St. Callistus Roman Catholic Church

The Supreme Court of Texas said in a post on X late Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, that it had “granted a Texas House of Representatives’ emergency motion” and “effectively [halted] the execution of Robert Roberson,” which was scheduled to take place that night. / Credit: Innocence Project

CNA Staff, Oct 23, 2024 / 14:05 pm (CNA).

A Texas death row inmate whose execution was recently halted was prevented from testifying at the state capitol on Monday after the office of Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton refused to let him testify in person, citing security concerns. 

The Supreme Court of Texas granted an emergency motion last week to halt the execution of Robert Roberson, which had been scheduled to take place Oct. 17. 

In an opinion issued when the Texas Supreme Court halted the execution, Justice Evan Young noted that the Legislature “has subpoenaed an inmate subject to a sentence of death to appear as a witness” and that “if the sentence is carried out, the witness obviously cannot appear.”

Bishop Joe Vásquez of the local Diocese of Austin told “EWTN News Nightly” that the bishops of Texas, who praised the halting of Roberson’s execution, believe that “he is innocent, and at least his case should be reviewed.”

Roberson was convicted in 2003 of the murder of his infant daughter, Nikki, whom he had brought to a local hospital with severe injuries. Roberson claimed the baby had fallen from her bed, but medical experts argued that her injuries were consistent with child abuse.

Testimony at his trial included the claim that Nikki’s injuries were consistent with “shaken baby syndrome,” a formerly common diagnosis that is controversial today among experts. 

Since his conviction, Roberson has attempted to establish his innocence by invoking Texas’ “junk science” law, which allows defendants to argue that scientific evidence used in their conviction was flawed. He would be the first person in the U.S. put to death for a conviction linked to “shaken baby syndrome” if his execution ends up moving forward, CBS News reported.

The canceled Oct. 21 hearing, convened by the Texas House of Representatives Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence, was set to consider testimony regarding the “junk science” law. Lawmakers had issued a subpoena for Roberson to appear before the committee to testify, effectively delaying Roberson’s execution — a tactic that Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has since criticized. 

In the end, Roberson was also not permitted to testify to the Legislature virtually, with lawmakers citing the fact that he has autism and has rarely interacted with modern technology during his 20-year incarceration. The Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee hopes to have Roberson appear to testify in person at another time. 

Last week, the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops said in a statement that it was “grateful” for the decision to halt the execution. The Catholic Church teaches that the death penalty is “inadmissible,” even for people who have committed heinous crimes. 

“Now is the time for all Texans to demand justice for Robert and denounce the execution of a likely innocent man, which violates the laws of God and humanity to which we hold one another accountable,” the bishops said.

Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, the executive director of the anti-death penalty Catholic Mobilizing Network, likewise praised “the bipartisan, courageous leadership of the Texas legislators who took action that led to this temporary stay of execution.”

“As Catholics, we know that every life is sacred,” Murphy said. “Catholic teaching on the ‘inadmissibility in all cases’ of capital punishment is crystal clear — no exclusions or exceptions.”

“We will continue to educate, advocate, and pray that soon, every state — including the state of Texas — will be free of the scourge of capital punishment,” she said.

Pope Francis waves to the crowds gathered in St. Peter’ Square as he arrives for his general audience on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, at the Vatican. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican City, Oct 23, 2024 / 13:35 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis said the Holy Spirit plays an essential role in the unity of a husband and a wife, and advised married couples to invoke the Spirit’s help for their marriage, because the separation of spouses is a source of suffering for children.

“What can the Holy Spirit have to do with marriage, for example? A great deal, perhaps the essential,” the pope said during his weekly audience with the public in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 23.

“Christian marriage is the sacrament of self-giving, one for the other, of man and woman. This is how the Creator intended it when he ‘created man in his own image … male and female he created them (Gn 1:27),’” Francis said to crowds gathered in an overcast square. 

In the Wednesday general audience, the pontiff continued his series of teachings on the Holy Spirit, focusing on the role of the Third Person of the Trinity in the sacrament of matrimony, including the couple as a “realization of the communion of love that is the Trinity.”

Francis said like the Trinity, “married couples, too, should form a first-person plural, a ‘we.’ Stand before each other as an ‘I’ and a ‘you,’ and stand before the rest of the world, including the children, as a ‘we.’”

“How much children need this unity — mother and father together — unity of parents, and how much they suffer when it is lacking,” he emphasized. “How much the children of separated parents suffer, how much they suffer.”

Drawing on the story of the wedding at Cana, Francis noted that for “so many couples, one must repeat what Mary said to Jesus, at Cana in Galilee: ‘They have no wine.’ The Holy Spirit is he who continues to perform, on a spiritual level, the miracle that Jesus worked on that occasion; namely, to change the water of habit into a new joy of being together.”

“It is not a pious illusion: It is what the Holy Spirit has done in so many marriages, when the spouses decided to invoke him."

“No one,” the pope continued, “says that such unity is an easy task, least of all in today’s world; but this is the truth of things as the Creator designed them, and it is therefore in their nature. Certainly, it may seem easier and quicker to build on sand than on rock; but Jesus tells us what the result is…”

Pope Francis noted that marriage needs the support of the Holy Spirit, “the Gift,” and recommended that marriage preparation include a deeper spiritual preparation in addition to just psychological, legal, and moral information.

“Where the Holy Spirit enters, the capacity for self-giving is reborn,” he said.

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

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 23, 2024 / 11:40 am (CNA).

The United States Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a case to determine the legality of a Tennessee law that prohibits doctors from performing so-called transgender surgeries on minors and prevents doctors from prescribing them puberty blockers and hormones.

The law is facing a legal challenge from President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ administration as well as from three families in the state.

Although the case only addresses Tennessee’s law specifically, a Supreme Court ruling could set a nationwide precedent that would apply to state laws around the country that prohibit gender transition surgeries and drugs for children. More than 20 states restrict or prohibit doctors from performing such surgeries or providing such drugs for patients under the age of 18.

The court scheduled oral arguments for the case to be heard in December — less than two years after Gov. Bill Lee signed the prohibition into law.

State law prohibits doctors from performing surgery on a minor’s genitals that are intended to make them resemble the genitals of the opposite sex. It also prohibits chest surgeries and other aesthetic surgeries intended to make the child appear more similar to the opposite sex.

The law further prohibits doctors from prescribing puberty blockers, which delay a child’s natural development during puberty, if the intention is to facilitate a gender transition. It also prevents doctors from prescribing estrogen to boys and testosterone to girls if the intention is to facilitate a gender transition.

Doctors and health care providers can incur a $25,000 penalty for violating the state law.

A report published earlier this month by the medical watchdog group Do No Harm found that doctors in the United States provided at least 13,994 children with either transgender drugs or surgeries. The report identified more than 5,700 children receiving transgender surgeries but also noted that these numbers are likely higher because some data isn’t publicly available.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti is defending the law in court against challenges from the Biden-Harris Department of Justice (DOJ) and three Tennessee families represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Tennessee.

A complaint filed by the DOJ refers to transgender drugs and surgeries for minors as “medically necessary care.” It argues that the state law violates the equal protection clause of the United States Constitution by discriminating “on the basis of sex and on the basis of transgender status in violation of the equal protection clause.

When reached for comment, a spokesperson told CNA that the DOJ does not comment on pending litigation. 

The ACLU filing with the Supreme Court makes similar arguments, stating that “discrimination based on a person’s transgender status necessarily imposes differential treatment based, in part, on that person’s sex assigned at birth.” 

The equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment guarantees every person “equal protection of the laws” in every state.

CNA reached out to the Tennessee ACLU for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication. In a post on X, the Tennessee ACLU wrote that “trans youth deserve the same chance to thrive as their peers.”

“Trans youth deserve a future,” the post read. “Gender-affirming care is life-saving care, and we’re ready to stand for it boldly. Tennessee, we’ll see you in court.”

When reached for comment, a spokesperson for the Tennessee attorney general’s office referred CNA to an Oct. 18 op-ed published by Skrmetti in The Hill.

“Many doctors, states, and countries share Tennessee’s view on gender-transition interventions for minors; the federal government and others do not,” Skrmetti wrote.

“People who disagree with Tennessee’s law can advocate for a different law through the democratic process,” he added. “While the federal government is free to favor its transition-first, ask-questions-later approach, the Constitution does not bind Tennessee to that same choice.”

Bishop Dominique Rey (left), and Coadjutor Bishop François Touvet of Fréjus-Toulon, France. / Credit: Claude Truong-Ngoc via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 3.0) and G.Garitan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Vatican City, Oct 23, 2024 / 11:10 am (CNA).

The Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon in the south of France will ordain six men to the transitional diaconate on Dec. 1, ending a Vatican suspension on diocesan ordinations to the priesthood or diaconate that has lasted over two years.

Ordinations were halted by the Vatican in June 2022 following a fraternal visit to the diocese by Archbishop (now Cardinal) Jean-Marc Aveline of Marseille.

The ordinations of six seminarians from the traditionalist community Missionaries of Divine Mercy will take place in the Collegiate Church of Saint-Martin in Lorgues, according to an Oct. 21 announcement from Bishop François Touvet.

Pope Francis appointed Touvet a coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon in November 2023, putting him in charge of religious communities and of the training of priests and seminarians.

As coadjutor, Touvet is serving alongside Bishop Dominique Rey, who has led the French diocese since 2000. Touvet will succeed Rey upon Rey’s 75th birthday.

Touvet said this week the Dec. 1 ordinations “are the fruit of a trusting and peaceful dialogue maintained with the superior of the community [of the Missionaries of Divine Mercy] and the Dicastery for Divine Worship.”

While the Missionaries of Divine Mercy recognize the validity of the post-Vatican II liturgy, one of its three charisms is the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass.

The group, which was founded under diocesan law, is also dedicated to the missions of mercy and evangelization, especially among Muslims.

Touvet wrote that while the statutes of the community, founded in 2005, indicate that priests and deacons should use the liturgical books from prior to the reform of the Second Vatican Council, the community’s members “recognize the validity of the current missal and have sought, since their foundation almost 20 years ago, a true insertion in diocesan life under the authority of the bishop.”

The diaconate ordinations scheduled for later this year are a “favorable outcome” of exchanges with the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Touvet said, since permission to offer the Traditional Latin Mass “can only be granted to a recently ordained priest by the Holy See” since the 2021 promulgation of Traditiones Custodes.

The bishop invited prayers for the soon-to-be deacons and “so that the liturgy is not a place of combat but of communion in Jesus Christ the savior.”

Suspension of ordinations

The Vatican requested the suspension of ordinations in the Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon in summer 2022 due to “questions that certain Roman dicasteries were asking about the restructuring of the seminary and the policy of welcoming people to the diocese,” according to an announcement by Bishop Dominique Rey at the time.

The diocese had seen a record number of ordinations to the priesthood under Rey’s leadership, which began in 2000, but questions were raised about his approach to evaluating candidates for the priesthood. He was also under scrutiny for having welcomed to the diocese a large number of religious orders and lay groups across a wide spiritual spectrum that included both charismatic and traditionalist communities.

Known for his support of the Traditional Latin Mass, Rey had also ordained diocesan clerics using the 1962 Roman Pontifical and had used the same book for the ordinations of religious communities, including the Institute of the Good Shepherd. 

After Pope Francis promulgated Traditionis Custodes, the 2021 motu proprio restricting the celebration of Mass in the extraordinary form of the Roman rite, the bishop had highlighted the concerns of some priests and communities present in his diocese who offered Mass according to the old rite. 

Aveline’s fraternal visit to Rey’s diocese took place in early 2022 at the request of the Vatican.

In an Aug. 2, 2024, interview, Father Marcelo Pérez revealed that a “price” had been put on his life. The priest died Oct. 20, 2024, after being shot by two men after celebrating Mass. / Credit: Diocese of San Cristóbal de las Casas

Puebla, Mexico, Oct 23, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Father Marcelo Pérez, a priest of the Diocese of San Cristóbal de las Casas in the Mexican state of Chiapas, died on Oct. 20, killed by two men who shot him after he had celebrated Mass. His diocese now remembers him as a “tireless apostle of peace.”

According to information provided by the diocese through a statement shared on Oct. 21, Pérez was born on Jan. 17, 1974, in San Andrés Larráinzar in Chiapas state.

From a young age he felt the call to the priesthood and entered the Our Lady of Guadalupe seminary in 1990 in the Archdiocese of Tuxtla Gutierrez. He was ordained a priest on April 6, 2002.

During his ministry, Pérez worked in various parishes. In his last two years, he served as pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in San Cristóbal de las Casas.

His pastoral work included tasks such as coordinator of the Social Ministry of the Province of Chiapas. According to the Diocese of San Cristóbal de las Casas: “His life was spent in search of justice and peace, especially in Simojovel, Pantelho, and San Cristóbal de las Casas.”

The diocesan statement noted that this commitment earned him consequences. ”All this service he performed led him to suffer a long period of threats, persecution, harassment, slander, defamation, even an unfounded arrest warrant, which put his personal safety at risk, to the point of his life being taken.”

One of the most difficult moments of his ministry occurred in 2021 when 21 young people were kidnapped by the self-defense group “El Machete” with whom Pérez was said to have ties. According to local media, the attorney general’s office of the state of Chiapas issued an arrest warrant for him, but it was never carried out.

In an Aug. 2 interview with online news El Heraldo de Chiapas, Pérez assured that his work was always oriented toward peace and rejected the accusations against him, stating that “we never foment violence, even though the work we do is very visible and there is an arrest warrant that the government issued against me, but these are false accusations.”

In the same interview, he revealed that a “price” had been put on his life, with a value of between 150,000 and 1 million Mexican pesos (between $7,500 and $50,000), “but we live under the protection of God; there is a lot of violence but we continue to build peace.”

In its statement following his murder, the Diocese of San Cristóbal de las Casas said that “even knowing that his life was in danger, he lived a profound faith in God and a great love for the people that took him to the ultimate consequences, sealing today, with his blood, his commitment to give his life.”

The Catholic Church demands justice and a ‘total end to violence’

The Mexican Bishops’ Conference lamented in a statement the “brutal murder” of the priest, noting that this act “not only deprives the community of a dedicated pastor but also silences a prophetic voice that tirelessly fought for peace with truth and justice in the Chiapas region.”

The Diocese of San Cristóbal de las Casas also issued a statement in which it demanded that the three levels of government “completely halt the violence” affecting Chiapas, describing it as the result of “impunity, complicity, and corruption.”

The diocese reiterated its demand for the “immediate disarmament and dismantling of crime gangs” operating in the region. It also called for the murder of Pérez to be solved and for “justice be done until those truly responsible are found.”

Cardinal Felipe Arizmendi, who ordained Pérez as a priest, described him as a man “committed to justice and peace among Indigenous peoples.”

In a statement shared with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, he emphasized that the murdered priest “never got involved in partisan politics but always fought for the values ​​of the kingdom of God” and added that the priest was “very focused on his vocation, very prayerful and spent a lot of time before the tabernacle.”

The cardinal noted that “his murder shows us, once again, the climate of violence that has been unleashed in Chiapas and in almost the entire country.” He affirmed that this situation is indicative “that the government and all of us, including the churches, are overwhelmed. We haven’t managed to stop the violence, but rather it is increasing.”

The Latin American Bishops’ Council (CELAM, by its Spanish acronym), after expressing its “consternation,” recognized Pérez as a “tireless seeker of peace and justice for his people, the fruit of his faithful commitment to the Gospel and his total dedication to Christ present among those who suffer the most.

U.N.: Murder of Pérez ‘absolutely unacceptable’

The murder was also condemned by Jesús Peña Palacios, deputy representative in Mexico of the United Nations Human Rights Organization, who noted that since 2015, Pérez had been under precautionary measures from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), “due to the constant risk to his life and personal safety due to his work in defense of human rights in Simojovel and other places in Chiapas.”

“The murder of Father Marcelo is absolutely unacceptable. His work was widely recognized by Indigenous peoples in Chiapas and also internationally. Despite having protective measures and constant complaints about the attacks he faced, these were insufficient to prevent his murder,” Peña said.

The governor of Chiapas, Rutilio Escandón, shared a video on social media on Oct. 21 in which he assured that “investigations began yesterday so that this homicide does not go unpunished and that the guilty parties face justice and the full weight of the law comes down upon them.”

Likewise, in an Oct. 21 press conference, Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, deplored “the homicide, the murder of Father Marcelo Pérez Pérez in San Cristóbal de las Casas.”

“The investigation is underway. Yesterday, the secretary of the interior was in communication with both the state government and the diocese and the ecclesiastical authorities. We are coordinating to be able to make progress in the investigation and ensure that this crime does not go unpunished,” she said.

Sheinbaum added that as the investigation progresses, she will look into whether this case will be taken up by the federal attorney general’s office.

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

The Vatican on Oct. 22, 2024, announced it had accepted the request of Bishop Paskalis Bruno Syukur, OFM, of Bogor, Indonesia (seen here in 2017), to not be made a cardinal at the Dec. 7 consistory as had been previously announced. The bishop’s request “was motivated by his desire to continue growing in priestly life and in service to the Church and the people of God,” the Holy See Press Office said. / Credit: Albertus Aditya, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Rome Newsroom, Oct 23, 2024 / 06:19 am (CNA).

The Vatican announced Tuesday evening that Pope Francis had accepted the request of Indonesian Bishop Paskalis Bruno Syukur, OFM, not to be made a cardinal in a December consistory as had been previously announced.

The bishop’s request “was motivated by his desire to continue growing in priestly life and in service to the Church and the people of God,” a brief message from the Holy See Press Office said.

At the beginning of October, Pope Francis announced he would create 21 new cardinals, including Syukur, at a consistory to be held Dec. 7.

The 62-year-old Franciscan was consecrated bishop of Bogor, a diocese just south of Indonesia’s capital city of Jakarta, in February 2014.

From 2001–2009, Syukur was the Franciscan provincial minister of Indonesia. In 2009, he became the general delegate for the Asia and Oceania region, which includes India, Pakistan, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and Indonesia.

The bishop has also held leadership positions in the Indonesian bishops’ conference.

According to the liturgical schedule released by the Vatican’s master of ceremonies Oct. 12, the ceremony to create the new cardinals — 19 eligible to be cardinal-electors — will be held in the afternoon on Dec. 7 in St. Peter’s Basilica.

The following day, on the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, Dec. 8, Francis and the entire College of Cardinals will celebrate a Mass of thanksgiving together in the Vatican Basilica.

With Syukur’s withdrawal, as of Dec. 7, the total number of eligible cardinal electors will be 140, 110 of whom were chosen by Pope Francis. This means the current pontiff has named 79% of the men who will one day elect his successor.

The Human Exploration Rover Challenge team at St. Mary’s Catholic School in the Diocese of Richmond. / Credit: Peter Tlusty

CNA Staff, Oct 23, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

A Catholic middle school in the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia, is one of just two middle schools in the world chosen to compete in a prominent NASA engineering challenge. 

NASA announced earlier this month the teams of students it had picked to participate in this year’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC). Middle schoolers at St. Mary’s Catholic School in the Richmond Diocese were selected to participate; the other is Jesco von Puttkamer School in Leipzig, Germany.

The program “aims to put competitors in the mindset of NASA’s Artemis campaign as they pitch an engineering design for a lunar terrain vehicle which simulates astronauts piloting a vehicle, exploring the lunar surface while overcoming various obstacles,” according to NASA. The Artemis program will in 2026 put human beings back on the lunar surface for the first time since 1972. 

All told, students from 35 colleges and universities, 38 high schools, and two middle schools were chosen by NASA; the teams hail from “20 states, Puerto Rico, and 16 other nations from around the world,” NASA said. 

Among the other competitors is Pontifical Catholic University in Lima, Peru, as well as the Catholic University of Bolivia and the Catholic University of Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo.

This is the 31st annual HERC program and the first time the challenge has been open to middle schoolers. The program has historically consisted of students crafting full-scale operational mock-ups of rovers; this year, for the first time, NASA introduced a remote-controlled division.

Both middle schools are competing in the remote division, as are several high school and college teams. The remote teams will “work to solve complex scientific tasks with a purpose-built vehicle,” NASA said.

Peter Tlusty, an IB MYP design and technology teacher at the Richmond school, said the 28 students in the program will have to engage in numerous problem-solving and logistical challenges as part of the program in addition to designing the rover itself. 

“They have to come up with a budget. They have to do fundraisings. They have to have a media presence — Facebook and stuff like that,” he said. 

Students will eventually take their rover down to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, to test it out on an obstacle course that mimics both the lunar and Martian surfaces. 

Tlusty said the team will rigorously test the rover on a series of makeshift environments in Richmond before traveling to Alabama. 

“We’re going to reach out to a couple of the landscaping places around Richmond and see if they’ll let us bring our rover out to their sand piles,” he said. The team may also seek donations from local landscaping outfits to create a mock-up course on campus. 

The competition can contribute greatly to a student’s academic success, Tlusty said. 

“One of the first things kids ask is, ‘What do we get if we win?’” Tlusty said with a laugh. “Well, for one, it looks great on your résumé.” 

“I tell the kids: This puts you a notch above in competitions for scholarships,” he said. “And it looks good on a college application too.”

Tlusty said it’s a considerable distinction to be chosen for the program. 

“Last year the number of HERC applications was a record,” he said. “And this year the applications were up 40%. This is a competitive challenge people apply for.” 

“It’s amazing to be included,” he continued. “When I saw they only picked two middle school teams, I was astonished. It’s quite the honor.”

Father Gustavo Gutierrez Merino, OP, who is regarded as the father of liberation theology. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Notre Dame/Matt Cashore

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 23, 2024 / 04:35 am (CNA).

Gustavo Gutiérrez Merino, the Peruvian Dominican priest considered the ”father” of liberation theology, died Oct. 22 at the age of 96.

The Dominican Province of St. John the Baptist of Peru announced the death of Gutiérrez, noting he was the author of the influential 1971 book “A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, and Salvation.”

“We ask for your prayers to accompany our dear brother so that he may enjoy eternal life,” stated the announcement signed by Father Rómulo Vásquez Gavidia, OP, the provincial prior.

The Dominicans indicated that Gutiérrez’s remains would lie in state at the Santo Domingo convent in Lima’s historic center.

The Vatican and liberation theology

The theology of liberation is a school of thought that explored dimensions of liberation from the standpoint of Catholic social teaching. In some of its radical expressions, in particular in Latin America, liberation theology embraced many elements of Marxist theory and advocated for social change through various forms of revolution. At times, it also cast Christ as a form of revolutionary figure.

Its more orthodox expressions emphasized a closeness with the poor and the suffering and called for authentic liberation in Christ.

In a January 2017 interview with Spanish newspaper El País, Pope Francis said: “Liberation theology was a positive thing in Latin America. The Vatican condemned the part that opted for Marxist analysis of reality. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger [the later Pope Benedict XVI] issued two instructions when he was prefect of the [then-Congregation for the] Doctrine of the Faith: One very clear about the Marxist analysis of reality, and the second taking up positive aspects.”

During St. John Paul II’s papacy, the Congregation (now Dicastery) for the Doctrine of the Faith conducted an investigation that resulted in two documents: “The Instruction on Certain Aspects of the ‘Theology of Liberation,’” Libertatis Nuntius (1984), and the “Instruction on Christian Freedom and Liberation,” Libertatis Conscientia (1986). 

Over many years, the Vatican examined Gutiérrez’s writings. In 2006, the Peruvian bishops’ conference reported that the Vatican had “concluded the path of clarification of problematic points contained in some works of the author” in 2004, with a revised second version of Gutiérrez’s article “Ecclesial Koinonia.”

Life and writings

Born on June 8, 1928, Gutiérrez was ordained a priest in 1959 and joined the Dominican order in 2001. He studied medicine and literature at the National University of San Marcos while participating in Catholic Action. He later studied theology at the University of Louvain in Belgium and the Institut Catholique of Lyon in France.

Gutiérrez served as the John Cardinal O’Hara Endowed professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. His books have been translated into multiple languages.

John Cavadini, the former head of Notre Dame’s theology department, recruited Gutiérrez to his post.

“Unlike a number of liberation theologians, Father Gustavo was concerned to remain with the boundaries of orthodox Catholic faith and ecclesial discipline. As a result, he expanded ecclesial sensibilities in ways that permanently affected, you could say, developed, Catholic social teaching and beyond that, into its theological presuppositions,” Cavadini told the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, on Wednesday.

“Father Gustavo practiced what he preached,” Cavadini added. “He always worked with the poor, offering catechesis and connection with the Fathers of the Church and Thomas Aquinas (among others), adapted for their educational level whatever it might be. May he rest in peace!”

One of Gutiérrez’s last international appearances was in Rome in October 2019 at a congress held at the Jesuit General Curia. There, at the invitation of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America (CAL), he delivered a lecture on “The Preferential Option for the Poor.”

A year earlier, in June 2018, Pope Francis sent Gutiérrez a letter for his 90th birthday, thanking him “for what you have contributed to the Church and humanity through your theological service and your preferential love for the poor and the discarded of society.”

Jonathan Liedl of the National Catholic Register contributed to this report.

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

St. John Capistrano and St. Bernardine of Siena. Museum of Fine Arts of Granada. Painting, oil on canvas, by Alonso Cano (1653-1657) for an altarpiece of the disappeared Franciscan convent of San Antonio and San Diego, Granada. / Credit: Jl FilpoC, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, Oct 23, 2024 / 04:00 am (CNA).

On Oct. 23, the Catholic Church celebrates the life of St. John of Capistrano, a Franciscan priest whose life included a political career, extensive missionary journeys, efforts to reunite separated Eastern Christians with Rome, and a historically important turn at military leadership.

Invoked as a patron of military chaplains, St. John of Capistrano was praised by St. John Paul II — whose feast day was yesterday, Oct. 22 — in a 2002 general audience for his “glorious evangelical witness” and as a priest who “gave himself with great generosity for the salvation of souls.”

Born in Italy in 1385, John lost his father — a French or possibly German knight who had settled in Capistrano — at a young age. John’s mother took care to have him educated, and after learning Latin he went on to study both civil law and Church law in Perugia. An outstanding student, he soon became a prominent public figure and was appointed governor of the city at age 26.

John showed high standards of integrity in his civic career, and in 1416 he labored to end a war that had erupted between Perugia and the prominent House of Malatesta. But when the nobles had John imprisoned, he began to question his life’s direction. Encountering St. Francis of Assisi in a dream, he resolved to embrace poverty, chastity, and obedience with the Franciscans.

Abandoning his possessions and social status, John joined the religious order in October 1416. He found a mentor in St. Bernardine of Siena, known for his bold preaching and his method of prayer focused on the invocation of the name of Jesus. Taking after his teacher in these respects, John began preaching as a deacon in 1420 and was ordained a priest in 1425.

John successfully defended his mentor from a charge of heresy made against his way of devotion, though he found less success in his efforts to resolve internal controversy among the followers of St. Francis. A succession of popes entrusted important matters to John, including the effort to reunite Eastern and Western Christendom at the Ecumenical Council of Florence.

Drawing immense crowds in his missionary travels throughout Italy, John also found success as a preacher in Central Europe, where he opposed the Hussites’ error regarding the nature and administration of the Eucharist. After Constantinople fell to Turkish invaders in 1453, Pope Nicholas V sent John on a mission to rally other European leaders in defense of their lands.

Nicholas’ successor Pope Callixtus III was even more eager to see the Christian world defend itself against the invading forces. When Sultan Mehmet II sought to extend his territorial gains into Serbia and Hungary, John joined the celebrated general Janos Hunyadi in his defense of Belgrade. The priest personally led a section of the army in its historic victory on Aug. 6, 1456.

Neither John nor the general, however, would survive long past the battle.

Weakened by the campaign against the Turks, Hunyadi became sick and died soon after the victory at Belgrade. John survived to preach Hunyadi’s funeral sermon, but his own extraordinary life came to an end after a painful illness on Oct. 23, 1456. St. John of Capistrano was canonized in 1724.

This story was first published on Oct. 21, 2012, and has been updated.

The archbishop of Valencia and president of the Venezuelan Bishops’ Conference, Jesús González de Zárate, and the apostolic nuncio in Venezuela, Archbishop Alberto Ortega Martín. / Credit: Venezuelan Bishops’ Conference

Caracas, Venezuela, Oct 22, 2024 / 18:15 pm (CNA).

At the conclusion of the 45th Extraordinary Plenary Assembly of the Venezuelan Bishops’ Conference (CEV, by its Spanish acronym), the bishops published a statement that included an analysis of the current state of the country along with a demand that the government release thousands of detainees, including minors, who were arrested in the demonstrations following that country’s July 28 presidential election.

The assembly, which concluded Oct. 17 in Caracas, was led by Jesús González de Zárate, archbishop of Valencia and president of the CEV.

Extraordinary assemblies are convened when circumstances require it. The last one was held two years ago on April 26, 2022, when the protocol for the prevention of abuse in the Church was approved.

This year, the meeting aimed to analyze the situation in Venezuela and make pastoral decisions that respond to the emerging needs of the ecclesial community.

The bishops met with representatives of ecclesiastical, educational, and social institutions “to reflect on the national reality within a methodology that involves dialogue and discernment,” according to the CEV.

Under the title “The Truth Will Set You Free” (cf. Jn 8:31), the bishops reiterated their call to the Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE, by its Spanish acronym) “so that, in accordance with what is established in the constitution and the laws, it publishes in detail the results of the electoral process carried out on July 28 in which the will of the Venezuelan people for change was evident.”

Since the presidential election in which the CNE declared Nicolás Maduro president-elect, despite numerous irregularities and accusations of fraud by the opposition and numerous actors in the international community, the bishops have published up to five messages addressed to the country in which they emphasized that “the truth, even if sought to be hidden, or reduced to the opinion of a few, prevails” (cf. Mk 4:22).

“The presentation of the results is an essential step to maintain the citizens’ confidence in the vote and to recover the true meaning of politics. Only in this way can we move forward together toward the construction of a democratic Venezuela in peace,” the bishops’ statement adds.

The prelates sharply criticized the repression by the state security agencies against peaceful demonstrations as well as “arbitrary arrests and violations of human rights that occurred after the elections” and demanded the release of those detained, “among whom are minors.”

The country’s bishops say they feel challenged by the cry of the people and renewed their commitment to all those who suffer, accompanying them in prayer and the services provided by the Catholic Church through its different agencies. “We reaffirm our commitment to be at their side in these difficult times,” they said.

Finally, they called on people not to lose hope, looking to Jesus and promoting different prayer initiatives “to pray for peace and the well-being of Venezuela.”

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