null / ShutterstockCNA Staff, Apr 13, 2023 / 11:00 am (CNA).Mary Makuc will be one of an estimated 15,000 pilgrims expected to descend on the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, this weekend for the first in-person celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday there in three years."I think it s a foretaste of heaven," the 60-year-old resident of nearby Monterey, Massachusetts, said of the free event, which has been held at the 350-acre shrine on the western edge of the Bay State since the 1980s.EWTN will air live coverage of the celebration at the shrine beginning at noon EST. Bishop Bernard Shlesinger of the Archdiocese of Atlanta will be the main celebrant at the outdoor Mass, which begins at 1 p.m. EST.The weekend schedule also includes eucharistic adoration, confession, and a Saturday conference on the Eucharist co-hosted by Father Donald Calloway, author of "Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father" (Marian P
null / Credit: Chodyra Mike 1/Shutterstock.Washington D.C., Apr 13, 2023 / 11:20 am (CNA).The Biden administration plans to issue an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court after a federal appeals court allowed a Texas judge s ruling to severely restrict abortion pill access. The appeals court Wednesday night temporarily suspended the judge s ruling to invalidate the U.S. Food and Drug Administration s approval of the abortion pill mifepristone. The decision will, however, leave in place restrictions that will severely limit the abortion drug s distribution.The three-judge panel from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in Louisiana granted a partial stay of Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk s Friday ruling. It also reinstated mifepristone restrictions lifted by the FDA after 2016.This means that the abortion pill mifepristone remains legal for the time being, and pharmacies such as CVS and Walgreens can continue to dispense prescriptions.The drug will no longer be permitte.
Knock Shrine is the site of of an apparition of Mary, the Mother of God; St. Joseph, her spouse; and St. John the Evangelist in 1879. / Geyo John|Wikimedia|CC BY-SA 3.0Washington D.C., Apr 13, 2023 / 13:00 pm (CNA).During President Joe Biden s four-day trip to Ireland, he plans to visit Our Lady of Knock in Knock, County Mayo, which witnesses claim was the site of an apparition of Mary, the Mother of God; St. Joseph, her spouse; and St. John the Evangelist in 1879.Biden, who is the nation s second Catholic president, will be the first American president to visit the shrine. He intends to visit the site on Friday, April 14, on his last day in Ireland. He will then visit St. Muredach s Cathedral in Ballina, where he will give an address. "We are delighted to welcome President Joe Biden to Knock Shrine," Father Richard Gibbons, the rector of the shrine, said in a statement. "This is a huge honor and will be the first visit of a U.S. president to Knock Sh
At the age of 27, Ben Ferencz was assigned to prosecute the Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing units) trial, in which 22 former commanders were charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. / Adam Jones, Ph.D.|Wikipedia|CC BY-SA 3.0St. Louis, Mo., Apr 13, 2023 / 12:30 pm (CNA).The last surviving prosecutor of the Nuremberg Trials, Benjamin Ferencz, died last week on Good Friday at the age of 103. Ferencz secured the convictions of 22 Nazis for the murder of 1 million Jews during World War II. He spent the rest of his life advocating for human rights.At the age of 27, Ferencz was assigned to prosecute the Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing units) trial, in which 22 former commanders were charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. He relied on the Nazi s military records to prove that Nazi death squads had targeted and gunned down thousands of Jewish people, along with other "undesirables," at a time while occupying areas of Eastern Europe.Ferencz made his final public
Vandalism at a Heartbeat of Miami pregnancy center in Hialeah, Florida, July 3, 2022. / Heartbeat of Miami.Denver, Colo., Apr 13, 2023 / 10:00 am (CNA).Two alleged perpetrators of "Jane s Revenge" threats and vandalism against pro-life pregnancy centers in Florida could face legal penalties of up to $170,000 each if lawsuits against them are successful.The lawsuits could help expose the nature of the purported anarchist movement whose radical pro-abortion vandalism and threats of more violence helped inspire dozens of incidents and prompted serious concerns among many pro-lifers.In January, the Department of Justice brought FACE Act charges against two Floridians, 27-year-old Caleb Freestone and 23-year-old Amber Smith-Stewart, for spray-painting threats on a pro-life clinic in Winter Haven, Florida; an Archdiocese of Miami pro-life pregnancy center in Hollywood, Florida; and one of Heartbeat of Miami s pro-life pregnancy centers in Hialeah, Florida.The Freedom of Access to C