Prince of Peace Parish

The United Nations humanitarian aid chief, Martin Griffiths, has defended the organisations' use of casualty figures during the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

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In this week's news from the Eastern Churches, produced in collaboration with L'Œuvre d'Orient, Armenian faithful hold four days of demonstrations, Lebanon celebrates the feastday of St. Charbel, and three monks set up a new monastery in Iraq.

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A statement on the meeting of the Viet Nam-Holy See Joint Working Group reaffirms good bilateral relations between the parties and highlights how the Catholic community in the South East Asian country continues to be inspired by the Magisterium of the Church.

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Our Editorial Director reflects on the New Norms on Alleged Supernatural Phenomena released by the Dicastery for the Doctine of the Faith.

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The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith releases a document detailing new norms regarding cases of reported supernatural phenomena. As a rule, neither the local bishop nor the Holy See will declare that these phenomena are of supernatural origin, but will only authorize and promote devotion and pilgrimages.

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In Vittorio Messori’s "The Ratzinger Report" the future Benedict XVI speaks about the norms for discerning alleged supernatural phenomena. These same norms are developed in the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s new document.

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Pope Francis meets with participants of the Plenary Meeting of the Pontifical Commission of Sacred Archaeology, and stresses the importance of the catacombs during the upcoming Jubilee year.

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CNA Staff, May 16, 2024 / 18:37 pm (CNA).

Prominent Catholics are voicing their support for Kansas City Chiefs’ kicker Harrison Butker after he delivered a commencement address to graduating students at Benedictine College on May 11 that touched on hot-button issues, causing outrage among the left-leaning media and commentators.

Butker, 28, who has been outspoken about his Catholic faith during his career, received backlash for sharing his views on gender, abortion, euthanasia, and IVF.

He also took aim at several high-profile Catholics such as President Joe Biden and the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci. He chided certain unnamed bishops who were “motivated by fear” during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

In the speech at the Atchison, Kansas-based Catholic liberal arts college, he denounced “people pushing dangerous gender ideologies onto the youth of America” while calling on graduates to live out their vocation to “ensure that God’s Church continues and the world is enlightened by your example.”

“Our own nation is led by a man who publicly and proudly proclaims his Catholic faith, but at the same time is delusional enough to make the sign of the cross during a pro-abortion rally. He has been so vocal in his support for the murder of innocent babies that I’m sure to many people it appears that you can be both Catholic and pro-choice,” Butker said. 

Butker’s local ordinary, Bishop James Johnston of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, told CNA Thursday in a statement that “Harrison Butker’s passion for his Catholic faith and his family are beautiful and well known. And like most people, he also has strong opinions on where we are as a Church and as a nation.”

“The Catholic Church believes that God calls everyone to pursue holiness no matter what path they take. As St. Paul notes, that diversity of callings and vocations is essential to the life and mission of the Church. I support Mr. Butker’s right to share his faith and express his opinions — including those that are critical of bishops,” he said.

Johnston wasn’t the only one who spoke out in support of Butker. 

In a statement to CNA Thursday, another high-profile Catholic, Marian priest and author of “Consecration to St. Joseph” Father Donald Calloway, MIC, said: “I loved the speech!”

“His speech was inspiring and what the woke culture needs to hear. He exhibited real, authentic Catholic manhood. Good for him. I have no problem with anything he said. I wish more said it, especially clergy. God bless him. I look forward to meeting him. I loved it so much I went out and bought his jersey!"

Bishop Joseph Strickland thanked Butker for “speaking truth” in a post he shared Thursday on X. 

Strickland said that “it is no surprise that some are reacting with extreme negativity, too many today hate the truth and merely want ‘their’ truth, which is not truth at all. You are in my prayers.”

President of the Catholic League Bill Donohue wrote in a statement on Thursday that Butker “nailed it” during comments in his speech. 

“His courage and his commitment to Catholicism is laudatory,” Donohue wrote. “A heralded Catholic football player defends traditional moral values at a Catholic college — how novel — and within no time he’s being bashed all over the place. Had he endorsed transgenderism, or Hamas, he would now be praised to high heaven.”

Kristan Hawkins, a Catholic and president of the pro-life group Students for Life of America, wrote of the speech online: “If you watch one video today, this should be it.”

Hawkins shared a clip of Butker’s criticism of Biden, quoting Butker: “This is an important reminder that ‘being Catholic’ alone doesn’t cut it.”

CNA reached out to Benedictine College for comment but did not receive a response. 

Former Notre Dame football coach and Hall of Famer Lou Holtz publicly thanked Butker on Twitter Thursday for his speech.

“Thank you @buttkicker7 for standing strong in your faith values. Your commencement speech at Benedictine College showed courage and conviction and I admire that. Don’t give in,” he wrote.

In Holtz’s post on X, he linked to a petition in support of Butker, calling him “a true man of God.”

A separate petition by critics of Butker’s speech has made waves in the media calling for his Super Bowl-winning team, the Kansas City Chiefs, to fire him. The petition has already amassed over 100,000 signatures.

Additionally, Butker has been targeted by the city of Kansas City, Missouri, which shared a now-deleted post on X announcing what city Butker lives in, a form of harassment known as “doxxing.”

Kansas City’s X account later said: “We apologies [sic] for our previous tweet. It was shared in error.”

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas shared a follow-up post that said: “A message appeared earlier this evening from a city public account. The message was clearly inappropriate for a public account. The city has correctly apologized for the error, will review account access, and ensure nothing like it is shared in the future from public channels.”

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said on X Thursday that his office would be taking legal action to protect the free speech of Butker and Missourians.

“BREAKING: My office is demanding accountability after @KansasCity doxxed @buttkicker7 last night for daring to express his religious beliefs. I will enforce the Missouri Human Rights Act to ensure Missourians are not targeted for their free exercise of religion. Stay tuned,” he wrote.

Much of the criticism of Butker’s speech focused on Butker’s comments addressed to the women among the graduates. 

Butker congratulated the female graduates but added: “I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you.”

“How many of you are sitting here now about to cross this stage and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you are going to get in your career? Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world,” Butker said.

“I can tell you that my beautiful wife, Isabelle, would be the first to say that her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother,” he said.

“I’m on the stage today and able to be the man I am because I have a wife who leans into her vocation. I’m beyond blessed with the many talents God has given me, but it cannot be overstated that all of my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the faith, become my wife, and embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker,” he said.

His comments were followed by an almost 20-second applause from the audience.

In a statement shared with the media, the NFL condemned Butker’s comments, saying that he “gave a speech in his personal capacity.”

“His views are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger,” said Jonathan Beane, the NFL’s senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer.

The Catholic advocacy organization CatholicVote penned a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell criticizing Beane’s statement, saying that it “calls into question your commitment to genuine diversity and inclusion.”

“Indeed, the NFL proudly boasts that it ‘honors and celebrates the broad ranges of human difference among us, while also embracing the commonalities we share, and to provide each individual with the opportunity to achieve their full potential.’ Does this inclusion include Catholics, pro-life Americans, mothers, and those who hold to traditional moral beliefs?” the May 16 letter said.

CNA Staff, May 16, 2024 / 18:04 pm (CNA).

A Christian teacher settled in court for $360,000 earlier this week after suing a California school district board for firing her after she refused to comply with gender ideology rules that went against her religious beliefs.

After refusing to comply with a preferred pronoun rule, Jessica Tapia was fired by the Jurupa Unified School District from her job as a physical education teacher.

“It ultimately really does come down to my faith and how I believe that it’s always worth it to stand for righteousness and fight for truth,” Tapia told CNA in a phone call. “And ultimately, I believe the word of God is that truth and is the instructions we’ve been given to live our life upon. There’s really nothing else or no one else that I lean on for that.”

After students reported Tapia’s private social media account to the school district, an account where she shared her views, the school district placed her on administrative leave and investigated her in 2022.  

“When I came to this position in my workplace and as a teacher where I was now being asked to do things that would go directly against what is the truth and what I am confident is best for children that I’m educating — and best for parents and best for myself — I knew it was time to speak up and not just bow down and go along with it like so many are feeling pressured and compelled to do,” she continued. 

The district asked Tapia to comply with a new rule that would require that she use students’ preferred pronouns, not tell parents if students were identifying as a gender different than their biological sex, and allow students to use their preferred bathroom regardless of their biological sex. She sought religious accommodations, but the board refused, firing her rather than accommodating her religious beliefs. 

Tapia said it was “scary” to be in that position, but she believed it would go against biblical teaching to “cave to the fear.”

“It really stretched me, and I had to really, really lean on the Lord like never before and look at what his word says and what the best thing for me to do in this situation — even if it was going to be the sacrificial thing, even if it was going to turn my life upside down,” she said.

Tapia said it wasn’t easy to take the risk, but the “timing” worked out, and now she gets to home-school her young children — ages 6, 4, and 2 — while heading the “Teachers Don’t Lie” program, encouraging teachers “not be compelled to lie in any way.” 

“We shouldn’t be lying to students about who God made them to be, male or female; we shouldn’t lie to their parents or withhold that information from their parents. If their own child is beginning to experience some confusion around their identity, that’s never something to be kept from their own parents — but that’s what school districts are asking teachers to do,” she explained. “Then thirdly, we shouldn’t have to be pressured to lie to ourselves about our own morals and beliefs and convictions — and that’s what I was being asked to do by my school district.”

Bethany Onishenko, legal counsel for Advocates for Freedom and Faith, the nonprofit law firm that defended Tapia, said they’ve seen “a huge influx” of cases of this nature over the last few years. 

“I don’t think we’re done yet. I think that this is only getting worse in our public school system right now,” Onishenko said. “But as we have more teachers like Jessica and more school districts stand up to these ideologies, well, I hope we start to see these cases lessen. But for now, they are raging on.”

When asked what she would say to concerned parents, Tapia said that while she personally doesn’t “typically advise people to put their kids in public school,” she’s “here for” those who do.

“I stand with them,” she said, adding: “I’m there for the parents who are choosing public school. I still think if there [are] children there, I believe Christians need to be there, too: people of morals, people of values, need to be wherever children are, protecting them.” 

Onishenko noted that parents don’t lose their rights when they place their children in public school.

Onishenko noted that “regardless of where you decide to send your child,” parents are still the primary caregivers for their children and have the right to be involved in the welfare and education of their children. 

“Parents absolutely have a constitutionally protected right to direct the care of upbringing and control of their children, and they don’t shed those rights if they do choose to send their children to public schools,” Onishenko noted.

Tapia said she has received a “truly overwhelming” amount of support from people, locally and worldwide.

But in a statement shared with CNA, a spokesperson for the school district said the settlement “is not a win for Ms. Tapia but is in compromise of a disputed claim.” 

“The district continues to deny any illegal action or discrimination against Ms. Tapia,” the statement continued. “As is clear from the settlement agreement, the district has not admitted any fault or wrongdoing against Ms. Tapia.”

Onishenko called it “a huge legal victory” in spite of this. 

“The district did not claim liability when they entered into the settlement, but we still see this as a big legal victory,” Onishenko told CNA in a phone call. “It serves as a reminder to everybody that religious freedom is protected no matter what career you’re in or what job you’re in.” 

“The settlement is just confirmation and a reminder that when teachers stand up for their rights or when anybody of faith stands up for their constitutional God-protected rights, they will be victorious when they stand up in faith … for the things that they believe in and stand up for the word of God,” she said.

CNA Staff, May 16, 2024 / 16:58 pm (CNA).

In an interview with “60 Minutes” airing this Sunday, Pope Francis takes aim at his “conservative critics” in the United States, reportedly saying a conservative is someone who “clings to something and does not want to see beyond that.”

“It is a suicidal attitude,” the pope said as reported by “60 Minutes,” which released a brief clip of the upcoming interview conducted by CBS’ Nora O’Donnell. 

“Because one thing is to take tradition into account, to consider situations from the past, but quite another is to be closed up inside a dogmatic box.”

Francis has occasionally addressed criticism leveled against him during his more than 10 years as pontiff, saying in August 2023 that the U.S. Catholic Church is characterized by “a very strong reactionary attitude.” He has taken actions recently to limit the influence of some of his most prominent clerical critics in the U.S., reportedly taking some Vatican privileges from Cardinal Raymond Burke and removing Bishop Joseph Strickland, a frequent online critic of the pope, from his post as bishop of Tyler, Texas. 

According to CBS, the pope in the recent interview “spoke candidly with O’Donnell about the wars in Israel and Gaza, Ukraine, and the migration crises around the world and on the U.S. southern border.” 

“The wide-ranging conversation also touches upon the Church’s handling of its own sexual abuse scandals; Francis’ deep commitment to inclusiveness within the Church; the backlash against his papacy from certain corners of U.S. Catholicism; and an exploration of his thinking on surrogate parenthood,” the network says, adding that the interview marks “the first time a pope has given an in-depth, one-on-one interview to a U.S. broadcast network.”

The full interview, conducted April 24, will air as part of “60 Minutes” on May 19 from 7-8 p.m. ET on CBS and will be available on Paramount+. More of the interview will air in an hourlong prime-time special on Monday, May 20, at 10 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+.

The interview comes ahead of the first-ever World Children’s Day, May 25–26, a new initiative by Pope Francis sponsored by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education in collaboration with the Catholic community of Sant’Egidio, the Auxilium Cooperative, and the Italian Football Federation. The Vatican is expecting children from more than 100 countries to travel to Rome for the weekend event with the pope.