posing as a home buyer, according to New York state authorities.

More recently, he was arrested on Wednesday, April 10, the same day Pope Francis gave a general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. The man attracted the attention of authorities, who found the knives, Reuters reported.

Tejada’s arrest was first reported earlier this month by La Repubblica, a daily newspaper in Italy, with the lead sentence (in Italian): “What was an American armed like a butcher doing in Rome?” 

Tejada, “posing as a potential customer of a realtor who was showing him the inside of a home, pointed a gun at the realtor, handcuffed him to a pole, and robbed him of personal property including his car” in Suffolk County, Long Island, according to a judge who summed up the case against him in a 2004 appeal of a 1999 conviction. 

Tejada also committed “a nearly-identical crime … against another realtor” in Brooklyn, according to the appeals court decision upholding the Suffolk County conviction. 

He was sentenced to 20 years to life. 

Tejada began serving his time in state prison on the kidnapping and robbery convictions in March 2000, state corrections officials told CNA on Tuesday. He was released on parole in May 2018 but was returned to prison in January 2022 for violating the terms of release. 

Tejada was subsequently released on parole from Sullivan Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison in Fallsburg, New York, in March 2022. But seven months later, in October 2022, state corrections officials issued a warrant for his arrest for failing to report to his parole officer. 

Tejada recently arrived in Rome after spending time in Moldova, Italian authorities told La Repubblica. Tejada told Italian authorities that he had been fighting in Ukraine for that country against the Russians since 2022, which is also around the time he failed to report to his parole officer in New York state. 

The Office of Special Investigations of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision is working with the U.S. Marshals Service to extradite Tejada from Italy to the United States. A spokesman for the U.S. Marshals said the agency does not usually comment on extradition cases until after they occur. 

In April 2022, one month after his second release on parole and six months before he went missing, Tejada sued the city of New York’s Department of Corrections, saying he sustained “severe and permanent injuries when he slipped and fell due to water which had accumulated and remained on the floor of the bathroom” at Rikers Island, a city jail, while he was detained there in January 2021 for reasons not stated in the complaint. 

null / JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 30, 2024 / 15:30 pm (CNA).

The U.S. bishops issued a statement criticizing a new Biden administration change to the Affordable Care Act that requires health providers to perform or cover sex-change surgeries and therapies. 

“Health care that truly heals must be grounded in truth,” wrote Bishop Kevin Rhoades, head of the U.S. bishops’ Committee for Religious Liberty. “These regulations, however, advance an ideological view of sex that, as the Holy See has noted, denies the most beautiful and most powerful difference that exists between living beings: sexual difference.”

The administration’s new rule amends the nondiscrimination clause in Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (also known as ACA or Obamacare), by removing the word “sex” and replacing it with the phrase “sex (including discrimination on the basis of sex characteristics, including intersex traits; pregnancy or related conditions; sexual orientation; gender identity; and sex stereotypes).”

This change means that any insurer or physician receiving federal financial assistance must cover or provide sex-reassignment surgeries and therapies on the grounds that refusal to do so would constitute discrimination based on sex.

This reverses changes to ACA made under the Trump administration that excluded such procedures from mandated coverage.

The U.S. bishops argued against the rule change when it was being considered in 2022 on the grounds that sex-reassignment surgeries “stunt human sexual development, mutilate the body, and cause sterilization.”

The bishops also flagged the rule as a “major threat” to religious freedom in their 2024 “State of Religious Liberty in the United States” report.

Rhoades voiced the bishops’ disapproval of the rule, saying in a Tuesday statement that “the human right to health care flows from the sanctity of human life and the dignity that belongs to all human persons, who are made in the image of God.”  

“The same core beliefs about human dignity and the wisdom of God’s design that motivate Catholics to care for the sick also shape our convictions about care for preborn children and the immutable nature of the human person. These commitments are inseparable,” Rhoades wrote, adding: “I pray that health care workers will embrace the truth about the human person, a truth reflected in Catholic teaching, and that HHS will not substitute its judgment for their own.”

In responding to fears that the rule will violate religious and conscience rights, the Biden Health and Human Services Department (HHS) claims that it has included a provision within the rule that “respects federal protections for religious freedom and conscience.” 

In the final rule, which is set to be filed in the Federal Register on May 6, HHS states that any part of the new guidance that violates “applicable” federal religious freedom and conscience protections “shall not be required.”

Meanwhile, Chris Faddis, president of the Arizona-based Catholic group Solidarity HealthShare, said that the rule means that “physicians and medical staff can no longer opt out of performing morally objectionable procedures, like transgender surgeries, without the risk of losing critical federal funding.”

Faddis told CNA that the rule’s wording is dangerously vague and would force hospitals and providers to “beg” for religious freedom exemptions that should be automatically afforded under the First Amendment.

“We should not have to request something that the Bill of Rights says is a God-given right … we should not have to request our religious freedom,” he said. “Even the fact that putting the burden on an individual doctor or health system to come beg for clemency is a problem. This is not who this country is.” 

Given the Biden administration’s track record for prioritizing progressive gender ideology over religious freedom, Faddis believes that it is “very uncertain” that religious providers’ requests would be granted. 

“How can we possibly trust that they’re going to be favorable and friendly and not target or avoid answering these waiver requests?” he asked. 

To be clear, Solidarity HealthShare, which says on its website that it has served 55,000 patients since its founding in 2016, will not be impacted by the Biden administration’s change. This is because the rule specifically targets health insurers and providers. However, Faddis believes the new rule presents a broader danger to not just providers but also patients and the overall health care system. 

One such problem Faddis foresees is the possibility that a Catholic or religious provider may not be eligible to receive Medicaid or Medicare funding while their exemption requests are being considered.

“If suddenly Catholic health care systems have to stop taking Medicare or Medicaid,” Faddis said, “not only would that drastically impact them and maybe even take them out of business, but it would also drastically impact the availability of care across the country, particularly in certain states that have a large percentage of their care is provided by Catholic systems.” 

HHS did not immediately respond to CNA’s request for comment.

In a Friday statement HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said that the new rule is a “giant step forward for this country toward a more equitable and inclusive health care system.”

According to Becerra, the rule “means that Americans across the country now have a clear way to act on their rights against discrimination when they go to the doctor, talk with their health plan, or engage with health programs run by HHS.”

HHS also clarifies in the rule that “nothing in section 1557 shall be construed to have any effect on federal laws regarding conscience protection; willingness or refusal to provide abortion; and discrimination on the basis of the willingness or refusal to provide, pay for, cover, or refer for abortion or to provide or participate in training to provide abortion.”

The rule will go into effect on July 5, 60 days after being filed in the Federal Register.

This article has been updated.

Pope Francis prays during his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on April 24, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 30, 2024 / 13:00 pm (CNA).

On the occasion of its first general convention taking place in Rome this week, Pope Francis has addressed a message to the Regnum Christi Federation.

In his message, the Holy Father encouraged the organization’s membership to discern “how to make present in our days the mystery of Christ,” in keeping with the particular vocation of each individual.

The convention, the first to be held since the approval of the new statutes in 2019, is taking place after a long process of listening and purification that came in the wake of multiple abuses committed by various members, including the founder of the Legionaries of Christ, the late Mexican priest Father Marcial Maciel.

In the letter, sent to Father John Lane Connor, LC, president of the federation’s general board of directors, the Holy Father asks “the Lord that the light of the Holy Spirit helps you discern, in fidelity to the Gospel and the magisterium of the Church, how to make the mystery of Christ present in our days, in accordance with the vocation to which each of you has been called.”

Pope Francis expressed his hope that “this new statute favors their aspiration to always be true apostles.” In addition, the Holy Father highlighted that “today more than ever, society demands that we be able to give reasons for our hope in the face of contemporary challenges.

During his homily at the inaugural Mass of the gathering, held under the motto “Apostles on Mission: Making the Kingdom of Christ Present Today,” Connor invited everyone to “walk in the light that is Christ” and recalled that “becoming small is one of the great secrets of the Gospel and evangelization: small so that he may be great.”

The general convention is a collegiate body and is responsible for “dealing with the purposes, progress, and development of the Regnum Christi Federation” as its highest authority as well as establishing mission priorities for each six-year term, among other functions established in the statutes.

What is Regnum Christi?

The Regnum Christi Federation is now defined as a spiritual family with four vocations: Legionaries of Christ, consecrated women, consecrated laypeople, and laypeople whose direction is given by a general board of directors formed by the general directors of the Legionaries of Christ, the Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi, and the Consecrated Men of Regnum Christi, who are assisted by two laypersons with consultative voice and vote.

According to its statement, Regnum Christi is made up of the Legionaries of Christ (1,316), consecrated women (486), consecrated laymen (47), and laypersons (18,494 over 16 years of age, and 10,276 minors). It carries on educational work with 151,000 students in 154 schools and 14 universities and is present in 32 countries on five continents.

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

Aerial view of tornado damage in Elkhorn, Nebraska, taken on April 29, 2024. Tornadoes ripped through the Midwest over the weekend of April 26–28, 2024. / Credit: mpi34/MediaPunch/IPX/AP Photo

CNA Staff, Apr 30, 2024 / 12:15 pm (CNA).

After a blockbuster night of severe weather that saw tornadoes touch down in at least six states on Friday, one Catholic parish in Nebraska is stepping up in a particular way to help their neighbors after a massive twister leveled parts of their community April 26.

St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Elkhorn, Nebraska, a suburb northwest of Omaha, mobilized volunteers in recent days to coordinate monetary donations and gift cards for more than 30 local families whose homes have suffered various degrees of damage. The church also opened its doors to local law enforcement, which used the church’s gym as a reunification point after the storm.

“We reached out and extended help pretty instantly,” Eric Crawford, the parish’s advancement director, told CNA.

The parish itself, which is in the process of building a new sanctuary about half a mile from its current site, was relatively untouched, but homes “half a mile to a mile” away were flattened, Crawford said. The Friday tornadoes — two notably large ones hit the Omaha area — ultimately destroyed or damaged at least 150 homes, the AP reported. Miraculously, there have not been any reported fatalities thus far. The larger of the two tornadoes tore through Elkhorn. 

“We were narrowly missed … but some of our parishioners live in that area, and so they’ve been directly affected by it,” he said. 

One of those parishioners was a bedridden man who was unable to get to his basement when the tornado ripped through his home. Miraculously, the man survived with non-life-threatening injuries, and two crucifixes and an image of the Virgin Mary remained on the ruined walls untouched, according to a local news report.

Crawford encouraged people of goodwill to donate to the parish’s Human Needs Committee, which is working with the Omaha Rapid Response Team, a local nonprofit disaster-response team founded by Omaha churches.

“Keep our parish in your prayers, and then if [you] feel called to make some sort of contribution to our cause and our relief efforts, that would be much appreciated,” he said.

The Omaha chapter of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul is also accepting monetary donations, as is Catholic Charities Omaha (CCO). Dave Vankat, CCO’s chief community engagement officer, told CNA that the agency is prepared to offer long-term help for the tornado victims, such as food assistance and mental health resources, including mental health assistance for school children who may have been traumatized by the experience of the storm.

A contemplative community of religious sisters, the Poor Clare Nuns of Omaha, is located in Elkhorn just a few miles from the path the tornado and just a seven-minute drive from St. Patrick’s Parish. Mother Kathleen Hawkins, OSC, the abbess of the community, told CNA that the monastery lost power and had to rely on a backup generator during the storm. She said none of the sisters were injured and there does not appear to be any damage to the property but also that the monastery has been flooded with calls from people wanting to make sure the nuns are safe.

An extremely active day of tornadoes in the Midwest came to a head on April 26, with dozens of tornadoes reported across the broad swath of the central U.S. The next day, Saturday, saw large numbers of tornadoes develop in Oklahoma, where semitrucks were overturned on I-35 and at least four people died.

This story has been updated.

Elevation of the chalice at a Traditional Latin Mass. / Credit: Wikimedia JoeJ10/CC BY-SA 4.0

CNA Newsroom, Apr 30, 2024 / 11:45 am (CNA).

At the pinnacle of his professional sports career, one French athlete announced his intention to quit volleyball to embrace monastic life at a famous French abbey. 

Ludovic Duée, captain of the Saint-Nazaire volleyball team and recently crowned French champion, shared a deeply personal decision with local media: He has chosen to retire from the sport that brought him fame and success and embark on a new path at the Abbey of Sainte-Marie de Lagrasse.

Duée, 32, confirmed his life-changing move to Ouest-France following his team’s championship victory on April 28.

“This is a decision that stems from the depths of my soul,” Duée said. 

Coming from a practicing Catholic family, he described — according to Catholic newspaper LaCroix — his religious practice as minimal until his encounter with the canons regular of Lagrasse during the COVID-19 pandemic: The monks “were very welcoming and answered all my questions.”

The profound impact of meeting and communicating with the Canons Regular of the Mother of God led Duée to a personal revelation.

“I discovered that God loved me and that he only wanted one thing, for me to love him back,” he said, according to CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner. The transformative experience has set him on a new path to reciprocating that love. 

The Abbey of Sainte-Marie de Lagrasse in the south of France has its origins in the seventh century. Today the monastery, which lies about 400 miles from Paris, is renowned for its adherence to the Traditional Latin Mass.

What is more, this monastery melds liturgical richness with a deep engagement with the local community: The canons are actively engaged in their diocese, contributing to social outreach programs, participating in sports, and providing spiritual and practical support to migrants at the village asylum center.

For now, Duée will live and learn among the canons without yet taking vows: “During the next few months, I will live and breathe the canon regular life. I will experience everything from the inside out to gain a deeper understanding of the community and determine if this is the long-term fit for me, and for them.”

Following the Rule of St. Augustine, the devout Frenchman has embarked on a spiritual journey that may ultimately lead to taking the vows of a novice: After years of personal and theological development, the end goal is to make a permanent commitment as a priest and canon regular.

Palma il Giovane (1550-1628), “Portrait of Pope Pius V.” / Credit: Public Domain

National Catholic Register, Apr 30, 2024 / 04:00 am (CNA).

Michele Ghislieri, later St. Pius V, was born in Bosco, northern Italy, in 1504 and ordained a Dominican priest in 1528. Recognizing his holiness and learning, his community elected him prior four times.

During Pius’ lifetime, the Protestant ideas of Luther and Calvin were dissolving Catholic unity throughout Europe. In 1542, Pope Paul IV reorganized the Roman Inquisition to combat them and named Pius an inquisitor. In 1555, the newly elected Pope Pius IV made Pius bishop and later cardinal of Nepi and Sutri, a diocese near Rome, and general inquisitor of all Christendom (with authority over all other inquisitors).

Throughout his life, Pius devoted much time to prayer and practiced severe personal penances. He disliked public life and involvement in the governance of the Church, preferring the peace of the cloister, but relented when he saw that it was God’s will for his life. As a sign of his humility, as a cardinal and pope, Pius continued to wear the simple, white habit of the Dominican order, which began the tradition of popes wearing white. 

He became Pope Pius V in 1566 through the influence of St. Charles Borromeo, cardinal of Milan, whose uncle was Pius IV. As pope, he was stern and rigorous in the enforcement of laws and morality. For the next six years of his pontificate, he undertook dramatic reforms, which remained dominant in the Church through Vatican II.

From the outset, Pius V was determined to rid the Church of the abuses and corruption and implement the decrees of the Council of Trent. He urged his cardinals to shun luxury and ambition and to lead exemplary Christian lives. He ordered bishops living in Rome to return to their dioceses and to fast and pray to end the heresies unleashed by the Protestant revolt.

When Emperor Maximilian joined with some cardinals in asking Pius V to end the requirement of celibacy for priests (the era had its own vocations crisis), he steadfastly refused. He also insisted that clergy wear clerical dress and religious habits as outward signs of their vocation.

During Pius V’s reign, the Catechism of the Council of Trent was completed, a new breviary was published, and sacred music was reformed. (Palestrina became choirmaster of the papal chapel.) Pius declared his fellow Dominican, St. Thomas Aquinas, a doctor of the Church and made St. Thomas’ Summa Theologica mandatory study at seminaries.

Despite frequent shortages in the papal treasury, Pius refused to take financial gifts for special dispensations (which had been commonplace with some predecessors). Once, when a bishop proposed a scheme to improve the Church’s finances, Pius refused, remarking: “Christianity can get along well enough with prayer and exemplary lives, and has no need of treasure.”

As a temporal ruler, Pius battled the crime and loose morals prevalent in Rome. He was often severe, frequently resorting to the use of corporal and capital punishment. For example, when a handful of unruly citizens knocked down a statue of Pope Paul IV (two popes before Pius V), and rolled it into the Tiber River, a horrified Pius ordered their execution.

Pius was greatly aided in renewing the spiritual life of Rome’s citizenry through the work of St. Philip Neri and other holy priests and religious.

While he had critics, Pius had many defenders as well. For example, the Spanish ambassador to Rome declared: “Rarely indeed in a pope has the monarch so given place to the priest. One thing only he has at heart, the salvation of souls. This is what determines his entire policy; on this he bases every service and reckons the value of every institution and act.”

Cardinal John Henry Newman would later write: “I do not deny that St. Pius V was stern and severe, as far as a heart burning and melted with divine love could be so … yet such energy and vigor as his were necessary for the times. He was a soldier of Christ in a time of insurrection and rebellion, when, in a spiritual sense, martial law was proclaimed.”

Pius V’s greatest challenge, however, came at the end of his pontificate. For centuries, Muslim Turks had threatened to conquer Christian Europe. In Pius’ time, the Turkish dominated the Mediterranean, plundering Christian towns and villages and slaughtering their inhabitants. Mahomet II boasted to the world he would soon top St. Peter’s dome with the Crescent Moon and wind the pope’s head in a turban.

Pius persuaded the European powers to lay aside their rivalries and join in a holy alliance against the Turks. As he prayed and fasted, the badly outnumbered Christian forces engaged the Turks at Lepanto. In one of the most remarkable naval victories in world history, the Turks were routed and Christendom saved.

The day of the victory — Oct. 7, 1571 — the pope was meeting in Rome with his advisers when he suddenly stopped, gazed out a window to the East, and wept for joy as he declared: “The Christian fleet is victorious!” Two weeks later, official word came to Rome that Pius was right. Muslim armies would never again threaten Europe.

Pius attributed the victory to the intercession of Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, and declared Oct. 7 a feast day in her honor. He died seven months later and was canonized in 1712.

Pius V is remembered in the liturgy on April 30.

This article was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA's sister news partner, and is reprinted here on CNA with permission.

Father David Waller will become the first bishop Ordinary of the Ordinariate. / Credit: Courtesy photo / Bishop's Conference of England and Wales

National Catholic Register, Apr 29, 2024 / 18:45 pm (CNA).

The Vatican has announced a new leader of the ordinariate in Great Britain.

Father David Waller, 62, a parish priest and vicar general of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, will replace Monsignor Keith Newton, 72, who is retiring after serving over 13 years as the ordinary of the ecclesiastical structure for former Anglicans.

In a statement, Newton called the Vatican’s April 29 announcement “momentous” given that Waller, who is a celibate, will become the first bishop ordinary of the ordinariate. 

As someone who was already married as an Anglican clergyman before entering the Church through the ordinariate, Newton was not allowed episcopal consecration.

Established by Pope Benedict XVI in 2011 through his 2009 apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, the ordinariate is an ecclesiastical structure for Anglicans wishing to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church while retaining their distinctive Anglican patrimony.  

With today’s announcement, the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham becomes the first of three in the world — the others being in the U.S./Canada and Australia — to have had an influence in choosing its leader. 

In keeping with the Anglican emphasis on consultation and in accordance with the Anglicanorum Coetibus, members of the ordinariate’s governing council, made up of ordinariate priests, were able to choose Waller as one of three names they recommended to the Holy See. 

Newton said he believed allowing this faculty, one that is usually left to the apostolic nuncio, “showed the Holy See’s confidence in the ordinariate in the U.K.” 

A former Anglican vicar who served as a pastor, part-time hospital chaplain, and a member of the governing body of the Church of England, Waller was among the first Anglican clergy to be received into the Church following the establishment of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham in 2011. 

He was then ordained to the diaconate and the priesthood, has served in two parishes, and was elected chairman of the ordinariate’s governing council. For the past four years he has worked with Newton as vicar general. 

In a statement, Waller said it was “both humbling and a great honor” to have been appointed ordinary. “The past 13 years have been a time of grace and blessing as small and vulnerable communities have grown in confidence, rejoicing to be a full yet distinct part of the Catholic Church,” he added. 

Already well known to members of the ordinariate, he said he was looking forward to serving them in his new role, adding that experience over these past years has taught him “there is nothing to be feared in responding to the Lord and that Jesus does great things with us despite our inadequacies.”

Newton said in a statement that he was “delighted” with Waller’s appointment, adding that he has been “unwaveringly loyal” to the ordinariate and a “great support” to him as vicar general. 

Waller has been “totally been involved in life of the ordinariate and understands it all, and is a good administrator,” Newton told the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner. 

No coercion to step down

Newton stressed that he had chosen to retire while he is still active. 

“I’ve not been forced out in any way, and nobody has told me to retire; it’s totally my own decision,” he said. “It’s a time to pass it on to new hands,” he continued, adding that he and his wife, Gill, “want to enjoy a bit of retirement together.” 

Other prominent priests of the ordinariate also welcomed the news of Waller’s appointment. Father Ed Tomlinson, priest in charge of St. Anselm’s Ordinariate Parish Church in Pembury, Tunbridge Wells, told the Register he was “delighted the ordinariate will have a bishop” and that he wished “Father David the best.” 

Father Benedict Kiely, an ordinariate priest of the same parish who also runs the charity Nasarean.org for persecuted Christians, said: “I will always remain grateful to Msgr. Keith for making the defense of persecuted Christians an important part of the ordinariate, and I’m sure Bishop David will continue that support.”

Newton said the date and place of Waller’s episcopal ordination have yet to be confirmed but that he expected it to take place “towards the end of June.” 

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, and is reprinted here on CNA with permission.

French authorities determined that "there does not appear that there is any infraction sufficiently characterized to justify any criminal procedure" against Father Matthieu Raffray. / Credit: Father Matthieu Raffray YouTube Channel / Screenshot

ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 29, 2024 / 18:00 pm (CNA).

French priest Matthieu Raffray disclosed that the Paris prosecutor’s office has dismissed a case initiated against him for stating that homosexual relations are a sin and for calling homosexuality a “weakness.”

In a legal document addressed to the priest and shared by him April 26, it stated that “on March 19, the interministerial delegation for the fight against racism, anti-Semitism, and anti-LGBT hatred went to the Paris prosecutor’s office” regarding “two posts made on your X (Twitter) and Instagram accounts” in January and March.

The priest of the Institute of the Good Shepherd — created in 2006 in Rome for “the defense and dissemination of Catholic tradition in all its forms,” according to the website of this society of apostolic life — had posted in late January a comment on X about “conversion therapies.”

“The LGBT Corner” had asked in a Jan. 28 mocking post on X whether “a person can get conversion therapy for 10 euros in France. That’s what Father LeCoq implies whom I contacted to help my son suffering from ‘homophile tendencies.’ He directed me to the retreat ‘Be a Man’ to be held again in Annecy.”

In response Raffray wrote: “Every spiritual retreat is conversion therapy. Since the beginnings of Catholicism, Christians have withdrawn from the world to find themselves before the Lord in order to become better” and criticized the “gross ignorance” and modus operandi of the LGBT lobby.

On March 15, the priest posted a video on Instagram in which he encouraged the faithful to fight against their weaknesses.

In a March Instagram video, Raffray encouraged the faithful to fight against their weaknesses, among others homosexuality, and commented that each person has his or her own weapons with which to fight, but the devil convinces people that the fight “is too hard” and therefore it’s useless to resist.

The legal notice stated that “after a careful examination of the comments” of the priest “it does not appear that there is any infraction sufficiently characterized to justify any criminal procedure against him.”

“Therefore,” the document concluded, “this process is being dismissed.”

Raffray pointed out that “the comments I made do not fall within the scope of the law.”

“I pray for my enemies and I thank everyone who has supported me,” he added.

Who is Father Matthieu Raffray?

Raffray is a well-known French priest who has a growing apostolate on the internet and social media aimed especially at young French-speaking people.

He has more than 60,000 followers on Instagram, more than 22,000 on YouTube, and more than 21,000 on X.

He is a pro-life and pro-family advocate and has published French-language books such as “Myths and Lies of Progressivism” (2020) and more recently “The Greatest of Combats,” with which he seeks to answer the fundamental and existential questions of life.

Raffray, 45, was born in 1979 and is one of nine children. He studied mathematics before being ordained a priest in 2009.

He holds a doctorate in philosophy and teaches at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome.

According to the publication European Conservative, he rose to fame in 2020 after an interview with French YouTuber Baptiste Marchais in which he defended the return to a “virile Catholicism” and patriotic sentiment among the Catholic faithful. 

What does the Catholic Church teach about homosexuality?

Catholic teaching on homosexuality is summarized in Nos. 2357, 2358, and 2359 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

The Church teaches that men and women with same-sex attraction “must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.”

The catechism notes that homosexual inclination is “objectively disordered” and constitutes for those who experience it “a trial.”

Based on sacred Scripture, the catechism states that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered” and “they do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity.” Consequently, “under no circumstances can they be approved.”

“Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection,” the catechism explains.

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