NATION
ROSLYN, N.Y. (CNS) – Caring for the sick is a vocation and way of life shared by a mother and two daughters serving together at a Catholic Hospital in Long Island, New York. Novlet Davis-Bucknor, 59, is a nurse practitioner in the cardiothoracic department of St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center in Nassau County. Her oldest child, LaToya Bucknor, 39, also a nurse practitioner, works with the critical care team. Another daughter, Shekeya Washington, 31, is a registered nurse in the medical intensive care unit. “It’s good to work together because we always have each other to lean on,” said Novlet, who was born and raised in Jamaica and immigrated at age 26 to the U.S., where a few years later she began her studies to be a nurse. Novlet is the ultimate role model as a mom and professional woman, LaToya and Shekeya told Catholic News Service. “She’s always there for us,” said LaToya. “She’s always loving and showing us that no matter what we go through in life, she’s always going to be there to support us.” “My mom has shown so much ambition and strength,” Shekeya said.
WASHINGTON (CNS) – President Joe Biden announced May 3 he was raising the historically low refugee cap of 15,000 left by the Trump administration, but he also warned that his administration may not be able to meet the new number of refugees it is seeking to resettle in what remains of the fiscal year: 62,500. In a statement, the president said that while the previous cap set by Trump did not reflect the country’s values “as a nation that welcomes and supports refugees,” it may be difficult for his administration to meet the new goal. “The sad truth is that we will not achieve 62,500 admissions this year. We are working quickly to undo the damage of the last four years. It will take some time, but that work is already underway,” he said in the statement. “We have reopened the program to new refugees. And by changing the regional allocations last month, we have already increased the number of refugees ready for departure to the United States.” The announcement was aimed at sending a signal, he said, “to remove any lingering doubt in the minds of refugees around the world who have suffered so much, and who are anxiously waiting for their new lives to begin.” In November, Biden said during a virtual Jesuit Refugee Service event that he would be heading in a dramatically different direction than the previous administration on refugee admissions and said he would raise the ceiling when he took office to 125,000.

VATICAN
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Updating the Litany of St. Joseph, approved in 1909, the Vatican has added seven invocations, including two that address the guardian of Jesus and husband of Mary as “support in difficulty” and “patron of refugees.” The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments published the additions May 1, the feast of St. Joseph the Worker. The additions were approved by Pope Francis, the congregation said, and drew the new invocations mainly from modern papal texts about St. Joseph, including Pope Francis’ December apostolic letter proclaiming a Year of St. Joseph and St. John Paul II’s 1989 apostolic exhortation, “Redemptoris Custos” (“Protector of the Redeemer”). Since Pope Francis wanted, as he wrote in his letter, “to increase our love for this great saint, to encourage us to implore his intercession and to imitate his virtues and his zeal,” the congregation said, it seemed appropriate to update the 112-year-old litany. Providing only the Latin-language version of the invocations, the congregation said it would be up to bishops’ conferences to translate the phrases and to add others if St. Joseph is invoked by their people in a particular way. The Latin phrases are: “Custos Redemptoris” (Protector of the Redeemer); “Serve Christi” (Servant of Christ); “Minister salutis” (Minister of salvation); “Fulcimen in difficultatibus” (Support in difficulty); “Patrone exsulum” (Patron of refugees); “Patrone afflictorum” (Patron of the afflicted); and “Patrone pauperum” (Patron of the poor).
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Catholic Church’s proclamation of new saints demonstrates that it is possible for men and women to live holy lives and that God is present and at work in the world, said the prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes. “It’s useful on earth, not for heaven,” said Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, the prefect, when asked, “What is the use of proclaiming saints?” In an interview published May 4 in L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, the cardinal noted how the Second Vatican Council spoke of the “universal vocation of holiness. To proclaim saints helps convince us that this vocation really exists, that the Gospel works, that Jesus does not disappoint and that we can trust in his word,” Cardinal Semeraro said in the interview the day after Pope Francis and cardinals resident in Rome held a consistory to approve the canonization of seven men and women. The causes took years, even decades of work: studying the lives and writings of the candidates, verifying the events surrounding the deaths of those who were martyrs and looking at cures submitted as miracles attributed to the candidates’ intercession.

WORLD
QUEBEC CITY (CNS) – Police have seized large quantities of altar wine in the province of Quebec, creating a situation where buying a bottle is nearly impossible. On April 9, police officers seized sacramental wine from Bertrand, Foucher, Bélanger, Inc. in Montreal, Procure Ecclésiastique, Inc. in Quebec City and Chandelles Tradition MB, Inc. in Saint-Constant. Sandra Dion, spokeswoman for the Quebec City Police Department, said the wine was seized following an investigation. The seizures appear related to laws governing the resale of alcohol within provinces, although some distributors claims they are within the law and have licenses. The altar wine available in Quebec comes from two Californian producers: Mont La Salle Altar Wines and Cribari Premium Altar Wines. However, since the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ) – the provincial liquor board – does not sell these products, the wines had to be imported from other Canadian provinces. Although that was the practice for many years, police now says it’s illegal. “Officers from the Montreal Police Department showed up with a warrant,” said Alain Denis, general manager at Bertrand, Foucher, Bélanger, Inc., a store specializing in church goods. The warrant mentioned illegal possession and selling of alcohol. Chandelles Tradition MB did not return calls.
DUBLIN (CNS) – The Irish government said a COVID-19-related ban on Catholics attending Mass will be lifted May 10. Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin made the announcement in an address to the nation April 29 as he revealed a new road map for the reopening of society. Public worship has been banned since Dec. 26 amid increased cases — a move accepted by the Irish bishops’ conference and other faith leaders. However, the government provoked controversy earlier in April when Health Minister Stephen Donnelly made it a criminal offense for a priest to plan a public Mass or a Catholic to leave home to participate in Mass. Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, Northern Ireland, head of the Irish bishops’ conference, described this move as both “provocative” and “draconian.” The prime minister announced in a televised address that up to 50 people will be permitted to attend Mass beginning May 10. Up to 50 people will also be able to gather for funerals and wedding ceremonies; however wedding receptions will be restricted to just six people, or 15 people if the reception takes place outdoors.
FRANKFURT, Germany (CNS) – Instead of comfortable footwear, participants in Germany’s third ecumenical convention, or kirchentag, will need stable internet connections. Organizers had hoped to attract more than 100,000 visitors to the approximately 2,000 public events May 13-16, reported the German Catholic news agency KNA. With the COVID-19 pandemic, that has changed. “As the people can’t come to Frankfurt, the ÖKT will come to them at home,” said Thomas Sternberg, Catholic president of the convention, using its German acronym. Bettina Limperg, Protestant president of the convention, said when its motto, “Schaut hin” (“Take a look”) was devised in 2020, organizers were still hoping to have an in-person convention. Now most people will be taking a look on computer screens. KNA reported the kirchentag will open on the feast of the Ascension with an ecumenical service on a parking deck with a view of the famous skyline of Frankfurt’s international banking center. It will be broadcast live on German television. The exact location will not be made public beforehand to avoid crowds gathering during the pandemic. The digital program, with about 80 events each day, will focus on 10 main topics, including the church and power, international responsibility and the climate crisis.

Pope prays emergency workers in India find strength to persevere

By Carol Glatz
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – As India faces a massive surge in new infections and deaths caused by COVID-19, Pope Francis said he was praying for all those affected by the huge health emergency.
With so many in India suffering, “I am writing to convey my heartfelt solidarity and spiritual closeness to all the Indian people, together with the assurance of my prayers that God will grant healing and consolation to everyone affected by this grave pandemic,” he wrote.
Smashing global records, on May 5 more than 412,000 new cases and 3,980 deaths were registered in India in just 24 hours; however, health experts estimate the actual numbers are much higher due to unrecorded deaths and infections. The World Health Organization said India has accounted for 46% of global cases and 25% of global deaths reported in the past week.
In a written message sent May 6 to Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, the pope said he was praying for all those who have become sick, for their families and caregivers and for those mourning the loss of loved ones.
“I think too of the many doctors, nurses, hospital workers, ambulance drivers and those working tirelessly to respond to the immediate needs of their brothers and sisters,” the pope wrote. “With deep appreciation I invoke upon all of them God’s gifts of perseverance, strength and peace.”
The pope also expressed his closeness to the nation’s Catholic communities and thanked them for their “charity and fraternal solidarity carried out in the service of all; I think especially of the generosity shown by so many committed young people.”
He prayed for the faithful who have lost their lives, including “the great numbers of priests and men and women religious,” and asked that “in these days of immense grief, may we all be consoled in the hope born of Easter and our unshakable faith in Christ’s promise of resurrection and new life.”
Meanwhile, UNICEF has warned that the deadly surge in COVID-19 cases in India “is larger and spreading more rapidly than the first,” putting an enormous strain on health and critical care facilities.
“Urgent action is needed to avert further tragic loss of life,” it said on its website, appealing for funding to deliver urgently needed testing equipment, supplies and oxygen products and other services.
The pandemic’s first wave last year resulted in major cuts to public health services in South Asia, costing the lives of an estimated 228,000 children and 11,000 mothers, said George Laryea-Adjei, UNICEF’s regional director.
Essential health services, such as routine inoculations, have been disrupted and even risk being shut down with healthcare staff, equipment and facilities being diverted to addressing the ballooning pandemic, he said in a statement May 4.
Increasing numbers of children are being hurt by the pandemic as they lose parents and caregivers, witness traumatic scenes and lose vital health care, nutritional, education and support services, he said.
The current second wave throughout South Asia has the potential to cause immense devastation, Laryea-Adjei warned saying immediate assistance from the international community was “a moral imperative.”

Church leaders offer prayers after Mexico City metro crash

By David Agren
MEXICO CITY (CNS) – Mexican church leaders offered prayers for the victims of a metro line collapse that left at least 23 dead and more than 70 people injured.
Bishop Andrés Vargas Peña of Xochimilco – which serves three southern boroughs in Mexico City – offered condolences to the victims, while announcing each priest in the diocese would celebrate Mass three times May 4 “for the deceased, the injured and their families.”
The bishop asked parishioners to pray for the victims and also asked diocesan priests in the affected area and hospitals treating the injured to provide spiritual support.
An elevated portion of a metro line in Mexico City collapsed at around 10:30 p.m. May 3, sending two train cars crashing onto a busy thoroughfare below and crushing at least one vehicle. Rescuers worked through the night to free trapped passengers and search for victims.
Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said the cause of the tragedy remains unclear. Line 12 of Mexico City Metro, where the accident occurred, has been plagued by construction problems since being inaugurated in 2012.
Half the stations in Line 12 were closed in 2014 due to construction issues. A strong earthquake in 2017 also damaged columns on the metro line, but Sheinbaum said repairs were made and the inspections occur daily.
“Absolutely nothing will be hidden,” President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said at his morning news conference May 4. “The people have to know the complete truth.”
The Mexico City Metro serves 4.6 million passengers daily, carrying armies of workers from far-flung suburbs to jobs in the Mexican capital.

By Carol Zimmermann
WASHINGTON (CNS) – In the days following the March 16 shootings in Atlanta that left eight people dead, including six Asian American women, protests and vigils took place around the country remembering the victims and calling for an end to a growing wave of anti-Asian racism and violence.
Two Jesuit universities, St. Louis University and Georgetown University, held vigils online that also included discussion on challenges faced by the Asian American/Pacific Islander community and ways to better advocate for them.

Catholic bishops and women religious also spoke out against the violence and renewed their calls to end racism.
“We must support all victims of violence and stand in solidarity with those who are vulnerable in our communities,” said Atlanta Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer in a March 17 statement.
He also pointed out many people “endure discrimination, aggression and violence every day of their lives,” and said Christians must work to protect the whole community, speaking up against aggression and actively pursuing an end to “racism and discrimination of every kind.”
Bishop Oscar A. Solis of Salt Lake City, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Island Affairs, echoed the Atlanta archbishop’s call to stand in solidarity with the vulnerable.
In a March 22 statement, he said the Atlanta shootings have “prompted national dialogue on addressing anti-Asian bias that has taken the form of numerous other acts of physical violence, verbal attacks and destruction of property against those of Asian descent over the last year that have left communities across the country traumatized.”
The bishop said he was deeply saddened the mass shooting has “tragically taken the lives of eight people and has renewed concerns about a rise of hostility against individuals of Asian descent.”
“As bishops, we decry any kind of hatred and violence, particularly based on race, ethnicity or sex,” he said. “We pray for the families and friends of those who were lost, and for their communities, who may feel unsafe and vulnerable at this time.”
Although the suspect, 21-year-old Robert Long of Woodstock, Georgia, has been arrested and charged with eight counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault for the shootings at three spas in the Atlanta metro area, he has not yet been charged with a hate crime.
Investigators are still looking into if the crimes were racially motivated or if, as Long claimed, they were committed to end his temptation because he is a sex addict.
The shootings touched a nerve across the country in response to a growing wave of anti-Asian violence, particularly since the outbreak of the coronavirus which began in Wuhan, China, last year and had often been referred to by former President Donald Trump as the “China virus” or “kung flu.”
The group AAPI Hate, an advocacy group that tracks hate incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, said it had had received about 3,800 reports of hate incidents across the country since last March, up from its usual total of 100 incidents a year.
Days after the Atlanta shootings, President Joe Biden said he urged Congress to pass the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act. He said the measure would expedite the federal government’s response to hate crimes that have risen during the pandemic, support state and local governments to improve hate crimes reporting and make information on hate crimes more accessible to Asian American communities.

By Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS) – A change in wording to the concluding doxology of orations in the Roman Missal, from “one God, for ever and ever” to “God, for ever and ever,” took effect on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 17.
A Feb. 4 memo to bishops from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship said the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments wrote to the English-speaking bishops’ conferences in May 2020 to point out the current English translation that concludes “in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever” is “incorrect.”

“There is no mention of ‘one’ in the Latin, and ‘Deus’ in the Latin text refers to Christ. Therefore, the correct translation … is simply “in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever,” the memo said, adding that the prefect of the congregation “pointed out the importance of affirming this Christological truth amid the religious pluralism of today’s world.”
A copy of the memo was provided to Catholic News Service.
It said the correct translation was already reflected in the Roman Missal in other languages, including Misal Romano, the USCCB’s Spanish translation of the missal.
English translations of the Roman Missal for use by Catholics prior to the Second Vatican Council, such the St. Joseph’s Missal of the 1950s, “reflected the correct translation,” the memo noted. “However, when the postconciliar texts were published in English, the word ‘one’ was added.”
When the translation of the Roman Missal currently in use was underway in the 2000s, the International Commission on English in the Liturgy “pointed out the discrepancy to the congregation in Rome, but was told to retain the use of ‘one God’ in the new translation,” according to the memo.
After the doctrinal congregation’s directive last May, the USCCB’s Latin-rite bishops voted to amend the concluding doxology of orations, or “collects,” of the Roman Missal to reflect the change. The congregation confirmed the decision, as it had for the episcopal conferences of England and Wales, Ireland and Canada.
The translation change – “God, for ever and ever” – applies to other liturgical books, such as the Liturgy of the Hours, the memo said, adding that there is no need to publish new Roman Missals, because “it should not be difficult for the celebrant simply to omit the word ‘one’ when offering the prayer.”
But it added that publishers “are being informed of this change” and reprints or new editions of the Roman Missal will reflect the new translation, as will any worship aids for the faithful and other similar publications.

By Dennis Sadowski
ASSISI, Italy (CNS) – Arriving in the United States as a refugee from Vietnam in 1980, Divine Word Father Quang Duc Dinh wasn’t sure what the future held.
“I was naive and innocent,” he told Catholic News Service.
Before long, he was able to begin seminary studies with the Society of the Divine Word, later becoming ordained in 1992.

Today, at 59, he’s the provincial superior of the society’s Chicago province and helping other young men become missionaries to the world.
Father Dinh’s story is one that illustrates the missionary outreach work of the society: to bring the good news of Jesus to others, especially poor and marginalized people, as envisioned by its founder in Steyl, Holland, St. Arnold Janssen, who was canonized in 2003.
The Society of the Divine Word observed its 125th anniversary of the arrival of its first member in the United States Oct. 15. To mark the milestone, the society unveiled an online exhibit at https://scalar.usc.edu/works/svd125/index.
It takes viewers through the history of the order’s evolution from one man, Brother Wendelin Meyer – who volunteered to travel to the U.S. in the missionary spirit – through the most recent years that find priests of the order’s three U.S. provinces ministering in poor and marginalized communities around the world.
Titled “Empowered by the Word,” the exhibit recaps hallmark moments in the society’s U.S. ministries: the opening of a technical school for orphans in Techny, Illinois, outside of Chicago; the founding of the first seminary to train African American men who wished to become priests and brothers in Mississippi; and the broadening of outreach to marginalized communities in Appalachia beginning in the 1970s, which continues today.
“We serve the poor, minorities and marginalized people,” Father Dinh said.
The Vietnamese priest is a portrait of the multicultural spirit of the society. He is one of about 90 Vietnamese Divine Word priests trained in the U.S. He heads a province of more than 200 priests and brothers of 30 nationalities who serve in parishes in parts of Canada, the United States and several Caribbean island nations. Priests of the society’s Western and Southern U.S. provinces also serve widely.
Worldwide, the society has more than 6,000 members in 80 countries.
Brother Meyer arrived in Hoboken, New Jersey, Oct. 15, 1895, seeking German-speaking immigrants, a prime market for the society’s publications. He came to North America to bolster the society’s work at home. He sold magazines and pamphlets to finance his ministry while giving the newcomers a connection with their homeland.
During a trip to Chicago as the society looked for a new location to build its ministry, Brother Meyer learned that a 360-acre farm north of the city – owned by a German Catholic orphanage – was for sale. The property eventually was purchased and became the site of a trade school of orphan boys. It was there that the locale of Techny was born.
Techny today encompasses only the society’s Chicago Province property. It is within the town of Northbrook in Chicago’s sprawling northern suburbs.
Over the years, the society expanded. In 1909, the society opened St. Mary’s Seminary in Techny. It was the first Roman Catholic major seminary for missionaries in the U.S. Other seminaries followed.
Sacred Heart College in Greenville, Mississippi, opened in 1920 as the first seminary for forming African American priests. Within three years, it moved 300 miles south to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, becoming known as St. Augustine Seminary.

Other schools and seminaries followed in places such as Girard, Pennsylvania; Duxbury, Massachusetts; Bordentown, New Jersey; Conesus, New York; East Troy, Wisconsin; Perrysburg, Ohio; and Granby, Quebec. Divine Word College in Epworth, Iowa, educates men and women for missionary service as priests, brothers, sisters and lay ministers today.
Father Dinh said the society’s work in the U.S. has welcomed the opportunity to reach out to marginalized people. For example, Divine Word priests ministered to German Americans who were targeted for discrimination during both world wars, Japanese Americans interred during World War II, and African Americans who struggled generations after slavery ended.
Today, Father Dinh said, the effort focuses in many U.S. communities on Latino newcomers as well as immigrants from Poland and elsewhere. In Appalachia today, food programs benefit poor children. And in Jamaica, Antigua and elsewhere, Divine Word priests live in poverty like the people they serve.
The work continues to stem from the prophetic vision Brother Meyer first saw when he arrived in New Jersey, Father Dinh explained.
“It’s part of God’s plan,” he said. “It’s unfolding in history right now.”

(Follow Sadowski on Twitter: @DennisSadowski)

By Carol Glatz
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – With the legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia in many countries, and questions concerning what is morally permissible regarding end-of-life care, the Vatican’s doctrinal office released a 25-page letter offering “a moral and practical clarification” on the care of vulnerable patients.
“The church is convinced of the necessity to reaffirm as definitive teaching that euthanasia is a crime against human life because, in this act, one chooses directly to cause the death of another innocent human being,” the document said.
Titled, “’Samaritanus bonus,’ on the Care of Persons in the Critical and Terminal Phases of Life,” the letter by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was approved by Pope Francis in June, and released to the public Sept. 22.
A new, “systematic pronouncement by the Holy See” was deemed necessary given a growing, global trend in legalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide, and changing attitudes and rules that harm the dignity of vulnerable patients, Cardinal Luis Ladaria, congregation prefect, said at a Vatican news conference Sept. 22.
It was also necessary to reaffirm church teaching regarding the administration of the sacraments to and pastoral care of patients who expressly request a medical end to their life, he said.

“In order to receive absolution in the sacrament of penance, as well as with the anointing of the sick and the viaticum,” he said, the patients must demonstrate their intention to reverse their decision to end their life and to cancel their registration with any group appointed to grant their desire for euthanasia or assisted suicide.
In the letter’s section on “Pastoral discernment toward those who request euthanasia or assisted suicide,” it said a “priest could administer the sacraments to an unconscious person ‘sub condicione’ if, on the basis of some signal given by the patient beforehand, he can presume his or her repentance.”
The church’s ministers can still accompany patients who have made these end-of-life directives, it added, by showing “a willingness to listen and to help, together with a deeper explanation of the nature of the sacrament, in order to provide the opportunity to desire and choose the sacrament up to the last moment.”
It is important to carefully look for “adequate signs of conversion, so that the faithful can reasonably ask for the reception of the sacraments. To delay absolution is a medicinal act of the church, intended not to condemn, but to lead the sinner to conversion,” it said.
However, it added, “those who spiritually assist these persons should avoid any gesture, such as remaining until the euthanasia is performed, that could be interpreted as approval of this action.”
Chaplains, too, must show care “in the health care systems where euthanasia is practiced, for they must not give scandal by behaving in a manner that makes them complicit in the termination of human life,” the letter said.
Another warning in the letter regarded medical end-of-life protocols, such as “do not resuscitate orders” or “physician orders for life-sustaining treatment” and any of their variations.
These protocols “were initially thought of as instruments to avoid aggressive medical treatment in the terminal phases of life. Today, these protocols cause serious problems regarding the duty to protect the life of patients in the most critical stages of sickness,” it said.
On the one hand, it said, “medical staff feel increasingly bound by the self-determination expressed in patient declarations that deprive physicians of their freedom and duty to safeguard life even where they could do so.”
“On the other hand, in some health care settings, concerns have recently arisen about the widely reported abuse of such protocols viewed in a euthanistic perspective with the result that neither patients nor families are consulted in final decisions about care,” it said.
“This happens above all in the countries where, with the legalization of euthanasia, wide margins of ambiguity are left open in end-of-life law regarding the meaning of obligations to provide care.”
The church, however, “is obliged to intervene in order to exclude once again all ambiguity in the teaching of the magisterium concerning euthanasia and assisted suicide, even where these practices have been legalized,” it said.
Euthanasia involves “an action or an omission which of itself or by intention causes death, in order that all pain may in this way be eliminated.”
Its definition depends on “the intention of the will and in the methods used,” it added.
The letter reaffirmed that “any formal or immediate material cooperation in such an act is a grave sin against human life,” making euthanasia “an act of homicide that no end can justify and that does not tolerate any form of complicity or active or passive collaboration.”
For that reason, “those who approve laws of euthanasia and assisted suicide, therefore, become accomplices of a grave sin that others will execute. They are also guilty of scandal because by such laws they contribute to the distortion of conscience, even among the faithful.”
The letter also underlined a patient’s right to decline aggressive medical treatment and “die with the greatest possible serenity and with one’s proper human and Christian dignity intact” when approaching the natural end of life.
“The renunciation of treatments that would only provide a precarious and painful prolongation of life can also mean respect for the will of the dying person as expressed in advanced directives for treatment, excluding however every act of a euthanistic or suicidal nature,” it said.
However, it also underlined the rights of physicians as never being “a mere executor of the will of patients or their legal representatives, but retains the right and obligation to withdraw at will from any course of action contrary to the moral good discerned by conscience.”
Other aspects of end-of-life care the letter detailed included: the obligation to provide basic care of nutrition and hydration; the need for holistic palliative care; support for families and hospice care; the required accompaniment and care for unborn and newly-born children diagnosed with a terminal disease; the use of “deep palliative sedation”; obligation of care for patients in a “vegetative state” or with minimal consciousness; and conscientious objection by health care workers.

By Kurt Jensen
The Sept. 10 announcement of the theme for the March for Life – “Together Strong: Life Unites” – made it clear the annual national event, in some form, will proceed next Jan. 29.
But details of how the march, rally and pro-life conference, which together have drawn as many as 100,000 participants in past years, will cope with COVID-19 self-quarantine restrictions in the District of Columbia were not part of the announcement.
Asked on EWTN’s “Pro-Life Weekly” program that evening about whether people should start making plans, Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund, said: “You know, everybody has to make that decision on their own. You know, considering their own situations, et cetera.”

She added, “But I certainly would be (making plans), and I obviously will be there this year. I think that standing for life and standing for inherent human dignity of every life from conception to natural death is all the more important this year when there is so much unrest, so much division in our country. We need to show that we are stronger together and that love and life unite us. They make us stronger.”
In July, Mancini had said “we will continue to discern throughout this year what steps should be taken,” regarding pandemic restrictions.
Social distancing and masks aren’t the issue. Washington health authorities require a 14-day self-quarantine for visitors “participating in nonessential travel” from high-risk areas. The quarantine is adjusted every two weeks, and as of Sept. 8, was extended to visitors from 30 states.
That’s a particular obstacle for the many high school and college groups who arrive on long-distance bus rides which have, over the decades, become the pulse of the event.
“If D.C. is still requiring a two-week quarantine for out-of-state travelers, I don’t see a way for us to attend,” said Ed Konieczka, assistant director of university ministry at the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota. “We are taking care of the details that we can, and recognizing which things are out of our control.”
The university typically sends around 200 students and staff members to the march, and in 2018, some 20 students flanked President Donald Trump in the Rose Garden at the White House when he addressed the Mall rally on a video link. This past January, Trump addressed the rally in person, becoming the first president to do so.
The alternative to a Washington trip, Konieczka said, will be a rally that day in Bismarck. “We have been approached by the Diocese of Bismarck with a request to coordinate efforts to have the biggest March for Life event ever at our state capital. We have a shared vision for a large event, where any of our students unable to travel to D.C. will join with members of the diocese.”
Planners of state marches face the same uncertainty. “Right now with COVID and the restrictions, we are playing it by ear in Chicago,” said Denise Zabor, office manager for Illinois Right to Life.
March for Life has taken place in Washington every January since 1974. It’s always held on a date near the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s 1973 rulings, Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, which legalized abortion on demand.

“I believe it’s the rallying point for all of pro-life America,” said Dave Bereit, the founder of 40 Days for Life, who co-hosted the theme announcement with Mancini.
The announcement video included a cameo from Vice President Mike Pence, a longtime supporter of the March for Life, who said: “Stand for life. Because life is winning.”
On Sept. 3, the Trump campaign, in a letter to a coalition calling itself “Pro-Life Voices for Trump,” cited how the president has been “transforming the federal judiciary” by appointing federal judges and Supreme Court justices “who would not legislate an abortion agenda from the bench.”
The letter also promised to work for the passage of what’s called the “pain-capable” abortion ban, which has criminal penalties for abortions performed when an unborn child is in at least the 20th week of gestation; supporters of the measure cite scientific research showing a fetus at that stage can feel pain. Passage has been blocked by House Democrats and the threat of a Democratic filibuster in the Senate.
Trump also expressed support for the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act sponsored by Mississippi Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi, which would codify an end to federal funding for abortion such as that received by Planned Parenthood.

(Editor’s Note: The March for Life website, https://marchforlife.org, provides visitors to the site a way to sign up for updates on the Jan. 29 event.)

By Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS) – More than 4,400 allegations of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy were reported during the year ending June 30, 2019, a significant jump from the previous auditing period, according to a report on diocesan and eparchial compliance with the U.S. bishops’ “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.”
Released June 25, the 17th annual report from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection states that 4,220 child sexual abuse survivors filed 4,434 allegations. In the 2017-2018 audit period, 1,381 survivors filed 1,451 allegations.
While the number jumped, the report said only 37 allegations involved current minors. Of these, the report said, eight allegations were substantiated, seven were unsubstantiated, six were unable to be proven, 12 remained under investigation, three were referred to religious orders and one was referred to another diocese.
The report attributed 37% of the new allegations to lawsuits, the introduction of victim compensation programs by dioceses and eparchies, and bankruptcies. An additional 3% of allegations emerged after a review of clergy personnel files, according to the report.
The allegations involved 2,982 clerics, including 2,623 priests, 46 deacons, 260 unknown persons and 53 others.
A breakdown of the allegations shows that 1,034 were substantiated, 147 were unsubstantiated, 1,434 were unable to be proven and 956 remained under investigation. Another 863 allegations were classified as “other,” meaning they were referred to a provincial superior when involving a cleric from a religious order or their status was “unknown.”
Conducted by StoneBridge Business Partners of Rochester, New York, the report covers the year from July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2019. The firm’s auditors visited 64 dioceses and eparchies and collected data from 130 more.
The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, based at Georgetown University in Washington, gathers data for the annual audit report.
The report comes as the U.S. bishops have taken steps in response to Pope Francis’ “motu proprio” “Vos Estis Lux Mundi” (“You are the Light of the World”), which was issued after the first global meeting of bishops to discuss the protection of minors in February 2019.
The papal document set new rules and procedures to hold bishops and religious superiors are accountable for abuse allegations made against them for committing abuse or mishandling abuse claims.
The U.S. bishops at their fall general assembly in November affirmed their episcopal commitment to hold themselves accountable for the handling of abuse claims. They have since implemented the Catholic Bishops Abuse Reporting Service to accept sexual misconduct allegations against bishops and eparchs.
The mechanism incorporates a website and a toll-free telephone number through which individuals can file reports regarding a bishop.
Despite such steps, Francesco Cesareo, chair of the all-lay National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Young People, noted that questions remain about whether the “audit is sufficiently adequate to determine if a culture of safety within dioceses has taken root.”
In a letter to Los Angeles Archbishop Jose H. Gomez, USCCB president, that accompanied the report, Cesareo said revelations of episcopal wrongdoing, the establishment of compensation programs for abuse survivors, and a growing desire among laity for greater involvement in addressing clerical abuse led to questions arising about the audit process.
He said evidence in the audits also shows continuing “signs of complacency and lack of diligence on the part of some dioceses.”
Cesareo also commended 27 of the dioceses visited by StoneBridge auditors for conducting parish and school audits, a step that is not required under the charter.
He said review board members continue to believe such audits are important. “Until this occurs and every diocese implements parish audits, it is difficult to conclude that a diocese has indeed established a culture of safety,” he wrote.
In a preface to the report, Archbishop Gomez, apologized to everyone who has “endured abuse at the hands of someone in the church” and said a “pastoral commitment” remains for “helping every victim-survivor find healing and hope.”

Citing the 37 allegations from current minors, Archbishop Gomez described that a key finding of the report is that “new cases of sexual misconduct by priests involving minors are rare today in the Catholic Church in the United States.”
Three dioceses were found in noncompliance with the charter:
– The Diocese of Oakland, California, for failing to evaluate the background of a visiting priest; the diocese later addressed the shortcoming.
– The Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia for not having a functioning review board; the archeparchy addressed the issue by naming new members and convening the body.
– The St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy, based in Chicago, for not having a working review board.
Three other entities chose not to participate including the Syro-Malankara Catholic Eparchy of St. Mary Queen of Peace of the U.S. and Canada, based in New York; the Chaldean Eparchy of St. Peter the Apostle, based in El Cajon, California; and the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of St. Nicholas of Chicago.
Under canon law, dioceses and eparchies cannot be required to participate in the audit, but it is strongly recommended that they do.
The audit collected information regarding the gender of those reporting abuse, the age when abuse is alleged to have started and the year an alleged offense occurred or began.
The data show that 82% of survivors were male and 18% were female. For 22% of survivors, the alleged abuse began at age 9, 59% from age 10 to 14, 19% from 15 to 17.
When the time frame of an alleged incident could be determined, auditors found that 57% of new accusations occurred or began before 1975, 41% occurred from 1975 to 1999 and 2% have occurred since 2000.
In addition, 88% of alleged perpetrators were priests who had been ordained for the diocese or eparchy in which the abuse was alleged to have occurred. And 57% of the 1,391 priests and deacons identified as alleged offenders had already been identified in reports from previous years, the report said.
Dioceses, eparchies and religious institutes reported paying out $281,611,817 for costs related to allegations during the audit year. The amount includes payments for allegations reported in previous years. The payout figure is just under the amount reported the previous year.

(Editor’s Note: The full annual report on compliance with the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops can be found online at https://bit.ly/2Ns8XkH.)