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By OSV News

NATIONAL

Kansas awards Benedictine abbey $5 million grant to expand local child care capacity

ATCHISON, Kan. (OSV News) | The state of Kansas awarded St. Benedict's Abbey a nearly $5 million grant to help fund the monastery's proposal to partner with a local childhood learning center and increase much-needed child care facilities for the surrounding local Atchison community. In 2021, the abbey purchased an adjacent 160 acres during an Atchison County tax sale. Soon after, the monastery connected with First Steps, a childhood learning center in Atchison. After the partnership began, First Steps announced that it would be launching First Steps with Abbey, a nonprofit child care group that would manage and operate the future site. In November 2023, the abbey learned of the Capital Projects Fund Accelerator, a Kansas state grant that awards money to organizations working to expand child care offerings. The monastery decided to apply for the grant, outlining its plan to use the money to renovate five existing buildings on the property, and was awarded the highest grant level: $4,999,999. Once property renovations are complete, First Steps child care services are anticipated to begin late spring 2025. Dwight Stephenson, executive director of operations and finance for the monastery, told OSV News their partnership and plan has received "lots of very positive feedback," especially from local families that have been looking for affordable child care and cannot find it.

Faithful respond to Midwest tornadoes, help storm victims 'carry their cross'

ELKHORN, Neb. (OSV News) | Parishioners in several Midwestern states are coming together to bring help and healing after tornadoes ravaged the area April 26-28, 2024, killing at least four. The storms — which along with tornadoes dumped heavy rain and hail on Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas — claimed four lives in Oklahoma, including that of an infant, and caused widespread destruction. "We have experienced a pretty devastating time here in the Elkhorn area," said Father Tom Fangman, pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Elkhorn, Nebraska, in an April 28 video message posted to the parish's Facebook page. Amid the loss and heartache, the disaster is a call to serve -- and to witness to the love of Christ, said the parish in a separate April 28 Facebook message. "We need you. … We ask you to prayerfully consider how God is calling you to help and if you can be part of this," said the parish in its post. "Lives have been turned upside down and people have nothing. Let's be in this mess with them and help them carry their cross. And let's show our community that life isn't going on for everyone else but them. We are the Body of Christ."

New York appeals court says insurer's lawsuit over abuse payouts can proceed against archdiocese

NEW YORK (OSV News) -- A New York state appeals court has given an insurer for the Archdiocese of New York the go-ahead to pursue a lawsuit contending it should not have to indemnify the archdiocese in hundreds of lawsuits over sex abuse the insurer claims was "expected or intended" -- a ruling the archdiocese has called "extremely disappointing" and "wrongly decided." On April 23, five justices of the First Judicial Department of the New York Supreme Court's Appellate Division unanimously overturned a December 2023 order from a lower court that had dismissed the lawsuit brought forward by a group of Chubb insurance entities, who had issued more than 30 liability policies to the archdiocese and several of its parishes, schools and entities between 1956 and 2003; the group anticipates having to pay out money for more than 1,500 abuse cases. Those claims against the archdiocese were brought under the state's Child Victims Act of 2019 and Adult Survivors Act of 2022, both of which opened the door to hundreds of previously time-barred suits. "The case is now sort of back alive, but it isn't a determination of whether insurers owe an obligation of coverage," Marie T. Reilly, a professor at Penn State Law and expert in bankruptcy law, told OSV News. "Neither court has decided anything on the merits (of the case)."

Louisiana State Police execute search warrant at New Orleans Archdiocese for records on abuse handling

NEW ORLEANS, La. (OSV News) | Louisiana State Police executed a search warrant on the Archdiocese of New Orleans April 25, 2024, for documents related to a widening investigation into how the archdiocese has handled allegations of clerical sex abuse. Trooper Jacob Pucheu, public information officer, told OSV News by email that the search took place "during a meeting with representatives and counsel for the Archdiocese of New Orleans" and the state police's special victims unit investigators. "The Archdiocese is actively cooperating with investigators and the terms of the search warrant," said Pucheu in his statement. "This investigation remains ongoing, and there is no additional information available at this time." The Archdiocese of New Orleans had been ordered by a New Orleans criminal court to turn over records on how it handled allegations of clerical sexual abuse over the past several decades, part of a long-running criminal investigation involving multiple accused priests. According to The Guardian, New Orleans Magistrate Juana M. Lombard signed off on the order April 22, allowing Louisiana State Police to obtain from the archdiocese files identifying all priests and permanent deacons who had been accused of sexual abuse with minors. In addition, the archdiocese must account for the dates of initial complaints, and specify whether any cases had been handed over to the police, said The Guardian, citing "multiple sources with direct knowledge of the matter." The search warrant expands an investigation into retired Msgr. Lawrence Hecker, who was indicted by a grand jury in September 2023 for aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated crime against nature and theft committed between 1975 and 1976. A spokesperson with the archdiocese told OSV News in an email that "as always, the Archdiocese will continue to cooperate in all law enforcement investigations."

 

INTERNATIONAL

New photos reveal many sides of Padre Pio

VATICAN CITY (CNS) | A foundation that promotes devotion to St. Pio of Pietrelcina, more widely known as Padre Pio, is making 10 never-before-seen photographs of the saint available to the devout for free. Elia Stelluto, Padre Pio's personal photographer, stood proudly — camera in hand — before posters of the 10 new images for the presentation of the photos in the Vatican movie theater April 29. "It's enough to look at one image of his face" to understand Padre Pio, he told Catholic News Service. "With that you can understand so much; each photo has its own story, one must at them look one by one and that way you see so much more in his expressions." Stelluto photographed the saint for decades at the convent where he lived in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy. Luciano Lamonarca, founder and CEO of the St. Pio Foundation which promotes devotion to the Italian saint and organized the publication of the photos, partnered with Stelluto to make the photos available to the public, excluding their use for commercial purposes, by being free to download via the St. Pio Foundation website.

Mexican bishop who negotiates with drug cartels hospitalized after brief abduction

CUERNAVACA, Mexico (OSV News) | A retired Mexican bishop known for brokering deals with drug cartel bosses was located in a hospital bed after being incommunicado for two days, though local officials say he was briefly abducted in an "express kidnapping" by unknown assailants. Retired Bishop Salvador Rangel Mendoza of Chilpancingo-Chilapa was reported missing April 29, sparking an outpouring of concern amid widespread violence in Mexico. The bishop has long been famous for trying to diminish violence in the southern state of Guerrero — which includes his former diocese — through dialogue with crime bosses and more recently helping to negotiate a peace pact between rival drug cartels. The Mexican bishops' conference said in an April 29 statement that Bishop Rangel was hospitalized in the city of Cuernavaca, where he has resided since resigning as bishop of Chilpancingo-Chilapa in early 2022. The conference provided no details on Bishop Rangel's condition or the circumstances of his disappearance. Morelos state prosecutor Uriel Carmona showed reporters a cellular phone picture of Bishop Rangel lying in a hospital bed and said officials were investigating an "express kidnapping," in which victims are briefly abducted and robbed. "What we have is that it could have been an express kidnapping to deprive the victim of money through ATM withdrawals," Carmona told Radio Formula.

Ukrainian archbishop meets with military officials on missing priests, detained civilians

KYIV, Ukraine (OSV News) | The head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church recently met with Ukrainian military officials to discuss a range of issues, including Russia's detention of two Ukrainian Catholic priests whose fate remains unknown. Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk sat down with Dmytro Usov, secretary for Ukraine's headquarters on the treatment of prisoners of war; members of Usov's team; and Andriy Yusov, spokesman for Ukraine's military intelligence. Also on hand was Father Oleksa Petriv, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church's external relations department. News of the meeting, which took place at the archbishop's residence, was posted April 25 to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church's website, with several photos showing the officials gathered around a conference table in the archbishop's offices. Along with pastoral support for Ukraine's armed forces, the meeting also focused on Russia's extensive detention of Ukrainian civilians in occupied areas of Ukraine, especially clergy — among them, two Ukrainian Greek Catholic priests, Redemptorist Fathers Ivan Levitsky and Bohdan Geleta. Both have been in Russian captivity since November 2022 for refusing to leave their parishioners in Berdyansk, a city in the Zaporizhzhia region. Major Archbishop Shevchuk said shortly after their capture that information indicated the two priests were being subjected to torture. "Our goal is to free all Ukrainians from captivity," Usov told Major Archbishop Shevchuk.

Kenyan archbishop appeals for humanitarian aid as floods devastate the country

NAIROBI, Kenya (OSV News) | Amid severe floods, a leading Catholic archbishop in Kenya appealed for humanitarian support to aid thousands of displaced people, as he expressed the church's closeness to the affected populations. By April 29, rescue operations were continuing as the death toll surpassed 120 people due to excessive rains and floods linked to the continuing El Nino phenomenon in East Africa. El Nino is a naturally occurring climate phenomenon that starts with unusually warm water in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific and then changes weather worldwide. Floodwaters have submerged homes and public installations, and bursting rivers have swept into villages, making roads temporary riverbeds over the last several weeks. Many roads have been cut off as dams burst due to the heavy rains that began in mid-March. On April 29, 2024, a dam collapsed in western Kenya, killing at least 45 people, including 17 children after a wall of water swept through houses. "We want to be very close to you as you go through the pain of loss and as you feel the weight of these floods," Archbishop Anthony Muheria of Nyeri said in a recorded appeal April 28, delivered in Swahili and obtained by OSV News. Archbishop Muheria said God was calling on Christians and people of goodwill to help — in all ways — the people who have been affected by the devastating floods.

Human rights advocate: Dictatorship profanes Nicaraguan churches

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (OSV News) | Authorities in the city of León, Nicaragua, chose an unusual place for setting up a boxing ring and staging prize fights: the courtyard of the local cathedral. They even scheduled the matches for April 19 -- just as Bishop René Sándigo of León was celebrating his birthday. "The boxing ring was a dismal gift that the dictatorship sent to Monsignor René Sándigo on his birthday. The dictators didn’t even respect that. Criminal, vulgar and temple-profaning dictatorship," Martha Patricia Molina, a Nicaraguan lawyer who documents hostilities against the Catholic Church, posted on X April 20. "The Sandinista dictatorship orders the mayors' offices to use the atriums of parishes to carry out pagan activities and thus desecrate churches," she said in another April 20 post. "Masses have had to be suspended in some churches" due to noise, Molina said. The staging of spectacles outside of places of worship escalates the repression against Catholics in Nicaragua, where regime of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, have branded priests and bishops as "terrorists" and "coup mongers," while curtailing public demonstrations of faith — such as processions and patron saint celebrations.

Catholics criticize judicial authorizations for euthanasia in Peru despite pro-life laws

SÃO PAULO (OSV News) | Catholic groups in Peru have been planning their reaction to two cases involving judicial authorizations for euthanasia in the South American nation. They argue the country's law doesn't allow such procedures and hope to halt what they see as a surreptitious process to advance a pro-death agenda. On April 21, a woman who in 2021 obtained from the judiciary system the right to euthanasia underwent a medical procedure and died at home. Ana Estrada is the first person to die by euthanasia in Peru's history. In February, another woman was granted by a court an authorization for disconnecting mechanical ventilation. Maria Teresa Benito is waiting for a doctor who can carry out the procedure. According to lawyer Alberto González, an expert in medical law and bioethics, the Peruvian legislation is very protective of life from conception to natural death. The problem, in his opinion, is that the state has been pervaded by pro-euthanasia activists, whose determinations don't apply to Peru's norms. "People with such an ideology comply with the international pressure exerted by great foundations which have been advancing such an agenda," González, who heads the Catholic-run Thomas More Legal Studies Center in Peru, told OSV News.