St. Bridget, St. Elizabeth & Sacred Heart

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

CNA Staff, Nov 26, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

When Georgetown Law student Brittany Lovely, who is scheduled to give birth in December — shortly before final exams — asked for permission to take her test early, late, or remotely, the answer she got from the Catholic university was a flat denial. 

Citing university policy, the school’s administrators told Lovely that granting her accommodations would be “inequitable to other non-birthing students in her class,” she told the Washington Post. 

“Motherhood is not for the faint of heart,” she said she was told. She was given a choice: She could either take the exam soon after childbirth with her newborn or fail and request to withdraw from the class. Even when her doctor weighed in, calling Lovely’s request both “reasonable and necessary,” the law school refused to budge. 

Only after students banded together to organize a petition, which quickly went viral, did Lovely get permission to schedule her exam ahead of the birth of her baby.  

Lovely said in a letter shared with CNA that she has “finally received the accommodations I’ve been requesting for months for my upcoming finals” but shared her fear that other pregnant students may face similar challenges with the administration. 

The university changed its exam accommodations and deferral policy “for this semester only,” Lovely explained. She requested that the university “make a public commitment to reforming its policies regarding accommodations moving forward,” she noted in the letter. 

“They agreed to work with me on a just and equitable policy agenda for pregnant, childbearing, and childrearing students in the coming months,” Lovely said of Georgetown Law.

A university spokesperson confirmed with CNA that the administration “reached a mutually agreeable solution” with Lovely. The university declined to comment on the specifics of Lovely’s case. 

“Georgetown is committed to providing a caring, supportive environment for pregnant and parenting students,” the spokesperson said, noting that Georgetown provides resources for students “while they are pregnant or parenting including pregnancy-related adjustments from the Office of Title IX Compliance and disability accommodations from our Academic Resource Center.”

But for Lovely, “the fight is not over yet.” 

“No student should be forced to choose between their education, health, or the health of their family,” she said. “My classmates and I will continue advocating until it is certain Georgetown Law does not force any students to make that choice again.”  

At Georgetown Law, only the Office of Registrar has the power to grant exam deferrals and exam rescheduling for finals, not the professor. 

Georgetown Law will consider exam deferrals for several reasons, including “childbirth during the exam period or immediately preceding the exam period,” according to its website. The administration will also consider deferrals for physical or mental illness, a death in the family, car accidents, religious observance, military commitment, and other “extraordinary circumstances.” 

But according to Lovely, she is not the only one who has faced challenges getting accommodations. 

Peers and alumni “have shared their own horror stories of trying to get reasonable accommodations at Georgetown Law for their childbirth, medical emergencies, and disabilities, only to be offered a generalized solution of more time for an exam,” Lovely said. “They have told me the callous responses to their requests during their most vulnerable times.”

“As I have said from the beginning, this was never just about me — this is about all pregnant, childbearing, and child-rearing students and about all students with disabilities or those needing accommodations, present and future,” Lovely said. 

A moral duty

Lovely’s classmates launched the petition on her behalf last week, stating that “Georgetown Law has a legal and moral duty to support pregnant students during the regular school year or finals.” 

Postpartum recovery usually takes about six weeks after childbirth. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, “the weeks following birth are a critical period for a woman and her infant, setting the stage for long-term health and well-being.” Childbirth often comes with medical challenges that require a long recovery, especially if a woman faces medical issues such as tearing or Cesarean section. 

“Georgetown Law suggested Brittany bring her days-old child to campus a few days after birth, with minimal recovery, to take the exam with more time so she can breastfeed her newborn baby during the exam,” the petition noted. “They told her, ‘Motherhood is not for the faint of heart.’” 

Newborn babies need to be fed every two to three hours and are more susceptible to germs as their immune systems are not fully developed, meaning they are at a higher risk of developing infections. Few babies are born on their exact due date, and physicians often advise that parents avoid bringing their newborn to crowded places. 

Based in Washington, D.C., Georgetown University is a Jesuit university and the first Catholic higher education institution in the United States. According to its website, Georgetown University aims to approach education from the central Jesuit tenet of “cura personalis,” a Latin phrase meaning “care of the whole person.” 

One alum, Max Siegel II, argued that the administration’s refusal of Lovely’s accommodation “contradicts this fundamental value.” 

“Cura personalis calls on us to provide care and individualized attention to each person, respecting their unique circumstances and concerns,” Siegel said in a post in which he urged students to sign the petition. Siegel heads the Student Bar Association, the law school’s student government. 

The Catholic Church teaches the importance of the “life and dignity of the human person,” one of the seven themes of Catholic social teaching. “Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception,” according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (No. 2270).

In line with this teaching, some Catholic colleges such as Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina and the University of Mary in North Dakota offer maternity housing programs for student mothers. UMary’s maternity home program made headlines last year after its first student mom graduated with her daughter. 

In addition to concerns that the administration’s attitude goes against the university’s Jesuit Catholic values, supporters of Lovely said that Georgetown’s decision violated Title IX, the federal civil rights law designed to prevent discrimination against women in higher education institutions that receive public funding. 

Siegel, and the student-led petition, noted that the administration “fails to meet the requirements of Title IX, which ensures a fair and equitable educational environment for all students.” 

“Title IX prohibits education institutions from discriminating against students based on sex, including current, potential, or past pregnancy or related conditions,” the petition noted. “An accommodation is not unreasonable and must be offered by the school unless it ‘fundamentally alters’ the nature of its program.” 

Lovely said she was particularly concerned that Georgetown cited equity as a reason for denying pregnancy accommodations. 

“I want to make it clear — an inequitable policy, for example, is one that forces me (or any student) to spend time fighting for a basic right under the law rather than preparing for my finals like the rest of my peers,” she said. “An equitable policy is one where no student has to go to these great lengths again to receive reasonable accommodations.” 

Panelists at the 2024 International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit on Jan. 30-31, 2024, at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C. / Credit: International Religious Freedom Summit

CNA Staff, Nov 26, 2024 / 05:30 am (CNA).

The annual International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit in Washington, D.C., brings together more than 90 religious freedom organizations from more than 30 faith traditions to address challenges to religious freedom worldwide.

The summit also invites another demographic — college students — to register to take part in a university partnership program for graduate and undergraduate students who are passionate about religious freedom.

Organized by the Religious Freedom Institute (RFI), the IRF Summit’s partnership program from Feb. 3–5, 2025, begins with a daylong seminar designed for the students with training sessions, guided simulations, and conversations with leading scholars and government officials. The following two days, students can engage as full participants in the IRF Summit. 

Interested students can register for the University Partnership Program here until Jan. 17, 2025.

Forming young adults to embrace religious freedom is foundational to the future of religious freedom, according to the head of the IRF’s university partnership program. 

“Religious freedom is only safe when it is both protected in law and embraced by society,” said Jim Bennett, who heads the IRF Summit’s university partnership program. Bennett is the director of RFI’s National Center for Religious Freedom Education.

“Today’s youth will create law and public policy tomorrow, and a focused investment now in exploring and understanding the first principles of religious freedom will pay significant dividends in the future,” he continued. 

A growing number of college students are combating anti-religious narratives on campus, according to Bennett, who noted that “some of the greatest contemporary threats to religious freedom are occurring in places where their voices are already influential.” 

“We are seeing a remarkable display of enthusiasm from a growing number of young people who want to counter some of the anti-faith narratives they hear on their campuses while also making positive contributions to the larger society,” Bennett said. “It is exciting to work with students who are this passionate about defending the human dignity of all people.”

The University Partnership Program implements RFI’s “First Principles” curriculum, which “explores the importance of religious freedom to human identity, human rights, and human flourishing,” Bennett noted. The program then implements “guided simulations led by scholars and public officials that explore real-world scenarios in four global locations.”

After spending time in the partnership program on Feb. 3, students attend the IRF Summit on Feb. 4–5 as full participants, “with the opportunity to learn from and network with government officials and civil society leaders from around the world,” Bennett said. 

Speakers include the leadership team at the RFI and IRF Summit as well as scholars and activists in the religious freedom space and public officials in the U.S. and foreign governments, according to Bennett. 

Peter Burns, IRF Summit executive director, explained that the IRF Summit was designed “to help the movement increase its impact in a noisy policy space that doesn’t often give attention to cases of persecution around the world.”

“Over the past three years, our Summit partners have built a diverse coalition that is working to advance freedom of religion, conscience, and belief around the world,” Burns continued. “But even as the movement for international religious freedom grows, we are witnessing increased levels of religious restriction and persecution around the world.” 

“Raising our voices in solidarity with those who suffer due to their beliefs is more important than ever.”

The IRF Summit’s sponsors include the Center for Religious Liberty at The Catholic University of America, Meta, and religious freedom advocacy groups for a variety of religions. 

Burns noted that the summit is unique in that it’s “a partner-led gathering,” meaning that partner organizations “develop the program and provide the content, often as a platform for the projects they are already working on.” 

When asked what he hopes students will take away from the program, Bennett highlighted “foundational” principles of religious freedom. 

“We hope students will thoroughly understand why a robust defense of religious freedom is vital for defending everyone’s human dignity and protecting civil liberties that characterize a free society,” Bennett said. “We then equip them to skillfully apply this knowledge to some of today’s greatest challenges.” 

Jesus and the disciples during Season 4 of "The Chosen." / 5&2 Studios / Mike Kubeisy

CNA Staff, Nov 25, 2024 / 18:15 pm (CNA).

The release of Season 5 of the hit series “The Chosen” was announced Nov. 25 by 5&2 Studios. “The Chosen: Last Supper” is coming to theaters during Lent, in the weeks leading up to Easter.

Season 5, which focuses on the events of Holy Week, will bring the most important week in history to viewers in a special theatrical release. During a four-week run in theaters, all episodes of Season 5 will be released in three parts starting with part one, episodes 1 and 2, to be released on March 27. Part two, episodes 3, 4, and 5, and part three, episodes 6, 7, and 8, will be released in the weeks following. 

Beginning April 10, “The Chosen: Last Supper” will also be released in theaters globally in over 40 countries including Brazil, Mexico, Italy, Germany, Poland, Philippines, United Kingdom, and India. 

After the full-season run in theaters concludes, the season will make its streaming debut. 

The newly released trailer begins with a glimpse of Jesus and the disciples during The Last Supper and teases other powerful moments including Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, the cleansing of the temple, and Judas’ betrayal. 

Earlier this year at ChosenCon, the annual “Chosen” fan convention in Orlando, CNA spoke with several of the cast members about the upcoming season of the popular show. 

Dallas Jenkins, the show’s creator, director, and writer, told CNA that Season 5 is “sad at times; it’s actually heartbreaking at times because we know we’re getting closer and closer to the cross … We’re going to get to see some iconic moments from Scripture, but we’re also going to, I believe, be drawn closer to who Jesus was because of his suffering.”

Ryan Swanson, one of the writers of “The Chosen,” added that Season 5 is “truly going to feel like a different kind of series. After Season 4’s dread and doom and foreshadowing, this is when the wick is lit.”

“We have stepped up our game in every aspect,” Luke Dimyan, the actor who portrays Judas Iscariot, said. “The filmmaking, the production, the cameras we used. We even felt it on set — the way we scheduled and we worked — everybody was on their A game. So I think you’ll be able to see that on screen and I think you’re really going to like what you see. We put our all into this.”

null / Credit: Mer_Studio/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Nov 25, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

In today’s complex society, it takes effort to ensure that your hard-earned money, once invested and out in the financial ether, doesn’t fund the kinds of things that Catholics abhor — like abortion, pornography, or unethical labor practices. 

But surely the Church itself, with its significant invested assets, has this figured out already… right? 

Though the principles behind Catholic investing have been clearly articulated in recent years, sources told CNA that many Catholic entities still have a long way to go to make sure their investments actually align with those principles. 

Case in point: when Daniel Catone, founder of Arimathea Investing, and his team of financial experts started digging into the finances of Catholic entities who approached them, they discovered something extraordinary — and surprisingly pervasive. 

Nearly all of their Catholic clients, including many U.S. dioceses, were unwittingly funding — sometimes to the tune of millions of dollars — products and practices that directly contradict the faith.

“We have to look at the reality of the choices that we’re making with our dollars, [because] just as Our Lord will call us to account for every careless word that comes from our mouths, so too will the Lord call us to account for every careless dollar that left our wallets,” Catone told CNA. 

Arimathea is just one of a growing number of Catholic firms seeking to help individuals, ministries, and dioceses align their investment portfolios with the teachings of the Catholic Church, all while seeking competitive financial returns.

What has the Church taught about investing?

The Church has weighed in quite comprehensively — and quite recently — on the topic of investing, both at the level of the bishops of the United States in 2021 and at the worldwide level with the 2022 Vatican document Mensuram Bonam. 

Mensuram Bonam — the title of which means “a good measure” — casts a wide net, exhorting investors to consider the ethics and consequences of their actions, especially how their investment choices will affect the world’s most vulnerable. It emphasizes that Catholic investors should seek not only to avoid harm but also actively promote good.

The document identifies a set of core principles for investors rooted in Catholic social teaching. 

The principles include the recognition of the dignity of every human being; promoting the common good; working in solidarity with the most vulnerable; caring for the environment; and subsidiarity — the idea that decision-making should be done at the most appropriate level.

The guidelines also lay out specific exclusionary criteria that Catholic investors need to be aware of and screen for. These include the funding of abortion, armaments, nuclear weapons, contraceptives, embryonic stem cell research, pornography, addictive substances, human rights violations such as breaches of labor laws, corruption, and unfair business practices. 

The development of Mensuram Bonam was prompted, in part, by a controversy in recent years over the Vatican’s own investments.

In April 2021, an Italian investigative news program accused the Vatican’s treasury of investing 20 million euros (then around $24 million) in several pharmaceutical companies involved in making emergency contraception, or the “morning-after pill.” A subsequent 2022 policy was drawn up mandating that the Holy See’s financial investments cannot contradict Catholic teaching.

The U.S. Catholic bishops’ “Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines,” released in 2021, applies to the U.S. investment landscape many similar concepts found within the latter-written Mensuram Bonam.

The bishops urge the importance of discerning whether investments will protect human life, which means avoiding any company involved in abortion, euthanasia, and assisted suicide, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning, and other practices the Church teaches to be evil. 

At the same time, investors must endeavor to promote human dignity and the common good, the bishops wrote. 

This means Catholic investors should avoid companies known to persistently violate the human rights of their workers or who operate in countries with poor human rights records. Companies with ties to pornography, human trafficking, or a non-Catholic view of gender identity and expression should be avoided, the bishops noted. 

This also means eschewing investments in certain “harmful habitual behaviors” and “addictive materials” such as gambling, tobacco, and recreational drugs; also firearms, the bishops said, except for legitimate hunting, military, or law enforcement use.

At the same time, the bishops urged investors to support positive things such as renewable energy sources; biodiversity and water resources; affordable housing; and, in the face of an often negative outlook from many Hollywood productions, virtuous media that strengthens families and contributes to a more positive and humane culture.

‘A fully integrated life’

After a successful two-decade career in finance overseeing billions of dollars in investments, Catone, who has a master’s degree in theology, went all-in on what he calls “faithful investing.”

He founded Arimathea in 2023 as an asset management company that conducts in-depth, tech-forward research to ensure its clients’ portfolios — “dollars meant to be used for the people of God” — are truly Catholic-aligned.

By trusting large secular firms like BlackRock or Morgan Stanley to manage their money, many Catholics are unknowingly funding organizations and practices that directly contradict the Church’s teachings, he reiterated, citing Arimathea’s own rigorous research. 

These include investments in companies like Microsoft, which not only pays for employees’ abortion travel but also has been known to violate workers’ rights in developing countries; other companies that directly cause abortions by distributing Plan B drugs; even companies such as hotel chains that directly profit off the sale of pornography, he said. 

“I came to the realization that the secular world was, in a way, pulling the wool over the eyes of the Catholic Church. And shocking as this may sound, most people do not become bishops because they’re really good at picking stocks, and so they rely upon the expertise of these secular organizations,” Catone said. 

He urged Catholics to examine their own investments, such as their 401(k), with a trusted financial adviser. 

“Step 1 is to stop treating our money as ‘out of sight, out of mind.’ Because the Lord is calling us to live a fully integrated life,” Catone said. 

“Our Lord Jesus Christ needs to be the Lord of every part of our life … and that also includes our 401(k) and our IRA. So in order to wake up, the first step is to open our eyes … because we can’t repent of what we don’t know.”

On Arimathea’s website, Catholics can send their investment portfolio to the company, which will then screen it, for free, offering a kind of “report card” on the ethicality of each investment from a Catholic perspective, Catone noted. He added that Arimathea’s research is informed by a strong understanding of Catholic theology — a rarity among investment firms — as well as what he calls a “literal reading” of the 2021 USCCB document. 

Arimathea is also working to develop a network of accredited advisers who are trained in the principles of Catholic social teaching and can guide Catholic investors, he said.

The goal is not merely to avoid “bad” companies but also actively seek out investments that promote human dignity and the common good, he emphasized. 

One way to do this is through proxy voting, a tool for influencing corporate behavior and promoting change from within that Catone said can be helpful in pushing companies to adopt more ethical practices. He said Catholics should be actively engaged in trying to improve the companies they invest in and have had some success at that in the past. 

Catone said the success Arimathea has had financially demonstrates that it is possible to invest in a way that is fully in line with the Catholic faith without sacrificing monetary returns. 

“What we’re trying to show at Arimathea is you can draw the line ... and say you know what? No abortion, no pornography, no drugs, no slave labor. And you know what? The returns are great,” he concluded.

Excellent and authentically Catholic, together

Shane Giblin, CEO of The Abbey Group, told CNA that the cultural milieu following the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade exposed “a bit of a crisis in the area of Catholic investing.”

The Abbey Group came about in the late 2010s after St. Michael’s Abbey in Orange County, California, under Giblin’s fundraising leadership, managed to raise $150 million to build a new abbey, far outpacing expectations. 

They started doing pro bono consulting to help other Catholic entities replicate their success, launching officially in 2020 with a goal to help worthy Catholic causes generate and grow the resources they need to fully live out their mission. The Abbey Group is selective in its projects, evaluating them based on alignment with Catholic teachings, the potential impact of their endeavors, and the strength of their leadership.

Giblin said in the wake of Roe’s overturn, the “screens” that were being applied to many Catholic investment portfolios needed to be reevaluated; it wasn’t clear how effective they were, or what they were doing to potentially limit returns, he noted. 

The other thing that Giblin said he noticed was that many Catholic investors weren’t allocating much to private equity — the buying and selling of shares in privately-held businesses. 

“What we saw was a great deal of interest and encouragement in creating an alternative investment solution that is authentically Catholic, specifically something in the private equity space,” Giblin said. 

To address the need, Giblin said Abbey Group Capital has partnered with Carrick Capital Partners, a firm run by a faithful Catholic, to help its clients grow the money they raise — and do so in a way that aligns with the Church’s teachings. 

The partnership, which benefits from the spiritual guidance from the Norbertine priests at the abbey, ensures investments align with Catholic values, such as avoidance of abortion and positive support for mothers wishing to keep and raise their children, Giblin said. 

Giblin said he hopes their approach will inspire others in the Catholic community to adopt similar strategies, ultimately contributing to a more dynamic and competitive landscape in Catholic investing.

“It seems all too often that the Catholic space has to make the decision between either being excellent or being authentically Catholic. I think that’s a problem that we need to really break ourselves out of, a dynamic we need to run away from, because they’re not mutually exclusive terms,” he said. 

“I’ve seen a resurgence of late that gives me a lot of hope. I think that people are starting to become far more rigorous and far more attentive to the necessity to steward these resources with a great deal of vigilance when it comes to what they’re investing in and what they’re not investing in.”

Difference between secular investing, ESG, and Catholic investing

Richard Todd, CEO of Innovest, a Catholic financial firm based in Colorado that manages about $50 billion, said there was little awareness of the possibility, or even the need, for Catholic-aligned investments back in 1996 when he founded his firm.

But that landscape has changed significantly with the rise of large, secular investment firms “taking advantage” of trusting Catholics, he said. 

“The ‘other side’ has been taking advantage of Catholics for, I would say, probably the last 10 years, but very specifically in the last five,” Todd told CNA.

“It used to be, as a Catholic investor, if you owned a company, you could trust management to do what’s right for the company. But it’s no longer the case because of this pressure that these large asset managers are putting on.”

Todd said Innovest works with clients to develop customized investment guidelines that reflect their unique values, allowing organizations like dioceses and universities to articulate their specific ethical concerns and ensure that their investment portfolios are truly aligned with their mission.

They then design diversified portfolios that include traditional stocks and bonds, along with alternative investments such as real estate, private debt, and private equity.

Todd, echoing Catone, emphasized the importance of going beyond simply avoiding harmful investments, emphasizing the importance of seeking out companies that promote positive values. He said Innovest looks for companies that prioritize human flourishing and foster a strong company culture, and also reiterated the importance of Catholics with large investments using proxy voting to influence companies for the better. 

“Many organizations that are Catholic don’t pay any attention to proxy voting. They end up voting for things that are completely outside their values, outside Catholic values. We believe that understanding how proxies are voted is really crucial,” he said. 

He noted that a popular framework of values-based investing, environmental, social, and governance (ESG), also known as impact investing, can include elements that are “anti-Christian” or misaligned with Catholic values. He said he seeks to educate clients on the differences between secular investing, ESG, and Catholic investing. 

Like Giblin, Todd said he firmly believes that investors do not have to sacrifice financial returns to invest in alignment with Catholic values. He pointed to the rise of competent asset managers who are adept at managing Catholic-values portfolios while achieving market-competitive or even superior results compared with secular portfolios. 

“I think, though, that there are [still] very few in the Catholic world that think this way. I think we’re in the first inning,” Todd said.

“There are some, I think, that are moving in this direction that are prominent and well known. Our hope is that their courage will help lead others to really take a serious look at the way they manage their money. But there’s a lot to be done.”

A candle of St. Jude. / Credit: Francesca Pollio/CNA

CNA Staff, Nov 24, 2024 / 15:25 pm (CNA).

An attorney for the popular podcaster and exorcist Father Carlos Martins says the priest did nothing improper during a parish event in Illinois last week and that initial news reports about an ongoing police investigation into his conduct were incorrect and damaging to his reputation.

Martins simply touched a girl’s hair in front of more than 200 other students while making a joke about his own baldness, attorney Marcella Burke said in a statement released to CNA.

The Nov. 21 meeting with students took place “in a classroom setting with teachers, clergy, parish staff, and volunteers present” at St. Paul Catholic Church in Joliet, Illinois, she said.

Martins, a priest of the Companions of the Cross order known for hosting the "Exorcist Files" podcast, was visiting the area as part of his national touring exhibit of a relic of the arm of St. Jude the Apostle. 

“As he always does, Fr. Martins began his interaction with the attendees in ‘chit-chat’ dialogue. He is bald and apt to joke about it as a conversation starter,” Burke said in the statement.

“During his conversation with the older students, he made a comment to a student about her long hair, remarking, ‘You and I have almost the same hair style,’ a comment met with giggles. He then remarked that he also once had long hair like hers, and he joked he would ‘floss my teeth with it.’ Again, his comment was meant for a teenage audience and was met with laughter. 

“He then asked the student, ‘Have you ever flossed with your hair?’” the statement continued. “Laughing, she shook her head, no. He then said, ‘Well, you have the perfect length for it,’ as he lifted up a lock from her shoulders to show her its length. She giggled along with the others.”

When the girl returned home and recounted the story, however, her father “became upset by what he heard and called the police,” Burke said in the statement.

“The police arrived at the parish during the event and, after questioning the students, left without making any arrests or filing charges. It was only after the outraged father called the police a second time, insisting that they charge Fr. Martins with battery, that the police agreed to further investigate,” the statement said.

“There is no indication that any new evidence has been uncovered that would implicate Fr. Martins of any wrongdoing. To date, no charges have been filed,” Burke added.

Burke said this fuller context was missing from initial news reports about the police investigation, which she claimed left the erroneous impression that the allegation involved sexual misconduct, which is not the case. 

“Fr. Carlos Martins is a well-respected priest, in good standing with the Catholic Church, and held in high esteem on account of his evangelical and educational work,” Burke said in the statement to CNA.

“In his 15 years as priest, he has never once been accused of or involved in any form of scandal or impropriety,” she said.

In a statement posted on the Queen of the Apostles Catholic Church parish website, Father Michael Lane, the parish moderator, and Father Gregory Alberts, the parochial vicar, said the relic visit to the parish was canceled after “an incident with the priest and some students was reported to have happened in our church.”

“We immediately contacted the police,” the priests said. “A police investigation is still ongoing. The priest was confronted with the information. We informed the priest that he must depart from our parish and out of our diocese.”

The two priests said they further informed Joliet Bishop Ronald Hicks, who “canceled the tour of the relic scheduled at two more of our parishes this week.”

The bishop “also informed the superior of the Companions of the Cross Order of priests” of the incident.

Temporary suspension 

The Companions of the Cross Order proceeded to temporarily suspend Father Martins' ministry, a suspension which Father Martins' lawyer says “is standard practice for the order when questions of wrongdoing are raised."

Regarding the police investigation, Father Martins' attorney further clarified that there is no indication that there is an ongoing investigation. "We have never been informed first hand that Father Martins is under any type of ongoing investigation."

The attorney added that Father Martins "has never received a call from police. We stand ready to fully cooperate with law enforcement should they reach out to us. That said, Father Martins has engaged in no form of wrongdoing, criminal or otherwise, and any suggestion of any wrongdoing is pure speculation.”

The referenced statement by Father Lane and Father Alberts did not identify the priest by name, though the Pillar website on Saturday evening reported that the priest was Martins, who is the director of Treasures of the Church, a ministry focused on the veneration of relics.

On Sunday CNA could not immediately confirm whether Martins was the priest referenced in the statement by Father Lane and Father Alberts. Reached by CNA on Sunday afternoon, Martins declined to comment.

This story was updated with new information from Father Carlos Martins’ attorney on Nov. 26.

Nave of St. Josaphat Ukranian Catholic Cathedral in Parma, Ohio. / Credit: Nheyob, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Ann Arbor, Michigan, Nov 24, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Like the Christian West, the various Eastern rites of the Church observe the weeks before Christmas with spiritual preparation and prayer. In Western Christianity this is called Advent — a word derived from Latin for “coming, arrival,” a translation of the Greek “parousia.” But among Eastern Christians — both Catholic and Orthodox — this season is known as the Nativity Fast. 

So while Advent begins on Dec. 1 this year for Catholics, the Byzantine custom is observed from Nov. 15 to Dec. 24. It is also known as Philip’s Fast because it begins on the day following the feast of the apostle St. Philip on the Eastern liturgical calendar, Nov. 14.

The fast, which is one of four penitential seasons in the Eastern rites, calls on Christians to practice abstinence and almsgiving. This means abstaining from meat and fish, dairy, and other animal products on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and wine and oil on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Fish is permitted on Saturdays and Sundays but no other animal products. 

In the Byzantine Ruthenian Catholic Church, of which there are several dioceses in the United States and Canada, the fast may be observed voluntarily, partially, or entirely. 

In a letter to the faithful, Bishop Robert Pipta of the Byzantine Ruthenian Catholic Diocese of Parma, Ohio, wrote: “Let us pray for one another, let us enjoy the spiritually rich days ahead during this fast, and let us pause appropriately during this penitential time to give thanks to God in the generous spirit of our Holy Father Nicholas the Wonderworker of Myra.”

There are several holy days during the fast: the Entry of the Theotokos (Mother of God) into the Temple on Nov. 21, the feast of St. Nicholas of Myra on Dec. 6, and the Maternity of Holy Anna (Conception of the Theotokos) on Dec. 8 or 9. Therefore, many Christians mitigate the fasting with celebration. St. Nicholas, a.k.a. Santa Claus, is especially revered among Eastern Christians. During the fast, several prophets, including Daniel, are also commemorated as saints.

The final day of the fast, Dec. 24, is especially strict. Christians fast until after vespers and Divine Liturgy (Mass) and afterward share a meal called the Holy Supper, which is a festive but meatless meal featuring traditional foods.

“This is a season of repentance, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving,” Byzantine Ruthenian priest Father John Russell from Allen Park, Michigan, told CNA in an interview. “It’s a time of meditation on the incarnation of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. God became man so that we can become God.” Here Russell referred to the theological concept of divinization or theosis, which is the transforming effect of grace from God.

“Jesus taught us to fast, give alms to those who ask, and recommit ourselves to regular prayer. This season is an opportunity to commit ourselves to Christ,” Russell said while underscoring that these are practical actions that foster the virtues of faith, hope, and love.

“We need these actions in order to grow into what we are supposed to be,” he said. “It is an opportunity to commune with God, and grow in faith and hope.”

“Fasting is a way to free us from passions, to teach our bodies that just because they have a yearning doesn’t mean that we always indulge and succumb to it,” he continued. “There is nothing wrong with eating food, but when we train ourselves not to eat food when our bodies want us to, it teaches us not to do things that are sinful. When our bodies cry out to the sins of the flesh, we will be strengthened to resist those calls.”

Russell likened the practice of penitential fasting to a doctor’s prescription to regain health.

During the fast, Russell said Christians are called to imitate Jesus Christ and his “kenosis”: the emptying and sacrifice of himself. St. Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians says that “although he was in the form of God, [Jesus] did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave” (Phil 2:6-7).

By emptying ourselves through sacrificial giving, Russell said, we become more like God, adding that grocery bills should go down as Christians refrain from eating some meals, allowing them to spend the equivalent amount on almsgiving.

“It is a tool to set us free from the enslavement of the passions of the flesh,” he added.

Russell said he finds the Holy Supper of Christmas Eve to be especially poignant, saying that it is a “paradoxical fasting feast and symbolic meal” that is meatless and simple. A loaf of bread symbolizes Christ, the Bread of Life, for example, and a burning candle stands in for the Star of Bethlehem. 

Father Alexei Woltornist, a priest of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, said in an email to CNA that “fasting is not about punishing oneself.”

“This is a common misconception where some will consider a fast’s success based on how miserable it makes them,” he said. “This goes directly against Christ’s instruction to not disfigure our faces when we fast with outward signs of fasting … We should exude joy as we are fasting.”  

He continued: “When we fast, it is also essential that we increase our prayers. If we do not pray along with our fasting, we become like the demons, for they do not eat but they also do not pray. All this is so that we may properly order our lives so we may be spiritually strengthened by God so we may fulfill the Gospel. Many Christians will focus on fasting, but they need to take the feasting even more seriously. If someone cannot see after Christmas that we are full of joy of the theophany of God revealed as coming to us in the form of a baby, then we are fasting wrong.” 

Paraphrasing a book from the second century A.D., “The Shepherd of Hermas,” Russell encouraged Christians, saying: “A good fast is one where you take what you would have eaten and give it to those who need it. It is not enough to not eat. The purpose of fasting is to create an excess that can be given away. Fasting enables almsgiving, and almsgiving is a purpose of the fast in the first place. It is so that you have more to share.”

Pope Francis celebrates Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on the feast of Christ the King, Nov. 21, 2021. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Nov 24, 2024 / 04:00 am (CNA).

Every year on the last Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Catholic Church observes the solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe — also known as the feast of Christ the King — a relatively recent addition to the Church’s liturgical calendar, instituted just under a century ago by Pope Pius XI. 

In his 1925 encyclical Quas Primas, Pius XI argued that the “manifold evils in the world were due to the fact that the majority of men had thrust Jesus Christ and his holy law out of their lives” and that “as long as individuals and states refused to submit to the rule of our Savior, there would be no really hopeful prospect of a lasting peace among nations.” 

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops notes on its website that, around the time of Pius XI’s encyclical, “in Mexico, Russia, and some parts of Europe, militantly secularistic regimes threatened not just the Catholic Church and its faithful but civilization itself.”

Indeed, just several years before Quas Primas, the Bolsheviks in Russia had executed the October Revolution, which touched off a series of events that would ultimately lead to the creation of the Soviet Union in 1922. The Soviet government would establish itself as an explicitly secular state and implement severe restrictions on religious freedom and aggressive persecution of religious believers in the coming decades.

Amid those upheavals and turbulent regime changes, Pope Pius XI in his encyclical argued that “men must look for the peace of Christ in the kingdom of Christ.”

To that end, Pius XI announced “the insertion into the sacred liturgy of a special feast of the kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ,” which he hoped would be “attended with much fruit and produce beneficial results in the future.”

Jesus, Pope Pius XI said, had long been accorded the title of “king” due to “the metaphorical title of ‘king,’ because of the high degree of perfection whereby he excels all creatures,” but also in “the strict and proper sense too.” 

Pius went on: “For it is only as man that he may be said to have received from the Father ‘power and glory and a kingdom,’ since the Word of God, as consubstantial with the Father, has all things in common with him, and therefore has necessarily supreme and absolute dominion over all things created.”

That Christ’s blessings may be spread as abundantly as possible, “it is necessary that the kingship of our Savior should be as widely as possible recognized and understood,” Pius XI wrote; to that end, “nothing would serve better than the institution of a special feast in honor of the kingship of Christ.”

“If we ordain that the whole Catholic world shall revere Christ as king,” the pope wrote, “we shall minister to the need of the present day and at the same time provide an excellent remedy for the plague which now infects society.”

The pope established the feast as falling on the last Sunday of the month of October. In his 1969 motu proprio Mysterii Paschalis, Pope Paul VI approved the new Roman Universal Calendar, creating the norms by which the final Sunday in Ordinary Time is celebrated as the yearly observance of the feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. It is the final Sunday of the liturgical year, the last Sunday before the first Sunday of Advent.

In a 2021 homily, Bishop Robert Barron said the feast “sums up what the Christian life is all about.”

“All the other celebrations of the year,” Barron said, are “... leading you toward that conclusion, that Christ must be king.” 

“If we say anything but that,” he said, “we are basically horsing around with Christianity and not living it seriously.”

In a homily on the solemnity in 2021, Pope Francis said that Jesus became man “without duplicity, in order to proclaim by his life that his kingdom is different from the kingdoms of the world.”

“His is the kingdom of love,” the Holy Father said, describing Christ as the king “of the kingdom of those who give their lives for the salvation of others.”

In his 1925 encyclical, meanwhile, Pius XI wrote that if the truths of Christ “are presented to the faithful for their consideration, they will prove a powerful incentive to perfection.”

The pontiff expressed his hope that “having lived our lives in accordance with the laws of God’s kingdom, we may receive full measure of good fruit, and counted by Christ good and faithful servants, we may be rendered partakers of eternal bliss and glory with him in his heavenly kingdom.”

This story was first published on Nov. 25, 2023, and has been updated.

“Roadmap to Reality: Carlo Acutis and Our Digital Age” is a new documentary film exploring the life of Carlo Acutis that will be coming to theaters in the spring of 2025. / Credit: Castletown Media

CNA Staff, Nov 23, 2024 / 10:00 am (CNA).

Castletown Media, the production company behind the new film “Roadmap to Reality: Carlo Acutis and Our Digital Age,” has announced that the National Eucharistic Congress Inc. and the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame have become official partners for the upcoming documentary exploring the life of the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint.

“The National Eucharistic Congress is passionate about reigniting devotion to the Eucharist in this country, and when we shared the project with them they were thrilled insofar as how this film really resonates with that mission,” the director of the new Acutis film and founder of Castletown Media, Tim Moriarty, told CNA in an interview.

In a press release, Bishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, chair of the National Eucharistic Revival who appears in the film, said: “Soon-to-be St. Carlo Acutis is a modern apostle who can inspire young people to discover the incredible gift of the Eucharist. Carlo is the model for the kind of Eucharistic missionary we, as bishops, hope every Catholic will become.”

Meanwhile, the McGrath Institute, known for its work partnering with Catholics parishes, dioceses, and schools to offer resources and materials to address pastoral challenges, will be offering its expertise to the film’s production by developing educational materials for parishes and schools based on themes found in the documentary.

Moriarty explained that they began speaking with the McGrath Institute when they began to cover the issue of technology and the impact it’s having on young people while making the film. They interviewed several members of the McGrath team and realized that together they could “do more good.” 

As partners, the McGrath Institute will specifically be creating material for youth preparing for their first Communion by helping them “understand what the Eucharist is at a time in their lives where screen addiction becomes increasingly problematic,” Moriarty explained.

On Nov. 20, Pope Francis announced the canonization date of Blessed Carlo Acutis, which will take place on April 27, 2025, during the Church’s Jubilee of Teenagers. Moriarty called this announcement “providential” as the film will be in theaters in time for the canonization. 

“Roadmap to Reality” explores the life of Carlo Acutis and the lessons he offers young people regarding the challenges of the digital world. The documentary blends live action, animation, and documentary-style interviews with Acutis’ family, friends, tech experts, and scholars to tackle urgent questions about artificial intelligence and the technological world we live in.

“One of the themes in the film is that he [Acutis] was online to lead people offline,” Moriarty shared. “He was online to lead people back to the Eucharist, back to real encounters.”

“I think what Carlo did in his life was to show us that yes, we have to be engaging online, sharing the Gospel online, but we have to do it in a way where we don’t lose touch with the incarnational reality, which is fully present to us in the Eucharist, which is that real substantial presence. I think there’s something in that that is very powerful and for me has been really moving and healing the more I try to follow Carlo’s example,” Moriarty concluded.

Archbishop Boris Godziak, Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Archiparagi of Philadelphia. / Credit: “EWTN News in Depth”/Screenshot

CNA Staff, Nov 23, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).

A Ukrainian archbishop says he has encouraged President-elect Donald Trump to visit Ukraine to help “build a policy for the future.” 

During a Friday interview with “EWTN News In Depth” anchor Catherine Hadro, Archbishop Borys Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia said that he spoke briefly with Trump before the election at the Oct. 17 Al Smith dinner, where he encouraged Trump to visit Ukraine. Gudziak has subsequently written a letter to the president-elect to the same effect.

“I think if he went now, before the inauguration, for example, with a group of religious leaders on a humanitarian mission, he would see for himself what is happening on the ground,” Gudziak explained. “Everybody that has gone to Ukraine — cardinals, political leaders, humanitarian workers, people who were skeptical, people that knew a lot — all came out knowing much, much more and understanding more deeply what’s happening.” 

“So I would encourage President Trump to go to Ukraine,” Gudziak said, as “a base on which to build a policy for the future.”

Nov. 19 marked 1,000 days since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions. Ukraine on Tuesday used U.S. missiles to strike deeper into Russian territory, following President Joe Biden’s authorization of such use. Russian forces shot down five of six of the missiles that were fired at a military facility.  

Gudziak said of the somber milestone: “It is a time of mourning.” 

“There’s great pain and great wounds in our people, in our Church,” Gudziak noted. “At the same time, there’s great gratitude. Most observers internationally, and particularly Putin, thought Ukraine would fall in a matter of three days or three weeks. And now, three years later, the people still stand, keep standing, defending their God-given dignity, their freedom, their democracy.”

Devastating toll

Hundreds of thousands have been killed as a result of the Russian invasion, with more than 14 million people forced to leave their homes. The archbishop noted that 4,000 schools and 2,000 hospitals have been destroyed. 

“There’s great suffering, great trauma which will be lasting,” Gudziak said. “But there is also the sense of courage and gratitude for God’s graces that Russia has not occupied all of Ukraine and that the country is still free.” 

When asked what it’s like for Catholics in Ukraine, Gudziak said that “the public life of the Catholic Church has been virtually extinguished” in Eastern Ukraine, where Russia has occupied parts of three regions.   

“There [are] no Ukrainian Catholic priests functioning there now, and a couple of priests who were abducted and tortured for 18 months, who were freed in the summer — they show the scars of what Russian captivity is like,” the archbishop said.

“For Catholics, it should be clear that Russian occupation means [the] extinguishing of our normal church life,” he continued.

But Gudziak noted that Catholic charities have come together to support Ukrainians, including Caritas Ukraine, a Catholic charity in Ukraine.

“Bishops and priests are in place, serving the people, celebrating the sacraments, announcing the good news, but also very much engaged in humanitarian work, helping those that have lost their homes, their possessions, distributing clothing, food, fostering medical care,” he said. 

“Very importantly, the Church reminds people of their God-given dignity, the fact that the Lord is with them, that every hair on their head is counted” and that the country has lived through “even more harrowing experiences,” he said.

“During World War II, between the Nazis and the Soviets, 6 [million] to 7 million residents of Ukraine were killed and the whole country was devastated,” Gudziak continued. “Ukrainians know they’ve lived through the crucifixion and have resurrected in the past. So the Church announces this paschal Kerygma: We carry our cross and God will give us life.”

The relics of St. Thomas Aquinas are kept in Toulouse, France, where the Dominican order was founded. / Credit: Didier Descouens|Wikimedia|CC BY-SA 4.0

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 23, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The major relics of St. Thomas Aquinas, “The Angelic Doctor,” are on tour and scheduled to make a stop in Washington, D.C., next weekend as part of the commemoration of the 700th anniversary of his canonization. 

Members of the faithful will be able to venerate the relics, including his skull, on two separate occasions: first at St. Dominic’s Church on Friday, Nov. 29, and then again on Saturday, Nov. 30, at the Dominican House of Studies. The event is co-sponsored by the Thomistic Institute. 

“In a time of renewed interest in the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas, the jubilees of his canonization (700 years in 2023), death (750 years in 2024), and birth (800 years in 2025) draw our attention to the masterwork of wisdom and sanctity which God wrought in him,” Father Gregory Pine, OP, assistant director at the Thomistic Institute, said in a press release. 

“The opportunity that we have to receive and venerate his relics makes this grace all the more proximate and precious to us,” Pine added.

Friday’s event will begin at 12:10 p.m. with a solemn Mass celebrated by Cardinal Wilton Gregory, archbishop of Washington, followed by an opportunity to venerate the relics of the revered theologian and philosopher from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. There will also be solemn vespers at 5:30 p.m. and night prayer at 6:45 p.m. with a Marian procession to follow. 

On Saturday, the Dominican House of Studies will begin the day with solemn lauds and a votive Mass of St. Thomas Aquinas at 7:30 a.m., and veneration of the relics will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pine will also preach at 3 p.m. that day. 

“‘Get wisdom, get understanding’ (Prv 4:5). One way is to study, another way is to pray for it, but an exceptional way is to pray for it in the presence of the skull of St. Thomas Aquinas,” Father James Brent, OP, an assistant professor of philosophy at the Dominican House of Studies, also stated in the release. 

The relic of St. Thomas Aquinas’ skull comes to the U.S. from the Dominicans in Toulouse, France, and is one of two skulls Church officials claim to have belonged to the 11th-century saint. The other is housed in the Italian city of Priverno. The Dominicans in France commissioned a new reliquary for the skull last year to celebrate the saint’s canonization anniversary.

After Aquinas’ death in 1274, his body was kept in Fossanova Abbey in Priverno until 1369, when his relics were moved to Toulouse, a city in southwestern France, where the Order of Preachers was established. Aquinas’ tomb rests in the Church of the Jacobins. 

Researchers are currently weighing the possibility of conducting an in-depth forensic analysis of both skulls to determine their authenticity. 

Where do the relics go next?

After two stops in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 29 and Nov. 30, Aquinas’ relics hit the road for their U.S. tour:

Charlottesville, Virginia: St. Thomas Aquinas on Dec. 2

Providence, Rhode Island: Providence College on Dec. 4

Cincinnati: St. Gertrude Priory on Dec. 6

Columbus, Ohio: St. Patrick Parish on Dec. 7–8

Louisville, Kentucky: St. Louis Bertrand on Dec. 10

Springfield, Kentucky: St. Rose Priory on Dec. 12

New York City: St. Vincent Ferrer on Dec. 14

Philadelphia: St. Patrick on Dec. 16

Baltimore: Sts. Philip and James on Dec. 18