In the KFF study, four out of ten women younger than 30 consider abortion as the most important point for their vote. The survey was carried out between September and early October 2024. Another KFF survey at the end of May and beginning of June showed that only 20% mentioned abortion as the main problem. Why this change?

Harris has defended the right to abortion for a long time and attacked Trump for ap,pointing three conservative Judges to the Supreme Court who, in 2022 ruled the annulment of the Roe versus Wade law, which had guaranteed access to abortion at the national level  since 1973. From 2022, thirteen States prohibited abortion, with few exceptions.

KFF’s recent survey showed more changes in women that will benefit Harris, such as 24 percentage points of increase in those that said they were satisfied in the election of their candidates and 19 points among women who were more motivated to vote than in the previous presidential elections. It seems these changes indicate women’s pushback on voting for Donald Trump.

Newsweek’s poll was carried out by Redfield & Wilton Strategies, which asked: “What questions will most probably determine your vote in the presidential elections of November 2024? You can choose up to three.” Four points out of the 24 proposed were repeated in more than two out of every five polled: the economy, abortion, immigration and health care.

21% of those surveyed by Redfield & Wilton Strategies pointed out abortion as the key point in a survey of July 2023; now, in October, it’s marked by 38%. Immigration went from being key with 30% of those polled in July 2023 to 36% in the latest 2024 survey.

Women show preference to vote for Harris over Biden, but the election confronted with Trump is still close.

According to an analysis of FiveThirtyEight, published on October 20, it seems that Harris has an advantage of 2.5 points in national surveys, although other polls show more division between the majority of women that support Harris compared with the majority of men that support Trump. On September 23, Trump said to women in Indiana and Pennsylvania: “You will be protected and I will be your protector. Women will be happy, healthy, sure of themselves and free. You will no longer be thinking of abortion.”

According to KFF’s data, Harris gains ground over Trump among women and not only on the issue of abortion. They also prefer her on economic issues, argument that Trump and his advisers believe will give him the greatest support to win the elections. The KFF survey indicates that 46% of women voters trust Harris more because she addresses household costs and 39% prefer the former President. The rest distrust both.

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The visit of the former American President to the Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa was planned in the context of Trump’s presidential campaign. The reason for the change in Trump’s agenda was unclear. 

On Sunday afternoon, September 22, the United States-Polish Committee for the Commemoration of the Smolensk Disaster unveiled a monument in the Shrine’s cemetery, to commemorate the founding of the Polish Solidarity Movement and its fight for Independence from the Communist regime, which lasted from 1940-1980.

There is a replica in the church of the Black Madonna, the original of which is in the Shrine of the city of Czestochowa. Tradition holds that the original was painted by the Evangelist Saint Luke, and some believe that it was painted on a board made by Jesus Christ when He was a carpenter. The existence and veneration of the icon has been well documented since 1300. 

The Shrine in Pennsylvania was built in 1955. Pope Saint John XXIII blessed the copy of the icon of the Black Madonna. Voters in Pennsylvania, where Bucks Country is located, are undecided. In 2020, President Joe Biden won there by less  than 4.4% of the vote. In 2016, Hillary Clinton won he County by 0.3%.

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The grand statue, which includes a chapel inside and a 360º viewing platform, was unveiled by Bishop Luis Urbanc in a ceremony attended by local civil authorities, the project’s director Walter D’Agostini, and the workers who contributed to this awe-inspiring feat of architecture and devotion. Speaking at the event, Bishop Urbanc emphasized the spiritual meaning of the statue, asking God to inspire those who come to pray before it. He called for an outpouring of love among brothers and sisters, seeking the Virgin’s intercession for divine grace.

This giant statue is much more than a symbol of faith. It celebrates the deep-rooted devotion to “Nuestra Señora del Valle”, a tradition that began over 400 years ago. According to local lore, the Virgin was first discovered in 1618 in a remote grotto in Choya, by a worker who followed the mysterious sounds of young women singing and leaving offerings of flowers and lamps at a hidden niche in the mountainside. Inside this niche, he found a small, 42-centimeter statue of the Virgin Mary, her face dark-skinned, hands folded in prayer, and adorned with golden robes and a blue belt. Despite being exposed to the elements for years, the statue remained miraculously preserved, sparking widespread devotion across the region.

For centuries, “Nuestra Señora del Valle” has been revered as the protector of miners and farmers, and her miraculous interventions have become legend. One of the most notable occurred in 1694, when a devastating plague of locusts threatened to ruin local crops. After a fervent nine-day prayer, the swarm dispersed, which the faithful took as a divine sign of the Virgin’s protection.

This deep reverence culminated in the construction of a grand sanctuary in 1859, which was completed in 1875. The Virgin was declared the National Patroness of Tourism in 1974, and the faithful from across northern Argentina make regular pilgrimages to honor her. The newest statue, which dominates the skyline of Catamarca, serves as a striking and modern testament to this ongoing tradition.

The unveiling of the statue coincides with the remembrance of a significant event in local history— the 2004 earthquake, when the community credited “Nuestra Señora del Valle” with protecting them from the disaster’s worst effects. The date of the inauguration, September 7, holds particular meaning as it commemorates that miraculous moment.

The small original statue, now known as the «Virgen Morena,» was long ago moved from the mountain grotto to a chapel in Choya. However, the newly unveiled monument ensures that “Nuestra Señora del Valle” will continue to watch over her community for generations to come, from a vantage point that can be seen for miles around.

For the people of Catamarca and beyond, this statue is more than a work of art. It stands as a powerful reminder of the enduring faith that has defined the region for centuries.

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The consultations are taking place after the repeal of the Roe v. Wade law of 2022, which returned to the States of the Union the power to legislate on abortion. Almost half have legislated to protect babies in the maternal womb. In November’s voting, eight amendments have been promoted by citizens that collected thousands of signatures necessary to foster the change and two arose in the State Chamber.

Conservatives support the rejection of abortion, although last week John Thurston, Arkansas’ Secretary of the State said that the documentation was lacking to include the petition on the electoral ballot. And in Arizona, an attempt was made to take up again a 1864 law that prohibited abortion, but the defenders of the murder of babies in the maternal womb collected numerous signatures for voters to define if they will protect that right up to the foetus’ viability.

In Colorado, the pro-abortion measure received sufficient support to request the vote; the pro-life initiative did not get the minimum number of signatures before the April 18 deadline to defend babies, proposing that they “not be dismembered, mutilated, poisoned, scalded, left to die for lack of warmth or nutrition, or murdered another way.”

The pro-abortion measure holds that the current State laws  that permit abortion during the nine months of pregnancy and demands that the government “not deny, impede or discriminate the exercise of the right to abortion, including the prohibition of health insurance coverage for abortion.”

Given this law, Florida proposes adding the right to abortion beyond the six weeks of pregnancy if the a woman’s doctor considers it necessary. In April, the Court’s Judges said that the measure could appear in the consultation. The proposal of amendment to the Right of Reproductive Freedom in Maryland intends to consolidate the “right” to abortion and would back the promulgation of pro-life laws. At present Maryland doesn’t establish gestational limits to abortion, and it requests that parents be notified for a minor to undergo such an operation.

Missouri’s law protects unborn babies during the entire pregnancy, with the sole exception of cases of “medical emergency.” Missouri’s Catholic Conference is opposed to ”an extreme Constitutional amendment that legalizes abortion at any stage of pregnancy without protection for the unborn child, including when the child is able to feel pain.”

The amendment will be voted on that “would prohibit any regulation of abortion, including those destined to protect women who undergo abortions and would prohibit any civil or criminal recourse against anyone carrying out an abortion and harm or kill the pregnant woman.”

Montana’s proposal would amend the State Constitution to “provide expressly a right to take and carry out decisions on the pregnancy itself, including the right to abortion.”

The initiative would guarantee the right to abortion before foetal viability, consecrating Montana’s 1999 Supreme Court ruling, which held that abortions prior to visibility fall under a Constitutional “right to privacy.”

And it would prohibit the Government to deny or put a charge on the right of abortion before foetal visibility,” in addition to “denying or putting  a charge on access to an abortion” if the doctor determined that it’s necessary to protect the woman’s “life or health, as well as “preventing the Government from criminalizing the patients, health providers or anyone who assists someone in the exercise of her right to take and carry out voluntary decisions on her pregnancy.”

Montana’s Catholic Bishops wrote a letter in May denouncing the proposal, describing the initiative as an attack on the “recognition of the infinite dignity that all people enjoy.”

Nebraska is the only State of the Union where voters will vote on two opposing measures on abortion. One would consecrate constitutionally the current pro-life protection and the other the Constitutional “right” to abortion.

Nebraska’s current State law restricts abortion after approximately 12 months.  The pro-abortion measure would consecrate the “right” to abortion up to the point of viability or later to protect the health of a pregnant woman.

Nevada’s voters will choose to permit abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy. Nevada’s legislation requires a simple majority in two consecutive elections for a State Constitutional amendment; hence, it would have to be approved again in 2026.

The proposal to be voted on in New York would prohibit discrimination based on the “results of the pregnancy” or the “expression of gender.” On May 7, a State Court of New York State blocked the petition so that it would not be voted on. The Court of Appeals decided unanimously on June 18 to allow the voting.

South Dakota’s Secretary of State confirmed in May the voting on the pro-abortion amendment that would establish “a Constitutional right to abortion” and allow the procedure during the nine months of pregnancy. At present, abortion is illegal in South Dakota with the exception of cases of risk to the mother’s life.

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The 21-year-old athlete, born in Toledo, Ohio, USA, began the weightlifting sport at 17. He was outstanding in the maximum starting weight of 324 pounds and clean and jerk of 388 pounds. Heller was born into a Catholic family and went to Catholic schools: the first seven in a diocesan school and the last six in one run by the Oblates of Saint Francis de Sales.

“I cannot say that sometimes I was a practicing Catholic,” he said. “I went to Mass on Sundays, but I never went to Adoration. I really did not pray the Rosary. I went to one of those schools that was somewhat Catholic in name . . . So, in reality, I alienated myself from the faith when I arrived at Northern [University]”.

Thanks to a FOCUS missionary, whom he met at University, he felt the unease of the call to the priesthood. After Midnight Mass in his first year of University, he recalled, “It was funny, because my dormitory in fact looked out directly on the Ministry Center of the Catholic Campus and I was on the e-mail list of the Catholic Campus Ministries but I had unsubscribed. “

He took part in biblical studies and discipleship events. In December 2022 the parish priest of the church suggested he consider the priesthood. ”I simply laughed, and in my mind I thought: The fact that a man goes to Mass every day doesn’t mean he wants to be a priest.” He ignored the meeting with that priest for four months.

An only child, he was thinking of getting married and having children; he considered being a Deacon. After taking part in the diocese’s Eucharistic Congress and Priestly Ordination, he valued the proposal more. He took spiritual direction and read Timothy Gallagher’s “Discernment of Spirits.” He applied to the Seminary in October 2023 and was accepted in January of the following year.

During his talk with the Bishop, Heller asked him if he could continue his weightlifting. “He said he would support him but, obviously, if the academics failed or if the spiritual life was not developing, then the weightlifting would have to disappear.“ He was amazed that the Director of the Seminary’s propaedeutic program is a weightlifter and has a gym in the basement with all the equipment Heller needs. “I believe God really wants me to do this,” he said between laughs.

In an interview with CNA he explained the relationship between sport and preparation for the priesthood. The beginning of concupiscence: we feel attracted to the sin and we must do all that is within our reach to combat it. I compare it to a barbell and gravity. When I reach the weightlifting platform, the barbell is on the floor and, if I don’t do anything, it stays on the floor. However, through repeated efforts for a long time, through many difficulties, I’m able to lift the barbell from the floor and the barbell stays in the air as long as I lift it from the floor. The same thing happens to a man who tries to fight sin: he must make that constant effort, be tenacious, to lift the barbell in the air, to avoid sinning.

In his preparation for the Seminary’s courses, he doesn’t know what will come after with regard to the weightlifting. “I don’t need to know what will follow. We will find out when the time comes . . .  If God want it to happen, it will happen.”

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São Miguel Arcanjo is a municipality in the State of São Paulo, Brazil, whose historical roots began in the 19th century. In 1841 Lieutenant Urias Emídio Nogueira de Barros, a miner of Baependi  and resident in Casa Branca, acquired land in the area and started to colonize the region. The population grew with the spread of the cultivation of coffee. Tourism developed in the second half of the 20th century given its closeness to the Paulist capital and the conservation of its exuberant nature, with ecological parks, trails and waterfalls. 

The first stone of the new Mother Church was placed on December 1, 1944 and its was inaugurated on January 1, 1945. Work began during its time as parish while building of the new Church, which was completed in February 1962. Father Márcio Almeida, the Basilica’s current Rector, announced its creation and presented a plan of the Centro de Evangelización Gruta do Arcanjo on December 12, 2021. 

The center is the Gruta del Arcángel, a building inspired in the Shrine of Monte Gargano, located in the south of Italy where, according to Tradition, Saint Michaell appeared four times. The monument will have a replica of the façade and interior of the Italian Shrine. 

It will also include a church for 400 people, a miraculous room, a museum of sacred art, an auditorium, a devotional pavilion, confessionals, house of candles, Marian grotto, outdoor Chapel for 12,000 people, shops, food patio, parking lot and dancing waters with synchronized water jets to the rhythm of music, and nocturnal illumination. 

Saint Michael’s image follows the proposal of sculptor Markus Moura, with the Archangel holding a sword in his right hand and a scale in the left. It will have a viewing point on the chest. 

The Catholic community built the first Chapel of Saint Michael the Archangel in 1884 and was given the title Diocesan Shrine in September 2013, in recognition of the great number of pilgrims and devotees that attend the Sunday Eucharistic Celebrations and during the September 29 festivities. It received the title of Minor Basilica in May 2018.

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The abbatial election was called when Abbot Mark Cooper became 75 years old and tended his resignation. The Abbot President, Jonathan Licari, OSB, of the American-Casina Congregation, presided over the election on April 29-30, 2024. The Abbey’s monks elected Brother Isaac for the office of Abbot. Canon Law exacts priestly ordination as a requisite to occupy the position, and a consultation was necessary to obtain the Holy See’s permission.

In May 2022, a rescriptio granted the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, an exception to the norm to permit the appointments and elections of lay Brothers to lead Religious Communities of Priests and Brothers with the Vatican’s permission, a “step that was seen as a general openness of Orders leadership positions of the laity.”

The situation of a layman at the head is a novelty as “traditionally the Abbot always presided over the Christmas Mass in the Abbey, which is no longer possible due to the fact he isn’t a priest. A distinction could possibly be made in the future between presiding and celebrating.

Abbot Isaac was born in Montreal in 1963. He made his simple vows as a monk in Saint Anselm Abbey in 1993 and his solemn vows in 1996. He obtained a degree in Political Science from Saint Francis Xavier University of Nova Scotia in 1984 and a Master’s in 1998, and a PhD from the University of Chicago in 2008. Since 2001 he has been a Professor in the Department of Politics of Saint Anselm College.

“We have elected the appropriate person for the Community,” said Brother Francis McCarty of the Abbey. “We elected Brother Isaac because he will be a good Abbot.” The new Abbot doesn’t believe that his lay condition is an obstacle to his running the Monastery. Neither did Saint Benedict of Nursia, author of the Benedictine Order’s Rule, receive priestly ordination.

According to Licari, President of the Order, “Murphy’s election is a great opportunity for the Association as it opens the door to more qualified individuals.”

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Born in Oakland, California, her parents were civil rights activists, with whom she grew up, while “they spent the whole time marching and crying out for justice.”

She studied Law, made a career as a prosecutor in keeping with the social commitment breathed in her family and worked as District Attorney of San Francisco and Attorney General in California, with a combative stance, to the point that Donald Trump financed her campaign. Her lack of interest in pursuing sexual abusers of the Californian Catholic Church contrasts with her tenacious  defense of abortion and of the LGBTQ community.

Her positions can pose problems for Catholic voters, a key bloc. Harris promoted abortion constantly, examined Catholic judicial candidates and was opposed to pro-life pregnancy centers and activists. She has also taken on board the gender ideology and risky contraception plans, which attempt against the freedom of business owners and schools.

Her possible nomination has attracted donors alienated from the Party, the support of Governors and former Presidents and more than 1,340 delegates to reach the 1,976 she needs to guarantee her nomination.

As Vice-President, she headed many efforts of the Biden Administration to promote abortion in University campuses and the effort to codify Roe vs Wade in Federal Law, to enable the killing of babies in their mothers’ womb.

As Senator, she pressured three judicial candidates  (Brian Buescher, Paul Matey and Peter Phipps) over their affiliation with the Knights of Columbus. Her questions suggested that these candidates’ links with the Catholic organization could make them biased for adhering to the teachings of the Church on life and marriage.

During the interrogation, she asked Buescher if he agreed with the then Supreme Knight, Carl Anderson, that abortion is “the murder of innocents on a large scale.” And she asked him if he knew “that the Knights of Columbus were opposed to equality marriage.” Buescher answered that the “Knights of Columbus is a Roman Catholic service organization with approximately two million members worldwide.”

Kamala Harris prosecuted oil companies that opted for fracking as a drilling method and sealed the deal of US$25,000 million during the 2008 mortgage crisis. Her woke ideological agenda is a characteristic note today. There are those that describe her as more left than Bernie Sanders, which is no small thing.

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Michael Sean Winters, former seminarian and columnist of the National Catholic Reporter, considers himself a progressive Catholic and states that “there are fewer liberals with numerous families in the churches.” Moreover, parents with more children generally rejoice at new vocations arising in their families.

In November 2023, The Catholic Project published the conclusions of a national study of Catholic priests carried out with the Catholic University of America, which interviewed 10,000 priests about priests’ tendency and their positions according to age.

The study showed “a significant division between the political and theological identification of older priests and the younger.

The data points out that “the portion of new priests that see themselves as politically ‘liberals’ or theologically ‘progressives’ is constantly decreasing and has practically disappeared.” More than half of those ordained since 2010 were inclined to orthodoxy and none of those ordained since 2020 defined themselves as “very progressive,” seeing themselves politically  as “moderates or conservatives.” The majority of the elderly priests regarded themselves as “politically liberal” and “theologically progressive.

The analysis of Michael Sean Winters, specialized in religious information, stresses: “The Catholic liberal priest in the United States coulc be extinguished in the near future.” The survey’s data states that the progressives, in their day 68% of the ordained, hardly represent 1% today. The reflection on the Report opines that Vatican Council II and the 2002 sexual abuses crisis marked the change in tendency.

Ruth Graham wrote in The New York Times that “today’s young priests don’t see themselves as a conservative insurgency, but as part of a new generation that embraces the teachings of the Church instead of robbing them of importance, in what they see as a mistaken search for an evangelization of great reach.”

The priests and authorities interviewed by Ruth Graham last July 10, corroborated the data of the November Report. Brad Vermurlen, Sociology Professor  at the University of Saint Thomas in Houston, says that those ordained since 2010 “are clearly the most conservative seen in a long time.” And that, since 1980, each generation is more conservative than the previous one.

He notes that the acceptance of “secularism” in the Church also even “softened the expectations” on the ordination of women, premarital cohabitation and appropriate dress for Mass, “in an attempt to make the Church seem more welcoming and that her teachings be easier to accept. Many priests of the 1970s and 1980s looked at the world and said: “The world is changing and we too need to change.” The vision didn’t work: there was a generalized loss of faithful and low practice of the faith.

The numerous conversions during this year in the United States are attributed to young priests who are “faithful, energetic and willing to do anything,” said Jason Whitehead, Director of Evangelization and Catechesis in the diocese of Fort Worth.

A survey of the Episcopal Conference of the United States, published on April 15, reported that half of the 400 seminarians about to be ordained this year are aged around 30, older than in the past.

According to Whitehead, orthodoxy and fidelity to the Gospel result in more converts. He, himself, a convert and former Baptist, recalls his preparation to enter the Catholic Church, where he witnessed many abandoning the preparation “because they were not given the truth of the Gospel and the teachings of the Church.”

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Produced by Ascension and Coronation Media, the video aims to simplify the Bible’s complex narrative. Schmitz explains that the Bible tells one overarching story: God’s plan for humanity’s salvation. «Once we understand this story, we can grasp the context of each book of the Bible. So, here’s the story in less than 10 minutes,» he states in the video.

The response has been overwhelmingly positive. By July 11, just two days after its release, the video had garnered over 598,000 views and 11,000 likes. This achievement surpassed his previous record of 160,000 views in a single day for his 2023 review of the film «Sound of Freedom,» according to Ascension Press.

Father Schmitz is no stranger to success in digital evangelization. His podcast, «The Bible in a Year,» has become a sensation, offering daily episodes that provide commentary, prayers, and reflections. With 660 million downloads in 2023 alone, the podcast guides listeners through the entire Bible over the course of 365 episodes. Schmitz’s goal is to help people form a deeper relationship with God by illuminating the Bible’s narrative, page by page.

In «The Bible in 10 Minutes,» Schmitz uses vivid animations to bring the sacred text to life. He acknowledges the challenges many face when attempting to read the Bible: «The Bible is incredible, but sometimes it’s confusing and difficult to read,» Schmitz notes in the video. «This is because it’s not just a book; it’s a collection of books written over thousands of years, in many different styles, all inspired by God and brought together by the Catholic Church.»

Schmitz’s ability to break down complex theological concepts into accessible and engaging content has made him a beloved figure among Catholics and non-Catholics alike. His work as a chaplain at the University of Minnesota-Duluth and his contributions to the Ascension Presents YouTube series further amplify his reach and impact.

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