The Canadian government is actively soliciting citizen input for a proposal to legalize “advance requests” in which citizens can prearrange to be euthanized at a time when they are unable to consent to the procedure.
The country’s federal government is inviting citizens to “share [their] thoughts” from December into February, soliciting input from “patients, health care providers,” Indigenous citizens, and “persons with lived experiences.”
The move toward potentially allowing “advance requests” comes after the provincial government of Quebec implemented its own policy earlier this year. In that province, “advance requests” for medical aid in dying (MAID) may be made by individuals who have “been diagnosed with a serious and incurable illness leading to incapacity” such as Alzheimer’s disease.
The request “must be made while the person is still capable of consenting to care,” the Quebec government said, acknowledging that the lethal procedure will be carried out “when they become incapable of [consenting].”
The Canadian federal government describes advance requests as a “complex and serious topic.” The results of the country’s “national conversation” on the matter will be published in a report next year, the government said.
The “conversation,” the government said, will help to ensure the country’s euthanasia program “reflects the evolving needs of people in Canada,” “protects those who may be vulnerable,” and “supports autonomy and freedom of choice.”
Alex Schadenberg, the executive director of the Ontario-based Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC), wrote on Wednesday that “euthanasia by advance request is technically euthanasia without consent,” insofar as it is administered to individuals who cannot consent at the time.
“Once a person becomes incompetent, they are not legally able to change their mind, meaning that some other person will have the right to decide when the person dies, even if that person is happy with life,” he pointed out.
The EPC is urging readers to use the group’s guide for completing the national consultation, one that argues in favor of the sanctity of life and which puts forth “strong opposition” to the country’s euthanasia law and its expansion.
Euthanasia “was originally legalized in Canada under the guise of being limited to mentally competent adults, who are capable of consenting and who freely ‘choose,’” the group says on its blog.
“Euthanasia by advanced request undermines these principles,” it says.
Activists in Canada have regularly pushed to expand MAID since the law was first implemented in 2016.
A group of pro-euthanasia advocates sued the federal government in August to allow physician-assisted suicide for those suffering from mental illness.
The government earlier in the year paused a planned expansion of the MAID program that would have included the mentally ill, although it said it would consider the policy again in three years’ time in order to allow provinces to “prepare their health care systems” for the expansion.
Health Canada’s fifth annual medical assistance in dying (MAID) report, released last week, revealed that MAID accounted for nearly 1 in 20 deaths in the country last year.
Government statistics indicated that 15,343 people were euthanized by medical officials in Canada in 2023, out of a total of just under 20,000 requests.
Those numbers represent “an increase of 15.8%” over 2022, the report says.
Daniel Payne is a senior editor at Catholic News Agency.
The Senate on Dec. 18 passed a massive annual defense policy bill despite controversy over language added by House Republicans banning certain types of medical or surgical gender reassignment procedures for children of service members on the military health plan who identify as transgender.
The annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was approved by the upper chamber in a 85-14 vote, with several Democrats voting in opposition. The National Defense Authorization Act was previously approved by the House in a bipartisan 281-140 vote on Dec. 11. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the legislation into law.
House Speaker Mike Johnson sparked controversy when he added the language restricting such procedures to what is historically bipartisan legislation.
But the legislation also implements a pay increase for junior enlisted troops, as well as investments in U.S. defenses against China, new military technologies and weapons stockpiles.
In remarks on the Senate floor, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said, “for the 64th consecutive year, the Senate passes a bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act to protect the American people and strengthen our national security.”
“The NDAA is not perfect, but it still makes several important advances Democrats fought for to secure America’s national defense and take a strong stand against the Chinese Communist Party,” he said.
Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., praised the legislation in a statement, arguing it will “support our service members in Oklahoma but also military families across the nation.”
“Members of the armed forces put their lives on the line to defend our nation. I will continue to stand strong to make sure they have the funding, support, and equipment they need to succeed,” Lankford said.
In a statement, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said he voted in favor of the measure despite his concern over the provision.
“This is not a perfect bill, and I am deeply disappointed House Republicans chose to push through a last-minute, harmful provision that doesn’t trust our servicemembers to make health care decisions for their children,” he said. “However, the NDAA is crucial for our national security and I’m glad to support its passage.”
In early December, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a letter to the leaders of the House and Senate regarding the NDAA, reiterating their objection to a Pentagon abortion policy allowing service members to be reimbursed for travel costs associated with getting an abortion, and support for policies including some refugee resettlement programs for “individuals who risked their lives and the lives of their family members to assist the U.S. mission and U.S. personnel in Afghanistan.”
“We thank you for your leadership and for your dedication to supporting our country’s service members through the NDAA,” the letter said. “We hope you will continue to do so in a manner that genuinely supports women, children, and families and does not contribute to the destruction of life.”
Kate Scanlon is the National Reporter (D.C.) for OSV News.
Pope Francis on Wednesday decided to make the Martyrs of Compiègne officially saints. It was a rare decision, in that no one in the Church disagreed with it.
In order to understand why the decision met with basically universal applause, it’s important to know the story of the sixteen Carmelite sisters guillotined in Paris on 17 July 1794 during the blood-soaked and chaotic phase of the French Revolution known as the Reign of Terror.
Ten days after the execution of the martyrs, the principal motor of the Terror, Maximilien Robespierre, went to the guillotine himself, ending the Terror.
At least 35,000 people perished in the Reign of Terror, usually in front of cheering crowds.
The religious sisters were convicted of hostility to the French Revolution, sympathies to the monarchy, and for continuing in consecrated life, which had been made illegal by the revolutionary government.
The Carmelites were singing as they climbed the scaffold to their death. The people watching were unusually silent. Many historians think the execution of the religious sisters shocked – and maybe shamed – the people of the French capital, and so contributed to the end of the Terror soon after.
Pope St. Pius X beatified the religious sisters in 1906, but they haven’t got the recognition of a miracle required for canonization according to the usual process.
However, this hasn’t prevented them from being featured in many artistic renderings in France, including novels and plays.
The opera Dialogues des Carmélites was first performed in Italy in 1957, and that year was performed in Italian, French, and English.
A film of the same title came out in 1960. A version was made for French television in 1984, and the scene of the execution of the martyrs is widely featured on social media.
The story is not widely known outside of France, but those who find it are greatly moved. The women’s “crime” was trying to live the promises of their faith.
Their joyful singing as they accepted their fate moves people to this day, the same way it moved the crowds at their execution.
The French Revolution opposed the Church, and those crowds were not faithful Catholics – they were people who supported closing chapels and ending the teachings of the Church. Yet they were struck by what happened to these women.
In many ways, it resembles the reactions of the Romans when Saint Lawrence was burned alive in 258. More churches in Rome’s historic city center are named after Lawence than anyone else but the Blessed Virgin Mary. There are more churches for Lawrence than there are for Saints Peter and Paul.
One Vatican official, when asked why it is so, told me, “His death was like if today, India put Mother Teresa on a gridiron and aired it on TV!” That was in the early 2000s.
Lawrence was widely known – even by Roman pagans – for his charity toward the poor and downtrodden. Lawrence had the respect of Rome’s pagan citizens and his execution shocked and shamed the city’s people.
Lawrence died, however, for a new religion superseding an old one. The Martyrs of Compiègne died for their older faith, one that appeared perhaps to be ceding its place to a new one.
In many ways, the story of the Martyrs of Compiègne is a good reflection on how to view Synodality and the role it plays in modern society that seems to be moving away from Christianity, especially in the West.
“Discernment always unfolds within a particular context, the complexities and specificities of which must be grasped as completely as possible,” says the final document of this year’s Synod on Synodality.
“For discernment to be truly ‘ecclesial’,” the document continues, “it should make use of the appropriate means. These include an adequate biblical exegesis to help interpret and understand biblical texts while avoiding partial or fundamentalist interpretations; a knowledge of the Fathers of the Church, of Tradition and the teachings of the Magisterium, according to their varying degrees of authority; the contributions of the various theological disciplines; and the contributions of the human, historical, social and administrative sciences. Without these latter, it is not possible to grasp the context in which and with a view to which discernment takes place.”
The Carmelite sisters themselves were trying to work with the “contributions of the human, historical, social and administrative sciences” coming out of the French Revolution. They had given up their convent and moved into separate houses. In their obedience to the new Revolutionary government, they had lost their traditional income. They still tried to live their Faith under these new rules, and were still punished by the State.
One of the main themes of Synodality has been emphasizing that “synod” comes from a root meaning “walking together.”
The Martyrs of Compiègne remind us that sometimes, we are required to walk together up the scaffold.
Charles Collins is an American journalist currently living in the United Kingdom, and is Crux’s Managing Editor. He worked at Vatican Radio from 2001 – 2017, both in the features and new division. He has also written for Our Sunday Visitor, The Irish Catholic, and Inside the Vatican.
I was only 15 years old during Christmas in 1956. My older sister left two years earlier to marry, and my other sister died that March at age 17. A truly sad holiday time. My parents were struggling financially with hospital bills, so there wouldn’t be many gifts under the tree.
One day I saw a most beautiful rosary in a bookstore, but knew it was too expensive to even ask for it. But to my heart’s surprise, it was mine that Christmas!
At the time, I was attending the all-girls Our Lady of Loretto High School (now Bishop Conaty-Our Lady of Loretto High School), which took three buses and an hour each way as tuition was only $50 a month.
School was a mixture of girls of different races, cultures, and backgrounds, and we were taught by religious women from seven communities. Though I was thinking of becoming a model for local department stores, I was attracted to these holy women.
One February afternoon during a silent day of prayer for us students, I heard clearly the Lord saying to me, “Come, follow me,” and knew then that God wanted me to enter the religious life. It was like an epiphany, so praying my rosary daily certainly had an influence.
Having been moved by reading the story of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, one of the sisters gave me a medal of the saint, which I attached to my rosary. Over time, for each decade of the rosary I added the Miraculous Medal, St. Joseph Medal, Holy Spirit Medal, and finally one of Catherine McAuley, founder of the Sisters of Mercy, which I later joined.
Sadly, however, a few years ago I left it in a pew in the church, which was gone when I went back for it. Heartbroken, I felt God was challenging me to “let go” and not be attached to anything but him alone. So I hold the memory of that Christmas rosary in my heart now forever instead. When my older sister found out about my loss, she gave me her beautiful rosary, which I cherish.
— Sister Yvette Perrault, RSM, Studio City, California
(Shutterstock)
Etched in Advent
Each year at Christmastime I experience a vision. Memory is too weak of a word to describe the image manifest in my mind, a perfect clarity no photograph could ever convey.
Let me explain:
I was 11 years old. The 1950s were ending. Snow was falling on our Eastern Pennsylvania home. A large oval glass pane was enclosed in our front door. My mother handed me poster paints and suggested I provide a decoration there.
I suspected she thought that I would render a Christmas tree or Santa Claus.
I produced a simple Nativity scene: a stable, the manger, Mary in blue, Joseph in brown, and a white star with a long tale above the scene. A lamp was set behind the work for illumination, and we went outside to observe.
I saw it then as a child. I see it now as an old man.
My mother was pleased that I chose our Savior over Santa. Decades later I know this was the best Christmas present I ever gave her.
— William P. Noctor, Encino, California
Volunteers at St. Hedwig Catholic Church in Detroit deliver U.S. Department of Agriculture food boxes and Christmas packages to families in need amid the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.(CNS/Jim West)
Together in prayer
It was more than 40 years ago, but I still recall it every Christmas. My father left and there were five of us children who would not be getting presents that year. My single mother was a housewife with no college degree, no job experience, and no money. I was OK with not receiving anything from Santa, but how would we explain it to my little brothers and sisters? They had been good and expected Santa to come.
Miraculously, we did have a wonderful Christmas because of the good people at our church. Not only did “Santa” bring us presents, but we received a tree and a Christmas meal. Strangers made sure we knew that we were loved and remembered and valued.
Fast-forward 15 years later when I became the Christian Care Coordinator at the high school where I worked. I was in charge of the canned food and toy drive. We collected many items to be given to needy families at Christmas. As I gathered together with my students to assemble the care packages I couldn’t help but cry. It felt like a full circle moment to be able to give hope to people as it had been given to me.
Before we gave out the packages, our group held hands and joined together in prayer. The children on the street began peering through the gate on the patio to see what we were doing. As I stood there it occurred to me that we should be praying with the people and not for the people. I led the students out onto the sidewalk and we held our hands up in blessing over the families who had gathered.
It was so beautiful to see these humbled people bow their heads and receive our words of hope for them. I hoped these children would feel the love of Christ on this day like I did so many years ago.
— Krissy Smith, La Cañada Flintridge, California
No regrets
We are proud to say that 20 years ago our only son volunteered to the Marine Corps after graduating from Gonzaga University, and was thereafter deployed to Iraq in 2004.
With his strong faith in our Lord he was experiencing every aspect of the military in a positive, holy attitude with every opportunity to spread his love of God by example to the villagers or Iraqi translators. We did not have any contact or correspondence from him the entire month of November and December due to government security.
We later found out that on Christmas Eve he attended Mass. Prior to Mass, he confessed to the chaplain that he could not receive Communion due to missing Mass while in battle. The chaplain explained that he did have permission to receive Communion due to the circumstances of serving his country.
After Mass the entire platoon had Christmas dinner with the chaplain just as “O Holy Night” played and brought them to tears, while in California we were also crying tears of worry. Later, Navy chaplain Father Ron Camarda wrote in his novel “Tear In The Desert” about the example of discipline our son had of his abiding to the Church regulations of receiving Communion in sin.
In May, while we were attending Mass, our son left a message that his platoon was selected to attend fleet week in New York City. He was selected by the chaplain to be the cross-bearer at the military Mass on Memorial Day to represent the Marine Corps at St Patrick’s Cathedral. We were blessed to attend the Mass and be with our son.
Dominic never regretted fighting in the battle of Fallujah as a proud Marine. With God’s grace he is happily married with a successful career.
— Grace Rosa, Hacienda Heights, California
British, U.S., Australian, and Japanese army officers decorate a Christmas tree at a military base in the southern Iraqi city of Basra in this Dec. 21, 2004 file photo. (CNS/Reuters)
A godfather’s legacy
I remember distinctly the red, thick envelope that my godfather, Uncle Tim, handed to me on Christmas Eve. I was 8 years old and had just been baptized and received my first holy Communion the year before.
My Catholic faith was brand new to me, as my parents had returned to Catholicism while grappling with my godfather’s diagnosis of a terminal disease.
Although Uncle Tim was suffering from various ailments due to his disease, still his smile radiated joy as he watched me open the envelope. Inside was a Christmas card holding about a dozen holy cards. “I picked these out for you when I visited the California missions recently,” he explained.
I thanked my godfather for the special gift as I looked with wonder at the various cards with saints and devotional prayers. The beautiful artwork and poetic prayers fascinated me and spoke to my soul.
Less than a year later, my godfather’s body succumbed to the disease and his soul was taken to our Lord. His example of suffering with resignation to God’s will and his reliance on Christ still inspire me today as an adult.
Additionally, that Christmas gift contained in the red envelope started my collection of holy cards. As my collection grew over the years, I began to give holy cards away to others; my children especially enjoy looking through my holy cards and using them in their own prayer life.
The role of a godparent is to help the godchild grow in faith and live a Christian life. My godfather did not know how special his gift would be to me and how his example and the prayers on those cards would deepen my faith. Even though my godfather died when I was young, I can say confidently that he did his job.
— Jamie Pilloni Graebner, Atlanta, Georgia
A holy card of St. Matthew is displayed at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington in this 2005 file photo. (CNS/Bob Roller)
A heart opened
At the midnight Christmas Mass, walking into the church I noticed a box of books with a sign that read “FREE.” No, I won’t read it, so I went to sit down. I was not a very active Catholic at the time.
Upon leaving I had this strange feeling come over me; I felt I had to get that book. So I picked the book up, which was titled “Rediscovery Catholicism.” For some reason I started reading it right away, and my heart just opened up.
While reading the book I remembered that I knew a deacon, and I contacted him after New Year’s. I asked him how to go about receiving confession, since it had been more than 30 years of not going to confession. The deacon invited me to meet him after the next Sunday Mass. So, as I was leaving Mass, I noticed the church bulletin, and thought should I get it? No, but then for some reason I did. The deacon told me I should talk to the priest about hearing my confession.
As God would have it, literally seconds after the deacon mentioned it, the priest approached. The deacon introduced me to him, and I asked the priest about meeting to hear my confession. He noticed the bulletin in my hand, said his number was in there, and told me to call him the next day. I did, and was surprised he said to come in that same day for confession.
After that confession, I went from being a barely present Catholic to a very active and stronger Catholic. Opening my heart to God made life wonderful.
—Manuel Ruiz, Rancho Cascades, California
A monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament is displayed on the altar during a service marking the 31st annual National Night of Prayer for Life at Sts. Philip and James Church in St. James, N.Y., Dec. 8, 2020. (CNS/Gregory A. Shemitz)
To live in, through, and for him
Rejoicing in the Spirit, I am delighted to share that recently I walked into the sanctuary of Our Lord and took my private vow as a consecrated virgin. It was the best moment and most beautiful birthday of my life! The best Christmas gift to our Savior! I experienced God’s peace, which exceeds all understanding. And all the more I am secured of God’s mission for me; truly, immense joy, and no one can ever take away that joy from me.
His peace guards my heart and mind as I continue to live in him, through him, and for him. In God’s divine plan for me, nothing happens by chance — everything comes from love of God at the right time. Everything in our lives is ordained for salvation.
— Marney Austria Villanueva, Granada Hills, Los Angeles, California
A woman touches a figure of the baby Jesus after Christmas Mass at the Franciscan Monastery in Washington in this 2013 file photo. (CNS/James Lawler Duggan, Reuters)
Strength in numbers
Christmas had always been my dad’s favorite holiday, but it had never been the same since he died. My mom had to work long hours to keep us fed and housed, and she seldom did anything for herself. So, this year, we wanted to make something special for her.
That morning, I got my siblings into the act: Brenda, Tawnia, and Jorge. Me and Tawnia were in charge of decorating the living room while Brenda and Jorge worked in the kitchen preparing tamales.
By lunchtime, the house began to change. The aroma of tamales was coming from the oven along with the sweet smell of cooling arroz con leche on the counter. Brenda had strung the soft lights around the tree, illuminating glass ornaments we unpacked from dusty boxes. Jorge and Tawnia were excited to uncover the school-made ornaments they made for our parents.
By evening, the table was set with five plates, each reflecting the family that remained. A small framed photo of my dad was placed by the tree reminding us that love, though absent, was never gone.
As mom walked in from work, the fatigue in her eyes melted away. The warmth of the home enveloped the soft glow of the lights, the aroma of the food, and the sight of her children working together to create something beautiful.
Not one word was spoken, but the happiness in her eyes told it all.
I knew my dad was proud that we had brought warmth back to our house again. Christmas was about rediscovering love, the resilience of the spirit that family gives, and the strength it has when working together. We were more than four siblings trying to fill a void; we were a team discovering what it meant to hold one another up.
A house painter shares her story about, the intercession of St. Nicholas
“>Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, the help of her spiritual mentors, and how she came to faith.
Natalia with an icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, which she painting in the “Russian Iconography School”
I grew [during the Soviet period] up in a family where my mother believed in God, but my father was an unbeliever. We didn’t go to church. My mother secretly baptized me as a child. I wore my baptismal cross to school, but I was always punished there for it and forced to take it off. I would take off the cross, put it in my pocket, and then put it back on when I got home. In the mornings, I would forget to take it off and go to school wearing the cross again. The teachers, seeing it on my chest, would glare at me angrily and send me home to fetch my mother.
In the evenings, my mother would sometimes tell me stories about my great-grandmother who prayed fervently, and as my mother told me, was even an assistant to a bishop.
After my mother passed away I continued to wear the cross, but for some reason I was afraid to enter a church. In the early 1990s, I wasn’t thinking about God at all. I would only occasionally ask Him for something in my thoughts, and once I’d get it, I’d immediately forget. I started thinking about God after a few miraculous events happened to me.
The first miracle: I made out with no more than a few bruises
The first miracle happened when I was twenty-seven. I went to Moscow to earn money and got a job as a house painter. One day while working at a factory on scaffolding, I was about four stories off the ground when a board knocked me off the scaffolding and I fell. Only one thought flashed through my mind: “O Lord, O Lord!” As I fell, I felt an elderly man catch me and gently lay me down on a straightedge (a tool used to level plastered walls). People ran over after seeing me fall, but I was already walking toward them on my own two feet. Everyone was in shock. This accident threw my supervisor, a woman, into hysterics. I was surprisingly calm. By God’s grace, nothing was broken—just a few bruises.
The next day, I returned to work and thought I’d check on the straightedge I had fallen on, as the supervisor would surely be upset if I had bent it. I went to the room where I “landed,” but there was no straightedge. I assumed the girls I worked with must have put it away. I asked them, but they replied, “You fell on the concrete floor; there was no straightedge there.”
I didn’t dwell on it too much, but something indescribable lingered in my soul—a deep sense of wonder. Later when I visited a church I saw an icon of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, and I realized it was he who had caught me.
To the Relics Without Waiting in Line
When the relics of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker were brought to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, I felt a strong desire to venerate them. But on television they showed enormous lines and how long people waited. I couldn’t leave work for such a long time. Still, I decided to try after work.
All the way there I spoke in my thoughts to Saint Nicholas as I walked. “I don’t know how I’ll get to you,” I said to him. “You saved me, and here I am always working. By the time I get to the end of the line, the church will be closed.”
The queue before the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Christ the Savior Cathedral, Moscow, 2017
I kept talking to him like that the whole way. Suddenly, I found myself near the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The security guard told me, “Go ahead, enter the church.” I went in, and there was no line. Just like that, I venerated the relics without waiting. Glory to God for everything!
The miracles go on
Another miracle happened when I lost hearing in one ear. I went to one doctor after another; they examined my ear, cleaned it, but found nothing wrong. They kept saying, “You’re fine. We have no idea what it could be.”
Then, by chance, I heard a story about Fr. Afanassy (Kultinov; † April 9, 2024) from the town of Kadom in the Ryazan region. I got in my car and drove to see him. He sat me down, asked my name, anointed me with oil, and lightly tapped my ear with his staff.
I left the church, walked to my car, and realized I could hear again! Later, the doctors were amazed and couldn’t explain how it happened.
Archimandrite Afanassy (Kultinov), father-confessor of the Merciful Theotokos Convent, Kadom (Ryazan diocese)
After that event, I started going to church regularly. When I step into a church, I just bask in the sounds and the scent of holy oil and incense, and can’t seem to get enough of it.
One day, I drove to the St. Nicholas-Ugresh Monastery for a service, and on the radio, there was a program about icon painters. It sparked such a strong desire in me to try my hand at this art form that, while at the monastery, I asked Fr. Ambrose for his blessing. Honestly, I can’t explain it—perhaps it was Divine Providence—but a Telegram channel called, “Russian Iconography School,” suddenly popped up in my feed. I rarely use Telegram, but for some reason, I opened it that day and immediately saw this channel. I decided to take a look.
When I heard the voice and saw the smile of Elena Stazhuk, my heart started racing, and I firmly resolve to go learn icon painting!
But the miracles didn’t stop there. They sent me a box with materials, and I began practicing drawing on paper. To be honest, I didn’t devote much time to it, and my results weren’t very good. I was more interested in driving my car than sitting down to draw.
First icon painted by Natalia at the “Russian Iconography School”. The Kazan icon of the Mother of God.
Right before my vacation, I went to see Father Ambrose again. During confession I told him, “Nothing is working out for me. Everything feels wrong.” Father replied, “Keep working hard. God sees that you’re learning, and in time, He will start helping you.” I listened to his words and was just about to step away when he added, “Wait a moment. Just don’t stop—keep working!” I didn’t give much thought to his words at the time.
I went on vacation, but got into a car accident along the way. Another car hit mine at high speed—so hard that my car was smashed beyond repair. After the collision my car slammed into a pole and “embraced” it, and the pole almost split the car in two, stopping just short of reaching me. And yet, I came out of it with only a large bruise and some pain in my right arm—no scratches, no serious injuries. Glory to God!
My arm hurt terribly, so I wrote to my mentors at the iconography school to tell them that I would be taking a break. But then I remembered Father Ambrose’s words: “Just don’t stop—keep working! God will help you.” I made up my mind that I won’t give up no matter how difficult it gets. My arm hurt terribly; I could barely hold a pencil… but I pressed on, remembering Fr. Ambrose’s advice.
As I was painting an icon of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, I must admit, I felt as if someone was guiding my hand. Helping me. Glory to God! Now, I live and breathe this work. I spend every free moment learning. Things don’t always go perfectly—I make plenty of mistakes—but I’m learning!
I would love to send my icons to an exhibition in Samara, but I’ve already given them to the Church of Saint Innocent, Metropolitan of Moscow, in Lyubertsy.1 They are now in the altar there. I hope that, God willing, I’ll be able to send icons to the next exhibition.
Pope Francis called on Catholics to focus their Holy Year 2025 pilgrimages on Jesus Christ, who is both the path and destination for Christian hope.
At his general audience Dec. 18, the pope began a new series of talks on “Jesus Christ our hope,” which he announced will the theme for his weekly catechesis throughout the Jubilee Year, which is set to begin with the opening of the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica Dec. 24.
Jesus, “is the destination of our pilgrimage, and he himself is the way, the path to be traveled,” he said in the Vatican audience hall.
Walking across the stage to his seat rather than using a wheelchair as he had previously done, Pope Francis stopped to pray before a relic of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the 19th-century French saint who was the subject of an apostolic exhortation published by the pope in 2023.
After aides read the genealogy of Jesus from St. Matthew’s Gospel in various languages, the pope explained that “the genealogy is a literary genre that is a suitable for conveying a very important message: No one gives life to him- or herself but receives it as a gift for others.”
Unlike the genealogies in the Old Testament, which mention only male figures, St. Matthew includes five women in Jesus’ lineage, Pope Francis noted. Four of the women are united “by being foreigners to the people of Israel,” the pope said, highlighting Jesus’ mission to embrace both Jews and Gentiles.
The mention of Mary in the genealogy “marks a new beginning,” Pope Francis said, “because in her story it is no longer the human creature who is the protagonist of generation, but God himself.”
In St. Matthew’s Gospel, the genealogy typically describes lineage by stating that a male figure “became the father of” a son. However, when it comes to Mary, the wording shifts: “of her was born Jesus who is called the Messiah.”
Through his lineage to David, Jesus is destined to be the Messiah of Israel, but because he is also descended from Abraham and foreign women, he will become the “light of the Gentiles” and “savior of the world,” Pope Francis said citing Scripture.
“Brothers and sisters, let us awaken in ourselves the grateful memory toward our ancestors,” he said, “and above all let us give thanks to God who, through mother church, has begotten us to eternal life, the life of Jesus, our hope.”
In his greeting to pilgrims after his main talk, Pope Francis briefly reflected on his Dec. 15 daytrip to the French island of Corsica to close a theology conference on popular religiosity.
“The recent trip in Corsica, where I was so warmly welcomed, particularly struck me for the fervor of the people” who do not treat faith as a “private matter,” he said, as well as “for the number of children present, a great joy and a great hope.”
The U.S. Supreme Court said Dec. 18 it will hear a case concerning South Carolina’s attempt to prevent Planned Parenthood from participating in its Medicaid health program, setting up what could be a major case about the nation’s largest abortion provider’s ability to use public funds in states that have restricted abortion.
Supporters of allowing Planned Parenthood to receive Medicaid funds point to that group’s involvement in cancer screening and prevention services — such as pap tests and HPV vaccinations –but critics argue the funds are fungible and could be used to facilitate abortion.
Efforts to strip Planned Parenthood of these funds are sometimes called “defunding.”
Attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom, a religious liberty law firm, representing the director of the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, asked the high court to take up the case after the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the state.
“Taxpayer dollars should never be used to fund facilities that make a profit off abortion,” John Bursch, ADF senior counsel and vice president of appellate advocacy, said in a statement.
Bursch argued that pro-life states like South Carolina should be free to disqualify Planned Parenthood and other abortion-providing entities from being eligible to receive Medicaid funding.
“Congress did not unambiguously create a right for Medicaid recipients to drag states into federal court to challenge those decisions, so no such right exists,” he argued. He added that Congress did not intend for federal courts to “second guess states’ decisions about which providers are qualified to receive Medicaid funding.”
A spokesperson for Planned Parenthood did not immediately respond to a request for comment from OSV News. On its website, Planned Parenthood disputed the notion that it gets “a blank check from the federal government.”
“Like any other health care provider or hospital, Planned Parenthood affiliates are reimbursed for services provided to patients at health centers,” it said.
OSV News has reached out to the South Carolina Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of the bishops of that state, for comment.
The Catholic Church teaches that all human life is sacred from conception to natural death, and as such, opposes direct abortion.
After the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in June 2022, church officials in the U.S. have reiterated the church’s concern for both mother and child and called to strengthen available support for those living in poverty or other causes that can push women toward having an abortion.
Kate Scanlon is the National Reporter (D.C.) for OSV News.
More than 100 icons that were taken from Russia during the years of godless Soviet rule were returned to the Russian Orthodox Church yesterday.
The formal ceremony of handing over the icons was held in the Patriarchal residence at Moscow’s Novodevicy Convent with the participation of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, reports Patriarchia.ru.
Russian entrepreneur and patron Sergey Shmakov, founder and president of Sapsan Group, handed over the icons. This is the third such ceremony in seven years. Despite increasingly difficult economic conditions, Shmakov continues to purchase historical and spiritual valuables at foreign auctions to bring them home.
The Patriarch examined the icons and heartily thanked the donor for charitable initiatives that contribute to preserving and multiplying Russia’s spiritual, historical, and cultural heritage.
Photo: patriarchia.ru
“Thank you very much. This is a very large and valuable contribution. We build new churches, and often there are no ancient icons in them,” said Pat. Kirill, noting that the icons will be transferred to new churches.
The returned icons include:
A 19th-century Kazan Icon of the Mother of God
An 18th-century estate art piece depicting the Mother of God, created as a reproduction of a Raphael painting
A late 19th- to early 20th-century set of Christ and the Theotokos wedding icons
A 19th-century icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
A 19th-20th century icon of the Last Supper’s central scene, specifically showing the Savior blessing the Bread and Wine
A rare 18th-century icon showing St. Theodosius of Totma in his coffin
Several miniature enamel icons and many other ancient icons
Around this time last year, a Vatican document authorizing priests to provide non-liturgical blessings for same-sex couples led to headlines around the world in the secular and Catholic presses. Some bishops from Africa rejected the pronouncement, some in Europe celebrated it, and bishops in various places issued guidelines explaining it.
One year later, what has been the document’s effect on the Catholic Church in the United States? How common, or uncommon, are blessings of people in same-sex relationships in parishes?
To try to find out, the National Catholic Register, CNA’s news partner, earlier this month contacted all 177 Latin Rite dioceses in the United States asking for their experiences with implementing the document, Fiducia Supplicans, which allowed what the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith called “the possibility of blessings for couples … of the same sex,” providing the blessings be short, follow no liturgy to avoid looking like a wedding, and “not claim to sanction or legitimize anything.”
Twenty-one dioceses responded. Some of those declined to comment. All who provided information said they don’t track blessings offered by priests; virtually none reported receiving either complaints or comments from priests or other people regarding practices stemming from the document.
A year ago, supporters saw the document (which was followed by a clarifying statement two and a half weeks later) either as a useful pastoral approach to people in what the Church considers objectively sinful situations, or a step toward full endorsement of same-sex sexual relationships, which they welcomed. Some critics said it undermined Church teachings on marriage and sexuality; others opponents said that it didn’t go far enough.
Spokane silence
Father Darrin Connall told the Register that as vicar general of the Diocese of Spokane, Washington, he speaks with many priests regularly and that not one has told him about a same-sex couple asking for a blessing.
“I’m unaware of one case where that’s happened,” Connall said by telephone. “I haven’t heard a priest talk about it since last December, last January.”
Bishop David O’Connell of the Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey, said he isn’t aware of any blessings of same-sex couples by priests in his diocese.
“I don’t have any sense that it happened at all. It may have. But if it’s been done, it has been done clandestinely, and done without my knowledge,” O’Connell said.
“I’m certainly aware of what the document says. I’m aware of the boundaries, and I have no problem discussing them, but it just doesn’t come up,” he said, adding that he hasn’t been asked personally to do such blessings.
In the Diocese of Buffalo, New York, discussion about the document quickly died down after its release, said Father Peter Karalus, vicar general of the diocese.
“There was initial discussion at the Presbyteral Council and other consultative bodies when the document was first issued but there have not been any follow-up discussions or requests for discussion,” Karalus told the Register by email through a spokesman for the diocese.
That mirrors the experiences of almost all other dioceses that provided comment to the Register.
Highest percentage of same-sex couples
An exception is the Archdiocese of San Francisco. The city of San Francisco has the highest percentage of same-sex couples among large cities in the United States.
“We have had some issues over the past year with people trying to insist they be blessed in an illegitimate manner,” said Peter Marlow, a representative of Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, by email.
Marlow shared with the Register excerpts from a memo Archbishop Cordileone sent priests of the archdiocese a few days after the Vatican document was released.
In it, the archbishop said that such blessings must be “spontaneous” and not “pre-planned, pre-scheduled, or ritualistically celebrated.”
He noted in the memo to priests that priests and bishops “are frequently asked by people to give them a blessing.”
“I’m sure you, as I, never ask information about their moral lives or how they are living out their intimate relationships. We simply bless them,” Cordileone wrote. “Consequently, in the case of two people who present themselves as a couple in a marriage or marriage-like relationship, but it is evident that they are not in the bond of a valid marriage, it is always licit to bless them as two separate individuals.”
But such blessings shouldn’t be given, he said, “if it would be a cause of scandal, that is, if it would mislead either the persons themselves or others into believing that there may be contexts other than marriage in which ‘sexual relations find their natural, proper, and fully human meaning.’”
The last phrase in quotation marks is taken from Fiducia Supplicans (4).
“As a consequence, any priest has the right to deny such blessings if, in his judgment, doing so would be a source of scandal in any way,” Cordileone wrote.
Judgment calls
Father Connall, of the Diocese of Spokane, told the Register that priests make judgment calls about blessings and many other things all the time.
“There are all kinds of pastoral decisions that we make on any one day that the bishop respects,” Connall said.
Fiducia Supplicans shifted the approach of a previous Vatican policy as stated in a document released in February 2021, which said that the Church can offer blessings “to individual persons with homosexual inclinations” but not to unions of same-sex couples, because God “does not and cannot bless sin.”
Vatican officials have said the December 2023 document does not alter Church teaching that sexual activity is moral only if engaged in by a man and woman married to each other who are open to the possibility of procreating new life.
“The real novelty of this Declaration,” wrote Cardinal Víctor Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, in a January 2024 clarifying statement, “… is not the possibility of blessing couples in irregular situations.”
Instead, he said, “it is the invitation to distinguish between two different forms of blessings” — what he called “liturgical or ritualized” on the one hand and “spontaneous or pastoral” on the other.
That distinction is clear to priests in the Diocese of Buffalo, said Father Karalus, the vicar general there.
He said, “Priests understand that it is not a blessing of a couple or a relationship, but a blessing upon the individuals.”
Matt McDonald is a staff reporter for the National Catholic Register and the editor of the New Boston Post.
The Antiochian Women organization of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America is pleased to announce that its endowment fund for supporting widowed clergy wives now has more than $1 million.
Thanks to the generosity of the faithful and an anonymous donor who made a Antiochian Diocese announces matching gift offer for clergy wives fundAll donations must be received by the treasurer by Friday, July 12.
“>matching pledge, the Antiochian Women Antiochian Women Announce 2023-2024 Project: Endowment Fund for Widowed Clergy WivesAntiochian Women Vice-President and Project Coordinator Dorothy Tampary has announced the organization’s 2023-2024 project, an Endowment Fund for widowed clergy wives.”>2023–2024 Project raised just under $400,000. Antiochian Archdiocese aims to raise $1 million for widowed clergy wivesNealry $400,000 have already been raised.”>In September, the new goal of $1 million was announced.
And now, the fund has exceeded its goal, the Archdiocese reports, after His Eminence Metropolitan Saba blessed the Archdiocese’s Board of Trustees to infuse the endowment fund with $645,000, raising its total to more than $1 million.
In December, the group of widowed clergy wives, whom the Archdiocese cares for will receive $40,000 in support.
“I’m very thankful to Sayidna Saba, the Board of Trustees, the hardworking Antiochian Women and our generous, anonymous donor for teaming up to help us exceed our goal so quicky,” said Antiochian Woman President Sheryl Vanderwagen.
The service project will continue into 2026.
The Antiochian Women organization is Antiochian Women raising money for Orthodox infant orphanageAt the orphanage, the babies are raised in an Orthodox environment, mirroring the care provided to boys at St. Innocent Orphanage. The facility offers education, essential needs, enrichment activities, and nurtures the infants with God’s love.
“>also raising money for Project Mexico and the St. Innocent Infant Orphanage.
St. Nicholas
Antiochian Diocese announces matching gift offer for clergy wives fundAll donations must be received by the treasurer by Friday, July 12.
Antiochian Women Announce 2023-2024 Project: Endowment Fund for Widowed Clergy WivesAntiochian Women Vice-President and Project Coordinator Dorothy Tampary has announced the organization’s 2023-2024 project, an Endowment Fund for widowed clergy wives.”>2023–2024 Project raised just under $400,000. 
Antiochian Archdiocese aims to raise $1 million for widowed clergy wivesNealry $400,000 have already been raised.”>In September, the new goal of $1 million was announced. 
Antiochian Women raising money for Orthodox infant orphanageAt the orphanage, the babies are raised in an Orthodox environment, mirroring the care provided to boys at St. Innocent Orphanage. The facility offers education, essential needs, enrichment activities, and nurtures the infants with God’s love.