Knights of Columbus announce St John Vianney relic tour

August 21, 2018 CNA Daily News News Briefs 0 Print

Hartford, Conn., Aug 21, 2018 / 04:22 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus announced Tuesday that the fraternal organization will sponsor a US tour of the heart of St. John Vianney, in the wake of the Archbishop McCarrick scandal.

“Beginning in November, the Knights of Columbus will sponsor, in cooperation with the Shrine of St. Jean Vianney in Ars, France, a national tour of the relic of the heart of this great patron saint of priests,” Carl Anderson wrote Aug. 21 in a letter to the chaplains of the Knights of Columbus.

Anderson opened his letter saying that the problems which have come to light concerning sexual abuse by Archbishop Theodore McCarrick and in the Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report are cause for grave concern among Catholics and Brother Knights. Many feel deeply betrayed by those whom they long held in high regard.”

“These sins of commission and omission have sent the Church we love … into convulsions. Sadly, the disgrace not only is borne by the perpetrators, it hurts us all.”

While there are “many wonderful and faithful laborers in the vineyard of the Lord among our priests and bishops,” he said that “we have seen many other moral failings by clergy that represent a crisis of commitment to the Gospel.”

He said the Knights of Columbus “will have an important role to play in rebuilding the Church. We must commit the Knights of Columbus to work for repentance, reform and rebuilding of the Church.”

“Repentance should include a full accounting of the misdeeds by those who have committed them. Archbishop McCarrick and others at fault owe us a full account of their actions, motivations and cover-ups,” Anderson wrote.

He suggested a number of possibilities for reform, and said that such reforms “will be difficult for a Church largely unused to them, and we must support our bishops and our priests in embracing these reforms in order to rebuild.”

Anderson wrote that the Knights can help rebuild the Church by embracing “love of God and love of neighbor,” which he said is “exactly the opposite of the rejection of God and exploitation of neighbor that our Church has witnessed in these scandals.”

“In the days ahead, the Knights of Columbus will help renew our Church on a national level through a Novena of Masses in reparation for these sins that have so grievously wounded the Body of Christ. I take this opportunity to ask that you offer this Novena of Masses for our Church at your earliest opportunity.”

The Supreme Knight also mentioned programs and initiatives which the Knights have to help strengthen families and parishes.

“Now is the time for all brother Knights to stand steadfast in faith, as Catholics and as gentlemen. We will assist priests, bishops and our fellow Catholics in helping the Church chart a course for the future that puts Christ at the center.”

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Why birth rates fell more sharply during COVID

January 26, 2021 CNA Daily News 0

Washington D.C., Jan 26, 2021 / 11:00 am (CNA).- Recently-published data suggest that the birth rate in the U.S. declined considerably from 2019 to 2020, refuting hopes of a “baby boom” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

According to NBCLX, real-time data from several states showed marked declines in their birthrates in 2020. In Dec., 2020, Florida’s birthrates declined 8% from the previous year, Ohio’s by 7%, and Arizona’s by 5%. Several major hospital systems also reported similar drops in birthrates from Dec., 2019 to Dec., 2020.

 

The real-time 2020 data from states follows a steady decline in the overall U.S. birth rate that reached its lowest recorded level in 2019. According to CDC data published in May, 2020, only 58.2 births were registered for every 1,000 women between the ages of 15-44 in 2019. The birth rate has fallen steadily for more than a decade, following a peak before the 2008 economic crisis.

 

While many had wondered if widespread changes to Americans’ lifestyles—such as stay-at-home orders and cancellations of social events—could spur an increase in the birth rate, researchers told CNA that they instead had expected a continued decline during 2020. 

 

Jonathan V. Last, a journalist and author of the 2013 book on America’s demographic challenges What To Expect When No One’s Expecting, told CNA that he was “not surprised in the least” to hear the updated state figures. 

 

In the future, Last said that demographers will be curious to discover whether or not the number of births will “rebound” to the pre-pandemic years, or if the number will continue to decline. 

 

“We won’t know the answer to this question for many years,” said Last. “Probably at least a decade. But when a shock of this magnitude happens, the ripples take a long time to work their way out.” 

 

Lyman Stone, a research fellow at the Institute for Family Studies and an adjunct fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, was similarly unsurprised by the state numbers.

 

Back in Feb., 2020, Stone predicted that not only would there be no spike in births due to the coronavirus, but also that the virus–and ensuing state measures to prevent its spread, such as mandatory lockdowns–would result in a decline. At the time, he said that many people were skeptical of this assessment but he now believes that has “been vindicated.” 

 

“Lockdowns communicate worry and a negative outlook on society, which motivates pessimism about fertility,” Stone told CNA on Tuesday. 

 

Stone said that he does “not see any reason to be optimistic” about birth rates in the United States, but he added that they may stabilize after the pandemic is over. 

 

“If early data on January births shows a decline above 10-15% for that month, that would be a negative surprise,” he said. “Alternatively, if births remain far below trend after October 2021, that would also be very worrying.”

 

Despite this, Stone does not think that people should worry about the pandemic when it comes to deciding whether or not to bring a child into the world.

“It’s always a good idea to have a kid,” he said.  

 

 


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