Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish

The moment a man tries to steal a consecrated host in Honduras. / Credit: Facebook Canal 16 Ocatepeque/Screenshot

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 19, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

A priest prevented a man from taking off with an unconsumed consecrated host after approaching to receive Communion during the Mass for the second anniversary of the St. Lucy shrine in the Diocese of Santa Rosa de Copán in Honduras.

Father Nery Adalberto Gómez Pérez, parish priest of St. Mark the Evangelist in Ocotepeque, was invited last Friday, Dec. 13, the saint’s feast day, to celebrate Mass at the St. Lucy shrine, where a large crowd of faithful had gathered.

At Communion time during Mass, among the faithful was a man with a mustache, taller than average and wearing a white T-shirt and a baseball cap.

Waiting his turn, he stood before the priest, who pronounced the words “the body of Christ” without getting a response from the man who would later be confirmed as the desecrator.

The sequence, which can be seen beginning at 1:06:11 on the Facebook page of Channel 16 in Ocotepeque, shows how the man makes an unusual gesture, moving his mouth forward to take the host from the priest’s hand instead of waiting for the priest to place it on his tongue.

With the Eucharist between his teeth and half sticking out of his mouth, the desecrator stands for a moment without knowing what to do and looks at the priest with a nervous smile.

Without consuming the host, the man turns around to return to his place in the pews, but the priest immediately realizes what had happened. First he points at him with his hand, but then he has to pause distributing Communion to follow the man to his place and get him to give back the unconsumed host.

After reserving the profaned Eucharist, the priest resumed distributing Communion and concluding the Mass without any major incidents.

The Eucharist, ‘the greatest treasure of the Church’

At the end of the liturgical celebration, Gómez took the opportunity to catechize on the importance of the Eucharist and the responsibility of all Catholics to safeguard it.

The priest stressed that the Eucharist “is the greatest treasure of the Church” and, given that priests, religious, and laypeople are part of the Church, he reminded the faithful that “we must all be zealous for this treasure.”

“That is why at the moment of Communion, instead of being distracted,” the celebrant continued, “something that we all must do, if the Eucharist is our treasure, is to be vigilant that no one does something wrong.”

“This time it was my turn today. But it’s not just my problem. It’s also everyone’s problem. Everyone must be vigilant,” he insisted.

He also pointed out that, in these situations, the layperson has “the authority as a Christian” to demand of a desecrator: “Give me the consecrated host, please. Give it to me. Because if you are not going to honor it, give it to me, and I will honor it,” and then give it to a priest.

Before concluding, Gómez recalled that the Eucharist is “the presence of God among us, real and alive. If not, this is a theater.”

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

A confirmation Mass is held at St. Mary Parish on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Franklin, Massachusetts. / Credit: St. Mary Parish

CNA Staff, Dec 19, 2024 / 05:15 am (CNA).

The Diocese of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, announced it would be lowering its confirmation age just days after the Diocese of Salt Lake City shared it would adjust its process for youth converts to ensure thorough catechesis.

These decisions indicate a growing desire to strengthen the formation of youth in the Catholic faith.

Tim Glemkowski, who heads Amazing Parish, a ministry designed to support Catholic pastors and help parishes flourish, spoke to the challenges of remaining Catholic that young adults face in the culture today.

“The pressures of the culture are away from, not toward, religious belief and practice,” Glemkowski told CNA. “It is fair to say that our culture, broadly speaking, does not lend itself to preconditions.”

As the Church strives to address how to properly form youth in such a culture, in recent years many dioceses have lowered the confirmation age from high school to middle school or even younger, including the Archdiocese of Seattle to seventh grade; the Boston Archdiocese to eighth grade; and the Archdiocese of Denver to third grade before young people have received Communion. 

Requiring confirmation before Communion is known as “the restored order” — a celebration of the sacraments of initiation as the Church originally instructed them to be dispensed: baptism, confirmation, and then first Communion. The U.S. bishops allow reception of confirmation for youth between ages 7 and 17. 

According to a study by St. Mary’s Press and the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University (CARA), the median age of those who left the Church was 13 years old. The study found that many former Catholics who reported leaving usually between ages 10 and 20 said they had questions about the faith as children but never discussed their doubts or questions with their parents or Church leaders.

“We need to ensure that youth learn how to pray with their heart, have their questions about the faith answered in robust ways, and have many opportunities to hear the Gospel and respond to God by handing over their life to him,” Glemkowski said. 

“Young saints should show us that holiness and heroic mission is possible for young people; we should not underestimate what kids are capable of.”

Addressing a hostile culture 

The Diocese of Baton Rouge recently lowered the confirmation age to seventh grade, citing the challenges that face youth today.

“Our children are experiencing a culture which, at times, is hostile to our faith,” Bishop Michael Duca of Baton Rouge wrote in a Dec. 8 letter. 

“Through social media of all forms, young people are confronted at a surprisingly younger age with challenges to their Catholic faith and morals,” Duca explained. “Given this new reality, I believe it is time to lower the age of confirmation to give our children the full grace of the sacrament of confirmation at an earlier age to meet these challenges. 

Duca announced the diocese would begin a transition plan to lower the age from 10th to seventh grade gradually. 

“This gift of the Spirit is given to all of us in a special way in the sacrament of confirmation that fully initiates us into the Church and fills us with these gifts and the enthusiasm to take on the mission of Christ to renew the world,” he wrote. 

“Many older Catholics remember that the age of confirmation was younger when we were confirmed,” Duca continued. “After the Second Vatican Council, in many places, the age was raised to high school since many leaders felt that the sacrament would be better understood at an older age. This practice has worked well, but times have changed.”  

Strengthening formation 

The Diocese of Salt Lake City is also developing its catechetical program for youth converts who are too old for infant baptism, citing a need to strengthen catechesis within the diocese. 

The diocese announced last month that children above the age of 7 who are joining the Catholic Church will not receive all three sacraments of initiation at the Easter Vigil after the diocese temporarily paused the standard practice. 

After baptism, children joining the Church in the diocese are to attend a faith formation class at their age level rather than receive several sacraments at once, according to the diocesan announcement. The pause is temporary as the diocese develops its faith formation plans.

The Church considers children older than 7 to be at the “age of reason” and able to make some decisions of faith for themselves, so unbaptized youth are usually enrolled in the Order of Christian Initiation for Adults (OCIA) adapted for children, a yearlong preparation program for becoming Catholic. 

The Church broadly requires that for sacramental initiation after the age of reason, recipients should receive the three sacraments of initiation at the same time, except with grave reason. 

However, the Diocese of Salt Lake City cites “many challenges and our limited ability to overcome them in a missionary diocese” as the reason for the temporary moratorium on OCIA for children.  

Through the moratorium, the diocese hopes to ensure that catechesis is adequate and that children understand the sacraments they are participating in; the diocese is also looking to develop its programs in order to enable unbaptized children to fully assimilate into the faith, according to the announcement. 

This pause will end after the diocese develops a “comprehensive faith formation plan,” according to Lorena Needham, director of the Office of Worship for the diocese.

Needham noted that OCIA generally comes with many challenges across dioceses. 

“There is still a classroom-school-year mentality in which both catechumen and directors try to work within a timeline of one year or less instead of allowing each person to discern their journey (along with the discernment of the initiation catechist),” Needham told CNA. 

Both the parents and the child must consent to joining the Church — but children “cannot adequately give [consent] if they do not know and understand what the sacraments of initiation are,” she noted in the diocesan announcement in Intermountain Catholic. 

“There is little training in the seminaries on the OCIA — often it is just an optional class,” she noted, adding that other groups such as LTP, TeamInitiation, and the Association for Catechumenal Ministry offer ongoing training.

To remedy this situation, the Diocese of Salt Lake City hopes to place a greater emphasis on training for Christian initiation.

“Some bishops have taken Christian initiation to heart and made it a focus for the professional development of their priests and central to their pastoral plans,” Needham observed.

The biggest change under the temporary moratorium mandates that youth baptized above the age of 7 will receive sacraments one at a time rather than all at once. This will entail attending first Communion and confirmation classes within their age groups.

Under the moratorium, the requirements for obtaining baptism for youth over age 7 are unchanged. The current pastoral directives of the diocese require a parent interview at least 60 days before the baptism as well as discernment of the parents’ readiness to help the child live a Christian life. In addition, parents must be registered in the parish or live within its boundaries, and the parish must provide baptismal preparation for the child, parents, and godparents.

“The hope for our youth, our families, and indeed for all of us in this diocese is that we have the best possible opportunities to learn and live our faith, regardless of when the Holy Spirit moves us or our parents to take the next step of faith,” Needham said in the announcement.

null / Credit: sfam_photo/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Dec 19, 2024 / 04:44 am (CNA).

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.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be secretary of Health and Human Services, arrives for meetings at the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on Dec. 16, 2024, in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 18, 2024 / 17:50 pm (CNA).

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is reassuring Republican senators that he will back certain pro-life policies if the Senate confirms him to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

In November, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump nominated Kennedy to serve as the United States secretary of the HHS, a position that requires Senate confirmation. HHS oversees 10 agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Kennedy is a former Democrat. He ran for president as an independent in 2024 before dropping out and endorsing Trump. 

Although Kennedy has supported legal abortion for his entire public career, he told pro-life senators in closed-door meetings that he would oppose taxpayer funds for abortion domestically and abroad and restore conscience protections.

“Today I got to sit down with [Kennedy] — we had a substantive discussion about American health care … [and] a good discussion, at length, about pro-life policies at HHS,” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, said in a series of posts on X.

According to Hawley, Kennedy told him that, if confirmed, he would reinstate the Mexico City Policy, which ends federal funding for overseas organizations that promote abortion. Trump reinstated the Mexico City Policy during his first term and said in an October interview with EWTN News that he would consider doing so again in a second term.

Hawley said Kennedy’s plans include “ending taxpayer funding for abortions domestically” and ”reinstating the bar on Title X funds going to organizations that promote abortion.” He said that Kennedy also “pledged to reinstate conscience protections for health care providers.”

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, told reporters that he and Kennedy also talked about abortion, saying: “The big thing about abortion is that he’s telling everybody … whatever President Trump [supports], I’m going to back him 100%.” 

“Basically, [Kennedy] and President Trump have sat down and talked about it and both of them came to an agreement,” Tuberville said. “Roe v. Wade is gone, [abortion has] gone back to the states. Let the people vote on it.” 

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Oklahoma, told reporters that Kennedy told him he “serves the will of the [incoming] president of the United States and he’ll be pushing his policies forward.”

“[Kennedy’s] first thing is [that] we have too many abortions,” Mullin said. “... His follow up to that is [that he is] serving at the will of the president of the United States. … I think that should clear up that question for anyone.”

Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, said in a post on X that he also spoke with Kennedy about abortion. 

“I had a productive discussion with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this evening about the future of our nation’s health care system, preventing taxpayer-funded abortion, and Americans’ long-term well-being,” Scott said. 

During his independent presidential campaign, Kennedy first endorsed abortion in all stages of pregnancy, including late-term abortion. He later retracted that position and said he would back restrictions at the point of fetal viability. 

Kennedy also said during his campaign that he would support a “massive subsidized day care initiative” to reduce abortion without limiting legal access.

No word on chemical abortions

Tuberville, however, said that he did not speak with Kennedy about chemical abortions, which are regulated by the FDA. Trump himself has said he will not restrict access to the abortion pill mifepristone. Chemical abortions account for about half of all abortions in the country. 

The FDA first approved mifepristone to be used in chemical abortions in 2000. Under current law, the drug is approved to abort an unborn child up to 10 weeks’ gestation, at which point the child has a fetal heartbeat, early brain activity, and partially developed eyes, lips, and nostrils.

Mifepristone kills the child by blocking the hormone progesterone, which cuts off the supply of oxygen and nutrients. A second pill, misoprostol, is taken between 24 to 48 hours after mifepristone to induce contractions meant to expel the child’s body from the mother, essentially inducing labor.

Pro-life advocates have been urging the incoming administration to restrict abortion drugs. Many activists have argued that the executive branch could prohibit the delivery of abortion drugs in the mail by enforcing the Comstock Act — a plan that has not been embraced by Trump.

St. Januarius and the miracle of the liquefaction of his blood contained in a relic. / Credit: Louis Finson, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Photo2023, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 18, 2024 / 17:30 pm (CNA).

The faithful of the city of Naples in Italy experienced profound relief when they witnessed the liquefaction of the blood of St. Januarius, the miracle that kept the city in suspense during the day on Dec. 16.

The extraordinary event, which did not occur in the morning as usual, finally happened at 5:40 p.m. (local time) in the Naples cathedral.

Since 9 a.m., the reliquary containing the blood of the saint had been exposed to the faithful by Father Gregorio Vincenzo, but it remained solid until the afternoon. 

After the miracle, the liquefied blood of the patron saint of the city was taken to the Treasury Chapel of the cathedral, where a Mass was celebrated.

The miracle consists of the mass of blood adhering to one side of the ampoule turning into completely liquid blood, covering the entire glass.

This extraordinary event has occurred since 1389 on three occasions: every Sept. 19, the feast day of the saint; on Dec. 16, the anniversary of his intervention to prevent the effects of an eruption of the Mount Vesuvius volcano in 1631; and on the Saturday before the first Sunday in May, in memory of the transfer of his remains to Naples.

Tradition has it that on Dec. 16, 1631, the faithful of Naples carried the relics of their patron saint in a procession to prevent the eruption of Mount Vesuvius volcano from destroying the city. During the procession, the lava miraculously stopped. Since then, this event has been known as the “laypeople’s miracle.”

The liquefaction process sometimes takes hours or even days, and sometimes it doesn’t happen at all, which Neapolitans interpret as a bad omen, as happened in 1939 before the outbreak of World War II.

The Catholic Church believes that the miracle, without scientific explanation, happens thanks to the dedication and prayers of the faithful.

With the exclamation “The miracle has happened!”, the faithful go to the altar to kiss the relic and sing the Te Deum in thanksgiving after the archbishop of Naples, Cardinal Domenico Battaglia, has walked around the church holding the relic.

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

U.S. Supreme Court. / Credit: PT Hamilton/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 18, 2024 / 16:50 pm (CNA).

The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear a six-year-old case about whether South Carolina can prevent Medicaid funds from covering non-abortion services at Planned Parenthood facilities and other abortion clinics.

On Wednesday, the justices announced they would take the case in their 2024-2025 term. The case stems from a lawsuit Planned Parenthood filed in 2018 after Gov. Henry McMaster blocked abortion clinics from receiving those funds through an executive order.

Under federal law, federal Medicaid funds cannot be used to pay for abortion unless the life of the mother is at risk or the pregnancy results from rape or incest. However, federal law does allow those funds to pay for other services at abortion clinics. The court’s ruling will determine whether states can prevent those funds from covering non-abortion services at those facilities.

“Taxpayer dollars should never fund abortion providers like Planned Parenthood,” McMaster said in a post on X after the court agreed to hear the case. 

“In 2018, I issued an executive order to end this practice in South Carolina,” he added. “I’m confident the U.S. Supreme Court will agree with me that states shouldn’t be forced to subsidize abortions.”

The state government has argued that it has the authority to determine which organizations can access the federal funds it receives for family planning services and that it can allocate funds to other organizations that provide family planning services while exempting abortion clinics. The lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood argues that the state is interfering with a patient’s ability to obtain health care services at “the qualified provider of their choice.”

“Taxpayer dollars should never be used to fund facilities that make a profit off abortion,” Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel John Bursch said in a statement. 

Alliance Defending Freedom lawyers are representing the state’s interests in the lawsuit. 

“Pro-life states like South Carolina should be free to determine that Planned Parenthood and other entities that peddle abortion are not qualified to receive taxpayer funding through Medicaid,” Bursch added. “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.”

Jenny Black, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, said in a statement that “every person should be able to access quality, affordable health care from a provider they trust, no matter their income or insurance status.”

“This case is politics at its worst: anti-abortion politicians using their power to target Planned Parenthood and block people who use Medicaid as their primary form of insurance from getting essential health care like cancer screenings and birth control,” Black said.

In March, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit issued a ruling in favor of Planned Parenthood and ordered the state to grant abortion clinics access to those federal funds. Alliance Defending Freedom appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court.

Monsignor Roger Landry. / Credit: EWTN News/Screenshot

Boston, Mass., Dec 18, 2024 / 16:30 pm (CNA).

Father Roger Landry is now Monsignor Roger Landry — but he says he’s not ready to abandon the title “Father” anytime soon.

Landry, 54, the incoming national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States and a regular contributor to the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news parter, said he got the news this past weekend. He made it public Tuesday morning.

He said the new title, which is an honor bestowed by the pope, “will take some getting used to,” adding that he prefers the simpler title he has had during his 25 years of priesthood.

“I really love being called ‘Father,’ which is an ever-present challenge, every time it’s used, to respond as a spiritual father in the image of God the Father and of my own hardworking manly dad. I think it’s the greatest title to which any man and priest ought to aspire,” he told the Register.

“But I anticipate those who have always known me as ‘Father’ or strangers who see me dressed in black will still use it as the most natural vocative. I hope they do,” he continued. 

Landry is a priest of the Diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts, where he serves as executive editor of the diocese’s newspaper, The Anchor. The diocese sent a written statement to its priests this past weekend. It says:

“On Nov. 14, 2024, Father Roger Landry was honored with the title Chaplain of His Holiness by the Holy Father, Pope Francis, for his distinguished service to the Church. Let us all wish Monsignor Landry hearty congratulations and best wishes.”

Landry told the Register that Fall River Bishop Edgar da Cunha told him about his new title on Saturday.

Landry said he was surprised, because in 2014 Pope Francis announced he was limiting the pool of possible candidates for the title of monsignor to priests in the Holy See’s diplomatic corps and those who serve at least five years in the Vatican, in addition to diocesan priests who are at least 65 years old, as the Register reported at the time.

The only one of those categories that corresponds to Landry is the diplomatic service, he said, “but after nothing happened after I worked for seven years as an attaché to the Holy See’s diplomatic corps as the Holy See’s Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations in New York, I figured I was safe!” 

Landry was born and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, where he was valedictorian of his high school class. He earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Harvard in 1992. He graduated from the Pontifical North American College in Rome in 1999, the year he was ordained a priest.

He served as a parochial vicar at parishes in Fall River and Hyannis before becoming a pastor in New Bedford and later at another church in Fall River.

For the past nine years he has worked in assignments outside of his diocese.

He served as attaché to the Holy See’s Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations in New York from 2015 to 2022, when Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, appointed him Catholic chaplain at Columbia University. He is completing his stint at Columbia this month.

During the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy in 2016 he served as a “missionary of mercy,” with authority from the pope to offer absolution for sins normally reserved to the Holy See.

He served as ecclesiastical assistant to Aid to the Church in Need between 2021 and 2024.

This past summer, Landry was the only priest to walk the entirety of one of the four National Eucharistic Pilgrimages. He carried the Body of Christ in a monstrance for long stretches on foot between New Haven, Connecticut, and Indianapolis, the site of the 10th National Eucharistic Congress in July — an experience he wrote about for the Register in August.

He is the author of the February 2018 book “Plan of Life: Habits to Help You Grow Closer to God.”

His newest role is national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States, which he begins full time in January 2025.

Landry will run, from the organization’s offices in New York City and St. Petersburg, Florida, four societies that help the pope spread the Catholic faith: the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, which supports missionary work in 1,100 dioceses in Asia, Africa, the Pacific Islands, and Latin America; the Society of St. Peter the Apostle, which supports vocations to the priesthood and religious life; the Missionary Childhood Association, which helps provide young people religious education, health care, advocacy, and the necessities of life; and the Missionary Union, which prays for the missions and supports catechists across the world.

As Landry looks forward to his new mission, he hopes that he will be seen for his priestly service foremost, he told the Register. “At the end of the day, I’m still just an ordained foot-washer given the privilege to proclaim the greatest news of all time.”

The oldest known stone tablet inscribed with the Ten Commandments, dating from A.D. 300 to 800, was sold at Sotheby’s on Dec. 18, 2024, in New York City. Expected to sell for $1 million to $2 million, it went for $5.04 million. Inscribed with the commandments in Paleo-Hebrew script, the tablet was discovered during railroad excavations along the southern coast of Israel in 1913. / Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Seattle, Wash., Dec 18, 2024 / 15:40 pm (CNA).

A contentious Ten Commandments tablet has sold at Sotheby’s for $5.04 million — more than twice its high estimate of $2 million. The auction took place on Wednesday in New York City.

Promoted by the auction house as “the earliest surviving inscribed tablet of the Ten Commandments” and purportedly dating to the late Roman-Byzantine era, the marble slab drew intense scrutiny ahead of the sale, with scholars disputing its provenance and authenticity.

According to Sotheby’s, a local worker discovered the roughly 115-pound artifact in 1913 during railway construction in what is now Israel. Unaware of its significance, he reportedly used it as a threshold stone for decades.

It was only in 1943, when scholar Jacob Kaplan acquired the tablet, that its potential importance as a Samaritan Decalogue emerged. Sotheby’s relied partly on this narrative and the object’s wear as indicators of its antiquity.

Some experts remained unconvinced. 

“It may or may not be ancient,” said Christopher Rollston, the chairman of the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at George Washington University, in an interview with CNA. 

“Sotheby’s has not done its due diligence with this piece, and I find that to be deeply problematic,” he said. Rollston argued that while Sotheby’s cites wear patterns as evidence of age, decades of use as a doorway threshold alone could account for the stone’s abrasion.

In a recent blog post for The Times of Israel, Rollston also noted that the tablet omits the commandment forbidding the misuse of God’s name — a precept included in the Samaritan Pentateuch. 

He suggested that such deviations might be intentional “surprising content” introduced by forgers to stoke interest. “For 150 years, and indeed much longer than that … forgers have been producing fake inscriptions with surprising content,” Rollston wrote in the blog.

Sotheby’s defended its process. “Sotheby’s regularly undertakes due diligence procedures to authenticate and determine the provenance of property prior to accepting it for sale, and the research into this property was no different,” a spokesperson said before the sale.

The house emphasized that the tablet “was also seen by scholars who had the opportunity to inspect it firsthand” and has appeared in scholarly publications since 1947 without prior challenges to its authenticity.

The strong price underscores the ongoing tension between market demand for rare antiquities and persistent legal, ethical, and academic debates about how such objects are vetted. 

“Auction houses don’t have any specific legal obligations to verify authenticity and provenance,” said Patty Gerstenblith, distinguished research professor of law and director of the Center for Art, Museum, and Cultural Heritage Law at DePaul University. “The auction house typically owes a fiduciary obligation to the consignor, not the buyer.”

If doubts arise after a sale, buyers face hurdles. “If the artifact turns out not to be authentic or not to have lawful provenance, the purchaser may be able to sue the auction house,” Gerstenblith said, noting that such claims often hinge on whether the auction house’s assertions amounted to a warranty or were made fraudulently.

While the $5.04 million result indicates robust interest in this piece of purported biblical heritage, the scholarly skepticism voiced by experts like Rollston suggests the tablet’s true legacy — and its place in the historical record — may remain the subject of vigorous debate.

Pope Francis addresses pilgrims gathered for his general audience on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Dec 18, 2024 / 11:30 am (CNA).

Pope Francis on Wednesday prayed especially for Cyclone Chido victims in the French territory of Mayotte during his weekly general audience.

Before greeting thousands of pilgrims crowded inside the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall, the Holy Father paused to pray before the relics of St. Thérèse of Lisieux brought to Rome by French pilgrims attending the pope’s Wednesday audience.

“I express my concern for all the inhabitants of the Mayotte archipelago devastated by a cyclone and I assure them of my prayers,” the pope shared with pilgrims. 

“May God grant rest to those who lost their lives, the necessary help to all those in need, and comfort to the bereaved families,” he continued.

Mayotte, France’s poorest overseas territory located in the Indian Ocean between Madagascar and Mozambique, was hit by its worst tropical cyclone in 90 years with wind speeds at more than 124 mph, the World Meteorological Organization reported.

Though official tolls are unclear and continue to rise, thousands are feared dead or injured. According to Al Jazeera, French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou stated on Tuesday more than 1,500 people were injured as a result of Cyclone Chido.

‘Jesus Christ Our Hope’

Pope Francis this week introduced a new catechesis series, titled “Jesus Christ Our Hope,” that he said will continue for the entirety of the 2025 Jubilee Year.

Starting the series with reflections on Jesus’ genealogy and childhood, the Holy Father told his listeners that the “infancy Gospels” of St. Matthew and St. Luke, recorded in the New Testament, are in fact told through the perspectives of Jesus’ parents on earth, the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph.

“We are presented with an infant child and adolescent Jesus submissive to his parents and, at the same time, aware that he is wholly devoted to the Father and his kingdom,” he said.

“The difference between the two evangelists is that while Luke recounts the events through the eyes of Mary, Matthew does so through those of Joseph, insisting on such an unprecedented paternity.”

The Holy Father also drew attention to the women mentioned in Jesus’ ancestry and of their importance in salvation history.

“The first four women are united not by the fact of being sinners, as is sometimes said, but by being foreigners to the people of Israel,” he said.

“What Matthew brings out is that, as Benedict XVI wrote, ‘through them the world of the Gentiles enters ... into the genealogy of Jesus — his mission toward Jews and pagans is made visible.’”

Preparations for Christmas, prayers for peace

Before imparting his paternal blessings, the Holy Father asked international pilgrims to spiritually prepare for Christmas.

“Christmas is now here and I’d like to think that there is a Nativity scene in your homes,” he said. “This important element of our spirituality and culture is a wonderful, wonderful way to remember Jesus, who came to dwell among us.”

Praying alongside pilgrims crowded inside the hall, Pope Francis asked the “Prince of Peace” for his grace and peace to fill the world. 

“Let us not forget all those who suffer because of war. Palestine, Israel, and all those who are suffering in Ukraine, in Myanmar. Let us not forget to pray for peace [and] for wars to end,” he said.

Blessed Martyrs of Compiègne were guillotined for their faith on July 17, 1794. / Photo illustration.

Vatican City, Dec 18, 2024 / 11:17 am (CNA).

Pope Francis has officially declared the 16 Discalced Carmelite nuns of Compiègne, executed during the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution, as saints through the rare procedure of “equipollent canonization.”

Mother Teresa of St. Augustine and her 15 companions, who were guillotined in Paris as they sang hymns of praise, can immediately be venerated worldwide as saints in the Catholic Church.

The equipollent, or “equivalent” canonization, announced by the Vatican on Wednesday, recognizes the long-standing veneration of the Carmelite martyrs, who met their deaths with unwavering faith on July 17, 1794. 

Their final act of courage and faith inspired Francis Poulenc’s well-known 1957 opera “Dialogue of the Carmelites,” based on the book of the same name written by famous Catholic novelist and essayist Georges Bernanos.

Like the usual canonization process, equipollent canonization is an invocation of papal infallibility in which the pope declares that a person is among the saints in heaven. It avoids the formal process of canonization as well as the ceremony, since it occurs by the publication of a papal bull. 

Longtime veneration of the saint and demonstrated heroic virtue are still required, and though no modern miracle is necessary, the fame of miracles that occurred before or after a saint’s death are also taken into account after a study is made by the historical section of the Vatican Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.

Though the process is rare, Pope Francis has declared others saints through equipollent canonization, such as St. Peter Faber and St. Margaret of Costello, something that Pope Benedict XVI also did for St. Hildegard of Bingen and which Pope Pius XI granted for St. Albert the Great.

Who were the Martyrs of Compiègne?

The martyrs, comprising 11 nuns, three lay sisters, and two externs, were arrested during a time of fierce anti-Catholic persecution. The French Revolution’s Civil Constitution of the Clergy had outlawed religious life, and the Carmelites of Compiègne were expelled from their monastery in 1792. 

Despite being forced into hiding, the sisters secretly maintained their communal life of prayer and penance. At the suggestion of the convent prioress Mother Teresa of St. Augustine, the sisters made an additional vow: to offer their lives in exchange for an end to the French Revolution and for the Catholic Church in France.

On the day of their execution, the sisters were transported through the streets of Paris in open carts, enduring insults from the gathered crowd. Undeterred, they sang the “Miserere,” “Salve Regina,” and “Veni Creator Spiritus” as they approached the scaffold. 

Before meeting her death, each sister knelt before their prioress, who gave them permission to die. The prioress was the last to be executed, her hymn continuing until the blade fell.

Within the following few days, Maximilien Robespierre himself was executed, bringing an end to the bloody Reign of Terror. 

The bodies of the 16 martyrs were buried in a mass grave at Picpus Cemetery, where a tombstone commemorates their martyrdom. Beatified in 1906 by Pope Pius X, their story has since inspired books, films, and operas.

The feast day of the Martyrs of Compiègne will remain July 17, commemorating the date of their martyrdom. 

Other sainthood causes recognized

In addition to the equipollent canonization, Pope Francis also approved decrees advancing other sainthood causes, including the beatifications of two 20th-century martyrs: Archbishop Eduard Profittlich, who died under communist persecution, and Father Elia Comini, a victim of Nazi fascism.

Profittlich, a German Jesuit and archbishop, died in a Soviet prison in 1942 after enduring torture for refusing to abandon his flock in Soviet-occupied Estonia. 

Comini, a Salesian priest, was executed by Nazis in 1944 for aiding villagers and offering spiritual support during massacres in northern Italy. 

Pope Francis also recognized the heroic virtues of three servants of God: Hungarian Archbishop Áron Márton (1896–1980), Italian priest Father Giuseppe Maria Leone (1829–1902), and French layman Pietro Goursat (1914–1991), who founded the Emmanuel Community.

Márton, a bishop who stood against both Nazi and communist oppression in Romania, defended religious freedom and aided the persecuted before being sentenced to life imprisonment and forced labor by the communists in 1951. He was later released and died of cancer in 1980.

Leone, an Italian Redemptorist priest, dedicated his life to preaching, spiritual direction, and aiding communities ravaged by epidemics. Renowned as a confessor and spiritual guide, he helped renew religious life and inspire lay faithful in post-unification Italy.

French layman Goursat founded the Emmanuel Community, a movement promoting prayer and evangelization, particularly among marginalized youth. Despite personal hardships, he transformed the Sanctuary of the Sacred Heart in Paray-le-Monial into a spiritual hub and lived his final years in quiet devotion.

With the decree, the three servants of God now have the title of  “venerable” in the Catholic Church.