House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Pope Francis Wednesday morning.
Tears and prayers in San Antonio, Texas – a is memorial growing at the spot where dozens of migrants were found dead in a stifling trailer.
Friday’s Supreme Court decision did nothing to change the legality of abortion in New York.
By Inés San Martín
ROME – Nancy Pelosi took Communion during a Mass presided over by Pope Francis on Wednesday.
In May, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, Pelosi’s home diocese, barred the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from receiving communion in the archdiocese over her outspoken support of abortion rights.
Pelosi, who is currently in Rome as part of a family vacation, attended the liturgy for the feast of Saints Peter and Paul in St. Peter’s Basilica, and according to sources who were present at the time, received the Eucharist.
She did not receive it from the pope himself, but from one of the priests at the basilica, whose nationality remains unknown. It is also unclear if the priest knew who she was.
Cordileone announced his decision to bar her from receiving Communion with a letter to the faithful May 20: “After numerous attempts to speak with her to help her understand the grave evil she is perpetrating, the scandal she is causing, and the danger to her own soul she is risking, I have determined that the point has come in which I must make a declaration that she is not admitted to Holy Communion unless and until she publicly repudiates her support for abortion ‘rights’ and confesses and receives absolution for her cooperation in this evil in the sacrament of penance.”
The California Democrat pushed back at the time, saying that she comes from a large family with many members who oppose abortion.
“I respect people’s views about that. But I don’t respect us foisting it onto others.” Pelosi said. “Our archbishop has been vehemently against LGBTQ rights. In fact, he led the way in an initiative on the ballot in California.”
Pelosi also said that women and families need to know this is about more than abortion: “These same people are against contraception, family planning, in vitro fertilization. It’s a blanket thing and they use abortion as the front man for it.”
Pope Francis referred to the question of pro-abortion politicians and Communion in 2021, on his return to Rome from Slovakia.
At the time, Francis said that the Eucharist is for those who are “in the community” and politicians who support abortion are “outside of the community.”
However, he also said that in these cases, it’s a pastoral matter that must be addressed by the individual’s pastor.
Pope Francis began his response by saying that he’s never denied Communion to anyone, but also that, “I don’t know if any came in this condition. But I was never conscious of having in front of me a person like the one you describe.”
When Francis was still Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, archbishop of Buenos Aires, all Argentinian Catholic politicians were openly pro-life, with the push to legalize abortion in the country gaining steam in the years after he became pope.
Last year, Cardinal Luis Ladaria, head of the Vatican’s doctrine office, wrote the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, warning them that a national policy against giving Communion to pro-choice politicians could become “a source of discord rather than unity within the episcopate and the larger church in the United States.”
During his homily Wednesday, Pope Francis said the Catholic Church has to be a place where “everyone can feel welcomed and accompanied, one where listening, dialogue and participation are cultivated under the sole authority of the Holy Spirit.”
But he also urged the bishops and those present not “to retreat into our ecclesial circles and remain pinned to some of our fruitless debates. Together we can and must continue to care for human life, the protection of creation, the dignity of work, the families, the elderly, all those abandoned or rejected.”
The parish at Our Lady of Czestochowa and St Casimir marked their 125th anniversary Sunday together with the 100th anniversary of their church building
The big day kicked off with a special Mass honoring the parish’s Polish roots.
The parish was founded in 1896 as a mission church for Polish immigrants in Brooklyn.
In 1980, the church merged with the parish family of St Casimir, and since then, they have continued to provide outstanding ministry to the Sunset Park community.
Deacon Kevin McCormack- who was the principal of Xaverian High School in Bay Ridge for 15 years- will take over the position from Doctor Thomas Chadzutko, who served Diocese of Brooklyn schools for almost two decades.
Following his appointment by Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan, Currents News spoke to Deacon McCormack about his new job and the importance of technology in the classroom.
Monsignor Sean G. Ogle’s Homily from Tuesday’s Mass on 6/28/22
Thirty-nine males and a dozen females are among those found dead in a tractor-trailer in San Antonio.
Officials haven’t identified all the migrants who died in the sweltering vehicle. But, they think some of the victims might have been teenagers.
County Judge Nelson Wolff and Precinct One Commissioner Rebeca Clay Flores say the deaths are a tragedy, calling it the largest mass casualty event in San Antonio’s history.
It’s been one of our top stories, the Supreme Court’s historic decision to overturn Roe v Wade.
Currents News is joined by Alexis Carra-Tracey, an attorney in the public policy office at the Archdiocese of New York, for a breakdown of the legalities of the ruling.
Three people are in custody, possibly connected to what’s being called one of the deadliest incidents in recent years for migrants at the southern border.
New details emerging are emerging about that Catholic Church in Virginia that was targeted by vandals after the Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade.
The Vatican’s newspaper is starting a new monthly edition dedicated to the poor and homeless.
SAN ANTONIO (CNS) — The archbishop of San Antonio offered prayers for dozens of people found dead as well as more than a dozen survivors discovered June 27 in sweltering conditions in a semitruck.
Authorities said June 28 the death toll rose overnight to 50. Originally, first responders pulled 16 people — 12 adults and four teenagers — from the rig.
“We pray for the souls of the … people who died in such a cruel, inhuman manner this evening,” Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller said in a statement soon after first responders made the gruesome discovery about 6 p.m. local time.
Authorities said the victims were migrants. They said the truck appeared to be part of a smuggling operation.
Roberto Velasco Álvarez, head of the Mexican government’s North American mission, said on Twitter June 28 that 22 of the victims were Mexican nationals, seven were originally from Guatemala and two were Honduran. The nationality of 19 others has not been determined.
Officials believe the tragedy is the deadliest smuggling incident of its kind in U.S. history.
Archbishop García-Siller also asked for prayers for the survivors who were hospitalized, their families and “the first responders who assisted and saved lives and must now carry with them the memories of this scene of carnage.”
In addition, he called on people of the archdiocese “to unite in solidarity, as these brothers and sisters are members of our family.”
News of the deaths reached Pope Francis, who tweeted June 28 that he was offering prayers for those who died in Texas as well as at least 23 sub-Saharan migrants who died June24 while attempting to flee Morocco by scaling a border fence to cross into the Spanish enclave of Melilla in north Africa on the Mediterranean coast.
“Let us #PrayTogether for these brothers and sisters who died following their hope of a better life; and for ourselves, may the Lord might open our hearts so these misfortunes never happen again,” the pope’s tweet said.
San Antonio Police Chief Bill McManus told reporters hours after the discovery that three people were in police custody, although their connection to the situation was unclear.
The first call about the truck came from a worker in the area who had heard a cry for help and went to investigate, McManus said.
San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood said those found alive were conscious, “hot to the touch,” and suffering from heat stroke and exhaustion.
“There were no signs of water in the vehicle, and no visible working AC unit on that rig,” he said.
Temperatures in the San Antonio area ranged from the high 90s to low 100s, according to the National Weather Service. With a few days left in the month, meteorologists said this June was already the warmest June on record in San Antonio.
Smuggling operations working within the United States have been known to pack migrants into trucks or cargo trailers after they have already crossed the border in an attempt to sneak them past U.S. Border Patrol highway checkpoints.
In Morocco, officials said that five people died during what they described as a “stampede” June 24. Moroccan state TV updated the death toll to 23 late June 25.
However, nongovernment organizations on the ground said the number of deaths could be higher. The Guardian reported that an official with Walking Borders, an agency working with Africans seeking to cross into Spain from Morocco, said 37 deaths had been confirmed.
Melilla is one of two autonomous cities of Spain located in north Africa.
Archbishop of Kansas City, Joseph Naumann, is the former Chairman of Pro-Life Activities for the USCCB. He joins Currents News to discuss the wave of violent of attacks on pro-life organizations that took place even before the SCOTUS decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.