St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church

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CNA Staff, Sep 12, 2024 / 18:20 pm (CNA).

A state judge nixed North Dakota’s protections for unborn babies on Thursday, saying that the state constitution creates a right to abortion before the unborn baby is viable outside the womb, which is usually defined at 22 or 23 weeks of pregnancy. 

North Dakota District Judge Bruce Romanick’s 24-page order making abortion legal up to the point of fetal viability is set to go into effect in 14 days. 

The ruling overturned the law that North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum signed in April 2023, which allowed abortion only in certain cases, such as pregnancies caused by rape or incest, within the first six weeks of pregnancy, and cases of serious health risk for the mother.

The Red River Women’s Clinic filed the original lawsuit in 2022 against a 2007 “trigger law” that went into effect after the overturning of Roe v. Wade. That law was later overturned by the state Supreme Court. The clinic has since relocated a few miles from Fargo, North Dakota, to Moorehead, Minnesota.

Romanick was ruling on the state’s request to dismiss the 2022 lawsuit. The state had argued that a trial wouldn’t make a difference as the clinic had since moved out of state.

Romanick ruled that the state’s abortion restrictions were unconstitutional because “pregnant women in North Dakota have a fundamental right to choose abortion before viability” under the state constitution, which protects “life, liberty, safety, and happiness” for individuals “including women.”

North Dakota Right to Life said in a statement Thursday that it is “deeply disappointed” by the ruling, arguing that the judge used “poor methodology” to go against “the standard legal process.”

“This ruling was made in response to the state’s request to dismiss the lawsuit, yet instead of either dismissing the case or setting a court hearing date, the judge unilaterally issued a ruling that dismantles critical protections for the unborn and vulnerable women across our state,” the statement read.

“The judge’s poor methodology and decision to bypass the standard legal process reflect a troubling disregard for the legal protections that were put in place to ensure informed consent and promote the safety of North Dakotans,” the statement continued. 

The judge also ruled that the restrictions were void because of their “vagueness.” He argued that the law violated due process because it was not clear enough to physicians which abortions they could perform legally and could have “a profound chilling effect on the willingness of physicians to perform abortions.”

“All North Dakota citizens, including women, have the right to make fundamental, appropriate, and informed medical decisions in consultation with a physician and to receive their chosen medical care … Such a choice is a fundamental one, central to personal autonomy and self-determination,” the court document reads.

“Unborn human life, pre-viability, is not a sufficient justification to interfere with a woman’s fundamental rights,” the judge continued. “Criminalizing pre-viability abortions is not necessary to promote the state’s interest in women’s health and protecting unborn human life.”

North Dakota Right to Life argued that the ruling was dangerous for both women and unborn children.

“We firmly believe that this ruling does a grave disservice to our state and will lead to harmful consequences for women, minors, and unborn children alike,” the statement read.

The group argued that the decision “opens North Dakota to unrestricted abortion access — eliminating necessary safeguards such as waiting periods, parental consent for minors, and critical health and safety standards.”

“In doing so, the judge’s decision directly undermines the well-being of women and young girls, putting their health at risk and disregarding the will of the people in North Dakota,” the statement continued.

Signage is strewn across the intersection after Hurricane Francine swept through the area on Sept. 11, 2024, in Houma, Louisiana. / Credit: Brandon Bell/Getty Images

CNA Staff, Sep 12, 2024 / 18:00 pm (CNA).

Hurricane Francine made landfall in southern Louisiana on Wednesday evening as a Category 2 storm, bringing 100 mph winds in some areas and copious rainfall. Many parts of the state, already drenched with previous rains, remained flooded Thursday even as Francine moved out of the region heading north.

Low-lying areas near and to the east of where Francine made landfall faced storm surge of five to 10 feet, the Washington Post reported. At the peak of the storm, 450,000 people in Louisiana were without electricity, a figure that has dropped to around 350,000, per the AP.

Kim Burgo, vice president of disaster operations at Catholic Charities USA, told CNA on Thursday afternoon that the aid organization is helping to fund and coordinate relief efforts through local Catholic Charities agencies in the region. The hardest-hit diocese in southern Louisiana has been Houma-Thibodaux, as well as parts of the Dioceses of Baton Rouge and Lafayette and the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

Burgo said the local Catholic Charities organizations in these areas are undertaking assessments to determine the needs of the affected populations, especially the poor whom they already serve on a regular basis. She said their primary concern is ensuring that people have access to necessary supplies and services — such as generators and food — to help them get by as power is restored and cleanup begins.

Each individual Catholic Charities agency in the region is accepting donations, as is Catholic Charities USA, which will distribute 100% of the donations to the affected areas.

“Each agency or each diocese will have their own criteria and different ways to help. And certainly, there are locations where people can drop off goods and items,” Burgo said, noting that some parts of Louisiana were spared flooding and storm damage despite their proximity to damaged areas.

Catholic Charities of Acadiana (CCA), which serves the Diocese of Lafayette, is already soliciting volunteers to help with relief efforts. The group says it needs volunteers who can do damage assessments, roof tarping, muck out and cleanup, debris removal and chainsawing, and in-kind donations management. The group also encouraged people of goodwill to donate to its disaster relief fund.

Burgo said CCA has begun assembling and distributing supplies, assisting the National Guard by unloading trucks filled with essential items like tarps and anti-mold products.

Meanwhile, in Houma-Thibodaux, a big focus is on distributing meals to people in need, especially for those still without power. The lack of electricity is especially impactful for low-income households as it disrupts the functioning of medical equipment and impedes food preservation, among other issues. 

Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New Orleans is also mobilized to help the community, but weather conditions were so bad that the agency said on social media that its offices would be closed until Friday, Sept. 13. Officially, 7.33 inches of rain fell at New Orleans International Airport on Wednesday, making it the second-wettest September day on record, the Washington Post reported. 

Burgo emphasized that Catholic Charities serve as a long-term presence in the community, providing support not just in times of disaster but also during peaceful periods. She encouraged people in need of assistance or those willing to offer help to reach out to their local Catholic Charities office or visit the national website.

“We’re not an organization that just goes in and does some work and then leaves. We’re there in both the times of sunshine and the times of disaster events,” she said.

St. Josaphat Catholic Church is a Roman Catholic church in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago. / Credit: CC BY-SA 4.0

CNA Staff, Sep 12, 2024 / 14:30 pm (CNA).

A recently ordained priest in Chicago is denying accusations from Illinois state officials that he molested a child during a recent penance service that allegedly took place at a youth retreat.

A letter from Chicago archbishop Cardinal Blase Cupich to St. Josaphat Parish, posted this month to the Archdiocese of Chicago’s website, said the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) “has opened an investigation into allegations they termed child exploitation and child molestation” allegedly committed by Father Martin Nyberg.

The incident allegedly occurred during a “public penance service,” according to the archbishop. Nyberg has served as an associate pastor at St. Josaphat in the city’s Sheffield neighborhood since July of this year, the prelate said.

The 28-year-old priest “strenuously denies the allegations,” Cupich wrote, though the archdiocese “reported the allegations to civil authorities and offered assistance to the accusers” in accordance with archdiocesan policy.

“I asked Father Nyberg to step aside from ministry until civil authorities have completed their investigations and our Independent Review Board has presented its recommendations to me,” Cupich wrote. 

“Father Nyberg agreed to cooperate fully with this process, and we will provide him with pastoral assistance as he awaits its outcome.”

The archbishop sent a similar letter to members of St. Paul of the Cross Parish, where Nyberg served as a deacon from 2023 to 2024.

The Archdiocese of Chicago did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday regarding the timeline of the independent review board’s investigation as well as a query about the nature of the “public penance service.”

But CBS News Chicago reported that the alleged incident reportedly took place at an “eighth-grade confirmation retreat” in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, in late August.

Students allegedly “said they were asked inappropriate sexual questions at the aforementioned confession service during the two-day overnight retreat,” while some said they were “touched inappropriately by Nyberg.” 

DCFS spokeswoman Heather Tarczan, meanwhile, told CNA on Thursday that the department’s investigation “just started and we are working with local law enforcement.”

“At this time, we cannot say exactly how long it will take,” she said.

According to the Chicago Catholic, Nyberg was born in Chicago and attended The Catholic University of America and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary.

He was ordained on May 18 of this year and celebrated his first Mass at St. Edward Parish in Chicago.

Jennie Bradley Lichter is set to become the new president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund. / Credit: Photo courtesy of March for Life Education and Defense Fund

CNA Staff, Sep 12, 2024 / 14:00 pm (CNA).

The March for Life announced Thursday that longtime president Jeanne Mancini will pass the torch early next year to Jennie Bradley Lichter, a leading pro-life lawyer and policy expert.

“Leading the March for Life has been the honor and opportunity of a lifetime, one for which I will be forever grateful. There have been countless highlights during my time as president of March for Life, including the momentous overturn of Roe v. Wade,” said Mancini, who has led the pro-life organization for the past 12 years.

“I’m convinced that building a culture of life through compassionate public witness to the inherent dignity of the unborn and their mothers is as critically important today as it was the tragic day abortion was first legalized in the United States — or at any time since,” she said.

“I am more than delighted to watch how the organization will continue to grow under Jennie Bradley Lichter’s leadership.”

Catholic pro-life activist Nellie Gray founded the March for Life in Washington, D.C., in 1974 following the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide. 

The organization, which now bills its march as the world’s largest annual human rights demonstration, celebrated its 51st anniversary with this year’s gathering, which took place in late January and attracted tens of thousands.

Mancini was only the second person to serve as president of the March for Life, after Gray herself, who died in 2012. Mancini’s tenure of a dozen years was marked by “consistent and extraordinarily fruitful growth,” the group says, which includes the establishment of a “rapidly expanding” state march program, already present in 16 states. 

Other major milestones under Mancini’s leadership include hosting for the first time the sitting vice president and president of the United States at the national March in 2020 as well as the landmark 2022 Supreme Court decision Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which returned the power to legislate on abortion to the states. 

Mancini said the annual march remains a vital part of the pro-life movement for several reasons — as a participation in history, as a witness to the importance of caring for pregnant women through pro-life pregnancy centers and other means, and as a recognition that the pro-life movement still has work to do — especially in the 10 states with abortion on the ballot this year. 

“We have certainly had some tough [ballot box] losses in the past couple of years, but we are living in what I perceive to be the cultural earthquake of the overturn of Roe, which is a season and will pass,” Mancini noted.

“While this season shows the profound need to educate and change hearts and minds about the destructive nature of abortion to both mother and baby, it does not in any way mean that the overturn of Roe was a mistake,” she said.

“Consider that nearly half the states have enacted life protective laws prior to the time of viability — something that couldn’t happen under a Roe regime.”

‘The spirit of a longtime marcher’

Lichter, who most recently served as deputy general counsel at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., brings a broad range of legal and policy experience in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, including at “the highest levels of the federal government,” the March for Life says. She also has served as senior legal fellow at the Religious Freedom Institute. 

In addition to being a “longtime marcher,” Lichter is a married mother of three and founded an initiative at The Catholic University of America — the Guadalupe Project — to provide tangible resources and support to expectant mothers and their children. 

She said this week she is “looking forward to leading the March for Life’s engagement in conversations about legal strategy.”

“When I first began attending the National March as a college student over 20 years ago, I never could have dreamed that someday I would have the honor of leading it,” Lichter said. 

“I have long loved the positive spirit of the March, the youthfulness, the energy, the esprit de corps, the doggedness that is required of those who show up in late January whatever the weather,” she said.

“Although my vantage point at the National March will be changing, I will be bringing the spirit of a longtime marcher into my new role. And I’m looking forward to continuing to march alongside so many others who are committed to witnessing to the dignity of every human life.”

Lichter’s tenure as president will begin in February 2025. Mancini will continue to serve on the March for Life’s board of directors, the group says.

“Political and cultural winds can and do change, but no matter what happens on the ballot or in the courts or the national conversation this year or any other year, there will still be many, many thousands of Americans who will be looking to the March for Life for guidance. For leadership. For hope. For joyful witness,” Lichter continued.

“And most of all, for an opportunity to be together — in D.C. in January, every single year, or in state capitals across the country — and to show that pro-life Americans are still here, we are still motivated, we will never, ever tire of witnessing together to the beauty and dignity and utter preciousness of human life. In my mind, that’s the most powerful thing about this organization.  It is such an honor to have an opportunity to lead it. I can’t wait to get started.”

Marijuana leaves. / Credit: Armando Olivo Martín del Campo CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED

CNA Staff, Sep 12, 2024 / 13:05 pm (CNA).

The bishops of North Dakota condemned a state ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana in a Tuesday statement, citing Church teaching on the harms of drug use as well as its negative physical and societal effects. 

Measure 5, if approved, would allow adults 21 and over to grow, sell, and use marijuana for recreational purposes. A similar ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana was rejected by North Dakota voters in 2018 and 2022.

“We believe individuals, families, and communities will be significantly harmed if recreational marijuana is legalized in our state,” the bishops wrote in the Sept. 10 statement. “We therefore strongly encourage Catholics and all other people of goodwill in North Dakota to vote ‘NO’ on Measure 5.”

Though cannabis is illegal on the federal level, recreational use of it is currently legal in 24 states and is on the ballot in three states: North Dakota, South Dakota, and Florida. 

The bishops noted that the substance can have harmful physical effects. 

“Marijuana is not the harmless drug that some imagine it to be,” they wrote. “Rather, there is ample evidence that regular marijuana use impairs brain functioning, stunts brain development, damages the lungs, and is linked to a lowered immune system.”

Marijuana can affect brain development in teenagers by impairing thinking, memory, and learning functions, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

“Regular marijuana use is also associated with mental health issues like depression, anxiety, and suicide,” the bishops continued. “Significant numbers of users become addicted to marijuana, and it often serves as a gateway to even harder drugs.”

Citing the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the bishops noted that as human life and health are gifts from God, the Church teaches that “the use of drugs inflicts very grave damage on human health and life. Their use, except on strictly therapeutic grounds, is a grave offense” (CCC, 2291). 

“Thus, the political community has a duty to provide for ‘the protection of security and health [of the family], especially with respect to dangers like drugs’ (CCC, 2211),” the bishops continued. 

“Pope Francis recently spoke out against legalizing recreational drugs, calling such policies an ‘illusion’ that only leads to more drug use,” the bishops added.

The bishops also cited increased societal problems such as crime and hospitalizations due to cannabis use. 

“Other states that have gone down the road of legalizing recreational marijuana have seen spikes in drug use, mental health problems, crime, DUIs, emergency-room visits, hospitalizations, and workplace accidents, all associated with marijuana use. 

“Things have gotten so bad in Colorado that Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver issued a lengthy pastoral letter last December cataloging the extensive harms caused by recreational marijuana since its legalization in 2012, characterizing it as ‘disastrous to our society,’” the bishops noted. 

The legalization of marijuana “is destroying the health and social fabric of Colorado,” read a  2021 study on the impact of marijuana legalization in Colorado by Missouri Medicine. 

“Suicide, overdoses, ER visits, hospitalizations, and domestic and street violence due to cannabis are soaring while cannabis tax revenues are an anemic 0.98% of the 2021 state budget,” the study noted. 

“Likewise, just a few months ago, our brother bishops in Minnesota issued a pastoral letter warning of the serious risks of marijuana usage in the wake of its legalization last year,” the bishops added. “Why would we ever want to go down this same path?”

From left: Our Lady of Fatima; Our Lady of Lourdes; Our Lady of Guadalupe; Our Lady of the Rosary; Our Lady of Sorrows; Our Lady, Undoer of Knots; and Our Lady of Peace. / Credit: Ricardoperna via Canva Teams; rparys via Canva Teams; Bluebird13 via Canva Teams; Sidney de Almeida via Canva Teams; Zarateman, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Johann Georg Melchior Schmidtner (1625-1705), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; and Gerald Farinas at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, Sep 12, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

On Sept. 12, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of the Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The feast was officially instituted by Pope Innocent XI, and the celebration dates back to the early 1500s when Catholics in Spain began commemorating Mary’s special graces, intercession, and mediation.

Over the centuries, the Blessed Mother has been graced with a plethora of different titles such as Our Lady of the Rosary, Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, Queen of Peace, and many others. 

Here are seven of the Virgin Mary’s most popular titles:

Our Lady of Fátima

The Blessed Mother received this title when she appeared to three shepherd children in the small village of Fátima, Portugal, in 1917. Against the backdrop of World War I, the Virgin Mary appeared six times to Lucia Dos Santos and Jacinta and Francisco Marto where she instructed them to pray the rosary daily, showed them a vision of hell, and warned them of the trials that would afflict the world by means of war, starvation, and the persecution of the Church. In her last apparition to the children, she called herself “the Lady of the Rosary.”

Our Lady of Lourdes

On a cold day in February 1858, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to 13-year-old Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, France. Over the course of 18 apparitions, the Blessed Mother told the young girl to pray the rosary, to pray for the conversion of sinners, and that a chapel needed to be built on that spot. This spot continues to be the home of the healing waters millions of pilgrims visit each year at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes.

Our Lady of Guadalupe

The most popular Marian title in Latin American countries, Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to a humble Native American, Juan Diego, on a hill in what is now Mexico City in 1531. She made a request that a church be built on the site and left an image on Juan Diego’s tilma that still shows no signs of decay almost 500 years later. Between 18 million to 20 million pilgrims visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe yearly.0

Our Lady of the Rosary

The Blessed Virgin Mary received the title of Our Lady of the Rosary in the 16th century from Pope Pius V after he attributed a naval victory that secured Europe against Turkish invasion to the intercession of the Blessed Mother. Crew members on more than 200 ships prayed the rosary in preparation for the battle, as did Christians throughout Europe, who were encouraged by the pope. When the pope was informed of the day’s events — that all but 13 of the nearly 300 Turkish ships had been captured or sunk — he understood the significance. He was moved to institute the feast now celebrated universally as Our Lady of the Rosary.

Our Lady of Sorrows

The devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows is nearly 1,000 years old and encourages the faithful to reflect on the seven sorrows of Mary, which begin with St. Simeon’s prophecy told to the Blessed Mother and culminate in the events of the passion and death of Christ. 

Our Lady, Undoer of Knots

One of the many devotions Pope Francis has promoted during his pontificate is the devotion to Our Lady, Undoer of Knots. A painting of the Blessed Mother, which was completed around the year 1700, shows her untying knots from a long ribbon. The image was inspired by the painter’s grandparents, who years before avoided a divorce after meeting with their priest, who took a ribbon from the marriage ritual and asked for the intercession of the Virgin Mary to untie the knots of their marital difficulties. 

Queen of Peace

The title of Queen of Peace, or Our Lady of Peace, dates back to the 16th century when Jean de Joyeuse presented a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary to his bride, Françoise e Voisins, on their wedding day. The statue, named Notre Dame de Paix, or Our Lady of Peace, depicted Mary holding an olive branch in her right hand and the Prince of Peace, Jesus, seated in her left arm. The statue became a family heirloom and was passed down to their grandson, Henri Joyeuse, who joined the Capuchins in Paris. The statue remained with the Capuchins for the next 200 years and on July 9, 1906, in the name of St. Pius X, the archbishop of Paris ceremonially crowned the Our Lady of Peace statue, thus becoming Our Lady, Queen of Peace.

The Holy Spirit Catholic Mission in Washoe Valley, Nevada, before (left) and after a rampant wildfire destroyed the church on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. / Credit: Vincent Toomey

CNA Staff, Sep 11, 2024 / 17:25 pm (CNA).

A rampant wildfire on Saturday destroyed The Holy Spirit Catholic Mission in Washoe Valley, Nevada, which held the only Latin Mass in northern Nevada.

Several other homes and structures in the area along U.S. Highway 395 New Washoe were destroyed by the Davis Fire, according to local news reports.

The church, built in 1978, was completely destroyed, along with the tabernacle and almost all of the church’s official documents, though a statue of Mary survived, along with other sacred objects.

Bishop Daniel Mueggenborg of Reno offered his encouragement and support following the fire in a Sept. 8 pastoral letter. Mueggenborg said that he rushed to the mission on Saturday night when he heard that it had been destroyed, as did many parishioners, “in the hopes of recovering the Blessed Sacrament.” 

While first responders prevented access into Washoe Valley due to the dangers of the ongoing fires, he and other community members returned the following morning. 

“Nothing could have prepared us for what we saw when we arrived at the mission,” he wrote. “We were saddened beyond words at the smoldering debris that was once the house of God.”

“As an immediate sign of hope, we saw the undamaged statue of the Blessed Mother standing in watchful attention over the site of the former mission chapel,” Mueggenborg continued. “The Blessed Mother is particularly close to her adopted children in Christ when they suffer affliction and distress.”

Mueggenborg said that the situation developed “so quickly that none of us could have anticipated the magnitude of the devastation which would result.”

The bishop explained that he and some volunteers arrived in the hopes of recovering the Blessed Sacrament but found that the tabernacle had been completely destroyed.

“The heat was so intense that it actually fused metallic pieces together,” he said. “As such, nothing remained of the Blessed Sacrament.”

“Upon arriving at the site, we were all saddened and couldn’t believe when we saw that the entire building had collapsed and there was still smoke on the ground,” Father Arlon Vergara, pastor of the parish, said in a letter shared with CNA. “But what caught my attention was the statue of Mary, with no damage and still immaculately white, standing as if protecting the holy ground.”

The Church also lost its sacramental records, which are necessary for people who seek further sacraments in the Church such as confirmation or marriage. The diocese is working on reconstructing the records and requesting local Catholics to submit any copies of baptism, confirmation, or marriage certificates that they have.

“This unfortunate event taught us a lesson to ensure that our buildings and important documents are more secured,” Vergara said of the records, which had been stored in a safe. “Perhaps all our parishes can adapt to technology of moving our records to digital records. This process can protect our records during extreme and difficult circumstances.”

The parish was also able to salvage a monstrance, two chalices, and a dry seal mark of the mission as well as a holy water container, holy oil container, and some small sacred medals.

“I believe that we can get through all this,” Vergara said. “The structure has been destroyed, but the Church, which is the people, is alive and steadfast in faith and resilient in times of trials and difficulties.”

“We will move forward and will continue to minister to our flock with dedication and commitment to walk with them,” he said.

The parish will celebrate Mass at Bishop Manogue High School for the near future at the invitation of the recently appointed superintendent of Catholic schools for the diocese, Brother Christopher Hall. The high school’s chapel will host the congregation for Sunday worship. The bishop expressed his hope that this “will help your community to preserve its unity as you plan your future.”

Bangor Christian Schools building in Bangor, Maine. / Credit: Photo courtesy of First Liberty Institute

CNA Staff, Sep 11, 2024 / 16:11 pm (CNA).

A Christian school on Sept. 3 filed an appeal against Maine for attempting to dodge a U.S. Supreme Court ruling by passing a “poison pill” law that prevents Christian schools from participating in the state’s school choice program. 

First Liberty Institute and Consovoy McCarthy PLLC, on behalf of Crosspoint Church, which operates Bangor Christian Schools, asked the U.S Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to reverse a lower court decision. The decision upheld a Maine law, which the lawsuit calls a “poison pill” that effectively prevents religious schools from participating in the school choice program because of their beliefs. 

Crosspoint Church is a nondenominational Christian church in Bangor that runs Bangor Christian Schools (BCS), a preschool–12 religious school.

Maine’s school choice tuitioning program — the second-oldest school choice program in the nation — allows families in rural districts with no public secondary schools to send their children to a public or private school of their choice. However, families could not use the tuition benefit at religious schools beginning in the 1980s after Maine required schools to be “nonsectarian” to participate in the program. 

This requirement was overturned in the 2022 Supreme Court decision Carson v. Makin, which ruled that it was discriminatory toward religious schools. 

But before the decision, Maine changed the law to require BCS to go against its religious beliefs to participate in the program.

“This ‘poison pill’ is designed to deter religious schools from participating and thus perpetuates the religious discrimination at the heart of the state’s prior sectarian exclusion,” the lawsuit reads. “From the start, Maine’s attorney general and the then-speaker of the House of Representatives admitted this scheme was intentional.”

Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey called the Supreme Court decision “disturbing” in a 2022 press release, saying he intended to “ensure that public money is not used to promote discrimination, intolerance, and bigotry.”

“Public education should expose children to a variety of viewpoints, promote tolerance and understanding, and prepare children for life in a diverse society,” Frey noted, saying that the religious private schools protected by the decision were detrimental to a public education. 

“They promote a single religion to the exclusion of all others, refuse to admit gay and transgender children, and openly discriminate in hiring teachers and staff. One school teaches children that the husband is to be the leader of the household,” he added.

The recent appeal notes that “the state did not enforce the sectarian exclusion to exclude all religious schools. Instead, the education commissioner administered the sectarian exclusion to exclude only certain religious schools, depending on their religious beliefs.” 

“Families should be free to choose the educational option that works best for them without the state’s unconstitutional interference,” said Camille Varone, associate counsel for First Liberty Institute, in a Sept. 3 press release.

“Maine excluded religious schools from its school choice program for over 40 years, but the U.S. Supreme Court made it clear that such religious discrimination must end,” she said.

The nave of St. Casimir Church in Buffalo, New York. / Credit: Michael Shriver/buffalophotoblog.com

CNA Staff, Sep 11, 2024 / 15:32 pm (CNA).

The Diocese of Buffalo, New York, this week revealed the final list of parish closures and mergers it will undertake in order to address years of shrinking budgets and declining church attendance.

Buffalo Bishop Michael Fisher had announced in May that an estimated 34% of the diocese’s parishes would be merged in a process of “rightsizing and reshaping.”

The bishop said the mergers — part of the diocesan “Road to Renewal” program — were necessitated by a shortage of priests, declining Mass attendance, aging congregations, and financial difficulties brought on by clergy abuse lawsuits.

In a press release this week, the diocese said it would see “a total of 118 worship sites remain open” following the merger review. 

“The diocese currently has a total of 196 worship sites that include 160 parishes and 36 secondary worship sites,” the release said. “Going forward the diocese will see 79 parishes and 39 secondary worship sites remain after the merger/closure process.”

The diocese said in its news release that it had met with its vicariates throughout August and considered several dozen “counter proposals” to its initial merger plan. Those suggestions “resulted in changes to 26 of the 36 families of parishes’ initial recommendations.”

Fisher in his release said the Buffalo Diocese is facing “harsh realities” including “a decline in Church attendance, the decline of those pursuing a life in ordained ministry, [and] the rise of secularism and shift away from the parish as the defining center of Catholic identity.” 

The bishop also cited “the horrendous toll that the sexual abuse scandal by clergy and others has inflicted on parish life and the personal faith of so many; most especially on those who have been forever harmed in body, mind, and spirit.”

The Road to Renewal initiative “has been about reinvigorating Catholic faith, more fully optimizing parish and diocesan resources, and increasing the impact of our varied ministries among the countless who benefit from them across western New York,” the bishop said. 

“The ultimate goal is for all parish families to be and remain vibrant communities of faith, focused on their evangelizing mission and serving the abundant need all around us.”

Father Bryan Zielenieski, the diocesan vicar for renewal and development who is also leading the Road to Renewal program, said the high number of changes to the initial recommendations “reveals the true openness and collaboration in our effort to craft a diocesan roadmap for the foreseeable future.”

The Buffalo Diocese isn’t the only U.S. bishopric undertaking major closure and merger plans to address dwindling Church resources and attendance.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore announced its own merger plan for the city of Baltimore earlier this year, while the Archdiocese of St. Louis has been undergoing a similar process, as has the Archdiocese of Seattle.

Local activists and Catholics have been working recently to save some religious sites in Buffalo, meanwhile, as the merger plan has progressed.

The historic St. Casimir Parish in Buffalo has been struggling to stay open while facing tens of thousands of dollars in bills that threaten to close the nearly-century-old structure. Parishioners and advocates have been working to raise funds to keep the parish open.

The organization Preservation Buffalo Niagara, meanwhile, announced earlier this year that it was launching a “Save Our Sacred Sites” campaign, one aimed at “funding and submitting local landmark applications for churches within the city of Buffalo” that it said are at risk of closure by the Diocese of Buffalo.

Members of the Buffalo Preservation Board voted last week to designate several local parishes as city landmarks. Those designations are currently before the Buffalo City Council.

Republican presidential nominee former president Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris debate for the first time during the presidential election campaign at the National Constitution Center on Sept. 10, 2024, in Philadelphia. / Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images

CNA Staff, Sep 11, 2024 / 14:30 pm (CNA).

A new poll by Pew Research Center shows a slim majority of U.S. Catholics intending to cast their ballot for former president Donald Trump in November, with Trump and Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris in a dead heat among the entire electorate as the election contest enters its final weeks. 

The poll, released Monday, found that “U.S. religious groups that traditionally have leaned Republican are backing former president Donald Trump by wide margins,” while groups that have historically backed Democrats “are mostly supporting Vice President Kamala Harris.”

Among Catholics, 52% said they were backing Trump in the race, compared with 47% who said they favored Harris. 

Trump’s support rose to 61% among white Catholics, while Harris commanded a sizable 65% share of Hispanic Catholics. 

An earlier Pew survey from February found that 42% of Catholics held a favorable view of Trump, compared with 57% with an unfavorable view. 

In contrast to Pew’s findings this week, an EWTN News/RealClear Opinion Research survey released last week found Harris leading Trump among Catholic voters overall, with 50% of respondents backing Harris and 42% backing Trump. 

In that survey, the vice president also led Trump among Catholic African American voters 82% to 12%, and Catholic Asian voters 58% to 35%. Trump carried non-Hispanic white Catholic voters by 52% to 42%. 

The EWTN/RealClear poll, conducted Aug. 28–30, surveyed 1,000 Catholics and had a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points. The Pew poll, taken Aug. 26–Sept. 2, surveyed a total of 9,720 voters and recorded a margin of error of about 1.5 percentage points. 

In this week’s Pew survey, meanwhile, Trump saw majorities of support among white Protestants, while large majorities of atheists and agnostics are backing Harris, as are a whopping 86% of Black Protestants.

Overall, this week’s Pew survey found the two candidates in a dead heat, with 49% of respondents backing Trump and 49% supporting Harris. 

Pew said it found consensus among broad religious groups regarding the most prominent issues of the campaign, revealing, for instance, that “at least 6 in 10 registered voters in every religious group say the economy will be very important in their voting decision.” 

And “half or more in almost every religious group say the same about health care, Supreme Court appointments, and foreign policy.”