We Are Our Mother of Perpetual Help Parish

Vatican City, Jun 11, 2025 / 11:32 am (CNA).

“Rome ’25-the Way of St. James ’27-Jerusalem ’33” is the name of an initiative led by young people who, through pilgrimages, evangelization, and healing, aim to “restore the soul of Europe.”

The initiative encourages young Christians from across the continent to open up a pathway to faith and hope for a new European generation in preparation for the Jubilee of Redemption, which will be celebrated in 2033.

“It’s not just about making the pilgrimage but about rediscovering God and our Christian identity, walking the pilgrim paths of Europe with a new, courageous, and joyful perspective,” the young people stated in a press release issued by the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, one of the promoters of the initiative.

Young Christians in Europe ‘raising their voices’

In this way, young Christians in Europe “are raising their voices” to tell the world that another Europe is possible and to reconnect it “with the beauty, truth, and love of Christ,” especially in a time of distractions, uprootedness, and “hidden wounds.”

Fernando Moscardó, a 22-year-old medical student, has been the architect of this “revolution of the youthful spirit” on the old continent. Speaking with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, he explained that the idea arose from seeing the pessimistic figures of an increasingly secularized Europe.

“Recent surveys tell us that more than 70% of young Europeans declare themselves nonreligious, an unprecedented figure. Furthermore, young people feel lonelier than ever, and we see that 42% of Europeans say they feel their lives lack meaning,” he noted.

“Fer,” as his friends know him, was clear that the answer to healing these wounds must be a spiritual one. He also pointed out that Bishop Mikel Garciandía, head of the Spanish bishops’ conference’s committee on pilgrimages and also in charge of the project, refers to this “lack of meaning” as “a spiritual orphanhood.”

Manifesto of the young Christians of Europe

They consequently decided to embark on this journey of renewal in preparation for the Jubilee of Redemption in 2033, the 2,000th anniversary of Christ’s redemption.

“We couldn’t wait until 2033 to get started, so we outlined a project consisting of three stages: The first is in Rome, with this year’s Jubilee of Hope, with which we kick off the event.” It will then take place in Santiago de Compostela (the Way of St. James pilgrimage route) in 2027 and, finally, in Jerusalem in 2033.

During this month of June, local pilgrimages are taking place throughout Europe, culminating on Aug. 1 with the proclamation of a manifesto of the Young Christians of Europe in St. Mary’s Basilica in Trastevere, Rome.

“On that day, together we will tell the world what we believe, what we dream, and what we are ready to live out. Every step we take is for those who no longer believe they have hope. This revolution of the spirit aims to make the invisible visible and give a voice to those who unknowingly seek God,” he said.

So that this declaration, drawn up on the basis of pilgrimages, truly serves as the voice of a generation, it will be published digitally during the month of July so that young people around the world can read and sign it.

“We want this to be the most widely supported youth declaration in the history of Europe, and only then will the words we speak on Aug. 1 have the weight of a multitude that believes, dreams, and journeys together.”

Furthermore, the project is also organized around a large network of Christian pilgrimage routes, including the historic Michaelmas Axis, which links shrines of St. Michael the Archangel from Ireland to Jerusalem.

This “spiritual sword” symbolizes a Europe that is once again turning heavenward. Monasteries, cathedrals, and parishes will become points of light, welcoming those who go through life in search of meaning.

Three pillars of the project

Moscardó also explained that the initiative is based on three pillars: pilgrimage, healing, and evangelization. “These are the three pillars we are taking as turning points to bring about change in this lost Europe,” he emphasized.

The young man reiterated that this is “a project of young people and for young people” and said that it has had “a very beautiful start,” with work teams throughout Europe supported by the bishops’ conferences.

“We thought that people today were going on pilgrimage for tourism, for social interaction, and we were forgetting that the most important thing when going on pilgrimage is to be aware that we do not walk alone, that we walk with Christ, and that we can pave the way for that personal relationship with him,” he explained.

He also noted that more than 600 people participated in the first pilgrimage, which was to Mont Saint-Michel in France. “We’re having a very beautiful and quite large response.”

On June 11, the project’s promoters are scheduled to be received by Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican. He also explained that they are already working on a website to provide all the necessary information about the activities as well as on their social media channels, which will be called J2R2033 (Journey to Redemption 2033).

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

Rome, Italy, Jun 11, 2025 / 10:46 am (CNA).

The head of a sex abuse survivors’ group in Italy expressed his doubts that a recent report on safeguarding efforts published by the Italian bishops’ conference presents a complete picture of the scale of the abuse crisis in the local Church.

Francesco Zanardi, a survivor and founder of Rete L’Abuso, told CNA that the conference (known by the Italian acronym CEI) has only published “partial reports every year or every two years” since 2020, which makes it hard to make an accurate assessment.

“It’s difficult to make a comparison because we don’t know which cases they are talking about or which geographical area in Italy they are talking about when they give these numbers,” he said. “It’s a bit like if there’s a hole in the middle of the road and instead of repairing the hole, you’re just there counting how many people fall into that hole, but you don’t fix it.”

“Let’s just say this report says nothing,” he added.

Titled “Protect, Prevent, Train: Third Survey on the Territorial Network for the Protection of Minors and Vulnerable Adults,” the nearly 100-page report, published May 28, highlighted current and developing safeguarding practices within the Italian Church between 2023 and 2024.

Among them is the establishment of listening centers for clerical abuse victims in the country. According to the report, there are currently 103 centers serving 130 Italian dioceses.

In a statement released the same day, Archbishop Giuseppe Baturi of Cagliari, secretary-general of the CEI, said the report was part of a path of transparency meant “to overcome the cultural and operational resistances still present.”

“We are called to do our part, with full awareness and responsibility,” especially in promoting “institutional hubs at the local level, as well as a deeper cultural awareness, in particular within universities.”

While the report noted “significant progress in training and awareness,” it noted an increase in abuse cases, the majority of which were committed within a “parish setting.” An estimated 115 (64 male and 51 female) past and current victims reported their abuse between 2023 and 2024. Comparatively, in 2022, 54 victims reported abuse, while 89 victims reported being abused in 2020.

The abuses were committed by “67 alleged perpetrators,” including “44 clergy members, 15 religious, and eight laypersons,” the report stated.

Chiara Griffini, president of the CEI’s Office for the Protection of Minors, said the increase in cases was “concerning because, as we have always said, even a single case, for what the Church is and represents, will always be too many.”

“There are 69 reported cases, 37 of which are current — which tells us that there is clearly an ongoing phenomenon — and 32 are from the past,” she said in an interview with CNA on June 11. “So, looking at these 32 from the past, I think that the prevention work we have put in place is, in some way, sowing some seeds.”

Griffini added that making those reported abuses public was a sign that the bishops’ conference is aiming for transparency and that “the path we have undertaken is certainly an important one and there is no turning back.”

“Child protection must be an integral part of the Church’s mission,” she said.

However, Zanardi told CNA that although the report states the number of victims who have come forward in the past year, it doesn’t state what the Church has done to assist them.

“It says there are 115 victims. Fine. Have you compensated them? Have you given them psychological assistance? Nothing is known about this,” he said.

Griffini told CNA that while the task of the listening centers is to collect reported abuses and to inform ecclesiastical authorities about those cases, compensation to victims “concerns a procedural phase and therefore does not fall within the scope” of the centers.

She also noted that the report highlights the various means of support offered to victims and their families by the listening centers, including “psychotherapeutic support, spiritual support, and other forms that have not been detailed but which represent a form of support and closeness that the listening center offers to victims.”

Among the other concerns Zanardi expressed were that Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Milan, president of the CEI, did not keep his word that the reports would examine cases from 2000 onward.

At a 2022 press conference, Zuppi announced the publishing of the annual reports and said it would only analyze cases dating back to 2000 and no further because “judging something from 80 years ago by today’s criteria, something that was was judged by other criteria at the time, creates difficulties of evaluation.” 

However, the first report released in November 2022 only published information on cases from 2020. 

On its website, Rete L’Abuso compiled its own list of abuse cases in Italy dating back to 2000. Zanardi said that based on the data and files they have collected from victims, “we count 1,035 pedophile priests who have abused 4,267 victims. That is a real figure.” 

During the press conference two years ago, Zuppi publicly offered to meet with Zanardi and told him: “If you have a case, tell us.” 

The head of Rete L’Abuso told CNA that he met with Zuppi on several occasions and had brought the cases his network had collected.  

“I brought them, but then he never wanted to take them,” he said. “Now, they [the Italian bishops’ conference] have declared that they will not take data from associations or anyone else but only data that arrives at their help desks.”

For this reason, he added, the current report most likely contains incomplete data since not all victims, especially those “who no longer believe in the Church,” would report their abuse to a diocesan listening center.

However, Griffini clarified that the annual survey is meant as a “monitoring and accountability tool” for the safeguarding policies adopted by the CEI in 2019.

“Therefore, the surveys start from 2020 precisely because their purpose is to monitor whether the system that was created, both to generate safe ecclesial environments and to intercept alleged abuses, is working,” she said.

Griffini also told CNA that a “pilot study” dealing with “verified cases of abuse against minors in the 20-year period between 2001 and 2021” is still in progress and expected to be published “in the first months of 2026.”

She added that the study is being compiled by “two third-party and completely independent bodies”: the Center for Victimology and Security at the University of Bologna and the Istituto degli Innocenti (Institute of the Innocents) based in Florence.

“Researchers will deliver the data to a commission appointed by the bishops’ conference, which will carry out interpretations at the ecclesial level, and the study will be published in its entirety, just as they have reported it,” she explained.

Zanardi expressed doubts that the Italian Church could be trusted to monitor itself and said he had filed a request with Italian prosecutors to conduct an independent investigation, like those conducted in Spain and France. However, he noted, it was doubtful such an inquiry would happen because of the relationship between church and state.

“Let’s say that Italy is a very distinct country, where in fact they are letting the Church do everything, but the state doesn’t interfere,” he said. “It doesn’t meddle, as they say, like the Mafia.”

Griffini argued that the pilot study “is an independent investigation because the two bodies are clearly not of an ecclesial nature; they are academic bodies that have received a mandate, just as other independent commissions had mandates, and they will respond according to scientific criteria.”

Once completed, she said, the 2026 study will develop further research “that can truly shed more light on this phenomenon to help us, in the present day, to make non-repetition possible and, at the same time, find what may be the best practices for justice and reparation.”

Washington D.C., Jun 11, 2025 / 09:54 am (CNA).

Members of the grassroots movement promoting the month of June as “Fidelity Month” at a gathering on Capitol Hill on Monday called for a renewal of the “common bonds” that unite Americans.

Fidelity Month bills itself as “a positive, grassroots movement to heal division and restore unity in our nation. It celebrates June as a season of recommitment to God, our spouses and families, our communities, and country,” according to the Fidelity Month website. 

Princeton professor Robert George founded the movement in 2023 after reading a Wall Street Journal article citing survey data that showed significant declines in Americans’ belief in the importance of religion, family, and patriotism.

It was these principles, George said at the event in the Longworth House Office Building on June 9, that inspired him to declare “by the power invested in me by absolutely no one” the month of June to be Fidelity Month. 

The “exceptional” thing about America, George observed, is that the source of the country’s unity cannot be found in race, ethnicity, or a particular religious tradition. 

Rather, national unity of the United States is found in the “shared commitment to the principles of republican government” and the “shared belief in the importance of fidelity to God, fidelity to spouses and families, fidelity to our country and communities.” 

George said the movement has grown from a few thousand initial followers to tens of thousands in 2024. “This year, we’re moving into the hundreds of thousands,” he said, adding: “I hope we’ll be moving into the millions of people recognizing June as Fidelity Month, where we rededicate ourselves and pledge ourselves to these important principles.” 

George also discussed the Fidelity Month movement during a June 4 interview on “EWTN Pro-Life Weekly,” telling anchor Abigail Galván he hoped it would serve as a rallying point for Americans to reclaim the enduring values that have long been the bedrock of national unity. 

Sources of America’s unity and strength

At Monday’s event, titled “What Are the Sources of America’s Unity and Strength?”, George was joined by several conservative leaders including Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri; the Heritage Foundation’s Jay Richards; and Kristen Waggoner, CEO of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).

Echoing George in her speech, Waggoner reflected that “unlike most countries, [America] was founded on a direct appeal to divine reality.”

Waggoner continued: “When the founders declared independence, they didn’t appeal to a king or to an army or even to a written constitution. They appealed to heaven, to a God who endows each person with an alienable right, no matter what they believe.”

In his remarks, Hawley extolled marriage as “the true test of virtue for men and women” but especially for young men.

Citing President Theodore Roosevelt’s four-volume work “The Winning of the West,” Hawley noted Roosevelt’s view that of all the dangers faced by frontiersmen in the West, “the greatest challenge they faced” was their character and that fidelity to marriage was the ultimate test of manhood and the foundation of civilization.

“Whereas in Roosevelt’s day, the challenge of the frontier was the challenge of bringing culture and civilization to a vast wide-open space to what was in many respects a wilderness, our challenge today is to preserve our civilization from becoming a wilderness,” Hawley said.

“Today, the wilderness threatens to come to us,” he continued. “We see this nowhere more starkly than the breakdown of marriage and the family.” 

Hawley called on members of the movement to embrace their responsibility to “craft an economy and a society where marriage is rewarded.”

“I think Roosevelt was right all those years ago,” he said, concluding: “This must be the great call that we give to our countrymen again, to embrace the call to fidelity, to be faithful to what we believe in, to be faithful to what makes us who we are, to be faithful in our marriage commitments, in our family life, to our country.”

In his speech, Richards, director of Heritage’s DeVos Center for Life, Religion, and Family, cited the changing tide on the gender ideology debate in the U.S., where half of the states have passed laws protecting children from “gender-affirming care.” 

Just three years ago, he pointed out, “it was difficult to get Republican staffers and members in Congress to even talk about this issue.” 

Now, he said, “something like 70 or 80% of the American public doesn’t believe that we should be conducting experimental medicine on kids who are uncomfortable with their bodies. [And] they don’t believe that males should be in female prisons.” 

“We now have a moment in which the vast majority of our country is opposed to the idea that separates children’s identities from their bodies and is focused like a laser beam on the health of children,” he said, concluding: “That’s concrete. That’s the moment for those of us to continue to commit ourselves to fidelity to God, to country, to marriage, and to family, to make the case for that good again.” 

Other speakers included former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, and American Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Ian Rowe.

Vatican City, Jun 11, 2025 / 09:12 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Bishop Joseph Lin Yuntuan as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Fuzhou in China, the Holy See announced on Wednesday.

The Vatican credited the Sino-Vatican deal, signed in September 2019 and renewed for a third time in October 2024, for Lin Yuntuan’s June 5 appointment.

The Vatican announced “the recognition of the civil effects and the taking of possession of the office of Monsignor Joseph Lin Yuntuan.” The announcement said the Holy Father made the appointment “in the framework of the dialogue regarding the application of the provisional agreement between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China.”

Lin Yuntuan, 73, was ordained a priest for the Fuzhou Archdiocese, located in China’s Fujian Province, in 1984 after completing four years of studies in the local seminary. He was clandestinely consecrated a bishop in 2017. 

From 1984 to 1994 and 1996 to 2002, Lin Yuntuan was appointed parish priest for several parishes spread across the Fuzhou Archdiocese.

Other roles he held include a teaching role at the Fuzhou seminary in 1985, two terms as deputy director of the diocesan economic commission from 1994 to 1996 and 2000 to 2003, and as diocesan administrator from 2003 and 2007.

Prior to his clandestine consecration as bishop in 2017, Lin Yuntuan served as apostolic administrator of Fuzhou from 2013 to 2016.

Archbishop Joseph Cai Bing-rui currently leads the metropolitan Archdiocese of Fuzhou, which was erected in 1946. 

Globally, 84 new bishops have been elected in 2025. To date, Pope Leo XIV has appointed 15 new bishops in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, and the U.S. 

London, England, Jun 11, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

A new Catholic festival in England hopes to bring many different expressions of the Church together under one banner from July 25–28. The breadth of the festival, called WeBelieve, is unique in a country where conferences are often focused on a particular movement or expression of Catholicism.

“There was a sense that we needed an annual festival that we could run on a regular basis, that could create momentum to bring the Church together,” said Monsignor John Armitage, the master of the Guild of Our Lady of Ransom, a group that supports evangelization in England and the driver of the new initiative. 

Speakers for the event include Archbishop John Wilson of Southwark; Dr. Gianna Emanuela Molla, daughter of St. Gianna Beretta Molla; Lord Maurice Glasman, who will discuss Catholic social teaching; Dominican Father Toby Lees; Bishop Habila Daboh of the Diocese of Zaria in Nigeria; and convert from Anglicanism Monsignor Michael Nazir-Ali. They will join overnight campers and visitors in Birmingham in the center of England at the historic site of St. Mary’s College, Oscott. 

Liturgies during the festival will be enhanced by different musical styles, from modern worship to the Renaissance polyphony and Gregorian chant of the Southwell Consort, the Latin Mass Society’s mixed-voice choir in London. The Roman rites represented will include the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM), Ukrainian, and Syro-Malabar.

“A festival of Catholic life that would show to the Church and to those who are enquiring, ‘This is the Catholic Church, this is what we do, this is who we are,’” Armitage said. “One very wise person said that the thing about festivals is that they shape cultures. We are looking to help the Church understand itself, not doctrinally, because that is settled, but in terms of the culture we are living in.”

Among young adults there is a strong interest in traditional expressions of the Catholic faith such as the TLM but also more “charismatic” movements such as Youth 2000, which meets at Ampleforth each year and typically has a modern worship music style. 

All will have a place at the new festival. Central to WeBelieve, Armitage said, is to celebrate and include all. 

“Catholic — that’s what it means,” he said. “We’re not traditional, we’re not conservative, we’re not liberal. They’re political terms. We’re Catholic, which means it’s universal. It’s based on the doctrine of the Church; it’s Catholic.

“We’re having a festival, a celebration of the Catholic faith in all its different expressions, of how we live it out. We wanted it to be Catholic so that everyone could come and be part of it and feel there was something here that could speak to them. They may also find other aspects of the Church they’ve never seen before.” 

The festival has already sold 600 tickets but has the capacity for up to 3,000 people, including day visitors, Armitage said.

More than 100 Catholic organizations have signed up to participate already. The hope is that this will be the first of an annual gathering that will move to different regions.

“If possible we want to make this part of the Catholic story of this country,” Armitage said.

The organizers of the festival see deep significance in this being the first year, as it is one of celebration. Not only is it a year of jubilee in the Catholic Church but it’s also the 1,700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed and the 175th anniversary of the restoration of the Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales.

What wasn’t known two years ago when the idea for the festival was first discussed was the extraordinary increase in conversions and interest in Catholicism, especially in young adults, seen in England, France, and elsewhere this year.

The previously dominant Christian tradition, the Church of England, has numerous festivals and ministries aimed at young people but recently published research by the Bible Society that reports that among young adults or Generation Z — which is now second to the elderly as the second most likely age group to attend church — that twice as many attend Catholic churches as Anglican.

This is perhaps the opposite of what might be expected as the Church of England over the past century has moved to approve contraception, stay quiet on the legalization of abortion, lower restrictions on those who are divorced, install female vicars and then bishops, and offer blessings to homosexual couples.

While these changes may be viewed by some as more palatable to younger people, the resurgence of faith in young adults seems to be toward more traditional expressions of Christianity.

“You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free,” Armitage said. “If a Christian community doesn’t live the truth in its fullness… many churches that go down that path are struggling. The [Catholic] Church teaches the truth, and that’s why so many people feel that they can find true freedom.”

He continued: “That’s why it’s important that we talk about not the identity — not ‘this group or that group’ or ‘this program or that program’ — it’s about Jesus Christ, full stop. If we stick to that, everything is going to be fine.”

Pope Leo XIV expressed his gratitude for the King and Queen’s presence at his Mass at the beginning of his pontificate, and the Prime Minister renewed his invitation to visit Spain.

Read all

 

Washington D.C., Jun 11, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

About 150 scientists gathered at the eighth annual Society of Catholic Scientists conference this past weekend for talks that touched on the Thomistic notion of free will, the intersection of mathematics and theology, near-death experiences, and the origin of the human species.

Three scholars — Kenneth Kemp, a professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota; Daniel Kuebler, a professor of biology at Franciscan University; and Chris Baglow, a professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame — gave talks on the compatibility of evolution and the teachings of the Catholic Church.

The conference ran from June 6–8 at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

Although the teaching of evolution in high schools has led to objections from some Christian groups over the past century, the Catholic Church does not condemn the belief that humans evolved from an ape-like ancestor.

In 1950 — nearly a century after Charles Darwin published “On the Origin of Species” — Pope Pius XII addressed the subject in the encyclical Humani Generis. The pontiff did not rule out bodily evolution but made clear that the human soul is directly created by God and all humans are descendants of the first two people: Adam and Eve.

The Holy Father stated that the Church does not oppose inquiries into “the origin of the human body as coming from preexistent and living matter” but noted the faith “obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God.”

When addressing the teaching that every person is descendent from Adam and Eve, Pius XII rejected any opinion that “maintains that either after Adam there existed on this earth true men who did not take their origin through natural generation from him as from the first parent of all, or that Adam represents a certain number of first parents.”

‘Biological’ and ‘theological’ humans

Most evolutionary biologists assert that biological humans did not evolve from only two humans but rather as a group of humans. Although on its face this may seem to conflict with the Catholic understanding of Genesis, the conference speakers argued that no contention exists and suggested there is a distinction between a “biological” human and a “philosophical” and “theological” human.

Kemp, the first to speak on the subject, said a “biological” human would be any human that possessed human DNA, while a “philosophical” human is a human that also possessed conceptual thought and free will, and a “theological” human is one that has the ability to form a relationship with God.

According to Kemp, someone who was “fully human” in the early development of man (what Pius XII would refer to as “true men”), was one who possessed a “philosophical-theological humanity” from which he believes all of modern-day humanity descends. Such a person was an ensouled creature with rationality who had the capability to develop logic, language, and culture.

“Fully human beings were capable of interbreeding with the merely biological human beings despite the fact that they are distinct both behaviorally (being rational) and structurally (having the created souls that make that rationality possible),” Kemp said.

“If God created rational souls into two members of a merely biologically human population, and then into all or most of their descendants, including the descendants of mixed parentage, but into no one else, and some fully human beings interbred with the merely biologically human beings, then even a low level of interbreeding could be expected to produce a species all of which would be descendant from the single original fully human couple,” Kemp argued.

This position, according to Kemp, is both “scientifically possible and theologically orthodox.”

The beginnings of humanity

Kuebler, a biologist who spoke after Kemp, expressed a similar distinction. A biological human would be any human who fit into the species of “Homo sapiens” and a theological human is a person made in the “imago Dei,” or the image of God. He similarly said that it is possible that some of the early humans could have possessed merely biological humanity before all of the species possessed theological humanity.

The exact moments when biological humanity came into existence, when the first two theological humans Adam and Eve were ensouled, and when all of biological humanity possessed theological humanity, cannot be easily determined, according to Kuebler.

However, he noted there are signs that can point to rational thought. He points to the use of composite tools and art about 200,000 years ago and to the use of ochre (a type of clay) for decoration, which began around 500,000 to 300,000 years ago and became widespread about 150,000 years ago.

Yet, Kuebler said the signs become more clear around 50,000 to 100,000 years ago with more ritualistic art and the creation of jewelry, which he said “are things that are made by people with rational and conceptual thought.” 

“The best signs of it are about 100,000 years ago,” he added.

Baglow addressed the question of where Neanderthals fall in these classifications, saying he is “not sure whether Neanderthals were theological humans” but remains open to the possibility. Neanderthals went extinct about 40,000 years ago but also interbred with early modern humans. Most people outside of Africa have some Neanderthal DNA.

He referenced the early cave art of Neanderthals as being similar to early modern humans but said “images [are] not necessarily symbols,” and rationality in art is “when an image begins to stand for something else.”

Although Baglow said it is possible that Neanderthals were theological humans, he said it may be the case that they simply had “a very special form of pre-rationality,” which was “preparatory toward personhood” for when they interbred with early modern humans.

Even though Catholic doctrine shows that evolution does not conflict with the faith, the Church does not require that Catholics believe in it.

According to a 2024 Gallup survey, about 62% of Catholics say they believe humans developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life and about 32% said they believe God created humans in their current form within the last 10,000 years, illustrating that Catholics are slightly more likely than the average American to believe in human evolution.

ACI Prensa Staff, Jun 11, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

While the government of Chile moves forward with pledges made by President Gabriel Boric to expedite pro-abortion and euthanasia legislation, the Church in that South American country remains steadfast in its defense of life from conception to natural death.

The archbishop of Santiago and cardinal primate of Chile, Fernando Chomali, authored a column titled “Dying in Peace” in which he reflected on the latter issue. “Euthanasia is a form of social eugenics in the face of the inability to empathize, accompany, love, and respond to others,” Chomali stated.

On June 5, the administration of Boric introduced new amendments to the euthanasia bill, which was first introduced almost 14 years ago in the country’s Chamber of Deputies (lower house).

The initiative, titled “Bill on the Right to Voluntarily Opt to Receive Medical Assistance to Hasten Death in the Case of a Terminal and Incurable Illness,” is currently under consideration by the Senate health committee, according to the BioBio website.

Among the amendments proposed by the government are the elimination of the right of patients to receive spiritual guidance in accordance with their faith, the elimination of conscientious objection by institutions, and the expansion of the places where the procedure can be carried out, including the home.

The bill also incorporates new formal requirements, such as the patient’s written and reiterated wishes and a case evaluation committee, but proposes “medical assistance in dying” as a regular service within the health care system.

If the bill is passed, Chile will join the roster of countries that allow euthanasia, which includes Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Spain, and Australia. It would become the third country in Latin America to have legislation on the subject, along with Colombia and Ecuador.

In the context of the current situation in Chile, characterized by violence, corruption, insecurity, and long waiting lists for medical treatment, Chomali warned: “A bill that allows for the direct elimination of a human being in the final stage of life has resurfaced and is being processed immediately: the euthanasia bill.”

Behind the idea of ​​“death with dignity,” Chomali stated, “is the idea of ​​disposing of the lives of others in their terminal stages.” In his critique of the bill, Chomaili took aim at the haste with which the legislation is now moving.

“Could someone explain the urgency? Will there be time to hear from experts on the subject and for legislators to study the matter and learn about the disastrous experiences of some countries that have introduced this practice?” the cardinal asked.

The bill, the cardinal noted, “is ambiguous because it extends to people in complex health situations, who, according to the bill’s proponents, since their lives are not worth living, the state cannot prevent them from ending them.”

The legislative initiative “appeals to autonomy and individual freedom as an absolute right that must be respected, even knowing that, in these circumstances, it is what is most lacking,” Chomali observed.

The proposal, the cardinal noted, “is the practical response to the torpidity of the state and society in caring for the sick, in most cases elderly adults, many of whom end their days old, alone, sick, and poor. Many of them are in public hospitals, and in places we cannot imagine, bedridden and abandoned in dire conditions.”

“Euthanasia is referred to as an act of compassion,” he lamented, and warned: “Let us not be mistaken; it is an act of compassion to benefit Western society, which measures everything in terms of productivity, joy, success, and profit, and which cannot tolerate anything related to pain and suffering, much less take responsibility for it.”

“This bill is the sunset of the sense of responsibility toward the weak that belongs to all of society and the triumph of the logic of force over the logic of reason,” he reflected.

A bill detrimental to the poor 

According to Chomali, “with euthanasia, the plight of a seriously ill person is resolved with violence — covered in the cloak of kindness, compassion, autonomy, etc.”

Furthermore, he pointed out that it is a measure that works against the lower classes because, especially for the poor, there is the possibility that “third parties may decide for them to end their days.”

“The truth is that those who are accompanied feel loved and well cared for; they don’t ask to end their days; on the contrary, they cling to life and their loved ones as a great treasure until the end,” the cardinal emphasized.

As an example, he mentioned the Las Rosas Foundation — which provides shelter for the poorest and most vulnerable elderly — “where it has never even occurred to a resident, even a bedridden one, to ask for their life to be ended.”

As if that weren’t enough, the cardinal warned, “medical students, who often enter university motivated by the desire to heal, accompany, and care for others, will be taught how to end the life of an innocent human being.”

“Chile is impoverished by a law like this because the character of a society is measured by the capacity of the social fabric — of which we are a part — to care for the defenseless and vulnerable,” Chomali insisted.

Finally, the cardinal called on the promoters of this “unjust law” to focus their attention on the elderly in lamentable situations — hidden away in homes evading state regulations, without social life, and abandoned — while encouraging them to “take legislative action to promote the specialty of palliative care in hospitals and clinics and places where they end their days, as well as to promote solid public policies in favor of older adults in terms of pensions and access to mental health and palliative care.”

“Let us propose laws that allow the sick to die in peace. Let us care for them with the ordinary means available to them through medicine … together with their families and with adequate medical, spiritual, and human assistance,” he proposed.

Chomali then urged: “Let us seriously ask ourselves what lies behind the obstinacy of promoting laws that attack the weakest in society, such as human beings in the womb and on the sickbed, and at the same time.”

“Are we not promoting the law of the jungle and violence to resolve human tragedies, sometimes dramatic ones, which is nothing more than abandoning the rule of law that has cost so much to establish?” the cardinal asked in conclusion.

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

Vatican City, Jun 11, 2025 / 05:50 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV reflected on Christian hope — one of the three theological virtues, along with faith and charity — during his general audience on Wednesday. 

“There is no cry that God does not hear, even when we are unaware that we are addressing him,” the pope said, illustrating this idea with the story of Bartimaeus, described in the Gospel of Mark as a blind beggar who encountered Jesus as he was leaving Jericho. 

Pope Leo explained that this story helps us understand that “we must never abandon hope, even when we feel lost.” 

The Holy Father today spoke on the healings performed by Jesus and invited Catholics to bring before the heart of Christ their “most wounded or fragile parts” or those areas of life where they “feel paralyzed or stuck.” 

“Let us ask the Lord with trust to hear our cry and heal us!” the pope said. 

Pope Leo focused on the attitude of Jesus, who does not immediately approach Bartimaeus but instead asks him what he wants. “It is not obvious that we truly want to be healed of our illnesses — sometimes we prefer to remain as we are so as not to take on new responsibilities,” he said. 

“It may seem strange that, faced with a blind man, Jesus does not immediately approach him. But if we think about it, this is how he helps reactivate Bartimaeus’ life: He prompts him to rise and entrusts him with the ability to walk,” the pope added. 

Indeed, the pope said that Bartimaeus does not only wish to see again — he also “wants to regain his dignity.” 

“To look upward, one must lift one’s head. Sometimes people feel stuck because life has humiliated them, and they simply want to regain their worth,” the Holy Father said. 

For this reason, he called on the faithful to do everything they can to obtain what they seek, “even when others scold you, humiliate you, or tell you to give up.”

“If you truly desire it, keep crying out!” he said. 

The pope stressed that what saves Bartimaeus is faith. “Jesus heals us so that we may be free,” he said. 

Exposing ourselves to Jesus with all our vulnerabilities 

Leo XIV also reflected on Bartimaeus’ gesture of casting off his cloak in order to stand up.

“For a beggar, the cloak is everything: It is security, it is home, it is the protection that shields him. In fact, the law protected a beggar’s cloak and required that it be returned by evening if it had been taken as a pledge,” he explained.

The pope compared the beggar’s cloak to the illusion of security that people often cling to.

“Often what holds us back are precisely these apparent securities — the things we have wrapped around ourselves for protection, which in reality prevent us from moving forward,” he said.

Pope Leo noted that, in order to go to Jesus and be healed, Bartimaeus “must expose himself to him in all his vulnerability” — a fundamental step on any path to healing.

Finally, the pope called on the faithful to trustingly bring to Jesus “our illnesses, as well as those of our loved ones,” and “the pain of those who feel lost and without a way out.”

“Let us cry out for them as well, and let us be certain that the Lord will hear us and will stop for us,” he said.

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