Cornell University in Ithaca, New York / Dantes De MonteCristo|Wikipedia|CC BY-SA 4.0Denver, Colo., Apr 5, 2023 / 11:30 am (CNA).Citing the need for the free exchange of ideas, the leaders of Cornell University have rejected a student resolution advocating that the university mandate "content warnings for traumatic content in the classroom." "We cannot accept this resolution, as the actions it recommends would infringe on our core commitment to academic freedom and freedom of inquiry, and are at odds with the goals of a Cornell education," university president Martha Pollack and university provost Michael I. Kotlikoff said in an April 3 response. The Cornell University Student Assembly resolution recommended warnings for content including but not limited to "sexual assault, domestic violence, self-harm, suicide, child abuse, racial hate crimes, transphobic violence, homophobic harassment, xenophobia." It contended that "exposure to triggering content&
A roll of I Voted stickers. / PhilipR / ShutterstockSt. Louis, Mo., Apr 5, 2023 / 11:00 am (CNA).Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz, who garnered numerous endorsements and campaign funding from pro-abortion organizations during a contentious race for a seat on Wisconsin s Supreme Court, emerged as the victor Tuesday night in what proved to be the most expensive state Supreme Court race in history. The 2023 Wisconsin judicial race, which might have remained obscure in other years even within Wisconsin, captured national media attention and record fundraising numbers this spring. Pro-life and pro-abortion advocates agree that Protasiewicz s win could tip the scales against the state s current abortion ban, which is currently being challenged in court. The April 4 statewide election, which saw high turnout numbers, featured former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly and Protasiewicz, a judge for Branch 24 of the Milwaukee County Circuit Court in.
Bishop Erik Varden spoke to CNA about the role of a bishop, and why the Nordic bishops conference chose to publish a letter on sexuality and transgenderism at this time. / Pål JohannesVatican City, Apr 5, 2023 / 10:30 am (CNA).In March, the bishops of the five Nordic countries issued a pastoral letter affirming the Catholic Church s teaching on human sexuality."This covenantal sign, the rainbow, is claimed in our time as the symbol of a movement that is at once political and cultural," the bishops wrote. "We declare dissent, however, when the movement puts forward a view of human nature that abstracts from the embodied integrity of personhood, as if physical gender were accidental."Bishop Erik Varden of Trondheim, Norway, spoke to CNA about the role of a bishop and why the Nordic bishops conference chose to publish a letter on sexuality and transgenderism at this time."Obviously the topic has been on our radar for a long time, as it has been on anyone s
Pope Francis delivers his Angelus reflection from the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City on March 26, 2023. / Vatican MediaRome Newsroom, Apr 5, 2023 / 10:00 am (CNA).Pope Francis on Wednesday revised parts of the penal law of the Eastern Catholic Churches.The changes follow the 2021 reform of Book VI of the Code of Canon Law, which covers penal law in the Latin rite of the Catholic Church.The April 5 motu proprio on the law of the Eastern Catholic Churches, Vocare Peccatores, takes effect June 29. It was issued in Latin without translations."Call sinners into repentance; [.] those who are healthy do not need a doctor, but those who are sick (cf Luke 5:31-32), is the mission of our Lord Jesus, which he himself handed over to the pastors of his people," Pope Francis wrote in the document s introduction."In the Church the purposes of punishment are the restoration of justice, the correction of the matter, and the reparation of the offense and damage," he said.Bishop Jua
St. Paulinus Catholic Church was vandalized sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning prior to Palm Sunday liturgy 2023. / Father Ryan SalisburyBoston, Mass., Apr 3, 2023 / 15:30 pm (CNA).The pastor of a Catholic church in Syracuse, Nebraska, was shocked when he discovered Saturday morning that the altar had been tipped over, a statue desecrated, and several other objects damaged. "Somehow, in the Lord s providence, this was allowed," Father Ryan Salisbury, pastor of St. Paulinus Catholic Church, told CNA April 3. "It happened in Our Lord s own Holy Week. His own journey was marked by injustice, by brokenness, and by damage done to his own body, and that was allowed to happen here in Syracuse in some ways," he added.A Sacred Heart of Jesus statue was broken beyond repair and candlesticks were damaged as well as the altar stone. The damage amounted to $5,000, he said. The tabernacle and the Eucharist remained untouched. Police are currently in