Seen during the Artemis II mission, the Moon and Earth align in the same frame, each partially illuminated by the Sun.
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Organizers of the “Muistamme” vigil lit one candle for each of the 8,645 abortions performed in Finland in 2024, drawing Catholic, Lutheran, and Presbyterian clergy together in central Helsinki.
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Remembering “the lordship of Christ” over all things, Catholic and Protestant leaders discussed ethical investing.
![Congressman criticizes Vatican for hosting China’s top organ transplant official in 2017 – #Catholic – A New Jersey congressman sharply criticized the Vatican for giving a platform to one of Beijing’s top transplant officials at a 2017 international conference on organ trafficking.During an April 9 event hosted by the Hudson Institute highlighting new evidence of forced organ harvesting in China, Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, called out the Vatican for hosting China’s leading transplant official at the Summit on Organ Trafficking and Transplant Tourism in 2017. Smith was a panelist at the Hudson Institute event with Ethan Gutmann, the author of a new book, “The Xinjiang Procedure,” which presents evidence of forced organ harvesting targeting Uyghur and other Turkic Muslim communities on an industrial scale in China.Gutmann testified during the panel about his findings while on an undercover mission where he secretly interviewed former detainees of Chinese concentration camps, whose testimonies included accounts of gang rape, water torture, and forced organ harvesting.“I’ve argued with [the Vatican],” Smith said. “If you’re bringing in people who are doing terrible evil, you’re giving them a platform.”Participants at the 2017 Vatican conference, organized by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, signed a statement agreeing to unite in fighting the crime of organ trafficking, submitting 11 proposals for implementation by health care and law enforcement professionals around the world. China’s participation in the conference was the source of controversy at the time, as the advocacy group Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting said in a statement that there was “no evidence that past practices of forced organ harvesting have ended” in China.The group further criticized the Vatican’s decision to invite Huang Jiefu, Beijing’s top official on transplants, saying that it would compromise the conference’s image and objectives, when there was not sufficient evidence that China was changing its ways.Human rights advocate and Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Nina Shea, who also spoke at the April 9 event, echoed Smith’s censure of the Vatican for hosting Jiefu. She told EWTN News the Vatican’s first point of leverage to help prevent organ harvesting is to “start by doing no harm.”“What they did was host the public face of the organ transplant sector of China at their conference in Rome,” she said, describing Jiefu as a “longtime member of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.”Shea said the Vatican conference helped “open doors” for Jiefu with the World Health Organization (WHO), after which she said he proposed a “task force for best practices on organ transplants.”“That’s part of his propaganda,” she said. “The Vatican thought that was a great idea and introduced him to WHO, and when he proposed it, they said, ‘Yes, at the Vatican’s urging we’ll create a task force and you’re on it.’”“So, they appointed this Chinese Communist Party Central Committee member, who is the vice minister of health and the public face of their organ transplant sector, to this task force,” she said. “Needless to say, the task force has done nothing," she said. “I think Pope Leo should pronounce against forced organ harvesting. Itʼs a great human rights issue,” she said. “It hasnʼt been addressed on the world stage, and the pope has the platform to do that and the moral authority to do it."Legislative efforts in the U.S.On a policy level, Smith emphasized the need to “seriously criminalize” forced organ harvesting to combat the practice on an international level. He also lamented that the Senate failed to pass the Stop Organ Harvesting Act of 2023 after it passed in the House with nearly unanimously.The congressman warned that the latest attempt to pass legislation with the Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act of 2025 could face the same fate if the Senate fails to lend its support. The current legislation, he noted, would require the president to impose sanctions on individuals and entities involved in forced organ harvesting and authorize the State Department to revoke passports of individuals found complicit in the practice. “This would have a chilling effect on [organ] brokers,” Smith said.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/congressman-criticizes-vatican-for-hosting-chinas-top-organ-transplant-official-in-2017-catholic-a-new-jersey-congressman-sharply-criticized-the-vatican-for-giving-a-platform-to-one-of-b.jpg "Congressman criticizes Vatican for hosting China’s top organ transplant official in 2017 – #Catholic – A New Jersey congressman sharply criticized the Vatican for giving a platform to one of Beijing’s top transplant officials at a 2017 international conference on organ trafficking.During an April 9 event hosted by the Hudson Institute highlighting new evidence of forced organ harvesting in China, Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, called out the Vatican for hosting China’s leading transplant official at the Summit on Organ Trafficking and Transplant Tourism in 2017. Smith was a panelist at the Hudson Institute event with Ethan Gutmann, the author of a new book, “The Xinjiang Procedure,” which presents evidence of forced organ harvesting targeting Uyghur and other Turkic Muslim communities on an industrial scale in China.Gutmann testified during the panel about his findings while on an undercover mission where he secretly interviewed former detainees of Chinese concentration camps, whose testimonies included accounts of gang rape, water torture, and forced organ harvesting.“I’ve argued with [the Vatican],” Smith said. “If you’re bringing in people who are doing terrible evil, you’re giving them a platform.”Participants at the 2017 Vatican conference, organized by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, signed a statement agreeing to unite in fighting the crime of organ trafficking, submitting 11 proposals for implementation by health care and law enforcement professionals around the world. China’s participation in the conference was the source of controversy at the time, as the advocacy group Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting said in a statement that there was “no evidence that past practices of forced organ harvesting have ended” in China.The group further criticized the Vatican’s decision to invite Huang Jiefu, Beijing’s top official on transplants, saying that it would compromise the conference’s image and objectives, when there was not sufficient evidence that China was changing its ways.Human rights advocate and Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Nina Shea, who also spoke at the April 9 event, echoed Smith’s censure of the Vatican for hosting Jiefu. She told EWTN News the Vatican’s first point of leverage to help prevent organ harvesting is to “start by doing no harm.”“What they did was host the public face of the organ transplant sector of China at their conference in Rome,” she said, describing Jiefu as a “longtime member of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.”Shea said the Vatican conference helped “open doors” for Jiefu with the World Health Organization (WHO), after which she said he proposed a “task force for best practices on organ transplants.”“That’s part of his propaganda,” she said. “The Vatican thought that was a great idea and introduced him to WHO, and when he proposed it, they said, ‘Yes, at the Vatican’s urging we’ll create a task force and you’re on it.’”“So, they appointed this Chinese Communist Party Central Committee member, who is the vice minister of health and the public face of their organ transplant sector, to this task force,” she said. “Needless to say, the task force has done nothing,\" she said. “I think Pope Leo should pronounce against forced organ harvesting. Itʼs a great human rights issue,” she said. “It hasnʼt been addressed on the world stage, and the pope has the platform to do that and the moral authority to do it.\"Legislative efforts in the U.S.On a policy level, Smith emphasized the need to “seriously criminalize” forced organ harvesting to combat the practice on an international level. He also lamented that the Senate failed to pass the Stop Organ Harvesting Act of 2023 after it passed in the House with nearly unanimously.The congressman warned that the latest attempt to pass legislation with the Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act of 2025 could face the same fate if the Senate fails to lend its support. The current legislation, he noted, would require the president to impose sanctions on individuals and entities involved in forced organ harvesting and authorize the State Department to revoke passports of individuals found complicit in the practice. “This would have a chilling effect on [organ] brokers,” Smith said.")
Rep. Chris Smith and Hudson Institute Senior Fellow and human rights advocate Nina Shea criticized the Vatican for hosting China’s top organ transplant official at an event in 2017.
The synod of Chaldean Catholic bishops is meeting in Rome this week to elect a new patriarch amid complex internal and national challenges.
On April 10, 2019, astronomers revealed the first image ever taken of a black hole, bringing a dramatic conclusion to a decades-long effort. The iconic image offered humanity its first glimpse at the gas and debris that swirl around its event horizon, the point beyond which material disappears forever. A favorite object of science fictionContinue reading “April 10, 2019: First look at a black hole”
The post April 10, 2019: First look at a black hole appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.
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If you haven’t heard, Canada has officially dropped a new acronym for the LGBT movement with many, many new additions. The LGBT community in Canada is now:
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SAN FRANCISCO, CA — The San Francisco Giants unveiled their new City Connect jerseys today with a nod to the feces makes the city so unique.
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Basilica of Santa Francesca, Rome, Italy. A church at the site was known by the tenth century. It was named Santa Maria Nova (“New St Mary”), to distinguish it from the other church inside the Roman forum devoted to St Mary, Santa Maria Antiqua (“Ancient St Mary”), which had fallen into ruin by then. The relics from the ancient church were moved to this church under Pope Leo. Santa Maria Nuova was enlarged in the second half of the tenth century, and then rebuilt by Pope Honorius III in the thirteenth century, adding the campanile and the apse, as well as being decorated with a mosaic Maestà, a depiction of the Madonna enthroned accompanied by saints (as seen in the picture). Since 1352 the church has been in the care of the Olivetans. In the 16th century, the church was rededicated to Frances of Rome (Francesca Buzzi), who was canonized in 1608 and whose relics are in the crypt. The interior of the church has undergone many refurbishments.
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