How the Big Easy celebrates St. Joseph

Washington D.C., Jan 2, 2019 / 06:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pediatric endocrinologists are warning that despite a lack of medical tests to determine its safety, U.S. doctors are increasingly injecting children who have gender dysphoria with a powerful hormonal suppressant normally used to treat prostate cancer.

“[Parents] need to continue to love their children. They need to continue to affirm their human dignity. Yet they shouldn’t have to jettison biological reality to be able to put what they’re being told into practice, in terms of disrupting normally timed puberty,” Dr. Paul Hruz, an associate professor of pediatrics and endocrinology at Washington University in St. Louis, told The Christian Post.

Leuprorelin, sold under the brand name Lupron, has never been green-lighted by the Food and Drug Administration to treat gender dysphoria, nor have there been any peer-reviewed studies done on the drug’s long-term physical and psychological side effects on children, The Christian Post reports.

The Christian Post interviewed several doctors in a recent report who said synthetic hormones could put children on a pathway to permanent sterilization, and many other long-term repercussions which may not be felt for years.

Hormone blockers, like leuprorelin, are approved for use in children to treat precocious puberty— when a child experiences puberty at an abnormally early age— and pediatricians may administer them to children to help them handle hormone drives and avoid peer pressure related to their sexual maturity.

Doctors may diagnose children with central precocious puberty when signs of sexual maturity begin to develop in girls under the age of 8 or boys under the age of 9, according to the drug’s website.

When used normally, the drug suppresses hormonal signals from the pituitary gland which regulate testosterone or estrogen levels. This can aid in the treatment of prostate cancer for men and endometriosis in women.

When used to suppress normally-timed puberty, however, the drug can affect bone density, which increases during a child’s normal pubertal development, Hruz told The Christian Post.

“The reality is that there is no long-term data about treating children, and the only data that we have in adults indicates that medical interventions to align the appearance of the body to a transgendered identity does not fix the problem,” he said, adding that overwhelming evidence exists that most children will realign their gender identity with their biological sex if left alone.

Dr. Michael Laidlaw, a Rocklin, California-based board certified physician, told The Christian Post that a group called the World Professional Association for Transgender Health overhauled and “co-opted” the guidelines regarding gender transition therapy of the Endocrine Society, the largest global professional organization representing the field of endocrinology, to be overwhelmingly pro-transition.

Ladilaw also claimed that parents who change their minds about helping their children transition are often “strong-armed” or “bullied” into continuing the treatment by doctors, who warn that the child may commit suicide without the treatment.

“Gender dysphoria is not an endocrine condition, but is a psychological one, and should, therefore, be treated with proper psychological care,” Laidlaw told the The Christian Post.

“But it becomes an endocrine condition once you start using puberty blockers and giving cross-sex hormones to kids.”

Ladilaw also mentioned that he knows of no psychological condition that is treated by misaligning a patient’s hormones from their normal levels. He said he predicts that a few years down the road, when patients begin to realize the side effects of the treatment, there will likely be medical malpractice lawsuits filed against those who encouraged their transition.

Dr. Quentin Van Meter, a pediatric endocrinologist in private practice in Atlanta, said that doctors who oppose gender transition therapy today face barriers to getting published and are routinely dismissed by the scientific community at large.

“There is a core of very diabolical people who are filtering large sums of money into this and using mass social pressure,” Van Meter asserted.

California passed a law in September 2018 to provide resources for “gender-affirmative” treatment for foster children, despite strong opposition from doctors; a group of endocrinologists have co-authored a letter of protest to the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism regarding the guidelines. Between 2009 and the present, the number of transgender medical clinics in the U.S. has ballooned to 55.

The doctors cited by The Christian Post all recommended appropriate counseling to uncover the root cause of the child’s distress, rather than seeking a gender change.

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Irondale, Ala., Jul 4, 2018 / 12:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- EWTN Global Catholic Network will observe America’s Independence Day with airings of Called and Chosen: Father Vincent R. Capodanno.

The 90-minute documentary about the life and death of Fr. Capodanno will air on EWTN July 4 at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Eastern time. Produced by Jim Kelty, the film won a Gabriel Award at the Catholic Media Conference in June.

Servant of God Vincent Capodanno was a decorated Navy chaplain who was killed while seeking to provide the sacraments to ambushed Marines in the Vietnam War. His cause for canonization is being pursued by the Archdiocese for Military Services.

Father Capodanno was a Maryknoll priest from the New York City borough of Staten Island. He was nicknamed the “Grunt Padre” for his service to members of the infantry.

While with Maryknoll, Fr. Capodanno served in Taiwan and Hong Kong, and then requested to be reassigned as a chaplain with the U.S. Marine Corps. He was sent to Vietnam in 1966, and requested an extension to his tour of duty when it was up.

The chaplain was killed at the age of 38 on Sept. 4, 1967 in Vietnam’s Que Son Valley after his unit was ambushed by North Vietnamese forces. Despite suffering injuries from mortar fire, including a partly severed hand, he continued to give last rites to the dying and medical aid to the wounded.

In disregard of intense small arms fire, automatic weapons fire, and mortars, Fr. Capodanno rushed about 15 yards to reach a wounded corpsman in the direct line of fire of a North Vietnamese machine gunner. He was killed just before he reached the wounded man.

He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor Jan. 7, 1969.

“By his heroic conduct on the battlefield, and his inspiring example, Lt. Capodanno upheld the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life in the cause of freedom,” said the priest’s Medal of Honor citation.

Some Catholics devoted to Fr. Capodanno have reported favors granted following intercessory prayers to the chaplain. In 2006 the Congregation for the Causes of Saints declared Fr. Capodanno a Servant of God.

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EWTN’s Montse Alvarado, Father Mike Schmitz, and Sister Miriam James Heidland are among the featured speakers at the July 2024 National Eucharistic Congress. / EWTN/Ascension/Twitter @onegroovynun

Boston, Mass., Jul 21, 2023 / 12:52 pm (CNA).

The U.S. bishops’ National Eucharistic Revival has just announced 17 speakers to be featured at the National Eucharistic Congress at an NFL stadium next July. 

The National Eucharistic Revival is the U.S. bishops’ three-year initiative to inspire belief in and reverence for the Eucharist. The decision to embark on the initiative followed a 2019 Pew Research study that suggested only about one-third of U.S. Catholics believe the Church’s teaching that the Eucharist is truly the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

As part of the revival, a National Eucharistic Congress will be held July 17–21, 2024, and is expected to draw 80,000 Catholics to Lucas Oil Stadium, home to the Indianapolis Colts. 

“The whole Congress will be an experience of prayer: a liturgical act offering the Catholic Church — those in attendance in Indianapolis as well as across the country — to the Father, through the Son, and in the Holy Spirit,” the congress’ website says.

The congress will have three masters of ceremonies, including Montse Alvarado, president and chief operating officer of CNA’s parent company, EWTN News, Inc.; Sister Miriam James Heidland, host of the “Abiding Together” podcast; and Father Josh Johnson, host of the podcast “Ask Father Josh.”

The just-announced list of speakers includes Winona-Rochester Bishop Robert Barron; the Holy See’s current apostolic nuncio to the United States, Cardinal-elect Christophe Pierre; Crookston Bishop Andrew Cozzens, who heads the Eucharistic Revival; and the Archdiocese of New York’s Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Espaillat.

The speakers include the popular face of Ascension Presents and host of the hit “Bible in a Year” podcast, Father Mike Schmitz; host of EWTN programs “Icons” and “Clic con Corazon Puro,” Father Agustino Torres, CFR; and author and professor Father John Burns of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. 

A number of women religious will be speaking as well, including an author and host of the “Hope Stories” podcast, Sister Josephine Garrett; Sister Bethany Madonna of the Sisters of Life, an order dedicated to pro-life ministry and eucharistic prayer; and Mother Adela Galindo, foundress of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary. 

Additionally, several leaders among the lay faithful will be speaking, including Chris Stefanick, founder of Real Life Catholic; Catholic author and commentator Gloria Purvis; speaker, author, and podcast host Katy Prejean McGrady; author and retreat leader Julianne Stanz; speaker and evangelist Damon Owens; Scripture professor Mary Healy; and evangelist Mari Pablo.

In June, Pope Francis met with members of the U.S. bishops’ committee for the National Eucharistic Congress and said that the congress “marks a significant moment in the life of the Church in the United States.”

The Holy Father praised the committee’s “efforts to contribute to a revival of faith in, and love for, the holy Eucharist,” which he called the “source and summit of the Christian life.”

He also blessed a monstrance, a vessel used to display the eucharistic host, that will be used at the congress.

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