Triplets María Gorete dos Santos, María de Lourdes dos Santos, and María Aparecida dos Santos, 57, are all nuns belonging to the Franciscan Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. / Credit: Courtesy of Sister María Gorete dos SantosCNA Newsroom, Mar 16, 2023 / 07:57 am (CNA).Triplets María Gorete dos Santos, María de Lourdes dos Santos, and María Aparecida dos Santos, 57, are all nuns belonging to the Franciscan Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Born into a Catholic family of 17 siblings in rural Bahia state in Brazil, they felt their vocation awakening in childhood. "We didn t know … what it was like, we just wanted to be religious. It was something that only God can explain," María Gorete said.Gorete, Lourdes, and Aparecida are from the small town of Itamira in the district of Aporá. There they met "a nun from Italy, Sister Ricarda" when they were children, and the nun s witness made them want to follow the same path."She visited t
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Archbishop Borys Gudziak addresses the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., on March 14, 2023. / Credit: Shannon Mullen/CNAWashington D.C., Mar 14, 2023 / 13:30 pm (CNA).Ongoing attacks against human dignity were the focus of this year s National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, which took place in Washington, D.C., Tuesday morning.Addressing an audience of more than 1,000 people, Ukrainian Greek Catholic Archbishop Borys Gudziak brought attention to the human toll of the continuing war in Ukraine."What is the worth of our dignity?" Gudziak asked during his keynote address. "Ukrainians are sacrificing their lives for the land, justice, truth, and dignity that God gives us.""In the 21st century … when truth is transactional, when media, politics, diplomacy, and popular culture are by a post-truth anti-ethic," Gudziak said, "Ukrainians have been saying, No, not so fast. There is good and there is evil. There is t
Pope Francis at his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter's Square on March 15, 2023 / Daniel Ibanez/CNAVatican City, Mar 15, 2023 / 04:23 am (CNA).Pope Francis said Wednesday that everyone in the Church is equal in dignity, thus a focus on hierarchical advancement is "pure paganism.""Within the framework of the unity of the mission, the diversity of charisms and ministries must not give rise, within the ecclesial body, to privileged categories," the pope said at his March 15 general audience in St. Peter s Square."There is no promotion here, and when you conceive of the Christian life as an advancement, that the one above commands others, because he has succeeded in climbing, that is not Christianity," he said. "That is pure paganism."At his weekly meeting with the public, Francis reflected on the call to apostleship as part of the larger theme of evangelization."What does it mean to be an apostle? It means being sent for a mission,&
Sister María del Carmen, a Mexican Combonian missionary who served in Sudan. / Credit: Ana Paula Morales/ACI PrensaACI Prensa Staff, Mar 14, 2023 / 14:00 pm (CNA).Sister María del Carmen Galicia, a Mexican nun of the Comboni Missionary Sisters who worked in Sudan, an African country with a 97% Muslim population, stressed that "peaceful coexistence" is possible between the followers of Islam and Christianity.Speaking with ACI Prensa, CNA s Spanish-language news partner, the nun related that Muslims "come, attend, and participate" in Catholic celebrations, such as marriages and confirmations."Then, when it s Ramadan," the month dedicated by Muslims to prayer and intense fasting during the day until sunset, "they also invited us to eat with them" in the evenings.Galicia explained that she lived in the Nuba Mountains region in central Sudan."It [was] an abandoned, isolated area: There are no roads, there s no electricity, there s no water, the
Young pro-life people paint a mural with messages opposing surrogate motherhood in Mexico. / Courtesy: Steps for LifeACI Prensa Staff, Mar 14, 2023 / 15:00 pm (CNA).The Steps for Life platform in Mexico called for legislation against surrogate motherhood, known in Spanish as "rent-a-womb," as well as any other form of exploiting women s fertility.As part of its campaign to oppose surrogate motherhood, the Steps for Life platform is painting outdoor murals with messages such as "Women are not for rent much less are their children for sale."The purpose of these murals, the platform explained in a statement, is to "make visible this grave practice that is spreading in Mexico."To date, it has painted murals in the states of Coahuila, Michoacán, San Luis Potosí, and Jalisco, and in Mexico City.Pilar Rebollo, director of Steps for Life, charged that surrogate motherhood "or any form of exploitation of female fertility violates women more than what has bee