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Rescue crews search for survivors after ship destroys bridge in Baltimore

The bridge, which is nearly two kilometers long, serves as a critical artery for vehicle traffic in and around the Port of Baltimore, one of the busiest in the United States.

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Pope Francis writing meditations for Good Friday Way of the Cross

This year, Pope Francis is writing his own Via Crucis' meditations for the Way of the Cross this Good Friday at Rome's iconic Colosseum, the Vatican announces.

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Bishop Burbidge Invites Faithful to Prayer as Supreme Court Hears Case on Abortion Drugs

WASHINGTON – “Abortion is not health care, and no child should experience such violence,” said Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington. As the Supreme Court of the United States hears oral argument in Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, Bishop Burbidge, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Pro-Life Activities said today, “With dangerous abortion drugs now making up the majority of abortions and increasing in use, we pray that the Supreme Court will restore the Food and Drug Administration’s safeguards for the health of women and protect more preborn children.” His full statement follows:

“With dangerous abortion drugs now making up the majority of abortions and increasing in use, we pray that the Supreme Court will restore the Food and Drug Administration’s safeguards for the health of women and protect more preborn children. The FDA’s diminishing safety standards in recent years means that a woman, for example, can now be led to order a chemical abortion pill online without seeing a doctor in person to make sure that she does not have a complicating condition and that she has not been pregnant for longer than the approved ten-week limit.

“Abortion is not health care, and no child should experience such violence. At the same time, a vulnerable mother who obtains an abortion must not be left alone without medical care afterwards.  In addition, we ourselves are to make present to her God’s mercy and love, which are, as we see especially now in Holy Week, without end.

“Yesterday, on the eve of oral argument, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the USCCB, and I made an invitation to prayer for an end to abortion and for the protection of women and preborn children. We encourage you to join in this prayer until the Court’s decision, and to search for ways in your community to help support mothers in need and make abortion unthinkable.”

The USCCB submitted an amicus brief in this case in February. Archbishop Broglio’s and Bishop Burbidge’s invitation to prayer may be found at https://www.usccb.org/prolife/nationwide-invitation-prayer. For more information on chemical abortion drugs, visit https://www.usccb.org/chemical-abortion-fact-sheets.

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Pope writes meditations for Via Crucis at Colosseum, Vatican says

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- For the first time in his 11-year papacy, Pope Francis has chosen to write his own meditations for the Good Friday Way of the Cross service at Rome's Colosseum, the head of the Vatican press office said.

For the service March 29, Pope Francis has chosen the theme "In prayer with Jesus on the way of the cross," Matteo Bruni, the press office director, told reporters March 26.

St. John Paul II began a tradition in 1985 of entrusting the writing of the meditations to cardinals and other church personalities, well-known writers or groups of people, including young people and journalists. However, he wrote the reflections himself for the Colosseum ceremony during the Holy Year 2000.

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger wrote the meditations for Good Friday 2005, less than a month before being elected Pope Benedict XVI. Throughout his pontificate, though, he entrusted the drafting to different people each year.

Pope Francis at the Colosseum
Pope Francis leads the Way of the Cross outside the Colosseum in Rome April 15, 2022. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

The meditations in 2023 focused on the theme, "Voices of peace in a world at war." Several dicasteries of the Roman Curia formulated the prayers and meditations drawing from comments made at meetings with Pope Francis by people suffering from a lack of peace.

Pope Francis has asked Catholics to observe 2024 as a year of prayer in preparation for the Holy Year 2025.

The choice of "in prayer with Jesus" as the theme for the Way of the Cross, Bruni told reporters, is an indication that it will be "an act of meditation and spirituality with Jesus at the center."

Vatican News reported the meditations will have fewer direct references to current events than many previous editions had when migrants and refugees, victims of trafficking or people from countries at war helped write or inspired the reflections.

Bruni also told reporters that as of March 26 Pope Francis was still planning on attending the service. However, the weather and the pope's health will be the deciding factors. Released from the hospital just five days before Good Friday 2023, Pope Francis did not go to the Colosseum.

 

Myanmar's Cardinal Bo: In wounded world, let us kneel in solidarity

This Holy Week, the President of the Myanmar Bishops' Conference, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon, urges the faithful to join together in praying for peace to 'stop the turmoil of war,' and encourages people of good will to welcome Pope Francis' calls for dialogue and reconciliation.

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Pope expresses closeness to the citizens of crime-plagued Rosario

In a video message addressed to the community of Rosario, Pope Francis expresses his concern over the increase in drug-related violence that has gripped the Argentinian city for over a decade.

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Hope and Perseverance: Christus Vivit five years on

Five years after the publication of Pope Francis' Apostolic Exhortation on young people, we speak to a participant in the 2018 Synod that inspired it.

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Holy Week in the Holy Land: Forgiveness is the only way to peace

As Christians enter the holiest part of the year, the Auxiliary Bishop of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem talks to Vatican News about the Easter celebrations in the Holy Land, amidst ongoing violence and conflict, and calls for forgiveness to move towards peace.

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Zimbabwe: Arts festival for Catholic Schools empowers young people to be agents of evangelization.

Twelve Catholic Secondary Schools under the Diocese of Gweru including the recently acquired St. Xavier Sibangani and St. Kizito Musilahobe participated in the Inter Catholic Secondary Schools Arts festival hosted at Serima Mision where the overall winner was Shungu High School.

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Brazil: Church's experience strengthens migration policies

The extensive networking efforts carried out by Catholic institutions with civil society organizations and the Brazilian state ensure that their contributions and opinions are highly valued when addressing the challenges posed by the arrival of migrants.

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