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Archbishop Vigneron celebrates Detroit's patronal feast day Mass in historic Basilica of Ste. Anne, referencing Eucharistic revival

Feast date: Jul 27

St. Panteleon, whose feast we celebrate on July 27, is the patron saint of bachelors and physicians.

As lifelong layperson, he was the physician for emperor Maximinianus. At one point in his life he had abandoned his faith, but he eventually returned to the Church, and gave his fortune to the poor, providing them medical treatment without charge. Some of his cures were accomplished by prayer.

Other physicians eventually denounced him to the anti-Christian authorities. At his trial, he offered a contest between himself and the pagan priests. He challenged the pagan priests to heal a paralyzed man with their prayers, but they were unable. St. Panteleon cured the man by simply mentioning the name of Jesus. As a result, many of those who witnessed the miracle converted to Christianity.

However, the authorities remained resolute in trying to get him to denounce his faith with bribes, threats and torture, but they did not succeed. He was then nailed to a tree and beheaded in c.305.

ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 26, 2024 / 17:45 pm (CNA).

The motto of the modern Olympic Games, “Faster, Higher, Stronger,” was coined by French Dominican friar Louis Henri Didon, who became friends with the founder of the modern Olympic Games, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, five years before the 1896 Athens Games.

The motto, originally formulated in Latin as “Citius, Altius, Fortius,” was used before the modern Olympic movement at St. Albert the Great School in Paris, where the Dominican friar was the principal.

Born in 1840, Didon entered the Rondeau Minor Seminary in Grenoble, France, beginning at the age of nine, and during his youth, he stood out for his ability as an athlete. After visiting the Carthusian monastery in Grenoble, he decided to follow a religious vocation and took the habit of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) at the age of 16. Six years later, after a period of formation in Rome, he was ordained a priest at age 22.

Military chaplain, prisoner, and refugee

Didon soon gained fame as a preacher. During the brief Franco-Prussian War, which broke out in July 1870, he was a military chaplain and for a time was held as a prisoner. When he fell ill, he ended up as a refugee in Geneva, Switzerland. From there he was sent to Marseille, where he resumed his sometimes controversial preaching activity, which led to his being sent to Corsica in 1880. 

A decade later he was appointed principal of St. Albert the Great School in Paris where he established sports as part of the school's educational program and promoted sports competition. This decision was the result of belief in the value of sports and the contact he had had with Pierre de Coubertin since 1891.

In the first race they organized, the Dominican decided to embroider on the school flag the famous motto, which would become an Olympic motto in 1894, during the first Olympic Congress held in Paris in 1894.

Two years later, Athens hosted the first Olympic Games, which have since been held every four years, interrupted only three times due to World Wars I and II (1916, 1940, and 1944) and postponed from 2020 to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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

Vatican City, Jul 26, 2024 / 17:26 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis and Athletica Vaticana, the official Holy See sports association, have invited all athletes participating in the 2024 Olympic Games to harness the “great social power of sport” to unite people and be witnesses of peace, particularly during these times of international tensions and conflict.  

Around 300,000 spectators welcomed thousands of athletes representing 206 countries at the opening ceremony of this year’s summer games in Paris today.

The ceremony to open the two-week international festival took place at 7:30 p.m. in Paris (1:30 p.m. ET). The Olympic Games, which take place between July 26 and Aug. 11 this year, are expected to draw approximately 800,000 tourists to France and an additional one billion viewers who wish to watch the sports events on TV or other digital channels. 

During his Sunday Angelus address on July 21, Pope Francis expressed his hope that this year’s Olympics will bring athletes and spectators together and “peacefully unite people from different cultures.”

“I hope that this event may be a beacon of the inclusive world we want to build and that athletes, with their sporting testimony, may be messengers of peace and authentic models for young people,” the Holy Father said.    

Over 10,000 athletes from around the world will compete in 32 different sports in this year’s summer games. This year’s Olympics will debut surfing, sport climbing, skateboarding, and also breakdancing.

The Paralympic Games will also take place in Paris this year from Aug. 28 - Sept. 8. Approximately 4,400 athletes will participate in 22 sports — including sitting volleyball and wheelchair basketball — in venues across the city such as at the Eiffel Tower, the Château de Versailles, and the Grand Palais. 

Athletica Vaticana sent an open letter addressed to Olympians and Paralympians yesterday on the vigil of the opening ceremony and encouraged all athletes to “win the medal of fraternity” this summer.  

“The Olympics and Paralympics can be strategies for peace and antidotes to war games,” reads the letter. “The Games can be opportunities for hope.” 

Prior to the Olympics opening ceremony, a Mass of Peace was celebrated on July 19 in France. Archbishop Laurent Ulrich of Paris and Archbishop Emmanuel Gobilliard of Digne concelebrated the Mass which was attended by the president of the International Olympic Committee, athletes. and diplomats. 

Since the inception of the modern-day Olympics in 1896, Paris has twice been selected to host the summer games. This year marks 100 years since Paris first hosted the Olympics in 1924. 

CNA Staff, Jul 26, 2024 / 17:15 pm (CNA).

Russian Orthodox Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev of Budapest-Hungary has been temporarily suspended following reports about an ongoing investigation of sexual misconduct with a young staff member.

According to the online news site Novaya Gazeta Europe, Georgy Suzuki, who served as the bishop’s personal assistant between Oct. 2022 and Jan. 2024, was sexually harassed on several occasions by the 58-year-old high-ranking prelate.

Alfeyev has reportedly denied all allegations made by Suzuki. 

Earlier this month, Church Times reported that 11 Russian Orthodox priests in Budapest signed a joint statement defending Alfeyev who, they believe, is innocent and a victim of a “dirty slanderous campaign.”    

Yesterday, Novaya Gazeta Europe published several photos as well as details of private messages shared between Suzuki and Alfeyev, highlighting the bishop’s sexually inappropriate behavior and materially-excessive lifestyle. Alfeyev reportedly purchased mansions in France and Hungary as well as expensive watches, and spent holidays on yachts and at expensive beach resorts.

Though Suzuki told Novaya Gazeta Europe that Alfeyev’s advances never led to sexual encounters, he said he and his family suffered coercion, blackmail, and retaliation from the bishop who, in turn, accused Suzuki of sexually inappropriate behavior.   

The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church has appointed metropolitan Bishop Nestor of Korshun and Western Europe as temporary administrator of the Budapest-Hungary diocese while investigations are underway. 

Alfeyev has subsequently been permanently dismissed as president of the Synodal Theological Commission, and as chairman of the Theological Committee. However, it is not the first time the Russian metropolitan has been removed from a prominent position in the Orthodox Church. 

In 2022, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow dismissed Alfeyev as president of the Department of External Church Relations and as a permanent member of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. That same year, he was also removed as metropolitan bishop of Volokolamsk and then transferred to Hungary and appointed as metropolitan bishop of Budapest. 

A 2022 article published by The Orthodox Times speculates that his dismissals two years ago were not linked to sexual misconduct but to the bishop’s “mild stance” on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which contrasted to that of Patriarch Kirill’s “full identification” with the Russian government’s hardline on Ukraine.     

In light of the publicity of the allegations of sexual misconduct by former church worker Suzuki, the Russian Orthodox Church has created a special committee to further investigate the case against Alfeyev.  

National Catholic Register, Jul 26, 2024 / 16:45 pm (CNA).

Kamala Harris is the Democrats’ presumptive nominee for president, bringing with her a long track record of promoting abortion and curtailing religious liberties.

But where do her potential vice presidential picks stand on these critical issues?

The dearth of national-level Democrats open to even modest restrictions of abortion and robust protections for religious liberties — a byproduct of the party’s strong shift to the left over the past decade — means that Harris will likely end up with a running mate who shares her views on the issues.

Here is a breakdown of the abortion and religious liberty views of eight VP contenders, along with what they could bring to the Democratic ticket.

U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, Arizona 

Kelly, 60, offers Harris a chance to have a veteran on the ticket from a battleground state Biden narrowly won in 2020, after Trump won it in 2016. 

The former U.S. Navy pilot and astronaut could be portrayed as a centrist pick since he has criticized the Biden administration for not welcoming more oil and natural gas production and for not securing the country’s border with Mexico.

On abortion, though, Kelly is in lock step with his party’s positions. 

Kelly, who says he grew up Catholic, supports codifying Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide for more than 49 years, until it was overturned by the court’s 2022 Dobbs decision.

On religious freedom, the Arizona senator made a point of highlighting the inclusion of protections for religious groups and individuals in his statement celebrating the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act in 2022. Kelly’s statement also noted that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had backed the bill, which enshrined the right to same-sex marriage into federal law.

The U.S. bishops, however, had opposed the legislation, calling the religious liberty guarantees “insufficient.”

Gov. Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania 

Shapiro, 51, is a popular governor in a pivotal swing state, making him an attractive possibility on Harris’ ticket. He beat out a Trump-backed candidate in 2022 by nearly 15 points to become Pennsylvania’s top executive after serving six years as the Keystone State’s attorney general. 

Shapiro has also cited his Jewish faith as an inspiration for his political involvement, which some believe could help the Harris campaign appeal to religious voters.

But religious voters, especially Catholics, might be less excited about his position on abortion. As governor, Shapiro has taken steps not only to expand access to abortion but also to limit alternatives. He ended a 30-year Pennsylvania program that funded pregnancy resource centers and instead launched a website to connect residents with abortion services. 

Earlier this month, Shapiro said his administration wouldn’t defend a state law that prohibits Medicaid fundings from being used on abortion after the law was challenged in court. 

As Pennsylvania’s attorney general, Shapiro sued the Trump administration for giving broad religious exemptions from a contraception mandate, a move that religious liberty experts feared could affect groups like the Little Sisters of the Poor.

In 2018, he also released a grand jury report of more than 1,000 cases of alleged clergy sex abuse in Pennsylvania since 1940, which was described by a former New York Times columnist as “grossly misleading, irresponsible, inaccurate, and unjust.”

Gov. Roy Cooper, North Carolina

Cooper is the second-term Democratic governor of a swing state that leans Republican and went for Trump in 2016 and 2020. 

Cooper, 67, is a member of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., and has previously taught religious education and served as a deacon. In 2023, he received the Faith Active in Public Life Award from a North Carolina council of Protestant denominations and congregations.

In 2019, Cooper vetoed a bill called the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Act, which sought to require doctors to save the life of a baby born alive after an attempted abortion. Cooper called the bill “an unnecessary interference between doctors and their patients” and said it “would criminalize doctors and other health care providers for a practice that simply does not exist.”

In May 2023, Cooper vetoed a bill banning most abortions after 12 weeks, which the Republican-controlled state Legislature subsequently enacted by overriding his veto. 

In May 2020, in response to the COVID-19 crisis, Cooper limited church services to 10 people, a measure ultimately barred by a federal judge who said the move “appears to trust citizens to perform nonreligious activities indoors (such as shopping or working or selling merchandize) but does not trust them to do the same when they worship together indoors.” 

Earlier in his tenure, the governor was accused by social conservatives of infringing upon the religious liberties of North Carolinans after he signed a 2017 executive order expanding nondiscrimination protections to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity or expression.”

Gov. Andy Beshear, Kentucky 

Beshear, a second-term Democratic governor in a solidly Republican state, would offer Harris a seasoned politician who is used to making his messaging sound moderate. 

At 46, the former corporate lawyer and son of a former governor of Kentucky is considered a rising star in the party.

While he is a pro-abortion governor in a pro-life state, Beshear aims for a moderate tone on the issue, offering a different approach from that of the national Democratic Party. 

“I’ve been very clear that I support Roe v. Wade, but I also support reasonable restrictions, especially on late-term procedures,” Beshear told a local television station in 2019.

In April 2020, during the coronavirus shutdowns, Beshear ordered Kentucky state police to take down license plate numbers outside Maryville Baptist Church in Louisville, which held a service despite the governor’s order banning it. 

However, three years later the practicing member of the Disciples of Christ signed a religious liberty bill into law. The new legislation prohibits the government from restricting religious organizations more severely than “essential” businesses and organizations and provides a legal route for religious groups “to sue the government if discriminated against.”

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan 

Like Shapiro, Whitmer is a popular governor from a key battleground state. She won a second term as Michigan’s governor in 2022 by nearly 11 points.

The 52-year-old’s proven record of sparring with Trump and his allies could be an asset on the campaign trail, though most analysts think Harris is more likely to opt for a male running mate to balance the ticket.

But Harris could pick Whitmer if she wants to make the election all about abortion. 

The mother of two has shared her story of being raped as a college student to make the case for abortion exceptions for pregnancies resulting from abuse. After the fall of Roe, she helped repeal a law on the books that banned abortions in Michigan and followed that by signing legislation in 2023 that undid a slew of abortion regulations, including a ban on partial-birth abortions. 

On religious liberty, Whitmer supported an amendment that added sexual orientation to Michigan’s nondiscrimination laws. The bill did not include religious liberty protections called for by Catholics and other religious groups. 

The governor also signed off on a 2024 ban of “any intervention that attempts to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity,” which some Catholic counselors said would prevent them from counseling children struggling with their gender identity in a way consistent with their faith.

Secretary Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Department of Transportation

As a 2020 contender for the Democrats’ presidential nomination, the 42-year-old Buttigieg already has some national recognition. 

The former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, would bring a dose of Midwest likability to Harris’ ticket and has already demonstrated the kind of talking points he’d employ against GOP vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance. 

As Biden’s secretary of transportation, abortion hasn’t exactly been a top issue for the Democrat over the past four years. 

But during his 2020 run, Buttigieg made it clear that he supports legal abortion, and he also called for the repeal of the Hyde Amendment, which limits federal funding for abortion. And as “Mayor Pete,” the then-local politician vetoed a city council decision to allow a crisis pregnancy center to open next door to an abortion facility.

The Episcopalian may have been given a fellowship at Notre Dame, but his conception of religious liberty is “minimalistic,” according to The Washington Post’s Michael Gerson. Buttigieg makes “no provision for religious institutions such as colleges to admit or hire according to their traditional religious standards,” Gerson wrote.

Buttigieg, who is in a civil marriage with a man and has twin children via adoption, has criticized those who appeal to religious liberty protections, claiming that their approach makes “it lawful to harm people so long as you remember to use your religion as an excuse.” 

Gov. Tim Walz, Minnesota 

Walz as Harris’ running mate wouldn’t likely make a difference in more-blue-than-purple Minnesota, but the 60-year-old, two-term governor would bring executive experience to the Democrats’ ticket. 

Additionally, Walz spent over a decade as the U.S. representative of a more conservative district in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, showing some capacity to appeal to moderates. 

As governor of Minnesota, Walz has aimed to turn the state into a “refuge” for abortion. In 2023 he signed legislation that would make it easier for out-of-staters to get abortions in Minnesota and codified a right to abortion in the state earlier in the year. 

Walz has already said that abortion will play a “major role” in this November’s presidential election and said voters will have the choice “to continue on making sure that women have bodily autonomy, or to turn that clock back.” 

A Lutheran, Walz approved a bill this year adding religious exemptions to Minnesota’s nondiscrimination statutes, which the Minnesota Catholic Conference and other religious groups said was needed to ensure that faith-based organizations, churches, and schools could act on their beliefs when addressing gender-identity issues. 

However, in 2023 Walz signed legislation that prevented high school students from attending classes at religious colleges for high school credit because these colleges require a statement of faith from all students. Parents and religious colleges have sued the state, and the case is still pending. 

Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Illinois

Pritzker, 59, is a second-term governor of a solidly Democratic state who would bring serious money to a presidential ticket. A member of the family that founded the Hyatt Corporation, he has a net worth of $3.5 billion and spent $171.5 million of his own money in his successful 2018 campaign to become Illinois’ top executive.

In a party that values access to abortion, Pritzker might boast of having the best credentials of anyone on most VP short lists.

He has approved new legislation repealing both the state’s requirement of parental notification for minors seeking abortion and its ban on partial birth abortions. In the latter case, the new statute allows abortion until viability, and then after that if a “health care professional” determines “the abortion is necessary to protect the life or health of the patient.” 

In 2023, Prtitzker signed a bill banning “deceptive practices” by pro-life crisis pregnancy centers but it was blocked by a federal court after the Thomas More Society sued claiming the law is illegal because it sought to unconstitutionally restrict free speech.

Beyond Illinois, Pritzker founded a political fundraising organization primarily to stump for access to abortion nationwide called Think Big America. He referred to opponents of abortion as “far right” and “extremists” in a YouTube video promoting the organization.

The Illinois governor, who was raised a Reform Jew, caught fire from religious liberty groups in 2020 after limiting religious services to no more than 10 participants as a COVID-19 related measure. The Thomas More Society called it a “stomp on the religious liberty of the people of Illinois.” Following a slew of lawsuits, Pritzker changed the mandates to “guidelines.”

This article was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA's sister news partner, on July 25, 2024, and has been adapted by CNA.

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 26, 2024 / 16:15 pm (CNA).

The Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday ruled in favor of the legality of a law that restricts abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy and prohibits doctors from performing sex change surgeries on minors, which allows both rules to remain in effect in the state.

Nebraska lawmakers passed the law in 2023, which covers both issues: abortion and sex change procedures for minors. The American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit which argued that the legislation violated Nebraska’s single subject rule, which states that “no bill shall contain more than one subject.”

The state supreme court rejected that argument, noting in the majority opinion that “single subject challenges are rare, and single subject violations even rarer.” According to the ruling, the law addresses the subject of “public health and welfare,” which encompasses both abortion and sex change procedures. 

“Prior cases have also emphasized that a bill may enact multiple policies, so long as those policies are united under a common purpose or object,” the judges wrote in the ruling.

“We disagree with Planned Parenthood’s contention that it is not possible to identify a single purpose of [the bill] that withstands single subject scrutiny,” the opinion continued. “[The law] does regulate both abortion and gender-altering care, but both abortion and gender-altering care are medical procedures, and [it] prescribes rules that define if and when such procedures can be performed.”

In response to the ruling, Republican Gov. Jim Pillen said he is “grateful for the court’s thorough and well-reasoned opinion upholding these important protections for life and children in Nebraska.”

“There was a dark moment last year when many feared that a victory for unborn babies was impossible and that the pro-life coalition might break apart,” the governor continued. “I was honored to partner with faithful allies and leaders across the state to combine the abortion ban with protections for kids against irreversible sex change surgeries. We worked overtime to bring that bill to my desk and I give thanks to God that I had the privilege to sign it into law.”

Ruth Richardson, president of Planned Parenthood North Central States, called the decision “heart-wrenching and infuriating” in a statement.

“This ban has already devastated Nebraskans’ lives and will undoubtedly widen dangerous health inequities for people in rural areas, people of color, people with low incomes, and young people,” Richardson said.

Nebraska law prohibits elective abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy but still allows for abortions in cases of rape, incest, and medical emergencies. Lawmakers failed to pass a law that would prohibit most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy after one Republican abstained from the vote.

The law also prohibits sex change surgeries for patients younger than 19. However, it still allows doctors to provide sex change drugs to minors in certain circumstances, such as when the “individual has a long-lasting and intense pattern of gender nonconformity or gender dysphoria.”

Although the law remains in effect, Nebraskans will vote on a referendum on Nov. 5, which would establish a constitutional right to abortion in the state constitution. Pro-life activists are trying to get a separate referendum on the ballot, which would restrict abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy, similar to current law.

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 26, 2024 / 15:40 pm (CNA).

Omaha Archbishop George Lucas has categorically denied accusations that he sexually abused two minors several decades ago while he was dean of education at St. Louis Preparatory Seminary in Missouri.

Lucas is one of several dozen priests, nuns, and lay men and women accused of sexual abuse of minors in a series of five separate lawsuits filed by 27 anonymous plaintiffs on Wednesday.

The abuse is alleged to have occurred over the span of several decades, with some of the purported crimes allegedly having occurred as recently as 2015.

The lawsuit naming Lucas was filed in the St. Louis County District Court. It alleges that as a priest Lucas coerced a 16-year-old boy identified as “D.S.” and another student into performing sexual acts with him at the St. Louis school. 

The suit alleges that Lucas first met D.S. at the school in 1988 and that the now-archbishop of Omaha began regularly sexually abusing the victim when he was a junior in high school, including manipulating him into performing a sexual act for better grades on at least one occasion.

Lucas strongly denied the accusations in a statement to CNA on Friday.

"I categorically deny the accusation made by an anonymous person. I have never had sexual contact with another person,” the prelate said.

The archbishop said he has “referred the matter” to the Vatican’s apostolic nuncio to the U.S., Cardinal Christophe Pierre, “for his guidance."

The five lawsuits were filed within 24 hours of each other in five different Missouri counties within the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of St. Louis. 

The suits are seeking compensation for damages by the alleged abusers from the Archdiocese of St. Louis and its head, Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski.

Rozanski, who has been head of the diocese since 2020, is not being accused of sexual abuse, though the suit accuses Rozanski of knowingly covering up “multiple decades” worth of sexual abuse of minors.

According to David Clohessy, a spokesman for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), ten of the accused persons named in the lawsuits are still living.

Clohessy said that the testimony in the suits would encourage others to also come forward and would help heal victims of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

“Among the most devastating consequences of childhood sexual abuse is a feeling of utter helplessness. So, when victims are able to speak and take action and expose wrongdoers it helps victims feel like they're making progress and turning their pain into something that can be helpful to others,” he said.

The anonymous plaintiffs in the suits are being represented by attorneys from the law firms Bailey & Glasser, Levy Konigsberg, and Randles Mata.

The Archdiocese of St. Louis did not immediately respond to a query from CNA.