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ACI Prensa's latest initiative is the Catholic News Agency (CNA), aimed at serving the English-speaking Catholic audience. ACI Prensa (www.aciprensa.com) is currently the largest provider of Catholic news in Spanish and Portuguese.

Nigeria bishops’ conference president: Country now full of ‘fear, flight, and funerals’
Wed, 17 Sep 2025 14:10:00 -0400

ACI Africa, Sep 17, 2025 / 14:10 pm (CNA).

Nigeria is “sinking in many fronts,” the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) said at a recent meeting, lamenting that in addition to economic hardships Nigerians are grappling with, many communities have been thrown into perpetual mourning due to unending insecurity.

In his address at the ongoing interactive session between CBCN and the “prominent lay faithful” of Calabar ecclesiastical province, Archbishop Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji said many Nigerians have been killed, and those who fled are languishing in camps where they are exposed to extreme weather conditions, often without food and water.

Acknowledging “notable progress here and there” in the country where persecution against Christians is said to be the highest globally, the archbishop of Nigeria’s Archdiocese of Owerri said: “We also lament that our beloved country Nigeria is sinking in many fronts.”

“Insecurity continues to haunt us,” he said at the nine-day event that started on Sept. 11. “Many towns and villages across the nation have become communities of fear, flight, and funerals.”

“Our fellow citizens are being daily kidnapped, extorted, dehumanized, killed, or forced to flee their ancestral homes, abandoning their sources of livelihood to seek refuge in makeshift camps, exposed to extreme weather conditions, often without food and water,” the CBCN president said.

The CBCN interaction with the faithful of Calabar ecclesiastical province is being held at the Diocesan Retreat and Youth Centre in Akwa Ibom state.

Over the years, it has been CBCN’s custom to have an interactive session with the faithful of the ecclesiastical province wherever the bishops gather for their plenary assembly.

The goal, Ugorji said in a statement shared with ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, is for the bishops in Nigeria to know the people they serve “closely, to share their concerns and to acquaint them with our own concerns as shepherds of God’s flock in Nigeria.”

In his address, the archbishop expressed concern about the growing poverty in the West African nation, where he said unemployment continues to increase.

“We are deeply troubled that our fellow Nigerians have continued to groan under economic hardship and seem doomed to a life of destitution and frustration,” he said.

“We are also worried about the high rate of youth unemployment, which is driving some of our young men and women to crimes and others to migrate in search of greener pastures abroad, leading to brain drain and continuous loss of some of our best and brightest minds.”

He further lamented that Nigeria’s health sector is on its knees, noting that the death of the immediate former President Muhammadu Buhari in London exposed the gaps in the country’s health care.

Buhari’s death on July 13 away from home, Ugorji said, “raised fresh questions about our crumbling health institutions, the mass exodus of our medical professionals, the billions of naira [Nigeria’s monetary unit] spent abroad by our leaders on medical tourism, while millions of Nigerians languish at home from treatable ailments due to the miserable state of our hospitals.”

Also worrying is Nigeria’s educational institutions that the CBCN president said are facing significant challenges, including inadequate funding, “decaying infrastructure” and diminishing number of qualified teachers.

The result, he said, is a steady decline in the quality of education.

Underpinning the challenges, the archbishop said, is corruption, which he described as moral rottenness that is “spreading unchecked like a deadly cancer to all sectors of our national life, silently eating up the soul of the nation.”

The official of CBCN expressed concern that while Nigerians face serious existential threats, many politicians at the national and sub-national levels seem more preoccupied with the country’s 2027 general elections and less concerned with fulfilling their campaign promises to the electorate.

The opposition on the other hand, he said, “is busy building coalitions to clench power in 2027.”

“If this state of affairs continues, the nation will totally collapse,” Ugorji warned, calling for “a drastic change” to allow the common good to drive Nigeria’s economic, social, and cultural life.

“Who is to effect the transformation of our nation?” he posed. “We strongly believe that the lay faithful have a major and decisive role to play in this matter.”

Acknowledging that change is not easy to come about in Nigeria’s political system, the archbishop said: “If we expect much from the laity in the area of national transformation, much has to be given to them in terms of political education.”

He underlined the need for political education that encourages honest and God-fearing lay faithful to join political parties and persuade those with the talent for leadership to seek political office as a way of advancing the common good in accordance with the social teaching of the Church.

This story was first published by ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, and has been adapted by CNA.

Deacon in San Diego says he will self-deport after residency status revoked
Wed, 17 Sep 2025 13:19:00 -0400

CNA Staff, Sep 17, 2025 / 13:19 pm (CNA).

A deacon in San Diego told parishioners last week that he will voluntarily deport himself after his residency status was revoked by the U.S. government.

The deacon reportedly made the announcement at St. Jude Shrine of the West during Masses on Sept. 14. Local media reported that the clergyman came to the U.S. when he was 13 and “served the St. Jude community for roughly four decades.” He will reportedly be returning to Tijuana, Mexico.

Local reports did not identify the deacon. A diocesan representative indicated to CNA that the news reports were accurate, but the diocese said it could not identify the deacon himself and that he was handling the matter privately.

Representatives at St. Jude Parish did not respond to queries regarding the announcement.

The deacon’s self-deportation comes amid a wave of heightened immigration enforcement around the country as the Trump administration works to ramp up deportations of immigrants in the U.S. illegally.

Catholic and Christian advocates have criticized the elevated enforcement. Prior to his death, Pope Francis in February told the U.S. bishops that amid the deportations, the faithful “are called upon to consider the legitimacy of norms and public policies in the light of the dignity of the person and his or her fundamental rights, not vice versa.”

In the spring, meanwhile, religious leaders including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the National Association of Evangelicals lamented the potential impacts of mass deportations on Christian families in the U.S.

A “significant share of the immigrants who are a part of our body are vulnerable to deportation, whether because they have no legal status or their legal protections could be withdrawn,” the leaders said.

In some cases priests have faced deportation or loss of legal status amid changing immigration rules. In Texas, a Mexican-born Catholic priest who served in the Diocese of Laredo, Texas, for nine years left the United States last month because his application for residency was denied and his religious worker visa was expiring.

Catholic advocates have repeatedly warned that changes to U.S. visa rules have brought about a looming crisis in which many U.S.-based priests will be forced to leave their ministries, return to their home countries, and remain there for lengthy wait times.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told EWTN News in August that the Trump administration is “committed” to addressing that issue.

“We’ll have a plan to fix it,” Rubio said. Details of that plan have yet to be released.

Pope Leo XIV decries ‘unacceptable conditions’ in Gaza, urges release of hostages
Wed, 17 Sep 2025 10:18:00 -0400

Vatican City, Sep 17, 2025 / 10:18 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday condemned the “unacceptable conditions” faced by civilians in Gaza and called for a ceasefire, the release of hostages, and renewed efforts toward a negotiated diplomatic solution.

“I express my profound closeness to the Palestinian people in Gaza, who continue to live in fear and to survive in unacceptable conditions, forcibly displaced — once again — from their own lands,” the pope said at his weekly general audience. “Before God almighty, who commanded ‘Thou shalt not kill,’ and in the sight of all of human history, every person always has an inviolable dignity, to be respected and upheld.”

“I renew my appeal for a ceasefire, the release of hostages, and a negotiated diplomatic solution, fully respecting international humanitarian law. I invite you all to join in my heartfelt prayer that a dawn of peace and justice may soon arise,” he added.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday evening before returning to the Vatican from the papal villa of Castel Gandolfo, Leo XIV said he had been in contact with Father Gabriel Romanelli, the parish priest of Holy Family Parish in Gaza.

“Many have nowhere to go, and that is a great concern,” the pope said. “For now they want to stay, they are still resisting, but a real solution must be found.”

The pope also dismissed claims from Moscow that NATO had begun a war against Russia, noting Poland’s concerns about violations of its airspace. “The concern is great,” he said.

Catechesis about Holy Saturday

In his catechesis at the audience on Wednesday, part of his series on “Jesus Christ our Hope” for the Jubilee 2025, the pope reflected on the mystery of Holy Saturday, when Christ lay in the tomb.

“The Son of God lies in the tomb. But this ‘absence’ of his is not emptiness: It is expectation, a restrained fullness, a promise kept in the dark. It is the day of the great silence, in which the sky seems mute and the earth immobile, but it is precisely there that the deepest mystery of the Christian faith is fulfilled. It is a silence laden with meaning, like the womb of a mother who carries her unborn but already living child,” he said.

Recalling that Jesus was laid in a garden tomb, the pope said the scene recalls the lost Eden and signals a new creation: “That tomb, never used, speaks of something that has still to happen: It is a threshold, not an end.”

He explained that Holy Saturday is also a day of rest: “The Son too, after completing his work of salvation, rests. Not because he is tired, but because he loved up to the very end. There is nothing left to add. This rest is the seal on the completed task; it is the confirmation that what should have been done has truly been accomplished. It is a repose filled with the hidden presence of the Lord.”

The pope contrasted this with the demands of modern life. “We struggle to stop and rest. We live as if life were never enough. We rush to produce, to prove ourselves, to keep up. But the Gospel teaches us that knowing how to stop is an act of trust that we must learn to perform.”

“In the tomb, Jesus, the living Word of the Father, is silent. But it is precisely in that silence that the new life begins to ferment. Like a seed in the ground, like the darkness before dawn. God is not afraid of the passing time, because he is also the God of waiting. Thus, even our ‘useless’ time, that of pauses, emptiness, barren moments, can become the womb of resurrection,” he said.

The pope described Jesus in the tomb as “the meek face of a God who does not occupy all space. He is the God who lets things be done, who waits, who withdraws to leave us freedom. He is the God who trusts, even when everything seems to be over.”

“At times we seek quick answers, immediate solutions. But God works in depth, in the slow time of trust,” he added. “The Sabbath of the burial thus becomes the womb from which the strength of an invincible light, that of Easter, can spring forth.”

“Christian hope is not born in noise but in the silence of an expectation filled with love. It is not the offspring of euphoria but of trustful abandonment. The Virgin Mary teaches us this: She embodies this expectation, this trust, this hope,” he said. “When it seems to us that everything is at a standstill, that life is a blocked road, let us remember Holy Saturday. Even in the tomb, God was preparing the greatest surprise of all.”

The pope concluded that “true joy is born of indwelt expectation, of patient faith, of the hope that what has been lived in love will surely rise to eternal life.”

As is customary, Leo greeted pilgrims from his popemobile in St. Peter’s Square, where many families gathered for his blessing. The day coincided with the feast of St. Robert Bellarmine, patron saint of Leo XIV, which is a holiday in the Vatican.

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

Appellate court protects Baptist association’s autonomy in internal dispute
Wed, 17 Sep 2025 09:00:00 -0400

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 17, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

An appellate court in Mississippi dismissed an employment-related lawsuit brought against an agency of the Southern Baptist Convention, ruling that a secular court cannot intervene in matters of religious governance.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi ruled 2-1 to dismiss Will McRaney’s lawsuit against the North American Mission Board (NAMB), which he first brought over eight years ago. The court cited the long-standing church autonomy doctrine.

McRaney was fired from his role in the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware (BCMD) in 2015 based on a dispute about how to implement the Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) between BCMD and NAMB.

According to the court ruling, McRaney was tasked with implementing the SPA’s evangelical objectives to spread the Baptist faith “through church planting and evangelism.” The ruling states the dispute was related to “missionary selection and funding, associational giving, and missionary work requirements.”

The BCMD ultimately voted 37-0 to fire him “because of his wretched leadership,” among other reasons, according to the court. Alternatively, McRaney alleged in his lawsuit that he was fired because NAMB defamed him by spreading “disparaging falsehoods.”

The three-judge panel did not rule on the merits of the dispute, but rather a majority found that resolving the claims would require the court “to decide matters of faith and doctrine,” which the courts do not have the authority to do because religious bodies have autonomy when handling such matters based on Supreme Court precedent related to the First Amendment’s protection of the free exercise of religion.

“The church is constitutionally protected against all judicial intrusion into its ecclesiastical affairs — even brief and momentary ones,” the court ruled.

“Can a secular court determine whether NAMB’s conduct was the ‘proximate cause’ of BCMD’s decision to terminate McRaney, without unlawfully intruding on a religious organization’s internal management decisions?” the judges wrote.

“And can a secular court decide it was ‘false’ that McRaney’s leadership lacked Christlike character?” they continued. “To ask these questions is to answer them: no. The SPA is not a mere civil contract; it is ‘an inherently religious document’ that is ‘steeped in religious doctrine.’”

Hiram Sasser, the executive general counsel for First Liberty Institute, which helped provide legal counsel to NAMB, said in a statement that the court’s ruling is consistent with the First Amendment.

“The First Amendment prohibits the government from interfering with the autonomy of religious organizations and the church,” Sasser said. “No court should be able to tell a church who it must hire to preach their beliefs, teach their faith, or carry out their mission.”

Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez dissented from the court’s majority, stating: “His secular claims against a third-party organization do not implicate matters of church government or of faith and doctrine.”

McRaney told Baptist News Global that he intends to petition the court for an “en banc” hearing, which would require the entirety of the appellate court to be present for a hearing. He told the outlet that NAMB “fooled the courts” and said the Southern Baptist Convention is “not a church” and he wasn’t employed by NAMB, which means it is not an internal church matter.

In 2023, a Texas judge dismissed a civil lawsuit from a Carmelite monastery against Fort Worth Bishop Michael Olson on similar grounds. The dispute was over a diocesan investigation into an alleged sexual affair between the monastery’s prioress and a priest.

The Carmelite Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity in Arlington, Texas, in this case ultimately entered into a formal association with the Society of St. Pius X, which is not in full communion with the Catholic Church. The bishop called this a “scandalous” act that was “permeated with the odor of schism.” The Holy See suppressed the monastery.

With Mexico ‘bled dry by violence, confused by ideologies,’ Church prays for deliverance
Wed, 17 Sep 2025 08:00:00 -0400

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 17, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

In a country “bled dry by violence, confused by ideologies, and threatened in its institutions,” the Catholic Church offered a prayer “to God and to our Most Holy Mother of Guadalupe”: “Long live Mexico!”

The Mexican Bishops’ Conference made the prayer in their most recent statement on the occasion of the Mexican national holiday, which commemorates the beginning of the country’s struggle for independence on Sept. 16, 1810.

Noting that the proclamation “Long live Mexico!” would be heard in the main squares of cities across the country commemorating the “Grito de Dolores” (Cry of Dolores) with which Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo initiated the drive for independence from Spain, the bishops said this slogan would be chanted by Mexicans “in every corner of Mexico, and without a doubt, Catholics will unite to exclaim from the heart: ‘Long live Mexico!’”

However, they clarified, “for us, this exclamation is not a cry of celebration but a profound prayer to God and to our Most Holy Mother of Guadalupe.”

In their message, the bishops called for the country to respect the lives of children “from conception; that they be provided decent conditions for development; that their innocence not be darkened by ideologies that confuse their hearts.”

For young people, the bishops asked “that they be offered opportunities to pursue their dreams with equity and justice; that they be rescued from the clutches of drugs and violence; that Mexico shines by the ingenuity, bravery, and courage of its young people.”

They also demanded that Mexican women be provided with “safe, respectful, and equitable spaces; that their dignity, gifts, and potential be valued; that their motherhood and their irreplaceable ability to educate our children be respected; that they be offered opportunities for development and advancement.”

They also called for “every family to discover its vocation to be a school of life, respect, and love; that families live free from violence and become promoters of peace.”

Violence in Mexico

According to the Spanish-language report “MX: The War in Numbers,” in the first 11 months of the current Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration, there have been 24,696 homicides. However, a downward trend has been observed compared with the six-year term of her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, founder of the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) party of which Sheinbaum is a part, who ended his term having had the most violent period in modern Mexican history with 199,970 homicides.

These figures appear to confirm the trend recorded by the Mexico 2025 Peace Index, which recognizes that “peace in Mexico improved by 0.7% in 2024, marking the fifth consecutive year of moderate improvement after four years of pronounced deterioration.”

However, alongside the decrease in homicides, another figure continues to rise: disappearances.

“A growing trend of people reported missing has been identified throughout the country,” the report states. “Since 2010, approximately 292,000 cases of disappeared persons have been recorded in Mexico, and more than half of these cases occurred in the last six years,” it adds.

Along with violence, primarily linked to organized crime, the shadow of corruption allegations looms over Mexico. In recent weeks, the scandal of the so-called “fiscal huachicol,” a network smuggling fuel into the United States, appears to involve businessmen, customs authorities, and military officials.

Amid this reality, Sheinbaum became the first female president of Mexico to perform the “Grito de Dolores” from the balcony of the National Palace on the evening of Sept. 15.

‘Realities that overshadow any data or figure’

Father Omar Sotelo, priest, journalist, and director of the Catholic Multimedia Center — which tracks how violence affects the Catholic Church in Mexico — lamented that Sheinbaum’s administration “has relied on an opaque reality, going back and forth between data and figures, when reality hits us hard.”

“They tell us that homicides have decreased, but disappearances are increasing. They tell us there is no corruption, and now, unfortunately, we find this corruption occurring with the infamous ‘huachicol’ [stealing fuel]; the Navy being involved in these types of situations, commanders who continue to be obviously infiltrated by organized crime and who are being arrested.”

“These are realities that overshadow any data or figure,” he pointed out to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

Sotelo noted that Sheinbaum has had the “historic” opportunity to establish “her own style,” distancing herself “from the commitments that possibly led her to the presidency.”

This, he said, meant recognizing that “obviously, criminality, organized crime, have overwhelmed us.”

Accepting this reality, he insisted, “is simply saying that we are analyzing and accepting that we need to change,” because “we cannot deny that the reality is one of rampant violence, that attacks on every side, in every direction, and that comes from many sectors and has infiltrated high levels of government.”

Mexico’s hope

However, Sotelo resists despair: “We must know that we are not prophets of doom and that we must always keep our eyes on the hope of always improving and always trying to move forward.”

“I think it’s important to recognize that Mexico is a great country. We cannot forget that,” he emphasized.

Politicians must be willing to “accept this reality before justifying it. That will be the first step toward the transformation of the Mexico we truly want to celebrate.”

The director of the Catholic Multimedia Center also pointed out that the Catholic Church has a dual responsibility: “to denounce that which goes against the Gospel,” such that “we must be the first to promote a denunciation [of evils] that rebuilds dignity and trust. And that means not remaining silent.”

This, he emphasized, contrasts with the maneuvers of criminal groups: “Organized crime sometimes muzzles us; it has kept us silent, and that is what it wants: to maintain a silent and submissive population.”

The Catholic faithful also have a responsibility in this work of peace, he added, because each one must “fully embrace Christianity,” remembering that “we go to Mass to recognize the master Jesus Christ, to fill ourselves with him and then spread that love of Jesus Christ to every corner of the world, so that we can transform what is arid today, what has fallen today, what has become bloody today.”

The family and the fight against ‘narcoculture’

The priest and journalist also warned of how organized crime has permeated the so-called “narcoculture” in Mexican society, presenting the life of drug trafficking as “something to aspire to.”

In this way, he warned, criminals attract young people “with the intention of their becoming cannon fodder and tomorrow being used and then tossed in the garbage.”

“Only the family can fight this narcoculture that is invading our communities, that is invading social media,” he stated.

“Today we must reaffirm emphatically that the family is where the authentic citizen of values ​​is born, where the authentic Christian is born, and where the next saint will be born,” he emphasized, recalling the recent canonization of young people Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis. “We must reclaim the strength of a family that will once again generate worthy and responsible men, dedicated Christians, and potential saints.”

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

New study shows just over half of Americans support a right to assisted suicide
Wed, 17 Sep 2025 07:00:00 -0400

CNA Staff, Sep 17, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

A new Lifeway Research study reveals that a slim majority of Americans believe it is morally acceptable for terminally ill individuals to request physician-assisted suicide, while more believe physicians should be allowed to help patients who want to end their lives.

The study, titled "American Views on Assisted Suicide," found that 51% of respondents consider it morally acceptable for someone with a painful terminal disease to seek a physician’s assistance in ending their life. Slightly more, 55%, believe physicians should be legally permitted to assist patients who request help in ending their lives.

However, the support is not robust, according to the study: only 1 in 5 Americans said they “strongly agree” that it is morally acceptable for patients to ask for help to end their lives, while 30% say they “somewhat agree.”

A slightly higher number of Americans surveyed, one in four, say doctors should be allowed to help patients to end their lives.

The study also found that 32% found physician-assisted suicide morally unacceptable, with 17% saying they are unsure.

Regionally, support varies, with urban and coastal areas showing higher approval (up to 60% in some places) compared with rural or Southern states, where opposition often aligns with faith-based values, according to Lifeway. The Lifeway study, conducted via online panels, sampled 1,200 adults, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, an evangelical Protestant research firm, noted: “Half of Americans seek their own comfort and their own way even in their death, but that doesn’t mean they don’t think twice about the morality of physician-assisted suicide.”

CNA also spoke about the survey’s results with Jessica Rodgers, coalitions director at the Patients’ Rights Action Fund, a nonsectarian, nonpartisan group whose purpose is “to abolish assisted suicide laws.” The organization calls such laws “inherently discriminatory, impossible to safely regulate, and put the most vulnerable members of society at risk of deadly harm.”

Waning support, growing opposition

Rodgers told CNA these poll numbers actually show a decrease in public support.

“I certainly don’t see momentum on their side,” she said.

Indeed, a Lifeway Research study in 2016 found that 67% of those surveyed said the practice was morally acceptable, while 33% disagreed.

Rodgers said that as people learn more about how dangerous the policies surrounding legalizing assisted suicide are, they tend to oppose the practice, and “opposition cuts across the political spectrum.”

In New York, where the state Legislature recently passed a bill legalizing the practice, Gov. Kathy Hochul has yet to sign the legislation into law.

“She hears daily from diverse advocates from across the political spectrum asking her to veto,” Rodgers said. “In fact, some of the most passionate opposition to the bill has been Democratic leadership.”

“I see people all over the spectrum who agree on nothing else,” she said.

Disability advocates, health care personnel, and members of multiple religious groups have united in their opposition to the laws, saying legalizing assisted suicide is bad for their communities and bad for patients.

‘Dying in pain or in peace’ is a false choice

“Proponents often frame it falsely as “Do you want to die in pain or do you want a peaceful death?’” according to Rodgers, who said the practice actually targets people with disabilities.

“It puts our vulnerable neighbors at risk, and as people learn more about it, they tend to oppose it,” she said, citing that physician-assisted suicide is now the fifth-leading cause of death in Canada.

Since Oregon legalized physician-assisted suicide through the Death with Dignity Act in 1997, by 2025, 11 states and Washington, D.C., now permit the practice. Most legislation requires terminal diagnoses with six months or less to live, mental competency, and multiple doctor approvals.

Physician-assisted suicide is different from euthanasia, which is the direct killing of a patient by a medical professional.

Voluntary euthanasia is legal in a limited number of countries including Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, and Portugal. In Belgium and the Netherlands, minors can be euthanized if they request it.

Where does the Church stand on assisted suicide?

The Catholic Church condemns both assisted suicide and euthanasia, instead encouraging palliative care, which means supporting patients with pain management and care as the end of their lives approaches. Additionally, the Church advocates for a “special respect” for anyone with a disability or serious health condition (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2276).

According to the catechism, “intentional euthanasia, whatever its forms or motives, is murder” and “gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and the respect due to the living God, his Creator” (CCC, 2324).

Any action or lack of action that intentionally “causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator” (CCC, 2277).

Catholic teaching also states that patients and doctors are not required to do everything possible to avoid death, but if a life has reached its natural conclusion and medical intervention would not be beneficial, the decision to “forego extraordinary or disproportionate means” to keep a dying person alive is not euthanasia, as St. John Paul II explained in Evangelium Vitae.

This story was updated on Sept. 17, 2025 at 11:55 a.m. ET.

4 Carmelite religious sisters, driver killed in crash in Tanzania
Wed, 17 Sep 2025 06:00:00 -0400

ACI Africa, Sep 17, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Four members of the Missionary Sisters of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus (MCST) in Tanzania are among five people who lost their lives in a tragic road accident in the country’s Archdiocese of Mwanza on Monday.

The Sept. 15 accident in which the MCST superior general and secretary died alongside two other sisters and a driver happened in the Kaluluma-Bukumbi area.

One sister survived the tragic accident and was admitted to Bugando Hospital, where she remains in critical condition.

In a statement obtained on Tuesday by ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, Archbishop Renatus Leonard Nkwande of the Mwanza Archdiocese announced the passing of the four Carmelites, “who were serving at Bukumbi Girls’ Secondary School, together with their driver.”

“Further arrangements will be communicated later,” Nkwande said.

The four MCST members who died were Sister Lilian Kapongo, the superior general; Sister Nerinathe, secretary; and Sisters Damaris Matheka and Stellamaris. All of them had traveled to Ngaya in Tanzania’s Diocese of Kahama for the perpetual profession of three of their sisters over the weekend.

Their driver, Boniphase Msonola, who was reportedly taking them to the airport to return to Dar es Salaam, also died in the accident.

In the statement, Nkwande, on behalf the entire Kahama Diocese, expressed “deep sorrow” following the tragic accident.

“At this hour of 11 p.m., we have received news of the deaths of our beloved four sisters and their driver. They were involved in a car accident, colliding with a lorry [truck] in Mwanza while on their way to the airport for a journey to Dar es Salaam tonight,” the archbishop said.

The statement traced the final journey of the four sisters and their driver.

“They began their journey from here in Kahama heading to Mwanza, passing by the bishop’s residence to bid us farewell. Tonight, while traveling from their community in Bukumbi-Mwanza to the airport, they were involved in an accident and lost their lives,” Nkwande explained.

The statement also called for prayers — for the lone sister who survived the crash as well as the entire community and loved ones of those who died.

“In this time of mourning and grief, let us pray for and console the community of the sisters of this congregation in Ngaya. This is truly a heavy loss for them and for all of us.”

This story was first published by ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, and has been adapted by CNA.

St. Hildegard of Bingen’s gifts served the whole Church, Pope Benedict said
Wed, 17 Sep 2025 04:00:00 -0400

CNA Staff, Sep 17, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

Every gift from the Holy Spirit is meant for the edification of the community of believers, Pope Benedict XVI said in a general audience back in 2010 when he focused his catechesis on the life of St. Hildegard of Bingen, whose feast is celebrated Sept. 17 in the universal Church.

Benedict praised her as a model for modern women religious and noted that she benefited the faithful by her willingness to submit her supernatural visions to the interpretation of the Church.

Referring first to St. John Paul II’s apostolic letter Mulieris Dignitatem on the role of women in the life of the Church, Benedict XVI noted that the letter “gives thanks for all the manifestations of the feminine ‘genius’ which have appeared in the course of history.” He then highlighted the figure of St. Hildegard of Bingen as one of the saintly women who stood out nearly a millennium ago.

Born into a noble German family in the year 1098, Hildegard began her studies in human and Christian formation at a Benedictine convent in the town of Bingen, took her vows to cloistered life and, 30 years after she began her formation, became a mother superior.

Carrying out this role competently, she was able to found an additional convent nearby where she spent a great part of her life. The way she exercised authority there continues to be an example for religious communities today, Benedict said, explaining that she was able to create an atmosphere of “holy emulation in the practice of the good, so much so that ... the mother and daughters competed in respecting and serving each other.”

Benedict XVI also recalled her mystical visions, which she first shared with people in confidence, including her spiritual director, a fellow sister, and St. Bernard of Clairvaux. “As always happens in the lives of the true mystics,” the pope said, “Hildegard also wished to submit herself to the authority of wise people to discern the origin of her visions.”

St. Bernard, whom Benedict said held “maximum esteem” in the Church at the time, “calmed and encouraged” the sister about the visions, and eventually Pope Eugene III gave her the authorization to write and speak about the visions publicly.

“This,” the former pope taught, “is the seal of an authentic experience of the Holy Spirit, source of every charism: the person (who is the) repository of supernatural gifts never boasts, does not flaunt them and, especially, shows total obedience to the ecclesiastical authorities.”

He added: “Every gift distributed by the Holy Spirit, in fact, is destined for the edification of the Church, and the Church, through its pastors, recognizes their authenticity.”

In 2012, Hildegard was canonized and named a doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XVI.

This story was first published on Sept. 1, 2010, and has been updated.

Homilies across U.S. take stock of Charlie Kirk assassination
Tue, 16 Sep 2025 18:24:00 -0400

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 16, 2025 / 18:24 pm (CNA).

Catholic priests around the country have discussed the assassination of Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk during their homilies in the last week.

Kirk, 31, was shot during a campus event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10. The alleged shooter has since been apprehended and identified as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson. Kirk is survived by his wife, Erika, and their two young children.

“So many times it seems almost surreal how the Gospel passage for the day fits … a situation that we face as Christians in our daily lives,” Father Chris Alar at the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, said during his homily on Sept. 11, referencing the day’s reading from the Gospel of Luke, when Jesus instructs his disciples to love their enemies.

“That is what Charlie Kirk did. I was watching some of his videos last night, and he was saying of murderers that they are still children of God, and he prayed for them,” the priest reflected, noting that though Kirk was political, he had not been a politician.

“When one side realizes they can’t defeat the truth, they turn to violence,” he said, citing the emperor Herod, who he said “realized that he couldn’t defeat the truth, so he turned to violence.”

Father John Hollowell at All Saints Parish in Indianapolis also reflected during his homily on the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that he had felt “a great welling up in my heart” to join the military in the aftermath of the tragic event 24 years ago. Ultimately, he said, “I felt God telling me that the way that I was supposed to respond to the tragedy that I was seeing unfolding 24 years ago today was to become a diocesan priest.”

“Throughout the last 12 hours,” he said, “some of your young adult children and young adult family and friends are having that same urge to join the military, to join the police.”

He continued: “We need to just take a minute to just calmly ask ourselves: ‘Lord, what do you want me to do with my life? How can I lay down my life more perfectly for other people, for my country, for my community, for my parish?’ And God will let you know.”

“On Sept. 11, my prayers are with Charlie Kirk’s wife, with his children, but also in this tragic time in the United States of America,” said Father Jonathan Meyer, also of All Saints Parish. “My prayers are also with the family of the refugee from Charlotte, the families in Minnesota that ... grieve and mourn, but also for those 24 years ago who, due to acts of hate, still don’t have their grandparents, their parents, their sons.”

“Just this week we were reminded once again of how fallen our world is with the murder of Charlie Kirk,” said Father Eric Ayers of St. Bede Catholic Church in Williamsburg, Virginia, during his Sunday homily. “He was the most recent in a long line in the last number of years of attempts at assassinations … [and] other acts of violence that occur in the political spheres.”

“These acts of violence of course are unconscionable and are a horrible tragedy for our nation,” he added.

The priest stated “before we blame one side or another, we need to remember that those actions don’t represent the vast majority of people for whom politics is important.”

Noting that “language over politics has gotten more extreme, more polarizing, more divisive," Ayers concluded his reflections by advocating for self-sacrifice and the abandonment of “ego” as ways to foster civility in political discourse in the U.S.

In churches where Kirk’s death was not mentioned in the priest’s homily, prayers were offered for the repose of his soul, including on Sunday Mass at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C, and at St. Joseph’s on Capitol Hill.

Father John Evans of the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City told a local news outlet that people began gathering at the cathedral in the wake of Kirk’s assassination, with many coming to the church before Sunday Mass, “praying privately, some in groups, praying the rosary, and different prayers of different sorts.”

Several users on social media noted their priests offered homilies about Kirk’s death, with one account on X writing: “Today at my Catholic Mass the homily was about Charlie Kirk, what he stood for … It was about walking in Jesus’ shoes and bearing our cross.”

Another user reported that the homily at his parish centered on Kirk and said his church prayed a rosary for the late TPUSA founder after Mass.

Catholic social media influencer Sachin Jose also noted the church where he attended Mass in New York “remembered Charlie Kirk in the priest’s homily.”

Catholic father murdered while on pilgrimage to Marian shrine in Pakistan
Tue, 16 Sep 2025 17:42:00 -0400

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 16, 2025 / 17:42 pm (CNA).

Men on motorcycles murdered a father and injured a 16-year-old boy while they were taking part in a pilgrimage to the national Marian shrine of the Virgin Mary in Mariamabad in Pakistan, an incident that has shocked Christians in the Muslim-majority country.

According to the Vatican news agency Fides on Sept. 12, Afzal Masih, a married father of four, was murdered on Sept. 7 while he was on a pilgrimage to the shrine located in the Archdiocese of Lahore.

“We are deeply saddened by the murder of Afzal Masih. He was a devout Catholic who was participating in a Marian pilgrimage to venerate and pray to the Virgin Mary. Today, we express our deepest condolences to his family,” Father Tariq George, rector of the shrine, told Fides.

The murder occurred while Afzal Masih was traveling with 15 other members of the faithful and several young men on motorcycles approached the minibus and began to provoke the group.

When the pilgrims stopped at a gas station 19 miles from the shrine, a man identified as Muhammad Waqas opened fire with a rifle, killing Afzal Masih with a shot to the neck and wounding his 16-year-old cousin, Harris Masih, in the arm.

Afzal Masih was taken to the hospital but died. After his arrest, Waqas told police that he “had no intention of killing.”

Christians in Pakistan are calling for an investigation into the case and for justice to be done.

The Marian shrine celebrated its annual feast Sept. 5–8, bringing together some 500,000 Catholic and other Christian faithful as well as Muslims and Hindus.

Despite the rains and floods, said Father Qaisar Feroz, communications officer for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Pakistan, the faithful weren’t stopped from coming to the Marian shrine.

Mariamabad, founded in 1893 by Capuchin missionaries, includes a Marian grotto inspired by the Lourdes grotto in France. It was declared a national shrine in 1949.

Pakistan, with a population of over 241 million, is 96% Muslim, while Christians make up just 1.4% of the country, or about 3.3 million people.

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

UN expert joins detransitioner in urging governments to protect parental rights
Tue, 16 Sep 2025 16:44:00 -0400

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 16, 2025 / 16:44 pm (CNA).

The United Nations (U.N.) Expert on Violence Against Women and Girls Reem Alsalem was joined by detransitioner and activist Chloe Cole last week in urging governments to support parents in protecting their children from “gender transition” medical interventions.

“Parents and legal guardians must be part of these processes from the very beginning,” Alsalem said during a Sept. 8 panel coordinated by the Alliance Defending Freedom International at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.

“Yet, in many countries, parents who do not want to endorse a ‘gender-affirmative’ approach to their children’s distress have too often been left unsupported at best, or vilified, ostracized, or even separated from their children,” said Alsalem, who opposes the “dangerous narrative” that children can make fully-informed adult-level decisions about their health.

The panel was part of a wider event titled “Empowering Parents to Protect Children’s Health and Well-Being,” which was co-hosted by the Permanent Mission of Hungary to the U.N. in Geneva and ADF International. Sponsors for the event included the permanent missions of The Gambia, Algeria, Argentina, Qatar, Vanuatu, and Uzbekistan, along with nongovernmental organizations such as Juristes pour l’Enfance, Asociación la Familia Importa, Latter-day Saints Charities, the Center for Fundamental Rights, and the Heritage Foundation.

Cole, who detransitioned after having undergone gender transitioning procedures as a teenager, echoed Alsalem, stating: “I appeal to you: We must ensure these failures are never again repeated and that childhood is truly protected as the fragile and yet beautiful part of life that it is.”

“My mom and dad have always advocated fiercely for my safety and health but were not empowered to fulfill their irreplaceable role as guardians of my well-being,” Cole told the U.N. representatives gathered in Geneva.

“On the contrary, their protective instincts were undermined by systems and professionals who claimed expertise but withheld the truth,” she said. “They stood no chance when doctors gave them the false ultimatum of choosing between losing a daughter to suicide or having a living ‘son.’”

Director of U.N. Advocacy at ADF International Giorgio Mazzoli also joined the panel, stating: “The family must not be viewed as a competitor to the state, nor parents as obstacles to children’s rights. They are the children’s first and best guardians — entrusted by nature and recognized by law.”

Mazzoli further called on governments to establish policies that protect parents’ rights regarding education, health care, and other identity-related decisions.

Parents of Annunciation shooting victim say daughter’s progress is a ‘miracle’
Tue, 16 Sep 2025 16:14:00 -0400

CNA Staff, Sep 16, 2025 / 16:14 pm (CNA).

Less than three weeks after the Annunciation Catholic School shooting in Minnesota that killed two children and injured 21 during Mass, the parents of a 12-year-old girl who was shot in the head say her progress has been “miraculous.”

When Sophia Forchas arrived at the hospital with a critical gunshot wound in her head, the doctors warned her parents that her life was in the balance.

“Doctors warned us she was on the brink of death,” Forchas’ parents, Tom and Amy Forchas, said in a statement. “In that darkest hour, the world responded with faithful devotion and fervent prayer.”

As news of the shooting spread, people around the world offered prayers for the victims and the community in prayer services, online, and in the quiet of their own homes.

In the early days after the shooting, Forchas’ condition “was changing minute to minute,” according to a Sept. 5 update from her parents.

A GoFundMe page organized by Michelle Erickson on the Forchas’ behalf has raised more than $1 million for Sophia’s recovery and to support her family with counseling services.

Sophia’s younger brother was also inside the school during the shooting, according to Erickson. Sophia’s mother, a pediatric critical care nurse, “arrived at work to help during the tragedy, before knowing it was her children’s school that was attacked and that her daughter was critically injured,” according to the GoFundMe page.

Sophia’s parents asked the world for prayers — and the world responded. The Forchases say they have heard from people from Athens to Minneapolis who are praying for their daughter.

In the wake of the tragedy, the Forchas family said that “rays of hope emerged” last week.

Sophia’s doctor said she “was showing signs of resilience,” the family said. “Her progress to this point is being called miraculous. We are calling it a miracle.”

“We thank you for all the prayers, love, and unwavering support from across the globe,” the Forchas family said. “The road ahead for Sophia is steep, but she is climbing it with fierce determination.”

“She is fighting not just for herself, but for every soul who stood by her in prayer,” they continued. “Please continue to keep Sophia in your hearts and prayers. She is a warrior! And she is winning!!”

‘Shattered and heartbroken, but not lost’

This week, hundreds gathered to support the family of 10-year-old Harper Moyski, one of the two children killed in the shooting. Fletcher Merkel, 8, also died in the attack. Twenty-one other people, mostly children, were also injured.

Mike Moyski and Jackie Flavin, Harper’s parents, called her a “light” in their remarks at a celebration of life on Sept. 14 at Lake Harriet Bandshell in Minneapolis.

“She taught us something profound, that light doesn’t always mean being strong on your own,” Flavin said, according to a report by CBS News. “Sometimes it really means being soft enough to let love in.”

“Harper didn’t do anything halfway. She was extra in the very best way,” Flavin said. “She just packed so much joy and imagination into her short 10 years, and thank God. Thank God she made it all count.”

Harper’s mother said the last few weeks “have felt like being dropped at the bottom of the ocean, where it is pitch dark, and the pressure is crushing and no human is really meant to survive it.”

But in the midst of their suffering, Harper’s parents said they feel grateful for the support.

“There’s just so much love and support lighting our path that we haven’t felt lost,” Flavin said. “Shattered and heartbroken, but not lost.”

“You’ve lifted us up during the hardest days of our lives, and we are so grateful,” Moyski said.

Aftermath of a tragedy

Annunciation Catholic School students are returning to school with a modified schedule this week, according to an announcement by the school’s leaders. The school will have supportive activities as well as extra security and support staff.

The church where the shooting took place will have to be reconsecrated, according to the archdiocese.

Reconsecration is a Catholic ritual used to purify a sacred space after it has been desecrated.

Father Matthew Crane, a canon lawyer in Minnesota, explained that as part of the rite, “the sanctuary is stripped in a manner consistent with Good Friday.”

“After the procession, much like the rite for initially dedicating a church, the celebrant, usually a diocesan bishop, blesses holy water and then sprinkles the people and walls with it,” Crane said. “Penitential prayers are offered, and the altar is only dressed with cloth and candles after these rituals have concluded.”

Crane said the “spiritual effects” include “purification and reparation.”

Crane, who has attended a reconsecration in the past, said he “was surprised at how, by virtue of participating in that ritual, I felt connected to and comfortable in the building and place.”

“I would hope that in Annunciation, or any Catholic community, the ritual of reconsecration would grant the community a profound sense of being once again at home in a house of God,” he said.

Jubilee of Consolation: Mother who lost her only son never reproached God for anything
Tue, 16 Sep 2025 15:50:00 -0400

Vatican City, Sep 16, 2025 / 15:50 pm (CNA).

Silvia Toma has a scar on her soul: Four years ago she buried her 34-year-old only son, who had two little daughters. “It was sudden leukemia. He was admitted on May 25, 2021, and died on June 3,” she said, still choked up by the pain.

At that time, the COVID-19 pandemic regulations allowed no visitors. Safety measures prevented her from caressing his hand in his slow agony.

“They never let us visit him. He was hospitalized in the coronary care unit completely alone,” she recalled. They could only communicate minimally through WhatsApp messages.

Praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet at his side

The day before he died, they let her in to see him. “His wife spent 15 minutes with him and I for another 15. I took the opportunity to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet with him.” The doctors then asked them to leave the room and a few hours later asked them to return to the clinic.

“When we arrived, they told us he had suffered three cardiac arrests. He had survived two, and he hadn’t survived the third,” Toma explained, her eyes welling with tears but with a big, maternal smile that communicated she would be all right.

Holding on to faith is the only thing that kept her going in the most difficult moments. “We are not prepared to lose a son, but I am extremely grateful for the faith,” said Toma, who, the day after her son was hospitalized, knelt before the tabernacle in her parish church, St. John the Baptist, in the Diocese of Avellaneda Lanús, Buenos Aires province.

Once before the Blessed Sacrament, “I told him that he already knew what was in my heart, but that his will be done. And his will was for my son to be with him.”

Toma still doesn’t understand God’s reasons, but she’s not seeking answers either. On Sept. 15, she participated in the Jubilee of Consolation in Rome and testified that death doesn’t have the last word.

“I often break down and cry, but, thank God, never once did I utter a word of reproach. I believe he must know why, and one day I will understand,” she added.

She said that going through this soul-searing pain, for which there isn’t even a word to define it in the dictionary, “has been like sharing a little bit in what the Virgin Mary felt at the foot of the cross.”

“I ask her to always hold him close and kiss him for me,” she said.

Pope Francis prayed for her

Toma is divorced but maintains a good relationship with her ex-husband, who is a Jehovah’s Witness. Her son had received all the sacraments — baptism, Communion, confirmation — but in his adolescence, “he turned to Jehovah’s Witnesses,” she said.

“He even signed the document expressing his refusal to receive a blood transfusion, as required by that religious denomination,” she explained.

In 2019, she was able to share the suffering her son’s actions caused her with Pope Francis, whom she greeted after a general audience. “When he finished listening to me, he told me he would pray for Gabriel’s return to the Catholic Church,” she related.

And little by little, this began to take shape. For Toma, there is no doubt that it was a small gift the Argentine pontiff gave her.

“I believe God worked in him,” she said. “Before he died, he spoke with the priest from our parish, something he hadn’t done in a long time. They texted each other on WhatsApp, they chatted. I believe his heart was opening again,” she added.

The situation became critical when he was admitted. “On the last day, the doctor told us that if they didn’t give him the transfusion, he would die. He was conscious. His wife, a Jehovah’s Witness, said, ‘I can’t sign.’ Then they asked me. I entered the room, looked him in the eyes, and asked him if he really wanted the transfusion, because I couldn’t override his personal decision either. He said yes.”

At that moment, mother and son signed the consent form together: “As I was signing, he touched his head and said to the doctor, ‘The thing is, my mother is a catechist.’”

For this mother, that decision, although it didn’t save her son's life, signified an inner reconciliation. “I believe God gave him the opportunity to return to him at the most important moment,” Toma said. For her, this final gesture was also a true consolation.

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

British royal family holds first Catholic funeral in centuries for Duchess of Kent
Tue, 16 Sep 2025 15:07:00 -0400

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 16, 2025 / 15:07 pm (CNA).

The British Royal family held its first Catholic funeral in modern history on Tuesday for the duchess of Kent, the first senior British royal to be received into the Church since the 17th century.

The duchess died on Sept. 4 at the age of 92 and asked that her funeral be held at Westminster Cathedral in London. She was raised Anglican but joined the Catholic Church in 1994. She described her conversion as a “long-pondered personal decision” but said she was attracted to the solace and clarity of the faith.

Born Katharine Lucy Mary Worsley, the duchess married Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. Her family said she should be remembered for her “lifelong devotion to all the organizations with which she was associated, her passion for music, and her empathy for young people.”

On Tuesday afternoon, hundreds gathered to honor the duchess’ life at the cathedral alongside the duke and their three children. King Charles III, Prince William, and Princess Kate Middleton were all in attendance; Queen Camilla was not present reportedly due to illness.

King Charles’ presence marked the first time a reigning British monarch has attended a Catholic funeral in a formal capacity on U.K. grounds since the Reformation.

The Requiem Mass was celebrated by the archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols. The dean of Windsor joined the cathedral clergy during the Mass and presided over the burial of the duchess with the auxiliary bishop of Westminster.

In a Sept. 16 telegram to King Charles, Pope Leo XIV said he “was saddened to learn of the death of Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent.” The message was read by Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendia, apostolic nuncio to Great Britain, at the funeral Mass.

“I send heartfelt condolences, together with the assurance of my prayerful closeness, to your majesty, the members of the royal family, and especially to her husband, the Duke of Kent, and their children and grandchildren at this time of sorrow,” Pope Leo wrote.

“Entrusting her noble soul to the mercy of our heavenly Father, I readily associate myself with all those offering thanksgiving to almighty God for the duchess’ legacy of Christian goodness, seen in her many years of dedication to official duties, patronage of charities, and devoted care for vulnerable people in society.”

“To all who mourn her loss, in the sure hope of the Resurrection, I willingly impart my apostolic blessing as a pledge of consolation and peace in the risen Lord,” the pope said.

U.S. bishops launch ‘Healing and Hope’ initiative to promote, strengthen mental health
Tue, 16 Sep 2025 14:07:00 -0400

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 16, 2025 / 14:07 pm (CNA).

Ahead of World Mental Health Day on Oct. 10, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has announced an addition to its ongoing National Catholic Mental Health Campaign to amplify local engagement on mental health.

The title for the initiative, “Healing and Hope,” was taken from the National Catholic Mental Health Campaign’s introductory statement, written by Archbishop Borys Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia and Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, Bishop Robert Barron.

“As pastors, we want to emphasize this point to anyone who is suffering from mental illness or facing mental health challenges: Nobody and nothing can alter or diminish your God-given dignity. You are a beloved child of God, a God of healing and hope,” the U.S. bishops said this week.

The initiative “builds upon the goal of promoting healing and hope for all who struggle with mental illness and is inclusive of the people who accompany them,” the USCCB said in a Sept. 15 statement.

“Healing and Hope” is intended to combat the present mental health crisis affecting people across the nation, especially younger generations. Pew Research found that as of April, 55% of parents report being extremely or very concerned about the mental health of teens.

The U.S. bishops have added three new elements to the mental health campaign to strengthen Catholic engagement ahead of World Mental Health Day, including a revitalized digital campaign with reflections by bishops meant to “invite all people into deeper conversation on the realities and stigmas of mental health.”

The initiative will also launch state conferences on mental health beginning in early 2026 with a meeting in New Jersey.

At the conferences, “bishops, clergy, religious, and laypeople in dioceses/eparchies and local groups will have an opportunity to gather for dialogue on local mental health realities.”

Healing and Hope will also prompt parishes to host “Mental Health Sunday” on the weekend of Oct. 11–12. Parishes are encouraged to share at Mass about the national campaign and its mission, integrate petitions around mental health issues, offer a special blessing for caretakers, and consider launching a Catholic mental health initiative in the parish community.

All the faithful in the U.S. are encouraged to participate by praying the Novena for Mental Health from Oct. 10, World Mental Health Day, to Oct. 18, the feast of St. Luke, the patron saint of health care.

Armenian patriarch invites Pope Leo XIV to visit Armenia
Tue, 16 Sep 2025 13:06:00 -0400

Vatican City, Sep 16, 2025 / 13:06 pm (CNA).

The head of the Armenian Apostolic Church during a meeting Tuesday at the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo invited Pope Leo XIV to visit Armenia.

Catholicos Karekin II, the patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church, met Pope Leo for the first time at Villa Barberini, the papal summer residence overlooking Lake Albano. Leo has recently begun spending Tuesdays, the pope’s traditional day off, in Castel Gandolfo while the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City undergoes renovations.

The two discussed the need for a peace based on justice, according to Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, the Armenian Church’s representative to the Holy See, in comments to the Armenian-language edition of Vatican Media.

The invitation would mark a continuation of ecumenical dialogue and papal outreach to Armenia, the first state to adopt Christianity as its state religion in A.D. 301. Karekin II has previously traveled to the Vatican for meetings with John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis.

John Paul II became the first pope to set foot on Armenian soil in 2001, visiting for celebrations of the 1,700th anniversary of the country’s Christian heritage. Pope Francis followed with a three-day trip to Armenia in 2016.

The Armenian Apostolic Church, sometimes known as the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church, is the national church of Armenia and part of the family of Oriental Orthodox Churches.

It is distinct from the much smaller Armenian Catholic Church, which is in full communion with Rome. The Armenian Church formally broke with Rome after the Council of Chalcedon in 451, though relations have deepened in recent decades. In 1996, John Paul II and then-Patriarch Karekin I signed a declaration affirming their shared Christian origins.

In addition to his audience with the pope, Karekin II met in Rome with Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, and Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education. He also prayed at the Basilica of St. Mary Major before the tomb of Pope Francis and the Marian icon of Salus Populi Romani.

Karekin II’s first visit to Rome dates back to November 2000, when, newly elected, he was received by John Paul II during celebrations for the jubilee of 2000. On that occasion, John Paul presented him with relics of St. Gregory the Illuminator, the patron saint credited with converting Armenia’s king to Christianity in the fourth century.

Armenians worldwide maintain strong ties to their church, shaped in part by the 1915 genocide, known in Armenia as the Medz Yeghern (“Great Evil Crime”). Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, according to the Associated Press. Pope Francis in 2015 called it the “first genocide of the 20th century,” drawing a strong protest from Turkey.

The Vatican has yet to announce any international trips for the new pope, although many expect his first journey abroad will be ecumenical in nature, a trip to Turkey to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea.

Patriarch Bartholomew meets with Trump during U.S. visit, talks Middle East, Ukraine
Tue, 16 Sep 2025 12:24:00 -0400

CNA Staff, Sep 16, 2025 / 12:24 pm (CNA).

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople met with President Donald Trump this week during a visit to the United States, with the leaders discussing world affairs including ongoing strife in the Middle East and Ukraine.

A press release on the patriarch’s website said Bartholomew, considered the first among equals in the Orthodox Church, met with Trump in a “very cordial atmosphere” and congratulated the U.S. leader “on his initiatives and overall efforts to promote peace in the world, and particularly in Ukraine.”

The leaders “also discussed the situation of Christians in the Middle East.”

Also present at the meeting were numerous other Orthodox leaders as well as U.S. Vice President JD Vance. Bartholomew’s office said the patriarch also “offered his condolences to [Trump] for the murder of his friend and colleague Charlie Kirk.”

Kirk, a prominent conservative activist, was shot and killed by an assassin on Sept. 10. Trump has publicly mourned Kirk’s death.

In his first visit to the U.S. in about four years, the patriarch will stay for nearly two weeks.

Bartholomew’s tenure, which began in 1991, has been marked by overtures of reconciliation between the Eastern church and Rome on several centuries-old disputes.

In March of this year the patriarch offered a hopeful historical assessment of the traditional 1054 date for the “Great Schism” between Rome and Constantinople, suggesting that those tensions developed gradually over time and “are not insurmountable.”

During a meeting with Orthodox leaders in June, Pope Leo XIV stated his intention to “persevere in the effort to reestablish full visible communion between [the] churches.”

The Holy Father said that goal can only be achieved “with God’s help, through a continued commitment to respectful listening and fraternal dialogue.”

Amid numerous visits scheduled for his trip in the U.S. this month, Bartholomew is scheduled to receive the Templeton Prize on Sept. 24.

The John Templeton Foundation said in April that the patriarch was being awarded the prestigious recognition “for his pioneering efforts to bridge scientific and spiritual understandings of humanity’s relationship with the natural world, bringing together people of different faiths to heed a call for stewardship of creation.”

Bartholomew has been hailed as the “Green Patriarch” for his promotion of environmental values and causes. The leader has called for the faithful to “protect life on earth from the worst consequences of human recklessness.”

Seton Shrine highlights American ‘Saints on Their Way’
Tue, 16 Sep 2025 11:54:00 -0400

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 16, 2025 / 11:54 am (CNA).

The canonization of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in 1975 not only marked the establishment of the first American-born saint but also opened the door for other American Catholics to be honored for embodying the universal call to holiness.

“What made her canonization remarkable was that after 200 years of history in the country, it was the first time that a native-born American was declared a saint of the universal Church,” Rob Judge, executive director of the National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg, Maryland, told CNA. “It was this validation, that you can come from these lands and obtain holiness.”

Today there are 87 American Catholics on their way to sainthood. To recognize these men and women, the shrine put together the “Saints on Their Way Village” to help share the stories of Americans deemed blessed, venerable, and servants of God.

The “Saints on Their Way Village” was displayed on Sept. 14 — the 50-year anniversary of Seton’s canonization — and was made up of ​​nearly two dozen guilds, each dedicated to advancing the cause of an American on the path to sainthood. They gathered on the shrine’s grounds, where Mother Seton lived and worshipped, to host tables with information and to sign petitions to help advance their causes.

“St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and those on the path to joining her all share one thing in common: They each lived lives of love and service that embody the universal call to holiness,” Judge said.

Dorothy Day

In 2000, Dorothy Day became a servant of God after her cause for sainthood was officially opened by the Church. Members of the Dorothy Day Guild attended the event to highlight her “steadfastness” and “relatability.”

Day worked as an activist and journalist, focused on social justice and aiding the poor. She influenced 20th-century American Catholicism by demonstrating the “preferential option for the poor,” which integrated faith and action.

“What I find hopeful is that she stayed the course her whole lifetime,” guild member Carolyn Zablotny told CNA. “There were times where I’m sure she had her doubts and she wrote so openly about her struggles. She’s not a cookie-cutter kind of person, she failed at times, but she persevered.”

Day is a “sign of hope,” Zablotny said. “She’s a radical alternative to militarism, racism, and the selfishness that we’re all suffering from. I think she’s a real model for a different kind of holiness.”

Blessed Solanus Casey

Members of the Father Solanus Guild shared the message of Blessed Solanus Casey and provided a prayer for the Capuchin’s canonization. Fellow friar and guild member Brother Daniel, who did not wish to share his full name, told CNA that Casey’s “main goal” was to “thank God ahead of time” as a way to recognize what he is already doing in our lives.

Casey grew up on a farm in Wisconsin and was known as a “simple man” who dedicated his ministry to the sick and troubled. While the Catholic Church has only officially attributed one miracle to Casey, many people have shared stories of unexplained healing after asking for his intercession.

“One of our brothers in the order, his family is connected with Father Solanus,” Brother Daniel said. “He got in an accident and the doctor wanted to amputate his legs. So his mother and father came to Solanus and told him ‘the doctors are going to amputate the leg of my son.’ Solanus said: ‘Nothing is going to happen. Don’t worry.’ The doctors, the next morning, said they could do [another] treatment and not amputate his legs.”

“When people come to [Solanus], he may not get rid of all the problems,” Brother Daniel said. “But when they go from him, they feel peace. They feel that someone is there to comfort them.”

Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos

Francis Xavier Seelos was born in Germany in 1819 but moved to the United States and lived much of his life in New Orleans. Now the city houses the National Shrine of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, where people come daily “to ask for the blessing of Blessed Francis,” Father Steve, a priest advocating for his canonization who did not wish to give his full name, told CNA.

Seelos was known “as a wonderful man,” he said. “He was totally self-giving — the type of person that makes a saint. When people were sick, he didn’t think about himself at all. He went to bless them and ended up getting sick himself, which is how he died.”

Blessed Francis served as a priest during a time where judgment was often passed, but he “was very kind and gentle in confession,” Father Steve said. “His confession line was always longer than anybody else’s because he was willing to listen and give absolution without making people feel bad.”

Mother Mary Lange

Mother Mary Lange was an American religious sister who founded the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the first African American religious congregation in the United States. In 1829, she founded the order despite the trials she knew she would endure. She believed that “if you put your faith in God, it’ll be OK,” Phyllis Johnson, a member of the Mother Mary Lange Guild, told CNA.

The guild is advocating for her canonization because “she loved all people,” Johnson said. “Even the people who treated her shabbily, she still cared for them. She’s a saint for everyone. She took care of everyone. She didn’t discriminate … So if anybody should be a saint, it’s the person who says ‘all people are God’s people.’”

Blessed Michael J. McGivney

Several employees of the Knights of Columbus, the world’s largest Catholic fraternal service organization, talked with attendees to share the cause for canonization of the organization’s founder, Father Michael J. McGivney.

“He’s a powerful intercessor,” Alicia Mucha, manager of events at the Knights of Columbus, told CNA. “He loves to answer prayers for unemployment, family conflict, and any substance abuse.”

In 1882, McGivney founded the Knights of Columbus “to give men a better community, something that was rooted in their faith that would keep them away from drinking,” Mucha said. The organization started in Connecticut “to provide benefits for women and children, in case anything happened to the men. He would ensure that women and orphans were taken care of.”

In 2020, McGivney was beatified after the Vatican recognized a miracle attributed to his intercession.

Judge said that McGivney and the other potential American saints show “us that we, too, can draw closer to God and achieve great things.”

JD Vance: Trump administration will ‘dismantle’ leftist groups promoting violence
Tue, 16 Sep 2025 10:21:00 -0400

National Catholic Register, Sep 16, 2025 / 10:21 am (CNA).

While serving as the guest host of Charlie Kirk’s podcast Monday, Vice President JD Vance vowed that the Trump administration will seek to “dismantle” left-wing organizations that he said promoted the violence that led to the conservative activist’s assassination last week.

“Charlie was gunned down in broad daylight, and well-funded institutions of the Left lied about what he said so as to justify his murder. This is soulless and evil,” Vance said.

The two-hour broadcast of “The Charlie Kirk Show,” produced by the organization Kirk founded, Turning Point USA, was livestreamed from Vance’s ceremonial office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. It featured appearances from White House aides and administration officials as well as friends of Kirk.

Vance specifically cited an article in The Nation magazine that he said falsely stated that Kirk had made racist statements. The author, he said, had also expressed “glee over a young husband and young father’s death.”

“Did you know that the George Soros Open Society Foundation and the Ford Foundation — the groups who funded that disgusting article justifying Charlie’s death — do you know they benefit from generous tax treatment?” Vance said.

“They are literally subsidized by you and me, the American taxpayer, and how do they reward us? By setting fire to the house built by the American family over 250 years,” he said.

The Trump administration, Vance said, will be working in the coming months to shut down organizations that facilitate politically motivated violence.

“We’re not always going to get it right. We will sometimes move more slowly than you would like. We will sometimes move more slowly than I want us to. But I promise you that we will explore every option to bring real unity to our country and stop those who would kill their fellow Americans because they don’t like what they say,” Vance said.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, a guest on the program, told Vance that Kirk was a “treasured friend” of 10 years. He also vowed to go after those who may have aided and abetted Kirk’s killer, calling it “a vast domestic terror movement.”

Miller described a coordinated movement to incite violence in the United States.

“The organized doxing campaigns, the organized riots, the organized street violence, the organized campaigns of dehumanization, vilification, posting people’s addresses, combining that with messaging that’s designed to trigger inside violence and the actual organized cells that carry out and facilitate the violence,” he said.

“With God as my witness, we are going to use every resource we have at the Department of Justice, Homeland Security, and throughout this government to identify, disrupt, dismantle, and destroy these networks and make America safe again for the American people. It will happen, and we will do it in Charlie’s name,” Miller said.

Vance, during the program, said that polling has shown that liberals are more likely than conservatives to “be happy about the death of a political opponent” and to say that political violence is sometimes justified.

“The data is clear. People on the left are much likelier to defend and celebrate political violence,” Vance said.

“That problem has terrible consequences. The leader of our party, Donald J. Trump, escaped an assassin’s bullet by less than an inch. Our House majority leader, Steven Scalise, came within seconds of death by an assassin himself. Now, the most influential conservative activist in generations, our friend Charlie, has been murdered,” he said.

Tributes for Kirk

The vice president, in paying tribute to Kirk, remembered his friend as a faithful Christian and political visionary. He recalled Kirk as a man of great faith who inspired others to be bold in sharing their views.

“On a podcast a couple of months back, Charlie was asked about how he’d want to be remembered if he died. His answer: ‘I want to be remembered for courage, for my faith,’” Vance said.

“In this dark moment for our country, I think that’s the greatest lesson any of us can take from Charlie, to have faith, to have faith in the Lord and to be bold in how we glorify him, to be bold in our pursuits as Charlie was in his,” he said.

When asked by Vance to share something about Kirk, conservative podcast host Tucker Carlson spoke of the role that faith played in Kirk’s life.

“His Christianity was sincere, and his commitment to Jesus was totally sincere. It sometimes isn’t, especially in public figures who throw out Bible verses they don’t understand and stuff like that,” Carlson said.

“But in his case … it informed every single part of his life, from his marriage, to the way he treated his children, to the way he treated his staff, to the way he approached disagreement, to the way he thought of other people, which was always primarily as people first,” he said.

Vance, in his concluding remarks, said Kirk was a man “who told the truth in every place, in every environment.”

“The most important truth Charlie told is this: that long ago, a man begotten, not made, came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit, was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and became man. For our sake, he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and suffered death, and was buried, and rose again on the third day,” Vance said.

“Charlie believed, as I do, that all the truth he told flowed from that fundamental principle, he said. “I really do believe that we can come together in this country. I believe we must. But unity, real unity, can be found only after climbing the mountain of truth,” he said.

Vance said that after speaking with Kirk’s widow, Erika, and the rest of the Kirk family, he was struck by the example his friend set, as a husband who “was never cross or mean-spirited” to his wife.

“Maybe the best way that I can contribute and the best way that I could honor my dear friend is to be the best husband that I can be, to be the husband to my wife that he was to his,” Vance said.

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, and has been adapted by CNA.

‘Joyfully Catholic’ Chesterton Academy Network opens international schools
Tue, 16 Sep 2025 09:20:00 -0400

CNA Staff, Sep 16, 2025 / 09:20 am (CNA).

In a suburb of Minneapolis in 2008, a small school named after the Catholic author G.K. Chesterton opened its doors.

Seventeen years later, the school has grown into the wide-reaching Chesterton Schools Network, with schools sprinkled across the United States. And this school year, the network is going international.

The president of the Chesterton Schools Network said there is no other word for it but “miraculous.”

“The growth has been simply astounding,” said Dale Ahlquist, who is also president of the Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton, which operates the network.

But why are the schools a hit? Ahlquist credits the Holy Spirit.

“The real driver of this movement has been the Holy Spirit working to enliven the Church, beginning with the domestic Church,” he told CNA.

At Chesterton schools, “faith in Christ is at the center, with daily Mass and a vigorous moral and spiritual formation program,” he said.

“The Chesterton model is both faithfully Catholic and fully classical, presenting the true, the good, and the beautiful as united transcendental aspects of all learning,” Ahlquist added.

In the U.S., Chesterton schools operate in 31 states and 76 dioceses.

Parents love it and students thrive in it, according to Ahlquist.

“The Chesterton model has a proven track record of success now, and people are taking notice,” he said.

“People saw what we were doing here in the U.S., saw the curriculum, witnessed the fruits of the great formation Chesterton Academies provide, and they said, ‘We want that, too.’”

Growing around the world

Starting new schools across the world has been “challenging, but exciting,” Ahlquist said.

“Every country presents its own unique regulatory and cultural complexities,” he said. “But the love parents have for their kids and the desire they have to fulfill their vocations as their children’s primary educators and catechists — that’s the same everywhere.”

With seven new schools in the U.S. and another three around the world opened this Fall, Ahlquist said “we only expect demand to grow worldwide.”

Ahlquist said both internationally and in the U.S., the Chesterton schools all follow the same pattern.

“It sprang up organically, from the grassroots,” Ahlquist said of the international launch.

Student life

“The hallmark of our model is an integrated curriculum that unites the truths learned in disparate subjects and shows their interconnectedness and interdependency, all united around one great truth: the Incarnation,” Ahlquist said.

“Christ is at the center, the ultimate end not just of our spiritual formation but of character and intellectual formation as well,” Ahlquist said.

“Ultimately, the Catholic faith isn’t something extra, something tacked on arbitrarily to what they’re learning in all the various classes. It’s the undergirding principle, the ‘why’ behind all the other pursuits,” Ahlquist said.

Chesterton schools use the Socratic method, which Ahlquist said “encourages students to take ownership of their learning, to probe with questions, and start seeing the connections that are everywhere.”

“They learn the humanities, including philosophy and theology, and are formed in how to think about God and the universe,” Ahlquist said. “In math and science, they see the handiwork of a creator and an active providence over the natural world. In music, visual arts, and theater, they appreciate the incarnational and sacramental way that beauty attests to the truth and goodness of a God who loves them.”

“From the science lab to the sports field to the chapel, students are oriented toward Christ as their friend, model, and ultimate goal. And they get it. This is what parents notice most, and why the network keeps growing,” he said.

Chesterton’s impact continues into adult life, according to Ahlquist.

After graduation, Chesterton alumni “discern vocations in priestly ministry and consecrated life” and marry earlier in life “than their secular peers,” Ahlquist noted.

“Students really enter into this approach and make it their own,” he said. “Others can see the transformation that takes place in these kids’ lives as they grow into faithful, ethical, confident young adults, ready to live out and share their faith while also excelling in their vocational and career pursuits.”

CNA Newsmaker Interview: Kevin Roberts and living out the optimism of Charlie Kirk
Tue, 16 Sep 2025 08:20:00 -0400

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 16, 2025 / 08:20 am (CNA).

Exactly one week before the assassination of Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk, CNA interviewed Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts for its new “CNA Newsmaker Interview” series, which will feature periodic in-depth interviews with Catholic leaders in diverse fields.

In the wake of the attack, Roberts wrote in a social media post that “we must never, never, never, never, never, never stop fighting to build the America that [Charlie Kirk] helped make possible.”

Kirk, he said, “restored optimism about the American future for millions of Americans.”

This same optimism for the future of America, alongside an equally shared passion with Kirk for the restoration of family life across the country, is central to Roberts’ work at Heritage.

America, according to Roberts, has “arrived at that moment” where it has reached “an understanding in the broader culture that there is something greater than ourselves that defines us as Americans.”

Roberts credited many Catholic leaders in Washington, including Ethics and Public Policy Center President Ryan Anderson, for contributing to the country’s arrival to this moment.

These leaders, Roberts told CNA, “are firm about what they believe. They’re cheerful. They remember the big picture. And when there are times for disagreement, sometimes with major elected officials in our country, they’re temporary, they’re private, they’re virtuous, and they map to not just the right end in this life but the right end of the next moment.”

America’s No. 1 challenge

In a Sept. 12 address to the nation, Erika Kirk emphasized her late husband’s devotion to revitalizing the family, telling those watching: “Charlie always said that if he ever ran for office ... his top priority would be to revive the American family.”

In his own book, “Dawn’s Early Light: Taking Back Washington to Save America,” Roberts expressed the same conviction: “The No. 1 challenge Americans face in the 21st century is the crisis of family formation.”

Ultimately, family policy is upstream of most Heritage Foundation policy efforts and is what Roberts considers the focal point of the new conservative movement — which he told CNA “refers to a shift in tactics and composition of American conservatism” rather than a shift in principles.

While the old conservative movement tended to primarily revolve around economic issues, he observed, the new conservative movement recognizes “that goods like the free market flow out of more important things: family [and] a healthy civil society.”

“It’s a real emphasis on those institutions in life that are upstream of what the conservative movement for a generation was fixated on,” he said.

One of the more controversial family life issues Heritage Foundation scholars have worked with the administration on is in vitro fertilization (IVF). The Catholic Church teaches that IVF is unacceptable due to ethical concerns surrounding the practice, including the millions of human embryos killed through the procedure.

“We have a lot of private conversations with a lot of elected officials in this country and others about these issues,” Roberts said regarding IVF. “We’ve seen some real improvement in the rhetoric from the administration, and we look forward to seeing even more.”

“We’re grateful for what we’ve seen and also have reason to believe that in terms of substance, in terms of policy from the administration, that they are doing a good job of balancing all the competing interests” in the country, he continued, noting that the administration is “trying to keep together a governing coalition” on the sensitive topic.

An educator at heart

Before Roberts entered the public policy sphere, which included his previous leadership of the nation’s largest state-based think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Roberts enjoyed a successful career in education. First, as a tenure-track college history professor and founding headmaster of a K–12 Catholic school in Louisiana, followed by the presidency of Wyoming Catholic College, where under his leadership, the small institution bucked public funding and was celebrated for its “cowboy-style Catholicism.”

Of all these endeavors, Roberts attributes a key source of his optimistic outlook to the time he spent as headmaster of John Paul the Great Academy in Lafayette, Louisiana. “It wasn’t until going through the arduous journey of keeping a new Catholic K–12 school afloat that I became so optimistic,” he told CNA.

“When I realized six, seven, eight years in that the school was not only going to make it, but it was going to become a model,” he recalled, “I realized that as a conservative, politics and policy are important, but institutions are most important.” Roberts said he believes it will be through these institutions that America will be “revitalized.”

The lifelong educator further observed that “the institutional renewal happening in education is disproportionately classical,” noting that even his doctoral alma mater, the University of Texas, has begun accepting the Classical Learning Test (CLT). “I never thought I would say that,” he mused.

“America’s golden age will be sustained in part because of our politics and in part because of our policy,” Roberts continued, “but most of all because of good decisions that Americans are making,” including by “sending their kids to classical schools.”

Faith in the public square

According to Roberts, who leads one of the most influential think tanks in the nation’s capital, there is no conflict between being fully Catholic and fully American — two aspects, which he recalls in his book, that were also never in conflict for his Cajun forebears in his native Louisiana.

Known for spearheading the Heritage Foundation’s presidential transition initiative Project 2025, Roberts has been accused by some of aiming to impose Christian nationalism on the U.S. — an assertion Roberts said is “100% ignorant understanding of Church teaching.”

“We are free people,” he said of his approach to public policy as an American Catholic. “We of course are bound by morality, an understanding of morality not just from Scripture but from the magisterium, from the tradition of the Church.” At the same time, this does not prevent Catholics from disagreeing with Church pronouncements on prudential matters, citing his own past disagreements with the energy and environmental policy prescriptions of the late Pope Francis.

“Catholics have total freedom to disagree with the pope when he is not speaking ex cathedra,” he explained.

“As a lay Catholic, I’m totally free to say that Pope Francis spent way too much time engaging in conversations he was ignorant about and should have stayed out of,” Roberts added.

As for Pope Leo XIV, Roberts said he is “optimistic,” citing the Chicago-born pontiff’s choice of name and restoration of several papal traditions as positive signs for the Church at large.

On lesson learned from Project 2025

Reflecting on the controversy around Project 2025, Roberts told CNA it was Heritage’s “moral obligation” as a leading policy center to provide a “menu of options that ultimately the president would choose to select or not.”

“The lesson we’ve learned — and the buck stops on my desk — is we’ll never, ever let the American left define our work for six weeks without responding,” he added.

“They picked a fight, but we finished it. And when they pick it the next time, we’ll finish it twice,” said Roberts, who revealed that work is already underway on updating the project in advance of the 2028 presidential election.

Overcoming childhood adversity

Though a cradle Catholic, Roberts’ faith “became unshakable,” according to his book, amid extreme adversity in his family life at a very early age. Roberts had experienced the divorce of his parents at age 4 and the death of his older brother by suicide when he was just 9.

“The only way to overcome all of the disadvantages of divorce, including spiritual, economic, educational, etc., is to know and love Jesus Christ,” he told CNA. For Catholics, he said, that means staying “very close to the sacraments,” including regular Mass attendance, praying the rosary, and frequent confession.

In addition, Roberts advised children of divorced parents “to not allow the decisions and behaviors of our respective parents to get in the way of recognizing that we are called to a vocation.”

“Always, every day, operate in forgiveness, not just toward our family members, our parents, but to everyone we interact with,” he continued. “Don’t hold grudges. Don’t have a chip on your shoulder. Be cheerful, because not only are we Christians, but we’re Americans. We have no reason to be pessimistic.”

What does ‘America first’ mean?

Apart from its re-centering on family life issues, Roberts also defined the new conservative movement as a “real corrective” to neoconservative interventionism in national security and foreign policy.

“The American people understand that we’re too much in debt,” he pointed out. “We have too many domestic problems to be engaged in all these far-flung, never-ending wars.”

While America must maintain its status as having the most lethal military in the world, Roberts indicated, “the new conservative movement understands that we, in fact, do worry about Americans first.”

For Roberts, this same principle applies to immigration policy.

While the country’s bishops advocate legalization for millions of people who are currently in the country without legal status, Roberts and the Heritage Foundation maintain a principled no amnesty position.

“They broke the law,” Roberts stated. “Until we correct the breaking of the law, it is a slippery slope… We can’t have the conversation until we correct a much greater injustice. And that is that we have over a hundred municipalities, cities and counties, states that describe themselves as sanctuary cities and counties and states.”

“We not only need to end that,” he continued, “but we need Catholic bishops in those places to say that must be ended, because the continuation of those sanctuary cities prevents ICE and all the interior enforcement from actually focusing on the 268,322 felons we know among the 22 million illegal aliens.”

Renewed attention to America’s cities

Roberts noted the Heritage Foundation’s newest project will focus specifically on revitalizing American cities and local governments that have been “forgotten” by conservatives. “The issue of conservatives initiating urban renewal has not been taken up by anyone,” he pointed out, “so we are.”

Heritage will be hiring a policy scholar and campaign manager, he said, revealing that a separate political arm, Heritage Action, aims to gain a conservative policy foothold in more American cities.

“I look at this as someone who believes that I want any American of any political stripe, religious affiliation, to feel like they can live in an American city,” he concluded. “Because if we fail at that, we have failed at the American project.”

Gov. Cox: Transgender partner of alleged Charlie Kirk killer cooperating with authorities
Mon, 15 Sep 2025 18:01:00 -0400

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 15, 2025 / 18:01 pm (CNA).

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox confirmed that the man accused of killing Christian conservative activist Charlie Kirk lived with a transgender partner who is cooperating with authorities in the ongoing investigation.

The suspected assassin is 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, a resident of St. George, Utah, which is about a three-and-a-half-hour drive south of Utah Valley University, where the shooting occurred. Formal charges are expected Tuesday, Sept. 16.

Although Robinson has exercised his right to remain silent while in custody and has not spoken to authorities, his live-in transgender partner and members of his family are cooperating with the investigation. He was arrested Thursday night, Sept. 11, the day after the shooting.

In an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Sept. 14, Cox said the roommate of the alleged shooter “is a boyfriend who is transitioning from male to female.” He said the roommate “has been very cooperative with authorities.”

“This person did not have any knowledge [and] was shocked … when he found out about it,” the governor said. “The suspect has not been cooperating so far, and so we’re getting all of this information from family members, again, people around the suspect, and then the forensic information that we have, which is confirming everything and more than what we were able to share in that initial press conference.”

In a previous news conference, Cox said the roommate showed investigators messages that Robinson allegedly sent, which discussed engraving bullets, needing to retrieve a rifle from a drop point, leaving a rifle in a bush, and wrapping a rifle in a towel.

Kirk was shot while answering a question about transgenderism and gun violence. Kirk said he supported an effort to ban transgender people from owning firearms in light of the shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minnesota last month, which was carried out by a man who identified as a transgender person.

Throughout his career as a conservative activist, Kirk had been a critic of gender ideology, opposing allowing biological males in women’s sports, transgender surgeries and drugs for children, and the promotion of transgenderism and homosexuality in K–12 schools.

FBI investigates suspect’s communications

Cox said Robinson came “from a conservative family, but his ideology was very different” from his family’s, and “there clearly was a leftist ideology with this [alleged] assassin.”

“The ‘why’ behind this, again, we’re all drawing lots of conclusions on how someone like this could be radicalized,” he said.

FBI Director Kash Patel told “Fox & Friends” on Monday, Sept. 15, the agency will not “politicize this investigation.” Rather, he said, “we are looking at the facts and that is why we are releasing the facts in record fashion.”

“My job as FBI director is not to speak to motive; it’s to speak to the facts, and that’s what I’m going to do,” he said.

“His family has collectively told investigators that he subscribed to left-wing ideology, and even more so in these last couple of years,” Patel continued. “And [the suspect] had a text message exchange … with another individual in which he claimed that he had an opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and he was going to do it because of his hatred for what Charlie stood for.”

Markings on bullet casings found by investigators included the phrase “Hey, fascist. Catch!” and lyrics to the Italian anti-fascist song “Bella Ciao.”

Patel said the FBI has evidence of a since-destroyed note written before the assassination in which the suspect wrote that he had the opportunity to “take out” Kirk and planned to do so. He said “even though it has been destroyed, we have found forensic evidence of the note, and we have confirmed what … it says because of our aggressive interview posture.” He said the FBI also has DNA evidence to link the suspect to the shooting.

According to Patel, the FBI is also investigating the suspect’s conversations in chatrooms on the online messaging application Discord, and investigators will interview people with whom he conversed there.

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino told Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” on Monday that the agency has evidence that the suspect may have communicated that “his target was obviously going to be Charlie [Kirk] and that people knew in advance.”

Bongino said he does not “want anyone to jump to conclusions on this,” noting this is a question of whether people knew in advance and kept it quiet or whether they thought “it was some type of joke.”

“That’s what we’re trying to find out now,” he said. “But I promise you, if there’s a larger network here, we’re going to get that out to the public as soon as we can.”

The New York Times reported that in one Discord chat, friends of Robinson noted that he looked similar to the shooter. Robinson allegedly said the shooter was a “doppelganger” who was trying to “get me in trouble.”

According to the Times, much of the communications appeared to be joking. After Robinson’s arrest, the report noted that members were in disbelief with one saying: “I truly cannot distinguish if this is for real.”

The Washington Post reported on a separate Discord chat in which Robinson was allegedly involved, which showed members expressing concern about the shooting with one saying Kirk “didn’t deserve to go out like that.”

Robinson allegedly told this chat: “I have bad news for you all,” adding: “It was me at UVU yesterday. [I’m] sorry for all of this.”

One friend reportedly urged the group to “pray for Tyler [Robinson] and his repentance” after the arrest.

Bongino said the FBI is looking into the man who asked the question about transgenderism and gun violence just before Kirk was shot at the event, but noted Kirk “was known to speak out about these issues” and that it is “not terribly uncommon for him to get questions like that.”

The man who asked the question gave an interview to “Channel 5 with Andrew Callaghan” late last week and denounced the assassination and political violence.

Bongino said the assassination was “an ideologically motivated attack” on a conservative.

“Family members said he’d become more political, leading us to believe that this ideology had infected him and had taken over,” Bongino said.

Mass attendance up at various colleges in wake of Charlie Kirk assassination
Mon, 15 Sep 2025 17:31:00 -0400

CNA Staff, Sep 15, 2025 / 17:31 pm (CNA).

In what some are calling “the Charlie Kirk effect,” people across the nation, including many college students who are not ordinarily churchgoers, have decided to go to church since the assassination last week of the conservative Christian political activist Charlie Kirk.

Matt Zerrusen, co-founder of Newman Ministry, a Catholic nonprofit that operates on about 250 campuses nationwide, told CNA he has spoken with Catholic college ministry leaders throughout the country over the last few days, and “every one of them told me they’ve seen bigger crowds” at Masses and lots of people “they’ve never seen before.”

“I have not talked to anyone who has not seen an increase in Mass attendance,” Zerrusen said. “Some schools are reporting increases of 15%.”

He told CNA that many more college students are also asking for spiritual direction. “So many people are asking ‘What do I do?’ What is evil? How does God allow this?” Zerrusen said. “They are asking so many basic questions.”

One priest at a large state school in the Northeast told Zerrusen he spoke over the weekend with 15 young men he had never seen before who sought him out for faith advice.

Zerrusen said the spiritual “revival” Kirk’s death has amplified comes amid one he has been observing for months.

He pointed out that more than 400 students at Texas A&M University in College Station are attending the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) class at St. Mary’s Catholic Center near campus.

Social media users say Kirk inspired them to go to church

Since Kirk’s death on Sept. 10, social media platforms X, TikTok, and Instagram have been flooded with posts from users saying they plan to go to church for the first time or to return to church, thanks to Kirk’s influence.

With more than half a million followers, X user @TONYxTWO posted a TikTok video on Sunday showing a young man saying he had to park “five blocks away from church because everyone wants to come now! Amen. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Charlie.”

Another X user who calls herself a “Devout Aggie” and “Catholic” who has nearly 15,000 followers said her son, who “is not a churchgoer,” asked her to go to Mass with him over the weekend, attributing it to “the Charlie Kirk effect.”

The vicar general for the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City, Father John Evans, said on Monday that he had noticed a “slight increase” in Mass attendance over the weekend, but what was more unusual was what happened in the days immediately after Kirk’s assassination.

“People were coming together before Sunday, praying privately, some in groups, praying the rosary, and different prayers of different sorts,” Evans told KSL-TV in Utah.

Hundreds of Italian priests condemn what they say is ‘genocide’ happening in Gaza
Mon, 15 Sep 2025 17:01:00 -0400

Gaza City, Sep 15, 2025 / 17:01 pm (CNA).

Under the slogan “Christ died in Gaza,” a network called “Priests Against Genocide” says it sees “in the exhausted people of Gaza and in the Palestinian people living under occupation the presence of Christ himself who identifies with the poor, the hungry, the thirsty, and the stranger, as written in Matthew 25 of the Gospel.”

The network was founded in Italy by Catholic priests.

At an online press conference on Sept. 15, the group stated its purpose is to “pray and bear witness to a peace that is ‘disarmed and disarming’; support Christian communities in the Holy Land; denounce every war crime and every form of genocide — such as the one currently being committed against the Palestinians — and promote a culture of reconciliation and accountability.”

More than 550 priests from 21 countries — the majority of them Italian — have signed on to the initiative. Seven bishops from around the world, including the archbishop of Rabat, Morocco, Cardinal Cristóbal López Romero, have also joined.

Not ‘against anyone’

Speaking on behalf of the network, Father Pietro Rossini, an Xaverian missionary, said: “We cannot remain silent in the face of the tragedy affecting the Palestinian population in Gaza and the Occupied Territories. We do not speak as politicians but as pastors, as leaders of communities who believe in the Gospel and in the dignity of every human life. We do not represent only ourselves but also the communities entrusted to our care as shepherds in the Catholic Church.”

Rossini added: “Our message is not ‘against’ anyone but in favor of life and peace. We condemn the logic of war and violence wherever it occurs, and we call for respect of international law, United Nations resolutions, and the rulings of the International Criminal Court against those who oppress and extinguish innocent human life.”

Condemning Hamas and Israel

The priest continued: “For this reason, with the same strength with which we condemn the massacre of Oct. 7 [2023], the killings and kidnappings carried out by Hamas terrorists, we condemn even more strongly the disproportionate response, the violence, the killing of innocent people unjustifiably excused as ‘unintentional errors’ (as even the Italian president of the Republic has stated), the bombings of sovereign third countries, the war crimes, ethnic cleansing, the use of starvation as a weapon of extermination, and the genocide being carried out by the State of Israel against the Palestinian population.”

Rossini said the priests “feel the urgency to give voice to those who have none, to the innocent victims who cry out for justice.”

A call to commitment

At the conference, Father Rito Maresca from the Diocese of Sorrento-Castellammare said he felt compelled to join the initiative, describing its founders as “David against the Goliath of violence.” Father Nicola Colasuonno, rector of the Shrine of St. Guido Conforti in Parma, said he could no longer bear to see the violence and bombings.

Father Massimo Nevola, superior of the Jesuit house of St. Ignatius in Rome, said he immediately joined the network, already aware of the situation in the Holy Land. He said the president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference did not officially endorse the initiative, since he represents all bishops, but neither did he oppose it.

Prayer in Rome next week

The network adopted a logo created by artist Gianluca Costantini, bearing the English phrase: “Christ died in Gaza.” The drawing is inspired by a real image of a Palestinian mother mourning her deceased son, Mohammed Zakaria.

The first public event of the network is scheduled for Sept. 22 in Rome, on the eve of the closing session of the United Nations General Assembly. A prayer will be held in the Church of St. Andrew on the Quirinal followed by a march with several stops where testimonies of Palestinian lives will be read, ending at Montecitorio, where the Chamber of Italian Deputies is located.

During the march, prayers will be recited, including the Our Father in Arabic. About 50 priests are expected to participate in the first gathering.

CUA appoints Microsoft AI director to lead new institute on emerging technologies
Mon, 15 Sep 2025 15:36:00 -0400

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 15, 2025 / 15:36 pm (CNA).

The Catholic University of America (CUA) announced that Taylor Black, director of artificial intelligence (AI) at Microsoft, will lead a new institute on emerging technologies and AI at the Washington, D.C.-based university.

At the technology conglomerate, Black serves as the director of AI and venture ecosystems in the Office of the Chief Technology Officer. In the role, he designs and leads cross-company initiatives that integrate innovation, product development, and community engagement to foster the next generation of technologies. He will remain in the position but plans to travel regularly to CUA’s campus.

“Taylor’s background in innovation, AI, and entrepreneurship; studies in philosophy and law; and his formation as a deacon candidate make him the ideal person for this new venture,” H. Joseph Yost, senior vice provost of research for CUA, said in a statement. “From our first conversation, we knew he was the person we wanted to lead Catholic University’s expansion of AI programs and innovation.”

Black received an undergraduate degree in philosophy and classics from Gonzaga University and a master’s degree in philosophy and a law degree from Boston College. His career took off after he created a successful web development business while still in school. He went on to hold consulting, business development, and venture positions before joining Microsoft in 2021.

While working in the technology field, Black said he has noticed an increase in questions related to human dignity from his secular colleagues. The new institute will work to tackle some of the concerns by pursuing innovation in AI and engaging in dialogue about human issues central to the Catholic Church.

“The Church has been trying to get people to ask the question ‘What does it mean to be human?’ for a very long time. Now a bunch of people are asking it unprompted,” Black said in an interview with CUA. “This lends itself to addressing the gaping hole in understanding what people should know about what it means to be human in a deeper way.”

“Universities are for the formation of human persons. If you’re well-formed, you generally do a better job in the workplace,” Black said. He is interested in “how we reinvigorate the heart of what the university is — its human formation roots — while still providing the tools and training necessary from an entrepreneurial perspective to take this new economic paradigm in stride.”

The new AI initiative will bring faculty together from multiple departments including engineering, business, science, art, philosophy, and theology to engage collaboration within as well as outside the university.

The new institute follows a number of other advances at CUA. Earlier this year, the university achieved R1 status, which placed it among the top 5% of universities nationwide in terms of research funding and doctorates.

Pope Leo XIV at Jubilee of Consolation: Where pain is deep, hope in Jesus must be stronger
Mon, 15 Sep 2025 15:06:00 -0400

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 15, 2025 / 15:06 pm (CNA).

With a call to trust that Jesus is the one who dries the tears of those who suffer, Pope Leo XIV celebrated the prayer vigil for the Jubilee of Consolation in St. Peter’s Basilica on Monday, Sept. 15.

“Redemption is mercy and can make our future better, while we still await the Lord’s return. Only he will wipe away every tear and open the book of history, allowing us to read the pages that today we cannot justify or understand,” the Holy Father told the faithful gathered in the Vatican basilica.

The pope delivered his homily after hearing two testimonies: that of Lucia Di Mauro, an Italian woman whose husband was murdered by a group of young men but who, with God’s grace, was able to forgive and help one of them recover; and that of Diane Foley, the mother of journalist James Foley, beheaded by Islamic State terrorists in 2014.

The Holy Father said that both stories convey the certainty that “where pain is deep, even stronger must be the hope born of communion” — a hope that “never disappoints.”

In this sense, he added, “that pain should not generate violence,” because this is not the final word, but rather “it is overcome by the love that knows how to forgive.”

“What greater liberation can we hope to achieve than that which comes from forgiveness, which, through grace, can open the heart despite having suffered all kinds of brutality? The violence suffered cannot be erased, but the forgiveness granted to those who caused it is a foretaste of the kingdom of God on earth; it is the fruit of his action that puts an end to evil and establishes justice,” he affirmed.

In his homily, the pope also invited everyone to “share God’s consolation with so many brothers and sisters who live in situations of weakness, sadness, and pain,” for the Lord does not leave those who suffer alone. “On the contrary, precisely in these circumstances we are called more than ever to hope in the closeness of the Savior who never abandons.”

Leo XIV indicated that it is true that sometimes words “are useless and become almost superfluous” in the ability to console, and “perhaps in such moments only the tears of weeping remain,” for these express the deepest feelings of a wounded heart.

“Tears are a silent cry that implores compassion and consolation. But even before that, they are liberation and purification of the eyes, of feelings, of thoughts. We should not be ashamed of crying; it is a way of expressing our sadness and the need for a new world; it is a language that speaks of our humanity, weak and tested, yet called to joy,” he affirmed.

The pope recalled that, in his “Confessions,” St. Augustine also wondered about the origin of evil and found the answers in Scripture.

“There are questions that draw us back in on ourselves, divide us internally, and separate us from reality. There are thoughts from which nothing can be born. If they isolate us and drive us to despair, they also humiliate our intelligence. It is better, as in the Psalms, for the question to be a protest, a lament, an invocation of that justice and peace that God has promised us.”

He explained that in this way, “we build a bridge to heaven, even when it seems mute. In the Church, we seek the open heaven, which is Jesus, God’s bridge to us. There is a consolation that reaches us when that faith, which seems to us to be “formless and wavering,” like a boat in a storm, “takes root in the heart.”

Before concluding his homily, Pope Leo XIV encouraged people to also seek consolation in the Virgin Mary, who keeps repeating: “I am your mother.” He also recalled that, as St. Paul suggests, “when one receives consolation from God, one is then capable of offering consolation to others.”

“Those we love and who have been taken from us by sister death are not lost nor have they disappeared into nothingness. Their life belongs to the Lord, who, as the good shepherd, embraces them and holds them close to himself and will return them to us one day so that we may enjoy eternal and shared happiness,” he affirmed.

As part of the program, Pope Leo XIV blessed wax medals depicting the paschal lamb, the “agnus Dei,” a symbol “to remember that the mystery of Jesus, of his death and resurrection, is the victory of good over evil.”

“He is the lamb who gives the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, who never leaves us, comforts us in need, and strengthens us with his grace,” the pope told them.

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

Pope Leo XIV meets with his Augustinian brothers in Rome
Mon, 15 Sep 2025 13:00:00 -0400

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 15, 2025 / 13:00 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Monday received the participants of the general chapter of the Order of St. Augustine, with whom he said he felt “at home.” In his address, he reflected in particular on the theme of love, which the order’s founder, St. Augustine, “placed at the center of his spiritual quest.”

At the beginning of his Sept. 15 address, the Holy Father expressed his gratitude to Father Alejandro Moral, OSA, for his years of service and extended a warm welcome to the newly-elected prior general, Father Joseph Farrell, OSA.

Referring to the general chapter as an opportunity to reflect on the gift received, the challenges, and the current situation of the order, he reminded the Augustinians of the importance of “interiority in the journey of faith.”

He emphasized that this interiority is not “an escape from our responsibilities” but rather “a return to ourselves and then emerge with greater motivation and enthusiasm for the mission.”

“Returning to ourselves,” he added, “renews our spiritual and pastoral drive: We return to the source of religious life and consecration so that we may offer light to those the Lord places on our path.”

Vocations and the formation of young people

He then reflected on what he considers “a fundamental theme”: vocations and initial formation. Pope Leo XIV advised “not to fall into the error of imagining religious formation as a set of rules to observe, things to do, or even as a ready-made habit to be worn passively.”

On the contrary, he clarified that love is at the heart of everything and that “the Christian vocation, and in particular the religious vocation, is born only when one perceives the attraction of something great, of a love that can nourish and satisfy the heart.”

Therefore, he reiterated that it is essential to help young people in particular “to glimpse the beauty of the call and to love what, by embracing the vocation, they can become.” He added: “Vocation and formation are not predetermined realities: They are a spiritual adventure that involves a person’s entire history, and it is above all an adventure of love with God.”

Thus, he emphasized that love, which St. Augustine “placed at the center of his spiritual quest,” is also a fundamental criterion for the dimension of theological study and intellectual formation.

“In the knowledge of God, it is never possible to reach him only with our reason or with a set of theoretical information; it is, above all, a matter of allowing ourselves to be surprised by his greatness, of questioning ourselves and the meaning of events to discover in them the traces of the Creator, and above all, of loving him and making him loved,” he noted.

He also exhorted his Augustinian brothers to be generous and humble, two qualities that are born precisely from love, to have as their reference the “ineffable gift of divine charity,” and to be “faithful to evangelical poverty.”

Finally, he asked them not to forget “our missionary vocation,” recalling that since 1533 the Augustinians have proclaimed the Gospel throughout the world.

“This missionary spirit must not be extinguished, because it is sorely needed today as well. I urge you to revive it, remembering that the evangelizing mission demands the witness of humble and simple joy, availability to service, and participation in the life of the people to whom we are sent,” he emphasized.

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

British royal family set to have first Catholic funeral in centuries 
Mon, 15 Sep 2025 06:00:00 -0400

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 15, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The first Catholic funeral of a member of the British royal family since the Anglican Reformation will take place at Westminster Cathedral on Sept. 16, that of the duchess of Kent, who converted to Catholicism in 1994.

The duchess of Kent — born Katharine Lucy Mary Worsley — died on Sept. 4 at Kensington Palace at the age of 92. She was raised as an Anglican and in 1961 was married in that communion to Prince Edward, duke of Kent and grandson of King George V.

Her conversion to Catholicism began in the wake of personal loss and suffering.

In 1975, while pregnant with her fourth child, the duchess fell ill with measles and, following medical advice, had an abortion for medical reasons. In 1977, she became pregnant again and in a speech to the British Congress of Obstetrics, declared that human life was a gift from God and of unique value, as every birth is a miracle. She also paid tribute to those who fight to protect life and family.

However, she lost the baby at 36 weeks, an experience she described as “devastating” and viewed as punishment for the abortion performed two years earlier.

The duchess continued to practice Anglicanism and made the first of several visits to the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham with the then-Anglican archbishop of Canterbury.

In 1992, the general synod of the Church of England approved the ordination of female priests. This led to the conversion of several Anglicans to Catholicism. The duchess of Kent would enter the Catholic Church in January 1994.

The duchess of Kent’s conversion was historic, as no member of British royalty had been received into the Catholic Church since the late 17th century, at least publicly. In 1685, King Charles II converted to Catholicism on his deathbed, although he had an Anglican funeral.

The duchess herself described her conversion as a “long-considered personal decision” and that she was drawn to the consolation and clarity of the Catholic faith. “I love guidance, and the Catholic Church offers it to you,” she once told the BBC. “I’ve always wanted that in my life. I like to know what’s expected of me.” In 2001, her son, Nicholas Windsor, also joined the Catholic Church.

Upon learning of the duchess’ death, Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster recalled “with fondness her presence in our community, especially her participation in the pilgrimage to Lourdes, as well as her lifetime of public service.”

The royal family’s website reported that the duchess of Kent’s funeral “will take place at Westminster Cathedral on Tuesday, Sept. 16, at 2 p.m. U.K. time.” The Mass will be attended by King Charles III and Queen Camilla.

“Her royal highness’ coffin will be taken by hearse to Westminster Cathedral on Monday, 15th September, where the Rite of Reception and vespers will take place, on the eve of the Requiem Mass. Thereafter it will rest overnight in the Lady Chapel,” the announcement added.

Following the funeral, the duchess of Kent’s remains will be transferred to the Royal Burial Ground in Frogmore, Windsor.

“Flags will be half-masted at all official royal residences flying the Union flag on the day of the funeral,” the website reported.

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

‘No one can silence their voice’: Pope Leo XIV honors modern martyrs at ecumenical service
Sun, 14 Sep 2025 12:38:00 -0400

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 14, 2025 / 12:38 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV led an ecumenical commemoration of the martyrs and witnesses of faith of the 21st century at Rome’s Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls on Sunday, stressing that “even though they have been killed in body, no one can silence their voice or erase the love they have shown.”

The Sept. 14 liturgy brought together Orthodox, Eastern, and Protestant leaders along with ecumenical organizations and Vatican officials.

“Through his cross, Jesus revealed to us the true face of God, his infinite compassion for humanity,” the pope said. “He took upon himself the hatred and violence of the world to share the lot of all those who are humiliated and oppressed.”

Pope Leo, speaking on the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, said that many believers still share in Christ’s cross.

“Like him, they are persecuted, condemned, and killed,” the pope said, pointing to women and men — religious, laypeople, and priests — who have died for their fidelity to the Gospel, their fight for religious freedom, and their solidarity with the poor.

The pope described their witness as “a hope filled with immortality” because it continues to spread the Gospel, cannot be silenced, and stands as a prophecy of the victory of good over evil.

He recalled Sister Dorothy Stang, murdered in Brazil after telling her killers “This is my only weapon” as she held up her Bible. He also remembered Father Ragheed Ganni, a Chaldean priest shot in Mosul, and Brother Francis Tofi, an Anglican religious killed in the Solomon Islands.

“Unfortunately, despite the end of the great dictatorships of the 20th century, to this day the persecution of Christians has not ended,” the pope said.

“We cannot and do not want to forget,” he said. “Just as in the first centuries, so too in the third millennium, the blood of the martyrs is the seed of new Christians.”

Pope Leo reaffirmed the Catholic Church’s commitment to keep alive the memory of martyrs from every Christian tradition, noting the collaboration of the Vatican’s Commission of New Martyrs with the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity.

Recalling the “ecumenism of blood” discussed at the Vatican’s recent Synod on Synodality, he said that the witness of Christian martyrs is “more eloquent than any word: Unity comes from the cross of the Lord.”

The pope ended by citing the words of Abish Masih, a Pakistani boy killed in an attack on a Catholic church who had written in his notebook: “Making the world a better place.” That dream, Pope Leo said, should inspire Christians today “to bear courageous witness to our faith, so that together we may be leaven for a more peaceful and fraternal humanity.”

The service also included prayers from representatives of different Churches for persecuted Christians, the conversion of persecutors, and a united Christian stand for justice, peace, and solidarity with the poor.

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

Vatican lights up with drone show at historic ‘Grace for the World’ concert
Sun, 14 Sep 2025 10:45:00 -0400

Vatican City, Sep 14, 2025 / 10:45 am (CNA).

St. Peter’s Square became the stage for an unprecedented spectacle on Saturday night as tens of thousands gathered for “Grace for the World,” a massive concert closing the third World Meeting on Human Fraternity.

The event opened with breathtaking symbolism: More than 3,000 drones illuminated the night sky above the basilica, tracing the image of Pope Francis, framing Michelangelo’s dome and Bernini’s colonnade in light. The display, a first for the Vatican, drew reverent silence before the crowd erupted in applause.

The moment was accompanied by a stirring duet of “Amazing Grace” performed by world-renowned tenor Andrea Bocelli and American singer Teddy Swims. Their voices rose over the hushed square, blending with the faint hum of the drones in an atmosphere of solemnity and awe.

After that, the Roman sky became a vast canvas. The drones depicted the hands from Michelangelo’s “Creation of Adam,” followed by a monumental dove of peace and finally a striking image of the “Pietà,” Michelangelo’s famous marble sculpture housed in St. Peter’s Basilica. The projections, clear against the night, prompted ovations and a forest of cellphones lifted high to capture the scene.

Also projected was the icon of “Salus Populi Romani,” venerated in the Basilica of St. Mary Major and cherished by Pope Francis.

The innovative display set the tone for the evening: a call to universal fraternity, dialogue among cultures, and hope in times of global crisis. For the first time in history, St. Peter’s Square was transformed into an open-air arena for a concert of this scale.

The event marked the conclusion of the two-day World Meeting on Human Fraternity, which brought together 500 participants, including Nobel laureates, academics, cultural leaders, and experts in technology and the environment. Fifteen dialogue panels explored themes such as peace, care for the planet, technology’s impact, and the future of humanity.

In his greeting to the audience, Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica and president of the Fratelli Tutti Foundation, proclaimed: “In the midst of shadows, we see the possibility of a rebirth: the capacity to resist, to innovate, to build bridges.”

Bocelli, a practicing Catholic and one of the world’s most acclaimed tenors, was among the evening’s central performers. He opened with Schubert’s “Ave Maria,” transforming the square into a place of silence and emotion.

Colombian singer Karol G drew some of the loudest ovations of the night. She performed “Mientras me curo el cora” in a gospel-inspired style and closed with a moving duet with Bocelli of “Vivo per lei.” Dressed in an elegant, understated outfit, she was greeted with flags, shirts, and chants from fans who had crowded the front rows.

Alongside the music came urgent appeals for peace and justice. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kailash Satyarthi, Mozambican activist Graça Machel, and Iraqi Nobel laureate Nadia Murad all called for an end to war and violence, urging greater commitment to human dignity and fraternity.

Pope Leo XIV was not present at the concert, but organizers thanked him for his support and noted that he celebrates his 70th birthday Sunday.

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

Pope marks 70th birthday at Sunday Angelus: ‘I give thanks to the Lord and to my parents’
Sun, 14 Sep 2025 09:55:00 -0400

Vatican City, Sep 14, 2025 / 09:55 am (CNA).

On Sunday, his 70th birthday, Pope Leo XIV presided at the recitation of the Angelus with pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square. From the early morning hours, the square had filled up with the faithful carrying banners, flags, and congratulatory signs to celebrate the pope’s milestone.

Leo was visibly moved when musical groups in the square played “Happy Birthday,” a gesture greeted with applause, cheers, and the waving of signs bearing messages of gratitude and blessing.

“Dear brothers and sisters, happy Sunday! Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, commemorating the discovery of the cross by St. Helen in Jerusalem in the fourth century and the return of the precious relic to the Holy City by the Emperor Heraclius,” the pope said at the start of his reflection.

He explained that the day’s Gospel (Jn 3:13–17) presents Nicodemus as “one of the leaders of the Jews, a righteous and open-minded person … He needs light and guidance: He seeks God and asks the Teacher of Nazareth for help because he recognizes him as a prophet, a man who performs extraordinary signs.”

“The Lord welcomes him, listens to him, and eventually reveals to him that the Son of Man must be lifted up, ‘so that whoever believes in him may have eternal life’ … adding: ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life,’” the pope said.

“God saves us by showing himself to us, offering himself as our companion, teacher, doctor, friend, to the point of becoming bread broken for us in the Eucharist. In order to accomplish this task, he used one of the cruelest instruments that human beings have ever invented: the cross,” Leo said.

“That is why today we celebrate the ‘exaltation’: for the immense love with which God has transformed the means to death into an instrument of life, embracing it for our salvation, teaching us that nothing can separate us from him and that his love is greater than our own sin,” he added.

After leading the Angelus, the pope noted the 60th anniversary of St. Paul VI’s institution of the Synod of Bishops, expressing hope that “this anniversary will inspire a renewed commitment to the unity and mission of the Church.” He also extended greetings to pilgrims from around the world.

At the close, he turned to a more personal meaning of the day: “Dear friends, it seems that you know that today I turn 70 years old. I give thanks to the Lord and to my parents; and I thank all those who have remembered me in their prayers. Many thanks to everyone! Thank you! Have a good Sunday!”

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

Death of Melkite Catholic in Syrian prison sparks debate over security abuses
Sun, 14 Sep 2025 08:09:00 -0400

ACI MENA, Sep 14, 2025 / 08:09 am (CNA).

The death of Milad Farakh, a member of the Melkite Greek Catholic community from the village of Kafra in Syria’s Valley of Christians (Wadi al-Nasara), has stirred controversy on social media. About two weeks after his arrest and transfer to the Balouna Prison in Homs on charges of selling spoiled meat, reports emerged recently that he had died under torture, based on leaks.

A local source told ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, that the “spoiled meat” charge (Farakh was a butcher) was merely a cover to prevent unrest in the region. The source added that the security services themselves admitted Farakh had died under torture and issued an official apology. The officer responsible for interrogating him was also detained.

At the same time, the source stressed that media claims of “persecution of Christians” in Wadi al-Nasara do not reflect reality.

“We have never felt any direct targeting. Relations between the local community and the security services are built on coordination, especially with the church authorities. Speaking of persecution here is inaccurate.” He summarized the main problems faced by detainees during investigations involve three things: denial of communication with their families, lengthy interrogation periods, and the use of torture.

From the perspective of Syrian security services, Farakh’s real charge was collaboration with foreign actors.

“The authorities told us they had photos, videos, and audio recordings implicating him in the bombing of a car near the Valley Hotel about a month ago (officially attributed at the time to a fuel tank explosion), as well as in planting an explosive device in another location,” the source told ACI MENA. “He was also accused of receiving explosives and coordinating with outside groups to provoke media outrage and frame the events as persecution of Christians in Wadi al-Nasara, in order to establish an opposition front in the region.”urc

Despite these accusations, the source concluded: “We cannot confirm either his involvement or his innocence. He died before his side of the story could be heard or before a fair trial could take place.”

In a related development, the nearby city of Qusayr in Homs province recently witnessed a wave of arrests. Initially, they were described as an attempt to drive out Christians. Later it was learned that 30 people had been detained, most of them Muslims (both Sunnis and Alawites). Some have since been released, while about 15 remain in custody, including seven Christians, facing charges ranging from murder and rape to falsifying property records, according to the Syrian Ministry of Interior.

This story was first published by ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, and has been translated for and adapted by CNA.

‘Happy birthday, Pope Leo!’: EWTN viewers around the world share songs, prayers
Sun, 14 Sep 2025 07:09:00 -0400

National Catholic Register, Sep 14, 2025 / 07:09 am (CNA).

Sept. 14 marks Pope Leo XIV’s 70th birthday. To celebrate, “EWTN News In Depth” invited viewers to send in video messages to share their own personal greeting to the Holy Father on such a momentous occasion.

The responses ranged from young Catholic school children singing “Happy Birthday” to seminarians and priests sharing their own sentiments and religious sisters gathered to say happy birthday in unison. Some celebrated by blowing out candles while holding their own Pope Leo prayer card, while many just thanked the Holy Father for all the love and joy he shares daily.

Although many American voices shared birthday blessings and prayers of gratitude, several messages came from the Philippines, many in Spanish, and one even from Norway and the Netherlands.

There was a heartfelt greeting from a group in Hong Kong and another from an African girl in her Catholic school uniform.

Voices also came in from France, Indonesia, and Poland. A man named Derrick shared a message from Moscow in Russia. And there were countless voices from his own hometown, Chicago!

Pope Leo even received a special message from his alma mater, Villanova University: “May God continue to bless you,” a current student said. Good wishes also came from the Augustinian-run Villanova College in Brisbane, Australia, where the celebration featured a birthday cake and a cutout of the pope.

Young Catholic school pupils in Cincinnati offered a creative rendition of “Happy Birthday,” while another beautiful compilation came in all the way from Nigeria at St. Augustine’s Catholic School in Oghara. Students also shared a message from Galilee in the Holy Land from Christian Outreach Center, all excited to celebrate with the pope.

One boy from St. Joseph’s Catholic School in South Bend, Indiana, was so excited to share not only that he shares the same name, Leo, but also the same birthday, adding that he’s turning 14 this weekend.

Many viewers shared their excitement about having their first American-born pope, some just taking the time to send in their own greeting from the comforts of their own home. “We are so grateful to have you as a Church,” a young woman wrote. “We as young people especially would like to let you know that we are listening to you, that we are behind you, and we are living out the Gospel message because of you.” Another man shared a message from Pendleton, Oregon, assuring Pope Leo of his daily prayers for him.

A few greetings came in from fellow polyglots, sharing birthday greetings in multiple languages, something the pope of many tongues will enjoy. And one woman was really creative, making an acrostic poem using the letters of the pope’s name.

One greeting came in from the National Shrine of St. Maximilian Kolbe at Marytown in Libertyville, Illinois, from a group sitting on the floor holding a Chicago White Sox flag, all with matching Pope Leo shirts, including Bubba the hassett hound who is “our beloved mascot, who is usually a Cubs fan but this weekend, he said he’ll root for the Sox just for you!”

Many of the messages came with promises of prayer with hearts full of gratitude. To watch all the videos that came in, please enjoy the video below:

Happy birthday Pope Leo!

Juan Dabdoub, tireless defender of life and family in Mexico, dies
Sun, 14 Sep 2025 06:00:00 -0400

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 14, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Juan Dabdoub Giacoman, a legendary and tireless defender of life and family in Mexico, passed away at the age of 71 on Sept. 11 in Mexico City after a long battle with cancer.

“A Catholic at heart and by conviction,” as he described himself on his social media, Dabdoub was born on Nov. 30, 1953, in Monterrey in Nuevo León state in Mexico and specialized in marketing and business management.

Self-described as a “rebel by nature and an idealist by conviction,” Dabdoub dedicated his recent decades to activism in support of life and family, and founded the Mexican Council of the Family (ConFamilia), which promoted an amendment to the Mexican Constitution to officially recognize marriage as between one man and one woman.

The proposal was supported by more than 200,000 signatures, nearly twice the number required by law, but was ignored by the country’s Senate despite the legal requirement to consider the initiative. Under Mexican law, a citizen initiative is a means for citizens to directly file a specific bill or have a particular issue taken up by the Congress.

Dabdoub was also part of the founding group of the National Front for the Family, which organized a historic day of demonstrations across Mexico on Sept. 10, 2016, in rejection of the attempt by the federal executive branch, then led by President Enrique Peña Nieto, to promote same-sex marriage nationwide.

A few days later, in Mexico City alone, more than 400,000 people gathered, an event led by Dabdoub, along with other pro-family leaders.

In 2023 he denounced that textbooks distributed by the Mexican government contained “ideologized education”: “They provide sex education that the state is not supposed to provide. They provide it in a bad way and pervertedly,” he told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, at the time.

In his fight to defend life and family, as well as against gender ideology, he organized speaking tours throughout the country alongside figures such as Agustín Laje and Nicolás Márquez, authors of the Spanish-language book “Black Book of the New Left,” also available in English.

He was a speaker at various international and national events on family issues, a panelist on various television programs, and a guest columnist for various media outlets such as Grupo Reforma’s newspaper El Norte. He was also the author of numerous articles and essays on the defense of life and the family.

He participated in the U.N. Population Conference in Cairo, Egypt, in 1994, and in the World Congresses of Families in Geneva (1999) and Mexico City (2004).

Dabdoub studied at the Pan-American Institute of Senior Business Management (IPADE by its Spanish acronym) in Monterrey; he earned a master’s degree in marketing from Thunderbird in Glendale, Arizona, and a postgraduate degree in international trade from the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Rio de Janeiro.

He was a professor of strategic planning at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, a professor of marketing at the University of Monterrey, and a professor at the Middle Management Training Institute, a subsidiary of IPADE.

He was the founding president of Familia Mundial (World Family) and also worked at companies such as Kimberly-Clark Mexico, the Gamesa-Nabisco Group, and the Alfa Industrial Group.

In recent years, Dabdoub remained steadfast in his pro-life and pro-family activism, even as he battled a devastating bout of cancer. After an initial victory, he experienced a relapse in recent months.

He is survived by his four children, Juan Pablo, Patricio, Alejandro, and Nicole; and by a granddaughter.

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

Pope Leo XIV’s Peruvian birthdays: Simplicity, closeness, and community
Sat, 13 Sep 2025 17:00:00 -0400

Lima Newsroom, Sep 13, 2025 / 17:00 pm (CNA).

Before becoming Pope Leo XIV, Bishop Robert Prevost celebrated various birthdays in Chiclayo, Peru, with gestures marked by simplicity, closeness, and community as remembered by laypeople and groups of faithful who shared these moments with him during his years as bishop of the diocese.

Father Jorge Millán, who worked closely with Prevost in Chiclayo, recalled the sober style of these celebrations: “We used to gather as a family with the bishop: lunch, the classic cake, singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to him... It was just a pleasant afternoon, nothing more, but then he would return to work,” he shared with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

In the mornings, he recounted, the bishop received greetings from institutions and schools in the city, while in the afternoon he celebrated a birthday Mass at the cathedral.

“That was his solemn celebration with the citizens. Everything was generally very simple, but at the same time very emotional, because he welcomed these gestures and was delighted,” the priest added.

Janinna Sesa Córdova, former director of Caritas Chiclayo, fondly recalled a surprise prepared by the team of volunteers: “One year we made him believe we were looking for him for an urgent matter. When he arrived, we surprised him with balloons, a big card, and a cake. He was truly surprised because he wasn’t expecting it.”

The Eucharistic Miracle 1649 Peru group also has fond memories. Its coordinator, Jesús León Ángeles, especially highlighted Sept. 14, 2022, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the authorities had declared a national quarantine: “We brought him a cake with his image and the design of the future Eucharistic Shrine of Eten on it. When he saw us, he began to applaud with a smile and said, ‘Thank you very much, let’s keep journeying together.’”

Every Sept. 14, his birthday, coincided with the feast of the Lord in Captivity, a local devotion. As Millán recalled, “he never put his [birthday] first; he participated faithfully in the celebration and preferred to remain unnoticed in that sense.”

This affection is expressed today in Rome. César Fernández, president of the Jesus of Nazareth in Captivity Association of Monsefú-Rome, announced that in 2025 they will carry a large banner with the message “Happy birthday, Holy Father Leo XIV. Chiclayo and Monsefú await you,” along with traditional music and dances. “For us, it’s a way of returning the affection he sowed in our land.”

Testimonies agree that, both in Chiclayo and elsewhere, Pope Leo XIV never sought the limelight. He preferred to share the table — with kid goat, duck, and rice, or his favorite dessert, lemon pie — and celebrate with the community in a fraternal atmosphere.

“He was characterized by his simplicity. He ate whatever was offered to him, drove himself to the parishes, and sat with the people to gaze at the stars. He always conveyed closeness and humility,” Jesús León Ángeles recalled.

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

Pope Leo XIV urges theologians to defend creation and human dignity in the age of AI
Sat, 13 Sep 2025 12:30:00 -0400

Vatican City, Sep 13, 2025 / 12:30 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Saturday urged Catholic theologians to embrace a “theology of wisdom” capable of addressing urgent global challenges, from environmental crises to the ethical questions posed by artificial intelligence (AI).

In his address to participants of an international seminar organized by the Pontifical Academy of Theology, the pope said that “environmental sustainability and the care of creation are essential commitments to ensure the survival of the human race” and have a direct impact on peaceful human coexistence.

Leo emphasized that theology is at the heart of the Church’s missionary work but must be “incarnate, imbued with the human pains, joys, expectations and hopes of the women and men of our time.” Citing the examples of St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, he said the great masters of the past modeled a synthesis of faith and reason that can guide theology today.

Turning to contemporary matters, Pope Leo warned that the Church must not limit itself to moral reflections when considering AI.

“An exclusively ethical approach to the complex world of artificial intelligence is not enough,” he said, stressing the need for an anthropological vision rooted in human dignity. “What is a human being? What is his or her inherent dignity, which is irreconcilable with a digital android?”

Leo recalled 2023 legislation by his predecessor Pope Francis that reformed the academy, highlighting its three “faces”: academic rigor, contemplative wisdom, and solidarity expressed in acts of charity. Theology, Leo said, should remain rooted in an encounter with Christ while engaging philosophy, science, economics, law, literature, and the arts. Dialogue within the Church must also lead to dialogue with other cultures and religions, so that theology may serve both the Church and the wider world, the pope said.

Pope Leo approves new measures to include people with disabilities in Vatican workforce
Sat, 13 Sep 2025 11:30:00 -0400

Vatican City, Sep 13, 2025 / 11:30 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV has approved new measures to promote the hiring of people with disabilities in the Vatican, saying their condition does not prevent them from serving in Church institutions.

The updated regulations require Vatican offices to welcome and support employees with disabilities, including by providing accommodations where needed, “since the condition of disability does not preclude suitability for work,” the new provision states.

Health requirements for job candidates have also been revised. Instead of demanding perfect health, the focus will be on whether a person is fit for the specific duties of the job, with certification provided by Vatican health services.

The changes apply both to the Holy See and to Vatican City and take effect immediately. They follow another papal decision in August expanding family benefits for employees, including paternity leave and extra support for parents caring for children with disabilities.

New U.S. ambassador to the Vatican presents credentials to Pope Leo XIV
Sat, 13 Sep 2025 11:03:00 -0400

Vatican City, Sep 13, 2025 / 11:03 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Saturday morning received Brian Burch, the new U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace for the formal presentation of his letters of credence.

According to a U.S. embassy statement, the two men discussed the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza as well as “protecting religious freedom, the Vatican’s relationship with China, and the AI revolution.”

Regarding this week’s assassination of conservative Christian activist Charlie Kirk, “Pope Leo underscored that our political differences can never be resolved with violence and told Ambassador Burch that he was praying for the widow of Mr. Kirk and his children,” the embassy said.

The ambassador also presented the pope, who turns 70 on Sunday, with a personalized birthday cake.

Burch, 50, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Aug. 2 in a 49-44 vote. He was nominated by President Donald Trump in December 2024 and succeeds former ambassador Joe Donnelly, who served under the Biden administration.

In a statement following his confirmation, Burch said he was “profoundly grateful” to the president and Senate for the opportunity to serve and asked for the prayers of Catholics across the United States, “that I may serve honorably and faithfully in the noble adventure ahead.”

A native of Phoenix, Burch is married and the father of nine children. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Dallas in 1997 and began his career in business before moving into Catholic nonprofit leadership. From 2005 until his confirmation this year, he was president of CatholicVote Civic Action and the CatholicVote Education Fund, organizations dedicated to promoting Catholic engagement in public life.

During his time with CatholicVote, Burch became a nationally recognized figure in Catholic political advocacy, encouraging American Catholics to participate in the democratic process and to defend religious liberty and the sanctity of life. CatholicVote’s new president, Kelsey Reinhardt, said in August that the group “joyfully celebrates” his confirmation, praising his 17 years of leadership.

On the occasion of his confirmation, Burch noted a point of personal significance for him in his new role. “In a remarkable coincidence, or what I prefer to attribute to providence, Pope Leo XIV is from Chicago, which is also my hometown,” he said.

After meeting the pope on Saturday, the embassy said, “Ambassador Burch described the meeting as extraordinarily friendly, like talking to a friend back home in Chicago.”

Faith, family, and God’s mercy: Highlights from Erika Kirk’s TV address
Sat, 13 Sep 2025 10:05:00 -0400

CNA Newsroom, Sep 13, 2025 / 10:05 am (CNA).

Erika Kirk, the widow of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk, vowed to continue her husband’s work Friday night during an impassioned and deeply personal televised address that focused on the importance of faith and family life.

Appearing on Fox News just two days after her husband was shot and killed by an assassin’s bullet, fired from a rooftop on the campus of Utah Valley University where he was holding an outdoor event, she spoke for more than 16 minutes, maintaining her composure as she stood at a podium in her husband’s podcast studio, beside his empty chair.

“I will never, ever have the words to describe the loss that I feel in my heart,” said Erika Kirk, the mother of two young children, ages 1 and 3.

“I honestly have no idea what any of this means,” she said. “I know that God does, but I don’t. But Charlie, baby, I know you do, too. So does Our Lord.”

“The evildoers responsible for my husband’s assassination have no idea what they have done,” she said.

“They killed Charlie because he preached a message of patriotism, faith, and of God’s merciful love.”

Here are other highlights from her remarks:

She revealed that she had not yet told the couple’s 3-year-old daughter of her father’s death.

“When I got home last night, Gigi, our daughter, just ran into my arms. And I talked to her, and she said, ‘Mommy, I missed you.’ I said, ‘I missed you too, baby.’

“She goes, ‘Where’s daddy?’ She’s 3. I said, ‘Baby, daddy loves you so much. He’s on a work trip with Jesus, so he can afford your blueberry budget.’”

She talked about why her husband advocated so passionately for marriage and family life.

“Charlie always believed that God’s design for marriage in the family was absolutely amazing. And it is. It is. And it was the greatest joy of his life. And over and over, he would tell all these young people to come and find their future spouse, become wives and husbands and parents. And the reason why is because he wanted you all to experience what he had, and still has,” she said.

“He wanted everyone to bring heaven into this earth through love and joy that comes from raising a family. It’s beautiful. Charlie always said that if he ever ran for office — I know a lot of you asked if he ever was going to — but privately, he told me if he ever did run for office, that his top priority would be to revive the American family. That was his priority.

“One of Charlie’s favorite Bible verses was Ephesians 5 verse 25: ‘Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.’

“My husband laid down his life for me, for our nation, for our children. He showed the ultimate and true covenantal love,” she said.

Erika, who is a baptized Catholic, witnessed to the Christian faith she and her husband shared.

“Charlie always said that when he was gone, he, he wanted to be remembered for his courage and for his faith,” she said.

“And one of the final conversations that he had on this earth, my husband witnessed for his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Now and for all eternity, he will stand at his Savior’s side, wearing the glorious crown of a martyr.”

During the broadcast, Erika Kirk urged others to make faith central to their lives, as her husband had done.

“But most important of all, if you aren’t a member of a church, I beg you to join one, a Bible-believing church,” she said.

“Our battle is not simply a political one above all. It is spiritual. It is spiritual. The spiritual warfare is palpable. Charlie loved his Savior with all of his heart, and he wanted every one of you to know him, too. He wanted everyone to know that if they confess, if they confess the Lord Jesus Christ who rose from the dead, then they will be saved.

“Hear me when I say this. Nobody is ever too young to know the Gospel. Nobody. Nobody is ever too young to get involved with saving this beautiful country, this country my husband loved and still loves. And nobody is ever too old, either.”

She vowed to continue Charlie’s work with Turning Point USA, the conservativve advocacy organization he founded, and said the campus speaking tour he had just embarked on would go on.

“If you thought that my husband’s mission was powerful before, you have no idea. You have no idea what you just have unleashed across this entire country and this world. You have no idea,” she said.

“You have no idea the fire that you have ignited within this wife. The cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry.

“To everyone listening tonight across America, the movement my husband built will not die,” she said. “It won’t. I refuse to let that happen. It will not die.”

‘Kendrick was joyful all the time,’ reflects father of Kendrick Castillo
Sat, 13 Sep 2025 10:00:00 -0400

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 13, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

The Diocese of Colorado Springs announced it received a petition to open a cause for canonization for Kendrick Castillo, the lone fatal casualty after a shooting at a Colorado school in 2019, when the 18-year-old died after jumping into the line of fire to stop one of the shooters.

“Knowing Kendrick, we knew that that was something that he would do,” said his parents, Maria and John Castillo, in an interview with “EWTN News In Depth” this week.

“We’re so humbled and grateful,” John said about the opening of Kendrick’s cause for canonization. “It’s one of the greatest gifts that can ever be bestowed upon anybody. It’s just the sheer mention of sainthood. We always have felt … that since Kendrick was born, he’s been our saint. He’s worthy, and we believe that. But to hear it coming from our Catholic brothers and sisters and our families, it’s different and it’s more powerful.”

The priests in the diocese advocating for Kendrick’s cause believe that he qualifies for beatification in a new category called “Offering of Life.”

In a 2017 motu proprio, Pope Francis established a new category of Christian life eligible for beatification, recognizing individuals who died prematurely as a sacrificial offering of their life out of love for God and neighbor.

Since his death, there have been “numerous things that have taken place to honor Kendrick, and they’ve all been spectacular,” John said. “But this is on a level that is indescribable. It really is an honor, it’s humbling.”

Reflected on the kind of man his son was, John said: “Kendrick was joyful all the time. I don’t think there’s a picture [of him] that we have that doesn’t have a smile on it. He was just happy all the time. He loved life.”

“He made friends everywhere he went,” John continued, remembering a particular time when Kendrick was in preschool. “A child was being dropped off and was afraid to leave his mom for the day. Kendrick, as a little kid, went over and hugged him and said it would be OK and comforted him. That was just in his nature.”

At the public school Kendrick attended, “he took his Catholic faith and did what we’re asked to do as Catholics,” John said. He showed the “agape love that we should have for our savior. That’s what Kendrick did every day. I just wish people got to know his personality and see that.”

His son had a “willingness to live out his faith and help his community at church,” the elder Castillo said, recalling his service as an usher and altar server at Mass and funerals.

On the day of the shooting, Kendrick “risked his life to save others,” John said. “That was in Kendrick’s nature. We wish that he didn’t have to do that, of course. But in that moment, it wasn’t surprising to us that he would not run the other way [and] that he would defend the sanctity of life.”

Maria said she wants her son to be remembered for “his love.” She said: “He loved his friends, his parents, but most importantly, he loved God.”

Following recent shootings at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minnesota and Evergreen High School in Colorado, John offered consolation and wisdom to parents who have lost a child in such a tragedy. “My words to them would be: ‘Hold each other close.’”

“Remember what we’re called to do in faith and surrender to trust in the Lord,” John said. “God did not make this happen. Evil is real, and we can’t let evil divide us. We must comfort one another. We must try to seek viable solutions that are going to create safety for our families and our community … Reach out to one another and don’t let evil win and pull you away from anything that’s positive and God’s grace in our lives.”

Students for Life’s Kristan Hawkins: Charlie Kirk ‘died a martyr’
Sat, 13 Sep 2025 09:00:00 -0400

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 13, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

In the wake of the assassination of Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10 at a Utah college campus, Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America and Students for Life Action and a close friend of Kirk’s, said: “His death will be a turning point.”

In an interview with “EWTN News In Depth,” Hawkins called Kirk “a joyful warrior.” She pointed out: “He was a man of God and just moments before he was assassinated, he had proclaimed that Jesus Christ is his Lord and Savior. And he never shirked away from that, just like he never shirked away from any of the other political debates … I believe with my whole heart, he died a martyr.”

Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA and campus activist, “truly enjoyed having conversations with those who disagreed with him and having the opportunity to change their minds,” Hawkins said. “He was a huge learning advocate … He was always wanting to find out the best ways to save our country and to advance our faith.”

“We work symbiotically on campuses to spread the good news of the Gospel, but then also spread the voice of reason, which Pope Benedict was very clear [about]. He wrote about how reason is God’s gift and when reason is abandoned, violence becomes the only remaining path … When people stop talking, when they disagree with each other, it only leads to violence.”

Hawkins highlighted Kirk’s mission to protect human life. Students for Life honored him in January at the National Pro-Life Summit with the Defender of Life Award “for his advocacy for life on college campuses.”

Turning Point, Students for Life, and similar organizations that work to defend life “have become increasingly effective [in] winning back students,” Hawkins said, especially because of Kirk’s “ability to reach young men.”

While the pro-life organizations have been “effective and things have started to shift in our country, it hasn’t shifted enough,” Hawkins said. “We still have a culture of death.”

Manifestation of the ‘culture of death’

The day of Kirk’s death, Hawkins was speaking to students at the University of Montana. “I was on campus for two hours before Charlie was shot and every argument from the 150 pro-choice students who surrounded me … was: ‘Maybe it is a baby, maybe it is human, but I can still kill it because I want to. That’s a culture of death.”

“When I announced to them that my friend had been shot and we were trying to find updates on Charlie’s condition … they laughed.”

“This is what a culture of death breeds. When you say it’s OK to kill innocent babies and that there should be no recourse [for] killing innocent, helpless babies who are the most innocent among us, this is what it leads to. This is why we say it’s a culture of death that must be defeated and this is why we can’t abandon the campuses right now,” Hawkins said. “Do we abandon violence or accept reason?”

Despite this tragedy, Hawkins said: “We have to stay on campuses, because we have to teach this generation, Gen Z, that violence isn’t acceptable.” She shared that her organizations will be going to “160 campuses this semester talking about [their] fall theme, which is ‘every human life matters.’ Charlie Kirk’s life matters.”

“We have to go now harder and louder than ever before because God’s gift of reason must prevail. That is the only way our mission survives this.”

Hawkins also asked people to pray for Kirk’s wife, Erika, and their young children. “I can’t even imagine the pain that Erika is going through,” Hawkins said. “To lose the love of her life, the father of her children, her rock, one that she loves so dearly, and Erika loves so fiercely. But she also loves the Lord.”

“And so my prayer for her right now is that her faith prevails, and her faith carries her through this moment, and God grants her strength. She is strong enough to endure this. I would ask folks every morning when you wake up, pray for Erika. Pray for those two young children.”

The spiritual testament of Cardinal Karlic, one of the authors of the catechism
Sat, 13 Sep 2025 08:00:00 -0400

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 13, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

The Archdiocese of Paraná in Argentina has published the spiritual testament of Cardinal Estanislao Karlic one month after his death.

The prelate was one of the authors of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and died on Aug. 8 at the age of 99.

The archdiocese noted that the testament was written by Karlic at the House of Mary of the Benedictine monastery Our Lady of Paraná ​​in Aldea María Luisa during the solemnity of the Nativity of Jesus in 2024. Karlic served as archbishop of the archdiocese from 1983 to 2003.

In his opening lines, the Argentine cardinal wrote: “The truth of the Catholic faith is what I confess as light, the light with which I ask the Lord to illuminate me in making this testament. I place myself before divine mercy, praying that it may envelop me with its redeeming love in the final moment of my earthly life. I thank God for the love he gave me, even before creation, in Christ the Redeemer.”

The cardinal also gave thanks for “the life the Lord gave me through my beloved parents, who from their native Croatia were welcomed by this generous and welcoming Argentine land, where they were able to grow as a family, work, and provide a future for their children; I give thanks for the immense gift of baptism, for the education I received within my family together with my sisters, Milka and Catalina, in my hometown of Oliva, and in Córdoba.”

After recalling that he studied at Monserrat School, the Córdoba seminary, the Pontifical Pio Latin American College in Rome, and Gregorian University, Karlic expressed his gratitude for the gift of the priesthood, the Archdiocese of Paraná, which welcomed him as archbishop, the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires, his brother bishops, the German dioceses that supported his archdiocese, the Augustinians who welcomed him in 2005, Pope John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI, who created him a cardinal.

“St. John Paul II undeservedly honored me by appointing me to the drafting committee of the catechism of the universal Church, and thus allowed me to have the extraordinary experience of the Church’s universal love for all men,” the cardinal recalled.

To the people of Argentina

The cardinal also dedicated a few lines to his homeland: “To the pilgrim people of Argentina, I say that I have wanted to serve my blessed homeland with all my soul, dreaming of a life of authentic fraternity for it, as children of the same Father, based on genuine respect and dialogue to give everyone the opportunity to live a life worthy of the generosity that the Lord has had with this land, which he has showered with so many splendid gifts.”

“May the Lord forgive our many sins and give us the grace of a true moral conversion to make this possible,” he continued.

“In this final remembrance, I don’t want to forget anyone. That’s why I hold in my heart all the people I’ve met, all those who have been my dear friends, all those who have prayed for me and done me some kindness, and also those who have found it hardest to love me,” he wrote, entrusting himself to the Virgin Mary.

Who was Cardinal Karlic?

Born on Feb. 7, 1926, in Oliva, Córdoba province, Argentina, to a family of Croatian immigrants, his career included various milestones: He earned a doctorate in theology from the Gregorian University in Rome, was archbishop of Paraná, president of the Argentine Bishops’ Conference for two terms, and one of the authors of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

He served as professor of theology and head of the philosophy department at the Córdoba major seminary and received an honorary doctorate from the Catholic University of Santa Fe.

Karlic spent his final years at Our Lady of Paraná Monastery, where he shared his daily life with a community of Benedictine sisters, who gathered every morning at 11 a.m. in the chapel where he celebrated Mass.

In a telegram marking Karlic’s death, Pope Leo XIV recalled with gratitude the ministry of the man he described as “a selfless and upright pastor who, for many years and with great fidelity, dedicated his life to the service of God and the Church, bringing the light of the Gospel to various fields of life and culture.”

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

New Vatican interfaith team to meet Russian patriarch, leading imam in Kazakhstan
Sat, 13 Sep 2025 07:00:00 -0400

Vatican City, Sep 13, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Religious leaders from China, Russia, the Middle East, and the Vatican are converging in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Sept. 17–18 for the VIII Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions.

The gathering brings together some of the world’s most diverse spiritual voices at a moment of heightened global tensions. This year’s congress will focus on the theme “Dialogue of Religions: Synergy for the Future.”

The congress is convened by the government of Kazakhstan under the patronage of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who will formally open the gathering. Organizers also expect Pope Leo XIV to send a special message, following the tradition of papal support for the congress.

For the Vatican, it marks the first major interfaith event under Pope Leo XIV and the debut of an entirely new papal delegation. Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad, newly-appointed prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, will deliver a keynote at the plenary session and read the final declaration at the closing ceremony.

He is joined by Father Laurent Basanese, SJ, secretary for Religious Relations with Muslims. The French Jesuit, known for his expertise in Christian-Muslim dialogue, will contribute to a working group, attend the secretariat meeting, and address the Forum of Young Religious Leaders.

“Since its founding, it has become a privileged space for promoting peace and mutual understanding among religions and cultures,” Basanese told CNA.

The Vatican delegation also includes Father Vincenzo Marinelli, deputy apostolic nuncio to Kazakhstan, and Professor Tiziano Onesti, president of the Vatican’s pediatric hospital Bambino Gesù, who will lead medical cooperation talks with Kazakh institutions.

One notable first this year is the participation of the Sovereign Order of Malta. Representing the order will be Pasquale Ferrara, diplomatic adviser to the order’s advisory council, who will take part in the congress on Sept. 18.

One of the most anticipated figures in Astana is Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, whose participation has been officially confirmed. He last attended the congress in 2012. His presence raises the prospect of the highest-level Vatican-Moscow encounter since the war in Ukraine.

Earlier this summer, Pope Leo received Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk in Rome, and Metropolitan Anthony will return to the Eternal City on Sept. 14 for an ecumenical commemoration of the new martyrs at St. Paul’s Outside the Walls.

Four days later, Patriarch Kirill will preside over a prayer service in Astana’s Assumption Cathedral for the new martyrs and confessors of Kazakhstan. The twin commemorations — one in Rome, the other in Astana — underscore how the memory of Christian martyrdom is providing common ground for dialogue.

Another high-profile participant is Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar. In 2019, he co-signed with Pope Francis the historic Document on Human Fraternity in Abu Dhabi, which inspired the United Nations to establish Feb. 4 as the International Day of Human Fraternity just days before the congress.

Rome hosted the World Meeting on Human Fraternity on Sept. 12–13, where Pope Leo XIV greeted participants on Friday.

Basanese told CNA that for him the gathering in Astana is more than symbolic: “Interreligious dialogue, which often requires inexhaustible patience, cannot be reduced to superficial consensus or a sterile ‘diplomacy of smiles.’ In reality it is central to the Church’s mission. In 2025 we mark the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, which affirmed that the Church ‘rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions.’ Dialogue does not mean giving up the truth but bearing witness with respect, listening, and charity.”

The congress was first convened in 2003 on the initiative of Kazakhstan’s first President Nursultan Nazarbayev, inspired by the interreligious meeting at Assisi in 1986 and strengthened by Pope John Paul II’s visit to Kazakhstan in 2001. Since then, it has been held every three years in Astana, bringing together leaders of major religions to foster peace and mutual understanding. The Holy See has participated since the beginning, and Pope Francis himself attended the previous congress in 2022.

‘Surge of enthusiasm’ among Catholics in Asia after St. Carlo Acutis canonization 
Sat, 13 Sep 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 13, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Here is a roundup of Catholic world news from the past week that you might have missed:

‘Surge of enthusiasm’ among Catholic in Asia after St. Carlo Acutis canonization

Young Catholics in Asia are “experiencing a surge of enthusiasm” around the life of the newly canonized St. Carlos Acutis, according to the testimony of Father Will Conquer, a Paris Foreign Missions Society priest stationed in Cambodia, according to a Sept. 8 UCA News report.

“In Asia, where digital culture is omnipresent, Carlo Acutis stands out as a ‘saint 2.0,’” said Conquer, who added that the young saint’s life “resonates particularly in this region where young people, connected and searching for meaning, find in him an accessible and inspiring role model.”

Catholic leaders in Jerusalem gather for conference on property tax laws

The Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land gathered at the Notre Dame Center in Jerusalem on Sept. 10 for a “high-level conference dedicated to the Arnona property tax issue,” the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said in a Sept. 12 press release.

The conference comes after the Jerusalem Municipality’s decision to impose the Arnona municipal property tax on church properties, breaking with the historic status quo that has exempted Christian churches in the Holy Land from paying property taxes since the Ottoman Empire.

According to the release, the conference opened with a keynote address by Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, who “emphasized that the status quo regarding the Arnona tax has come to an end and that change is inevitable.” Pizzaballa further called for leaders among the assembly to unite and “for institutions to prepare themselves collectively and responsibly for the upcoming changes.”

Catholic charity delivers water to South Korean city plighted by drought

A charity organization called the Catholic Medical Angels has delivered 10 tons of water to the coastal city of Gangneung in South Korea, where rapidly declining water levels in the city’s Obong Reservoir has prompted a water crisis, according to a report from UCA News.

“Though it is a small effort, we hope it helps the citizens of Gangneung and that this severe drought is resolved as soon as possible,” said Min Chang-Ki, director of the Catholic Medical Center, which oversees the Catholic Medical Angels.

The delivery took place on Sept. 3 and was carried out at parishes across the local Chuncheon Diocese. The diminishing reservoir ordinarily supplies about 87% of the city’s tap and industrial water, the report said.

Filipino priest to receive Nobel Prize of Asia for opposition toward former president

Filipino priest Father Flavie Villanueva will receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award, often referred to as the “Nobel Prize of Asia,” for his work building shelters for Manila’s homeless population and “defending victims of extrajudicial killings” in former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug crackdown, according to Crux.

“I accept this on behalf of the thousands of homeless and those victims of social injustice, particularly the EJK victims, that they may have a face in this fast-changing world,” Villanueva said in a press conference on Wednesday. He will receive the award officially in a ceremony on Nov. 7.

Catholics in Nepal hoping for an end to violence amid corruption protests

Catholics in Nepal are hoping for an end to ongoing violence, according to Nepal priest Father Silas Bogati, after anti-corruption protests in the country escalated on Sept. 6, resulting in the deaths of at least 22 people, according to a Sept. 10 Crux report.

“Violence is never a solution to problems, and now we hope there will be peaceful transition and people can live in peace,” the priest said. “For the Catholic Church, we want to see the end of violence and arson attacks and get a peaceful solution to the ongoing problems.”

The priest’s words come after “a full curfew” was enacted following Saturday’s unrest, which was ignited by social media bans across the country.

World Health Organization promotes abortion drugs on essential medicines list
Fri, 12 Sep 2025 17:34:00 -0400

CNA Staff, Sep 12, 2025 / 17:34 pm (CNA).

Here is a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news.

WHO promotes abortion drugs on essential medicines list

Pro-life leaders are expressing concern after the inclusion of abortion drugs in the World Health Organization (WHO)’s latest annual list of essential medicines, noting that the drugs can be “dangerous.”

The Model List of Essential Medicines 2025, released on “International Safe Abortion Day,” had a section dedicated to abortion drugs, which for the first time did not include the caveat that these medicines are not legal or culturally acceptable everywhere.

According to WHO, “the list no longer carries the boxed caveat, in place since 2005, that singled out these medicines as only to be used where legally permitted or culturally acceptable.”

Dr. Ingrid Skop, vice president and director of medical affairs for Charlotte Lozier Institute and a board-certified OB-GYN, expressed concern that these drugs were being recommended for use around the world, noting that abortion drugs “have a complication rate four times higher than surgical abortion.”

“As many as 1 in 5 women will suffer a complication and 1 in 20 will require surgical completion,” Skop said. “Also, a recent study found that more than a third of women who used abortion drugs were unprepared for the amount of pain and bleeding they encountered.”

“Yet, the WHO is recommending them for use in Third World countries with poor health care systems, where emergency care may be limited or nonexistent,” Skop continued.

Calling the action a part of WHO’s “population control and eugenic agenda,” Skop urged WHO to “instead devote more attention to helping countries obtain the resources they need to impact maternal mortality, such as blood-banking for hemorrhage and antibiotics and critical care for infections.”

Michael New, a senior associate scholar at Charlotte Lozier Institute and assistant professor of practice at The Catholic University of America, added that the WHO’s decision was “disappointing” but “unsurprising.”

“The World Health Organization has always had a very strong pro-abortion bias,” New said, noting that the group’s website calls abortion a “critical public health and human rights issue.”

New also noted that WHO’s website “wrongly claims that ‘evidence shows that restricting access to abortions does not reduce the number of abortions’ even though many, many studies show the incidence of abortion is impacted by its legal status.”

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America Political Affairs Communications Director Kelsey Pritchard expressed gratitude that the U.S. withdrew from WHO in January.

“Thank goodness President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the pro-abortion WHO, and they keep proving that decision right,” she said. “The abortion industry — including foreign, criminal abortion drug rings — is flooding every state with these drugs whether it is legal or not.”

Pritchard also noted that abortion drugs can be “dangerous.”

“A mounting body of scientific evidence and real-life horror stories show abortion drugs are far more dangerous than advertised, exposing the serious risks they pose to women and girls as well as unborn children,” she said.

“Week after week these dangerous drugs cause more tragedies: Women coerced and poisoned, girls rushed to the ER, mothers dying along with their babies — all while the abortion industry profits from deception and abusers benefit from unfettered drug access,” Pritchard continued.

Pritchard anticipated the FDA’s review of the drug, saying that “we’re confident once the evidence is examined, it will be undeniable how harmful these drugs truly are.”

California bill allowing anonymous abortion prescriptions awaits signature

A California bill that would allow health care providers to anonymously prescribe abortion drugs could soon become law.

The law would allow a pharmacist to dispense abortion drugs “without the name of the patient, the name of the prescriber, or the name and address of the pharmacy, subject to specified requirements,” according to the bill’s text.

The law would allow abortionists to anonymously mail abortion medication to patients in California and in the rest of the U.S., even to states where these abortion drugs are illegal. This could make it harder for states to build legal cases against abortionists operating under shield laws.

New York attorney general intervenes in landmark legal battle over abortion shield laws

Attorney General Letitia James is intervening in a landmark case involving a New York abortionist who allegedly prescribed abortion pills to a patient in Texas, where the drugs are illegal.

James sent a letter to the state Supreme Court judge in Ulster County, New York, saying she has the authority to enforce the state’s shield law — a law designed to protect abortionists who violate the laws of other states.

The abortion shield law prohibits state officials from cooperating with investigations into abortionists for out-of-state abortions, even when abortion drugs are illegal in those states.

The legal battle is among the first challenges to New York’s 2023 shield law.

Christian in wheelchair killed while livestreaming his faith in France 
Fri, 12 Sep 2025 17:04:00 -0400

Lyon, France, Sep 12, 2025 / 17:04 pm (CNA).

A 45-year-old Iraqi Christian who fled his homeland to escape Islamist persecution was stabbed to death in Lyon in southern France on the evening of Sept. 10.

He was reportedly livestreaming a video on TikTok in which he spoke about his faith. The attack has shocked local Christian communities and drawn calls for clarity on the motives behind the killing.

According to local newspaper Le Progrès, the victim, identified as Ashur Sarnaya — who was disabled and used a wheelchair — was returning to his apartment building when a man, apparently waiting for him, struck him in the neck with a knife. Emergency services, alerted shortly before 10:30 p.m., found him in cardiac arrest and were unable to revive him.

Born in 1979, Sarnaya had lived in the building with his sister for more than a decade after fleeing the advance of the Islamic State in Iraq in 2014. Neighbors described him as “a vulnerable person who didn’t walk and never caused any trouble.”

An anti-Christian murder? 

Relatives told local media that Sarnaya, an Assyrian Christian, regularly hosted live sessions on TikTok in the evenings in which he spoke about Christianity. In a video clip that was still circulating online the following morning, he appeared with his face covered in blood streaming from his nose and mouth.

“He was a normal person. He did live videos on TikTok to spread the word of God. He had no enemies, no problems with anyone,” his sister told RMC-BFM Lyon, recounting how she was alerted by friends who were watching the livestream at the moment of the attack. “When I arrived, he was dead. He was on the ground, there were lots of people, the police, the firefighters.”

On his social media accounts, Sarnaya often shared testimonies of faith in Arabic. In one post cited by Aleteia France, he complained that his content was frequently blocked or suspended due to reports from Muslim users. In March, he claimed to have been physically attacked by Muslims.

The president of the Assyro-Chaldean Association of Lyon, Georges Shamoun Ishaq, told the Catholic media that Sarnaya was “a very kind, discreet person, deeply believing, who liked to speak about the Christian faith.”

The Lyon prosecutor’s office has opened a homicide investigation, entrusted to the Division of Organized and Specialized Crime. At this stage, investigators are not prioritizing any hypothesis — whether criminal, political, religious, or drug-related. AFP reportedly received a video footage of a man in dark clothing and a hood leaving the scene, identified as the presumed attacker.

Catholic organizations respond

Catholic organizations in France have expressed strong concern. Œuvre d’Orient condemned “with the greatest firmness the murder of a vulnerable Iraqi Christian,” stressing that “it is essential that Christians of the Middle East be able to witness to their faith in safety and live with dignity.”

SOS Chrétiens d’Orient recalled that Sarnaya had fled the persecution of ISIS in Iraq. “It is unimaginable that a Christian who fled persecution should be murdered in France,” the organization stated, calling for prayers for the repose of his soul and for his family.

Family members also paid tribute to Sarnaya on social media. One cousin described him as a martyr on Facebook: “He was preaching live when his life was tragically taken,” the post read, adding that his faith would always remain an inspiration.

Reactions from political leaders have so far been limited. Marine Le Pen, leader of the right-wing party Rassemblement National, claimed on X that Sarnaya “was savagely stabbed to death in Lyon by an Islamist. While granting asylum to the persecuted is legitimate, our uncontrolled immigration policy now leads us to welcome their executioners.”

Lyon-based influencer Verlaine, also paid tribute to the victim on X, highlighting his noticeable presence on social media, “where he shared above all his Catholic faith…,” suggesting that it was the reason why he was killed. “Rest in peace, Sir,” he wrote.

Relentless rise of anti-Christian acts in France

The killing of Sarnaya comes against a backdrop of growing concern over anti-Christian incidents in France. Advocacy groups have repeatedly warned of a rise in acts targeting churches, cemeteries, and believers over the past years. 

On Aug. 7, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau asked prefects to reinforce protection of Christian places of worship, particularly around the feast of the Assumption. According to official figures, 401 anti-Christian acts were recorded between January and June, an increase of 13% compared with the same period in 2024. Vandalism and desecration of churches account for the majority of these attacks. 

Earlier this week, on Sept. 8, a statue of the Virgin and Child was deliberately set on fire during Mass at the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Bon-Secours in Guingamp (Brittany). The same statue had already been targeted by arson in 2015 and 2021.

On July 25, the Notre-Dame des Champs church in Paris’ sixth arrondissement was also the target of an arson attack. A year ago, the arson attack that devastated a historic church in northern France had already caused a wave of national emotion.

The relative lack of media coverage given to anti-Christian acts, which number in the hundreds each year, has fueled concerns among Catholic observers that this phenomenon may worsen if not addressed with greater seriousness.

U.S. bishops’ conference creates a permanent subcommittee to address racism
Fri, 12 Sep 2025 16:34:00 -0400

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 12, 2025 / 16:34 pm (CNA).

The Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism established in 2017 by former United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) President Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston has officially been made a permanent body within the USCCB, according to a Sept. 10 press release.

The newly created, permanent Subcommittee for the Promotion of Racial Justice and Reconciliation “continues the important work of the temporary ad hoc committee,” said USCCB President Archbishop Timothy Broglio.

“As we call for a genuine conversion of heart that will compel change at both individual and institutional levels,” he continued, “I invite all Catholics to join us as we carry forward this work to recognize and uphold the inherent dignity of every person made in the image and likeness of God.”

The Administrative Committee of the USCCB approved the transition on Sept. 9, according to the press release, noting that the new subcommittee falls “under the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development.”

The Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development “seeks to teach about and to witness to the intrinsic dignity of the human person as an antidote to the grave sin of racism” and “explores and implements concrete solutions to address the racism that still pervades our society and our Church today, and works in collaborative ways to strengthen the response of all people to this evil.”

The move to cement the ad hoc committee comes as part of the bishops’ “ongoing commitment to addressing the sin of racism,” the release noted.

The committee’s chair, Bishop Joseph Perry, also weighed in, stating: “I speak on behalf of the bishop members, staff, and consultants of the Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism in expressing gratitude for the transition of our committee to a standing subcommittee so that the important work of evangelization of the faithful and the community at large may continue in the spirit of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

The committee will officially begin work after this year’s November plenary assembly.

Pope Leo XIV: Inappropriate behavior of the clergy ‘cannot be kept in a drawer’
Fri, 12 Sep 2025 16:04:00 -0400

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 12, 2025 / 16:04 pm (CNA).

In a meeting with bishops appointed in the last year, Pope Leo XIV exhorted them to address issues related to inappropriate behavior on the part of the clergy: “They can’t be put away in a drawer.”

At the end of his Sept. 11 morning address to the prelates participating in the formation course organized by the Holy See, the Holy Father engaged them in a fraternal dialogue, giving them the opportunity to convey their concerns and worries.

The pontiff offered an overview of the challenges and issues bishops face at the beginning of a new ministry, such as fear, a sense of unworthiness, and the different expectations each had for their lives before being called.

Don’t be frightened by the first difficulty

As the Vatican noted in a statement released Sept. 12, the Holy Father also offered the bishops some valuable advice: “Remain close to the Lord, set aside time for prayer, and continue to live out unconditional trust in the Holy Spirit, the origin of one’s vocation.”

He also exhorted them to be persevering disciples “who do not allow themselves to be frightened by the first difficulty; pastors close to the people and to priests, merciful and firm, even when it is a matter of making a judgment; capable of listening and dialogue, not just preaching sermons.”

Pope Leo XIV also emphasized the value of the pastoral and human experience acquired in a local Church, which must be developed in a new ministry that puts bishops in touch with the universality of the Church.

The pope emphasized to the new bishops the value of witness and the ability to stay in touch with the world as they respond to questions that people are asking today about the meaning of life and evil in the world. “The answers learned 25 years ago in the seminary are not enough,” he pointed out.

Regarding synodality, the Holy Father — who headed the Dicastery for Bishops — explained that it is not a pastoral method but rather “a style of Church, of listening and of common search for the mission to which we are called.”

“Be builders of bridges,” he said. He also asked them to value the role of the laity, integrating it into the life of the Church and to an “unarmed and disarming” peace because “peace is a challenge for all!”

Misdeeds cannot be ‘put away in a drawer’

Before answering questions, Pope Leo XIV encouraged the bishops to promptly address issues related to inappropriate behavior on the part of the clergy: “They cannot be put away in a drawer; they must be addressed with a sense of mercy and true justice toward the victims and the accused.”

The pontiff thanked the new bishops for accepting the ministry: “I pray for you; the Church appreciates your ‘yes’; you are not alone; together we bear the burden and together we proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Prudence on social media

In response to questions posed by the bishops, the Holy Father spoke of the need to be prudent in the use of social media, where the risk is that “everyone feels authorized to say whatever he wants, even things that are false.” He added: “There are times when getting to the truth is painful, but necessary.”

He encouraged the bishops to use communications professionals who are trained in the field, offering three specific pieces of advice: “Keep calm, use sound judgment, and seek the help of a professional.”

Speaking of the challenges of every new ministry, Pope Leo XIV urged the new bishops to trust in God’s grace, to recognize their own gifts and limitations, and to rely on the help of others, including the valuable experience of a good bishop emeritus who can accompany or advise. He also warned against the temptation to form an inner circle and become isolated within it.

Formation in seminaries

The pontiff reiterated the need to build bridges and seek dialogue, even where Christians are a minority, with genuine respect for people of other religious traditions, especially through the witness of Christian love and mercy.

The Holy Father also addressed formation in seminaries, particularly the responsibility of initial formation, urging the bishops to be welcoming, to receive vocations, and to accompany each person in the discovery of other dimensions of the Gospel and of Christian and missionary life.

Speaking about mission, Pope Leo suggested that the bishops rely on those authentic, missionary laypeople present in eccesial movements who can be a source of hope for the local Church.

In response to questions about the serious consequences of environmental crises, the pope recalled the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ and encouraged promoting this theme in pastoral care. He added that in this area, “the Church will be present,” without mixing in other issues contrary to Christian anthropology.

Young people’s thirst for spiritual life

According to the Vatican, the meeting also addressed the relationships between the various organizations in the universal and local Church, the process of appointing bishops, the need to confront together the many current crises in the world, and the value of the bishops’ presence to those who suffer.

The new bishops also had the opportunity to speak with the Holy Father about young people, particularly in Europe after the recent jubilee for them, and about their questions about communion and prayer, and their thirst for spiritual life, which they have not been able to quench either in the virtual world or “in the typical experiences at our parishes.”

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

Pew survey: 8 out of 10 U.S. Catholics view Pope Leo XIV favorably
Fri, 12 Sep 2025 14:56:00 -0400

CNA Staff, Sep 12, 2025 / 14:56 pm (CNA).

A new report from a Pew Research Center survey finds that 8 out of 10 American Catholics view Pope Leo XIV favorably.

According to the report, 84% of U.S. Catholics surveyed say they have a “mostly favorable” view (47%) of the pope or a “very favorable” view (37%) — while only 4% of Catholics view him unfavorably and 11% say they have never heard of him.

Among non-Catholic Americans, more than half of those surveyed (56%) say they view him favorably, while 31% say they have never heard of him.

Pew surveyed 9,916 U.S. adults (which includes 1,849 Catholics) from July 8 through Aug. 3. The margin of error in the survey is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

The very same percentage of U.S. Catholics — 84% — viewed Pope Francis favorably in the early months of his pontificate as well, according to the report.

Those who attend Mass more often have a more favorable view of the new pope. Among U.S. Catholics who attend Mass weekly or more often, 95% say they have a favorable view. Of those who attend Mass once or twice a year or a few times a month, the number stands at 84%, while 77% of Catholics who seldom or never attend Mass say they have a favorable view.

More than three-quarters of U.S. Catholics say they are excited that Leo, born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago in 1955, is the first U.S.-born pope.

Though so many view him in a positive light, only 7% of Catholic survey respondents say they know a lot about the new pope, while a quarter say they know nothing at all. Just under 70% say they know “a little” about the pontiff, who spent decades working for the Church in Peru, eventually serving as the bishop of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023.

He was elected to the papacy by the College of Cardinals on May 8 after the death of Pope Francis on April 21.

Among weekly Catholic Mass attendees, 75% say they only know a little about the new pope, and 11% say they know nothing.

“These numbers show both the excitement and the challenge of a new papacy,” said Montse Alvarado, president and COO of EWTN News (CNA’s parent company). “While Pope Leo XIV has been warmly received, many still don’t know his story.”

“With our presence in Peru and the Vatican, and decades of experience covering the Church, EWTN News is uniquely positioned to help Catholics understand the people and places that shaped the Holy Father — and to serve as a force for unity for his pontificate,” she said.

The latest findings are part of Pew’s American Trends Panel, part of Pew’s ongoing research on Catholicism in the U.S.

In June, Pew reported that nearly 50% of adults in the U.S. have some connection to the Catholic faith.

“Catholicism’s roots in the United States run deep,” Pew stated in the report titled “U.S. Catholicism: Connections to the Religion, Beliefs, and Practices.”

Pew found that 47% of U.S. adults have Catholic ties: 20% identify as Catholic, 9% as “culturally Catholic,” 9% as ex-Catholic, and 9% report a connection through a Catholic parent, spouse, or past Mass attendance.

Pope Leo XIV tells World Meeting on Human Fraternity to welcome migrants, care for poor
Fri, 12 Sep 2025 11:51:00 -0400

Vatican City, Sep 12, 2025 / 11:51 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV spoke out on Friday against what he called the business of wars, while condemning attitudes of rejection and indifference toward migrants and the poor, as he received some of the participants in the third edition of the World Meeting on Human Fraternity at the Vatican.

Among those present were several Nobel Peace Prize laureates, including Iraqi activist Nadia Murad, American Jody Williams, Liberian Leymah Gbowee, Yemeni Tawakkol Karman, Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov, Ukrainian lawyer Oleksandra Matviichuk, Filipino journalist Maria Ressa, and Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege.

In his remarks, the pontiff reflected on the need for fraternity and reconciliation in a world where wars “shatter the lives of young people forced to take up arms; target defenseless civilians, children, women, and elderly people; devastate cities, the countryside, and entire ecosystems, leaving only rubble and pain in their wake.”

The pope decried the plight of many “migrants who are despised, imprisoned, and rejected, among those who seek salvation and hope but find walls and indifference.” He also lamented that, on many occasions, the poor are “blamed for their poverty, forgotten and discarded, in a world that values profit more than people.”

Faced with all these injustices, Leo XIV insisted that “the answer cannot be silence.”

“You are the answer, with your presence, your commitment, and your courage. The answer is choosing a different direction of life, growth, and development,” he said.

The pope also called for the establishment of a broad “covenant of humanity, founded not on power but on care; not on profit but on gift; not on suspicion but on trust.”

“Care, gift, and trust are not virtues to be practiced only in one’s spare time: They are pillars of an economy that does not kill but deepens and broadens participation in life,” he said.

Thus, the Holy Father invited everyone to recognize the other as a brother or sister, which in practice means “freeing ourselves from the pretense of believing that we are isolated individuals or from the logic of forming relationships only out of self-interest.”

The pope said the planet is marked by conflicts and divisions, and emphasized that the participants of this new edition of the World Meeting on Human Fraternity are “united by a strong and courageous ‘no’ to war and a ‘yes’ to peace and fraternity.”

Leo XIV cited an encyclical of his predecessor Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti, to reiterate that social friendship and universal fraternity necessarily require the “acknowledgement of the worth of every human person, always and everywhere.”

He also emphasized that Pope Francis taught that “war is not the right way to resolve a conflict” and praised the “willingness to face conflict head on, to resolve it and to make it a link in the chain of a new process,” which he called “the wisest path, the path of the strong.”

The pope connected his reflections with the biblical account of Abel’s murder at the hands of his brother Cain and reflected on how this fraternal relationship immediately became conflictual.

However, he stressed that this first homicide “should not lead us to conclude that ‘it has always been this way.’ No matter how ancient or widespread, Cain’s violence cannot be tolerated as ‘normal.’”

“The norm is revealed in God’s question to the guilty party: ‘Where is your brother?’ It is in this question that we find our vocation, the rule and measure of justice,” he stated.

For the pope, that same question continues to echo in history and “today more than ever, we must make this question our own as a principle of reconciliation. Once internalized, it will resonate in this way: ‘Brother, sister, where are you?’”

Leo emphasized that the great spiritual traditions and the maturing of critical thought allow us to go “beyond blood or ethnic ties, beyond those kinships that recognize only those who are similar and reject those who are different.”

For the Holy Father, it is also significant that in the Bible, as scientific exegesis has shown, it is the more recent and mature texts that narrate a “fraternity that transcends the ethnic boundaries of God’s people and is founded on a common humanity.”

“The stories of creation and the genealogies bear witness that all peoples, even enemies, have the same origin, and the Earth, with its goods, is for everyone, not just for some,” he said.

He also stressed that fraternity is “the most authentic name for closeness. It means rediscovering the face of the other. For those who believe, they recognize the mystery: the very image of God in the face of the poor, the refugee, and even the adversary.”

The pope called on his listeners to identify paths, both local and international, that develop “new forms of social charity, alliances between different areas of knowledge and solidarity between generations.”

On the other hand, he called for “community-based approaches that also include the poor, not as recipients of aid, but as subjects of discernment and discourse.”

The Holy Father encouraged them to continue this work of “silent sowing. This can give rise to a participatory process focused on humanity and fraternity, which is not limited to listing rights, but also includes concrete actions and motivations that make us different in our everyday lives.”

The organizers of the third edition of the World Meeting on Human Fraternity structured this international event, promoted by St. Peter’s Basilica on Sept. 12 and 13, around 15 thematic tables.

These are spaces of dialogue that will function as laboratories for the exchange of ideas on various themes, such as the world of information, the environment and sustainability, the economy and finance, and artificial intelligence.

In this context, St. Peter’s Square will host a free concert open to the public this Saturday, one that promises to mark a turning point in the relationship between culture, faith, and entertainment.

Under the name “Grace for the World,” the Vatican square will become an open-air stage bringing together international artists such as Karol G, Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, and other singers like Pharrell Williams, John Legend, Teddy Swims, Jelly Roll, BamBam, and Angélique Kidjo.

This evening will be broadcast live on Disney+, Hulu, and ABC News Live, allowing millions of viewers to follow the event in real time.

The concert will also bring together the voices of an international choir of 250 people, including members of the Choir of the Diocese of Rome. The entire event will be orchestrated by world-renowned music producer Adam Blackstone.

But the show will go beyond music. The company Nova Sky Stories will present a visual creation that will light up the sky of Rome with a choreography of more than 3,000 drones, inspired by the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel.

This innovative staging will turn the night into a true living fresco of sounds and lights, an unprecedented sensory experience in the heart of Christendom, according to the Vatican.

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