Federal education officials have begun announcing a new round of grants from the Teacher Incentive Fund.

Another dozen school districts have landed federal Teacher Incentive Fund grants, including one that will focus on paying principals and assistant principals for their performance.

The end of the year is a propitious time to take a closer look at the proposal that teachers should be paid like workers in business because it's when bonuses are handed out. In this regard, no group is more fitting to examine than executives, whose pay is ostensibly based on company performance. Bu

Corporate reformers speak with forked tongue about performance pay for teachers.

Basing teachers' pay on merit might give a small boost to students' reading achievement—if teachers understand how it works.

New data from the National Center for Education Statistics find that principals at private schools tend to have more experience, 9.7 years on average leading schools versus 6.8 years for public school principals.

Students enrolled in a crisis management course are examining the pandemic and its lessons and developing recommendations that the government and even individuals can follow. It's the kind of real-world experience that students can expect to have at Penn State Abington.

Penn State Abington faculty are using the current situation as an opportunity to enrich students academically and support them personally during this period of remote learning. "What may be most inspiring of all is the deep-seated concern for our students that faculty efforts expose,” said Friederike Baer, division head for Arts and Humanities.

A Penn State Abington faculty member is teaching students enrolled to integrate the content into their daily lives to help them manage the impact of the coronavirus.

The annual Bertha Lear Art Exhibition showcases the best work by Penn State Abington students during the 2019-20 academic year.

Senior Steven Shalamanda began his education at Penn State Schuylkill knowing he was interested in becoming an optometrist. But it was this high-achieving biology student’s internship with a local practice that affirmed his vision for the future. In fall 2020, Shalamanda will begin his doctor of optometry program at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry.

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Mica Pollack and her colleagues from UCSD share new research about the importance of teachers in blended learning environments that highlights the strengths and limits of online tools.

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In this Q&A, Alumna Julia Mauro recounts in this Q&A how her role as an active-duty registered in the U.S. Navy has turned into fighting on a different kind of front-lines: the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

Instructions for using the new Alternative Grade Calculator and Request Tool in LionPATH are now available for undergraduates and students enrolled in the Graduate School.

At its final meeting of the 2019-20 academic year, the Penn State Faculty Senate passed landmark legislation updating its full-time faculty hiring policy for the first time in more than 20 years, as one step in continued efforts to advance the University’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Penn State President Eric J. Barron will host a virtual Town Hall at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 19, to answer the University community’s questions regarding how the Penn State continues to manage the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, including the recent announcements on workforce changes, plans for summer and work being done by the task groups to return students to campus and employees to work.

The intercollege minor in entrepreneurship and innovation (ENTI) continues to spread its influence as it graduates its largest number of students this spring with 153 across eight clusters.

The Penn State Board of Trustees Committee on Finance, Business and Capital Planning today (May 7) advanced a plan to adjust tuition schedules for the summer 2020 semester due to the ongoing financial challenges many students and families are experiencing as a result of COVID-19 disruptions. The measure will go to the full board for a final vote on Friday, May 8.

As the world continues to face the ongoing impacts of the global coronavirus pandemic, Penn State President Eric Barron outlined Friday the University’s actions over the past five months to address the challenges, protect the health and safety of the University community, and prepare for the future.

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CNA Staff, Mar 31, 2020 / 06:01 pm (CNA).- Local media in Nicaragua are reporting that despite the nation’s bishops’ conference suspending Mass and prohibiting large gatherings, the mayor of Granada is going ahead with an annual pilgrimage that the bishops had canceled.

For more than 150 years, Catholics in Nicaragua have venerated an image of Jesus del Rescate (Jesus of the Rescue) in Popoyuapa, near the city of Rivas. The image represents the crowning of thorns and the flogging of Christ.

Normally there is an annual pilgrimage to the image, which pilgrims make by wagon and on foot, during the "Week of Sorrows" that marks "the final stretch" of the time of Lent, according to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish language news partner.

However, the bishops have said that this year it will not be possible to carry it out in the traditional way, given the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Nevertheless, Julia Mena, mayor of Granada, has organized and funded a group of pilgrims to do the pilgrimage, providing them with food and personal hygiene supplies, according to the Nicaraguan news website Confidencial. The priest at the shrine told Confidencial that he has “no plans to receive the pilgrimage.”

The Nicaraguan Episcopal Conference has not commented publicly on the matter.

Nicaragua has five confirmed cases of COVID-19. The government has not yet decreed any kind of alert or emergency regarding the pandemic, nor has it ordered a suspension of classes, Confidencial reports.

The country’s Ministry of Health has maintained that the internal movements of travelers arriving from countries with outbreaks of coronavirus would not be restricted, La Prensa reports.

President Daniel Ortega has been president of Nicaragua since 2007, and oversaw the abolition of presidential term limits in 2014.

The Church had suggested that elections, which are not scheduled until 2021, be held this year, but Ortega has ruled this out.

Ortega was a leader in the Sandinista National Liberation Front, which had ousted the Somoza dictatorship in 1979 and fought US-backed right-wing counterrevolutionaries during the 1980s. Ortega was also leader of Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990.

Bogotá, Colombia, Apr 3, 2020 / 04:04 am (CNA).- Diana María Toro Vélez was kidnapped on a September day, as she drove home from Mass in the Colombian city where she lived. She spent 453 days in captivity. And she says that God’s grace kept her hope alive during the ordeal.

“I left Mass one Thursday and was driving home in my car and when I got home they assaulted me. They asked me a few questions and took me away. They sold me to the guerrillas,” Toro told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish language news partner.

Toro, the mother of three, told ACI Prensa that during her captivity, she was sometimes forced to march a lot, one time for up to 15 days in a row.

“I clung to God. I cried and prayed a lot. I really held fast to God. I taught the kidnappers how to read and write. We prayed. There was a certain coexistence, and good things came out of the bad,” she said.

Toro, 41, was kidnapped Sept. 27, 2018, in Amagá, about an hour’s drive from Medellin. Her captors were criminals, members of a gang called “The Sorcerers,” who handed her over to Marxist guerrillas from the the National Liberation Army (ELN) for 48M pesos, about $12,000. The ELN reportedly asked 3 billion pesos, about $745,000 for her return.

Toro was released from captivity on Christmas Eve, 2019.

The Catholic Church in Colombia had appealed for her release, and the release appeared to be a goodwill gesture toward achieving some kind of peace agreement between the ELN and the country’s government. Public officials credited the Church with arranging the release.

Speaking to ACI Prensa, the young mom said that she was “very devoted to Our Lady of Guadalupe. When I was kidnapped I made a rosary and prayed it every day, praying a lot to the Virgin that she would allow me to be returned to my children. And God heard me, because I was released on Dec. 24, 2019.”

It was difficult, Toro said, to be “separated from my three children, one of them 3, another 4 and one 14 years old. Separated from my husband, my parents, my siblings, my family members, relatives and friends.”

“These were 453 days of anxiety, grief, sadness and despair. 453 days of living in the middle of the jungle, sleeping under a canopy, on branches, with snakes, scorpions, mosquitos and many other animals around,” she said.

Toro told ACI Prensa she subsisted on parrot, pasta, cooked banana, and rice. She had only two sets of clothes and infrequently bathed. 

“These were really hard days without knowing anything about my family, just with the certainty that God was with me, filling me daily with his strength and fortitude and firmly believing that if I woke up okay, my family was okay too,” she said.

“And God brought me out of that really hard situation. I saw that his glory and his mercy are immense.”

Toro said the ordeal has filled her with gratitude.

“I want to tell those people who in these times feel alone or in despair because of the situation we’re going through in Colombia and the entire world, that God is with us, he never has left us alone, especially now.”

“Let’s pray the rosary, let’s pray as a family. The power of prayer is immense,” she added.

 

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

 

Villavicencio, Colombia, Apr 7, 2020 / 12:00 am (CNA).- The president of the Colombian bishops’ conference, Óscar Urbina, suspended 15 priests of his archdiocese from ministry who have been accused of sexual abuse. Other jurisdictions in the country have removed four other priests.

Archbishop Óscar Urbina of Villavicencio told Colombian media that the accused priests represent 15% of the city’s priests.

The priests are accused of committing sexual abuse in Colombia, Italy and the United States, Caracol Radio reported.

Fr. Carlos Villabón, communications director and chancellor for the archdiocese of Villavicencio, told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish language news partner, that the 15 priests were suspended while a canonical investigation proceeds at the Vatican.

“On March 16, 2020 these 15 priests were notified after a preliminary investigation was carried out. They are neither convicted nor acquitted by this suspension, only asked to relinquish their parish duties, cease celebrating the Eucharist and cease their ministerial service while the complete investigation is conducted,” the priest explained.

The results of the preliminary investigation “are now being sent to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican, and there they will determine the gravity of the facts and what the Church calls a penal canonical process will be conducted,” Villabón said.

“It’s unknown how much time the canonical process will take, but the idea is that it proceed as quickly as possible, considering that in Italy and in many parts of the world there’s a quarantine because of the coronavirus,” the communications director added.
Caracol Radio published a list of the 19 priests, but Villabón told ACI Prensa that the archdiocese would neither confirm nor deny the names reported.

 “According to a witness under protection by the prosecutor’s office, the 19 priests apparently formed a network of abusers, Caracol Radio reported.

In an April 3 statement, the archdiocese of Villavicencio announced that an accusation was received Feb. 14, 2020 concerning “acts against sexual morality by some priests of this archdiocese.”

“Having as a priority the alleged victim, we expressed to him our deep pain and solidarity and have offered him psychological and spiritual accompaniment. We reaffirm our commitment to act with clarity and transparency for his good and that of the Church,” the statement said.

Following the protocols of the Archdiocesan Commission for the Protection of Minors, once the abuse was reported, the regional prosecutor’s office was notified and “we made ourselves completely available to cooperate in the investigations taking place in this case,” the statement said.

The archdiocese said that it has taken steps “to eradicate the terrible evil of abuse within and outside our institution. We ask to be informed of any situations where one of our members has finally betrayed his vocation of service and dedication to the Lord and the community.”

A version of this story was first reported by ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

 

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Apr 20, 2020 / 09:25 am (CNA).- On Friday, Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court will hold a virtual hearing to consider whether to decriminalize abortion for pregnant women infected with the Zika virus.

The legal intervention, called “Direct Action on Unconstitutionality-ADI 5581,” was filed with Brazil’s highest court by the National Association of Public Defenders. Supreme Court Justice Cármen Lúcia Antunes Rocha will present the legal action to the court, whose 11 members will have until April 30 to vote on the issue.

Several pro-life organizations have come out strongly against efforts to expand abortion, which is illegal in Brazil but is considered a “non-punishable crime” in cases of rape, a proven risk to life of the mother and, as of 2012, babies diagnosed with anencephaly.

“It’s a usurpation of powers because the Supreme Court does not have competency to rule on this matter,” said jurist José Miranda de Siqueira, president of the National Association of Citizens for Life. “This is a crime against the Federal Constitution of Brazil which in Article V guarantees the inviolability of the right to life.”

“We’re working with the Union of Catholic Jurists of Rio de Janeiro and will soon issue a strong statement on the issue,” continued Miranda, who is also a bioethics professor and authored a book on euthanasia, “O Poder sobre a Vida” (The Power over Life), which specifically addresses ADI 5581.

“Life is a preeminent right in the legal world. I’m asking people to pray and publicize this serious situation which is going on,” the lawyer added.

In an open letter to all Brazilians, the National Network for the Defense of Life and Family argued that the court challenge is “part of a strategy to introduce abortion in case of disabilities in general, or even abortion on demand, with the weak justification that the pregnant woman would be in a state of distress.”

“Eugenic abortion carries an enormous burden of prejudice and discrimination towards people with disabilities, sending an unseemly message that it would be better if they did not exist,” the pro-life organization added.

The Zika virus garnered international attention in 2015 after areas of Brazil noted a spike in cases of the birth defect microcephaly – a condition marked by abnormally small heads, brains, and developmental delays – following a recent outbreak of the virus in areas of northeastern Brazil.

Research on the virus suggested a link between Zika virus infection during pregnancy and severe neurological birth defects, including microcephaly and incomplete brain development.

A CitizenGo petition addressed to the Supreme Court justices called for the case to be removed from the docket and for the lives of the unborn to be respected. The petition was launched April 16. Within 24 hours, it had garnered 35,000 signatures and as of April 20 has 85,000.
 

CNA Staff, Apr 21, 2020 / 11:00 am (CNA).- The Archbishop of Halifax-Yarmouth in Canada has offered prayers for the victims of a weekend shooting rampage in a small town in Nova Scotia, including a member of the country’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police. 

In a letter addressed to the commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) dated April 20, Archbishop Anthony Mancini of Halifax-Yarmouth expressed condolences for the death of Constable Heidi Stevenson, a 23-year veteran of the force. 

“I wish to express on my behalf, as Archbishop of Halifax-Yarmouth, and in the name of Catholic faithful, our sincere condolences on the loss of life of Constable Heidi Stevenson,” said Mancini. 

“Her death in the line of duty indicates the highest sacrifice that one can make on behalf of the citizens she served,” he added. The archbishop said that he would be praying for her family, and for the officers of the RCMP who are mourning her life. 

In a video message posted on Tuesday, April 21, Mancini offered condolences, prayers, and assurances to the people of his archdiocese after, according to police, denture-fitter Gabriel Wortman went on a 14-hour shooting attack which spread across Saturday and Sunday.

“These last few days have been a shock, as we have all been affected by the useless and premature death of so many of our fellow citizens,” he said. “Try as we will to understand this tragedy, it remains incomprehensible. We are experiencing a great sense of loss, frustration, and even anger,” he added. 

As of Monday morning, 18 people have been confirmed to have been killed by the shooter, making it the deadliest mass shooting in Canadian history, stunning a province which typically sees fewer than 15 homicides total per year. 

Authorities have not yet determined a motive for why the 51-year-old denture fitter committed the attack. The suspect is now deceased, although it has not yet been determined how he died. 

Mancini acknowledged that the existing circumstances related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has made the grieving process more complicated.

“This loss of life comes upon us at a time when we are already weighed down by the threat of the coronavirus. In this time of mourning, we ought to be able to come together to experience the comfort of community care and its support. Yet here we are, in isolation in order to stay safe, making the present circumstances even more tragic,” he said. 

The archbishop encouraged people to use “technological means” to offer support to each other throughout the grieving process, and reminded Nova Scotians that “love is greater than tragedy and death.”

“I wish to extend to all the families and friends of those who have died our prayers and our expression of solidarity,” he said. “In this time, when we celebrate the resurrection, it is good to recall that death is not the last word.”

Mancini also suggested that his flock pray for “the growing number of COVID-19 victims” and “for those on the front lines doing all they can to protect us--the doctors, the nurses, and of course, the police.”

Denver Newsroom, Apr 21, 2020 / 03:15 pm (CNA).- An Argentine archbishop has proposed 13 measures that would aim to allow churches to reopen churches during the coronavirus pandemic while reducing the risk of contagion.

The proposal is an effort to balance safety and the need for Catholics to receive the Eucharist, Archbishop Víctor Fernández of La Plata said this week.

In response to the pandemic, Argentina has been under lockdown since March 20. According to John Hopkins University, there are 3,031 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 145 deaths in the country.

Fernández said that although the Church is providing material sustenance to those hardest hit by the pandemic “when we think about sustaining the interior life of the faithful and encouraging its growth, we find ourselves in the serious difficulty of seeing them deprived of the Eucharist for a long time, and we can also foresee that this situation could last for several months.”

In a letter dated April 19 and addressed to the conference’s executive committee, the bishop said the Second Vatican Council teaches that “no Christian community is built up if it is not rooted and centered on the celebration of the Holy Eucharist,” and that Saint John Paul II emphasized that the Mass “rather than an obligation, should be felt as a requisite deeply inscribed in Christian existence.”

Fernández said the letter he sent puts together the suggestions of several bishops and that it is understandable “that many of the faithful are calling on us to find some way to make the Eucharist accessible again.”

“We tell them that they can experience other forms of prayer, and they do, but as Saint John Chrysostom has said “’You can also pray in your home, however, you cannot pray the same way you do in church where the brethren are gathered together.’”

Fernández noted that Pope Francis “teaches that God ‘in the culmination of the mystery of the Incarnation, chose to reach our intimate depths through a fragment of matter.’ It’s good that our faithful have learned that and so it’s not the same thing for them,” he said, adding that Catholics are eager “the food of the love that is the source of supernatural life.”

“It won’t be easy to prove that this situation is lasting too long, nor can we simply wait till the pandemic is completely over,” the prelate noted.

“We know that exposing yourself to infection is irresponsible especially because it involves exposing others to infection and indirectly could lead to a public health crisis that we don’t want to see in our country,” he said.

Aiming to send “a clear message to our People of God to show that we’re truly concerned and that we intend to take some steps that would allow us to resolve this situation as soon as possible,” without neglecting “the health concerns of the authorities” Fernández proposed a series of obligatory measures to celebrate the Eucharist publicly:
1) Keep a distance of two meters between people to the side, front and back. This will require removing or closing off half the pews in the church.
2) No more than two people per pew.
3) Once the pews are occupied in that manner, no more people are to be allowed to enter the church.
4) In the churches where there is usually a lot of people in attendance, the number of Masses should be increased so the faithful can spread themselves out over Saturday and Sunday at different times. Given the prevalence and closeness of churches this will not involve using transportation.
5) Mass should not be celebrated publicly at the most frequently visited shrines due to the difficulty of establishing appropriate controls.
6) There should be no line for communion, instead the Eucharistic ministers should go to the people positioned at the ends of the pews and place the Eucharist in the hand.
7) Every Eucharistic minister should wash his hands with soap before and after and apply alcohol gel.
8) The sign of peace and any physical contact should be omitted.
9) Mass should last no more than 40 minutes.
10) People should leave the church progressively, not all at once, and avoid greeting each other.
11) No intentions should be taken at Mass time, only those previously received by phone, mail or messages.
12) Those people who because of their age are prevented from attending may receive Communion at home.
13) The dispensation from the Sunday obligation should be temporarily maintained so that people who prefer to exercise extreme caution don’t feel obliged to attend.

The archbishop also pointed out in his letter that “if the economic impact has to be foreseen, it’s also appropriate to place a value on those things that provide consolation and strength to people during hard times.”

 

A version of this story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Lima, Peru, Apr 23, 2020 / 10:02 am (CNA).- As the ongoing coronavirus lockdown in Peru leaves the working poor in a vulnerable situation, one priest has been working to ensure that thousands in need have access to food.

Fr. Omar Sánchez Portillo is the secretary general of Caritas Lurín, on metro Lima’s south side.

Sánchez has distributed more than 15,000 food baskets, with the help of donors and volunteers at the Beatitudes Association, which he founded, since the nationwide quarantine was declared March 15. Peru’s Ministry of Health has confirmed 19,000 cases of coronavirus with 530 deaths.

Recently, Sánchez also received a donation of 5,000 live chickens from a poultry farm. He found himself needing to quickly process the chickens for distribution.

Sánchez turned to his fellow priests in the diocese of Lurín with an appeal on Whatsapp. To his surprise, almost 30 priests showed up to volunteer, including Bishop-elect Cristobal Mejía, who was recently named bishop of Chulucanas.

The priests and other volunteers worked all day, plucking, cleaning and preparing the birds for distribution.

“Today has been a long day,” Sánchez commented on his Facebook page. “Thank you dear priests! Thank you for your example, your work, and your joy. I feel proud to belong to a such an active, alive diocese so full of God, and to be part of a presbyterate full of holiness and enthusiasm for our priestly mission.”

In a statement to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish language news partner, Sánchez noted that in the Diocese of Lurín, which is comprised of 55 parishes, there are many poor people who do not have access to electricity or running water.

The priest estimates about 60% of the people in the diocese live in extreme poverty. Southern Lima, where his diocese is located, contains the third and fourth most COVID-infected areas in the country.

Sánchez also pointed out that most Peruvians lack the ability to save money, which leaves vulnerable populations even more at risk during the quarantine.

“A lot of people are out of work and out on the street, a lot of them are temporary workers, many of them earn a living day-to-day,” he said.

So far, volunteers have distributed 75,000 food baskets throughout the South Lima area. However, the needs remain great.

“Every day in the parishes there are people out looking, knocking on doors, that haven’t gotten any food, or what they have gotten isn’t enough and has already run out,” he explained.

 

Lima, Peru, Apr 26, 2020 / 06:18 am (CNA).- An archbishop in Venezuela warned that desperation is growing in the country, as the national coronavirus quarantine measures have compounded a tenuous political and economic situation. He urged people in the country to resist violence and social unrest.

Extreme hunger “does not reason or know rules,” said Archbishop Ulises Gutiérrez of Ciudad Bolívar, adding that this desperate hunger “is becoming a fuel more dangerous than gasoline.”

Gutiérrez spoke with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish language news partner, in an April 23 interview, after looting and protests broke out in seven states in Venezuela.

Protestors objected to price hikes on food and a gasoline shortage exacerbated by the ongoing quarantine that was imposed last month to halt the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the latest government report, there have been 298 cases and 10 deaths in the country due to the virus.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Venezuela has been marred by violence and social upheaval under the socialist administration of Nicolas Maduro, with severe shortages of food and medicine, high unemployment, power outages, and hyperinflation. Some 4.5 million Venezuelans have emigrated since 2015.

The current COVID-19 quarantine is “aggravating the situation,” the archbishop said, noting that the quarantine was implemented without accompanying measures to protect the most vulnerable.

As a result, families are suffering, and many cannot access clean water, electricity or gasoline.

The country is experiencing “a totally destroyed economy in which agricultural producers can’t get their products out because they’re not getting gasoline supplied to them, or they have to buy it on the black market for 2 or 3 dollars a liter,” he said. In some cases, crops are rotting in farmers’ fields due to lack of fuel to transport them to market.

Gutiérrez voiced concern over the hunger-fueled looting and protests throughout the country, as well as the government’s violent suppression of the protests.

“The common denominator in all these protests is hunger,” he stressed.

With equipment in short supply and many of the country’s doctors have already emigrated due to the political and economic crisis, Gutiérrez acknowledged, the pandemic poses a significant threat.

“In short, the outlook is very dark,” he said.

But despite the desperate situation, the archbishop urged people not to resort to looting and violence.

“[S]atisfying hunger short term [by committing robbery] only leads to the destruction of regular commerce,” he said.

“The situation we’re going through is very tough, difficult, and fragile,” Gutiérrez said, likening the conditions to a pressure cooker, “which could lead us to unprecedented explosive social unrest, which nobody wants, and which would bring with it more hunger and greater suffering for the people.”

Still, the archbishop said he has reason for hope: “Our trust is in God and his providence keeps us going, encouraging and accompanying our people, assisting them with our Caritas social programs.”

“We have community soup kitchens, a medicine bank, outpatient medical care, programs for infant nutrition and nursing mothers, etc., which although it’s impossible to reach everyone, is a sign of God’s love through the Church,” he said.

Denver Newsroom, Apr 28, 2020 / 05:17 pm (CNA).- Archbishop Michael Miller of Vancouver has announced that he is donating to the University of British Columbia’s research toward a COVID-19 vaccine.

“May the search for COVID-19 solutions also be a moment of solidarity, of collaboration, and of growing together as a visible sign to the world of the healing and reconciliation so needed right now,” Archbishop Miller said April 27 as reported by the B.C. Catholic.

Ryan Thomas, a special advisor to the archdiocese, told CNA that Archbishop Miller wanted to express, through his donation, the Catholic Church’s support for science and medicine that contribute to the common good.

“The Church— as Pope Francis has said from the beginning of his pontificate— is called to go out, we're called to engage, not called to retreat,” Thomas told CNA.

“From a scientific standpoint, that means identifying the research that is worthy of our investment, that meets the high standards that we have to protect life,” he said.

Thomas declined to specify the amount of the donation, but said that it was in the thousands of dollars.

The global effort to develop a COVID-19 vaccine includes at least 50 other research teams, the university says, many of which in the U.S. and Canada have received government funding and are being conducted by large pharmaceutical companies.

Pro-life leaders have warned in recent months that among the many COVID-19 vaccines currently in development worldwide, in some cases researchers are using old cell lines derived from the cells of aborted babies.

It was important to Archbishop Miller, Thomas said, that the Church be seen to be promoting research into a vaccine that Catholics can support in good conscience.

A group of Evangelical Christians and Catholics in Vancouver began to rally around the idea of supporting a vaccine that corresponded to Christian ethical standards, and eventually presented the idea of supporting UBC’s research to Archbishop Miller.

Thomas said Miller made sure to inquire about whether UBC’s vaccine research makes use of aborted fetal cells, which it does not.

Dr. Wilf Jefferies, the project’s lead researcher, told CNA via email that his research team is currently in the process of validating the potency of vaccine candidates in preclinical trials, in order to assess their potential toxicity before trying them in human subjects.

The UBC lab is using immune-boosting components called adjuvants in its vaccine candidate, with the hopes of reducing the dosage of vaccine required for complete protection against the disease. In addition, Jefferies hopes that UBC’s vaccine will continue to provide protection against COVID-19 even if the virus mutates over time.

“I am heartened by the unity and kindness that is being demonstrated during this pandemic,” Jefferies told CNA.

“I think the response by the archdiocese is an affirmative and practical way to address the critical need in our society to develop a vaccine...I am sincerely humbled by the support we have received from the archdiocese and from other groups and individuals.”

So far, Jefferies’ lab has received grants from the government-funded Michael Smith Health Research Foundation and the Sullivan Urology Foundation affiliated with the University of British Columbia, as well as a number of private donations.

There are at least 1,000 clinical trials currently taking place around the world to test potential COVID-19 vaccines.

A group of pro-life leaders in a letter to the Trump administration earlier this month reiterated that development of a COVID-19 vaccine should avoid unethical links to abortion.

“No American should be forced to choose between being vaccinated against this potentially deadly virus and violating his or her conscience,” reads the April 17 letter to Dr. Stephen M. Hahn, commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

“Fortunately, there is no need to use ethically problematic cell lines to produce a COVID vaccine, or any vaccine, as other cell lines or processes that do not involve cells from abortions are available and are regularly being used to produce other vaccines,” it continued.

The letter’s signers include Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City in Kansas, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities; the heads of three other bishops’ conference committees; and leaders of many other Catholic and non-Catholic groups.

The Pontifical Academy for Life has noted that Catholics have an obligation to use ethically-sourced vaccines when available, and have an obligation to speak up and request the development of new cell lines that are not derived from aborted fetuses.

The 2008 Vatican document Dignitatis personae strongly criticized aborted fetal tissue research. However, as regards common vaccines, such as those for chicken pox and measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR), that may be derived from cell lines of aborted babies, the Vatican said they could be used by parents for “grave reasons” such as danger to their children’s health.

In a 2017 document on vaccines, the academy noted a “moral obligation to guarantee the vaccination coverage necessary for the safety of others… especially the safety of more vulnerable subjects such as pregnant women and those affected by immunodeficiency who cannot be vaccinated against these diseases.”

 

CNA Staff, Apr 30, 2020 / 05:47 pm (CNA).- When Bolivia closed its borders March 25 to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, hundreds of Bolivian seasonal farm workers in central Chile found themselves stranded.

With their seasonal work ended and their savings depleted, many of the farm workers had no choice but to sleep on the streets of Santiago, unable to obtain food or shelter.

In the weeks that followed, Catholic groups stepped up to arrange shelter, food, and additional aid for the migrant workers.
Red CLAMOR, a network coordinating efforts among numerous organizations to serve migrants, refugees, and human trafficking victims, led the effort to provide temporary shelter for the Bolivians starting the night of April 28.

The network coordinated with the Chilean Catholic Institute for Migration, the Archdiocese of Santiago, the Vicariate for Social Ministry, the Human Mobility Ministry, Jesuit Migration Services, and Caritas Chile, as well as municipalities and the central government to arrange for shelter and meals for the Bolivians.

Initially, the network found accommodations for 600 people. By the first evening, however, the total had risen to 950, lodged at parishes and a local retreat house.

The migrant workers were provided with masks and hand sanitizer, meals, and sleeping mats. They are also being aided with legal advice on their employment situation and access to unemployment insurance.

Auxiliary Bishop Cristián Roncagliolo of Santiago said the effort was coordinated with the municipalities and other government authorities.

“For the moment it’s a solution so that they can stay somewhere more decent than the street,” the prelate said.

“It’s our Gospel duty to welcome the stranger. But we know that’s not enough. Because there are many more people that still need be in lockdown in order to later return to their country,” he continued. “We encourage other social actors to be welcoming to the Bolivian brothers.”

Lorenzo Figueroa, the director of Caritas Chile, called the situation “a new wakeup call about what the migrant communities are going through, especially during times of pandemic.”

Caritas Chile reported that the Foreign Ministries of Chile and Bolivia have reached an agreement that if Bolivian citizens stay quarantined for 14 days in the city of Iquique in northern Chile, which is close to Bolivia, they can then return to their own country.

 

Lima, Peru, May 7, 2020 / 06:00 am (CNA).- Two priests in a rural area of Peru aimed to fight the coronavirus pandemic by finding a way to supply oxygen tanks, much needed for medical treatment, to their region.

The recent death of two doctors from coronavirus in Iquitos, Peru, underscored the hard-hit region’s shortage of medical equipment and medications. Both doctors died because of the lack of oxygen to treat them.

The Medical Corps of Hospital III of Iquitos and the Medical College of Peru said in a joint statement last month that there is a shortage of medications in the Loreto region, and its capital Iquitos is "one of the cities hardest hit by the infection."

“We don’t have medications” to treat coronavirus patients and “not enough oxygen tanks, pressure gauges and refilled tanks,” they reported.

One doctor was in intensive care at Loreto Regional Hospital and the other at a hospital under the country’s universal health insurance program, both in Iquitos, the Medical College of Peru said on social media.

Fr. Raymond Portelli, a parish pastor in Iquitos, along with the diocesan administrator of the Apostolic Vicariate of Iquitos, Fr. Miguel Fuertes, decided to start a fundraising campaign to acquire an oxygen plant for the city.

Portelli himself is a doctor caring for COVID-19 patients.

To purchase the machinery, they needed to raise about $118,000.

The city does have an oxygen plant, but it only produces between 100 and 160 tanks a day. The dean of the Medical College of Peru, Miguel Palacios, told local media that quantity is not enough and that current production would need to be tripled.

The priests’ campaign was launched the morning of May 3 on social media, and in less than a day, they had raised about $300,000.

Both priests thanked contributors, and said that thanks to the amount collected, a “high capacity” plant could be purchased for Iquitos.

Portelli added that Fuentes is currently in Lima coordinating with a specialist for the acquisition of the plant.

“Pray a lot that this work can be accomplished quickly. May God bless all who have contributed. We hope to continue to cover all the expenses,” he added.

  This story was first published by CNA's Spanish-language news partner, ACI Prensa. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.



 

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