A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts.
www.catholicnewsagency.com
-
On All Souls’ Day, Pope Francis urged Christians not to “compromise with the Gospel” but to take Jesus’ words seriously when he says we will be judged by how we treat the poor. “Often, out of convenience or comfort, we tend to tone down Jesus’ message, to water down his words. Let’s face it, we have gotten pretty good at compromising with the Gospel,” the pope said in Saint Peter’s Basilica on November 2. Pope Francis offered Mass on All Souls’ Day for the repose of the souls of more than 150 deceased bishops and cardinals who died in the past year. In his homily, the pope reflected on Jesus’ words in the Gospel of Matthew: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.” The pope said that these words in the Gospel help prepare for death and the final judgment. “The best careers, the greatest achievements, the most prestigious titles and awards, the accumulated wealth and earthly gains, all will vanish in an instant, everything,” he said. The pope said that All Souls’ Day is a good occasion to ask “if our desires have anything to do with heaven.”
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252710/pope-francis-on-all-souls-day-do-you-desire-heaven-above-everything-else
England’s National Health Service (NHS) has issued new guidance for the treatment of children with gender dysphoria, warning that the condition is often a temporary “phase” and restricting the use of puberty blockers and sex-changing hormones. The NHS’s revised treatment policy was released last week after a review of existing policies found that gender transitioning may have “significant effects on the [child’s] psychological function.” The change follows the closing of what was the world’s largest child-gender clinic, Tavistock Clinic, due to concerns raised by an independent review and complaints from patient families. The NHS’ full guidance represents a shift away from a “gender-affirming care” model that encourages the medical and social transition of a child into the opposite sex, often with the use of puberty blockers and hormone drugs.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252706/england-s-health-service-puts-brakes-on-transgender-treatments-for-children
Today, the Church marks All Souls Day. Today and throughout the month of November, the Church makes a special effort to remember, honor and pray for the dead, especially those in purgatory. Purgatory is a place where the souls go who die in friendship with God but are still imperfectly purified, and he Church teaches that souls in Purgatory rely on the prayers of souls still on Earth to relieve some of their temporal suffering and speed their journey to Heaven. There are many different cultural traditions around this period, but one of the most consistently honored is the practice of visiting cemeteries.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/all-souls-day-41