St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy. / Credit: Canva CNA Staff, Apr 25, 2024 / 04:00 am (CNA). This weekend, on Sunday, April 28, Pope Francis will celebrate Mass in St. Mark’s Square during a one-day trip to Venice, Italy. Afterward, he will privately venerate the relics of St. Mark the Evangelist inside the basilica. This papal visit to the iconic basilica puts a spotlight on the famous church dedicated to St. Mark and on its significance to the famous “floating city.”  St. Mark’s Basilica, also known as the “Church of Gold,” is a Byzantine cathedral in St. Mark’s Square. Founded in 82 ..read more

null / Credit: Photographee.eu via www.shutterstock.com ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 24, 2024 / 17:45 pm (CNA). Father Augusto Meloni Navarro, a priest, physician, and former vice president of the World Health Organization (WHO), urged prayers for the soul of Ana Estrada, the first person to undergo euthanasia in Peru. Meloni also emphasized the importance of protecting life and providing palliative care in these kinds of situations. As a Church “we stand in solidarity, we sympathize with every human person in all their circumstances. And, of course, at the moment of transition to a new life, which i ..read more

Pro-life advocates demonstrate prior to an Arizona House of Representatives session at the Arizona State Capitol on April 17, 2024, in Phoenix. / Credit: Rebecca Noble/Getty Images Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 24, 2024 / 17:15 pm (CNA). The Arizona House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to repeal a law protecting unborn babies from abortion throughout pregnancy. The narrow 32-28 vote passed an “abortion ban repeal” bill designed to overturn the pro-life law. Republicans have a narrow majority in the Arizona House, but the bill was able to pass as three Republicans jo ..read more

Pro-life and pro-abortion activists at a demonstration outside the U.S. Supreme Court as it hears arguments in the Moyle v. United States case, in Washington, D.C., on April 24, 2024. The case deals with whether an Idaho abortion law conflicts with the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). / Credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 24, 2024 / 16:15 pm (CNA). A divided Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Wednesday in a case that will determine whether federal law requires pro-life states to have broader exceptions for women who seek abortions ..read more

A Coptic Orthodox church in Old Cairo, a historic area of the Egyptian capital. / Credit: Sun_Shine via Shutterstock Ann Arbor, Michigan, Apr 24, 2024 / 15:45 pm (CNA). Muslim extremists set on fire several homes of Christians in Minya, a province in southern Egypt, in a continuation of anti-Christian violence less than two weeks before Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter.  According to The New Arab, when anti-Christian fanatics failed to dispossess Christians of their homes in retribution for attempting to build a church in Al-Fawakher village, they proceeded to burn down the houses on ..read more

Anti-death penalty activists rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court in an attempt 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, Apr 24, 2024 / 15:15 pm (CNA). Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond this week asked the Supreme Court to halt the execution of a condemned man whose death sentence has been criticized by an archbishop and other Catholic advocates.  Drummond announced the filing on his website on Tuesday. In his petition to the Supreme Court the attorney general d ..read more

null / Shutterstock CNA Staff, Apr 24, 2024 / 14:15 pm (CNA). As euthanasia and assisted suicide are legalized in more jurisdictions throughout the U.S. and the rest of the world, one Catholic-focused ministry is promoting end-of-life resources that the group’s founder says will help Catholics finish their earthly journeys while remaining faithful. Aging with Dignity, a nonprofit that for years has been promoting end-of-life support in line with Church teaching, announced this month the release of “Finishing Life Faithfully,” a booklet that “makes complex end-of-life decisions easier.” The mat ..read more

null / Credit: Brian A Jackson / Shutterstock CNA Staff, Apr 24, 2024 / 13:35 pm (CNA). Catholics Charities Corporation in Ohio was found partially negligent this week in the 2017 death of a 5-year-old boy who was being supervised by one of the organization’s caseworkers at the time he died. A jury in Cuyahoga County ruled in the wrongful death suit that the Catholic charity group was 8% responsible for Jordan Rodriguez’s September 2017 death, local media reported. Rodriguez’s body was discovered buried in his mother’s backyard three ..read more

Chuck Robbins, the chief executive of the multinational digital communications conglomerate Cisco, signs the Rome Call for AI Ethics, a document by the Pontifical Academy for Life, on April 24, 2024, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media Rome Newsroom, Apr 24, 2024 / 11:06 am (CNA). The CEO of Cisco Systems signed the Vatican’s artificial intelligence ethics pledge on Wednesday, becoming the latest technology giant to join the Church’s call for ethical and responsible use of AI. Chuck Robbins, the chief executive of the multinational digital communications conglomerate, met privately with Po ..read more

Pope Francis addresses pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican for his Wednesday general audience on April 24, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media Rome Newsroom, Apr 24, 2024 / 09:09 am (CNA). Pope Francis on Wednesday opened a new chapter in his ongoing catechetical series on virtues by pivoting to a reflection on the three theological virtues — faith, hope, and charity — which he noted form the key pillars of Christian life. The Holy Father bolstered his analysis by looking to the legacy of St. John Paul II. “Looking at his life, we can see what man can achieve by accepting and deve ..read more