Saint Thomas Indian Mission Church

Nuns from the Missionaries of Charity hold candles in recognition of the May 3 annivesary of ethnic violence in Manipur, India. / Credit: Anto Akkara

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 8, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

More than 160 violent attacks against Christians were reported in India this past year as laws passed by the country’s reigning Hindu nationalist government added to the threat to religious freedom in the nation.

According to a recent report from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), Christians in India are facing increasingly hostile threats of violence and religious discrimination.

USCIRF is now calling for India to be added to the U.S. government’s list of international religious freedom violators as a country of particular concern (CPC) — a move that has provoked outrage from the country’s government.

A spokesperson for India’s foreign ministry spoke out against USCIRF on Thursday, describing the U.S. agency as “a biased organization with a political agenda,” according to news reports. 

“We reject this malicious report,” the spokesperson said, “which only serves to discredit the USCIRF further.”

The spokesperson called on USCIRF to “desist from such agenda-driven efforts” and to instead focus its attention on human rights issues within its own country.

Incidents of religious freedom violations listed in the USCIRF report include physical attacks on individuals, places of worship, and schools; restrictions on public prayer; and false accusations of “forced conversion” for which the punishment ranges from hefty fines in some states to life in prison in others.

Violent attacks and discrimination

According to the USCIRF report, “from January to March, 161 incidents of violence against Christians in India were reported — 47 of which occurred in the state of Chhattisgarh.” 

“Such incidents ranged from violent attacks on churches and prayer meetings to physical assaults, harassment, and false allegations of forced conversion,” the report said.

In the northeast Indian state of Assam, government authorities have repeatedly targeted Christians throughout the past year, passing laws such as the Assam Healing (Prevention of Evil) Practices Bill, banning prayer over the sick. According to USCIRF, Assam’s chief minister stated his intention to “restrict Christian evangelism and conversion in the state with the bill.”

A Catholic school in the state was targeted by several Hindu organizations that entered the school and “demanded instructors cease using Christian images and symbols.”

In the eastern state of Chhattisgarh, Christians have been denied access to community water sources and, in some cases, according to sources cited by USCIRF, deceased Christians have been denied burial by local Hindu villagers.

Arbitrary arrests over ‘anti-conversion’ laws

Authorities have arrested dozens of Christians on accusations of “conducting or participating in forced conversion” since 2021. Under “anti-conversion” laws currently present in 12 of India’s 28 states, authorities can prosecute religious minorities for alleged attempts at forced conversions. Many of these laws, according to the USCIRF, “far exceed cases of coercion.”

For example, the report cites an incident that took place in Uttar Pradesh where 13 Christians, including four pastors, were arrested after participating in a house prayer meeting after local villagers had reported them to the police on suspicion of “conversion activities.”

In Uttar Pradesh, a recently passed law allows anyone, not just a victim or blood relative, to file a First Instance Report (FIR) against any purported suspect of “forced conversion.” Those arrested and charged with the crime in the north Indian state face life in prison without the possibility of applying for bail.

Political climate

Ahead of the country’s most recent elections in June, politicians including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and members of the Bharatiya Janata Party adopted Hindu-nationalist slogans for their campaigns. These politicians promoted “increasingly wielded hate speech and discriminatory rhetoric” against minority religious communities such as Christians and Muslims, according to the report.

USCIRF noted the prime minister in particular accused his opposition of intending to “wipe out [the] Hindu faith from the country” and make Hindus “second-class citizens in their own country.” Modi specifically directed many of his comments against Muslims, whom he referred to as “infiltrators.”

The Supreme Court of the state of Georgia is housed at the Nathan Deal Judicial Center in Atlanta. / Credit: Harrison Keely, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, Oct 7, 2024 / 19:15 pm (CNA).

The Georgia Supreme Court reinstated on Monday the state’s heartbeat law, a six-week limit on abortion known as the “LIFE Act,” after a trial court judge overturned it last week. 

The state Supreme Court in a 6 to 1 majority reinstated the heartbeat law pending ongoing litigation surrounding the law. Last week, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr requested a stay of the rule blocking the heartbeat law, pending appeal.

A six-week abortion limit is often called a heartbeat law, named because it protects unborn babies after fetal cardiac activity is detectable. The order went into effect at 5 p.m. on Oct. 7 in Georgia, protecting unborn babies if they have a detectable heartbeat. 

Claire Bartlett, executive director of the pro-life advocacy group Georgia Life Alliance, told CNA that she expects the Georgia Supreme Court “to fully uphold the LIFE Act.”

“From the very beginning, the LIFE Act sought to strike a careful balance of recognizing the difficult circumstances women find themselves in with the basic right to life of a unique, living unborn child,” Bartlett said. 

A trial court ruling on Sept. 30 overturned the heartbeat law on the grounds of liberty and privacy in the Georgia Constitution. 

Carr promptly appealed the decision in a legal motion on Wednesday, saying in the motion that “there is nothing legally private about ending the life of an unborn child.” Carr filed the emergency petition for supersedeas in the ongoing case, The State of Georgia v. SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective. The state Supreme Court is reinstating the law as the appeal is ongoing. 

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled last week that the state’s constitutional right to liberty included decisions about abortion. 

In a 26-page ruling, McBurney said the six-week law and any pre-viability abortion restrictions are arbitrary and unconstitutional. He said the state could only restrict abortion after viability — usually at about 23 or 24 weeks. Any restrictions before that violate a women’s right to liberty and privacy, McBurney said.

The definition of liberty, he wrote, includes “the power of a woman to control her own body, to decide what happens to it and in it, and to reject state interference with her health care choices.”

“When Judge McBurney issued his opinion and order last Friday, his ruling was not based in reality, much less law,” Bartlett said.

The Georgia Catholic bishops of Savannah and Atlanta called the heartbeat law’s overturn a “terrible step backwards” in a statement shared with CNA last week. 

“Yesterday’s ruling to overturn Georgia’s abortion ban represents a terrible step backwards in our never-ending efforts to recognize and respect the inherent dignity of every life,” the bishops said in a joint statement. “How many tiny lives will be extinguished while lawyers appeal and lawmakers debate?”

The Archdiocese of Atlanta declined to comment further but noted in a statement last week that it “remain[s] committed to helping mothers and fathers facing crisis pregnancies as well as their precious babies.”

“We will advocate for laws to protect those in the margins. We can foster a culture of life in our families and communities. We can demonstrate how sacred each life is in the eyes of God,” the bishops said. 

In the state Supreme Court dissenting opinion, Justice John Ellington argued that “the state should not be in the business of enforcing laws that have been determined to violate fundamental rights guaranteed to millions of individuals under the Georgia Constitution.”

The Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act was initially passed in 2019, but McBurney blocked it, citing Roe v. Wade. After Roe v. Wade’s overturn, the Georgia Supreme Court overruled the decision, allowing the law to take effect in 2022. 

False claims about Georgia abortion law

The Georgia abortion law recently came under fire from Democrat presidential candidate and current vice president Kamala Harris, who promulgated a false claim that the Georgia abortion law had caused the death of two women, Amber Thurman, 28, and Candi Miller, 41.

The left-leaning news outlet ProPublica published several stories blaming the LIFE Act for their deaths. The two women died from infections caused by complications after taking abortion pills. 

The deaths of Thurman and Miller were “tragic,” Bartlett noted, and Georgia law was not to blame.

“In the case of Amber Thurman, her twin babies had already died due to the abortion pills she obtained out of state. She did not have pre- or post-medical care until she became fatally infected,” she said. “Her sad and tragic death had everything to do with lack of proper medical attention, not Georgia’s law.” 

“In the case of Candi Miller, medical protections had been removed by the Biden-Harris administration in their effort to proliferate abortion pill access,” Bartlett continued, noting that Miller had ordered the pills “online from an overseas provider.” 

In response to the dangers surrounding chemical abortions, Bartlett said that “we have a responsibility to pass protective legislation such as the Women’s Health and Safety Act, which restores the protections the Biden-Harris administration removed.” 

These protections, she said, include “requiring a woman to see a medical provider in person for a complete medical history and a physical assessment to determine any risks” as well as requiring that abortions “only be performed by licensed physicians.” 

“We take a ‘Love Them Both’ approach” to these issues, Bartlett said. 

Bartlett noted that the LIFE Act “is a careful balance of protecting the basic human rights of an unborn child while meeting society where it is culturally.”

“The law protects the child once his or her heartbeat is detectable, which can be as early as four and a half weeks. The law protects the woman by offering exceptions for life of the mother’s medical emergency, rape, incest, or if the unborn child is deemed ‘incompatible with life,’” she said. “Under no circumstance under the law is treatment for a miscarriage, stillbirth, or ectopic pregnancy considered an abortion.”

Sherry Colvin (left) and her daughter Gabriela were among the attendees at the "Remembering October 7th" rally held in front of the U.S. Capitol on Oct. 7, 2024. / Credit: Madalaine Elhabbal/CNA

Washington D.C., Oct 7, 2024 / 18:45 pm (CNA).

Hundreds gathered at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in support of Israel and in remembrance of the victims and hostages on the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel.

The event, “Remembering October 7th,” was sponsored by the Philos Project, a Christian nonprofit organization that advocates for pluralism and Israel’s peaceful existence in the Middle East, and included remarks from speakers across various faith backgrounds. 

Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts addressed Christians and fellow Catholics in particular during his remarks, calling on them to “stand up and be vocal and courageous” against antisemitism. 

“As a serious Roman Catholic, I can tell you that in our institutions, we’ve not been vocal enough about this,” Roberts said, appealing to fellow Christians in an impassioned speech for the Oct. 7 memorial event sponsored by the Philos Project in remembrance of Israeli victims and hostages. 

Referencing Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered at the Washington Monument in 1963, Roberts told those gathered at the event: “We know that speech to be about bringing an end to segregation in this country. But I would argue in 2024 that also includes once and for all ending in this country and around the world the scourge of antisemitism.”

In an interview with CNA at the event, Roberts stressed that antisemitism “never ends with the Jews.” Even if that were the case, the public policy leader told CNA, Christians would still be called to stand in solidarity with them. 

However, he continued, “next on the list will be those of us who are faithful Catholics.” 

“It is really important for people of all faiths ... to express their solidarity not just with Israel and all people of Jewish faith around the world,” he told CNA, “but for all Americans and free people to say this hatred and this violence has to come to an end.”

On Oct. 7, Hamas militants killed over 1,400 Israelis, took 250 hostages — of which only 101 are still alive — and committed acts of sexual violence against Israeli women, according to reports. Israel has since faced international criticism due to the rising number of civilian casualties in Gaza, currently estimated to be nearly 42,000 by the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, since launching its counteroffensive. 

Following news of the escalation between Israel and Iran’s proxies in Lebanon last week, as CNA reported, Pope Francis called on Christians all over the world to observe a “day of prayer and fasting” on Oct. 7. 

Addressing how Christians ought to approach the conflict, Roberts told CNA that they must remember, “first and foremost, that all life is precious.” Drawing on Catholic teaching on just war theory, Roberts told CNA he believed the Israeli response to be “very careful” and “very proportionate. Lastly, Roberts emphasized that for peace to exist, Hamas must “cease to exist.” 

“We have to understand as Americans and Roman Catholics living in the United States that all of these assaults on Israel are assaults on Western civilization, [that] they are assaults on our faith,” he stated, adding: “We, first and foremost, have to have the courage to stand up and say, ‘We have to bring this to an end.’”

On a practical level, Roberts explained to CNA that for American policymakers on both sides of the aisle to help facilitate the end of the war, it is “vital” to end funding mechanisms for Hamas and Hezbollah at home and abroad. Roberts drew on this point during his speech as well, telling the crowd they should be asking policymakers and all of those running for office in November where they stand regarding Israel. “Otherwise,” he said, “we’re not going to end antisemitism.”

In his interview with CNA, Roberts expanded on this point further with respect to his own Catholic beliefs, saying that to him, “the contrast between the two sides couldn’t be clearer.”

“I see this as a Roman Catholic guy,” he said. “There’s one side broadly defined as the conservative movement that understands that this cause isn’t just about the state of Israel. It isn’t even just about people of Jewish faith, although both of those are certainly worthy of being in solidarity with. This is about freedom, and it’s about Western civilization, about all of our faith.”

“The other side, the radical left on its best day, speaks out of both sides of its mouth, but is really beholden to the funding interests of Hamas and Hezbollah,” he added. “Hopefully, what people see is the contrast that exists, and they vote their conscience.” 

Ohio senator and vice presidential hopeful JD Vance also made an appearance at the event.

“I know that in this crowd, some of us are Christians, some of us are Jews, and some of us are people even of no faith,” he told the crowd. “But we are united in the basic commonsense principle that we want the good guys to win and we want the bad guys to lose.” 

“What happened on October the 7th was disgraceful, and we have to make sure it never happens again,” Vance added.

U.S. Supreme Court. / Credit: PT Hamilton/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 7, 2024 / 18:00 pm (CNA).

The Supreme Court on Monday denied an appeal by the Biden administration to compel emergency room doctors in Texas to perform abortions.

The decision leaves in place a January ruling by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in Becerra v. State of Texas. The 5th Circuit Court ruled that the administration’s attempt to use the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) to mandate abortions as necessary, stabilizing treatment “goes beyond” the intent of the law.

In its ruling, the 5th Circuit said that EMTALA “does not mandate medical treatments, let alone abortion care, nor does it preempt Texas law.”

This is the latest development in the administration’s attempt to use EMTALA to mandate abortions as necessary treatment.

The administration has been arguing in court that EMTALA includes abortion as part of the mandated emergency care hospitals must provide. Under this reading of EMTALA, any hospital with an emergency department that refused to perform abortions would risk losing its federal funding.

Matt Bowman, senior counsel at the Alliance Defending Freedom, a law firm involved in the case, applauded the Supreme Court decision, saying that “federal bureaucrats have no business compelling doctors or hospitals to end unborn lives.”

“Every state allows doctors to do whatever is necessary to preserve the life of a mother. But elective abortion is not lifesaving care — it ends the life of the unborn child — and the government has no authority to force doctors to perform these dangerous procedures,” Bowman said. “We are pleased that the Supreme Court decided the 5th Circuit’s ruling should stand, allowing emergency rooms to fulfill their primary function — saving lives.”

Dr. Ingrid Skop, an OB-GYN who practices in Texas and serves as director of medical affairs at the Charlotte Lozier Institute, also praised the decision.

“As a board-certified OB-GYN practicing in Texas for over 30 years, I have been privileged to care for both pregnant mothers and their unborn babies. I have delivered over 5,000 babies over the course of my career, and after Texas passed its law protecting unborn life, my care remained unchanged,” Skop said.

She also noted that “the laws of every state allow physicians to intervene to protect a woman’s life in a pregnancy emergency.”

This follows another decision by the Supreme Court issued in June that upheld a ruling in a similar case, Moyle v. Idaho. That decision allowed the federal government to compel emergency room doctors in Idaho to perform abortions.

Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a debate at the CBS Broadcast Center on Oct. 1, 2024, in New York City. / Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

CNA Staff, Oct 7, 2024 / 17:30 pm (CNA).

Since Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris picked him as her running mate, vice presidential candidate Tim Walz has faced challenges from Republicans, pro-life advocates, and the media to defend his extreme positions on abortion. 

As governor of Minnesota, Walz has signed several far-reaching abortion laws that have significantly expanded abortion in that state, including legislation that enshrines abortion without restrictions up to the point of birth in the state constitution.

Nevertheless, Walz has skirted the issue and refused to say that he signed legislation that allows abortion through all nine months of pregnancy.

What has Walz said?

In the vice presidential debate with Sen. JD Vance this month, the moderator asked Walz to answer “yes or no” whether he supports abortion through the ninth month of pregnancy.

“Former President Trump said in the last debate that you believe abortion ‘in the ninth month is absolutely fine.’ Yes or no? Is that what you support?” Walz was asked.

Walz dodged the question, saying: “That’s not what the bill says.” 

“In Minnesota, what we did was restore Roe v. Wade,” he said. 

Minnesota law goes further than Roe, however. Before it was overturned, Roe v. Wade legalized abortion throughout the entire United States, until roughly the end of the second trimester.

And in a recent Fox News interview Walz was pressed further on the matter by anchor Shannon Bream, who noted that there is “no ban or limit on abortion in Minnesota based on how far along in a pregnancy you are.” 

Walz again appeared to dodge the question. 

“Look, the vice president and I have been clear. The restoration of Roe v. Wade is what we’re asking for,” he said. When Bream pointed out that Minnesota law goes well beyond Roe v. Wade, Walz said: “The law is very clear. It does not change that. That has been debunked on every occasion.”

What does Minnesota law say? 

Though Walz appears eager to avoid discussing the details of the law he signed, Minnesota law does in fact allow for abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, with no restrictions whatsoever, and that legislation to guarantee this “right” was signed by Walz himself. 

The state’s Protect Reproductive Options Act, signed by Walz in January 2023, establishes that, in Minnesota, “every individual who becomes pregnant has a fundamental right to continue the pregnancy and give birth, or obtain an abortion, and to make autonomous decisions about how to exercise this fundamental right.” The measure imposes no restrictions on abortion at any stage and enshrines that “right” in the state constitution.

Both pro-life and pro-abortion advocates agree that there are no restrictions on abortion in Minnesota. The group Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL) says on its website that the law signed by Walz imposes “no limitations [on abortion] at any stage in pregnancy,” 

The website AbortionFinder, meanwhile, states that abortion “is legal throughout pregnancy in Minnesota” and that there is “no ban or limit on abortion in Minnesota based on how far along in pregnancy you are.”

MCCL co-executive director Cathy Blaeser told CNA on Monday that Minnesota is in a state of “abortion free-for-all.”

“We have a law that allows for abortion through all nine months of pregnancy with no protections for women or children at any gestational age,” she said. 

Asked if Minnesota’s law goes beyond Roe v. Wade as the Fox News host claimed, Blaeser said: “Yes.” 

“Initially, Roe v. Wade provided for a ‘trimester’ structure, even though in practice it allowed for abortion throughout nine months of pregnancy,” she said. “But it allowed states to put in protections with gestational age.” 

“But Minnesota currently would not allow for that,” she said, pointing out that women can obtain abortions in the state “for any reason and for no reason.”

Blaeser further pointed out that Minnesota law offers “no parameters to protect minor girls under the age of 18, and no protections for parents to be notified if their minor daughters get an abortion.” 

On its website, AbortionFinder also states that “parental involvement is not required in Minnesota” and that underage girls “can consent to an abortion and do not have to notify a parent to get an abortion in Minnesota.”

Asked about Walz’s appearing to dodge questions related to Minnesota’s abortion laws, Blaeser told CNA: “He’s actively lying. He’s not telling the truth about what the law does in this state.”

“He is trying to avoid answering those questions simply because he knows the American people do not support abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy,” she said.

Procession of the relics of St. Francis Xavier in Old Goa outside Se Cathedral on his feast day, Dec. 3, 2014. / Credit: Archdiocese of Goa and Daman

CNA Staff, Oct 7, 2024 / 17:00 pm (CNA).

Police in the Indian state of Goa are on the hunt for a Hindu man who allegedly publicly disrespected St. Francis Xavier and disputed the saint’s title as protector of the state, leading to complaints from the state’s Christians, who deeply venerate St. Francis.

Catholic news outlet UCA News reported that Subhash Velingkar, a former state-unit chief of the powerful Hindu group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, publicly questioned the authenticity of the relics of St. Francis Xavier housed in the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Old Goa.

The relics are only exposed for veneration every 10 years. The next period of exposition and veneration is due to start on Nov. 21 and end on Jan. 5, 2025.

Velingkar reportedly said at a public meeting on Oct. 1 that a “DNA test” should be conducted on the relics to prove that the body is really that of the saint and not, as Velingkar claims, a Buddhist monk from neighboring Sri Lanka.

Describing Velingkar as a “right-wing Hindu leader,” UCA News reported that Christians in Goa filed more than a dozen complaints that Velingkar is “outraging the religious feelings and insulting religious beliefs” under provisions of the Indian penal code and have demanded Velingkar’s arrest. 

“The Catholic community of Goa condemns the derogatory statements against St. Francis Xavier … We appeal to the concerned authorities to take strict necessary action,” Father Savio Fernandes, secretary of the Council for Social Justice and Peace of the Goa Archdiocese, said in a statement to UCA News. 

Goa state, India’s smallest by area, is located on the country’s west coast. It was ruled by Portugal as a colony for over 400 years, until 1961. As a result of the state’s Portuguese influence, it remains one of the most Christian of all of India’s states, with a quarter of the population identifying as Christian, according to a 2011 national census. 

The people of Goa have a strong devotion to St. Francis Xavier, the famed Jesuit missionary who evangelized the area beginning in 1542. He is known there as “Goencho Saib,” which means “the protector of Goa.”

The last exposition of St. Francis’ relics lasted from Nov. 22, 2014, until Jan. 4, 2015, and drew millions of pilgrims. 

India has seen a surge in Hindu nationalism and violence against Christians in recent years, especially in places governed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. The northeast Indian state of Manipur has seen mayhem and bloodshed amid an ethnic conflict that has killed hundreds of Christians since last year. In addition, reports have emerged of persecution of Sikhs, a religious minority in the northwestern state of Punjab in India.

A group of over 300 U.S. Christian leaders sent a letter to the U.S. State Department in August urging the agency to put India on a watchlist of countries that have “engaged in” or tolerated “particularly severe violations of religious freedom.”

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said in 2023 that it was “alarmed by India’s increased transnational targeting of religious minorities and those advocating on their behalf.” As recently as May, a USCIRF report included India among the countries with the worst religious persecution in the world.

Christian worshippers pray at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem on Easter Sunday, March 31, 2024. / Credit: AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images

CNA Newsroom, Oct 7, 2024 / 16:00 pm (CNA).

On the World Day of Prayer and Fasting held on the Oct. 7 feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, Pope Francis addressed a letter to Catholics in the Middle East on the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ attack on Israel.

In his letter, the Holy Father expressed his closeness with those “who dwell in the lands of which the Scriptures speak most often,” suffering as a result of the ongoing conflict spreading throughout the region.

“As Christians, we must never tire of imploring peace from God. That is why, on this day, I have urged everyone to observe a day of prayer and fasting. Prayer and fasting are the weapons of love that change history,” reads the Holy Father’s letter, released one day after he prayed a rosary for peace at the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome.

“In order to bear fruit and give life, do not let yourselves be engulfed by the darkness that surrounds you. Planted in your sacred lands, become sprouts of hope, because the light of faith leads you to testify to love amid words of hatred, to encounter amid growing confrontation, to unity amid increasing hostility,” the pope said.

Middle East synod participants echo pope’s call for prayer 

Since the start of Synod on Synodality meetings in the Vatican this month, synod delegates and participants have echoed Pope Francis’ pleas for prayers and solidarity with communities across the war-ravaged region.

Synod participant Deacon Adel Abolouh of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church in Syria, who attended the pope’s Sunday rosary for peace, said it was a beautiful experience that inspires people to become “missionaries of peace.”

“After praying for peace we start having a mission of making peace happen,” he said in an interview with ACI Mena, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner.

“The pope’s invitation for prayer makes the world’s conscience realize that there are people seeking peace.”

Recalling the fear of his two children, who were awoken by Israeli missile strikes in his city of Damascus last week, Abolouh expressed his sadness for the younger generations, whose conversations now revolve around “war and weapons.” 

“The Church needs to keep pressuring the international public opinion to stop wars,” he said.

Rita Kouroumilian, a Lebanese Armenian Catholic participating in this month’s synod discussions, expressed her gratitude for the Holy Father’s closeness to the people of Lebanon, who are suffering following the escalation of the conflict last month that killed more than 500 people in a single day.

Reiterating Pope Francis’ call for peace, Kouroumilian invited everyone to continue to pray for peace in her country and the Middle East.

“The holy rosary is our only weapon against the enemy,” she shared with ACI Mena. “None other than prayer and fasting are capable of stopping the war. It is the only way to peace.”

On Saturday, Pope Francis also met with synod delegate Patriarch Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian of the Armenian Catholic Church in Lebanon as a sign of fraternity with Lebanese Catholic leaders.

‘Praying and fasting cannot be done without almsgiving’

Following synod meetings on Monday morning, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity, invited all synod participants to donate alms for a parish priest serving Christian, Muslim, and Jewish communities near the priest’s church in Gaza.

“Prayer and fasting cannot be done without almsgiving, which must make us suffer, must even hurt us, because we give up what belongs to us to give to our neighbor who is in difficulty or is even about to die,” Krajewski stated.

According to the latest United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) report, approximately 41,600 Palestinian men, women, and children have been killed, and an additional 96,600 injured, since the escalation of the conflict one year ago. OCHA reported that more than 1,500 Israeli and foreign nationals have been killed since Hamas’ 2023 attack on Israel. 

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance arrives to speak at a Trump-Vance campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 5, 2024. / Credit: JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 7, 2024 / 15:30 pm (CNA).

Speaking to reporters after the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance signaled that a second Trump administration will seek to defund Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood, which is the largest abortion provider in the U.S., took in nearly $700 million in tax-funded government grants, contracts, and Medicaid reimbursements in 2023, accounting for 34% of its total revenue, according to Planned Parenthood’s latest report.

Vance, who was responding to a question from RealClearPolitics, signaled that Planned Parenthood’s government funding may soon come to an end.

“On the question of defunding Planned Parenthood,” Vance said, “our view is we don’t think that taxpayers should fund-late term abortions. That has been a consistent view of the Trump campaign the first time around. It will remain a consistent view.”

Pro-life leaders have been calling on former president Donald Trump to make defunding Planned Parenthood a priority if he is reelected to the White House.

In 2018, the first Trump administration attempted to remove $60 million in funding from Planned Parenthood by making changes to the federal family planning program called Title X. The change was held up in court and ultimately rolled back under the Biden administration.

At the time of publication, the Trump campaign had not responded to CNA’s request for specifics on how the administration would renew its efforts to defund Planned Parenthood.

Vance’s comment follows months of the Trump campaign largely avoiding the abortion issue. It offers some of the first insight into what actions a second Trump administration would take to protect unborn life.

Both Vance and Trump have repeatedly said that abortion is exclusively a state issue. They have also called Democrats “radical” for legalizing abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, accusing them of even allowing infanticide.

In response to Vance’s announcement, the Washington Post reported Jenny Lawson, executive director of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, claimed that defunding Planned Parenthood “would only deepen and expand the public health crisis we’re already in thanks to Donald Trump, causing more people to suffer and die for lack of basic reproductive care.”

Lawson pointed out that the Hyde Amendment already prohibits federal funds from being directly used for abortion.

Lauren Hitt, a spokesperson for the Kamala Harris campaign, told NBC News that “a second Trump term is too big a risk for American women and their families” and that “the only way to stop an unchecked Trump and his MAGA allies from ripping away freedoms from American women is to elect Vice President Harris, who will defend women’s access to health care and reproductive freedom.”

Meanwhile, Kristi Hamrick, a representative for the national pro-life group Students for Life Action, compared tax-dollar funding for Planned Parenthood a “cancer” in the federal budget. She called Vance’s announcement “good news.” 

According to Hamrick, Students for Life has been in contact with the Trump campaign and has been urging the former president to commit to defunding Planned Parenthood. 

“Students for Life Action has taken President Trump at his word, that he wants to end federal engagement with abortion,” Hamrick told CNA. “That begins with ending federal funding, because as long as you are using federal tax dollars to pay for something, the issue is federal.”

She also said Students for Life has called for the Trump campaign to urge voters to vote “no” in all 10 of the state abortion initiatives on the ballot this November.

“The GOP said in their platform that they did not support late-term abortion — and that is empowered by those extreme measures,” she said.

Planned Parenthood performed 392,715 abortions in 2023, according to its 2023 report. According to a Pew Research Center study published this year, about 1% of U.S. abortions — 9,301 — were late-term abortions, taking place at 21 weeks or after.

Fire and smoke rise at an area targeted by an Israeli airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Oct. 6, 2024. / Credit: FADEL ITANI/AFP via Getty Images

ACI MENA, Oct 7, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).

Black smoke and raging fires lit up the sky as successive explosions rumbled through Beirut’s southern suburbs over the weekend, with Oct. 5 marking one of the most violent nights the Lebanese capital has experienced. As tensions escalate between Hezbollah and Israel, heavy airstrikes hit deep into areas already emptied of residents, spreading fear through neighboring cities and towns.

The deteriorating situation forces Lebanon’s government to address both political and humanitarian concerns as people flee the bombarded areas. The Church stands alongside the state, active on multiple fronts: pushing diplomatically for a cease-fire and peace, providing aid to victims, and maintaining continuous prayer vigils.

After what many have called the most violent night since fighting intensified in Lebanon, Cardinal Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi, the Maronite patriarch, spoke out reaffirming his stance on this war and its consequences. 

“Our political leaders must set aside their differences and unite with a sense of historic duty,” he stated. “They need to seriously work on electing a president who has both domestic and international support.”

Presiding over the Sunday of the Rosary Mass, Al-Rahi added from his patriarchal summer residence in Diman, northern Lebanon: “Electing a president is crucial right now. This leader will need to unite the nation, enforce Resolution 1701 and a cease-fire, handle talks about Lebanon’s regional role, get Parliament and cabinet working again, rebuild Lebanon’s standing in Arab and world communities, and help over a million displaced Lebanese.”

Lebanon has been without a president since Oct. 31, 2022. As head of state, this position is always held by a Maronite Christian.

Al-Rahi ended the Mass with a prayer: “Let us pray, brothers and sisters, for an end to the war in Lebanon, for the safe return of the displaced, and for the swift election of a president. Let us also pray for the commitment of our government, both governmental and nongovernmental institutions, and for collective and individual initiatives to provide aid to displaced families throughout Lebanon, including those from the south, Beirut, Baalbek, and other regions. May God have mercy on us, our people, and our wounded nation.”

Minassian’s call

On the international level, Armenian Catholic Patriarch Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian brought his concerns to Pope Francis at the Vatican on Oct. 5. He painted a harrowing picture of the war’s devastation in Lebanon, asking the Holy Father to “be a voice for peace and to call upon the international community to provide humanitarian aid swiftly and support de-escalation efforts."’

This article was first published by ACI Mena, CNA's Arabic-language partner, and has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Members of St. Monica Widows Group pray during Mass at St. Aloysius Gonzaga Ojolla Parish in the Archdiocese of Kisumu in Kenya. / Credit: Agnes Aineah/ACI Africa

ACI Africa, Oct 7, 2024 / 14:30 pm (CNA).

Susan Auma has known little rest since 2001 when her husband died, leaving her with two toddlers. Widowed at just 27, Auma found herself fighting to survive in her matrimonial home where she was surrounded by hostility for refusing to be remarried.

Auma’s tribulations started before the burial of her husband when her brothers-in-law instructed her to surrender her husband’s property. The idea had been carefully crafted to leave Auma and her sons vulnerable and in need of a man to take care of them.

Then came the rituals, starting with shaving her head clean, and the ultimate cleansing, which was to involve “ritual sex” with a stranger and allow herself to enter into a polygamous union.

Auma refused to participate in all the traditions that were laid before her, accepting the wrath of her husband’s relatives instead. They called her stubborn and threw her out of her home. She was left to fight, many years later, for her husband’s parcel of land to be able to secure her son’s future.

Auma’s tribulations are not isolated in western Kenya, specifically among the Luo tribe, where “wife inheritance” is a deeply entrenched tradition requiring a widow to immediately accept another marriage proposal, preferably from her late husband’s male relatives.

Everything, including the unthinkable, is done to leave the widow vulnerable, including destroying her house. The man who offers to build the widow’s house “inherits” her by default. Orphaned children are incited against their mother, forcing her to accept to be inherited. Animosity deepens between sons and their mothers who refuse to be inherited.

This is why many members of St. Monica Widows Group, a support group in Kenya’s Archdiocese of Kisumu, are “alone in the world.” Children are pressured to want nothing to do with their mothers who chose Christianity over tradition.

St. Monica Widows Group was started in 1984 in the areas served by the Archdiocese of Kisumu. At the time of its founding, the situation was dire. According to Father Lawrence Omollo, the group’s chaplain, women who were kicked out of their homes for refusing to be inherited were being taken in by Catholic mission centers.

“Wife inheritance has been a great pastoral challenge in this region,” Omollo told ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, in an interview on Oct. 2 at St. Aloysius Gonzaga Ojolla Parish in the Kisumu Archdiocese, where members of the group had just met for Mass.

“St. Monica Widows Group was created as a support group for widows where they found solace in knowing that they were not alone in their rejection by society and in many other challenges they faced,” Omollo explained.

His words echo those of Archbishop Maurice Muhatia Makumba of the Archdiocese of Kisumu, who has admitted that “wife inheritance” has been “a serious” pastoral challenge in Nyanza, a region served by the archdiocese.

The archbishop said the St. Monica Widows Group was started to rescue widows whose only other option was to be “inherited” and become part of a polygamous union.

“Inheritance is a serious challenge. It is a cultural issue but we are overcoming it slowly by slowly because by forming this group of St. Monica Widows, more and more ladies are opting to join this particular group and refuse to be inherited,” he said.

The archbishop explained that for refusing to be inherited, widows in Nyanza “are ostracized by their communities.”

“Some are rejected. Some lose all their inheritance because of that. They have no access to the property left behind by the husbands,” he explained.

Reports have said widowhood is a source of great distress among the Luo of Kenya’s Nyanza region. Their tribulations include endless court battles for property, rejection, and being blamed for any misfortune that befalls their families.

Such was the case for Margaret Omwa, who joined St. Monica Widows Group in 1996 following the death of her husband.

“I passed through a lot,” Omwa told ACI Africa. “My husband died in an accident when we were just building our house. On his death, his relatives roofed a small section of the house and left the rest bare. It was a trap to oblige me to get a man who would complete the entire roofing. None of the people I contacted accepted to complete the roofing.”

“My husband’s relatives then started inciting my children against me, starting with my first son. He totally refused to step inside my house. He wouldn’t eat my food and refused to talk to me. He saw me as an enemy because I had refused to be inherited,” she said.

Her estranged son, who was living with HIV, was also made to believe that it was his mother’s “uncleanliness” that had made him unwell.

“I was blamed for any misfortune that befell the family,” Omwa shared. “Eventually, my late husband’s relatives convinced my son to go and rent himself a house away from me. I am grateful that on his deathbed, he had accepted that he had HIV. We were also on talking terms.”

But Omwa’s relationship with her in-laws never improved, she said, explaining: “They did very bad things to me in an attempt to get me remarried. They held clan meetings with me to decide my punishment. But I kept reminding them that I had made a vow on my husband’s burial day that I only had a place for him in my life, that I didn’t have any space left for another man.”

“When all their attempts failed, they left alongside my son, swearing never to help me again,” she recalled.

Omollo told ACI Africa that while other people believe in the vow “until death do us part,” the widows of St. Monica say “until death unites us” when their husbands die and refuse to be remarried.

“St. Monica’s Group of Widows are people who want to be true to the sacraments of baptism and matrimony; those who allow nothing to get in the way of partaking in holy Communion — not even tradition,” Omollo said.

“We also have auxiliary members who support the group’s activities and continue being members when their spouses pass on,” he said.

In the Archdiocese of Kisumu, St. Monica’s Widows Group is one of the lay apostolate groups associated with Small Christian Communities (SCCs). The group is also engaging other Catholic dioceses to get to the national level.

“Organization starts at the SCCs because it is at the grassroots that the challenges of these widows are best understood,” Omollo explained.

The activities of the group include prayer and support of the priests with the little that the widows have, Omollo said. “Every November, the widows tend to the graves of deceased priests. They clean the graves, organize holy Mass for them, and hold prayers at the graveyards of departed priests in the archdiocese.”

They also build houses for those among them who have been thrown out by the relatives of their deceased husbands. 

The widows also support orphans who, according to the group’s chairperson, Roselyne Auma, are always left under the care of their elderly grandmothers.

In an attempt to explain the high HIV prevalence in Nyanza, Roselyne Auma, who joined the group in 2002 following her husband’s death, said that widows often remarry unaware that their late husbands infected them with the virus.

Others do not believe that HIV exists and blame the virus-related illnesses on witchcraft, Auma said, adding: “The man who performs ritual sex sleeps with many women since his job is to cleanse the widows. This is one of the leading reasons for the spread of the virus.”

Apart from the care of orphans, members of St. Monica Widows Group bury their own members whom the rest of the society considers unclean even in death. The women do everything, starting with the digging of the grave.

Describing the stigma against those who refuse to get remarried, Susan Auma said: “The moment you decide to follow Christ and reject traditions, you face instant rejection. You are stigmatized and separated from your children. You are considered unclean and unworthy to mingle with anyone including your children.”

She said that even with Christianity, there are people who go to church and still engage in traditional rituals.

Susan Auma said that being together with other widows of St. Monica reduces the loneliness and the pain that one experiences. 

“With all the rejection, it is so easy for one to get depressed. But when we come together and visit each other, everything becomes easier,” she said.

“Priests are the only people we run to with our challenges. Sometimes, we overwhelm them with our issues,” she said.

Responding to the inspiration behind the name St. Monica, Father Omollo told ACI Africa: “The widows here find it easy to relate with St. Monica, who was not only a widow but also African. They put themselves in the position of St. Monica, the mother of St. Augustine.”

“When Augustine became stubborn, his mother became close to priests, asking them to pray for her son. Eventually, Augustine became a priest and a bishop. This is what our widows do in an effort to protect their children from the influence of harmful traditions,” he said.

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