St. Mary's Church

Estos son 12 de los mensajes más impactantes que fueron pronunciados durante el Congreso Eucarístico Nacional de Estados Unidos.

J.D. Vance, el candidato republicano a la vicepresidencia de los Estados Unidos, está a una elección de convertirse en el primer vicepresidente católico del Partido Republicano.

El panel de testigos estuvo conformado por Cristopher Hernández Roy, Felix Maradiaga, Jon Britton Hancock y Anexa Alfred, todos expertos en la situación nicaragüense, quienes además aconsejaron al gobierno estadounidense sobre cómo contribuir a que mejore la libertad religiosa en el país

La devoción a San Chárbel Makhlouf, de origen libanés, ha encontrado un lugar especial en el corazón de los católicos latinoamericanos, especialmente en México. Los devotos han adoptado una tradición particular: dejar peticiones por escrito en cintas de colores que colocan en la figura del santo.

San Charbel, un santo venerado en la Iglesia Católica Maronita, era conocido por su profunda dedicación a la Eucaristía. Su vida y su fe inquebrantable continúan inspirando a generaciones.

Con motivo de la fiesta del Apóstol Santiago el Mayor, este 25 de julio, les compartimos una tradición en la que se narra cómo el santo se enfrentó a un brujo y a los demonios.

El documento, publicado en los inicios de la revolución sexual, sigue generando reacciones encontradas, por ello es necesario profundizar en 5 puntos que permiten entender mejor la encíclica, el contexto en que fue escrita, su mensaje profético y su validez aún hoy en nuestros días:

CNA Staff, Jul 23, 2024 / 18:00 pm (CNA).

More than 50,000 Catholics recently gathered at Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis for the National Eucharistic Congress from July 17–21. 

The week was filled with opportunities for the faithful to grow closer to Jesus present in the Eucharist through perpetual adoration, Mass, confession, praise and worship, and talks from a plethora of Catholic speakers including Bishop Robert Barron, Jonathan Roumie, Father Mike Schmitz, Mother Olga of the Sacred Heart, Sister Bethany Madonna, and many more.

Here are 12 of the most powerful quotes given by speakers at the congress:

1. “Knowledge can make one great; but only love can make you a saint.” — Father Mike Schmitz

2. “Your Christianity is not for you. Christianity is not a self-help program, something designed just to make us feel better about ourselves. Your Christianity is for the world.” — Bishop Robert Barron

3. “The Eucharist for me is healing. The Eucharist for me is peace. The Eucharist for me is my grounding. The Eucharist for me is his heart within me.” — Jonathan Roumie 

4. “The Lord is not overwhelmed by you. He loves you, and he sees you, and he’s not deterred by anything.” — Sister Miriam James Heidland

5. “We need a new Pentecost. We need to be filled with boldness. We need to be filled with intrepidity. We need to be filled with love, with generosity to be able to sacrifice everything for the sake of the kingdom.” — Mother Adela Galindo

6. “We have him and nobody can take him away from us.” — Mother Olga of the Sacred Heart

7. “The love of God has been poured into our hearts and it’s the kindness of God that leads us to life-giving repentance.” — Sister Bethany Madonna

8. “You can never have a revival without repentance.” — Father Mike Schmitz

9. “He who made the promise is true and so we can be people who repent with courage and joy. What a contradiction to be people who say ‘I’m broken and I’m sinful, and I’m joyful and I’m hopeful.’ What would the world do with a pilgrim people like that?” — Sister Josephine Garrett

10. “It’s time for faithful Catholics to stop trying to live for God. Instead we should start living from him. The body and blood of the Lord is the source of our life, our energy, and our joy. So let’s eat and drink here and every day to our heart’s content and then let’s rush out into a starving world and tell everybody we meet, ‘Starving people, listen! We found where the food is!’” — Monsignor James Shea

11. “Those who choose to stay with Jesus will be sent by Jesus … Let us go to proclaim Jesus zealously and joyfully for the life of the world.” — Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle

12. “Brothers and sisters, we believe that God desires to renew his Church and that this renewal will happen through you. And that in renewing his Church, he will renew the world.” — Bishop Andrew Cozzens

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 23, 2024 / 16:38 pm (CNA).

The Knights of Columbus used a paper cover to temporarily cloak artwork created by Father Marko Rupnik at the St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C., pending the outcome of a Vatican investigation into sexual abuse allegations against the Slovenian artist and priest.

Rupnik’s mosaics line the walls of the Luminous Mysteries Chapel, which contains a first-class relic of St. John Paul II’s blood at the front of the altar, and the larger Redemptor Hominis Chapel, both of which sit inside the shrine near the entrance. The shrine is sponsored and managed by the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal organization.

The paper cover will eventually be replaced with a fabric canvas while the Vatican continues to investigate allegations that Rupnik spiritually, psychologically, and sexually abused between 20 and 40 adult women, including religious sisters.

Rupnik’s artwork was fully covered on Tuesday, July 23, less than two weeks after Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly announced that the Catholic fraternal organization would cover its displays of his artwork at the shrine and at its headquarters in New Haven, Connecticut. 

Rupnik first faced allegations of sexual misconduct in 2018 and subsequently faced numerous allegations of past sexual abuse in 2021 and again in 2022, 2023, and 2024.

Kelly said in a statement on July 11 that the Knights of Columbus would cover up the artwork “because our first concern must be for victims of sexual abuse, who have already suffered immensely in the Church, and who may be further injured by the ongoing display of the mosaics at the shrine.”

The Knights of Columbus consulted with sexual abuse victims and those who minister to them, art historians, pilgrims to the shrine, bishops, and moral theologians before making the decision.

“While opinions varied among those consulted, there was a strong consensus to prioritize the needs of victims, especially because the allegations are current, unresolved, and horrific,” the statement read.

The Vatican investigated Rupnik in May 2019 for violating canon law by providing absolution during confession to an accomplice in sin — a woman with whom he had sexual relations. After the investigation, the Vatican confirmed in May 2020 that Rupnik had incurred an automatic excommunication, which the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) lifted two weeks later.

New sexual abuse allegations against Rupnik came to light in June 2021 from the Loyola Community in Slovenia, where he is accused of abusing nuns. The CDF stated in October 2022 that the statute of limitations had expired and Rupnik could not be investigated. However, in December 2022, he faced new allegations of abuse from his time at the Aletti Center in Rome. 

In October 2023, Pope Francis lifted the statute of limitations and ordered the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to begin a judicial process to investigate the claim. More allegations have come to light following that announcement. 

Rupnik was expelled from the Jesuits in June 2023 but is still a priest and a consultant to the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

Rupnik’s artwork is still displayed around the world, including in the Vatican’s Redemptoris Mater Chapel.

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 23, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Katie Ledecky, an Olympic athlete considered to be one of the best female swimmers of all time, often speaks about her faith and experiences of attending Catholic schools.

After winning her first Olympic gold medal in 2012 at age 15, Ledecky has gone on to become one of the best female swimmers of all time. With 10 Olympic medals and 21 world championship titles under her belt, Ledecky is poised to be one of the top competitors in the Paris Olympics later this month.

While her swimming feats have brought Ledecky accolades worldwide, those who knew the Maryland native in her youth while she attended Catholic schools describe her as being a bright, kind, and faithful student.

“She’s not only a wonderful athlete, but she is also a role model that you would want a young, Catholic woman to be,” Sister Rosemaron Rynn shared with CNA. “She’s grown into this wonderful person because of her great parents, her family life, and also the fact that she keeps herself close to God.”

Sister Rosemaron, who served as Ledecky’s principal at the Little Flower School in Bethesda, Maryland, said Ledecky attended the school from pre-K to eighth grade. “Her mom was a part of the Mystical Rose Society that takes care of the altar and other things in the church,” she added.

“Katie used to help her mom now and then with that, and I know from reading stories about her that she continues to say that her faith is very important,” Sister Rosemaron continued. “She has said that she prays before each event, and I believe that the Lord has really blessed her.”

In a 2016 interview with the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, Ledecky shared that she often prays a Hail Mary before each of her races, stating: “More than anything, praying just helps me to concentrate and let go of things that don’t matter in that moment. It gives me peace knowing I’m in good hands.”

“I think our devotion to Mary is very beautiful,” Ledecky said. “She has a sacred role in Catholicism, and her strong faith and humility are things we can learn from.”

Humility is another attribute that Sister Rosemaron credits Ledecky as having, telling CNA that “[Katie] never touted the fact that she was that good. In fact, it blew our minds when we found out that she was going toward the Olympics.”

“She’d come in during the morning before school started, her hair all wet because she had been out swimming before school,” she said. “But she never bragged about anything, ever. She was truly humble.”

Upon entering Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart for high school in 2011, Ledecky continued to remain “extremely grounded” and “humbly gracious” amid her rise to fame, according to Stone Ridge Principal Catherine Karrels.

“On our swim team, there were students of all levels. We had Katie who was an Olympian and students who were just learning how to make their way across the pool,” Karrels told CNA. “One of the things I admired about Katie was that she was so inclusive and celebratory for the other kids and all that they were able to accomplish.”

In addition to being a member of the Stone Ridge swim team and setting numerous records, Ledecky also participated in many of the school’s service opportunities. She volunteered as a teacher’s aide in her former elementary school, served meals to homeless people at the Shepherd’s Table soup kitchen, and helped lead Stone Ridge’s campus ministry program among others.

“Katie really cares deeply about other people and is very focused on community and family. I think a lot of that comes from her faith in that she sees the dignity in everyone around her,” Karrels said. “All of these things fit in with a faith life that is grounded in strong values that come from her family and that were also expressed in her education here at Stone Ridge.”

Ledecky has kept her Catholic formation and roots close to her, often making stops to see both the Little Flower School and Stone Ridge following her Olympic feats and accomplishments. As Sister Rosemaron recounted, Katie would visit her and the other sisters, “bringing her medals, letting us each wear one to take pictures with her.”

Karrels echoed this, sharing with CNA that Ledecky has done “a great job in keeping in touch with us, frequently coming back to campus when she’s in town.”

“She will often come and talk to our student body and engage with the kids. Usually when she does that, she wants it to be very informal,” Karrels continued. “She likes to come back and check in with her teachers and coaches, roam the halls, and see how everyone’s doing. I think she also knows how much we like for the young girls to be able to see and get to know her because she’s such an inspiration and a great role model for them in so many different ways.”

Set to compete in the upcoming Olympic games’ 200-meter, 400-meter, 800-meter, and 1500-meter freestyle events — two of which she currently holds the record for — the 27-year-old Ledecky is favored to win the gold for several of these events.

Sister Rosemaron and her fellow sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary plan to watch Ledecky and cheer her on, and the priests and congregation at the Church of the Little Flower expressed their prayers and well wishes for the athlete as she competes in Paris.

Stone Ridge will be hosting an Olympic Pep Rally on July 25, where more than 500 are expected to celebrate not just Ledecky but the school’s other two alumni competing for Team USA in swimming — Phoebe Bacon and Erin Gemmell.

Karrels, who will be traveling to Paris in order to cheer on her former students and report back to the Stone Ridge community, shared that “it’s astounding to have such high representation from our alumni.”

“I am thrilled to be going to watch Katie, Phoebe, and Erin compete,” she stated. “Hopefully when they get back from the games, we’ll be able to find a time for them to come to campus and tell their stories to our students, and to celebrate again all that they’ve accomplished and all the lessons they learned.”