Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish

Vandalism at a Heartbeat of Miami pregnancy center in Hialeah, Florida, July 3, 2022. / Heartbeat of Miami.

CNA Staff, Jul 26, 2024 / 14:45 pm (CNA).

Four Florida activists from the abortion rights extremist group “Jane’s Revenge” agreed on July 25 to pay restitution and keep away from crisis pregnancy centers following vandalism and threats of violence on three pro-life clinics.

“We will not allow radicals to threaten and intimidate women seeking help from crisis pregnancy centers or the counselors and health care professionals serving these women and their babies,” Attorney General Ashley Mood said in a statement. “In Florida, illegal actions have consequences, and I am proud of the work our attorneys did in this case to make sure these extremists were held accountable.”

Moody and First Liberty Institute, a legal nonprofit, filed civil lawsuits authorized under the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act on behalf of several life-affirming pregnancy clinics in Florida. 

Three of the four activists pleaded guilty last month to criminal charges. The four of them are enjoined from going within 100 feet of the life-affirming clinics they targeted: the South Broward Pregnancy Help Center and the Life Choice Pregnancy Center as well as any of the five facilities owned by Heartbeat of Miami. 

Caleb Freestone, Amber Marie Smith-Stewart, and Annarella Rivera, will issue apologies for the 2022 acts of vandalism and together will pay $6,750 for the vandalism. Charges against the fourth defendant are pending.

The activists were associated with “Jane’s Revenge,” a militant pro-abortion group that targets pregnancy help centers and takes responsibility for arson, firebombing, and vandalism against the organizations. The group emerged after the leak of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in May 2022. 

At Heartbeat of Miami, the vandalism resulted in thousands of dollars in damages, with graffitied messages such as “Jane’s Revenge” and “If abortions aren’t safe, then neither are you” sprayed on the walls. 

Heartbeat provides free pregnancy tests; sonograms; pregnancy consultation and education, support, and referrals; and parenting preparation, according to its website. The center has a baby boutique that provides material supplies for women and has an abortion pill reversal contact center and post-abortion counseling. 

“The entry of these felony plea agreements serves as a reminder that no one should suffer violence for simply providing faith-based counseling and baby supplies to women and their babies,” said First Liberty Senior Counsel, Jeremy Dys. “Attorney General Moody’s leadership, together with our lawsuit, sends a clear message: those who target life-affirming reproductive health facilities with violence will face the legal penalties Congress established for their crimes.”

The FACE Act has frequently been used in defense of abortion. Numerous pro-life activists have recently been convicted under the statute, including a young mother who was recently sentenced to more than three years in prison for blocking the entrance to a New York facility. Other pro-life activists are facing up to 10 years in prison for blocking the entrance to an abortion clinic in Washington, D.C., in 2020, including several elderly activists who are facing prison time. 

A vandalized statue of Mary, the Mother of God, at St. Leo Parish in Hartford, Arkansas, July 2024. / Fr. Joseph Chan

CNA Newsroom, Jul 26, 2024 / 14:20 pm (CNA).

Police are investigating after a parish in Arkansas was struck by three vandalism incidents in recent months, including the destruction of a statue of Mary on the parish grounds. 

Father Joseph Chan, the pastor at St. Leo Church in Hartford, Arkansas, told CNA that the incidents of vandalism began early last year. The parish is part of the Diocese of Little Rock. 

“The first was on February 26, 2023,” he said. “Our St. Leo sign and notification board had words/letters removed/jumbled to reflect body parts; for example, the letter ‘M’ was removed from the word ‘Mass’.”

“The second was on March 10, 2024, which involved graffiti to our sacristy door,” the pastor said. “Sprayed was a racial slur commonly directed towards African Americans.”

The most recent incident occurred on July 13. “Toppled to the ground were an angel and Mary statues,” Chan said. “Mary's neck was broken.  The statue of Jesus was seemingly untouched.”

“All three incidents happened within 18 months,” the priest noted. 

Law enforcement is investigating the crimes. 

“Police were notified but no suspects were identified tied to the vandalism to our knowledge,” Chan said. 

The pastor said parishioners have suffered "sadness” over the incidents. 

Mary Radley, a parishioner of the church, told the Arkansas Catholic this week that the parish has “filed with our insurance company to see how much money we will have to repair the damage.”

Chan, meanwhile, told the local outlet that “all parishes should have some sort of safeguards against vandalism,” but ”because it is the work of evil, prayer is the best antidote.”

Multiple Catholic parishes and holy sites have suffered vandalism in the U.S. in recent months and years. 

A statue of the Blessed Mother in a prayer garden on the grounds of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception was damaged by an assailant earlier this year.

Catholic churches, schools, and cemeteries throughout the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, meanwhile, were targeted by pro-abortion vandalism ahead of a major statewide vote on abortion laws. 

Catholic facilities in Texas and Colorado were also targeted last year with vandalism. 

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio told EWTN News in March that the numerous attacks against Catholic churches are “not a focus or [has] the attention of [the Biden administration] or this Justice Department.”

“They can’t find a single person or any of these people that were responsible for these, what is a pretty concerted effort to attack Catholic churches in America,” Rubio said.

In a July 24 press release, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem — a diocese that includes Jordan, Cyprus, Palestine, and Israel — announced that 40 tons of non-perishable food kits were delivered by Malteser International to a newly-established distribution center near the Patriarchate’s compound in the region for people in northern Gaza. / Courtesy of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem

CNA Newsroom, Jul 26, 2024 / 13:22 pm (CNA).

As part of its Memorandum of Understanding agreement (MoU) and partnership with the Sovereign Order of Malta, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem has successfully sent a second aid delivery to the people of northern Gaza.

In a July 24 press release, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem —  a diocese that includes Jordan, Cyprus, Palestine, and Israel — announced that 40 tons of non-perishable food kits were delivered by Malteser International to a newly-established distribution center near the Patriarchate’s compound in the region.

According to the press release, each food kit can feed a family of five for one month and will be distributed to both the Christian community and those in need within the area. These kits are expected to reach 1,000 families, and consist of hygiene items, as well food such as pasta, salt, rice, sugar, and cooking oil.

Malteser International serves as the worldwide relief agency of the Order of Malta, a lay religious order of the Catholic Church dating back to 1113 that participates in medical, social, and humanitarian works for people in need across 120 countries.

Having signed the MoU agreement this past May, both the Order of Malta and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem aim to supply vital aid to the region amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis.

“The situation of the population in Gaza can hardly be put into words. There is a lack of everything,” stated Thomas Weiss, head of the Middle East Department at Malteser International. “As we hear from our contact persons in the Parish in Gaza City, not a single intact building is left in the surroundings of their compound, and the entire Gaza Strip is a picture of devastation and massive destruction.”

In a recent Order of Malta news release, Weiss continued to describe the region in which “access to essential supplies is restricted.”

“We are more than grateful that, thanks to the cooperation with the Latin Patriarchate, the Order of Malta was able to send another humanitarian aid delivery to support the people on the ground,” he continued.

With the successful completion of this second relief delivery, the press release notes that further aid deliveries are already being planned. These future plans consist of distributing ready-to-eat meals, specialized food for malnourished children and adults, and other essential supplies, as well as identifying ways to provide and enhance medical care on the ground.

Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, left, and Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield with Andrew Hansen, director of communications for the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois. / Credit: Diocese of Springfield

CNA Newsroom, Jul 26, 2024 / 11:30 am (CNA).

Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester and Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield — both Chicagoans who have known each other since the early days of their priesthood — recently sat down to discuss the most important aspects of living the Catholic faith today, including the importance of inviting Catholics who have stopped practicing the faith back to Mass. 

The two bishops, both of whom have garnered followings in the media — Barron via his Word on Fire media ministry and Paprocki for his expertise as a canon lawyer — appeared together with Andrew Hansen on the Diocese of Springfield’s Dive Deep podcast, recorded during the National Eucharistic Congress last week in Indianapolis. 

In light of the National Eucharistic Revival — of which the July 17-21 congress was the pinnacle — both men agreed that attending Sunday Mass and receiving Christ in the Eucharist is an “underappreciated” and crucial aspect not only of being Catholic, but of earthly happiness as well. 

“The majority of Catholics at least in our country don't go to Mass every Sunday…but actually, going to Mass on Sunday for us Catholics is fulfillment of the third commandment to keep holy the Sabbath, and the Sabbath is Sunday, and that doesn't happen twice a month or twice a year — it happens every week,” Paprocki said. 

“[If] you want to be not only a good Catholic but to be happy, you should go to church every Sunday…In terms of closeness, [Jesus is] coming right into our hearts when we receive him at Holy Communion and it's a way to get close to our Lord in terms of the body of Christ, the Church.”

Barron spoke about how as bishop, he visits parishes in his diocese and always ends his homilies with a call to “bring someone back in the course of this year.”

“And that’s low-hanging fruit. You all know someone in your family, someone at work, some of your kids, whoever…bring that one person back, we’ll double the size of this parish,” Barron said. 

“Catholic people themselves have to realize what Bishop Paprocki said, that they're in many ways the prime evangelizers…bring them to Mass.” 

Paprocki also noted that if children are brought up with the expectation that attending Sunday Mass is a “given” and not optional, they will be more likely to practice their faith as adults. 

“I sometimes talk to young children and we talk try to talk to them about the importance of going to Mass on Sunday, and they'll say, ‘Well, I want to go to Mass on Sunday but my mom and dad don't go, and they don't want to take me’...and I think that's really sad because the children know that they should be going to Mass on Sunday, and they want to go and their parents won't take them,” Paprocki said. 

“Growing up, [going to Mass] was just a given…it wasn't even a question. It's Sunday, and we go to Mass on Sunday, it's just what we do. So I think if you can develop that habit and [your] children go to Mass on Sunday, that will be something that they'll carry with them for the rest of their lives.”

In their half-hour discussion, Barron and Paprocki also addressed the importance of open dialogue about faith within families, as well as the need to counter the misconception that science and faith are incompatible. 

“The Catholic Church is the great religion of ‘yes.’ It affirms life. God wants us fully alive and that includes every aspect of life,” Barron said. 

The full video podcast can be accessed here. 

Msgr. Jeffrey Burrill / U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

CNA Staff, Jul 26, 2024 / 11:10 am (CNA).

A priest is suing the gay dating and “hookup” app Grindr after the company reportedly failed to protect his data, leading to his resignation from a top position at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). 

In July 2021, Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill resigned from his post as the general secretary of the USCCB ahead of a report by The Pillar alleging that he had engaged in inappropriate behavior and frequent use of Grindr. 

The app advertises itself as “the largest social networking app for gay, bi, trans, and queer people.” Its geolocation feature is popularly known to facilitate sex hookups between gay men. 

The Pillar said its report on Burrill was based on “commercially available records” correlated to the priest’s mobile device. But a lawsuit filed this week claims that Grindr hadn’t taken steps to protect the data from third-party acquisition. 

The suit, filed in the Superior Court of California, claims the ​​group Catholic Laity and Clergy for Renewal (CLCR) purchased the priest’s data from the app and sent it to The Pillar. 

The gay hookup app “assures customers” that it “takes steps” to protect data from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure, the suit says. But Grindr allegedly “knew they were failing to protect sensitive personal data of its customers” yet failed to take steps to protect it, the filing says. 

Public reports “reveal a stunning pattern of [Grindr’s] intentional and reckless failure to protect private data of its customers,” the priest argues in the suit. 

The company allegedly “fraudulently conceals and fails to disclose that it provides and/or sells its users’ personal data to ad networks, data vendors, and/or or other third parties that sell the data or otherwise make it commercially available to others.”

The suit requests damages, lawyer’s fees, and “injunctive relief.” It also asks the court to forbid Grindr “from committing such unlawful, unfair, and fraudulent business practices.”

In 2022 Burrill returned to active ministry as a priest in his home diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin, with then-Bishop William Callahan stating that the priest had “engaged in a sincere and prayerful effort to strengthen his priestly vows” and had “favorably responded to every request” made by the bishop and the diocese.

The priest was appointed to St. Teresa of Kolkata Parish in West Salem, where he serves as pastor. 

In his lawsuit, Burrill said his reputation had been “destroyed” by the data leak. 

In addition to losing his position at the USCCB, he was “subjected to significant financial damages and emotional and psychological devastation,” the suit says. 

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to reporters after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Vice President's ceremonial office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on July 25, 2024, Washington, D.C. / Credit: Kenny Holston-Pool/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 26, 2024 / 10:05 am (CNA).

Here’s a roundup of pro-life-related developments in the U.S. this week. 

Harris pledges to codify Roe in federal law

Since replacing President Joe Biden as the presumptive presidential nominee for the Democratic party, Vice President Kamala Harris has already made abortion a major focus of her campaign, pledging in several speeches to codify Roe v. Wade into federal law.

In a Wednesday night speech in Indianapolis, Harris bashed former President Donald Trump for nominating three Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe.

“When I am president of the United States and when Congress passes a law to restore those freedoms, I will sign it into law,” she said.

“We who believe in reproductive freedom will fight for a woman’s right to choose,” said Harris, “because one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree that the government should not be telling her what to do.”

Harris has used this line repeatedly during her “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms Tour” in which she slammed states with pro-life laws as “immoral” and advocated for a national pro-abortion law. 

Iowa heartbeat law to take effect July 29

Iowa District Judge Jeffrey Farrell lifted a block on the state’s six-week pro-life law, clearing the path for the measure to finally take effect on July 29.

The Iowa “heartbeat” law was passed by the legislature in 2023. It protects unborn life from abortion once a baby’s heartbeat is detectable, which is typically around six weeks.

Planned Parenthood and several other abortion groups launched a lawsuit over the law and it was blocked by a district court shortly after passage. Polk County District Judge Joseph Seidlin ruled in 2023 that the law was likely invalid because it imposed an "undue burden" on abortion.

The Iowa Supreme Court, however, ruled on June 28 that the law is likely not unconstitutional because abortion is “not a fundamental right under the Iowa Constitution.” The high court returned the case to lower courts for further deliberation.

Commending the state supreme court’s ruling, Iowa’s Catholic bishops said: “For us, this is a question of the common good and human dignity. Human life is precious and should be protected in our laws to the greatest extent possible.”

Arkansas Supreme Court rules on abortion petition  

The Arkansas Supreme Court ordered that signatures as part of an abortion ballot initiative be counted after Secretary of State John Thurston said the documentation was improperly submitted.

This comes after Thurston denied abortion advocates their petition to add a broad pro-abortion amendment to the November ballot. The prosecutor said the activists failed to identify their paid canvassers or to indicate that the canvassers had followed state law regarding gathering signatures.

The state high court’s decision issued on Tuesday ordered Thurston to resume counting petition signatures gathered by volunteers by July 29.

The group claimed to have gathered over 100,000 signatures — well over the 90,700 required to add an amendment proposal to the ballot. Thurston, however, said that after subtracting the signatures allegedly invalidly obtained by paid canvassers, the group only had 87,382 signatures, more than 3,000 short of the minimum required.

The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that the petition’s signatures could be counted but only those not gathered by paid canvassers, meaning the petition may fail to reach the necessary threshold for the November ballot.

Currently, Arkansas protects unborn life beginning at conception, only allowing abortion in cases in which the mother’s life is in danger.

If successfully passed, the abortion amendment would mandate that the state not “prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict” abortion before 18 weeks of pregnancy. The amendment would further prohibit the state from restricting abortion at all stages in cases of rape, incest, fetal anomaly, or health of the mother.

Federal court denies effort to restrict abortion pill

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied an appeal by seven Republican-led states to challenge the federal government’s recent loosening of restrictions on mifepristone, the pill that accounts for over 60% of all U.S. abortions.

The seven Republican states — Idaho, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah — argued that the federal government’s loosening of mifepristone restrictions, such as allowing mail-order abortions and prescriptions via telemedicine, undermines their pro-life laws and harms women in their jurisdictions.

The states claimed they had standing to sue because the increase in women needing medical care after unsupervised chemical abortions would result in increased Medicaid expenses.

The 3-0 decision issued by a panel from the Ninth Circuit Court on Wednesday, however, denied the states had standing and dismissed their challenge.

The circuit court’s ruling cited the June 13 AHM v. FDA Supreme Court decision that unanimously rejected an attempt to impose stricter regulations on mifepristone because the doctors bringing the challenge lacked standing.

This comes as a coalition of seventeen Democrat-led states and the District of Columbia are suing to block any further efforts to restrict mifepristone.

Lawsuit by Texas woman wrongly imprisoned for abortion proceeds

U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton this week denied several requests to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a Texas woman who was wrongly imprisoned over her abortion.

The woman, Lizelle Gonzalez, was improperly jailed for murder by the county sheriff for three days in 2022. She was dismissed after the county found the charges were unfounded.

Texas law protects unborn life from conception. However, the law explicitly states that pregnant mothers cannot be prosecuted for their abortions.

Gonzalez is now seeking $1 million in damages from Starr County, which is in south Texas on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Bishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, who spearheaded the U.S. bishops’ initiative of Eucharistic Revival, adores Christ in the Eucharist with tens of thousands of people in Lucas Oil Stadium. / Credit: Casey Johnson in partnership with the National Eucharistic Congress

CNA Staff, Jul 26, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

More than 50,000 Catholics filled the Indiana Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium July 17–21 for the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis. Clergy, religious sisters and brothers, young people, the elderly, and families came together for an incredible opportunity to grow closer to Jesus in the Eucharist.

The week was filled with heartfelt moments, laughter, joy, and inspiration as the faithful in attendance experienced the fruits of years of preparation for the congress, which was a major event in the United States Bishops’ Eucharistic Revival.

Here are some of the best photos from the National Eucharistic Congress:

Bishop Andrew Cozzens holds the Eucharist over the faithful for benediction while standing on the Indiana War Memorial. / Credit: Jeffrey Bruno

CNA Staff, Jul 26, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The 10th National Eucharistic Congress drew tens of thousands of people to Indianapolis last week seeking a rekindling of their faith in the Eucharist, the body and blood of Christ. Among the highlights of the five-day gathering were several massive sessions of Eucharistic adoration in Lucas Oil Stadium, a Eucharistic procession through downtown Indianapolis that attracted 60,000 people, and Mass with papal delegate Cardinal Luis Tagle, also held in the huge stadium. 

The bishop who led the National Eucharistic Revival — Bishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota — said the experience reminded him of Ephesians 3:20-21 in which St. Paul says God has the power to do more than “all that we ask or think.”

“God is able to do immeasurably more than you ask or imagine. And that was my experience,” Cozzens, who has spearheaded the revival since it was unveiled in 2021, told CNA. 

“God showed us at this congress how good he is and how much he loves us, and that he’s not done yet.”

Excluding an International Eucharistic Congress that took place in Philadelphia in 1976, last week’s congress was the first such national event to be held on U.S. soil since 1941 — before World War II. The National Eucharistic Revival, of which the congress was a major part, is not finished — a special Year of Mission has now begun, which calls Catholics to share their rekindled love of the Eucharist with other people.

Cozzens said he has reflected on what makes a Catholic “congress” different from a “conference,” of which there are many each year. Although the congress featured some of the hallmarks of a conference like speakers, workshops, vendors, and exhibits, he said the main difference is that the congress had as its focus Jesus himself.

“The focus was on Jesus and the Eucharist and surrendering our hearts more to him and drawing close to him, and then also asking him to strengthen us for a mission,” he said.

Despite being well-prepared for the congress after years of planning, Cozzens said several things about the experience that surprised him — one of which was the impact the experience had on his fellow bishops, many of whom experienced great joy from seeing so many people turn out to worship and celebrate Christ. And on a personal level, Cozzens said he was surprised to see just how enormous a crowd of 50,000 people — 60,000 in the case of the Eucharistic procession — truly looked.

Standing high on the Indiana War Memorial at the endpoint of the procession, Cozzens blessed the multitudes who had come to follow Jesus.

“I was surprised by how powerful that was … I was sensing the Lord’s great desire to bless his Church and to bless the country,” Cozzens said of that moment.

“That’s what I was praying for during that benediction, for the Lord’s blessing to come down upon his Church and in our country in order to bless us and to draw us to himself. So I certainly was sensing that in those moments of prayer and the great privilege it is for us to be there.”

Several times throughout the congress, speakers and observers noted with excitement that there could well be “future saints” at the event. The 1976 International Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia was attended by thousands of people as well as two future canonized saints — St. John Paul II and St. Teresa of Calcutta — and two other Catholics who are on the path to sainthood: Dorothy Day and Archbishop Fulton Sheen.

Observers also have compared last week’s congress to Denver’s 1993 World Youth Day, which directly led to a flourishing of Catholic apostolates in Denver and many vocations to the priesthood and religious life among attendees.

For his part, Cozzens said he hopes to see many vocations fostered by peoples’ experience at the congress. He told CNA that he witnessed a group of high school students from his own Crookston Diocese benefit from seeing so many priests and religious sisters.

Cozzens said he also heard about a seminarian who attended the congress who was considering leaving the seminary. The seminarian, after conversations at the congress about “the beauty of the priesthood and the joy of the priesthood,” decided to stay the course.

The congress included a night of prayer for healing during which Father Boniface Hicks, OSB, prayed a litany of healing prayers while the entire stadium kneeled before the Eucharist. Cozzens said he has heard from three victims of clerical sexual abuse — two of whom weren’t actually present at the congress but watched on television — who say they experienced profound spiritual healing in Jesus’ presence.

“Two of them said the same thing. They said, ‘For the first time in a long time, I can say I love being Catholic.’ So for someone who has been abused by a priest to be able to say that is really profound,” Cozzens said. 

The next National Eucharistic Congress will take place in 2033, the “Year of Redemption” marking 2,000 years since Jesus’ crucifixion. Cozzens said he’s already been talking with other organizers about where the next host city should be — though there’s nothing official to share yet. Indianapolis received at least $60 million in tax revenue from the event, Cozzens said, so he hopes that whatever city the next congress lands in will be happy to welcome it. 

Since prior to last week the most recent national congress was over 80 years ago, the Church in the U.S. had to rewrite the playbook for hosting an event like this, Cozzens noted. Though mostly smooth, organizers learned from the logistical challenges that emerged at the congress in an effort to make the next one better, such as how to mitigate hourslong lines for the Eucharistic Miracles exhibit and the Shroud of Turin exhibit. 

“We’re going to continue to spend the next year really learning and praying and discerning about both what the Lord did and how we can assist that more,” he said.

A painting of St. Joachim, the little Virgin Mary, and St. Anne in the Church of San Francesco in Reggio Emilia, Italy. / Credit: Renata Sedmakova/Shutterstock

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.

St. Paul VI. / Credit: Catholic News Service, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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.