St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church and Divine Infant of Prague Mission

House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks with EWTN News' Erik Rosales at the U.S. Capitol. / Credit: EWTN News

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 13, 2024 / 17:40 pm (CNA).

Republican lawmakers will maintain control of the House of Representatives, which completes a governing trifecta heading into January 2025.

The Republican Party will hold at least a small House majority in the 119th Congress after securing narrow wins in various competitive congressional districts. As of late Wednesday afternoon, Republicans had won at least 219 seats, while Democrats had won 211 seats, according to Decision Desk HQ.

There are still five races yet to be called. 

“It’s a new day in America,” Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a post on X. 

“The American people want secure borders, lower costs, safe communities, strength on the world stage, and an end to woke, radical policies,” Johnson said. “Under President Trump, House Republicans will deliver, helping usher in a new golden age in America.”

According to Decision Desk HQ, Republicans are expected to win two of the seats that have not yet been called and Democrats are also expected to win two. One of the races remains listed as a toss-up. 

If these races remain on that trajectory, Republicans will hold either a nine-seat majority or a seven-seat majority. Heading into the election, Republicans held an eight-seat majority in the chamber, with three vacancies.

However, some of President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet appointments could affect the final number as he continues to nominate a handful of lawmakers to serve in key roles. If they are confirmed, at least two members will resign their House seats to serve in the administration. 

If those members of Congress are confirmed to serve in the administration, they will need to be replaced in a special election.

In addition to winning the House of Representatives and the White House, Republicans also flipped control of the Senate. The GOP will head into the new year with a six-seat majority after flipping Senate seats in four states: West Virginia, Montana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. 

“Looking forward to joining the Senate freshman class of 2025 for orientation this week!” Republican Sen.-elect Dave McCormick wrote after winning a tightly contested race against incumbent Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. Bob Casey Jr.

“I’m honored to represent the people of Pennsylvania, and will fight hard to make sure their voices are heard in Washington,” he wrote on X. “Let’s get to work!”

This is a reversal of the current two-seat Democratic majority in the chamber.

These numbers will also be affected by Sen. JD Vance serving as Trump’s vice president and could be affected if Sen. Marco Rubio is confirmed as secretary of state.

Thune will be Senate majority leader, Johnson to remain House speaker

Republican lawmakers selected Sen. John Thune from South Dakota to serve as the Senate majority leader and selected House Speaker Mike Johnson to continue serving in his role.

The selection of Thune to lead the Senate Republican Caucus comes after the previous leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell, announced he would step down from leadership earlier in the year. 

“Republicans have a mandate from the American people to clean up the mess left by the Biden-Harris-Schumer agenda and to deliver on President Trump’s priorities — our work starts today,” Thune said following his election.

Thune had previously been serving as the Senate minority whip for the Republicans. Thune, who is a pro-life evangelical Christian, spoke about his faith with EWTN earlier this year.

The selection of Johnson to keep serving as speaker comes after he received an endorsement from Trump. The Republican from Louisiana is an outspoken evangelical Christian and has been a vocal pro-life advocate.

“Our strong Republican majority is looking forward to advancing your agenda that puts the American people FIRST!” Johnson said in a post on X. “As you said, we will unify and get it done!”

However, the role of speaker requires a majority vote from the House of Representatives as a whole, which caused problems for former speaker Kevin McCarthy when he faced opposition from every Democrat and a small number of Republicans two years ago.

Although Johnson ran unopposed, if a small number of Republicans resist the party’s selection, it could make his path to speakership tougher. 

The last time Republicans had a governing trifecta was after the 2016 elections, which is when Trump won his first term in office. Republicans lost that trifecta in 2018 after losing the House of Representatives.

null / Credit: ArtOlympic/Shutterstock

Puebla, Mexico, Nov 13, 2024 / 16:30 pm (CNA).

The Catholic Church is mourning the death of two brothers, both minors, who were shot Nov. 9 near Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in the town of Entabladero, located in the Espinal district of Veracruz state in Mexico.

The attorney general of the state of Veracruz, Verónica Hernández Giadáns, confirmed that prosecutors, experts, and police are working to determine the facts of the case and find the whereabouts of those responsible for the murder and said that “there will be no impunity.”

Local media reports claimed that the murdered brothers were altar boys at the parish. According to the Catholic Multimedia Center, an organization that closely follows acts of violence against the Church in Mexico, one of the minors “was an altar boy and the other helped his mom with the work of cleaning the church.”

The spokesman for the Diocese of Papantla, Father Lorenzo Rivas Fuentes, told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, that one of the minors “was an altar boy for years,” while the other “was a person who belonged to a youth group” at the parish.

Rivas also explained that the crime did not occur inside the Catholic church, as reported by some local media, but rather occurred in a nearby plaza.

The mother of the deceased youths was until a few days ago in charge of preparing food for the priest, added the spokesman for the Mexican diocese.

Rivas called on the authorities to carry out the necessary investigations and asked the Catholic faithful to “pray for peace, pray for their eternal rest and that God comfort the families of these minors.”

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

Archbishop Borys Gudziak on Nov. 13, 2024, during the U.S. bishops’ annual fall meeting called for a return to the obligation to abstain from meat on Fridays as a way of acknowledging the importance of caring for creation. / Credit: Screenshot from United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Baltimore, Md., Nov 13, 2024 / 15:50 pm (CNA).

A leading U.S. Catholic bishop on Wednesday called on his fellow bishops to help revive the tradition of abstinence from meat on Fridays as a way to commemorate the upcoming 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’ 2015 environmental encyclical Laudato Si'.

Archbishop Borys Gudziak, chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, the committee charged with advancing Catholic social teaching, made his remarks at the conference’s annual fall meeting in Baltimore on Nov. 13.

In 1966, the USCCB (then called the National Conference of Catholic Bishops) removed the obligation of the faithful to abstain from meat on Fridays except during Lent. The tradition of fasting on Fridays dates back to the early Church but was codified in canon law in 1917. 

“We could renew the tradition of Friday abstinence from meat,” said Gudziak, the metropolitan archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia. “A return to Friday abstinence would be good for the soul and for the planet, maybe for something else, uniting our devotion to the Lord and reverence for the Lord’s creation.”

He noted that in 2011, the Catholic bishops of England and Wales introduced the pre-Vatican II practice, inspired by a pastoral visit to England by Pope Benedict XVI, who he said was known as the “Green Pope” for his emphasis on the importance of caring for creation.

Reintroducing fasting on Fridays would also bring the Roman Catholic Church closer to its Eastern brothers, he said. 

“Furthermore, fasting could be an opportunity for synodal engagement, exploring ancient practices in the Latin rite, such as Ember Days or Advent fasts, and other rich Eastern Christian practices among Catholics and others,” Gudziak said. 

In addition to fasting, Gudziak suggested Catholics honor the Sabbath and turn to the sacrament of the Eucharist.

“In a world of constant work and stimulation, with ever-present photos, screens, and gadgets, in essence, our world does not rest and struggles with leisure. Perhaps, providentially, 2025 memorializes not only Laudato Si’ but also the jubilee, a special year rooted in Sabbath rest,” he said.

“Our hyperactive world yearns for the Sabbath, which is expressed in the Sunday Eucharist when the Lord makes all things new,” he continued. “On this theme, I would suggest efforts centered on contemplation of creation, leisure, and celebration. This could lead to a pilgrimage to a significant local shrine, basilica, or ecological site in your diocese or eparchy that evokes the marvel of God’s creation.” 

He suggested bishops consider celebrating a special Mass for care for creation on the feast of St. Francis or “preaching on the union of creation and the divine in the Eucharist.”

“To be truly restful, such an initiative should be oriented to the sacraments and overflow with celebration and joy,” he said. ”The goal of this suggestion is not to do something but to experience something, the mystery of God’s presence in the sacraments and in creation.”

York Minster, the seat of the archbishop of York, one of the two archbishops within the Church of England. / Credit: Jonah McKeown/CNA

CNA Staff, Nov 13, 2024 / 15:05 pm (CNA).

Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Anglican Communion, resigned on Tuesday over his handling of a high-profile abuse case. 

A position with deep Catholic roots, the archbishop of Canterbury is considered “first among equals” among Anglicans worldwide and has the important role of anointing the new British monarch during coronations. 

In recent years, Pope Francis has made ecumenical gestures toward the Anglican church, traveling with Welby and a Scottish Protestant leader to South Sudan in 2023 and allowing Welby to celebrate an Anglican liturgy earlier this year in Rome’s Basilica of St. Bartholomew as part of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Here’s what you need to know about the Church of England, the archbishop of Canterbury, and Anglicanism. 

What is the Church of England?

Simply put, the Church of England is the United Kingdom’s official church, with the British monarch serving as its supreme governor. 

King Charles III’s official title is “Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England,” and since the 16th century each new monarch has sworn an oath to uphold the Protestant religion. 

Since the Synod of Whitby in 664, the Church of England has been divided into two provinces — Canterbury and York — each with its own archbishop, as well as numerous dioceses each with a bishop. Canterbury is currently vacant following Welby’s resignation; the current archbishop of York, whose cathedral is York Minster, is Stephen Cottrell. 

Like all Protestants, adherents to the Church of England hold the Bible in highest regard, though a variety of worship styles exist within the Church of England and in Anglicanism at large.

The 1662 Book of Common Prayer, still in use today, codified the liturgical practices and doctrines — replacing the Catholic ones — of the newly established church. It remains a “permanent feature of the Church of England’s worship and a key source for its doctrine,” the church’s website says. 

How did the Church of England come about?

Amid the chaos wrought by the Protestant Reformation, the Church of England broke away from the Catholic Church under King Henry VIII, who in 1527, desiring a male heir, wanted to divorce his wife Catherine of Aragon but failed to secure a papal annulment.

Parliament subsequently passed laws abolishing papal authority and declaring King Henry the head of the Church of England. St. Thomas More, a lawyer, author, and high-ranking member of the king’s cabinet, was martyred for opposing Henry’s plan, as was St. John Fisher, a Catholic cardinal, for similar reasons.

A time of brutal persecution for Catholics, the English Reformation, followed. Despite a brief return to papal submission under Queen Mary Tudor, Elizabeth I reversed this when she became queen in 1558.

The Reformation saw monasteries destroyed, Catholic churches including Westminster Abbey taken over, and the witness of such martyrs as St. Margaret Clitherow, who in 1586 was pressed to death upon sharp rocks after refusing to renounce her Catholic faith. 

Following the English Civil War of 1642–1651 and the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the constitutional position of the Church of England since 1689 establishes for the church “a range of legal privileges and responsibilities, but with ever-increasing religious and civil rights being granted to other Christians, those of other faiths, and those of no faith at all,” the Church of England website says. 

The restoration of Catholicism’s legal status was not fully accomplished in Britain until the 19th century. 

Why Canterbury?

St. Augustine of Canterbury, whom Catholics honor on May 27, founded the See of Canterbury in the last years of the sixth century. He continued to preach the Catholic faith to the country’s Anglo-Saxon pagans during the late sixth and early seventh centuries, under the direction of Pope Gregory I (St. Gregory the Great). 

(He is not to be confused with St. Augustine of Hippo, who is a doctor of the Church, the son of St. Monica, and the author of the “Confessions.”) 

Likely born in Rome to a noble family on an unknown date, Augustine joined the newly-founded Benedictine order, entering a community founded by the future Pope Gregory, who maintained a friendship with Augustine. Later on, in 595, Pope Gregory set about planning to re-evangelize England; the island’s Celtic inhabitants had accepted Christianity centuries before, but the country had been dominated by Anglo-Saxon invaders since the mid-fifth century. 

Pope Gregory chose a group of about 40 monks, including Augustine, to set sail for England in spring 597. After arriving they gained an audience with pagan King Ethelbert of Kent, who would later convert and become a saint after Augustine’s powerful and straightforward presentation of the Gospel message. He allowed the monks to settle in Canterbury and to evangelize. 

Augustine was later consecrated a bishop, and by Christmas 597, over 10,000 people were actively seeking baptism from the missionaries.

Augustine died in 604, and Canterbury remained the seat of English Catholicism for nearly 1,000 years, until the Reformation. 

What is the Anglican Communion?

Founded in 1867, the Anglican Communion is a collection of churches around the world that recognize the archbishop of Canterbury as “first among equals” — a spiritual leader and unifying figure but not a central authority like the pope. 

Each church is distinct and autonomous, but all share a history and beliefs with the Church of England. The Anglican Communion describes itself as “a family of 42 autonomous and independent-yet-interdependent national, pan-national, and regional churches in communion with the See of Canterbury.” 

These churches include the U.S.-based Episcopal Church, which originally separated from the Church of England after the American Revolution. 

The Anglican Communion is governed by bishops who convene at various levels in regular meetings known as synods — a familiar word to members of the Catholic Church, which also convenes synods, most recently the Synod on Synodality. 

In the Anglican Communion, synods take place at the diocesan level, where bishops, clergy, and laity discuss local administrative and pastoral matters; and at the provincial or national level, which see participants divided into a kind of bicameral structure: a House of Bishops and a House of Representatives composed of clergy and laity. Binding decisions are often made at these provincial or national synods via vote. 

Finally, the highest level of meeting is that of the Lambeth Conference, a once-a-decade convention that provides an opportunity for Anglican leaders — specifically bishops — to discuss the major issues facing the church and the world. It’s a consultative meeting, led by the archbishop of Canterbury, but the assembled body has no legislative power. 

Collectively, the Anglican Communion represents the third-largest branch of established Christianity in the world after the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, with an estimated 110 million members worldwide. 

The Anglican Communion has been in tension in recent years over LGBT issues, especially since 2003, when the Episcopal Church voted to ordain as a bishop V. Gene Robinson, a gay man in a same-sex relationship. Such moves have drawn sharp criticism from Anglican communities elsewhere, particularly in Africa.

A priest administers the Anointing of the Sick. / Credit: Kristina Ismulyani/Shutterstock

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 13, 2024 / 14:35 pm (CNA).

The dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, is preventing priests from entering hospitals in Nicaragua to administer the sacrament of anointing of the sick to those who need it, according to lawyer Martha Patricia Molina, author of the report “Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church?”

Approximately 10 priests from different dioceses have confirmed the situation to Molina, who nevertheless noted — in an interview with the Spanish edition of EWTN News — that a few other priests are allowed to enter hospitals, “but these are priests with some sort of ties to the dictatorship; they sometimes have the possibility of entering hospitals, but it’s not something widespread,” she explained.

The lawyer commented that before this year the Sandinista dictatorship allowed priests to enter health care facilities. Security measures have been tightened without any justification and the persecution becomes more severe when priests try to enter with clerical garb, which is why many choose to try entering wearing secular clothing.

Molina said the problem is even more serious in the country’s interior, “where priests are more recognized because the towns are very small, so the authorities, the doctors who are in the hospitals or the people who are manning the gates at the hospital entrance, already know them and are quicker to bar them from entering.”

“In other places, for example in the capital, the people who are manning the entrances to the hospitals don’t recognize all the clergy of the Archdiocese of Managua, so they have a better chance of getting in, but not dressed as priests; instead they are going in as laymen to provide the anointing of the sick for people who are about to die,” she explained.

Pro-Ortega mayor disrespects Mass

At Sunday Mass on Nov. 10, Bishop Carlos Enrique Herrera of Jinotega and president of the Nicaraguan Bishops’ Conference, called out the pro-Ortega mayor of Jinotega, Leonidas Centeno, who was interfering with the Eucharistic celebration by blasting loud music in front of the cathedral.

“Brothers [and sisters], before beginning this Eucharist, we ask the Lord for forgiveness for our faults and also for those who do not respect worship. This is a sacrilege — what the mayor and all the municipal authorities are doing — and I’m going to tell them so because they know the time of the Mass, and we’re also supporting [them] because after Mass we’re going to see each other over there; that’s why we are all failing God. So let us ask God for forgiveness for them and for us,” the bishop said. The Mass was broadcast live on the diocesan Facebook page.

Molina also referred to this incident on her X account, calling Centeno a “paramilitary” and pointing out that he is a “mayor sanctioned” by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

“Sacrilegious, he doesn’t allow Christians to hear the Eucharistic celebration. He’s a criminal who has no limits and whose crimes have gone unpunished,” the lawyer charged.

She concluded her message with the hashtags #iglesiaperseguidani (persecuted Church Nicaragua) and #SOSNicaragua.

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

The United States Catholic Conference of Bishops on Nov. 13, 2024, voted to advance the canonization causes of Servant of God Gertrude Agnes Barber (left) and Benedictine Sister Annella Zervas. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Barber National Institute; photo courtesy of Joanne Zervas

Baltimore, Md., Nov 13, 2024 / 14:05 pm (CNA).

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) at its fall 2024 plenary assembly voted on Wednesday to advance the canonization causes of two faithful American women: Benedictine Sister Annella Zervas and Servant of God Gertrude Agnes Barber. 

The bishops voted overwhelmingly in favor of advancing the causes of both Zervas and Barber following presentations on their behalf by Bishop Andrew Cozzens of the Diocese of Crookston, Minnesota, and Bishop Edward Lohse of Kalamazoo, Michigan, the latter of whom appeared on behalf of Bishop Lawrence Persico of Barber’s native Erie, Pennsylvania. 

The assembly cast a 206-7 vote in favor of Zervas and a 205-6 vote in favor of Barber, a laywoman, teacher, and special-needs advocate. 

Sister Zervas: Eucharistic devotion, entrusting suffering to God

“[Zervas’] Catholic faith, courage, and complete surrender to God offer us an extraordinary example of wholeness,” Cozzens told the assembly during his presentation. 

Though she was born in Morehead, Minnesota, a city in the Diocese of Crookston, the influence of Zervas “has spread beyond Minnesota,” Cozzens said.  

According to the Minnesota bishop, Zervas fostered early devotion to the Eucharist as a young girl and, “drawn to frequent Communion,” would often walk to daily Mass — even during the cold winter months in northern Minnesota. 

Zervas’ desire for Christ continued and deepened as a religious sister, where she was known to consider the Eucharist as “the most important thing of her day.” 

Cozzens noted in particular Zervas’ conviction of Christ’s role in drawing people to their life’s purpose. “She often craved that people would not miss their vocation,” said Cozzens, who described the Benedictine religious sister as “a special interceder.”

Zervas died at the age of 26 after battling a debilitating and painful skin disease. Cozzens highlighted her embrace of suffering as an example, telling the assembly: “Sister Annella knew Our Lord was with her in her suffering, and she lived this truth deeply.” 

The nun’s story has since served as an inspiration to many people who have faced trials and suffering. “Stories have been shared with us,” the bishop said, “including recovery from the wounds of abortion, addiction, severe illness, [and] the pain of suicidal thoughts.” 

“Her intercession has reportedly healed many people, and she’s reportedly appeared to persons in visions, always extending God’s confidence and peace,” he added, concluding that Zervas’ life “reminds us what God and the Church desire of us ... In this way, Sister Annella is a true teacher of our Catholic faith, witnessing that each person, regardless of their struggle, has great dignity and is created for intimacy with God.” 

Gertrude Agnes Barber: A servant of God for the most vulnerable

“Before her death in the year 2000, [Barber] was well known in Pennsylvania and in some circles throughout the United States for her advocacy on behalf of children and adults with intellectual disabilities,” Lohse, former vicar general of the Erie Diocese, said at the assembly.  

Born Sept. 16, 1911, and raised Catholic by Irish immigrant parents, Barber began her career as an educator, school psychologist, and administrator in the Erie public school system. 

During this time, Lohse said, Barber “recognized God’s call for her life” was to serve children and adults with special needs. 

Barber became deeply convicted of this mission while serving as a school psychologist, when she was instructed to “assess children with special needs and then explain to their parents that [they] had to be withdrawn [from school].” 

Witnessing the “agony” on these parents’ faces after discovering that their children would no longer be able to access education — and either be forced to remain at home or in a distant facility — Barber “was determined to find another way.” 

In 1952, Barber began teaching classes for children with disabilities in a room at the local YMCA. Nearly 20 years later, in 1971, she founded the Dr. Gertrude A. Barber Center and expanded her mission to include access to services for special-needs individuals from early infant intervention therapies to schooling for children of all ages, adult training, and job placement, and a retirement center. 

“Those who worked closely with Dr. Barber were struck by her kindness, determination, humility, piety, and strength of character,” Lohse told the assembly. “Her spirituality was simple. She saw all people as children of God and sought to treat them with the dignity they deserve.” 

The organization she founded, now called the Barber National Institute, employs approximately 3,000 people and serves more than 6,000 children and adults with special needs across the state of Pennsylvania. 

“Dr. Barber’s example challenges us to love these individuals with the love of God himself,” Lohse said.

“Her teachings inspire us to recognize the dignity and beauty of those who are most vulnerable among us,” the bishop added, “and to recognize the presence of Christ in them, calling us to put into action the Lord’s own words, ‘whatsoever you do to the least of these little ones you do to me.’”

null / Credit: Wally Gobetz via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

CNA Staff, Nov 13, 2024 / 13:35 pm (CNA).

A federal judge in Louisiana on Tuesday blocked a state law that requires schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms, describing the measure as both “coercive” and “unconstitutional.” 

A coalition of state residents had sued the Louisiana government earlier this year to block the state rule, arguing that the displays would run afoul of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

In his ruling on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge John deGravelles said the rule violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment and further that it constitutes a “coercive” state measure since parents are required by law to send their children to school. 

There are “any number of ways that the state could advance an alleged interest in educating students about the Ten Commandments that would be less burdensome on the First Amendment” than the posting rule, deGravelles said.

Students “cannot opt out of viewing the Ten Commandments when they are displayed in every classroom, every day of the year, every year of their education,” the judge noted. 

Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, who is Catholic, signed the legislation earlier this year. It requires that the Ten Commandments be displayed on a poster or framed document that is at least 11 inches wide and 14 inches tall. 

The commandments must be the central focus of the display, according to the law, and the display must include a statement about the history of the Ten Commandments in American public education.

State Attorney General Liz Murrill said on X on Tuesday that the state “strongly disagree[s] with the court’s decision.” Louisiana will “immediately appeal” the ruling, she said. 

The judge’s ruling appeared to block the law throughout the entire state, though Murrill claimed that the ruling does not apply to the state as a whole but only to the school boards named in the lawsuit.

“School boards are independently elected, local political subdivisions in Louisiana. Only five school boards are defendants; therefore the judge only has jurisdiction over those five,” she said. “This is far from over.”

Chad Pecknold, a professor of systematic theology and theological politics at The Catholic University of America, told CNA earlier this year that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that displays of the Ten Commandments are “not inherently unconstitutional.”

The professor said at the time that he did not see any First Amendment violations in the legislation.

“Displaying the Ten Commandments for educational purposes, as well as cultural memory, does not violate the First Amendment,” Pecknold said.

“The Mosaic law has profoundly influenced the Western legal tradition, the Declaration of Independence, and not without import for this recent challenge, the abolition of slavery and the civil rights movement itself,” he added.

Pope Francis meets with members of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) on March 23, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Nov 13, 2024 / 13:05 pm (CNA).

Catholic leaders from across Europe are in Rome this week to discuss how the Church can best protect children from sexual abuse and how to help those who have already been hurt by it.

The Vatican’s Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (PCPM) is hosting a conference on safeguarding in the Catholic Church in Europe from Nov. 13–15.

The gathering, taking place in the center of Rome at the headquarters of the PCPM, includes participants — bishops, priests, religious, and laymen and laywomen — from 25 countries in Europe.

Safeguarding practices and strategies, how Church law and civil law interact, how to better help victims, and how to develop safeguarding networks are some of the topics the conference will address.

Vatican leaders and representatives from the European bishops’ conferences commission (COMECE) are also attending the meeting, which will include a keynote address Nov. 14 from  Archbishop John J. Kennedy, secretary of the Vatican’s office responsible for the discipline of priests guilty of abuse.

In a message to conference participants Nov. 13, Pope Francis said attendees’ “commitment to this cause [of safeguarding against abuse] is a sign of the Church’s continuing efforts to protect the most vulnerable in our midst.”

The pontiff wrote that he is praying for the conference, which he hopes will be “a source of fruitful insights” and that their exchanges “will contribute to a safer and more compassionate Church” and a “deeper commitment to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults within the Church.”

“In a particular way, I encourage the initiatives made to provide comfort and assistance to those who have suffered as a sign of the Church’s concern for justice, healing, and reconciliation,” Francis said.

Annual report issued

At the end of October, the Vatican’s safeguarding commission issued its first annual report assessing the Catholic Church’s policies and procedures to prevent abuse in dioceses worldwide from Africa to Oceania.

The report noted that in Europe, there are positive advances toward greater safeguarding frameworks and measures within the Church, with numerous good practices in place, but “the differences in response strategies between bishops and religious can present opportunities for growth and improvement.”

Under challenges, the report identified a lack of data on abuse prevalence in many countries, some frustration with the way cases are handled in the canonical system, and disparities between Western and Eastern Europe in the availability and quality of child-sensitive counseling and care for victims.

“In [European] nations that have experienced very complex crises or that have developed an in-depth public dialogue on abuses, there is a clear trend toward establishing more structured and responsive systems for dealing with abuse within the Church,” the report said.

The Vatican and Microsoft have created a 3D digital model of St. Peter’s Basilica using the latest in artificial intelligence to offer a new way to experience the nearly 2,000-year history of the tomb of St. Peter. / Credit: Microsoft La Basilica Di San Pietro: AI-Enhanced Experience

Vatican City, Nov 13, 2024 / 12:35 pm (CNA).

The Vatican and Microsoft have created a 3D digital model of St. Peter’s Basilica using the latest in artificial intelligence to offer a new way to experience the nearly 2,000-year history of the tomb of St. Peter.

Accessible worldwide at virtual.basilicasanpietro.va, the free interactive platform allows anyone in the world to “visit” the virtual 3D model of St. Peter’s Basilica, generated using AI from more than 400,000 high-resolution images of the basilica taken by drones using advanced photogrammetry techniques.

Microsoft’s Vice Chair and President Brad Smith launched the 3D “digital twin” of the basilica at a press conference this week at the Vatican.

“It is literally one of the most technologically advanced and sophisticated projects of its kind that has ever been pursued,” Smith said.

The digital platform expands access to people who may never have the opportunity to visit the Vatican but can now experience the beauty, history, and spiritual significance of one of the most important churches in the world.

The model makes it possible to “see this basilica as I think no generation has ever seen it before,” Smith said. 

The Microsoft president also announced the launch of an educational Minecraft game exploring St. Peter’s Basilica expected in January 2025 and a new immersive in-person exhibition on the terrace of St. Peter’s Basilica for the Catholic Church’s jubilee year.

A look back at the ‘old St. Peter’s Basilica’

The virtual experience goes beyond just showcasing the baroque splendor of today’s St. Peter’s Basilica, harnessing technology to take viewers back in time to its ancient origins from Nero’s Circus to the ancient St. Peter’s Basilica built by Constantine.

It begins with Caligula’s first-century construction of a circus on Vatican Hill and the placement of an Egyptian obelisk at its center. That obelisk, now in St. Peter’s Square, witnessed centuries of history — from Rome’s bloody persecutions of Christians and the crucifixion of Peter to massive papal Masses with tens of thousands of pilgrims today.

“As you will see when you go through the exhibit or if you look at the webpage, it’s fundamentally a story in three chapters,” Smith explained. “The first chapter, in my view, begins exactly where it should — we are here today because St. Peter was here 2,000 years ago.”

“So the first chapter of the story brings to life in new ways … the story of his life, the story that is told in the Gospels.”

The second chapter covers the transformations of the site of St. Peter’s tomb over the course of nearly 2,000 years from Peter’s burial and the construction of a church to its place as a center of Christian pilgrimage.

Around A.D. 160, a small funerary monument known as the “Trophy of Gaius” was built over Peter’s grave, becoming a pilgrimage site. When Constantine legalized Christianity in the fourth century, he ordered a massive basilica to be built over this tomb, leveling the necropolis beneath. 

The virtual tour allows one to imagine what it would have been like to visit the old St. Peter’s Basilica built by Constantine, one of the ancient world’s most important sanctuaries, “a magnificent sepulcher … to which countless people from every part of the Roman Empire come,” Eusebius of Caesarea described in the fourth century.

More than 1,175 years after the completion of the original St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Julius II laid the first stone of the new Vatican basilica in 1506. Construction of the present St. Peter’s Basilica took more than a century, inspiring works by artists like Bramante, Michelangelo, and Bernini. The basilica will celebrate the 400th anniversary of its consecration in 2026.

Online educational resource

One of the most exciting aspects of the 3D digital model is that it provides the opportunity for people who might never have the opportunity to visit the Vatican to see and experience St. Peter’s Basilica, Smith explained.

“We’re taking this story to the world,” he said.

The new virtual platform serves as an educational resource that brings St. Peter’s Basilica to students, teachers, and historians worldwide, providing interactive tools and audio guides in multiple languages. 

Through immersive 3D tours, online visitors can navigate the basilica’s mosaics, the cupola, the underground necropolis, and Peter’s tomb. The digital model, or “digital twin,” captures areas typically off-limits to visitors, providing a detailed look at the basilica’s art, architecture, and history.

The concept of a “digital twin” — a digital counterpart of a physical object — is commonly used in the manufacturing industry. For the basilica, however, it’s a way to expand human understanding by capturing and sharing cultural heritage.

“When you think about this partnership, I think it’s as extraordinary as the project itself, because it brings together one of the oldest and most important institutions in the world with the newest technology that humanity has created,” Smith said.

‘Pétros ení’: An immersive exhibition for jubilee pilgrims

For those planning a jubilee pilgrimage to Rome, the Vatican will soon open a new exhibition titled “Pétros ení” (“Peter is here”) using the 3D digital model developed by Microsoft and the digital preservation company Iconem. This ticketed, immersive experience, designed for the jubilee year, takes visitors on a journey through the basilica’s history.

The exhibit starts up on the terrace of St. Peter’s Basilica behind its massive dome designed by Michelangelo and continues inside some of the basilica’s previously unvisited upper passageways, allowing visitors to look down at the basilica’s Altar of St. Michael below. 

The exhibit’s interactive digital displays showcase the intricate details of the interior of St. Peter’s dome up close and two round theaters immerse visitors in what it would have been like to visit the basilica in different moments throughout the centuries.

St. Peter’s Basilica Minecraft

In January 2025, Microsoft will release a Minecraft Education version of St. Peter’s Basilica to reach younger audiences. In this digital replica, students will be able to navigate the basilica, explore its architecture, and learn its history through Minecraft’s interactive environment. This version will allow students to “walk” through the basilica with their character and explore its features as part of their gameplay.

“Many schools now use Minecraft to teach a wide variety of skills or capabilities,” Smith said, expressing hope that the Minecraft edition of St. Peter’s Basilica will become a unique resource for Catholic and secular schools alike, offering new ways to engage with history and art.

AI-enhanced conservation efforts

The digital twin also provides the Vatican with new tools for conservation. Using advanced algorithms from Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab, the virtual model has revealed previously undetected cracks, missing tiles in mosaics, and other signs of wear that will help caretakers preserve the basilica.

“Our AI for Good Lab developed a special AI algorithm so it could scan these images and identify where there is, say, a crack in the wall,” Smith explained. 

The conservators “who are responsible for the preservation of this extraordinary building, who work on its restoration, now have all of this data and the power of AI to enable them to work even better,” he added.

Pope Francis got a preview of the new digital model of St. Peter’s Basilica during a meeting with the Microsoft team and the Fabric of St. Peter, the organization responsible for the conservation and maintenance of St. Peter’s Basilica.

The pope encouraged the basilica’s caretakers to adopt technologies “that encourage not only people’s interactive participation but especially their awareness of the sacred place, which is a space for meditation.”

He said technological tools demand creativity and responsibility to be governed and used constructively.

“This house of prayer for all peoples has been entrusted to us by those who have preceded us in faith and apostolic ministry,” Francis said in reference to St. Peter’s Basilica. “Therefore, it is a gift and a task to care for it, in both a spiritual and material sense, even through the latest technologies.”

Pope Francis delivers remarks at his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Nov 13, 2024 / 09:50 am (CNA).

Pope Francis told pilgrims present at his general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday that the Blessed Virgin Mary does not focus on herself but on her son, Jesus.

“Mary is always the mother that brings us to Jesus,” the Holy Father said. “Mary does not only point to herself. She points to Jesus.”

Continuing his catechesis on the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the Church as Jesus’ bride, Pope Francis invited his listeners to reflect on the Mother of God’s presence and special role among Jesus’ apostles.

“The disciples were gathered around Mary, the mother of Jesus,” the pope said, reflecting on the passage of the Acts of Apostles read to hundreds of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square. 

“Her presence is different and unique among them all,” he continued. “Between her and the Holy Spirit there is a unique and eternally indestructible bond that is the very person of Christ himself, who was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.”

During his Nov. 13 general audience, Pope Francis said that Mary’s support for Christian communities is not one that is confined to the past but has persisted “in every age of our history.”

“The Mother of God is an instrument of the Holy Spirit in his work of sanctification,” he said. “Mary is the one who said ‘yes’ to God and, with her example and by her intercession, pushes us to say ‘yes’ to him too.”

As “the first disciple and figure of the Church,” the Holy Father hopes that Christians today will allow Mary to “see Jesus,” “open our hearts” to him, and “arise in haste” to help others in need.  

Describing Mary, the pope echoed the words of the patron of his pontificate, St. Francis of Assisi: “Daughter and handmaid of the heavenly Father, the almighty King, Mother of our most high Lord Jesus Christ, and spouse of the Holy Spirit.”

“The unique relationship between Mary and the Trinity could not be illustrated in simpler words,” he said.

‘We pray for peace’

Before concluding his Wednesday audience and imparting his paternal blessing for pilgrims, the Holy Father concluded his general audience with renewed petitions for peace and prayer.

“Let us not forget Ukraine, let us not forget Palestine, Israel, Myanmar, and so many countries at war,” he urged. “Let us not forget the group of Palestinians who were shot dead. Innocent people.” 

“We pray for peace. There is so much need for peace. My blessing to [you] all,” he said.