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After 200th death row exoneration, it's time to end death penalty

Why do we roll the dice in an imperfect system when the punishment, once carried out, cannot be appealed or reversed and completely eliminates any possibility of penance and atonement? 

In 'The Wild Robot,' AI and nature teach each other about solidarity and survival

The gorgeously animated new movie "The Wild Robot" may help to plant seeds for a better future, giving families an entertaining entryway to conversations about mutuality and solidarity with the environment.

Catholics can — and should — take a synodal approach to the election

Through the past decade of synods, the Holy Spirit has been guiding the church in a more holistic direction, writes Yunuen Trujillo, one in which the stories of women and LGBTQ+ people are heard. How might this synodal posture transfer to the decision of how to vote?

United Nations human rights watchdog speaks out against men competing in women’s sports

null / Credit: Pavel1964/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Oct 9, 2024 / 16:10 pm (CNA).

A United Nations report on violence against women and girls in sports defended spaces for women on Tuesday by calling for separate sports for biological males who identify as “transgender persons.”

The United Nations special rapporteur on violence against women and girls in a presentation of the report on Oct. 8 demanded that member countries preserve female spaces, noting that testosterone suppression for biologically male athletes “will not eliminate the set of comparative performance advantages they have already acquired.”

The U.N. special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem from Jordan, appointed by the United States Commission on Human Rights in 2021, presented the 24-page report presented to the General Assembly’s Third Committee in New York. The report cited cases of severe injuries to women and girls forced to compete against biological males participating in female divisions as well as violations of privacy in the locker room and public consequences against women who speak out.

“Male athletes have specific attributes considered advantageous in certain sports, such as strength and testosterone levels that are higher than those of the average range for females, even before puberty, thereby resulting in the loss of fair opportunity,” the report read.

The report highlighted “an increased encroachment on female-only spaces in sports,” noting that female-only divisions in sports ensure “equal, fair, and safe opportunities in sports” for female athletes.

May Mailman, director of the Independent Women’s Law Center, a group that advocates for women’s rights and spaces, said the statement was heartening, though she noted it was from just one branch of the “unwieldy organization.”

“We are heartened that it recognized the obvious: that women deserve sports. This should embarrass the many organizations in the United States that fail to do the same,” Mailman told CNA. “But, it does not make the U.N. at large a reasonable organization. There are too many failures to name, including that UN Women seems to care little about the rapes, murders, and kidnapping of Israeli women.”

The special rapporteur’s office, since it was established in 1994, has addressed domestic violence, trafficking and migration, armed conflict, HIV/AIDS, violence against women, and has also advocated for abortion under the guise of “reproductive rights.” Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, recently called out the U.N. for promoting abortion and gender ideology.

Women’s physical safety and privacy

The report highlighted that female safety and privacy are threatened when biological men are invited into female spaces such as sports practices, games, and locker rooms.

Female athletes are “more vulnerable to sustaining serious physical injuries when female-only sports spaces are opened to males, as documented in disciplines such as in volleyball, basketball, and soccer,” the report noted, citing cases of severe injuries ranging from knocked-out teeth and broken legs to skull fractures and neurological impairment from concussions.

For instance, the IWF statement noted that Payton McNabb was 17 when she became partially paralyzed after a biologically male “transgender” athlete spiked a volleyball into her face. 

McNabb has brain damage and paralysis on her right side and has difficulty walking without falling.

“If leaders in the United States care at all about the treatment of women like the special rapporteur on violence against women and girls cares, then this should give them cover to finally do right by women,” Mailman told CNA, referencing the U.N. report. 

The U.N. report highlighted the danger of sexual assault when opening up female locker rooms to males, noting that it could “increase the risk of sexual harassment, assault, voyeurism, and physical and sexual attacks in unisex locker rooms and toilets.”

“Female athletes also reportedly experience forced dissemination of nonconsensual sexual images offline and online and exhibitionism, including as a result of a failure to maintain single-sex changing rooms,” the report said.

Violating female-only spaces can not only negatively affect “the mental health and sense of personal safety” of women in sports, the report noted, but it can also “damage their public image and have long-term career repercussions.”

The loss of women’s spaces also has psychological consequences for female athletes. Knowing she has to compete against a male “causes extreme psychological distress due to the physical disadvantage, the loss of opportunity for fair competition and of educational and economic opportunities, and the violation of their privacy in locker rooms and other intimate spaces,” the report said.

The U.N. noted that “sex screenings” can be “necessary, legitimate, and proportional in order to ensure fairness and safety in sports.” The report cited the 2024 Paris Olympics, where female boxers competed against two boxers “whose sex as females was seriously contested, but the International Olympic Committee refused to carry out a sex screening.” 

Freedom of expression 

The inclusion of men in women’s sports has resulted in the persecution of women who stand up for themselves, the U.N. report said. 

Women who speak out against the dangers of men in women’s spaces are often unjustly treated, “accused of bigotry, suspended from sports teams and subjected to restraining orders, expulsion, defamation, and unfair disciplinary proceedings,” the report said. 

“Female athletes and coaches who object to the inclusion of men in their spaces due to concerns about safety, privacy, and fairness are silenced or forced to self-censor; otherwise, they risk losing sporting opportunities, scholarships, and sponsorships,” the report noted. 

Mailman said many leaders have let name-calling “overcome their duty to promote fairness, safety, and equality.” 

“U.S. leaders have shown tremendous cowardice in standing up for women because they don’t want to be called anti-trans,” Mailman said. 

“The more people who show how to do the right thing should give followers cover to finally do the same,” she added.

The U.N. report noted that “transgender” people should still be able to participate in sports, noting that through open categories, “fairness in sports can be maintained while ensuring the ability of all to participate.” 

Protecting women’s spaces “does not automatically result in the exclusion of transgender persons from sports,” the report added. 

Mailman highlighted that “the solution is not to dissolve women’s sports but to create an open category or to make the men’s category an open category.” 

“The U.N. report addressed safety and fairness, including that testosterone suppression does not equalize the playing field and is arbitrary in any case. It addressed privacy in the locker room. It addressed the harassment women face for standing up for themselves,” Mailman told CNA. “These are all important. The only thing regrettable is that this comes from a specialized body and hasn’t percolated higher yet.”

Supreme Court hears oral arguments in consequential Oklahoma death penalty case

Anti-death penalty activists, including members of MoveOn.org and other advocacy groups, rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court to prevent the execution of Oklahoma inmate Richard Glossip on Sept. 29, 2015, in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Larry French/Getty Images for MoveOn.org

CNA Staff, Oct 9, 2024 / 15:05 pm (CNA).

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Wednesday in the case of an Oklahoma man on death row who may have been wrongfully convicted — a case the Oklahoma City archbishop has said could help further respect for “the dignity of life.”

This is the second time Richard Glossip’s contentious death sentence has come before the Supreme Court. According to news reports, Glossip has lived through nine execution dates and at least three “last meals.”

Glossip was convicted in 1998 for allegedly ordering a handyman at a motel Glossip managed to murder the motel owner, who was found bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat. Justin Sneed, the handyman, confessed to killing the man while on meth and is currently serving a life sentence. 

Glossip, who has maintained that he had no involvement in the murder, was convicted for the murder for hire chiefly on Sneed’s testimony, which Sneed had agreed to give in order to avoid the death penalty himself. 

Since his initial conviction, two independent investigations uncovered serious problems with his trial, including allegations of police misconduct and what were reportedly incorrect instructions given to the jury in the case.

The state of Oklahoma, via Oklahoma’s Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond, has admitted that it had erred in sentencing Glossip to death. 

The state asked the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals (OCCA) to overturn Glossip’s conviction and grant him a new trial. That court in April 2023 refused to do so, however, and ordered Glossip’s execution to proceed. Drummond called that decision “remarkable and remarkably flawed.”

Writing to the Supreme Court justices in May 2023, Drummond said that “based on careful review of new information that has come to light, including a report by an independent counsel appointed by the state, Glossip’s capital sentence cannot be sustained.”

The Supreme Court subsequently granted a stay of Glossip’s execution that same month, overruling the OCCA.

In an order announced in January, the Supreme Court agreed to decide whether the state of Oklahoma violated Glossip’s constitutional rights when prosecutors suppressed evidence that their key witness, Sneed, was under a psychiatrist’s care, and also that prosecutors failed to correct Sneed’s false testimony, SCOTUSBlog reported. The Supreme Court will also consider the question of whether it has the power to review the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals’ decision at all, or whether it is a state matter.

A decision in the case isn’t expected until June 2025. Justice Neil Gorsuch has recused himself from the case because he sat on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals when that court decided one of Glossip’s earlier appeals, NPR reported. 

In January, when the Supreme Court agreed to take up the case, Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, who often speaks out against the death penalty, said in a statement to CNA that the Supreme Court’s agreement to review Glossip’s case “offers hope in furthering the cause toward one day abolishing the death penalty.”

“With new evidence and the state of Oklahoma’s admission of errors in the case prompting the Supreme Court review — issues that seem to be more and more prevalent — we can clearly see reason to reconsider institutionalized violence against the incarcerated as we hopefully move to respect the dignity of life for all human persons,” Coakley told CNA. 

Since 1976, Oklahoma has carried out the highest number of executions per capita of any state, according to Catholic Mobilizing Network (CMN), a national advocacy organization that demonstrates against the death penalty.

Glossip was party to a previous lawsuit that made it to the Supreme Court in 2015, wherein the court ultimately ruled in favor of the continued use of the sedative midazolam, a drug that critics contended had caused excruciating pain in several controversial state executions in Ohio, Arizona, and Oklahoma. Glossip had argued along with two other inmates that midazolam was not certain to work properly and could result in a painful execution that violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, reflecting an update promulgated by Pope Francis in 2018, describes the death penalty as “inadmissible” and an “attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person” (No. 2267). The change reflects a development in Catholic doctrine in recent years. 

St. John Paul II, calling the death penalty “cruel and unnecessary,” encouraged Christians to be “unconditionally pro-life” and said that “the dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil.” The bishops of the United States have spoken frequently in favor of life sentences for convicted murderers, even those who have committed heinous crimes.

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Some prominent conservative Catholic social media personalities are adding their voices to the burgeoning conspiracy theory that the government controls the weather.

PHOTOS: Vatican to unveil restored baldacchino in St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 27

The Vatican has announced that the completed restorations on the soaring baldacchino over the central altar of St. Peter’s Basilica designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini will be unveiled on Oct. 27, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican City, Oct 9, 2024 / 14:35 pm (CNA).

The Vatican has announced that the completed restorations on the soaring baldacchino over the central altar of St. Peter’s Basilica designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini will be unveiled on Oct. 27.

Journalists donned hard hats on Tuesday to get a sneak peek of the nearly finished restorations, climbing the scaffolding all the way to the top of the 94-foot-tall canopy.

Journalists tour the newly restored baldacchino at St. Peter's Basilica, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
Journalists tour the newly restored baldacchino at St. Peter's Basilica, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

The lofty vantage point revealed how the baldacchino’s intricately decorated Baroque angels, cherubs, bees, and golden laurel branches — formerly darkened by centuries of dust and grime — have now been restored to their bright gilded glory.

While the cherubs holding the St. Peter’s keys and the papal tiara at the top of the structure may appear as small details from the ground 94 feet below, up close the chubby cherubs are actually colossal in size, standing nearly as tall as a full-grown adult.

A cherubic figure adorns the baldacchino at St. Peter's Basilica, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA
A cherubic figure adorns the baldacchino at St. Peter's Basilica, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

Pope Urban VIII commissioned Bernini in 1624 to design and build the enormous canopy over the Papal Altar of the Confession, located directly over the tomb of St. Peter the Apostle. The  construction took Bernini nine years with considerable help from his architectural rival, Francesco Borromini.

The public will be able to see the 400-year-old twisting bronze columns of the large canopy for the first time since the restoration when Pope Francis presides over the closing Mass for the Synod on Synodality on Oct. 27.

At that time, the scaffolding that has surrounded the central altar for the past eight months will finally be removed.

Scaffolding also surrounds the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter's Basilica, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
Scaffolding also surrounds the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter's Basilica, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, the archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, said the restorations manifest “the beauty and glory that the Church should reflect.” He added that revealing the restorations at the Mass is an opportunity to “announce hope as we walk toward a Jubilee of hope.”

An art restorer’s perspective

Giorgio Capriotti is one of the Vatican Museums’ art restorers who meticulously worked on these details on the massive canopy.

Capriotti said that despite more than a century since the last restoration, the restorers found that the baldacchino is in overall good shape. He explained that his task was largely removing the materials, like oil, waxes, and resins, that art restorers had used that unintentionally altered the hue of the historic gold leaf on the baldacchino.

In some places the baldacchino’s gold leaf became “dark and then almost black” because of oxidation due to the humidity, pollution, and dust in the air.

“So we had to remove these substances using solvents … area by area,” Capriotti said.

“Now we will see it as it was when it was built between 1624 and 1635,” he added.

Giorgio Capriotti is one of the Vatican Museums’ art restorers who meticulously worked on these details on the massive canopy. Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA
Giorgio Capriotti is one of the Vatican Museums’ art restorers who meticulously worked on these details on the massive canopy. Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

While working atop the canopy, Capriotti and the other restorationists found objects left by the artists and workers who preceded them from past centuries, including old coins, small drawings, and even a 17th-century shopping list, a collection of items he described as almost “a small museum of cultural anthropology.”

“Everything will be archived and studied and set aside as a testimony of the life, the real life of generations of restorers who have followed one another,” Capriotti said.

Restorers also found places where previous workers had signed their names, including signatures from 1685 and 1725.

A signature of a 19th-century worker is seen on the baldacchino at St. Peter's Basilica, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA
A signature of a 19th-century worker is seen on the baldacchino at St. Peter's Basilica, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

After visiting St. Peter’s Basilica in 1873, novelist Henry James described his encounter with the baldacchino: “You have only to stroll and stroll and gaze and gaze; to watch the glorious altar-canopy lift its bronze architecture, its colossal embroidered contortions, like a temple within a temple, and feel yourself, at the bottom of the abysmal shaft of the dome dwindle to a crawling dot.”

The Knights of Columbus funded the baldacchino restoration, which was originally estimated to cost 700,000 euro (about $768,000).

“It’s Bernini’s baldacchino … It’s a singular masterpiece of sacred art — one which is instantly recognizable and impressive,” Patrick Kelly, the head of the Knights of Columbus, said at a press conference when the restoration was first announced.

“But, if that weren’t enough, this project also fits very well with our mission and with our history of service to the Church, and, especially, the successors of St. Peter.”

Restoration of the ‘Cathedra of St. Peter’

Restoration work is also being carried out on Bernini’s massive bronze monument at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica, called the “Cathedra of St. Peter.”

The massive sculpture depicts four doctors of the Church holding up the throne of St. Peter with gilded angels high above the petrine throne surrounding the oval stained-glass window of the “Dove of the Holy Spirit.”

Art restorers have also been cleaning the massive statues of St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Athanasius, and St. John Chrysostom, which are currently covered by scaffolding. 

A statue of St. Ambrose sits under restoration at St. Peter's Basilica, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
A statue of St. Ambrose sits under restoration at St. Peter's Basilica, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Bernini built the monument over the course of 10 years in the mid-17th century to protect a historic relic — a wooden throne symbolizing Petrine primacy with ivory plaques dating back to the Carolingian age in the ninth century. 

The restorations are also providing the chance for the public to see the historic relic of St. Peter’s chair up close. The relic will be on display for visitors to St. Peter’s Basilica from Oct. 27 to Dec. 8.

A historic relic of St. Peter’s chair will be on display for visitors to St. Peter’s Basilica from Oct. 27 to Dec. 8, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
A historic relic of St. Peter’s chair will be on display for visitors to St. Peter’s Basilica from Oct. 27 to Dec. 8, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

North Carolina bishop visits communities hit by hurricane: ‘People are stunned’

Bishop Michael Martin prays with victims of Hurricane Helene while surveying storm damage at Swannanoa, North Carolina, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. / Credit: Diocese of Charlotte

CNA Staff, Oct 9, 2024 / 14:05 pm (CNA).

Charlotte Bishop Michael Martin recently toured several locations in his diocese ravaged by last month’s Hurricane Helene, offering spiritual and material aid to the “stunned” population working to rebuild after the devastating storm.

Western North Carolina over the last few weeks has been dealing with the aftermath of devastating flooding caused by the remnants of the hurricane, which dumped torrential rain on mountain communities there, leaving serious damage and dozens dead.

Catholic agencies have been mobilizing to help with relief efforts as many major roads remain impassable and residents remain stranded in mountain homes and rural areas.

Bishop Michael Martin helps move supplies at Immaculata Catholic School in Hendersonville, North Carolina, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. Credit: Diocese of Charlotte
Bishop Michael Martin helps move supplies at Immaculata Catholic School in Hendersonville, North Carolina, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. Credit: Diocese of Charlotte

Immaculata Catholic School in Hendersonville — about half an hour south of Asheville — has become a “distribution center” for aid supplies, with volunteers working around the clock to route critical supplies to those without power and drinking water.

The state government on Tuesday reported that there have been 89 confirmed storm-related deaths in the state, with the number expected to rise in the coming days.

‘The sheer power of the storm’

Martin told CNA that he and diocesan staff recently took a trip to several of the harder-hit areas in the Charlotte Diocese to survey the destruction and offer aid to stricken residents, including in Hendersonville and Swannanoa.

The bishop said he was struck by “the sheer power of the storm.”

“One particular thing we saw spoke volumes,” he said. “We saw large rolls from a warehouse, rolls of carpet, up on a hill. It was just so out of place — how did they get where they are?”

“We turned a corner, drove up a little further, and there was a carpet warehouse. It still had its roof and I-beams and still had the concrete slab, but all the walls were totally ripped away. The concrete slab was completely clear. It had taken every roll of carpet out of the building along with the walls.”

“Imagine how heavy those rolls are, even more so when they’re waterlogged — that’s how powerful the water was,” he said.

Bishop Michael Martin embraces a victim of Hurricane Helene while surveying storm damage at Waynesville, North Carolina, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. Credit: Diocese of Charlotte
Bishop Michael Martin embraces a victim of Hurricane Helene while surveying storm damage at Waynesville, North Carolina, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. Credit: Diocese of Charlotte

The bishop said that “people are stunned” in the wake of the tragedy.

“They’re just stunned,” he said, noting “the stunning nature of, one day everything’s fine, and the next day, your town is gone, and your home is gone.”

Yet Martin noted that the population responded by reaching out and helping each other. He said that many people were fortunate enough not to lose their homes and that “those folks are working at the distribution center,” helping others who had lost more.

It was wonderful “just seeing that community connection,” the bishop said. Also affecting, he said, was how so many people flocked to their churches amid the crisis.

“One of the beautiful things is realizing how people come to their parish as a locus for healing and meaning and to be empowered to go out,” he said.

Bishop Michael Martin greets a young Catholic while surveying storm damage at Swannanoa, North Carolina, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. Credit: Diocese of Charlotte
Bishop Michael Martin greets a young Catholic while surveying storm damage at Swannanoa, North Carolina, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. Credit: Diocese of Charlotte

The bishop said the diocese itself has been “remarkably blessed in that, for the most part, our properties suffered relatively minor damages.” 

“Obviously, there have been downed trees, roof issues,” he said. “But all of them are still standing.” 

“We feel tremendously blessed in that, OK, this we can repair,” he said. “The cost to do that, obviously, is going to be considerable. But we’re more focused on rebuilding the lives of the folks in these communities.” 

Bishop Michael Martin greets parishioners while surveying storm damage in Waynesville, North Carolina, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. Credit: Diocese of Charlotte
Bishop Michael Martin greets parishioners while surveying storm damage in Waynesville, North Carolina, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. Credit: Diocese of Charlotte

The bishop encouraged the faithful to donate to Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte. He said there is a great need for resources, particularly for local undocumented immigrants who may be fearful of approaching official government sources for help.

The bishop noted that others are still suffering from the effects of extreme weather, including Florida, which as of Wednesday was on the verge of being hit by the extremely dangerous Hurricane Milton. “No one has cornered the market on misery,” Martin said. 

Yet “just as God transformed Jesus’ death on the cross into the Resurrection, he transforms our misery into something greater, if we allow his grace to be at work,” the bishop said. 

Pennsylvania priest laicized after investigation finds he sexually assaulted two minors

null / Credit: Billy Hathorn, Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0

CNA Staff, Oct 9, 2024 / 13:35 pm (CNA).

The Vatican has authorized the Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania, to remove a priest from the clerical state after an investigation found he sexually assaulted two children years ago.

Martin Boylan “has been dismissed from the clerical state at the conclusion of a disciplinary process authorized by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) at the Holy See,” the Diocese of Scranton said in a press statement on Tuesday.

Boylan, 76, was removed from priestly ministry in 2016 after he was accused of sexual assault of a minor. The diocese would subsequently receive four more allegations against the priest, all of which were investigated and submitted to the DDF.

The Holy See authorized the Scranton Diocese to adjudicate the matter. The priest was ultimately found guilty of two instances of sexual abuse of a minor. The DDF “reviewed the findings and authorized the Diocese of Scranton to impose the permanent penalty of dismissal from the clerical state on Boylan,” the diocese said.

The priest appealed twice to the Vatican, which in both cases upheld the diocese’s findings.

Scranton Bishop Joseph Bambera said in the release that there is “no place in our Church for such heinous acts.”

“We must ensure that our Church is a safe haven for all, and it is our collective duty to protect, to listen, and to stand against any form of abuse,” the prelate said.

“I ask all people to join me in praying for the victims and their families,” the bishop said. “No one should ever have to endure such trauma, and it is our responsibility to ensure that all survivors are heard, supported, and empowered to heal.”

Boylan, who was ordained in 1980 and served at numerous parishes and schools, was among the priests identified as sexual abusers in the bombshell 2018 Pennsylvania grand jury report on sexual abuse in most of the state’s Catholic dioceses. No criminal charges have been filed against him regarding the allegations.

Dismissal from the clerical state is “the most severe penalty that the Catholic Church can impose on a cleric,” the Scranton Diocese noted.

As a laicized priest, Boylan “will never again exercise priestly ministry in any capacity,” the diocese said.

“He may no longer celebrate Mass, hear confessions, or administer any of the Church’s sacraments,” it said. “His relationship with the Diocese of Scranton in any official capacity is now permanently ended.”

Pope: ‘Prohibitions of the Spirit’ ensure Church unity is not driven by personal viewpoints

Pope Francis during the weekly general audience at St. Peter's Square on Oct. 9, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 9, 2024 / 13:05 pm (CNA).

In the first general audience since the opening of the second session of the Synod on Synodality, Pope Francis on Wednesday told pilgrims that Catholics should be aware of the “prohibitions of the Holy Spirit” to ensure the unity and universality of the Church is not compromised.

Continuing his catechesis on the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the Church, the pope emphasized that unity cannot be “achieved on the drawing board” but only through the will and action of the Holy Spirit.

“The unity of Pentecost, according to the Spirit, is achieved when one makes the effort to put God, not oneself, as the center,” the pope said at the end of his address. “Christian unity is also built in this way.”

Pope Francis arrives in St. Peter’s Square for his general audience on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
Pope Francis arrives in St. Peter’s Square for his general audience on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Addressing hundreds of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square, the Holy Father encouraged his listeners to become “instruments of unity and peace” moved by the Holy Spirit instead of being driven by “one’s own point of view.”

“We all want unity. We all desire it from the depths of our heart and yet it is so difficult to attain that,” he said. “Unity and concord are among one of the most difficult things to achieve, and even harder to maintain. The reason is that, yes, everyone wants unity but based on one’s own point of view.”

In order to achieve unity within the Catholic Church, Pope Francis said it is necessary to also consider the “surprising prohibitions of the Spirit.”

Holy Father cites experience of St. Paul

Referring to the Acts of the Apostles, the Holy Father spoke about how even St. Paul and his disciples had to listen to the “prohibitions” of the Holy Spirit about where to preach the Gospel.

“Paul, we read again in Acts, wanted to proclaim the Gospel in a new region of Asia Minor, but it is written that they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit,” the pope said. “The following night, the apostle received in a dream the order to pass into Macedonia. Thus the Gospel left its native Asia and entered into Europe.”

Pope Francis greets pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square for his general audience on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
Pope Francis greets pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square for his general audience on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Pope Francis also spoke about the synodal “movement of the Holy Spirit” at the Council of Jerusalem, which discussed whether pagan converts to Christianity needed to adopt customs of the Mosaic Law such as circumcision.

“The Holy Spirit does not always create unity suddenly, with miraculous and decisive actions, as at Pentecost. He also does so — and in the majority of cases — with discrete work, respecting human time and differences, passing through people and institutions, prayer and confrontation. In, we would say today, a synodal manner,” the Holy Father said.

Following the catechesis, the Holy Father greeted the crowds of international pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square and encouraged them to continue to pray for peace and unity in the world.

Before concluding the audience with the prayer of the Our Father in Latin, Pope Francis asked his listeners to also turn to Our Lady and pray the rosary during the month of October.