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Washington, DC’s Metropolitan Police Department has launched an investigation after two pro-life sidewalk counselors were allegedly attacked outside of a Planned Parenthood clinic on July 22. A group of pro-life sidewalk counselors, who were there to encourage women to choose life for their preborn babies rather than obtain an abortion, were gathered along with other pro-life activists outside of the Planned Parenthood location at 4th Street, Northeast, on Saturday morning. A verbal altercation between pro-abortion passersby and one of the activists ensued around 11:40 am and quickly turned violent. A spokesperson for Washington, DC’s Metropolitan Police Department confirmed with CNA that detectives are investigating the incident.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/254898/video-police-investigate-alleged-attack-on-pro-lifers-outside-dc-planned-parenthood
Americans are increasingly rejecting the idea of God along with other religious and spiritual concepts, continuing a decades-long trend that shows an ongoing decline in belief in key religious tenets. A July poll from Gallup shows a marked decrease in belief in “God, angels, heaven, hell, and the devil” among U.S. adults since the last time the survey question was asked in 2016. Seven years ago, 79% of respondents said they believed in God; just 74% said the same thing in this month’s survey, a decline of five percentage points. Overall belief in God has declined by 16 percentage points since the survey has been conducted, with 90% of respondents affirming that faith in 2001. Similar declines in belief have been recorded regarding the devil, heaven, hell, and angels, with each one seeing double-digit declines in professed believers over the 22 years in question.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/254891/americans-belief-in-god-heaven-hell-continues-prolonged-decline
Today, the Church celebrates the parents of the Virgin Mary, Saints Joachim and Anne. The couple's faith and perseverance brought them through the sorrow of childlessness, to the joy of conceiving and raising the immaculate and sinless woman who would give birth to Christ. The New Testament contains no specific information about the lives of the Virgin Mary's parents, but other documents outside of the Biblical canon do provide some details. Although these writings are not considered authoritative in the same manner as the Bible, they outline some of the Church's traditional beliefs about Joachim, Anne and their daughter. Saints Joachim and Anne have been a part of the Church's liturgical calendar for many centuries. In 2021, Pope Francis instituted World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly, a celebration now held on the fourth Sunday of July — the Sunday closest to the July 26 feast.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/sts-anne-and-joachim-313