Saint Paul Catholic Parish, Athens

Bishop James Ruggieri prays during his ordination Mass in Portland, Maine on May 7, 2024. / Credit: McKenney Photography

National Catholic Register, May 10, 2024 / 14:30 pm (CNA).

New Bishop James Ruggieri became a Third Order Franciscan not long before his ordination in Portland, Maine, on Tuesday — a marker of why Pope Francis appointed him.

Ruggieri, 56, profiled by the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, in April, is known for driving a food truck to homeless people when he was a pastor in Providence, Rhode Island.

“His love for the poor and the homeless certainly reflect these Franciscan ideals. And I am certain that the themes of the life of St. Francis and his spirituality will be reflected in the ministry of our new bishop, just as it is in the ministry of Pope Francis,” said Cardinal Seán O’Malley, a Capuchin Franciscan, the archbishop of Boston, and the principal consecrator of the new bishop during his ordination Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland.

The papal nuncio, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, also highlighted poverty, quoting a November 2022 message from Pope Francis marking the World Day of the Poor that said: “Where the poor are concerned, it is not talk that matters; what matters is rolling up our sleeves and putting our faith into practice through a direct involvement, one that cannot be delegated.”

“Your closeness to the poor is one of the reasons that the Holy Father has decided to make you the shepherd of an even greater number of people,” Pierre said near the beginning of the Mass, before presenting Ruggieri with his letter of appointment from the pope.

Lack of material means is one type of poverty, Pierre said, but a bishop must also address “the many faces of poverty in our culture,” including what he called “the poverty that exists where Christ is not known, or where his love and mercy are not fully appreciated by those who are struggling to recognize their own dignity.”

O’Malley gave the sermon. As archbishop of Boston, the cardinal is also the metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of Boston, which includes the Diocese of Portland.

O’Malley said Ruggieri is “being called to be a teacher of the faith” and that bishops “must be witnesses of the resurrection.”

In former times, he said, the Church was persecuted because of what it taught about Jesus, Mary, and the sacraments.

“Today so often the attacks on the Church come because of the Church’s teachings about the dignity of each and every human being, the centrality of life, and the Church’s social gospel. Of all of these truths, you must be a herald, proclaiming the good news with clarity, with enthusiasm, and with joy,” O’Malley said.

Ruggieri is now the 13th bishop of the Diocese of Portland, which includes all of Maine. He replaced Bishop Robert Deeley, 77, who is planning to stay in the diocese to assist as bishop emeritus.

“My joy would be complete if Bishop Deeley would grow a beard and become a Capuchin,” O’Malley said during his sermon, to laughter.

The cardinal served from 1992 to 2002 as bishop of Fall River, which is only about 16 miles from Providence, which is known for its Italian restaurants.

“The new bishop is from Providence. I could see Providence from my house on Highland Avenue in Fall River. And I was an occasional pilgrim to Federal Hill. After all, the shortest book in the world is the Irish cookbook, so ...” O’Malley said, to laughter.

Then he made a pun using Ruggieri’s previous home city, calling his appointment as bishop “an act of God’s providence.”

“God’s loving providence is giving us the new Catholic bishop here, in this local Church of Portland. In that sense, he’s not just a priest of Providence, but he is a providential bishop, a gift of God’s loving care for us. And we receive him with joy and with thanksgiving,” O’Malley said.

Ruggieri spoke for about eight minutes near the end of the ordination Mass but spent most of that time thanking people, including his brothers and his elderly mother, who attended.

He told one story, taken from Bishop Robert Mulvee (1930–2018), who served during the 1990s and 2000s as bishop of Providence, about an encounter Mulvee had with Mother Teresa (now St. Teresa of Calcutta).

“And he said Mother Teresa — as only Mother Teresa could unabashedly do — got kind of right in his face — in a loving way, of course. And she said to him, ‘Bishop: Don’t get in God’s way,’” Ruggieri said. “I take those words to heart today.”

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

The South Carolina State House passed a bill banning transgender procedures on minors on May 19, 2024. / Credit: Public Domain

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 10, 2024 / 13:45 pm (CNA).

The majority-Republican South Carolina General Assembly has passed a bill to ban sex-change surgeries and treatments on minors. 

Titled the “Help Not Harm” bill, the measure prohibits health providers from performing sex-change surgeries or hormonal treatments on minors and bans public funding of transgender procedures through Medicaid and other government health plans.

The bill also bars public school officials from withholding information from parents regarding their children’s perception of their gender. 

The measure received final approval in a 67-26 vote by the South Carolina House on Thursday. This comes after the law was passed by the Senate with additional amendments in an overwhelming 27-8 vote on May 2. 

It is set to take effect immediately upon being signed by Gov. Henry McMaster, who has previously signaled his support. 

The bill states that “a physician, mental health provider, or other health care professional shall not knowingly provide gender transition procedures to a person under 18 years of age.” 

Providers violating this law by performing sex-change surgeries on minors are considered to have inflicted “great bodily injury upon a child” and are subject to criminal prosecution and could face up to 20 years in prison. 

The bill clarifies that health providers treating “appropriate medical services to a person for precocious puberty, prostate cancer, breast cancer, endometriosis, or other procedure unrelated to gender transition, or to a person who was born with a medically verifiable disorder of sexual development” are not subject to any penalties under this law. 

Regarding public schools, the law says that no school official may knowingly withhold information related to a minor’s belief that he or she is a member of the opposite sex nor may officials knowingly “encourage or coerce a minor” to withhold such information from his or her parents. The bill also requires school officials to “immediately” notify parents in writing if their child expresses a belief that he or she is of the opposite sex.

This comes shortly after the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes South Carolina within its jurisdiction, ruled on April 29 that state Medicaid programs and government-run insurance plans must cover transgender treatments.

It is unclear how this ruling will impact the Medicaid portion of the newly passed South Carolina law. 

South Carolina joins 24 other states that have banned or restricted sex-change procedures on minors.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators occupy an encampment on the campus of UCLA on April 25, 2024, in Los Angeles. / Credit: Eric Thayer/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 10, 2024 / 12:15 pm (CNA).

Following the passage of the Antisemitism Awareness Act by the House, critics have voiced concerns that the legislation could punish Christians for citing Scripture as well as restrict the right of students to protest Israeli military actions.

The proposed legislation would apply the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism as the standard for enforcing all federal discrimination laws related to education programs or activities, including campus protests.

That definition has drawn criticism from several Christian lawmakers since it lists among the examples of antisemitism “claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel.” Other examples of antisemitism listed, such as “drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis,” also alarm free speech advocates.

Potentially implicated Bible verses 

Republican lawmakers Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, both Protestant Christians, have raised concerns about the impact of the measure on the use of biblical language.

Gaetz said on X that “the Gospel itself would meet the definition of antisemitism under the terms of this bill” and cited three Bible verses: Acts 4:10, Acts 3:14-15, and 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16. 

In another post, Gaetz emphasized: “The Bible is clear in that its words plainly, textually would violate this law. That is nuts — and in deep conflict with the First Amendment.”

In Acts 3:14-15, for example, St. Peter, speaking to “you Israelites” in Jerusalem shortly after the death and resurrection of Jesus, tells them: “You killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead.”

Likewise St. Paul, in the above-cited epistle to the Thessalonians, speaks disparagingly of “the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets.”

However, the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Mike Lawler, R-New York, has directly pushed back against the notion that the bill implicates the use of Scripture, saying: “Those pushing that nonsense are truly idiotic and irrational.”

“The bill does not criminalize Christianity — I’m Catholic,” he said in a post on X. “It gives contemporary examples of potential antisemitism. Calling all Jews Christ killers is a form of antisemitism. Believing in the Gospel is not.”

What the Church teaches about these verses

In Article IV of “The Creed” in the Catechism of the Council of Trent, the Church rejects the notion that Jewish people are solely responsible for the Crucifixion, teaching that “our sins consigned Christ the Lord to the death of the cross.” 

“This guilt seems more enormous in us than in the Jews, since according to the testimony of the same Apostle: If they had known it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory,” the text adds. 

The issue is also specifically addressed in the Second Vatican Council document Nostra Aetate. The council states that “what happened in His passion cannot be charged against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today.” Rather, it adds, “the Jewish authorities and those who followed their lead pressed for the death of Christ.” 

“Although the Church is the new people of God, the Jews should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God,” the document adds.

Stephen Hildebrand, a professor of theology at Franciscan University, told CNA that the crux of the matter is that “we don’t hold a whole people responsible for the actions of some of them.”

“To attribute guilt to a whole people on the basis of the actions of a few of them is profoundly unfair and against all sense and reason and … against the teaching of the Catholic Church,” Hildebrand said. 

Additional free speech concerns

The legislation, which passed the House of Representatives 320-91, has yet to be considered by the Senate. In the House, the measure received broad bipartisan support, with only 91 members (70 Democrats and 21 Republicans) opposed.

“I’m proud to support this important legislation that will protect our brave Jewish students who are watching their campuses be taken over by unsanctioned mobs of antisemites by requiring the Department of Education to use the IHRA definition of antisemitism when enforcing antidiscrimination laws,” said Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-New York, who is also Catholic.

Meanwhile, the civil libertarian Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression has argued that the legislation’s definition of antisemitism is “vague, overbroad, and includes criticism of Israeli government policy,” and that it would stifle speech that is protected under the First Amendment.

The American Civil Liberties Union has expressed similar concerns, saying the bill “threatens to censor political speech critical of Israel on college campuses.”

This article was updated on May 13, 2024.

St. James Cathedral in Seattle. / Credit: DarrylBrooks/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, May 10, 2024 / 11:30 am (CNA).

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson this week announced legal action against the Archdiocese of Seattle over what the prosecutor said was a refusal to cooperate with the state’s ongoing investigation into an alleged cover-up of clergy abuse there. 

Ferguson’s office said in a Thursday press release and at an accompanying press conference that it was “initiating legal action against the Seattle Archdiocese” over the archdiocese’s alleged refusal “to comply with Ferguson’s investigation into whether the three Washington dioceses of the Catholic Church used charitable funds to cover up allegations of child sex abuse by clergy.”

The attorney general’s office said that pursuant to that investigation it had sent subpoenas to Washington’s three Catholic bishoprics — the Seattle Archdiocese as well as the Dioceses of Spokane and Yakima — but that the Seattle Archdiocese “refused to cooperate.”

Ferguson subsequently filed a petition in King County Superior Court demanding that the attorney general’s office be allowed to “enforce its investigative subpoena” and that the court “require the archdiocese to respond in full.”

“Washingtonians deserve a public accounting of how the Catholic Church handles allegations of child sex abuse, and whether charitable dollars were used to cover it up,” Ferguson said this week.

“As a Catholic, I am disappointed the Church refuses to cooperate with our investigation. Our goal is to use every tool we have to reveal the truth and give a voice to survivors.”

In a response to the announcement, the Archdiocese of Seattle in a Thursday statement said that it disagreed with the attorney general’s characterization of the dispute.

The archdiocese “welcomes this investigation because we have a shared goal of abuse prevention, healing for victims and transparency,” the statement said.

“We have been collaborating with the attorney general’s legal team on the shared legal analysis, which is common for investigations like this,” the archdiocese said.

The attorney general’s Thursday press conference “was a surprise to us since we welcome the investigation and have been working closely with the attorney general’s team for months now.”

“The attorney general’s claim that we have not ‘shared a single document that is not public’ is not how we see it,” the archdiocese continued. 

The statement said that earlier this week the archdiocese “offered to submit a series of private deposition documents” but that Ferguson’s office was “not interested in these private documents.”

The archdiocese also disputed an allegation made at the press conference that the archdiocese is not meeting abuse victims “face-to-face.”

“[E]ach victim is offered pastoral care, which includes an invitation for a face-to-face meeting with the archbishop and victim assistance coordinator, among other options to facilitate healing,” the statement said. 

The archdiocese said it “share[s] the common goal to prevent abuse and provide a path for healing for victims and their families.”

The Seattle Archdiocese is currently led by Archbishop Paul Etienne, who has served there since 2019.

Painting of Father Damien De Veuster and images with lepers and his first church on Molokai Island, Hawaii, from Mary, Star of the Sea Catholic Church. / Credit: Claudine Van Massenhove/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, May 10, 2024 / 09:08 am (CNA).

In 2008, the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints ruled that a Hawaiian woman’s cure from cancer was a miracle linked to her prayers to Father Damien De Veuster. This led to the missionary priest — renowned for working with leprosy patients on the island of Molokai, Hawaii — being canonized on Oct. 11, 2009, by Pope Benedict XVI in Rome.

Audrey Toguchi, a retired schoolteacher from the county of Honolulu, became ill in 1997 with a lump on her left thigh that was discovered to be cancerous. She asked her sisters to accompany her to Kalaupapa to pray at Father Damien’s grave. 

“I prayed that he would ask God to heal me,” Toguchi told the Honolulu Star Bulletin.

After surgery in January 1998, Dr. Walter Chang told Toguchi that her rare form of cancer, liposarcoma, had spread to both lungs.

“He said, ‘I cannot do anything for you. No surgery is possible,’” she said.

“I went back to Kalaupapa,” Toguchi continued. “I went to Mass and received Communion and then I went to Damien’s grave. I said, ‘Please, ask God to cure this cancer.’

“Doctor Chang took pictures of my lungs and every month, it was less and less until after four months, the cancer was gone. He was flabbergasted.”

According to the Star Bulletin, Toguchi told no one besides her family about her cure. Instead, she wrote to Pope John Paul II about the cancer’s disappearance, and this began the investigation into the miracle.  

Father Damien was credited with his first miracle after the spontaneous recovery of a terminally ill French nun in 1895 was attributed to his intercession. He was beatified in 1995, but one more confirmed miracle was required for his canonization to be considered. The cure was documented in the Hawaii Medical Journal in October 2000. 

Toguchi’s life, faith, and medical history were also examined by Church authorities. She was interviewed by a local panel and by Monsignor Robert Sarno from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Sarno notified Toguchi of the congregation’s decision by email.

Toguchi’s identity had been shielded by her doctor and Church officials but was then made public by Bishop Larry Silva of Honolulu in a statement.

The miracle paved the way for Father Damien’s canonization, which happened one year later. The saint of Molokai’s feast day is celebrated by the universal Church on May 10.

This article was first published on May 1, 2008, and has been updated.

Rosary College logo. / Credit: Rosary College

CNA Staff, May 10, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Author and Anglican convert Father Dwight Longenecker along with a number of Catholic scholars are launching the first Catholic college in South Carolina, a two-year liberal arts college set to open this fall.

Rosary College will offer an associate of Catholic studies in integrated humanities degree, which can be transferred to a number of other universities. The college offers “an affordable, transferable credit for students who are either going on to a four-year Catholic college or those who are going into the workforce and/or trade school,” Longenecker explained in a post on X. 

“Our focus is with our foundation on truth, beauty, and goodness, and in alignment with our primary value of Catholic identity,” Mike Shick, founding president of lay-run Rosary College, told CNA in an interview. “We want to ensure that we’re in alignment with the magisterium of the holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church.”

While 20% of Americans are Catholic nationwide, only 10% of South Carolinians are Catholic, according to Pew Research. South Carolina is predominantly Protestant (about 66%), while 19% of South Carolinians are unaffiliated “religious nones.” 

Greenville, South Carolina, however,  has a “robust community” of Catholics, drawing people from all over the U.S., said Shick, who moved his family of 10 from Virginia to the city of 70,000 last year.

“While the percentage in the number of Catholics that are here [is low], many of the folks that are here now have come from various different areas around the United States, all because it’s, anecdotally, a fervent Catholic area,” Shick said.  

Rosary College will take inspiration from the Benedictine tradition of prayer and work, Shick said, as they build the college “brick by brick.” 

“We feel that calling to be able to support our students, be able to help them develop, through not only contemplation but … that they’re being able to evangelize through who they are, through their work,” Shick said. “Not through apologetics, but through being principled, having integrity, and [being] ordered toward truth, beauty, and goodness.”

The curriculum will include classes on Euclidean geometry, the foundations of science, and business while also offering various literature courses, Latin, philosophy, and Catholic theology. 

“It helps our kids navigate those first two v[ery] tricky years of college successfully,” Longenecker explained in the post. “It consolidates the Catholic worldview necessary to keep the faith and succeed in life.”

To help students easily transfer their credits, Rosary College partnered with two Newman-guide recognized Catholic colleges: Ave Maria University in Ave Maria, Florida, and Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, New Hampshire. Rosary College also offers online classes through its program “Fiat.”

Renowned Catholic scholars Joseph Pearce, prolific author and host of an EWTN series about Shakespeare, and Jared Staudt, former dean of the St. Augustine Institute, are members of the board of trustees for Rosary College. 

Tuition will be $450 per credit hour, with an estimated full-time student tuition of $7,150 per semester. For a non-student auditing a course, the cost will be $675 per course. For its first years, Rosary College will operate out of rented classrooms.  

“We are much closer in alignment with the cost for tuition at local community college, secular community college,” Shick noted. “It’s not a one for one, but we’re a lot closer to that. And so from a price-point perspective, we are certainly well positioned for those families with a larger number of children and things of that nature. I got to tell you, as a father of eight, I certainly can appreciate that.”

But while their tuition cost is similar to community college tuition, Shick pointed out that “nearly all” of the faculty hold doctorate degrees. 

“I’m just thrilled to be a part of… I wouldn’t call it a renewal, but setting a foundation to ensure that we are in alignment with the magisterium, that we can provide that authentic education that people are so much looking for, that’s rigorous and affordable,” Shick added. “I’m thrilled to be a part of it, and I’m really looking forward to the offerings and the things to come.”

More information can be found on Rosary College’s website.

Clockwise, from top left: Catholic actor Jonathan Roumie, Cardinal Stephen Chow of Hong Kong, Harrison Butker of the Kansas City Chiefs, and Father Mike Schmitz of Duluth, Minnesota, will address the Class of 2024. / Credits: Shane Anthony Sinclair/Getty Images; Edward Pentin/National Catholic Register; Benedictine College; and FOCUS

National Catholic Register, May 10, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Commencement ceremonies are underway at the nation’s Catholic colleges and universities, many of which are annually highlighted in the National Catholic Register’s “Catholic Identity College Guide.”

Notable speakers include Cardinal Stephen Chow at Boston College on May 20 and “The Bible in a Year” and “The Catechism in a Year” podcast host Father Mike Schmitz, who serves as chaplain at the University of Minnesota-Duluth’s Newman Center and who spoke to Ave Maria University’s Class of 2024 on May 4.

“Life takes courage ... because love takes courage. And every one of you is called to love, even if you don’t do it perfectly. ... Do the things you’ve learned, and you will be blessed,” Schmitz exhorted the graduates.

In the nation’s capital, the Catholic University of America (CUA), the national university of the Catholic Church in the United States, announced that Catholic actor Jonathan Roumie, the star of “The Chosen,” will deliver the commencement address on May 11. 

Catholic University boasts 529 graduates for its spring semester. Roumie was selected to address the graduating class, CUA President Peter Kilpatrick said in a press release, because the actor “exemplifies the importance of struggle and practicing your faith in the workplace. … In his work we see him expressing his own faith, and it’s making an impact. Countless people have had their lives changed for the better by Jonathan through his portrayal of Jesus Christ.”

Elsewhere, at the University of Notre Dame, Holy Cross Father John Jenkins, the university’s outgoing president, will be the principal speaker at the May 19 commencement. 

Across the nation, the Class of 2024 is comprised of an impressive group of young men and women, Kevin Murphy of the Cardinal Newman Society told the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, and their numbers are growing at colleges with strong Catholic identity. 

“I love what I’m seeing,” Murphy said. “Enrollment is growing in colleges where Christ is incorporated into all subjects and there is ready availability of Mass, confessions, and spiritual direction.” 

Among the colleges experiencing noteworthy growth is Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, which will see 483 seniors graduate on May 11, with Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, an outspoken pro-life Catholic, delivering the keynote address. Stephen Minnis, Benedictine’s president, will also address the graduating class. Minnis told the Register that he planned to congratulate the graduates for their “perseverance through the crisis” of the 2020 pandemic restrictions. “I’m proud of them,” Minnis said.

“It is truly an honor to be asked to give the commencement address at Benedictine,” Butker told the Register. “When I was reminded by President Minnis that this class missed out on so many important milestones during their senior year of high school, I just couldn’t say no. I’m eager to give a powerful and truth-filled speech that I pray, if it’s God’s will, will be remembered by them for a lifetime.”

Sarah Rodriguez is among Benedictine’s graduates. An architecture major who is going on to a job at an architectural firm in Atlanta, she referred to her time at Benedictine as “transformative: I wouldn’t be the person I am without my time here.”

She said Benedictine offers its students an “authentically Catholic” environment, with staff committed to “shaping truly well-rounded individuals” who will favorably “transform the culture of America.”

Levi Streit is another Benedictine graduate, a biology major going on to medical school. He said he appreciated the many opportunities he has had to grow in his faith on campus, with daily Mass and access to the sacraments as well as opportunities for service, such as going on mission trips.

Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia, will see 127 seniors graduate from its 45th class when it holds its commencement ceremonies May 10-11. 

Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, where the college is located, will celebrate a baccalaureate Mass for graduates and families, the second of two annual visits he makes to the campus. Professor Tracey Rowland, the St. John Paul II chair of theology for the University of Notre Dame in Australia, will deliver the commencement address and receive an honorary doctorate of humane letters. Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, and president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, will also be on hand to receive the college’s Pro Deo et Patria Award.

Amanda Graf, acting executive vice president at Christendom, also lauded the Class of 2024 for its COVID-19 restriction resiliency and noted that the cohort had “shown a tremendous amount of joy, creativity, intellectual curiosity, and academic ability. They have grown into a tight-knit class, finding ways to encourage each other’s growth in the academics, sports, clubs, and the spiritual life.”

Zach Smith, Christendom’s director of communications, said the school has offered students an important Catholic formation that will lead them to future success: “Here, students are able to learn the truth, live the faith, and thrive as Catholics.”

Personal growth

Thomas Aquinas College (TAC) will graduate 108 students: 78 at its Santa Paula, California, campus May 11 and 30 at its relatively new Northfield, Massachusetts, campus May 18. 

O. Carter Snead, a University of Notre Dame professor of law, will serve as keynote speaker, and Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Slawomir Szkredka will celebrate the baccalaureate Mass in California; Cardinal Raymond Burke will offer the baccalaureate Mass and serve as keynote speaker in Massachusetts. 

Stephen Shivone, assistant dean for student affairs on the New England campus, praised TAC’s Class of 2024, noting that “they have been marked by the extraordinary dedication and lively seriousness with which they have pursued the intellectual life laid out by our program. I don’t think they’ve ever had a dull discussion or quiet class. Like this campus’ first two graduating classes, they have courageously pioneered the founding of this campus and have worthily perpetuated the life and traditions they have inherited.”

Senior Andrew Grumbine, student speaker for the California class, observed: “I’m leaving TAC more confident, more selfless, more charitable, and more understanding — in short, happier — than I was before. That’s not a coincidence; rather, I’d say that being so surrounded by truth, goodness, and beauty in the academic program and the people here is a major reason for that change. How could it not be?”

Aquinas College in Nashville, Tennessee, is among the smaller Catholic colleges, graduating 10 as it held its baccalaureate Mass, celebrated by Nashville Bishop Mark Spalding, and commencement on May 2. Five are undergraduates and five are master’s students; five are Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, and five are lay students.

All five sisters and three of the lay students will use their degrees to teach. Additionally, eight seminarians from the Diocese of Nashville have completed the school’s one-year Certificate in Propaedeutic Studies program.

Dominican Sister Cecilia Anne Wanner, Aquinas’ president, referred to the graduates as “exemplars of dedication and excellence” and celebrated their “commitment to teacher education, spending countless hours in classrooms, developing their professional skills and inspiring both educators and students alike. Their strong sense of community, characterized by shared prayer, fellowship, and mutual support, serves as a testament to the transformative bonds forged during these past few years of study.”

Among the graduates is Dominican Sister Laura Immaculata Clarke, who is looking forward to teaching.

“The subject we teach, our successes, and even our students’ successes are not the goal,” she said. “Relationship with Christ is our goal, and so we are prepared to teach Christ, formed to witness to Christ and brought to deep encounter with Christ during our time at Aquinas.”

Record graduation class

Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio will graduate its largest-ever class of 896. Its commencement ceremonies will be May 10-11, with Bishop Frank Caggiano of Bridgeport, Connecticut, celebrating a baccalaureate Mass and being honored for his work as an evangelist and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito serving as the keynote speaker. 

Ann Dulany, Franciscan’s dean of academic advising, praised the Class of 2024 as one of diverse talents, comprised of graduates who “love the Lord, seek to grow in their faith, and want to make a difference in the world and the Church.”

Among those in the student body are religious; Dulany specifically pointed to a relationship with the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which brought many of their young sisters to campus to study for teaching careers, and highlighted upcoming projects, which will include facilities for training in evangelization, a renovation of the chapel to increase its size, and the launching of a Ph.D. program in theology and a master’s program in criminal justice.

Stefan Fiandeiro of San Jose, California, has “loved” his time at Franciscan, “where everyone not only knows you but actually wants to see you succeed. I’ve developed a unique relationship with many of the professors I’ve had over the years because of their availability and their desire to mentor.”

The spiritual formation offered “has built me into the man that I am today,” he reported, citing the ready availability of Mass and confession, perpetual adoration, and being surrounded by a group of like-minded “brothers,” adding: “I also cannot understate how important it is to be surrounded by a few thousand other young people completely in love with their faith and desiring to succeed in life not just in a worldly sense but in an eternal sense as well.” He plans to attend the Pennsylvania Police Academy and pursue a career in law enforcement. 

Mary Therese Druffner is graduating from Franciscan with a major in theology and plans to work in the Minneapolis area, where she is from, in youth ministry; she is eager to work with teens “to introduce them to who Christ is and what true Christianity is.”

“I’ve particularly enjoyed my study of Scripture and its relationship with Church tradition,” she said of her college years. 

She, too, is grateful for the opportunity she had to nourish her spiritual life with regular Mass and confession as well as participation in perpetual adoration.

At Wyoming Catholic College, commencement Mass and exercises will be held May 12-13, with Bishop Robert Pipta of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Parma as the commencement speaker.

In addition, Thomas More College of Liberal Arts will host Carl Anderson, former Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, as the commencement speaker on May 18.

Many of the students expressed gratitude for their time in college. 

Catherine Schmidt, a Christendom College graduate, noted that her years in college were life-changing: “I have cultivated friendships that are founded upon a relationship with Christ, developed a love for the truth and the ability to articulate it well, and received mentorship in how to apply abstract truths into practical, everyday life. Learning at Christendom College has equipped me well to bring Christ to the world.”

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA's sister news partner, and has been adapted by CNA.

Crittenton Hospital Medical Center in Rochester, Michigan belongs to the network of Ascension Health facilities in 19 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. / Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Denver Newsroom, May 9, 2024 / 19:13 pm (CNA).

Ascension Health, the largest chain of Catholic hospitals in the U.S., is investigating a cyberattack, according to a May 9 press release. 

“On Wednesday, May 8, we detected unusual activity on select technology network systems, which we now believe is due to a cybersecurity event,” Ascension indicated. “At this time we continue to investigate the situation.”

The cyberattack had affected “access to some systems” and caused “disruption to clinical operations,” the press release noted. 

The impact of the cyberattack is not yet clear, and Ascension — the fourth-largest hospital chain in the U.S. — is working to determine whether patients’ data was stolen. 

“Together, we are working to fully investigate what information, if any, may have been affected by the situation,” the release stated. “Should we determine that any sensitive information was affected, we will notify and support those individuals in accordance with all relevant regulatory and legal guidelines.”

The hospital chain has notified the authorities and is working with a third-party expert, Mandiant, to “assist in the investigation and remediation process,” but whether any sensitive information was stolen is unknown.

“We responded immediately, initiated our investigation and activated our remediation efforts,” the release noted. “Access to some systems have been interrupted as this process continues.”

Ascension noted that it is working to minimize any disruption to its clinical operations.

“Our care teams are trained for these kinds of disruptions and have initiated procedures to ensure patient care delivery continues to be safe and as minimally impacted as possible,” the statement read. “There has been a disruption to clinical operations, and we continue to assess the impact and duration of the disruption.”

This is not the first health organization to experience cyberattacks in recent weeks. UnitedHealth Group in April paid ransom to protect its patient data after a February cyberattack on its subsidiary Change Healthcare. 

With a deeply rooted Catholic legacy, Ascension credits its foundation to several religious orders that came together to sponsor its beginnings, including the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Nazareth, and three other religious groups. There are now 140 Ascension hospitals in the U.S., and Ascension provided $2.2 billion in care to people living in poverty in the fiscal year 2023, according to its website.

Rep. Jeff Fortenberry addresses young pilgrims to the March for Life from his Nebraska district outside the U.S. Capitol in January 2019. / Credit: Christine Rousselle/CNA

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 9, 2024 / 17:45 pm (CNA).

Federal prosecutors have refiled charges against pro-life former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry in relation to allegations that he made false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) amid an investigation into allegedly illegal campaign donations received by his 2016 campaign. 

Fortenberry was indicted on one count of falsifying and concealing material facts and one count of making false statements. He is accused of lying to the federal agents about his campaign receiving $30,000 in illegal campaign donations from a foreign national. 

The federal indictment accuses the former congressman of taking the money despite knowing that the donor was a foreign national and that receiving the money would violate the law. 

Fortenberry had previously been tried and convicted of these same crimes in March 2022, but the conviction was overturned in December 2023 after an appellate court ruled that he had been charged in an improper venue. Although he was tried in Los Angeles, the court ruled that he should have been tried in Washington, D.C., or Nebraska. 

The new charges were filed in Washington, D.C. 

Under the previous conviction, Fortenberry did not receive prison time but only probation and community service. 

Chad Kolton, a spokesperson for Fortenberry, said in a statement that the “case should never have been brought in the first place, and it shouldn’t have been pursued again,” according to Nebraska Public Media.

“The man the Biden Justice Department is about to spend massive amounts of time and money prosecuting for a second time,” Kolton said, “was described by the District Court judge in his previous trial as ‘by all accounts … a man of exceptional character. And when I say “by all accounts,” I don’t mean simply based upon one-sided submissions on the part of the defense. I mean by all accounts, including the evidence that was presented by the government at trial.’”

“This is a disgraceful misuse of prosecutorial power and an egregious waste of resources at the time when the Justice Department is letting actual crime run rampant,” Kolton added. 

Fortenberry is a former Republican lawmaker from Nebraska from 2005 until 2022; he resigned one week after his conviction. He had an A+ rating from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and introduced the Care for Her Act in 2021, which would have facilitated support to women who face unplanned pregnancies. He also co-signed a congressional amicus brief that urged the United States Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade.

The former lawmaker represented Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District and was replaced by current Republican Rep. Mike Flood during a special election.

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at a Cesar Chavez Day event at Union Station on March 30, 2024, in Los Angeles. / Credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 9, 2024 / 17:25 pm (CNA).

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has endorsed completely unrestricted abortion “even if it’s full term.” 

“My belief is that we should leave it to the woman, we shouldn’t have government involved,” Kennedy said on an episode of “The Sage Steele Show” aired on Wednesday. 

Steele, who is a Catholic, pressed Kennedy further on whether he holds this position for the entirety of pregnancy, saying that “as a Catholic that definitely is a concern with many practicing Catholics.” 

Kennedy responded by confirming that he would leave the decision to the pregnant woman “even if it’s full term.” 

“I don’t think it’s ever OK,” Kennedy added. “I think we should do everything in our power to make sure that never happens, everything that we can do. But I think ultimately, nobody sets out to do that and there are always some kind of extenuating circumstances that would make a mother make that kind of choice, a terrible, terrible choice which is, you know, you can’t overstate how bad that is, but ultimately, I think we have to trust the woman.” 

He admitted that he believes “there is a very good argument that the state has an interest in protecting a fully formed fetus,” but went on to say: “I come down to the fact that I don’t trust the state and I think we need to trust the woman.” 

Kennedy’s running mate, Nicole Shanahan, a tech entrepreneur and health activist, meanwhile, was surprised by this stance, saying in another episode of “The Sage Steele Show” that unrestricted abortion until birth “is not Bobby’s position as I understand it.”

“My understanding is that he absolutely believes in limits on abortion, and we’ve talked about this,” Shanahan said, adding: “I don’t know where that came from.”

Stefanie Spear, a spokesperson for Kennedy’s campaign, confirmed with CNA that though Kennedy believes “late-term abortions are horrifying,” he “believes the mother has the final say, and moral responsibility, in such decisions.” 

Spear also confirmed that if elected president, Kennedy, like Biden, would support efforts to “codify” Roe v. Wade by passing a federal law to overrule state pro-life measures.

She said that this legislation “is needed to protect body autonomy.”

She added that Kennedy is “committed to reducing the abortion rate by supporting mothers and families and implementing universally affordable childcare.” 

Kennedy’s independent run has attracted a considerable amount of traction. Among Kennedy, Trump, and Biden, Kennedy is the only candidate to have a positive favorability rating. In terms of national support, he is currently polling at 10.1%, well behind former President Donald Trump, who leads at 41.3%, and incumbent President Joe Biden, who is polling at 40.7%, according to the latest poll by 538. 

A Catholic and the nephew of the first Catholic president in U.S. history, Kennedy has said that his relationship with God is “the centerpiece of my life.” 

In an interview with EWTN in April, Kennedy said that he believes “every abortion is a tragedy” and proposed a plan to subsidize day care “to make sure that no American mother ever has an abortion of a child that she wants to bring to term because she’s worried about her financial capacity to raise that child.”

“I would like to maximize choice but also minimize the number of abortions that occur every year,” Kennedy said.

He also said he would not reverse the Biden administration’s approval of expanding access to the abortion pill in stores like CVS and Walgreens. However, he added that “we ought to know what the side effects are, what the risks are, [and] what the benefits [are].”

This article was updated on May 10, 2024.