We Are Our Mother of Perpetual Help Parish

Jimmy Lai at a Hong Kong protest. / Credit: Courtesy of the Acton Institute

CNA Staff, Apr 30, 2024 / 18:10 pm (CNA).

An unnamed Hong Kong government spokesperson criticized a bill proposed by two U.S. congressmen that would rename the address of the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office in Washington, D.C., “Jimmy Lai Way,” honoring the 75-year-old democracy advocate who has been incarcerated in Hong Kong since 2020.

The spokesperson called on the U.S. to “stop maliciously interfering” in Hong Kong affairs, according to a Tuesday report by the Hong Kong Free Press.

Representatives Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, and Tom Suozzi, D-New York, proposed the bill last week.

Jimmy Lai, a pro-democracy businessman and convert to Catholicism, was arrested on several charges under the controversial national security law, which was passed by China’s communist-controlled government in 2020. His newspaper, Apple Daily, published pro-democracy content and was often critical of the Chinese Communist Party.

Although the Chinese government charged Lai with colluding with foreign forces, critics of the prosecution claim that he — and hundreds of other political and religious dissidents — were arrested for their human rights activism. 

“Jimmy Lai — a courageous man of deep faith who stands for democracy, human rights, and respect for the rule of law — exemplifies moral principle and defiance in the face of tyranny,” Smith said in a statement to CNA. 

“The United States must make it absolutely clear that we stand with him and all other political prisoners in Hong Kong,” he continued. “Until we close it for good, the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office should have a new address that rightfully recognizes this champion of freedom.”

The spokesperson for the Hong Kong government quoted in the Hong Kong Free Press requested that the U.S. “respect the basic norms governing international relations and stop maliciously interfering in the affairs of the HKSAR [Hong Kong Special Administrative Region].”

“The HKSAR government must emphasize that all cases are handled strictly on the basis of evidence and in accordance with the law,” the spokesman said. “All defendants will receive fair trial strictly in accordance with laws applicable to Hong Kong (including the Hong Kong National Security Law and the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance) and as protected by the Basic Law and the Hong Kong Bill of Rights.”

After Lai’s arrest, the Hong Kong government closed the Apple Daily in June 2021, arresting top staff members and encouraging others to resign. Authorities forcibly removed Lai’s Next Media company from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Lai, who could face life in prison, pleaded not guilty in January to conspiring to collude with a foreign power.

Authorities throughout the world have called for Lai’s freedom. The Congressional Executive Commission on China urged the U.S. government last year to sanction Hong Kong prosecutors and judges if they fail to release Lai.

“The free world must continue calling attention to the Chinese Communist Party’s crimes in Xinjiang, erosion of democracy in Hong Kong, and saber-rattling against Taiwan,” Suozzi said in the April 25 statement.

Smith has advocated for Lai since his arrest, nominating him for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize. As chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Smith chaired a congressional hearing last year with testimony by Lai’s son, Sebastien Lai. 

“Jimmy Lai is a man of faith and conviction, someone who fervently believed that Hong Kong’s prosperity and vitality were built on the rights promised to its citizens,” Smith said. “For peacefully acting on this belief, he is arbitrarily detained.”

“[Jimmy Lai Way] will signal to the entire world that the United States stands in solidarity with those who oppose the tyranny and repression of the Chinese government,” Suozzi added.

“For as long as the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office continues to operate in Washington, D.C., their new address will symbolize that this champion of freedom stands against their growing authoritarianism and human rights abuses,” Smith continued in the statement.

“We will continue to press for Jimmy Lai’s unconditional release and seek ways to raise the diplomatic and reputational costs globally for the Hong Kong government and their Chinese Communist Party masters for their rough dismantling of democratic freedoms and the rule of law in Hong Kong,” Smith said.

Smith has also authored legislation (HR 1103) that would require the U.S. secretary of state to determine if the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices in the United States merit the privileges and immunities granted to them by the International Organizations Immunities Act. 

Both HR 1103 and its companion bill in the Senate (S 490) have been passed by the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and are awaiting final consideration by both chambers.

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CNA Staff, Apr 30, 2024 / 17:45 pm (CNA).

Florida’s bishops are welcoming a new law that allows public schools in the state to have volunteer chaplains.

The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops, which represents bishops in the state’s seven dioceses on public policy matters, did not take a position on the bill while legislators debated it earlier this year.

“However, we recognize the good that chaplains can do in schools by helping students to address their spiritual and emotional needs. We are pleased that parents will determine the services their children will receive in districts that choose to establish chaplaincy programs,” said Michelle Taylor, associate director of communications for the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops, in an email message to CNA on Tuesday.

The measure, which takes effect July 1, requires public schools and charter schools that establish such a program to publish on their websites a list of volunteer school chaplains and their religious affiliation. It also requires that parents provide written consent before their child receives services from a chaplain or participates in programs provided by a chaplain.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, who signed the bill two weeks ago, said some school districts in Florida are already hosting chaplains, while school officials elsewhere were unsure whether it’s legal to do so.

The new statute clarifies the legal situation and explicitly enables school districts to provide a valuable aid to students, he said.

“Faith leaders and civic organizations are important additional resources for students who may be facing challenges or need to build community and camaraderie,” DeSantis said in a statement. “I’m pleased to be able to expand the variety of options that students have at their disposal in school, and we have no doubt that these options will enhance the experiences of our students.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida opposed the bill, saying it violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

“Allowing chaplains to provide counseling and other support services in public schools would violate students’ and families’ religious-freedom rights by exposing all public school students to the risk of chaplains evangelizing them or imposing religion on them throughout their school day,” said Kara Gross, legislative director and senior policy counsel of the ACLU of Florida, in a statement in March after the Florida House passed the bill.

The Florida House of Representatives passed the bill in February in a 89-25 vote. All the no votes were Democrats. All Republicans voted for it, as did four Democrats.

The Florida Senate passed the bill in March in a straight party-line 28-12 vote, with Republicans for it and Democrats against it.

Texas enacted a comparable bill in June 2023. It took effect at the beginning of the current school year. The ACLU of Florida says 13 other states have had similar bills introduced in the state legislature.

DeSantis signed the Florida chaplain bill April 18 during an appearance at a school in Kissimmee. He said having a chaplain available could help kids who are struggling.

“You’ve got a lot of these problems that kids go through — you know, there’s some students, you know, they need some soul-craft. And that can make all the difference in the world,” DeSantis said.

Capt. (Father) Daniel Mode — who remains a priest in good standing — has been reassigned to an “administrative position” in the U.S. Navy Chief of Chaplains Office, according to the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA. / Credit: Public Domain

CNA Staff, Apr 30, 2024 / 17:10 pm (CNA).

The U.S. Coast Guard removed a Catholic priest Wednesday as its head chaplain over his failure to “take appropriate action” after being made aware of “pre-service sexual misconduct by another chaplain.”

Capt. (Father) Daniel Mode — who remains a priest in good standing — has been reassigned to an “administrative position” in the U.S. Navy Chief of Chaplains Office, according to the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA.

The Coast Guard did not provide the identity of the unnamed chaplain involved in the sexual misconduct case. But the military branch said the individual “has already been removed from the Coast Guard and Navy,” according to Stripes.com.

In that statement, the Coast Guard said that an “administrative investigation found that Capt. Mode did not take appropriate action when made aware of pre-service sexual misconduct by another chaplain.”

Mode did not violate any laws or policies requiring punitive action, the Coast Guard said, but instead demonstrated a “failure in judgment below what is expected from his key leadership position.”

The priest has served as the branch’s head chaplain since 2022 and has been ministering and serving in the military since 1988.

Mode was the chaplain for the “Lone Survivor” SEAL team in Afghanistan and authored a book about the famed “Grunt Padre,” Father Vincent Capodanno.

In a statement Friday, the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, said that Archbishop Timothy Broglio “is confident that within hours of receiving documentation of the 2011 incident of sexual misconduct, Father Mode ensured and directed that key Coast Guard personnel and chaplains responsible for advising and briefing their commanders were emailed all of the detailed and pertinent documents.”

The priest told Broglio that “he believed that his initial report in 2022 would be more broadly communicated,” the statement said. 

“However, having reviewed the Coast Guard’s investigation findings, Father Mode now realizes that his presumption that all field commanders involved in the case were informed following the initial report was incorrect,” the statement said. 

Mode told Broglio that he “fully embraces” the core values of the Coast Guard, the statement said. The priest “has earnestly worked to ensure his priorities were aligned with the commandant’s expectations,” the archdiocese said.

“[Mode] stressed the importance of recognizing ‘biases and barriers’ to intervention regarding allegations of sexual assault and apologized profoundly for the circumstances that led to his removal as chaplain of the Coast Guard, which he views as his own leadership failure,” the statement said.

Mode fully supports the Coast Guard’s efforts to address sexual assault “with full accountability and transparency,” the statement said.

“Archbishop Broglio expressed his continued confidence in Father Mode’s giftedness as a Catholic priest and chaplain and his dedication to building and maintaining a safe environment in the Church,” the statement concluded. 

Lara Al-Sayegh, a Catholic from Gaza, collapsed and died of heatstroke as she and her mother tried to leave Gaza and find safe haven in Egypt on April 24, 2024. The 19-year-old lived in northern Gaza and the family had already lost their father and husband after he died at Gaza’s Latin Holy Family Church due to a lack of adequate medical care. / Credit: Fady Al-Sayegh

ACI MENA, Apr 30, 2024 / 16:30 pm (CNA).

Among the heartbreaking stories to emerge from the war in Gaza is the death of a young Catholic woman named Lara Al-Sayegh. The 19-year-old Gazan perished while fleeing with her mother from the northern Gaza Strip to the south in a desperate attempt to reach Egypt and find safe haven. 

Midway through their arduous journey, Al-Sayegh succumbed to severe fatigue, lack of water, and fatal heatstroke. Tragically, her father had already been lost during the war when he died at Gaza’s Latin Holy Family Church due to a lack of adequate medical care.

A brother’s anguished testimony

In an exclusive interview with ACI Mena, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, Al-Sayegh’s brother, Fady Al-Sayegh, who has resided in Egypt since earlier this year, shared his pain at receiving the devastating news about his sister.

“It was an unexpected moment when I got the heartbreaking update through Father Iusuf Assad, the pastor of the Holy Family Latin Church in Gaza,” Fady recounted. “He sent me a condolence message. I asked, ‘Condolences for whom?’ His answer was, ‘It’s Lara, your sister.’”

“I couldn’t believe it ... How could I believe it?” Fady said, his voice thick with grief. “I asked my brother Khalil, hoping against hope that the news was false. But the painful truth was inescapable. Just yesterday, it seems, Lara was here with us. We were talking, planning for a promising future together. I was waiting for her on the Egyptian side of the border. Everything we dreamed of was within our grasp, and suddenly ... we lost all that we had, as if it had never been.” 

Fady’s sorrow is compounded by the plans they had made. “We had hopes of attending university together, as Lara aspired to study journalism and media in order to give voice to the untold stories,” he said.

A journey cut tragically short

According to the testimony of Lara’s mother, Fady explained that on Tuesday, April 23, both Lara and her mother’s names were included on a list of those permitted to cross into Egypt from Gaza. They decided to leave the following day, heading to the Netzarim Corridor, which separates northern Gaza from the south and remains under Israeli control.

“They were in a car driving them to a specific point in the south,” Fady explained. “From there, they had to walk on foot until reaching the Rafah Crossing into Egypt. Lara was walking briskly and quickly, but she suddenly stumbled and collapsed to the ground. Some people tried to revive her, thinking she had merely fainted due to the extreme heat. But the painful reality was that Lara had died.”

Their mother also fainted from the trauma and is now recovering. Fady noted with great sorrow that Lara was buried in southern Gaza, far from her church home, and her funeral has not yet been held. 

Fady blamed some Arabic media outlets for ignoring the plight of Gaza’s small Christian minority amid their harsh living conditions, including killings, loss of property, displacement, and forced migration. The ancient Christian community there has endured continuous suffering and is on the brink of extinction due to migration, displacement, and now the war. 

Fady also expressed hope that the world would work toward achieving justice and peace in the region. He called on churches around the globe to pray for Gaza, to be a voice for the oppressed, and to help raise awareness about the struggle of minority communities in the area.

This story was first published by ACI Mena, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Pope Francis receives a baby for a blessing as pilgrims gather in St. Peter’s Square for the pope’s general audience on Wednesday, April 10, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Apr 30, 2024 / 16:03 pm (CNA).

A man arrested earlier this month in St. Peter’s Square while carrying three 8-inch knives is a former convict and fugitive from the law in New York state.

Moises Tejada, 54, is on the Most Wanted Fugitives list of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision because, authorities there say, he violated the terms of parole from state prison on kidnapping and robbery convictions. 

Tejada twice immobilized real estate agents and stole from them while posing as a home buyer, according to New York state authorities.

More recently, he was arrested on Wednesday, April 10, the same day Pope Francis gave a general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. The man attracted the attention of authorities, who found the knives, Reuters reported.

Tejada’s arrest was first reported earlier this month by La Repubblica, a daily newspaper in Italy, with the lead sentence (in Italian): “What was an American armed like a butcher doing in Rome?” 

Tejada, “posing as a potential customer of a realtor who was showing him the inside of a home, pointed a gun at the realtor, handcuffed him to a pole, and robbed him of personal property including his car” in Suffolk County, Long Island, according to a judge who summed up the case against him in a 2004 appeal of a 1999 conviction. 

Tejada also committed “a nearly-identical crime … against another realtor” in Brooklyn, according to the appeals court decision upholding the Suffolk County conviction. 

He was sentenced to 20 years to life. 

Tejada began serving his time in state prison on the kidnapping and robbery convictions in March 2000, state corrections officials told CNA on Tuesday. He was released on parole in May 2018 but was returned to prison in January 2022 for violating the terms of release. 

Tejada was subsequently released on parole from Sullivan Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison in Fallsburg, New York, in March 2022. But seven months later, in October 2022, state corrections officials issued a warrant for his arrest for failing to report to his parole officer. 

Tejada recently arrived in Rome after spending time in Moldova, Italian authorities told La Repubblica. Tejada told Italian authorities that he had been fighting in Ukraine for that country against the Russians since 2022, which is also around the time he failed to report to his parole officer in New York state. 

The Office of Special Investigations of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision is working with the U.S. Marshals Service to extradite Tejada from Italy to the United States. A spokesman for the U.S. Marshals said the agency does not usually comment on extradition cases until after they occur. 

In April 2022, one month after his second release on parole and six months before he went missing, Tejada sued the city of New York’s Department of Corrections, saying he sustained “severe and permanent injuries when he slipped and fell due to water which had accumulated and remained on the floor of the bathroom” at Rikers Island, a city jail, while he was detained there in January 2021 for reasons not stated in the complaint. 

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

The U.S. bishops issued a statement criticizing a new Biden administration change to the Affordable Care Act that requires health providers to perform or cover sex-change surgeries and therapies. 

“Health care that truly heals must be grounded in truth,” wrote Bishop Kevin Rhoades, head of the U.S. bishops’ Committee for Religious Liberty. “These regulations, however, advance an ideological view of sex that, as the Holy See has noted, denies the most beautiful and most powerful difference that exists between living beings: sexual difference.”

The administration’s new rule amends the nondiscrimination clause in Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (also known as ACA or Obamacare), by removing the word “sex” and replacing it with the phrase “sex (including discrimination on the basis of sex characteristics, including intersex traits; pregnancy or related conditions; sexual orientation; gender identity; and sex stereotypes).”

This change means that any insurer or physician receiving federal financial assistance must cover or provide sex-reassignment surgeries and therapies on the grounds that refusal to do so would constitute discrimination based on sex.

This reverses changes to ACA made under the Trump administration that excluded such procedures from mandated coverage.

The U.S. bishops argued against the rule change when it was being considered in 2022 on the grounds that sex-reassignment surgeries “stunt human sexual development, mutilate the body, and cause sterilization.”

The bishops also flagged the rule as a “major threat” to religious freedom in their 2024 “State of Religious Liberty in the United States” report.

Rhoades voiced the bishops’ disapproval of the rule, saying in a Tuesday statement that “the human right to health care flows from the sanctity of human life and the dignity that belongs to all human persons, who are made in the image of God.”  

“The same core beliefs about human dignity and the wisdom of God’s design that motivate Catholics to care for the sick also shape our convictions about care for preborn children and the immutable nature of the human person. These commitments are inseparable,” Rhoades wrote, adding: “I pray that health care workers will embrace the truth about the human person, a truth reflected in Catholic teaching, and that HHS will not substitute its judgment for their own.”

In responding to fears that the rule will violate religious and conscience rights, the Biden Health and Human Services Department (HHS) claims that it has included a provision within the rule that “respects federal protections for religious freedom and conscience.” 

In the final rule, which is set to be filed in the Federal Register on May 6, HHS states that any part of the new guidance that violates “applicable” federal religious freedom and conscience protections “shall not be required.”

Meanwhile, Chris Faddis, president of the Arizona-based Catholic group Solidarity HealthShare, said that the rule means that “physicians and medical staff can no longer opt out of performing morally objectionable procedures, like transgender surgeries, without the risk of losing critical federal funding.”

Faddis told CNA that the rule’s wording is dangerously vague and would force hospitals and providers to “beg” for religious freedom exemptions that should be automatically afforded under the First Amendment.

“We should not have to request something that the Bill of Rights says is a God-given right … we should not have to request our religious freedom,” he said. “Even the fact that putting the burden on an individual doctor or health system to come beg for clemency is a problem. This is not who this country is.” 

Given the Biden administration’s track record for prioritizing progressive gender ideology over religious freedom, Faddis believes that it is “very uncertain” that religious providers’ requests would be granted. 

“How can we possibly trust that they’re going to be favorable and friendly and not target or avoid answering these waiver requests?” he asked. 

To be clear, Solidarity HealthShare, which says on its website that it has served 55,000 patients since its founding in 2016, will not be impacted by the Biden administration’s change. This is because the rule specifically targets health insurers and providers. However, Faddis believes the new rule presents a broader danger to not just providers but also patients and the overall health care system. 

One such problem Faddis foresees is the possibility that a Catholic or religious provider may not be eligible to receive Medicaid or Medicare funding while their exemption requests are being considered.

“If suddenly Catholic health care systems have to stop taking Medicare or Medicaid,” Faddis said, “not only would that drastically impact them and maybe even take them out of business, but it would also drastically impact the availability of care across the country, particularly in certain states that have a large percentage of their care is provided by Catholic systems.” 

HHS did not immediately respond to CNA’s request for comment.

In a Friday statement HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said that the new rule is a “giant step forward for this country toward a more equitable and inclusive health care system.”

According to Becerra, the rule “means that Americans across the country now have a clear way to act on their rights against discrimination when they go to the doctor, talk with their health plan, or engage with health programs run by HHS.”

HHS also clarifies in the rule that “nothing in section 1557 shall be construed to have any effect on federal laws regarding conscience protection; willingness or refusal to provide abortion; and discrimination on the basis of the willingness or refusal to provide, pay for, cover, or refer for abortion or to provide or participate in training to provide abortion.”

The rule will go into effect on July 5, 60 days after being filed in the Federal Register.

This article has been updated.

Pope Francis prays during his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on April 24, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 30, 2024 / 13:00 pm (CNA).

On the occasion of its first general convention taking place in Rome this week, Pope Francis has addressed a message to the Regnum Christi Federation.

In his message, the Holy Father encouraged the organization’s membership to discern “how to make present in our days the mystery of Christ,” in keeping with the particular vocation of each individual.

The convention, the first to be held since the approval of the new statutes in 2019, is taking place after a long process of listening and purification that came in the wake of multiple abuses committed by various members, including the founder of the Legionaries of Christ, the late Mexican priest Father Marcial Maciel.

In the letter, sent to Father John Lane Connor, LC, president of the federation’s general board of directors, the Holy Father asks “the Lord that the light of the Holy Spirit helps you discern, in fidelity to the Gospel and the magisterium of the Church, how to make the mystery of Christ present in our days, in accordance with the vocation to which each of you has been called.”

Pope Francis expressed his hope that “this new statute favors their aspiration to always be true apostles.” In addition, the Holy Father highlighted that “today more than ever, society demands that we be able to give reasons for our hope in the face of contemporary challenges.

During his homily at the inaugural Mass of the gathering, held under the motto “Apostles on Mission: Making the Kingdom of Christ Present Today,” Connor invited everyone to “walk in the light that is Christ” and recalled that “becoming small is one of the great secrets of the Gospel and evangelization: small so that he may be great.”

The general convention is a collegiate body and is responsible for “dealing with the purposes, progress, and development of the Regnum Christi Federation” as its highest authority as well as establishing mission priorities for each six-year term, among other functions established in the statutes.

What is Regnum Christi?

The Regnum Christi Federation is now defined as a spiritual family with four vocations: Legionaries of Christ, consecrated women, consecrated laypeople, and laypeople whose direction is given by a general board of directors formed by the general directors of the Legionaries of Christ, the Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi, and the Consecrated Men of Regnum Christi, who are assisted by two laypersons with consultative voice and vote.

According to its statement, Regnum Christi is made up of the Legionaries of Christ (1,316), consecrated women (486), consecrated laymen (47), and laypersons (18,494 over 16 years of age, and 10,276 minors). It carries on educational work with 151,000 students in 154 schools and 14 universities and is present in 32 countries on five continents.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Aerial view of tornado damage in Elkhorn, Nebraska, taken on April 29, 2024. Tornadoes ripped through the Midwest over the weekend of April 26–28, 2024. / Credit: mpi34/MediaPunch/IPX/AP Photo

CNA Staff, Apr 30, 2024 / 12:15 pm (CNA).

After a blockbuster night of severe weather that saw tornadoes touch down in at least six states on Friday, one Catholic parish in Nebraska is stepping up in a particular way to help their neighbors after a massive twister leveled parts of their community April 26.

St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Elkhorn, Nebraska, a suburb northwest of Omaha, mobilized volunteers in recent days to coordinate monetary donations and gift cards for more than 30 local families whose homes have suffered various degrees of damage. The church also opened its doors to local law enforcement, which used the church’s gym as a reunification point after the storm.

“We reached out and extended help pretty instantly,” Eric Crawford, the parish’s advancement director, told CNA.

The parish itself, which is in the process of building a new sanctuary about half a mile from its current site, was relatively untouched, but homes “half a mile to a mile” away were flattened, Crawford said. The Friday tornadoes — two notably large ones hit the Omaha area — ultimately destroyed or damaged at least 150 homes, the AP reported. Miraculously, there have not been any reported fatalities thus far. The larger of the two tornadoes tore through Elkhorn. 

“We were narrowly missed … but some of our parishioners live in that area, and so they’ve been directly affected by it,” he said. 

One of those parishioners was a bedridden man who was unable to get to his basement when the tornado ripped through his home. Miraculously, the man survived with non-life-threatening injuries, and two crucifixes and an image of the Virgin Mary remained on the ruined walls untouched, according to a local news report.

Crawford encouraged people of goodwill to donate to the parish’s Human Needs Committee, which is working with the Omaha Rapid Response Team, a local nonprofit disaster-response team founded by Omaha churches.

“Keep our parish in your prayers, and then if [you] feel called to make some sort of contribution to our cause and our relief efforts, that would be much appreciated,” he said.

The Omaha chapter of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul is also accepting monetary donations, as is Catholic Charities Omaha (CCO). Dave Vankat, CCO’s chief community engagement officer, told CNA that the agency is prepared to offer long-term help for the tornado victims, such as food assistance and mental health resources, including mental health assistance for school children who may have been traumatized by the experience of the storm.

A contemplative community of religious sisters, the Poor Clare Nuns of Omaha, is located in Elkhorn just a few miles from the path the tornado and just a seven-minute drive from St. Patrick’s Parish. Mother Kathleen Hawkins, OSC, the abbess of the community, told CNA that the monastery lost power and had to rely on a backup generator during the storm. She said none of the sisters were injured and there does not appear to be any damage to the property but also that the monastery has been flooded with calls from people wanting to make sure the nuns are safe.

An extremely active day of tornadoes in the Midwest came to a head on April 26, with dozens of tornadoes reported across the broad swath of the central U.S. The next day, Saturday, saw large numbers of tornadoes develop in Oklahoma, where semitrucks were overturned on I-35 and at least four people died.

This story has been updated.