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Vatican advances beatification process for Belgium's king who abdicated rather than approve abortion

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Vatican advances beatification process for Belgium's king who abdicated rather than approve abortion
News

News

Vatican advances beatification process for Belgium's king who abdicated rather than approve abortion

2024-12-21 23:12 Last Updated At:23:21

ROME (AP) — The Vatican has taken the first main step to implement Pope Francis’ wish that Belgium’s late king be beatified for having abdicated for a day rather than approve legislation to legalize abortion.

The Holy See’s saint-making office on Dec. 17 established a historical commission, made up of experts in Belgian history and archives, to begin investigating the life and virtues of King Baudouin, the Vatican said in a communique Saturday.

Francis surprised and even enraged some Belgians when, during his September visit to Brussels, he prayed at Baudouin’s tomb, denounced Belgium’s abortion laws as “homicidal” and announced he wanted to beatify the late king.

Doubling down on the issue during his in-flight press conference en route home, Francis called doctors who perform abortions “hitmen.”

In the days after, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo called Francis’ comments “totally unacceptable,” and summoned the Vatican’s ambassador to Belgium to complain.

“That a foreign head of state makes such a statement about democratic decision-making in our country is absolutely unacceptable,” De Croo said during question time in Parliament, according to Belgian media. “We have no lessons to learn about how our parliamentarians democratically approve laws. Fortunately, the time when the church dictated the law in our country is long behind us.”

Francis has strongly backed the Catholic Church’s opposition to abortion and long equated it to murder or “hiring a hitman to solve a problem.” But his strong comments about abortion in Belgium only served to inflame an already troubled visit, given the Belgian church's wretched legacy of clergy sexual abuse.

Baudouin became king after the abdication of his father, King Leopold. He abdicated for a day in 1990 rather than give his assent to a parliament-approved bill legalizing abortion. He died in 1993.

While praying at his tomb alongside Belgium's current monarchs, Francis praised Baudouin’s courage and urged Belgians today to look to his example in rejecting a new legislative proposal to extend the legal limit for an abortion from 12 weeks to 18 weeks after conception.

The Vatican’s saint-making process usually takes years, decades or even centuries and typically begins when the local church ascertains an enduring reputation for sanctity among the faithful by a particular candidate.

An investigation into the life and virtues of the candidate follows, during which historians collect documentation and interview acquaintances and experts. If historians determine the candidate has lived a heroic life of Christian virtue, he or she can be declared venerable. The Vatican must then ascertain a miracle attributed to the candidate’s intercession for beatification, and a second miracle for the person to be declared a saint.

Martyrs are exempt from the miracle for beatification, and popes can bypass the process altogether and declare saints, as Francis has done on several occasions.

The convening of a historical commission suggests that church historians at the very least will conduct the research into Baudouin's life. But the Vatican communique noted that the cause wasn't originating as it normally would with the local Belgian church. Rather, the Holy See's secretariat of state directed the Vatican's saint-making office to open the process, suggesting Francis may be seeking to keep close tabs on the process and see it through quickly.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

FILE - Pope Francis waves as he arrives to lead the holy mass , at the King Baudouin stadium in Brussels, Belgium, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Havana, File)

FILE - Pope Francis waves as he arrives to lead the holy mass , at the King Baudouin stadium in Brussels, Belgium, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Havana, File)

FILE - Pope Francis sits on his wheelchair as he presides over the Sunday mass at King Baudouin Stadium, in Brussels Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Havana, File)

FILE - Pope Francis sits on his wheelchair as he presides over the Sunday mass at King Baudouin Stadium, in Brussels Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Havana, File)

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What to know about Hanukkah and how it's celebrated around the world

2024-12-21 23:18 Last Updated At:23:20

Hanukkah — also spelled Chanukah or other transliterations from Hebrew — is Judaism’s “festival of lights.” On eight consecutive nightfalls, Jews gather with family and friends to light one additional candle in the menorah — a multibranched candelabra.

In Hebrew, Hanukkah means “dedication,” and the holiday marks the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem in the 2nd century BC, after a small group of Jewish fighters liberated it from occupying foreign forces.

With the tiny supply of ritually pure oil that they found in the temple, they lit the menorah — and it stayed lit for eight days. The ritual of lighting a nightly candle, as well as the emphasis on cooking foods in oil such as potato pancakes called latkes, memorialize this miraculously long-lasting oil.

The dates of the holiday are based on Hebrew month of Kislev, which usually coincides with November-December in the Gregorian calendar.

This year, Hanukkah will be celebrated from Dec. 25, 2024, through Jan. 2, 2025. It's only the fifth time since 1900 that Hanukkah has fallen on Christmas Day.

The simple answer is that the Jewish calendar is based on lunar cycles, and is not in sync with the Gregorian calendar which sets Christmas on Dec. 25. Hanukkah always begins on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev, a date which occur between late November and late December on the Gregorian calendar.

Jews across the religious observance spectrum — from Reform to Conservative to Orthodox — focus on the same theme of bringing light into the darkness and emphasizing that even a small, against-the-odds effort can have a transforming effect.

For this reason, even though the Talmud reflects a dispute over the order of lighting, most start with one candle and increase the lighting by one more candle each night while reciting or chanting special blessings.

The candles are added from right to left, but lit from left to right on the menorah, thus always starting with the newest light. The special menorah used for Hanukkah has eight branches, with a ninth place for the candle called shamash from which all others are lit.

The tradition calls for candles with a real flame, though some also use electric ones in public displays, such as in hospitals, for safety reasons.

A menorah is lit in each household and traditionally is placed where it can be seen from the outside, such as a doorway or windowsill, to symbolize the spreading of God’s light to all nations.

The lighting of menorahs in city streets and parks has become more prominent in recent years in countries around the world, including in front of public landmarks.

In addition to menorah lightings, giving to charity and social works are also part of the celebration for many, reflecting the belief that the Jewish people are called by God to help make the world better for all.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Rabbi Peter Tarlow lights a candle on a menorah during a Chicanukah event at Holocaust Museum Houston on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

Rabbi Peter Tarlow lights a candle on a menorah during a Chicanukah event at Holocaust Museum Houston on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

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