Cathedral of St. Peter in Chains, Cincinnati. / Credit: Mitchell Chabot/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Oct 15, 2024 / 16:35 pm (CNA).

A priest in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati has been reassigned to a parochial vicarship months after resigning from another parish after it became known he had destroyed possible child sex abuse material without notifying police. 

Father Barry Stechschulte was appointed parochial vicar of a family of parishes in the western part of Ohio, near the border with Indiana. That appointment went into effect on Monday, according to the archdiocesan website.

In July, Stechschulte announced his departure from St. Susanna Catholic Parish in Mason, Ohio, weeks after a bombshell media report revealed that in 2012 he ordered the destruction of a hard drive reportedly containing inappropriate pictures of children — and potentially child pornography — and then delayed reporting the incident to police. 

The pastor did not report the incident to law enforcement until 2018. In an apology to parishioners prior to his departure the priest said he had wanted to protect others from seeing the contents of the hard drive.

Several hundred members of St. Susanna called for the pastor’s resignation after the revelation, stating that his failure to report the potential child sexual abuse material had “severely compromised” the parish’s confidence in him. 

Stechschulte indicated in his resignation that he would be sent to another parish at some point. He wrote at the time that he would “step down as pastor, effective immediately, to be reassigned elsewhere in the archdiocese.”

The archdiocese declined to comment on the situation on Tuesday evening. Archdiocesan spokesman Mike Schafer told Cincinnati ABC affiliate WCPO last week that he “[could not] comment further as this is a personnel matter.”

The revelation about Stechschulte destroying the hard drive came as part of a report by WCPO, which earlier this year published an extensive exposé on a yearslong controversy involving Dayton-area priest Father Tony Cutcher.

Cutcher left ministry in 2021 amid a scandal involving “hundreds of text messages he exchanged with a 14-year-old boy.”

Part of the report touched on the 2012 incident in which Stechschulte discovered “what looked like child pornography” on a computer at Holy Rosary Church in St. Marys, north of Dayton. Cutcher had previously served at that parish.

Deacon Marty Brown later told police he “took the hard drive out of the computer and destroyed it with a blow torch at the request of Stechschulte.”

The archdiocese confirmed to WCPO last week that Brown himself is presently on a leave of absence. 

The family of parishes in which Stechschulte is serving comprises seven total churches located just a few miles from the Indiana border.

Parish families in the archdiocese are served by one or more parochial vicars as well as a pastor, the archdiocese says on its website.

Bishop Erik Varden, OCSO, a Trappist monk and spiritual writer, has served as Bishop of Trondheim in Norway since 2020. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

CNA Staff, Oct 15, 2024 / 16:05 pm (CNA).

The Norwegian bishops have joined more than 30 Christian communities in that country in issuing a declaration in support of “biological reality” and against movements such as gender ideology and “queer theory.” 

The Ecumenical Declaration on “Gender and Sexual Diversity,” issued on Tuesday, cites both “the confession of the Bible as the word of God” as well as “biological reality” in criticizing those movements.

In their statement, the 31 signatories — including the Norwegian Catholic Bishops’ Council, the Norwegian Lutheran Missionary Society, Foursquare Norway, and the Value Alliance — point out that there are “only two biological sexes: male and female. A person’s sex is decided at the moment of conception.”

“The idea that there is a subjective gender and a self-chosen ‘gender identity’ that is freely chosen and based on feelings is the result of ideology and has no foundation in biology or science,” the statement says. 

In recent years in many countries, authorities have promoted gender ideology to young students. The signatories in their letter describe it as “extremely problematic” to “confront children and young people in the classroom with the idea that there are ‘boys, girls, and other genders.’” 

“This influence can lead to confusion, insecurity, and destructive life choices for many children and young people,” the statement says. 

The statement argues that “government bodies and public authorities abuse their mandate and power when they try to pressure citizens and organizations to conform to ‘queer theory’ in relation to gender, sexuality, and marriage.”

In addition to its criticisms of gender ideology, the statement also criticizes artificial insemination and surrogacy, calling their use “a breach of God’s creative will and the rights of the child.”

“A human being is created from the egg of a woman and the sperm of a man,” it says. “Neither mother nor father or other family members are dispensable or superfluous in the life of a child.”

The signatories write that they are “against bullying and exclusion, manipulation and coercion, harassment and hatred, ostracism and violence in all its facets,” but they stipulate that they ”will not make any concessions at the expense of biblical truths, even if these truths conflict with political guidelines or current social trends.”

“We believe that much of what is known under the modern terms ‘gender diversity’ and ‘sexual diversity’ is not based on medical knowledge and natural science,” they write. “This gender ideology is also incompatible with our Christian faith and understanding of reality.”

‘The Christian anthropological vision’

In a Tuesday interview with CNA Deutsch, Trondheim Bishop Erik Varden, chairman of the Nordic Bishops’ Conference, said the declaration’s background is based on the theology behind a similar 2016 declaration on marriage signed by about three dozen Norwegian Christian groups. 

“[It] is important to show that the Christian anthropological vision, its vision of what a person is, what it means to be a woman or a man, is consistent with empirical data,” the bishop said. “A Christian understanding of life is eminently concrete.”

“Trying to adjust reality based on personal perception is a risky undertaking, especially when it begins to make impossible promises to the vulnerable, lonely, and wounded,” the prelate pointed out.

The signatories “have no illusions about the complexity of human life and relationships,” the bishop said. “We want to accompany complex situations compassionately and creatively.”

Varden noted that a growing number of people harmed by gender ideology are beginning to speak out about it. He pointed to the Tavistock gender identity clinic in England, which for years treated children as young as 10 who were experiencing gender dysphoria with “puberty blockers” and hormone treatments. The government closed the clinic down in 2022 following a critical independent review.

“The consequences of the Tavistock clinic affair in England are a well-known example of dealing with these injuries; it is by no means the only one,” he said. “The choir of voices that want to be heard is getting louder and louder. That’s a good thing.”

The bishop said the signatories of the letter are seeking to “contribute constructively.” 

“Our statement is neither angry nor over-the-counter,” he said. “It arises, in prayer, from our commitment to our nation and our desire to build it.” 

“We reaffirm the preciousness of life, every person — in whom we want to recognize a sister, a brother, a potential friend, by seeing them as far as possible as God sees them, that is, with immense hope,” he said. 

Alejandro Aguilera-Titus (at left), lead staff for Hispanic/Latino Ministry at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, speaks during the 2024 Conference of the National Catholic Association of Diocesan Directors for Hispanic Ministry, which took place from Oct. 8–11. Next to him is Lorianne Aubut of the Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin, and Edwin Ferrera of the Archdiocese of Seattle. / Credit: Emily Chaffins

Miami, Fla., Oct 15, 2024 / 13:15 pm (CNA).

For attendees at this year’s conference of the National Catholic Association of Diocesan Directors for Hispanic Ministry (NCADDHM), effective Hispanic ministry has become part of the lifeblood of the Catholic Church. 

Just ask Father Brian McWeeney — the Archdiocese of New York’s director of Ethnic Apostolates — who witnessed this firsthand in New York. “When COVID was coming towards the end, the first churches that were filled were the mostly Hispanic churches,” he noted. 

The 2024 annual conference, which took place in Miami Oct. 8–11, was not McWeeney’s first. He said NCADDHM conferences rejuvenate him in his ministry to various ethnic groups, including Hispanics.

“This conference is especially important in conjunction with the Eucharistic Revival and the Synod [on Synodality],” he said, referring to the 16th General Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops occurring in Rome Oct. 2–27, 2024. “The synod is calling for communion, participation, and mission. This conference gives us a concrete way of communicating with each other about how to do this in our areas.” 

This year’s theme — “Pathways to Unity from a Synodal Experience” — was intended to “respond to the signs of the times,” as NCADDHM President Ignacio Rodríguez put it. Since synodality emphasizes conversation, Rodríguez said the conference is a place “to share resources, to [enable us to] hear from them firsthand, to help equip them with the right language — so when they go back to their communities, they can better respond to their reality.” 

Approximately 200 professionals from 65 dioceses converged in Miami for the conference, which ran with synodality in mind. Speakers could present in English or Spanish according to their preference. Organizers encouraged hotel guests to attend the conference Mass on Oct. 9; some guests staying at the hotel were seeking refuge from Hurricane Milton, which made landfall near Siesta Key, Sarasota County, that same day.

Speakers from throughout the nation discussed topics related to synodality and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)’s updated 2023 National Pastoral Plan for Hispanic/Latino Ministry.

Speakers presented a wide range of topics, including ministering to young adults, people with disabilities, immigrants, people with same-sex attraction, and more.

During the “Synodality Through Discernment in the Light of the Gospel” panel on Oct. 9, Alejandro Aguilera-Titus pointed out Hispanic culture’s unique lens regarding the Catholic faith. In doing so, he cited one of the bishops’ statements about Hispanic culture found in the pastoral plan.  

“The beauty of our faith, our dynamic involvement in ecclesial movements, our authentic Marian devotion, our Catholic culture, our love for the family — those things have been said many times — but there is something else that they [the USCCB] told us for the first time,” said Aguilera-Titus, who is the lead staff for Hispanic/Latino ministry at the USCCB.

“They said that, by the mysterious ways of God, God has wanted you, the Hispanic/Latino people, to be missionaries to the Church of the United States,” Aguilera-Titus emphasized. 

In other words, although the pastoral plan is aimed at serving Hispanics in particular, the Church in the United States has discovered a paradoxical effect: These efforts to serve Hispanics have the potential to enhance the entire Church — to make it better attuned to Christ. 

“As we often do from the peripheries of the Church, we are transforming the Church,” Aguilera-Titus said, “because we see Jesus as the center. That makes it possible for us to be more disposed to creating a Church of communion within the cultural and human diversity of our brothers and sisters in this great nation of the United States.” 

Lorianne Aubut, the Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin, director of Hispanic ministry, presented her diocese’s story as an example of the national pastoral plan’s capabilities. She described how Bishop Donald J. Hying, the Hispanic ministry, and various other organizations across the diocese have collaborated to create a diocesan plan based on the USCCB national pastoral plan.  

“Our diocese’s pastoral plan was inspired by the story of Christ on the road to Emmaus, with encounter at the center of who we are,” Aubut said. In order to create their plan, they practiced both “spiritual discernment” and “practical discernment to create missionary disciples … and a strategic pastoral plan.” 

“Every meeting we had with our bishop we discerned in prayer, before the Mass, what was going to happen in that meeting, how we were going to transform our diocese through the movement of the Holy Spirit,” Aubut said.

To pinpoint their diocese’s needs, they asked for the community’s participation. “More than 900 people from our Hispanic diocese went to listening sessions with the bishop, and 60% of those 900 voiced their opinions and petitions,” she explained.  

Together, they identified that the community’s priority was marriage and family, so the diocese hired a coordinator for marriage and family to exclusively serve the Hispanic community. 

After a process of prayer and research, “the Holy Spirit showed us” that the strategic plan should integrate the areas of “marriage and family, youth, evangelization, catechesis, sacraments and liturgy, the accompaniment and care of the poor and the immigrant, and also the devotion and spirituality of Hispanics,” Aubut said.

For Father McWeeney, it is hearing stories like Aubut’s that makes attending the conference so moving.

“The conference gives hope for the Church,” he said. “We might get discouraged when we think we’re by ourselves. Here, there are so many hardworking people, and we get ideas about how to deal with our particular challenges.”

Kelly Breaux founded Red Bird Ministries to support grieving parents. / Credit: Red Bird Ministries

CNA Staff, Oct 15, 2024 / 12:30 pm (CNA).

This year, as the autumn weather becomes crisp and the leaves begin to fall in much of the U.S., families who have endured miscarriages and infant losses will be honoring their lost children as part of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Month.

A Catholic group known as Red Bird Ministries is hosting a Mass on Oct. 15, Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, where families may attend remotely and light candles from their homes to remember their loved ones, creating a “wave of light” across the U.S. 

Another Catholic group, Sursum Corda, is inviting grieving families to participate in a monthlong creative photography challenge called “Present in Pain,” where families are invited to share photos and an optional reflection throughout October. 

Both groups were founded by women who themselves experienced perinatal loss, which inspired them to launch Catholic grief ministries to support other families going through similar losses. 

Red Bird Ministries’ remembrance Mass

Kelly Breaux’s organization, Red Bird Ministries, invites families who have lost children to an Oct. 15 Mass online. Families can share the name of their lost child to be prayed for during Mass and light a candle at home in remembrance. During the prayers of the faithful, participants will pray for the lost babies, sharing the names of all the children for whom the Mass is offered. 

“To hold space and love for all babies, especially when there is no little body to bury and no place to go to remember, we can turn to prayer,” Breaux told CNA. “Mass is the highest form of prayer for our little babies; therefore, together, we give glory to God for the precious gift of our babies.”

Red Bird Ministries offers grief support from a Catholic, pro-life perspective for families of any faith who have lost children of any age, from pregnancy loss to adolescence or adulthood. 

For perinatal loss, Red Bird Ministries has a “Carried with Love” program “dedicated to serving families who have experienced perinatal loss.” The group offers a variety of resources and information for grieving families as well as resources for navigating the hospital or helping siblings.

Breaux founded Red Bird Ministries with her husband, Ryan, after their own experience with perinatal loss and lack of support. 

The couple was overjoyed when they discovered they were pregnant with twins, a boy and a girl. But at 28 weeks, Breaux experienced complications leading to an emergency cesarean section.

“My husband and I were terrified that we would lose the babies during delivery. Miraculously, Talon Antoine and Emma Grace were born alive but very tiny at only 3 pounds, 1 ounce, and 2 pounds, 5 ounces,” she said. “The NICU was a traumatic experience for us as first-time parents. There was so much we didn’t know nor knew to ask, and so we were unprepared for the possibility of our son’s infection leading to his death.”

After Talon’s baptism and death on Oct. 31, 2005, Breaux said her “grief was put on hold” as she cared for Emma Grace, who was “medically fragile.” Emma Grace contracted swine flu and died after six weeks in the ICU.

“That is truly when the world opened up, and I fell into the deep dark hole,” Breaux recalled.

The couple found out they were pregnant again during this time but experienced another devastating loss of their son at 11 and a half weeks of pregnancy.

In their grief, the couple stepped away from the Church for more than five years.

“The Church was supportive during the week of both of their funerals, but I never heard from anyone after we buried our children,” Breaux said. “When we needed the Church the most, there was nothing they could offer to us to walk with us during the darkest moments of our marriage.”

Breaux said she “turned to the secular world for support” but was struggling with faith-related questions.

“My therapist was not equipped to answer deep theological questions like why babies die, what did I do to deserve this? Am I being punished?” she said. “The death of a child does not make sense without really knowing our faith, but in the middle of the raw, it’s not appropriate to have a catechism lesson; we must first sit and let grievers lament.”

“If we let families explore their grief in the world, the world only feeds into the hopelessness you already feel,” she said.

After making a retreat seven years after Emma Grace’s death, Breaux began healing her relationship with God.

“I knew the missing piece in my healing journey was that I had never invited God into my suffering,” she said. “When my heart was cracked open, if support had been available, I would have run to it and hung on for dear life.”

Lift up your hearts — healing in presence 

The grief of losing a child is often minimized, Eileen Tully, who founded Sursum Corda ministry, told CNA. 

Sursum Corda, which means “Lift up your hearts,” provides online community, resources, and workshops for families who have experienced pregnancy and infant loss.

For the month of October, Tully organized “Present in Pain,” which has daily prompts for participants to take photographs, such as “sunrise” or “special place.” Participants can share their photos, and a reflection if they wish, in a Sursum Corda online group.

“One of the hardest parts of losing a child through pregnancy loss or infant death is feeling like you’re the only person who will remember they existed,” Tully told CNA. “Often parents who have experienced this kind of loss suffer in two ways — first by losing their child and then by others minimizing their loss so that they aren’t sure they’re even allowed to grieve it.”

Tully suggests that friends and family consider setting a reminder on the anniversary of the loss to send the family a note or message “letting them know you’re remembering their child with them,” even adding the child’s name to a Christmas card “to let them know that you remember that this season may feel challenging without their child.” 

“These small gestures of remembrance are so very meaningful for families who are experiencing this unique type of grief — a forward kind that leaves a void where their child would be,” she said. 

Tully’s twin daughters died in 2011, after she already had two miscarriages; one daughter, Fiona, was stillborn, and the other, Brigid, died after 47 days in the NICU. 

“The experience was more devastating than anything we had ever been through before,” Tully said. “It challenged our marriage, shook my faith, shattered relationships, and left me physically, spiritually, emotionally, and mentally wounded for years.” 

Tully struggled to find resources, especially resources from a Catholic perspective, to support her in her grief.

After going through her own healing process, Tully “felt the Lord prompting me to help other mothers who experience child loss to find healing within their Catholic faith.” She told God “I really had no idea how to go about doing such a thing” but was inspired by a personal encounter with Our Lady of Sorrows.

Tully built the ministry “around her example,” offering women the resources that helped her in her own healing. Though many “are reluctant to seek out help” in their grief, Tully said she has seen how her ministry has helped many women.

“It can be so helpful to have practical tools in your healing toolbox: tools like creative activities, the support of other bereaved mothers, validation of their own experiences, a devoted time to process their pain with others who understand, and skills to teach them how to manage their painful and difficult thoughts and emotions,” she said.

“Time alone doesn’t heal our wounds; rather, it’s what we do with that time that matters,” Tully said.

Responding to grief from a Catholic perspective 

Tully and Breaux both emphasized that families experiencing grief after child loss need support and to know that they are not alone. 

“Grieving families need to know that though this pain can feel very isolating, they are not alone,” Tully said. “One in 4 pregnancies ends in loss, and the reality is that there are many people in our parishes and communities who have experienced this pain.” 

Tully advises fellow Catholics to support families “by treating their losses like any other kind of grief — bringing meals, sending flowers and cards, supporting them emotionally, and praying for them,” while being mindful that families may struggle with infertility or hidden losses as well.

She also suggested that offering practical and spiritual help such as parish or diocesan grief support groups “would go a long way to helping them find healing and hope to remain faithful and hopeful after loss.”

Breaux added that “pregnancy loss is often associated with a great deal of physical and mental trauma because families are not prepared for what they will experience.”

“Society often fails to acknowledge the loss of a baby in these situations,” Breaux said. “Families do not feel they have a right to grieve.”

Breaux and Tully both noted that the Church as a whole should be increasing grief ministries and supporting families who have experienced perinatal loss as part of its pro-life response. 

“Married couples are encouraged to be open to life, but very often, they come to the awareness that this openness to life can also mean openness to loss,” Tully said, noting that resources to support these couples are lacking.

Breaux added that “the Church needs to embrace and welcome those who are suffering.”

“Grief ministry is the missing touchpoint for evangelization in the Church,” Breaux added. “Hearts are ready for the Lord to come and heal the broken pieces that have been shattered by death.” 

null / Credit: Bill Perry/Shutterstock

CNA Newsroom, Oct 15, 2024 / 04:00 am (CNA).

Oct. 15 is the day when the Catholic Church remembers the Spanish Carmelite reformer and doctor of the Church St. Teresa of Ávila, whose life of prayer serves as an example for many Catholics today.

Teresa Sanchez Cepeda Davila y Ahumada was born in the Castilian city of Ávila in 1515, the third child in a family descended from Jewish merchants who had converted to Christianity during the reign of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.

As a child, Teresa was captivated by the thought of eternity and the vision of God granted to the saints in heaven. She experienced many profound hardships, including the loss of her mother at age 14, which caused her to develop a devotion to the Virgin Mary. She also suffered through many debilitating illnesses and physical pain, nurturing a life of deep contemplative prayer. 

Here’s what she had to say about suffering:

1. Remember your mortality.

“O my Lord, and my spouse, the desired hour is now come,” she stated. “The hour is at last come, wherein I shall pass out of this exile, and my soul shall enjoy in thy company what it hath so earnestly longed for.” 

2. We are called to suffer for truth.

“Truth suffers but never dies.”

3. Suffering can serve as an active form of prayer — if we allow it.

“It shouldn’t be thought that he who suffers isn’t praying, for he is offering this to God. And often he is praying much more than the one who is breaking his head in solitude, thinking that if he has squeezed out some tears he is thereby praying.”

4. Even out of evil, God can work for our good and the good of others.

“God knows how to draw good from evil. And the good is all the greater in the measure that we diligently strive that he not be offended in anything.”

5. We act as instruments of Christ to bring aid and hope for those who suffer.

“Accustom yourself continually to make many acts of love, for they enkindle and melt the soul.”

6. Every trial has a purpose, even if we won’t see it fulfilled on earth.

“Courage, courage, my daughters. Remember that God does not give anyone more trials than can be suffered and that his majesty is with the afflicted. For this is certain, there is no reason to fear but to hope in his mercy. He will reveal the whole truth; and some machinations, which the devil kept hidden so as to create a disturbance, will be made known.”

7. If someone in your life causes you to suffer, all the more reason to take them to prayer.

“I have taken particular care to pray to the Lord for those who think I am angry with them.”

8. Suffering increases our humility if we allow it, thus drawing us closer to God. 

“The closer one approaches to God, the simpler one becomes.”

9. God is close to those who mourn. 

“We need no wings to go in search of him but have only to look upon him present within us.”

10. The people God places in our life bear his image and often can help us to endure our own cross.

“What a great favor God does to those he places in the company of good people!”

This article was first published on Oct. 15, 2022, and has been updated.

Eucharistic adoration at Lucas Oil Stadium during the 2024 National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, July 17-21,2024. / Credit: Jonah McKeown/CNA

CNA Staff, Oct 14, 2024 / 18:10 pm (CNA).

After the National Eucharistic Congress brought more than 50,000 Catholics together in July to adore and celebrate the Eucharist, the National Eucharistic Revival is continuing its efforts with bilingual outreach to teach Catholics how to share the faith with others.

The Congress in Indianapolis kicked off the third year of revival: the “Year of Mission.” The Year of Mission continues with a series of bilingual webinars about evangelization.

For the next three Tuesdays of October, the National Eucharistic Revival will feature a variety of speakers on evangelization and mission with bilingual options for Spanish listeners. After October, a monthly webinar will be held on the third Tuesday of each month. 

“For many Catholics, sharing the faith can be daunting,” President of the National Eucharistic Congress Jason Shanks told EWTN News. “We felt called to create bilingual resources to meet the needs of the Church in the U.S., a reality that was clear in the multicultural and multilingual participation we encountered at the Congress.”

The series will begin with Father Agustino Torres, a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal who has been featured on EWTN programs.

“It’s important that we continue this journey on mission together, learning the tools of encounter and evangelization to bring Christ to our country and the world,” Torres told EWTN News.  

The Year of Mission highlights four pillars of mission: Eucharistic Encounter, Eucharistic Identity, Eucharistic Life, and Eucharistic Mission. The pillars emphasize first deepening one’s personal relationship with Christ; then embracing a Eucharistic identity as children of God; next, bringing love for Christ into daily life; and finally sharing that with others by following the call to evangelize by bringing Christ’s presence to the margins. 

Torres said the Congress “wasn’t just an event, it was a launching point for all who believe in the Eucharist to find a way to reach others with this truth.”

“We want to teach all people how to do that with these sessions,” he noted.  

The sessions will feature an interpreter and offer opt-in small groups for participants available in their preferred language. 

Registration for the webinars is open. The webinars will take place at 8 p.m. ET beginning on Oct. 15 and will afterward be available on YouTube. The Spanish option is available only to the first 1,000 registrants who also opted into breakout groups. 

The Year of Mission will conclude after a procession and Corpus Christi events in Los Angeles in 2025. To learn more about the Year of Mission, visit here.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks on stage during the final day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on Aug. 22, 2024, in Chicago. / Credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

CNA Staff, Oct 14, 2024 / 14:55 pm (CNA).

After Michigan’s Catholic bishops condemned a video of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, saying she was “mocking” the Eucharist, Whitmer has apologized for how the video “had been construed.” 

The viral video shows Whitmer feeding Liz Plank, a Canadian author, journalist, and influencer with 611,000 followers on her Instagram page “feministabulous,” a Dorito chip during a session of “Chip Chat.”

The video garnered controversy last week as many Catholics interpreted Plank’s posture and the placement of the Dorito on the tongue as a mockery of the reception of holy Communion. Some noted that Plank appears to be kneeling in the video.

Michigan Catholics have since protested outside Whitmer’s home in a “Rosary Rally for Religious Respect” organized by CatholicVote, a political advocacy group.

Michigan’s Catholic bishops on Friday condemned the video after it went viral, with its president and CEO, Paul Long, saying that “whether or not insulting Catholics and the Eucharist was the intent, it has had an offensive impact.”

But Whitmer said in a recent statement that mockery was not her intention. 

“Over 25 years in public service, I would never do something to denigrate someone’s faith,” Whitmer said in a statement shared with CNA. “I’ve used my platform to stand up for people’s right to hold and practice their personal religious beliefs. My team has spoken to the Michigan Catholic Conference.”

“What was supposed to be a video about the importance of the CHIPS Act to Michigan jobs has been construed as something it was never intended to be, and I apologize for that,” Whitmer said. 

The caption of the video, which was edited, references the CHIPS Act, a 2022 Biden administration law known as the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science Act.

“If he won’t, Gretchen Whitmer will,” the caption of Plank’s Instagram post read. “Chips aren’t just delicious, the CHIPS Act is a game-changer for U.S. tech and manufacturing, boosting domestic production of semiconductors to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers! Donald Trump would put that at risk.”

Defenders of Whitmer assert that the video was part of a TikTok trend in which a person is fed by another person. A clip of “The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert and “Bear” star Jeremy Allen White taking part in the trend went viral in June.

“I will also note, Liz is not kneeling in the video. She is seated,” Whitmer’s press secretary, Stacey LaRouche, told CNA on Monday. 

“No one was on their knees. I’m sitting on a couch that’s visible in the shot,” Plank said in a post on X on Sunday. 

Plank has also criticized the media’s attention to the controversy in a post on her Substack, saying it takes away attention from the CHIPS Act.  

“In the last 24 hours, I’ve become the target of a right-wing conspiracy accusing me of performing satanic rituals with Doritos,” Plank wrote. “I wish I were kidding — but apparently, snack-based witchcraft is where we’re at in this election cycle!” 

In response to the governor’s apology, Michigan’s Catholic bishops reiterated their call for respect toward people of all religious backgrounds.

“It is our hope the governor and her team now more fully understand and appreciate the hurt that has been caused,” Long told CNA. “We reiterate our call for elected officials to be respectful and civil towards persons of religious faith, be they Christian, Muslim, or Jewish. Mockery of religious persons and traditions have regrettably become too prevalent in our state and country — it must end.”  

“With prayers for all elected officials and their service to promote the common good in our state, community leaders up to and including the governor must recognize how their words and actions become the norm for broader society,” Long continued.

Long had said on Friday that the video “goes further than the viral online trend that inspired it, specifically imitating the posture and gestures of Catholics receiving the Holy Eucharist, in which we believe that Jesus Christ is truly present.”

“It is not just distasteful or ‘strange’; it is an all-too-familiar example of an elected official mocking religious persons and their practices,” Long continued. “While dialogue on this issue with the governor’s office is appreciated, whether or not insulting Catholics and the Eucharist was the intent, it has had an offensive impact.”

Long noted that Michiganders and others across the country “have grown tired of and continue to express their alarm at the bar of civility and respect toward people of faith lowering by the day.”

“Michigan is a religiously diverse state and includes thriving communities of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim believers,” Long noted, calling on members of public office “to return a level of respect, civility, and appreciation for those who have found peace and fulfillment in life by worshipping God and serving their neighbor.”

The Dorito video was part of a larger interview with Whitmer where she and Plank discussed various issues, including abortion — in the full video on Plank’s YouTube channel, Whitmer, known for her defense of abortion in Michigan, joked about “post-birth abortions” in reference to Trump’s comment about the abortion bill signed into law by Minnesota governor and 2024 Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz.

Later in the video, Whitmer noted that she was open to dialogue with those who disagree on the abortion issue.

“For people who don’t agree with me on reproductive rights, I’m confident there are other things we could find common ground on,” Whitmer said. “But it starts with talking to one another. It starts with listening and it starts with actually asking someone else questions and not judging them, but trying to understand.”

This article has been updated.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during an event at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre on Sept. 20, 2024, in Atlanta. / Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 14, 2024 / 10:47 am (CNA).

With Election Day less than a month away, former president Donald Trump is running campaign advertisements in swing states that criticize Vice President Kamala Harris over her support for taxpayer-funded transgender surgeries for prisoners.

“It’s hard to believe, but it’s true,” a narrator says in one advertisement while showing Harris standing next to Sam Brinton, a former Department of Energy official who is male but is wearing women’s clothing.

“Even the liberal media was shocked Kamala [Harris] supports taxpayer-funded sex changes for prisoners and illegal aliens,” the narrator continues, adding: “... Kamala’s for they/them. President Trump is for you.”

The advertisement features Harris’ response to a 2019 questionnaire sent out by the American Civil Liberties Union in which she promises to use executive authority to ensure that people in prisons — including immigrants charged with entering the country illegally — can obtain gender transition surgeries through government-provided medical care.

“I support policies ensuring that federal prisoners and detainees are able to obtain medically necessary care for gender transition, including surgical care, while incarcerated or detained,” Harris said. 

“As [California] attorney general, I pushed the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to provide gender transition surgery to state inmates,” she added.

The advertisement also includes a brief clip from a 2019 interview with the National Center for Transgender Equality Fund in which Harris doubles down on the position.

A second Trump advertisement out this month touches on the same subject and details a case in which convicted murderer Shiloh Quine, who is male, reached a legal settlement with then-California Attorney General Harris to obtain government-funded transgender surgery while in prison. 

“He murdered a father of three, sentenced to life in prison,” a narrator says. “Kamala Harris pushed to use tax dollars to pay for his sex change.”

Harris initially represented the Department of Corrections in court, which was refusing to pay for the transgender surgery. However, she ultimately agreed to a settlement in 2015, which required the state to finance the operation.

The settlement made California the first state to pay for a prisoner’s transgender surgery, the Associated Press reported at the time.

In a 2019 news conference Harris said she only defended the department’s policy because she “was obligated” to do so as the attorney general. She said there were times when her clients “took positions that were contrary to [her] beliefs” but that she “worked behind the scenes” to pressure the department to change its policies.

In October 2015, the California Department of Corrections set new guidelines that guarantee government-funded transgender surgeries for prisoners who seek those operations.

Where do the voters stand?

Although public polling on taxpayer-funded transgender surgeries is limited, one poll from America’s New Majority Project this year found that a large majority of Americans oppose tax money paying for those operations.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans surveyed said they do not believe taxpayer-funded health care programs should be required to fund transgender surgeries. Nearly 60% of those surveys went further, saying they would support a law that prohibits tax money from funding those surgeries.

Another poll of likely voters conducted this month showed that a majority of respondents supported a federal ban on transgender procedures for children.

The poll, conducted by Noble Predictive Insights, found that 59% of voters surveyed support a ban, which includes 82% of Republicans, 36% of Democrats, and 56% of independents.

However, issues related to transgenderism and gender ideology rank low on the list of priorities for most Americans heading to the ballot box, according to public polls.

A Gallup poll released last week found that “transgender rights” was the least important issue to registered voters surveyed when presented with 22 election issues.

When asked whether an issue was extremely important, very important, somewhat important, or not important, only two issues were not viewed as extremely or very important by the majority of reporters — climate change and transgender rights.

Only 18% of voters surveyed said transgender rights was “extremely important” and another 20% said the issue was “very important.” Another 25% said the issue was “somewhat important” and 36% said it was not important.

The top issues were the economy, which 90% of voters said was extremely important or very important, and democracy in the United States, which 85% of voters ranked as extremely important or very important.

Other top issues included terrorism and national security, Supreme Court justice picks, immigration, education, and health care.

Apart from transgender rights and climate change, other issues ranking lower on the priority list were trade with other nations, relations with China, race relations, and relations with Russia.

Father John Nepil of the Archdiocese of Denver celebrates Mass on top of Wetterhorn Peak in the San Juan Mountains in Colorado. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Father John Nepil

Denver, Colo., Oct 13, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The state of Colorado is home to 54 “14ers” — mountain peaks that are at least 14,000 feet above sea level. The difficulty of these summits ranges from easy to what many would consider dangerous. Many Coloradoans have completed at least one 14er, but Father John Nepil, the vice rector and a professor of theology at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in the Archdiocese of Denver, is one of the few who can say he has summited all 54 peaks — not once but twice.

Nepil hiked his first 14er when he was in seventh grade and hated it. However, soon after, “something awoke in me and I fell in love, and I’ve been climbing them ever since,” he told CNA in an interview.

When Nepil was in his 20s he completed all 54 14ers for the first time. Last year, on the feast of the Guardian Angels, atop Mount of the Holy Cross, he completed the 54 for a second time — this time as a priest and with the celebration of Mass at the top of each peak.

The first Mass he celebrated at the top of a 14er was a week after his ordination in May 2011. Now, after 13 years, he can say he has celebrated Mass on every 14er in the state.

“Saying Mass on the summit of 14ers is probably the greatest gift and privilege of my whole life,” he said. “I don’t think there’s anything I’ve desired more that’s awoken my interior depths more profoundly. It’s just absolutely truly the summit of my priestly life.”

“Then of course being a priest and being a shepherd and a guide spiritually,” he added, “helping people physically climb to the heights and doing that in such a way as to lead them to the spiritual heights in Christ — that to me is what has made priestly life so deeply meaningful and impactful.”

Another aspect Nepil touched on was how taking individuals on hikes serves as an opportunity for fellowship and evangelization. 

Nepil shared that when he was a newly ordained priest, he was assigned as the chaplain at the University of Colorado in Boulder. He realized very quickly that there were “a lot of great students there but a lot of their friends didn’t feel comfortable coming to Mass and didn’t want anything to do with church.”

He decided to start an outdoor club called Aquinas Alpine and began to take people on “adventures in the mountains, and that’s really where it became a ministerial life,” he said.

“You just hang out with people on the mountains and all the questions start to naturally come and the relationships form. It’s just an amazing atmosphere for facilitating communion but also for conversion.”

In his work now in the seminary, Nepil shared how he constantly encourages the men “to do hard things together.”

“Our world is built right now to eliminate discomfort, and that’s actually bad for our humanity,” he said. “As humans, we need to live with intention. We need to be challenged. Muscles need to be broken down so they can be rebuilt. It’s the same with relationships — that if we just kind of float on the surface and live comfortably we’re actually never growing and relationships aren’t being strengthened.”

“So we have to actively go into the backcountry and embrace a kind of preindustrial, non-technological life in order to recover our humanity, and when we do that together, it authenticates our relationships and deepens them in the reality of who we are as created beings.”

As for what individuals who go on hikes with him are taking away from the experience, he said he hopes it’s that they have a “qualitatively different experience of relationship.”

“As things slow down, things crystallize, perception is heightened, and that awakens spiritual questions and hopefully it begins to form a spiritual vision to interpret reality,” he said. “We’re made to interpret. Things are meaningful … but we only find true happiness and wholeness as persons when we interpret being and the experiences in our life as meaningful, and I think that the conditions of being in creation on a backcountry adventure really facilitates that in a deep way.”

Dallas Jenkins, creator, writer, and director of “The Chosen,” at ChosenCon 2024 in Orlando, Florida. / Credit: EWTN News screenshot/Francesca Pollio Fenton/CNA

CNA Staff, Oct 13, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

When fans of the hit series “The Chosen” gathered at the Orlando World Center Marriott in Orlando, Florida, for the second annual “ChosenCon” in late September, CNA spoke with the creator and several of the cast members on the teal carpet about the future of the show and what fans can expect from Season 5, which focuses on the events of Holy Week.

Dallas Jenkins, the show’s creator, director, and writer, told CNA that Season 5 is “sad at times; it’s actually heartbreaking at times because we know we’re getting closer and closer to the cross … We’re going to get to see some iconic moments from Scripture, but we’re also going to, I believe, be drawn closer to who Jesus was because of his suffering.”

Ryan Swanson, one of the writers of “The Chosen,” added that Season 5 is “truly going to feel like a different kind of series. After Season 4’s dread and doom and foreshadowing, this is when the wick is lit.”

When asked how the writers prepare to portray the important and historical events of Holy Week, Swanson emphasized the importance of relying on Scripture and pointed out that “as much as 30% of the Scriptures is about this week.”

“We get a huge assist from the Bible because there’s no other part of it that’s written as chronologically and as clearly as to the events of the week in time as this week. So all of that stuff is laid out for us,” he said. “I think our challenge becomes how do we tell it in a new way, especially to the initiate.”

“What we’re trying to do is we’re trying to tell the story honestly, factually, historically, but also to give it that ‘Chosen’ twist of what were these moments like for people who would’ve been there,” Swanson explained.

Knowing what lies ahead for her character and the impactful moments she is a part of, Elizabeth Tabish, the actress who portrays Mary Magdalene, shared that she has “tried to not think about that too much.”

“It’s daunting and I really want to do it well and honor that moment in the Gospels. So, I think I’m a little nervous,” she said. “In terms of preparation, I think I’m just going to pray a lot about it.”

Another character who will also be experiencing suffering in Season 5 is Mother Mary, portrayed by Vanessa Benavente.

“I still struggle to find exactly how she must’ve gone through this,” Benavente told CNA.

“She knows that her son has to fulfill his mission, but at the same time it’s her son. It’s that thing where you as a mother you have to learn how to let go of your children, but in this case, you know you’re letting him go do something that is to meet his end,” she shared.

“With my 2024 brain, being a mother myself, it’s so humongous, it’s so big, and I always go down to her faith must’ve been just as big, because it’s literally every mother’s nightmare what she will be going through in the next couple of seasons.”  

As for Season 5 of “The Chosen,” an official release date has not yet been announced but fans can expect it to be released in 2025.

You can read more about the announcements made at ChosenCon regarding new projects here.