Seminarian Josh Brooks. / Credit: Courtesy of Catholic Philly, official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia

ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 13, 2025 / 14:55 pm (CNA).

Josh Brooks, a native of Delaware County in metro Philadelphia, dreamed of following in the footsteps of his idol LeBron James and becoming a professional basketball player. However, God had other plans for him.

Today, Brooks is in his third year of university studies at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and is preparing for the priesthood.

“I don’t want to just live for myself, but I want to bring the joy God gave me to other people,” Brooks said in a recent interview with Catholic Philly, the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Raised in the Baptist faith, Brooks had his first contact with Catholicism when his parents enrolled him at St. Ignatius Loyola Elementary School in West Philadelphia. Later, at Monsignor Bonner & Archbishop Prendergast High School, his interest in the Catholic faith grew.

“And really slowly, my attention was gravitating toward my Catholic theology classes, where I learned about the identity of the priest. What really attracted me was learning about how the Catholic Church is a universal family, ‘cause I didn’t have the best family growing up, so that just made me feel like I was called to be part of something special,” Brooks shared.

Although during his teenage years he spent a lot of time practicing in order to make the high school basketball team, he ultimately failed to achieve that dream. “So this left me wondering with the question of what I was going to do with my life if basketball, which was my bid dream, was no longer an option,” he recounted.

In his search for meaning, he tried to fill the void with a romantic relationship, but realized his heart longed for something deeper. Uncertain of his calling, he asked the young lady, ‘Would you be able to wait for me?’ She replied, ‘I’m not going to wait for you.’ So I looked up at the crucifix and I said to the Lord, ‘If she will not wait for me, then who will?’ And then I realized the whole time he was waiting for me, for me to accept his love. He said ‘You idiot, I have the best love to give you.’”

That moment marked a turning point. “I think I just reacted without thinking, And look what that brought me. It brought me so much joy, this intense fire to just want to be for God and just be for others,” Brooks reflected.

At St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, he found not only a vocation, but also brothers. “I never had any brothers, so I didn’t know what having one would be like. So when I entered seminary, you have different guys with different interests, different personalities. At the heart of it all, these guys are trying to build off each other,” he said.

Fellow seminarian Sean Barker highlighted Josh’s fraternal spirit. At a “Come and See” retreat “I walked right in and the first person I saw was Josh sitting in his cassock,” he recalled. “Just talking to him, getting to know him, I felt more at ease. He cares about and has a great respect and admiration for the deep historical spirituality of the Church.”

“He wants me to be better, he wants me to spend more time in chapel, to take prayer life more seriously, to take academics more seriously…I think that’s just him as a role model is what inspires me most,” Baker added.

In the interview, Josh highlighted the “rich tradition and history” of the Catholic Church, but also that it’s “one big family.” He also invited others trying to rediscover their faith to come closer: “We are an imperfect people, but we are being governed by a God who transcends all things and knows us better than we know ourselves,” he said.

What most defines this young seminarian is his deep prayer life and his desire to become a priest. Although his parents are not Catholic, they support his vocation, and he prays every day for their conversion.

“At the heart of our search for the highest form of love, we’ll find it here, where we gather at the altar of God and we’ll be able to make our dwelling in him,” the young seminarian summed up.

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 waves as he enters Liberty Square in Castel Gandolfo to give his first public Angelus address from the lakeside town 18 miles southeast of Rome on July 13, 2025. / Credit: Stefano Costantino/EWTN News

Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Jul 13, 2025 / 10:05 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV recited the Angelus before a diverse and enthusiastic crowd in Castel Gandolfo on Sunday — the first time in 12 years that a pope has led the Marian prayer from the lakeside town 18 miles southeast of Rome.

The Angelus, prayed on a warm but cloudy July 13, marked the midpoint of Leo’s two-week stay for a summer break on the pontifical estate of Castel Gandolfo, a custom eschewed by Pope Francis. 

Despite sporadic light rain showers, shoulder-to-shoulder pilgrims from around the world, including Brazil, Italy, Poland, and the United States, filled the town’s main square and lined the side streets, as the pope greeted them with, “happy Sunday!”

The hope of eternal life, Leo said before leading the Marian prayer, “is described as something to be ‘inherited,’ not something to be gained by force, begged for, or negotiated. Eternal life, which God alone can give, is bestowed on us as an inheritance, as parents do with their children.”

Crowds of laypeople, priests, and religious sisters alternatively opened and closed umbrellas, the sun bursting through rain drops right as Pope Leo appeared in front of the apostolic palace of Castel Gandolfo.

“That is why Jesus tells us that, in order to receive God’s gift, we must do his will,” he continued. “It is written in the Law: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,” and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”

“When we do these two things, we respond to the Father’s love,” the pontiff said.

A married couple from the United States celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary said they came to Castel Gandolfo hoping for the pope‘s blessing. They were happy to have received a wave from Leo when he passed by on his walk from the local parish to the apostolic palace before the Angelus.

While the pontiff spoke, a father of four took turns lifting up each of his children so they could see Pope Leo over the crowd.

Pope Leo will publicly lead the Angelus again on July 20, before returning to the Vatican in time for a slew of events for the Jubilee of Hope, including jubilees of Catholic influencers and of youth.

Leo will also come back to Castel Gandolfo, found on the hills above Lake Albano, for three days over the Italian holiday weekend of “Ferragosto,” Aug. 15-17, which celebrates the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Before the Angelus, Pope Leo celebrated a Mass for local Catholics, religious leaders, and civil authorities at the 17th-century Pontifical Parish of Saint Thomas of Villanova in Castel Gandolfo’s Liberty Square.

Reflecting on the Parable of the Good Samaritan, the pontiff called for a “revolution of love” toward those who have been hurt by life, who are “stripped, robbed and pillaged, victims of tyrannical political systems, of an economy that forces them into poverty, and of wars that kill their dreams and their very lives.”

“Are we content at times merely to do our duty, or to regard as our neighbor only those who are part of our group, who think like us, who share our same nationality or religion?” he said. “Jesus overturns this way of thinking by presenting us with a Samaritan, a foreigner or heretic, who acts as a neighbor to that wounded man. And he asks us to do the same.”

This is why this parable is so challenging for each of us, he underlined: “If Christ shows us the face of a compassionate God, then to believe in him and to be his disciples means allowing ourselves to be changed and to take on his same feelings.”

“Looking without walking by, halting the frantic pace of our lives, allowing the lives of others, whoever they may be, with their needs and troubles, to touch our heart,” the pope added. “That is what makes us neighbors to one another, what generates true fraternity and breaks down walls and barriers.”

Bishop Scott McCaig of the Roman Catholic Military Ordinariate of Canada celebrates Divine Liturgy as part of the spiritual retreat for military chaplains in Lviv, Ukraine. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Bishop Scott McCaig

Ottawa, Canada, Jul 13, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Bishop Scott McCaig of the Roman Catholic Military Ordinariate of Canada returned home recently after leading a spiritual retreat for military chaplains in Ukraine, saying that the weight of what he witnessed during his week in Lviv still looms large in his mind. 

“ I’m still processing it, to be honest,” McCaig told Canada’s Catholic Register. “On the Eastern equivalent of  All Souls’ Day, I visited the graves of thousands upon thousands of fallen soldiers and prayed with their families, little children, people all grieving their fathers, children, brothers and sisters. The grief and senselessness of it all were heart-wrenching and made vivid how the destruction is so unnecessary. It was a trip that truly left its mark.”

He added: “ These are people who just want to live in peace but have been illegally invaded by a foreign nation, regardless of the complexities of the history and the politics of the situation. Their houses are being bombed, and they are losing their children to a war they don’t want to fight.”

During a unique spiritual retreat from June 13–20, McCaig and Father Terry Cherwick, lieutenant colonel of the 3rd Canadian Division, walked alongside Ukrainian chaplains who have endured over three years of frontline service since Russia’s full-scale attack on Ukraine, offering them spiritual tools to navigate the “unseen warfare” of faith, hope, and charity while serving a nation under siege.

Supported by Bishop Wiesław Lechowicz, the military bishop of Poland, the weeklong mission saw the two meet with roughly 40 military chaplains, many of whom have been dealing with constant frontline service and funerals.

Due to the reality many of them are facing, McCaig addressed the chaplains’ exposure to the horrible reality of war, offering a multitude of spiritual tools to combat growing despair while maintaining resiliency. 

“I spoke to them about this battle of faith in dealing with all of the death and how they can recognize the Lord Jesus as the one who triumphs over death. The Book of Revelation, which we took as a theme, talks about Jesus as dead, but now alive, as the Alpha and the Omega, the living one, and him holding the keys of death and Hades,” McCaig said. 

“We wanted them to truly grasp that there is something bigger going on here and to keep their eyes focused on the Lord, who is ultimately the one who has the last word. It is never death that has the last word, but Our Lord Jesus. That reminder alone was felt deeply.”

Through  a mixture of preaching at conferences, Divine Liturgy, times of personal reflection and plenty of table sharing, McCaig and Cherwick  explored the difference between optimism and theological hope, citing God working even amid a broken, fallen world that is all too full of sin, suffering, and death. 

McCaig also emphasized the importance of forgiveness and overcoming evil through good, with the bishop alluding to St. Augustine’s notion — “A Catholic soldier fights to secure a just and lasting peace.” 

“The goal is always peace and charity, and so even when the temptation to hate is so strong, we have to continue to remind ourselves of this. One can justly defend the country while at the same time forgiving our enemies,” he clarified during the trip.

“ Author G.K. Chesterton put it very succinctly when he said that a Christian soldier does not fight because they hate what is in front of them, they fight because they love what is behind them.”

While there wasn’t a lot of spare time to reflect himself, having been woken up on multiple occasions by air raid sirens signaling drone and missile attacks, McCaig said the journey reinforced the critical importance of Catholic chaplains and their resilience. He spoke to the importance of a strong, faith-rooted approach, drawing from the Catholic tradition’s emphasis on a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, something he feels is far too valuable to be discredited or forgotten. 

“Chaplains are trained to provide a sort of generic role of assistance and counseling, but the conviction was very strong that while that is good and important, it’s simply not enough. What these chaplains were telling us was that they want and need to reach into the deepest places of meaning and purpose in their lives, and that is something that can only come from a relationship with the living God,” he said.

“Encouraging words and optimism are great, but they’re not enough in those sorts of situations. The risen Christ, who is alive, has power over death and the ultimate last word on everything; that’s what we need to receive — that’s how we get the spiritual resiliency that is necessary in those situations.”

Now back in Canada, he also shared his hopes that his insight on the military chaplain situation in Ukraine can serve as a reminder to Catholics on home soil. As there hasn’t been a wartime situation for Canada since the end of the country’s involvement in Afghanistan, McCaig fears Canadians have forgotten the critical importance of spiritual resilience in the military chaplaincy. That is the specific liturgical faith, hope, and charity that come from the depth of the Catholic faith.

And while most are unable to stand in the trenches, both proverbial and literal, with soldiers around the world as military chaplains do, they can support them through the vital act of prayer.

“ Pope Francis and now Pope Leo XIV are calling the country the martyred Ukraine. They truly do need our prayers. There’s a lot of pressure for them to just surrender themselves to Russian political and cultural domination, which is a reality they’re facing. [They are] begging for prayers not to forget them, and we can  remember them as we pray the rosary,” McCaig said.

This story was first published by the The Catholic Register in Canada and has been reprinted here with permission.

French Catholic priest Abbe Pierre takes part in a demonstration on May 6, 1994. / Credit: JOEL SAGET/AFP via Getty Images

CNA Newsroom, Jul 12, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

The Bishops’ Conference of France this week said a dozen new accusers have come forth with allegations of abuse against deceased Capuchin priest Abbé Pierre.

The famed French priest has already been accused by several dozen people of inflicting abuse over the course of several decades. Pierre founded the Emmaus movement, an international charity effort, after World War II.

In a July 10 press release the French bishops said they were “shocked to receive the testimony of 12 new victims of Abbé Pierre, including 7 minors at the time of the events.”

The bishops “assure these people of their support,” the prelates said in the release.

Allegations of abuse against Pierre, who for decades was hailed for his charity work in France, shocked the Catholic world last year. Emmaus International revealed the abuse claims in July of 2024, with new allegations surfacing in September of last year.

The Abbé Pierre Foundation announced it would change its name due to the revelations. The French bishops also said they would release archive files on Pierre nearly six decades ahead of schedule amid the abuse claims.

French prosecutors said earlier this year they would not mount an investigation into the priest due to his having died in 2007.

This week, meanwhile, the French bishops said that they were “committed to helping victims rebuild their lives after what they have been through.”

The bishops and Emmaus “are working together with determination on a process of reparation,” they said.

Friar Clodovis Boff belongs to the Order of the Servants of Mary. / Credit: Lennoazevedo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sao Paulo, Brazil, Jul 12, 2025 / 08:40 am (CNA).

Friar Clodovis Boff has written an open letter to the bishops of the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops’ Council (CELAM, by its Spanish acronym), who recently met in assembly, asking: “What good news did I read there? Forgive my frankness: None. You, bishops of CELAM, always repeat the same old story: social issues, social issues, and social issues. And this has been going on for more than fifty years.”

“Dear older brothers, don’t you see that this music is getting old?” asked the priest who belongs to the Order of the Servants of Mary (Servites), in reaction to the final document of the 40th Ordinary General Assembly of CELAM, held at the end of May in the Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 

“When will you give us good news about God, Christ, and his Spirit? About grace and salvation? About conversion of heart and meditating on the Word? About prayer and adoration, devotion to the Mother of the Lord, and other such themes? In short, when will you send us a truly religious, spiritual message?”

Clodovis Boff, along with his brother Leonardo Boff, was one of the most important philosophers of liberation theology. However, in 2007, he published the article “Liberation Theology and Return to the Fundamentals” in the 68th issue of the Brazilian Ecclesiastical Review. 

There, he stated that “the error of liberation theology…was to have put the poor in the place of Christ, making them a fetish and reducing Christ to having a mere supportive role; when Christ did the opposite: he put himself in the place of the poor, to make them sharers in his divine dignity.” 

The letter, written on June 13 — the feast of St. Anthony of Padua, a doctor of the Church — was sent “first and foremost to the president general of CELAM,” Cardinal Jaime Spengler, archbishop of Porto Alegre in Brazil, and “to all the presidents of the regional CELAM,” Boff told ACI Digital, CNA’s Portuguese-language news partner.

The priest told the bishops that he dared to write to them “because for a long time” he has seen “with dismay, repeated signs that our beloved Church is running a truly grave danger: that of alienating itself from its spiritual essence, to its own detriment and that of the world.”

“When the house is on fire, anyone can scream,” Boff explained. After reading CELAM’s message, something he said he felt almost 20 years ago came back to him, when, “no longer able to bear the repeated equivocations of liberation theology, such an impetus arose from the depths of my soul” and he said: “Enough! I have to speak.”

“It was under the impact of a similar inner impulse that I wrote this letter, hoping that the Holy Spirit may have played some part in it,” he emphasized. “So far, I have only received the reaction of Don Jaime, president of CELAM, and also of the CNBB,” the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil, the friar told ACI Digital.

According to Boff, Spengler, who was his “student back in the 1980s in Petrópolis,” was “receptive to the letter, appreciating the fact that I had expressed my thoughts, which could help revise the ways of the Church in the Americas.”

Boff wrote in his letter that, upon reading the document of the CELAM assembly, “the words of Christ come to mind: The children ask for bread and you give them a stone (Mt 7:9).”

For the friar, “the secular world itself is fed up with secularity and is off searching for spirituality,” but the CELAM bishops “continue to offer them social issues and more social issues; and of the spiritual [you give them], almost only crumbs.”

“And to think that you are the custodians of the greatest treasure, that which the world needs most and yet, in a certain way, you deny it to them,” the priest wrote.

“Souls ask for the supernatural, and you insist on giving them the natural. This paradox is evident even in parishes: While lay people delight in displaying signs of their Catholic identity (crosses, medals, veils, blouses with religious prints), priests and nuns go in the opposite direction and appear without any distinctive sign.”

In their “Message to the Church on pilgrimage in Latin America and the Caribbean,” the CELAM bishops wrote that the 40th Assembly “has been a space for discernment, prayer, and episcopal fraternity,” in which they shared “the lights and shadows” of their “realities, the cries” of their “peoples, and the longing for a Church that is a home and school of communion.”

“[We are] aware of the current challenges that affect us as a Latin American and Caribbean region: the persistence of poverty and growing inequality, violence that goes unpunished, corruption, drug trafficking, forced migration, the weakening of democracy, the cry of the earth, and secularization, among the most common,” the bishops stated.

Boff responded: “You say, without any hesitation, that you hear the ‘cries’ of the people and that you are ‘aware of the challenges’ of today. But does your listening reach deep? Doesn’t it remain on the surface?”

“I read your list of today’s ‘cries’ and ‘challenges’ and see that it goes no further than what the most ordinary journalists and sociologists observe. Don’t the Most Reverends hear that, from ‘the depths of the world,’ a formidable cry for God is rising today? A cry that even many secular analysts hear? And isn’t it to hear this cry and give it a response, the true and full response, that the Church and its ministers exist?” 

“Governments and NGOs are there for the ‘social cries’. The Church, without a doubt, cannot exclude herself from this service. But it is not the protagonist in this field. Her proper field of action is another and higher: responding precisely to the ‘cry for God,'” he emphasized.

‘Progressives’ or ‘traditionalists’

The friar stated in his letter that he knew that bishops “are harassed day and night by public opinion to define themselves as ‘progressives’ or ‘traditionalists,’ ‘right-wing’ or ‘left-wing.’”

“On this, St. Paul is categorical,” he wrote, quoting: Men should consider us simply as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God (1 Cor 4:1).

“It is worth remembering” that “the Church is, first and foremost, the ‘sacrament of salvation’ and not a mere social institution, progressive or not,” the friar said.

“She exists to proclaim Christ and his grace. That is her central focus, her greatest and enduring commitment. Everything else comes after that,” the priest emphasized.

“Forgive me, dearest friends, if I’m here recalling what you already know. But why then is all of this not mentioned in your message and in the writings of CELAM in general? From reading them, one almost inevitably draws the conclusion that the great concern of the Church today, on our continent, is not the cause of Christ and his salvation, but rather social causes, such as justice, peace, and ecology, which you cite in your message as another refrain.”

The friar also noted that “the very letter that Pope Leo sent to CELAM, in the person of its president, speaks clearly of the ‘urgent need to remember that it is the Risen One who protects and guides the Church, reviving it in hope, etc.’”

“The Holy Father also reminds us that the Church’s proper mission is, in his own words, ‘to go out to meet so many brothers and sisters, to announce to them the message of salvation in Christ Jesus,’” Boff said.

“However, what was the response the venerable brothers gave to the pope? In the letter you wrote to him, there is no echo of those papal warnings. Rather, you asked him to help you, not to keep the memory of the Risen Lord alive in the Church; not to proclaim salvation in Christ to your brothers, but rather to support them in their struggle to ‘encourage justice and peace’ and to ‘support them in denouncing every form of injustice.’ In short, what you made the pope hear was the same old refrain: ‘social issues, social issues…’, as if he, who worked among us for decades, had never heard it.”

Boff was referring to the fact that Pope Leo XIV was a missionary and bishop in Peru and, therefore, familiar with both the social reality of Latin America and the various types of theology and pastoral care practiced on the continent.

“You will say: But these are assumed truths, which do not need to be repeated all the time. No, my dearest ones; we do need to repeat them, with renewed fervor, every blessed day, otherwise they will be lost,” Boff wrote to CELAM.

“If it weren’t necessary to keep repeating them, then why did Pope Leo remind you about them? We know what happens when a man takes his wife’s love for granted and doesn’t bother to nurture it. This is infinitely more important in relation to faith and love for Christ.”

The friar pointed out in his letter that “the vocabulary of faith” such as God, Christ, evangelization, resurrection, Kingdom, mission, and hope “is not lacking” in CELAM’s message, but, for him, these are “words placed there in a generic way,” because “one sees nothing of clear spiritual content in them” and “rather, they make one think of the usual refrain ‘social issues, social issues, and more social issues.’” 

“Please consider the first two words, key words and more than elementary words of our faith: ‘God’ and ‘Christ.’ As for ‘God,’ you never mention him in and of himself,” the friar wrote, but “only refer to him in the stereotypical expressions ‘Son of God’ and ‘People of God.’ Brothers, shouldn’t you be astounded?

The name of Christ “appears only twice, and both times only in passing,” Boff observed.

The friar said the bishops “declare,” and “rightly so, that they want a Church that is a ‘house and school of communion,’ and, furthermore, ‘merciful, synodal, and outgoing,’” and that “a Church that does not have Christ as its reason for being and speaking is, in the words of Pope Francis, nothing more than a ‘pious NGO.’”

“But isn’t that where our Church is headed? A lesser evil is when, instead of going to the non-religious, Catholics become evangelicals. In every case, our Church is hemorrhaging. What we see most around here are empty churches, empty seminaries, empty convents,” the friar observed.

“In our Americas, seven or eight countries no longer have a Catholic majority. Brazil itself is on its way to becoming ‘the largest ex-Catholic country in the world,’ in the words of a well-known Brazilian writer,” said the friar, referring to the playwright, writer, and journalist Nelson Rodrigues. “However, this continued decline doesn’t seem to worry the venerable brothers so much.”

The priest even said that CELAM’s message affirms that the [heart of the] Church in Latin America “continues to beat strongly” and that there are “seeds of resurrection and hope,” and asked: “But where are these ‘seeds’, dear bishops? They don’t seem to be in the social sphere, as you might imagine, but in the religious sphere. They are especially in the renewed parishes, as well as in the new movements and communities.”

“All these expressions of spirituality and evangelization” are “the ecclesial aspect that most fills our churches (and the hearts of the faithful),” he wrote. “It is there, in this spiritual seedbed, where the future of our Church lies. An eloquent sign of that future is that, while in the social sphere, currently, we see almost only ‘people with white hair; in the spiritual realm, we see the rush en masse toward the spiritual by today’s young people.”

“Without the leaven of a living faith, social struggle itself ends up being perverted: from liberating, it becomes ideological and ultimately oppressive,” Boff emphasized. “This is the lucid and grave warning that St. Paul VI issued (in Evangelii Nuntiandi 35.2) regarding the then-nascent ‘theology of liberation’ (a warning from which that theology, it seems, drew no benefit).”

Where does CELAM want to ‘take our Church’?

“Dear elder brothers, allow me to ask you: Where do you want to take our Church?” Boff asked. The bishops “speak a lot about the ‘Kingdom,’ but what is the concrete content of their ‘Kingdom’?” the friar asked in his open letter.

“Since you speak so much about building a ‘just and fraternal society’ (another of their refrains), one might think that this society is the central content of the ‘Kingdom’ that is evoked. I am not unaware of the grain of truth therein. However, the most reverend bishops say nothing about the principal content of the ‘Kingdom,’ that is, the Kingdom present, both in hearts today and in its consummation tomorrow,” he observed.

“In your discourse, there is no eschatology to be seen. It is true: You speak twice of ‘hope,’ but in such an indefinite way that, given the social slant of your message, no one, upon hearing such a word from your mouths, raises their eyes to heaven.”

“Why this reticence in speaking loudly and clearly, as so many bishops of the past did, of the ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ (and also of ‘Hell’), of the ‘resurrection of the dead,’ of ‘eternal life,’ and of other eschatological truths, which offer such great light and strength for the struggles of the present, as well as the ultimate meaning of everything?”

“It is not that the earthly ideal of a ‘just and fraternal society’ is not beautiful and great” the friar noted, “but nothing compares to the Heavenly City (Phil 3:20; Heb 11:10, 16), of which we are fortunately, by our faith, citizens and workers, and you, by your episcopal ministry, its great engineers.”

“It is, therefore, time, and more than time, to bring Christ out of the shadows and into the full light. It is time to restore to him absolute primacy, both in the Church ad intra (in the individual conscience, in spirituality, and in theology), and in the Church ad extra (in evangelization, ethics, and politics),” Boff wrote. “The Church on our continent urgently needs to return to its true center, to return to its ‘first love.’”

“With this, my dearest friends, would I be asking you for something new?” Boff asked. “Absolutely not. I am simply reminding you of the most evident requirement of faith, of the ‘ancient and ever new’ faith: the absolute option for Christ the Lord, the unconditional love for him, required particularly of you, as he did of Peter (Jn 21:15-17).”

For the friar, it is urgent for the bishops “therefore to adopt and practice clearly and decisively a strong and systematic Christocentrism; a truly ‘overwhelming’ Christocentrism, as St. John Paul II expressed it,” and “to live an open Christocentrism that acts as leaven and transforms everything: people, the Church, and society.”

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

A view from an upper window of Sacra di San Michele, Italy, July 2025. / Credit: Emma Silvestri

Paris, France, Jul 12, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Stretching back to ancient times, Christian pilgrims and curious observers have noted an invisible line spanning the continent of Europe across to the Holy Land, known as “St. Michael’s Sword.” The line follows the locations of seven sanctuaries dedicated to the leader of the heavenly hosts — from the northern tip of Ireland to Jerusalem in the south, passing through France, Italy, and Greece.

“People are surprised when we talk about a line. If you look at a map, the line isn’t perfectly straight. But we live on a globe — lines are relative. For me, what matters is the direction this symbol gives,” Tatiana Bogni, a guide for 20 years at the Sacra di San Michele in Piedmont, Italy, told CNA. 

Bogni is passionate about the Sacra di San Michele, located at the center of the invisible line connecting the seven sanctuaries, and speaks tirelessly about the medieval building perched on a rock where St. Michael is said to have appeared.

Over the centuries, countless pilgrims have walked the paths of this angelic sword-shaped line, driven by personal devotion, a search for meaning, or bound by a vow. 

According to some traditions, it is customary to start from the north and make one’s way down to Jerusalem. Bogni, however, believes it makes more sense to begin in the Holy Land and travel north to Ireland — representing the journey of Byzantine Persian monks who brought the cult of St. Michael from the East to the West.

Whichever direction one chooses, this invisible line was “created” a long time ago. 

They seven sanctuaries share one notable feature: All are hard to reach — isolated, far from everything, built on islands or rocky mountain outcrops. Sometimes, just reaching them requires facing the raw power of nature. Most importantly, each has a centuries-old history linked to the archangel.

The seven sanctuaries of St. Michael

In Ireland, the sanctuary of Skellig Michael is a rocky island rising like a temple from the sea. Now deserted and home to seabirds, the island can only be reached by boat. Pilgrims can see the remains of the monks who lived there between the sixth and 12th centuries, and who dedicated the place to the famous angel defeater of the demon.

From there, the second sanctuary stop is in the United Kingdom: St. Michael’s Mount, another island dedicated to the archangel. Legend has it that St. Michael appeared to fishermen to save them from the reefs. The castle-fortress built there served as a strategic stronghold during European wars. Today, only 30 residents preserve its legacy.

The third location is Mont-Saint-Michel in France, whose famous abbey is a global tourist destination. Every now and then, the sacred promontory — where St. Michael is said to have appeared to Bishop Aubert of Avranches in the eighth century, asking him to build a sanctuary — is surrounded by ocean waves, left to the wild tides.

The line continues through Italy with two sanctuaries still inhabited by monks. 

The first is the Sacra di San Michele, a medieval abbey in Piedmont perched at 3,156 feet high and visible throughout the Susa Valley. For those who approach, its colossal stone foundations overhanging the cliff still radiate a mystical force and a sense of the harshness of life.

Further south, in the Apulia region, lies San Michele Arcangelo Shrine on Mount Gargano, built between the fifth and sixth centuries around a cave where St. Michael is said to have appeared. Among the site’s mysteries, legend says the archangel’s footprint is imprinted in the rock.

The sixth sanctuary is the Monastery of Panormitis on the Greek island of Symi, home to an icon of St. Michael clad in silver armor. The Orthodox monastery dates from the 18th century and is still inhabited by monks.

Finally, the line ends — or begins — in the Holy Land at Stella Maris Monastery on Mount Carmel. Though not historically linked to St. Michael, the Carmelite monastery stands as a symbolic anchor for his devotion to St. Michael in the land of Jesus.

A journey toward the light

“Since the dawn of humanity, people have always chosen privileged places for spiritual health, to withdraw from chaotic life and return stronger,” Bogni noted, referring to these ancient sanctuaries. “I always say the Middle Ages weren’t better — just as chaotic. Technology changes, but people remain the same.”

Bogni often meets pilgrims determined to visit all seven sites on St. Michael’s line. 

“Just yesterday, I gave a tour to a Frenchman from Brittany. He’s visiting each sanctuary one by one. In the past, pilgrims would walk the whole line in one go. They would prepare, make a will in case they didn’t return. Today, people usually visit in stages, bit by bit,” she explained.

This is not “tourism,” Bogni stressed. “They walk to find themselves. Everyone has their reasons. I believe St. Michael represents the ongoing battle within oneself. ‘Who is like God? Who wants to take God’s place?’ — that’s Michael’s big question. He is a warrior figure who gives strength, a powerful symbol that helps people stay balanced and centered.”

Frenchman Éloi Gillard, now in his 30s, went to Mont-Saint-Michel as a young scout. “I walked three days alone to get there — it was one of the most powerful experiences of my life: like being in the desert, facing myself and facing God.”

Now a father of three, Gillard says St. Michael helped him “take stock of my life” at that time. “It was like coming of age — a time to commit, to convert. St. Michael, with his powerful, masculine figure of a brave knight, became a strong image for my life as a young man.”

For Bogni, St. Michael speaks to atheists and believers of other religions, too. He represents “a journey toward the light, and light and darkness are the same for everyone,” she said.

Malawi is preparing for its first Eucharistic Congress. Other countries in Africa have hosted such congresses —Madagascar held its third National Eucharistic Congress Aug. 23-26, 2024, / Credit: EWTN

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 11, 2025 / 14:23 pm (CNA).

Here’s a roundup of Catholic world news from the past week that you might have missed.

Malawi getting ready for first-ever Eucharistic Congress 

Plans are underway for the first ever Eucharistic Congress to take place in Malawi, a country in southeast Africa, according to ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner.

The Congress, called “Eucharist: Source and Summit of Pilgrims of Hope,” will take place Aug. 5-9 as a part of the Malawi Conference of Catholic Bishops (MCCB)’s efforts to “renew faith” and foster “ecclesial communion” as Catholics there celebrate the ongoing Jubilee Year of Hope. 

MCCB National Pastoral Coordinator ​​Father Joseph Sikwese said the event, held in the country’s Lilongwe archdiocese, will “be a profound moment of spiritual renewal for the Church in Malawi.”

Angola bishops denounce persecution of catechists

Catholic bishops in Angola are fighting back against the persecution of catechists accused of witchcraft, urging the government to address failing social infrastructure in remote parts of the country according to ACI Africa. 

Catechists in the Diocese of Benguela have been the subject of “alarming acts of persecution…particularly in areas where belief in witchcraft remains widespread,” Bishop António Francisco Jaca said, adding: “They are accused by their own communities of being sorcerers and subjected to trials with no legal basis. No one has the right to take justice into their own hands.” 

Youth meeting in Ankawa, Iraq launches with focus on vocations

The Chaldean Archdiocese of Erbil launched the eighth edition of the “Ankawa Youth Meeting 2025” this week, bringing together more than 600 young Christians from across Iraq, CNA’s Arabic language news partner, ACI Mena, reports.

The event called “I Will Give You Shepherds” opened at the Church of Saints Peter and Paul where Archbishop Bashar Matti Warda welcomed participants. 

Over three days, attendees will take part in a program designed to help them discern their personal call, whether to priesthood, religious life, or lay ministry. Since its inception in 2018, the Ankawa Youth Meeting has become Iraq’s largest Christian youth gathering, fostering solidarity and faith at a time of ongoing challenges.

Syria’s Catholic schools seek united voice amid crisis

Catholic school leaders from across Syria gathered for the first time this week at the Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchate in Damascus, in a meeting convened by Patriarch Youssef Absi and supported by French officials, according to an ACI Mena report. 

The gathering addressed pressing challenges facing Catholic education in the country — from security concerns and economic hardship to preserving curricula and values. Participants voiced the need to form a national association of Catholic schools to strengthen advocacy and cooperation with the state.

Father Fadi Najjar of Aleppo highlighted in the report the pioneering work already underway in his city, where nine Catholic schools operate under a newly formed local association. Discussions also focused on improving infrastructure, providing teacher training, and reclaiming schools confiscated decades ago, while reinforcing Syria’s francophone heritage. 

Restored Dominican monastery reawakens in Mosul

The iconic Dominican Monastery of Our Lady of the Hour in Mosul has officially reopened after extensive restoration led by UNESCO, symbolizing resilience and spiritual revival for Iraq’s Christians, ACI Mena reported. 

The monastery, famous for its clock tower and historic church dating back to the 19th century, was left severely damaged by ISIS during its brutal occupation of the city. A special ceremony earlier this year handed the restored site back to the Dominican friars, with local faithful already resuming prayers and liturgies.

Bavarian judge orders the removal of a crucifix from high school gym 

The Bavarian Administrative Court has ordered the removal of a crucifix from the main entrance of the Hallertau Gymnasium in Wolnzach, Upper Bavaria. Two students requested its removal, citing the legal right to not belong to any religion, CNA Deutsche reported on Thursday. 

“The plaintiffs were forcibly and repeatedly confronted with the crucifix because of compulsory schooling and with regard to its positioning without (reasonable) alternative possibility,” the court said in a press release following the decision, adding that “The large crucifix was placed in a very exposed place and was characterized by a figurative representation of the corpse of Jesus.”

Camillian order launches rehab center in Georgia 

The Camillians, or the Order of St. Camillus, in Georgia — a country in the Caucasus region on the coast of the Black Sea — has launched the St. Camilus Rehabilitation Center in Kutaisi, the second-largest populated city in the country, dedicated to serving those in need, including children with special needs and their families, according to a report from Agenzia Fidez. 

The center will provide a broad range of services, including therapy, psychological support, and educational activities to the community, according to Fidez, “where resources are scarce and poverty is widespread.” 

The Camillians, also known as “Ministers of the Sick,” are a religious order founded in 1586 by Italian priest St. Camillus de Lellis.

Farm workers. / mikeledray/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 11, 2025 / 13:15 pm (CNA).

As the Trump administration grapples with potentially conflicting immigration enforcement and economic policy goals affecting the agricultural sector, Bishop Brendan Cahill of Victoria, Texas is raising his voice on behalf of the country’s migrant farm workers.

The plight of migrant workers “should be one of great concern to all Catholics, and we should be committed to recognizing the importance of their work and to upholding their God-given dignity,” Cahill, chairman of the USCCB’s Subcommittee on Pastoral Care of Migrants, Refugees, and Travelers, told CNA. 

Cahill is set to become chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Migration at the end of this November’s plenary session. 

“Undocumented farmworkers labor tirelessly in American fields, orchards, and other settings, playing a key role in our food supply chain,” he continued, emphasizing that Catholics “are called to accompany [migrant workers] as we simultaneously advocate for reforms to our immigration system that benefit both our economy and all those who labor within it.”

Both President Donald Trump and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said this week that the administration would not be granting “amnesty” to migrant farm workers, but the president has also indicated several times that his administration plans to grant a “temporary pass” for certain laborers in the country illegally. 

According to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, 47% of U.S. agricultural workers are unauthorized immigrants.

The bishop’s comments come after Rollins specifically stated on July 8 that “there will be no amnesty” for migrant farm workers in the U.S. illegally. 

“Mass deportations will continue, but in a strategic way,” Rollins said. “Ultimately, the answer on this is automation, also some reform within the current governing structure,” she said, referring to current visa programs for farm workers.

At a July 3 rally in Iowa, Trump said that he and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem planned to “sort of put the farmers in charge” of migrant labor in the agricultural sector. 

“Now, serious radical right people, who I also happen to like a lot, they may not be quite as happy but they’ll understand,” Trump said. 

“If a farmer’s willing to vouch for these people,” the president said of migrant workers in the country without legal status, “Kristi, I think we’re going to have to just say that’s going to be good, right?” he continued, “because we don’t want to do it where we take all of the workers off the farms.”

At a cabinet meeting this week, Trump also echoed Rollins, saying: “We’ve got to give the farmers the people they need, but we’re not talking amnesty.” 

Trump insisted that “what we’re doing is getting rid of criminals” and hinted at the administration’s plans to overhaul existing H2 visa programs, which allow employers to bring foreign nationals to the U.S to fill certain jobs in agriculture and hospitality, among other sectors.

At the same meeting, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said her department is spearheading those efforts.

In an interview earlier this year, Rollins had indicated that once the border has been “locked down” and the country has “real border security” then “I think we can begin to pivot into ‘How do we fix this for the long term?, what does the labor look like and how do we ensure our farmers have what they need to do what they need to do?’”

“You can’t even begin to talk about real reform in your immigration system until you have locked the border down and you have real border security,” Rollins said.

Bishop Frank Dewane of Venice, Florida is also among those speaking out against mass, indiscriminate deportations. 

Dewane said President Trump’s recent remarks on farmworkers reflect what he called “a growing recognition that many, indeed most immigrants, even those who are not lawfully present, are not dangerous but peaceful, law-abiding, and hardworking contributors to our communities and to our economy.” 

The Florida bishop called for “serious reforms” of the country’s immigration system that “preserve safety and the integrity of our borders, as well as to accommodate needs for labor” and family stability.

Dewane’s statement included a link to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ statement earlier this year that calls for enforcement measures to “focus on those who present genuine risks and dangers to society, particularly efforts to reduce gang activity, stem the flow of drugs, and end human trafficking” while calling for the provision of “legal processes for longtime residents and other undocumented immigrants to regularize their status.”

Portrait of St. Benedict (1926) by Herman Nieg (1849–1928); Heiligenkreuz Abbey, Austria; “Exorcism of St. Benedict,” by Spinello Aretino, late 14th century. / Credit: Public domain

National Catholic Register, Jul 11, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Temptations in a fallen city, memories of a beautiful woman, a poisoned chalice, the attacks of an envious priest, curses from a pagan priest, a rock that won’t budge and another that falls on a young monk, a kitchen in flames, a dragon that lurks to devour a fleeing monk, threats from Gothic warlords, and the prospect of a destroyed monastery.

These are some of the attacks that St. Benedict, whose feast the Catholic Church celebrates on July 11, endured throughout his life.

Benedict even had to use force to manifest his authority as abbot over his monks oppressed by the enemy, as related in Father Robert Nixon’s newly compiled and translated book “The Cross and Medal of Saint Benedict: A Mystical Sign of Divine Power” (TAN, 2024):

“Benedict found this monk outside wandering around aimlessly when he should have been in the oratory in prayer. With a certain degree of paternal severity and charitable discipline, he reprimanded him for his lack of wisdom and discernment and struck him with his staff. At this, the monk fell down, motionless. And after that, the devil … never troubled him again. It was as if the staff of Benedict had not struck the hapless monk but had rather driven away the wicked tempter himself!” (p. 14).

St. Benedict has come to be recognized for the power of his actions against the enemy, alongside St. Michael the Archangel, as a major protector against evil — particularly through the medal that bears his image.

Nixon’s book offers an overview of how the medal rose to prominence as a Catholic devotion and received papal approval, couching it within the story of St. Benedict’s life and the rise of his order of monks.

The St. Benedict medal

If you’ve seen the back of a St. Benedict medal, you may have noticed a series of letters. The first set is arranged in and around the shape of the cross: C S P B C S S M L N D S M D. The next set is arranged in a circle around the cross: V R S N S M V S M Q L I V B.

This arrangement first came to serious attention in the year 1647 in relation to the Benedictine Abbey of Metten in Bavaria when it was believed to have prevented a series of diabolic attacks.

Although some of the laity already had medals with these letters engraved, no one at the time understood their meaning. It was only in researching the library’s manuscripts that a 15th-century illustration of St. Benedict pointed to the full prayer they abbreviated:

“Cross of our Holy Father Benedict. May the cross be light to me. May the dragon not be a leader to me. Get behind me, Satan: Never persuade me to vain things. What you like is evil; may you yourself drink your venom!” 

Due to a widespread story of the medal preventing the effect of curses and bringing about exorcisms and healings, which Nixon details in his book, its use spread across Europe, with Pope Benedict XIV approving an official blessing for it and granting it indulgences in 1741.

The great father of modern Benedictine monasticism, Dom Prosper Guéranger, speculated why God would grant so many favors to those who invoke his help through St. Benedict’s medal. In an age when “rationalism is so rife,” God has deigned to offer help to those “who put their confidence in the sacred signs marked on the medal” with “strong and simple” faith (Guéranger, “The Medal or Cross of St. Benedict,” author’s preface). It’s as if to laugh at the devil and his plans to pull people away from God through the alleged sophistication of the modern world, overcoming them with simple signs pointing us to the cross and the protection of a holy monk.

Of course, the medal should not be used in a superstitious way. It expresses our faith and confidence in God, which conquers the power of the enemy through the blood of Christ. Within God’s plan of salvation, there are certain key defenders of God’s people. St. Benedict proved himself as one over his own monks in spiritual combat. Through the efficacy of his medal, he has manifested himself as a fatherly defender of all who invoke his help.

Throughout history, the monastic life has served as a constant beacon calling us to greater conversion of life and prayer. Turning to St. Benedict can lead us to embrace some of his spiritual principles, such as humility, obedience, stability, hospitality, the prayerful reading of Scripture in “lectio divina,” and viewing our work as a means of honoring God.

While St. Benedict faced trials in his life as a monk, we all face trials and attacks from the enemy in the Christian life. Sacramentals can help us in our journey of faith, including our efforts to keep evil far away.

St. Benedict medals and rosaries with the medal affixed can be purchased at religious gift stores and can be blessed after purchase. Medals are also available at EWTNRC.com.

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

Father Thomas Hennen, vicar general of the Diocese of Davenport, Iowa, has been appointed by Pope Leo XIV to be the next bishop of Baker, a mission diocese in eastern Oregon. / Courtesy of Diocese of Davenport

Rome Newsroom, Jul 10, 2025 / 12:30 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV has tapped Father Thomas Hennen, vicar general of the Diocese of Davenport, Iowa, to be the next bishop of Baker, a mission diocese in eastern Oregon.

The bishop-elect, who celebrates 21 years as a priest on July 10, is a former vocations director. He has also been rector of Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport since 2021. 

A moral theologian, Hennen has over 10 years of experience in pastoral outreach to people with same-sex attraction, as diocesan coordinator and chaplain for the local chapter of the Catholic organization Courage International, which offers support to men and women who experience same-sex attraction and have chosen to live a chaste life.

The 47-year-old priest, who goes by “Fr. Thom,” also has experience as a parochial vicar, university and high school chaplain, campus minister, and theology teacher.

For the last almost four years, he has also been the Davenport diocese’s leader for the Synod on Synodality, which he described in a 2021 homily as “about how we go about listening to each other, how we go about our mission as the Church, the Body of Christ, in our present age, to better communicate and better embody the Kingdom of God on earth.”

Born on July 4, 1978, in Ottumwa, a town in southeast Iowa, Hennen’s hobbies include strategy board games, reading, and playing the tin whistle and the violin, according to a 2009 interview. He has also said he first felt a call to the priesthood in the fourth grade.

He completed his studies for the priesthood at Saint Ambrose University in Davenport and the Pontifical North American College in Rome, earning a bachelor’s in sacred theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. A year after his 2004 ordination to the priesthood, he also earned a licentiate in sacred theology from the Pontifical Alphonsian Academy in Rome.

The bishop-elect speaks Spanish and Italian in addition to his native English.

The Diocese of Baker covers 66,800 square miles in eastern Oregon. Considered a mission territory, the diocese’s landscape includes mountains, hills, valleys, rivers, lakes, and plains, and has a population of approximately 12,500 Catholic households across 57 parishes and missions.

In 1987, the Baker diocesan offices were moved to Bend, in central Oregon, while the Cathedral Church of St. Francis de Sales is over 200 miles east in Baker City.

Hennen succeeds Bishop Liam Cary, who has led the Baker diocese since 2012. Cary will turn 78 in August, making him nearly three years past the usual age of retirement for Catholic bishops.

Bishops Rudolf Voderholzer and Stefan Oster / Credit: Diocese of Regensburg / Diocese of Passau

CNA Newsroom, Jul 10, 2025 / 09:30 am (CNA).

Amid a heated debate over appointments to Germany’s constitutional court, two Bavarian bishops have issued an urgent call to uphold human life and dignity, warning “there must never again be second-class people” in Germany as the country faces a contentious parliamentary vote.

Bishop Stefan Oster of Passau and Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg declared that anyone who relativizes human dignity protections should be disqualified from Germany’s highest judicial body, according to CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner.

The bishops’ intervention comes as the German parliament prepares to vote Friday on three candidates for the court that serves as the nation’s supreme judicial authority and final arbiter on fundamental rights questions.

The debate over nominations has focused on views publicly expressed by Social Democratic Party nominee Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf. The constitutional law professor served as deputy coordinator of the government commission on abortion law reform. She argued that legalizing abortion within the first twelve weeks of pregnancy would be constitutionally permissible.

Most contentious was her widely criticized assertion that “whether the embryo and later fetus is entitled to the protection of the Basic Law’s guarantee of human dignity is indeed very controversial in constitutional law scholarship. In my view, there are good reasons why the guarantee of human dignity only applies from birth.”

Without naming names, the two bishops characterized such constitutional interpretation this week as fundamentally disqualifying, emphasizing the state’s duty to guarantee human dignity protections without exception.

The Bavarian bishops — who have also risen to prominence for their resistance to the controversial Synodal Way — are not the only ones raising concerns.

Some Christian Democratic Union (CDU) parliamentarians took to social media to call Brosius-Gersdorf “unelectable.”

The bishops’ statement establishes what they describe as non-negotiable criteria for constitutional judges as the country grapples with fundamental questions about the protection of human life, particularly regarding abortion law.

Bishops establish disqualification criteria

The bishops’ statement, titled “Our Basic Law is maximally inclusive,” asserts that every human being is granted human dignity and the right to life regardless of their life situation. 

Oster and Voderholzer pointed to Germany’s Basic Law (Grundgesetz), the country’s constitution established in 1949, which enshrines the inviolability of human dignity in Article 1 as the foundation of all constitutional rights.

The Bavarian bishops warned that “anyone who holds the view that the embryo or fetus in the womb does not yet have dignity and only has a lesser right to life than the human being after the birth is carrying out a radical attack on the foundations of our constitution. 

“He or she must not be entrusted with the binding interpretation of the Basic Law,” they said.

Oster and Voderholzer added that there “must never again be second-class people in Germany.”

Catholic chancellor causes outrage

The bishops’ principled position comes as Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz — a Catholic and leader of the CDU — appeared to defend Brosius-Gersdorf despite her controversial constitutional views.

In a dramatic moment during Wednesday’s Bundestag debate, when asked by Alternative for Germany parliamentarian Beatrix von Storch whether he could reconcile with his conscience voting for a candidate “for whom human dignity does not apply if [the person] is not yet born,” Merz responded: “My straightforward answer to your question is: Yes!”

The chancellor’s words created significant tension within his own parliamentary faction, according to media reports.

The CDU’s pro-life organization, Christian Democrats for Life, urged party leadership to reject the nominee based on her stance on the right to life.

Pro-life organizations have announced a demonstration outside the Reichstag building on Friday morning, CNA Deutsch reported.

Germany records more than 100,000 abortions annually, with approximately 1.8 million procedures performed between 1996 and 2023.

Currently, women in Germany can obtain an abortion from a doctor during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, following a compulsory counseling session.

Blessed Anacleto González Flores, martyr of the religious persecution that Mexico experienced in the 1920s. / Credit: Mexican Bishops’ Conference

Puebla, Mexico, Jul 10, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The Archdiocese of San Antonio, Texas, will hold a celebration in Spanish and English on Sunday, July 13, commemorating the 137th anniversary of the birth of Blessed Anacleto González Flores, a martyr of the religious persecution Mexico experienced in the 1920s and patron saint of the Mexican laity.

González was born in Tepatitlán, Jalisco state, Mexico, on July 13, 1888. He was a prominent layman, lawyer, and catechist, recognized for his profound faith and leadership during the religious persecution in Mexico in the 1920s. He founded associations for Christian formation and defended the rights of the Church, promoting peaceful resistance to the government’s anti-clerical laws.

For his commitment to faith and justice, he was arrested, tortured, and ultimately executed on April 1, 1927. Pope Benedict XVI approved his beatification on Nov. 15, 2005. In 2019, he was named patron saint of the Mexican laity.

The Archdiocese of San Antonio’s celebration will begin at noon CT on Sunday, July 13, with Mass at St. Andrew’s Church in Pleasanton, Texas.

At 1:15 p.m. there will be a talk in English about the Archdiocese of San Antonio’s support, often including providing refuge, for persecuted Mexican Catholics. This will be followed by a bilingual presentation of the Spanish-language book “Anacleto González Flores: From the Word to Social Transformation.”

The celebration will conclude with the veneration of the first-class relics of Blessed Anacleto starting at 2:15 p.m.

Archdiocese of San Antonio provided aid to persecuted Church in Mexico

During the years of religious persecution in Mexico, various dioceses and Catholic institutions in the United States provided assistance to Mexican bishops, priests, and laypeople, including the Archdiocese of San Antonio. 

Father Rafael Becerra, the priest organizing the celebration, shared with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, that there are records that show that “some of the homes of the Josephite Sisters became a place for refugee priests.”

Also in the town of Castroville, just west of San Antonio, “a seminary was built and founded for seminarians from Mexico during the time of religious persecution.”

“It is known that seminarians from 13 different dioceses in Mexico came to study at that seminary” and that 59 priests were ordained after receiving their formation at that seminary, he noted.

Among other institutions, Becerra mentioned the important support of the Knights of Columbus, the largest Catholic fraternal service organization in the world. Six members of the Knights were martyred during the 1926–1929 Cristero War.

“We also know that several priests were here in San Antonio. There are about 40 refugees, some Claretians, other priests, and some bishops like [the archbishop of Mexico City] José Mora,” he commented.

Among other Mexican prelates who also passed through the Archdiocese of San Antonio during the years of persecution were St. Rafael Guízar y Valencia — today the patron saint of the bishops of Mexico — and his brother, Antonio, who was archbishop of Chihuahua.

These and other historical materials will be presented this Sunday, July 13, as part of the celebration of the Archdiocese of San Antonio.

For more information on how to participate in the celebration, click here.

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