Prince of Peace Parish

Gazans continue to evacuate shelters in the south and north of the strip, many moving so fast that they have fled without any possessions.

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CNA Staff, Jul 26, 2024 / 04:00 am (CNA).

Many couples today face childlessness and infertility, but they are far from the first. Sts. Anne and Joachim, whose feast day is July 26, are known as the grandparents of Jesus and the parents of Mary. They, too, struggled with childlessness for decades, according to Christian legend.

As the story goes, Anne and Joachim faced childlessness at a time when there were few resources for infertility, and a lack of children was considered shameful. Their story can inspire reflection for modern couples and their intercession can be a source of comfort and assistance.  

Sts. Anne and Joachim struggled with infertility for decades. 

Anne and Joachin are believed to have struggled with infertility for two decades before conceiving Mary. 

While their story isn’t told in the New Testament, documents outside the biblical canon, such as the “Protoevangelium of James,” a second-century infancy gospel, offer some details about their lives. While these writings aren’t considered authoritative, they helped shape some of the stories and legends that have been handed down over the centuries about Joachim, Anne, and their daughter, Mary, including the couple’s decades-long struggle with infertility. 

Joachim and Anne spent time alone in prayer.

The “Protoevangelium of James” gives a detailed account of the couple’s prayers for a child. Joachim went out into the desert to pray and fast, while Anne remained at home. 

Joachim “did not come into the presence of his wife, but he retired to the desert,” the story says. There, he fasted and prayed for 40 days and nights. While he was away, Anne mourned their childlessness and lamented the absence of Joachim as if he were dead. Then, she went into the garden and prayed.  

Anne mourned her infertility, then turned to prayer.

While Anne was mourning, her maidservant Judith told her she should not mourn because a “great day of the Lord was at hand.” Anne changed out of her mourning clothes into her wedding garments. She began to pray, wandering the garden and gazing at a sparrow’s nest, the sky, and all that surrounded her.

“Alas! To what have I been likened? I am not like this earth, because even the earth brings forth its fruits in season, and blesses you, O Lord,” she prayed as she walked about the garden. 

An angel appeared to her then, saying she would conceive and her child would “be spoken of in all the world,” and Anne promised to dedicate her child to the Lord. 

Two more angels appeared to tell her Joachim was on his way home, for the Lord had heard his prayer: An angel had appeared to Joachim, telling him to return home and promising that his wife would conceive.

Because the angels had told her Joachim was returning, Anne went to meet him at the gate. The story includes the detail that she ran to him and “hung upon his neck,” embracing him upon his return.

Their struggle bore great fruit.

Though the couple initially viewed their infertility as a great sorrow and shame, God ultimately worked in and through their suffering. Joachim returned from the desert; Anne changed out of mourning clothes and into her wedding garments. Their story was transformed through the grace of God. 

The couple’s faith and perseverance also, eventually, resulted in the joy of conceiving and raising the immaculate and sinless woman, Mary, who would give birth to the savior of the world.

St. Anne is now known as the patron saint of mothers and those struggling with infertility, and she and her husband are the patron saints of grandparents and married couples.

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops say they “remain committed to walking in solidarity” with Indigenous Peoples as Canada marks two years since Pope Francis’ historic “penitential pilgrimage” of healing and reconciliation.

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Half a million people evacuated, dozens of deaths confirmed, and a capsized tanker in Manilla threatening a major oil spill, are part of the havoc caused by Typhoon Gaemi in the Philippines, Taiwan and now in China’s southeastern Fujian province.

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The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care releases a report showcasing systemic and pervasive abuse in religious and state care institutions between 1950 and 2019, and demands apologies and compensation from government and Churches.

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“Joyful in hope” was the theme of the 3rd edition of the Diocesan Youth Day in the Diocese of Port-Gentil, Gabon.

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The great Eucharistic Congress in the US; the words of St John Chrysostom; the defence of every life.

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Fr. Lowrent Kamwaza tells Vatican News that the protection of minors and vulnerable persons against all forms of abuse is a key mission of the Church.

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ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 25, 2024 / 18:30 pm (CNA).

On July 25, 1968, St. Paul VI published Humanae Vitae, an encyclical on the regulation of birth and the dangers involved in the use of artificial contraceptive methods and their imposition as state policy. At the time the encyclical was rejected by many even within the Catholic Church.

The document, published at the beginning of the sexual revolution, continues to draw mixed reactions, which is why it's necessary to take a closer look at five key points that allow us to better understand the encyclical, the context in which it was written, its prophetic message, and its validity even today. 

1. It is ordinary, definitive, and irreformable magisterial teaching.

Various priests, theologians, and laypeople frequently claim the encyclical only belongs to the ordinary magisterium of a pope and that as such, its content could change with another pope who comes later. However, Humane Vitae has been reaffirmed by the pontiffs who succeeded Paul VI.

St. John Paul II went so far as to affirm that “what is taught by the Church on contraception does not belong to a matter freely disputable between theologians. Teaching the opposite is equivalent to misleading the moral conscience of the spouses.”

Furthermore, the Polish pope maintained that the Catholic doctrine on contraception belongs to the moral doctrine of the Church and that this has been proposed “with uninterrupted continuity” because it is “a truth that cannot be disputed.”

Therefore, the doctrine of an encyclical belongs to the ordinary magisterium, however, if it is exercised continuously and definitively, it is irreformable, even if it is not infallible.

2. Humanae Vitae is a prophetic encyclical.

Various notable Catholics have characterized the encyclical as “prophetic and still pertinent.”

In 1968, the discussion about the negative impact of artificial contraceptives was just in its infancy; however, the document not only meant a concrete response to the debate surrounding sexual ethics, “but it meant at the time, and still means, a refusal of the Church, clear and explicit, to bow to the proposals and demands of the sexual revolution,” as explained by the Spanish Bishops’ Conference.

In 2018, the late archbishop of Warsaw, Henryk Hoser, noted that the voice of St. Paul VI in Humanae Vitae has been shown to be prophetic about contraceptives, as he “predicted that their application would open the easy way to marital infidelity and the general decrease in births.”

Furthermore, the archbishop stressed that the encyclical is always relevant because conjugal love, “physical or spiritual, must combine these two dimensions” and that it must always be a love “free of selfishness.”

Similarly, Spanish priest Javier “Patxi” Bronchalo stated in 2022 that the document warned at the time about the increase in marital infidelity, moral degradation, the general loss of dignity of women, and ideological colonization through government policies.

3. The encyclical underwent significant changes before being published.

According to research by an Italian scholar at the Vatican Apostolic Archive, Humanae Vitae should have been originally published on May 23, 1968, but then St. Paul VI decided to publish it on July 25.

This measure was taken by the pope, despite the fact that the document was already printed in Latin under the title De Nascendae Prolis (Of Children to Be Born), because he considered that it was very dense in doctrine and that it was not pastorally adequate.

After some changes to the original document, Paul VI “took the entire pastoral section and added a series of very sensitive points that still reveal his imprint today.”

4. St. Paul VI consulted the bishops before publishing the encyclical.

Some accuse St. Paul VI of having published the encyclical Humanae Vitae without consulting the bishops. However, the Italian scholar’s research reveals the opposite. During the 1967 Synod of Bishops, the pope asked all prelates to share with him their position on the issue.

Of the almost 200 bishops participating in the synod, only 26 responded in the period from Oct. 9, 1967, to May 31, 1968. Of this group, 19 expressed themselves in favor of contraceptives and only seven against them.

Of these seven, the best known and most important were the venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen and the then-archbishop of Krakow, Poland, Karol Wojtyla, who would become St. John Paul II, who always wanted to be remembered as “the pope of the family,” as Pope Francis stated during the canonization of the Polish pope in 2014.

The then-secretary of state, Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, said that “on the morning of July 25, 1968, Paul VI celebrated the Mass of the Holy Spirit, asked for light from on high and signed: He signed his most difficult signature, one of his most glorious signatures. He signed his own passion.”

5. Humanae Vitae promotes rational thinking about sexuality.

According to the Jesuit Bertrand de Margerie, being rational about sex does not evoke an indiscriminate and complete autonomy of the intimate life of the couple nor the use of artificial means to control births but rather the exercise of the virtue of chastity.

“The acquired virtue of chastity penetrates with reasonableness the exercise of sexual life when the latter is legitimate,” the Jesuit priest wrote, citing St. Thomas Aquinas in the Summa Theologica.

“By encouraging periodic continence and the regulation of births without artificial control, Paul VI rightly exalts a humble and complete rationalization of the sexual sphere subjected to the knowledge of human reason and to the control of freedom helped by grace,” the priest pointed out.

“He does not appeal to instincts,” the Jesuit explained, “which are common to men and to other animals and which are deprived of reason, but he appeals to man’s freedom, through which man resembles pure spirits such as angels are.”

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

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 25, 2024 / 18:10 pm (CNA).

The Senate voted overwhelmingly to advance extensive regulations that its supporters say will protect the safety and privacy of children on the internet.

In a rare show of bipartisanship, the Senate voted 86-1 on a procedural vote that paved the way for two child online protection bills to pass the Senate within the coming weeks. Sen. Rand Paul, a libertarian-leaning Republican, was the only senator to vote against advancing the bills.

The current versions of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) emerged from months of dialogue with families and child safety advocates, according to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office.

Under KOSA, the government would impose a “duty of care” on social media platforms. This means the companies could be held legally liable if they are negligent in their efforts to prevent children from accessing harmful material.

Bullying and harassment, as well as sexual and violent material, are listed as harmful material covered by the legislation. The bill would also require platforms to work to prevent children from accessing material that could contribute to anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and various other harm.

The bill would require social media platforms to allow children to opt out of algorithmic recommendations and give parents control over how platforms can use their children’s information. It would also require independent audits of the platforms.

COPPA 2.0 would prohibit companies from collecting any data on users 16 years old or younger, unless first receiving consent. It would also ban targeted advertising for children and create a “Digital Marketing Bill of Rights for Teens” to restrict data collected on teenagers.

Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy said on the Senate floor that updating the regulations for the internet is long overdue.

“Rules from 25 years ago can not effectively govern social media sites that did not exist 25 years ago [and] were not conceived of 25 years ago,” Cassidy said. “We’ve waited too long to update these rules.”

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, one of the co-sponsors of KOSA, said on the Senate floor that the bill “empowers young people and parents.” 

“It gives them choices,” Blumenthal continued. “It enables them to take back control over their own lives. It enables the strongest settings of safety by default, it requires companies to disable destructive product features. It gives young people and parents tools to opt out, to choose not to be a part of algorithm recommendations … [and to] shield themselves against online predators and options to protect their own information.”

Melissa Henson, the vice president of the Parents Television and Media Council, which endorsed both bills, told CNA that children have been subjected to bullying and sextortion schemes on social media platforms. She said many platforms have caused body image problems for girls and are linked to other mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression.

“A lot of these social media platforms are not designed with children’s mental health and well-being in mind,” Henson said, but added that social media platforms are “aware of these problems.”

“These media companies aren’t doing enough to protect kids,” Henson said.

Adam Candeub, the director of the Intellectual Property, Information, and Communications Law Program at Michigan State University, told CNA that it is “amazing” that the legislation will likely get a vote “after years of effort and tremendous opposition.” Candeub has long advocated for legislation to protect children online. 

“KOSA’s duty of care will expose online platforms to liability if they fail to implement design features that ‘prevent and mitigate harm to minors,’” Candeub said. “However, the devil is in the details. The question will be how the enforcers, whether the courts or federal agencies or in some cases the state attorney generals who may bring suit, will understand this vague legal duty.”

Sen. Paul, who was the lone “no” vote on advancing the legislation, called the bills “a Trojan horse” and warned of a “stifling of First Amendment protected speech” when speaking on the Senate floor.

Paul said that “everyone will have a different belief as to what causes harm … [and as to] how platforms should go about protecting minors from that harm.” He added that the “fear of liability [and the] fear of lawsuits … is going to cause people to censor themselves.”

Some social media platforms, as well as the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, have also opposed the bills based on concerns that they will lead to online censorship. 

The bills could receive a final vote in the Senate next week. If they pass, they will be sent to the House of Representatives for consideration.