Month: August 2025

St. Francis made peace with a wolf and befriended other animals, according to legend. / Credit: Purplexsu/Shutterstock

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 31, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Throughout history, many saints have been remembered not only for their dedication to God and others but also for the special relationship they had with animals. An obedient crow, a wolf that became tame, birds that accompanied their owners — they are all part of stories that reflect the harmony between holiness and creation.

Here are some of those saints:

1. St. Francis of Assisi

According to tradition, in the Italian city of Gubbio, there was a wolf that was terrorizing the townspeople. Given the situation, St. Francis wanted to help and went to the place where the beast was.

When the wolf lunged at the friar, the saint made the sign of the cross. Immediately, the beast calmed down and rested its head in the friar’s hands. He then offered him a deal: If he promised not to attack people or animals again, the townspeople would feed him and he would never go hungry again. The wolf accepted the pact.

It is said that the animal lived for two years. When he died of old age, the entire town mourned him.

The Church of St. Francis “of the Peace” was built on the site of this encounter. In the church’s crypt is displayed a stone sarcophagus that, according to tradition, is from the tomb of the wolf.

2. St. Anthony the Abbot

St. Anthony the Abbot is also invoked as the patron saint of animals. One story tells of two lions appearing along with other animals who helped him dig the grave where the saint buried St. Paul the Hermit.

The second tradition tells of a wild boar living near his hermitage and giving birth to blind piglets. Moved by compassion, St. Anthony cured them, and from then on, the mother followed him as a faithful guardian, never leaving his side.

3. St. Pio of Pietrelcina

St. Pio of Pietrelcina is also remembered for a unique event involving animals. According to what Father Jean Marie Benjamin told ACI Stampa, CNA’s Italian-language news partner, the friar’s reputation had such an impact on him that he decided to travel to San Giovanni Rotondo to meet him.

There, he attended one of his Masses at dawn. He recounted that the saint was bent over by the pain of the stigmata, in a wheelchair, yet all the faithful looked upon him with great emotion.

He described experiencing as something that “was impossible to describe. There are no words or expressions to accurately state what was happening,” because at the moment of the consecration, the birds perched in the church windows who had been chattering away suddenly fell silent, as if participating in the mystery.

4. St. Seraphim of Sarov

The Russian Orthodox saint was a great ascetic who spent long years in solitude in the forest, devoted to prayer and penance. He often fed the wild animals that came to him.

The website of the Orthodox Church in America relates that among these animals, there was an amazing bear that became his companion and docilely obeyed him. The saint fed the animal with bread and, according to tradition, even gave it errands.

Those who visited him were amazed to see the ferocious animal transformed into a gentle servant of the man of God.

5. St. John Bosco

In the “Memoirs of the Oratory of St. Francis de Sales,” an autobiography of St. John Bosco, he recounted the mysterious companionship of a large dog he called “Grey,” an animal that always appeared friendly and accompanied him on several occasions during his journeys.

The saint relates that on several occasions Grey protected him from real danger. Once, when two men tried to attack and gag him on a lonely road, the dog suddenly emerged, leaped at the attackers, and managed to drive them off, remaining by the priest’s side until he was safe.

Don Bosco always considered him “a providential presence in many of the dangerous situations I found myself in.”

6. St. Francis Xavier

According to tradition, in 1546, St. Francis Xavier was traveling to Indonesia when, during the journey, a storm caused the crucifix he was wearing around his neck to fall into the sea.

Upon reaching the island, he was walking along the beach when a crab emerged from the sea holding the crucifix in its claws. The creature carried it to St. Francis Xavier who then retrieved it. The saint knelt and thanked God for this miracle.

According to the website of the Pontifical Mission Societies of Spain, the crucifix remained with St. Francis Xavier during his missionary work and after his death, it was taken to various places in Europe until it arrived in Spain, where it is currently preserved. A bronze crab figure was added to the crucifix, commemorating the miraculous event.

7. St. Gerasimus

St. Gerasimus was a hermit who traveled to the Holy Land to dedicate his life to prayer and solitude.

According to the book “Lives of the Saints,” while on the banks of the Jordan River, he saw a limping lion with a thorn stuck in its paw. St. Gerasimus proceeded to remove the thorn. After being healed by the saint, the animal became his loyal and inseparable companion, helping him with the tasks of the monastery.

The research website on saints, Santi e Beati (Saints and Blesseds), states that the lion remained with St. Gerasimus for about five years, and when the saint died, the animal was so distraught that it collapsed dead on his grave.

It is also noted that, likely due to the similarity of their names, the lion episode has also been attributed to St. Jerome.

8. St. Eutychius

St. Eutychius, originally called Placidus, was a Roman general who was very fond of hunting. According to the book “Lives of the Saints,” while chasing a deer in the mountains between Tivoli and Palestrina, he saw the figure of Jesus Christ on the cross in the animal’s antlers and heard a voice calling him by name. This prodigious vision instantly converted him to Christianity.

In Sant’Eustachio Basilica in Rome, the façade is crowned by a deer’s head, commemorating the vision that transformed his life.

9. St. Benedict

St. Gregory the Great tells in his “Dialogues” a story about St. Benedict, who used to feed a raven that came down from the forest every day to receive bread from his hands.

On one occasion, an enemy tried to kill the saint by sending him poisoned bread. Benedict, realizing the danger, threw the bread to the raven and ordered it to take it far away, to a place where no one could find it.

The bird hesitated, cawed, and fluttered, but finally obeyed: It took the bread in its beak, hid it, and returned later, as always, to receive its usual ration.

10. St. Roch

St. Roch dedicated his life to caring for the victims of the plague in Italy and France, curing many with the sign of the cross. After contracting the disease, he retreated to a cave so as not to be a burden, where a dog brought him bread daily and licked his sores until the animal’s owner discovered him and cared for him.

After recovering, he returned to helping the sick but was unjustly imprisoned and died in prison. His tomb became a place of miracles, and he was soon invoked throughout Europe as the patron saint of those afflicted with the plague, always represented with his faithful dog.

11. St. Martin de Porres

St. Martin de Porres considered animals to be God’s creatures and showed tenderness even toward the tiniest ones: He patiently endured mosquito bites, saying that they too had the right to food, and on another occasion, he talked some mice into leaving the convent’s pantry, sending them peacefully to the garden.

Among his best-known stories is the one in which he brought a dog, a cat, and a mouse together so they could share the same plate in harmony.

This story was published on Oct. 4, 2017, by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, and has been updated for republication. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Pope Leo XIV speaks from a window of the Apostolic Palace overlooking St. Peter’s Square during the Sunday Angelus on Aug. 24, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Aug 31, 2025 / 07:10 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday prayed for the victims of a shooting at a Catholic church in Minneapolis and deplored a worldwide “pandemic of arms” that has left many children dead or injured.

“Our prayers for the victims of the tragic shooting during a school Mass in the American state of Minnesota,” the pontiff said in English on Aug. 31 after leading the weekly Angelus prayer from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.

“We include in our prayers,” he added, “the countless children killed and injured every day around the world. Let us plead to God to stop the pandemic of arms, large and small, which infects our world.”

An Aug. 27 shooting at a school Mass at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis left two children dead and 17 others wounded.

Leo turned to Mary, the Queen of Peace, to ask for her intercession “to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.’”

In his other appeals after the Angelus, delivered in Italian, Pope Leo repeated his calls for an immediate ceasefire and “a serious commitment to dialogue” in the Middle East, and for prayer and concrete gestures for the victims of the ongoing war in Ukraine.

“The voice of arms must be silenced, while the voice of brotherhood and justice must be raised,” he said.

The pope said his heart is also wounded for those who have died or are missing after a boat carrying migrants from Africa to the Canary Islands capsized off the coast of Mauritania. According to the BBC, at least 69 people have died and many others are missing.

“This mortal tragedy repeats every day everywhere in the world,” Leo said. “Let us pray that the Lord teaches us, as individuals and as a society, to put fully into practice his word: ‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me.’”

“We entrust all our missing, injured, and dead everywhere to our Savior’s loving embrace,” the pontiff said both in English and in Italian.

In his spiritual message before the Angelus prayer, Pope Leo spoke about encounter, which requires openness of heart and humility.

“Humility is really freedom from ourselves,” he emphasized. “It is born when the kingdom of God and its righteousness become our real concern and we allow ourselves to lift up our eyes and look ahead: not down at our feet, but at what lies ahead!”

Leo said people who put themselves before others tend to think they are more interesting than anything else, “yet deep down, they are quite insecure.”

“Whereas,” he continued, “those who know that they are precious in God’s eyes, who know they are God’s children, have greater things to be worried about; they possess a sublime dignity all their own.”

The pope reflected on Jesus’ example of how to be a good guest, as described in the day’s Gospel reading; Jesus “acts with respect and sincerity, avoiding merely polite formalities that preclude authentic encounter,” Leo explained.

To extend an invitation to another person also shows “a sign of openness of heart,” he added.

The pontiff encouraged everyone to invite Jesus to be their guest at Mass so that he can tell them how it is he sees them.

“It is very important that we see ourselves through his eyes: to see how frequently we reduce life to a competition, how anxious we become to obtain some sort of recognition, and how pointlessly we compare ourselves to others,” he said.

We experience the freedom Jesus wants for us, he added, when we stop to reflect and let ourselves “be taken aback by a word that challenges our hearts’ priorities.”

Cardinal Fernando Chomali speaks with ACI Prensa correspondent Julieta Villar during a January 2025 interview. / Credit: “EWTN Noticas”/Screenshot

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 31, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Cardinal Fernando Chomali, the archbishop of Santiago and primate of Chile, shared three stories that reflect cancel culture and highlighted the need to cultivate humility in times of mistrust and aggression.

The prelate was participating in an open meeting with students from the Catholic University of Chile, which took place at the San Joaquín campus and also featured professionals and academics.

The purpose of the event was to seek spaces for encounter, using dialogue as a transformative tool.

In his presentation, Chomali focused on dialogue, explaining that it does not involve renouncing one’s convictions but rather being willing to understand others from their own history and context: “When we stop listening, we also stop learning. Dialogue begins when we recognize that the other person has something to say to us that can enrich our lives.”

“Today, it seems there is no room for making mistakes or for forgiveness. This is a way of making the other person invisible. The challenge is to come out of ourselves, always recognize the dignity of the person, and embrace humility as a way to resolve conflicts,” he urged.

The cardinal told three stories that occurred during his time in the Archdiocese of Concepción, in which he had a “personal experience of cancellation” that helped him reflect.

“I arrived in Concepción as archbishop in 2011 and found the following situation: The churches were all leveled. The earthquake, which was terrible in that area, had just occurred,” he recounted.

Over time, he discovered that rebuilding buildings could be simpler than rebuilding social ties: “When it comes to managing materials, you round up the money. But when it comes to reaching an agreement, conversing, recognizing the other person’s dignity, asking for forgiveness and forgiving, things get much more complicated,” he acknowledged.

He went on to share three stories. The first had to do with a charitable project: “In Concepción, we carried out a very beautiful project, a laundry in which young people with Down syndrome could work. It was the only project of its kind in Latin America, and it had a lot of media impact. We didn’t advertise it, but it was so wonderful that it generated media interest,” he recalled.

But not everyone welcomed it: “A person on Facebook started insulting me harshly… It turned out that this woman owned a laundry a few blocks away and felt threatened. I explained to her that our project was nonprofit, funded by donors, and that in Concepción there were 700,000 people, 10 hospitals, 8,000 beds, millions of sheets and blankets.” In other words, there was work for everyone.

The archbishop proposed that the woman employ a person with Down syndrome and that her laundry become a second branch of the charitable project. “But she went away sad, because she wasn’t willing to do it. That’s how I understood that conflicts are often conversations that never happened or went badly,” he observed.

The second story involved a “more sensitive” subject, the cardinal admitted: “The Mapuche [Indigenous] community members on hunger strike were in prison serving their sentences. One of them, after a while, obtained permission to go out on Sundays and work. However, no one wanted to give him a job. His wife called me saying, ‘My husband is looking for work, and no one is hiring him.’ In other words, they were canceling him, denying him a basic right: to work, feed his family, and get back on his feet,” he explained.

The archbishop decided to help him, although it cost him dearly: “I welcomed him and gave him a job at a church home for homeless youth. But I was subjected to the worst cancellation: front-page news in Concepción for having given work to a person who was once in prison. I found this to be a really serious situation because it means we have lost confidence in the rule of law and, even more seriously, we have stopped believing that people can change, ask for forgiveness, or forgive themselves,” he reflected.

As a third story, Chomali offered some advice: “I always tell young people: study, study, and study. Because ignorance is a source of fanaticism. The most well-read people are capable of nuance, of dialogue. Those who are less well-read barricade themselves within their walls they put up and impose themselves with violence. And violence today manifests itself in a thousand ways: online, physically, symbolically.”

He therefore emphasized the importance of humility. “The greater the knowledge, the greater the humility; the less the knowledge, the less the humility. We dig in our heels for fear that others will break down the walls we put up,” he warned.

Finally, he focused on the power of the cancellation phenomenon: “Judgment today is no longer in the courts: It takes place in the media. And that judgment suspends one’s own thinking, because we follow what social media or the news media say.”

“We’ve seen artists canceled without proof, just based on rumors. This logic of destruction has done us a lot of harm. I think we should start by taking a look at ourselves: How do we mutually cancel each other out in our daily lives?”

“If we start there, perhaps we can change the way we relate to each other. Otherwise, tomorrow will be too late,” he said.

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

Bishop Erik Varden. / Credit: Pål Johannes Nes

CNA Newsroom, Aug 30, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

The Catholic bishops of Norway have issued a pastoral letter calling on the faithful to be guided by Church teaching on human life and dignity in the country’s parliamentary election scheduled for Sept. 8. 

The bishops also voiced concern about growing political support for euthanasia.

In the letter dated for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time and released this weekend, Bishop Erik Varden of Trondheim and Bishop Fredrik Hansen of Oslo emphasized that voting is “not only a right; it is a demanding and weighty duty” for Norway’s approximately 160,000 Catholics.

“We are troubled by the apparent growth of support for euthanasia in our country and among our politicians,” they wrote.

“All who suffer from pain or illness should receive every form of care we can offer, as should their families and those who look after them. To ‘help’ someone die helps no one.”

The bishops stressed the inviolability of human life and dignity, declaring that “no person — whether an unborn child, the incurably ill, a newly arrived refugee, or a victim of violence or human trafficking — may be set aside or counted of lesser worth than the rich, the powerful, or the famous.”

“As your bishops, we wish to share a few thoughts with you before the election,” they continued. “It is not our role as bishops to tell you for whom to vote. Our hope is rather that the basic principles we outline here will aid your own discernment about which party to support.”

The pastoral letter comes as approximately 3.9 million eligible Norwegian voters prepare to choose representatives who will govern the country for the next four years.

Despite Catholics representing only about 3.5% of Norway’s population, the bishops emphasized their community’s responsibility to participate actively in civic life.

“Though Catholics are few in Norway, we may not disclaim our shared responsibility, either for society or for the well-being of our neighbor,” the bishops declared. “We therefore consider it especially important that all eligible Catholic voters make use of their vote and weigh their choices carefully before Election Day.”

The letter outlined several key areas where Catholic social teaching should inform voters’ decisions, including protection of human life “from conception to natural death,” religious freedom, strengthening families, caring for the poor, and Norway’s international responsibilities.

Beyond life issues, the prelates called attention to persistent poverty despite Norway’s reputation as a wealthy welfare state, noting that “each year we hear of people who cannot afford heat in winter or food at Christmas, and of children left out because family means are insufficient for school or leisure activities.”

The bishops also emphasized religious freedom as “rooted in human dignity,” declaring it “essential to ensure that everyone — individually and together with others — can seek faith and live responsibly in accordance with that faith.”

Varden, a Cistercian monk who heads the Territorial Prelature of Trondheim, and Hansen, who also serves as apostolic administrator of Tromsø, concluded their message by invoking Norway’s patron saint.

“St. Olav, Norway’s eternal king, helped found our country upon the values of the Gospel, upon the message and example of Jesus Christ,” they wrote. “At this election, let each of us recognize our responsibility to build upon the saint-king’s work.”

The Catholic Church in Norway has experienced significant growth in recent decades, with registered membership increasing from approximately 95,000 in 2015 to around 160,000 today, largely due to immigration from Catholic countries.

While advance voting began in July, Election Day has been set for Monday, Sept. 8.

The current government is led by the Labour Party under Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, with approximately 20 parties competing in the upcoming parliamentary election.

CAFOD and Caritas Sudan provide cash assistance to IDPs in Kost, Shite Nile State in Sudan. / Credit: CAFOD

ACI Africa, Aug 30, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

In one of the worst and most underreported humanitarian crises in the world, taking place in the northern Darfur region of Sudan, aid agencies have struggled to reach the desperate while lamenting the lack of global media coverage of what is happening there.

The country representative for Sudan for the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD), Telley Sadia, recently spoke to ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, about the growing humanitarian crisis in Sudan and the need for the international press to give it “a voice.”

“This is one of the biggest humanitarian situations in the world, which, unfortunately, has not received much international press,” said Sadia, who has worked in Sudan for many years. “My message is to the media: Sudan needs a voice. I look forward to the day when the world will be made aware of what is actually happening in this country.”

His comments echo the sentiments of the executive director of CAFOD, Christine Allen, who in an Aug. 2 interview told ACI Africa that in the U.K., “trying to get coverage on the media or political interest in Sudan has just been almost impossible.”

Below is part of the interview Sadia gave to ACI Africa about what is happening on the ground right now in northern Darfur and the role CAFOD is playing to assist those in need as they continue to find innovative ways to deliver water, medicine, and different forms of aid to the people.

ACI Africa: What is the current general humanitarian situation of Sudan?

Telley Sadia: The situation isn’t good, especially in locations where fighting is still ongoing, like in the Darfur region and in the Kordofan region. Because of the fighting [two years of heavy fighting between the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces], lives are being lost. The infrastructure has been destroyed. People don’t have food. It is in Kordofan where you heard people were at one point feeding on leaves. In the Darfur, the situation is the same.

Accessibility to these places remains a challenge and getting aid to the people who are trapped there is not easy. People have lost their lives because of loss of blood or lack of adequate medical attention.

Children have lost about three years now of not going to school, especially in these locations. In locations such as Kosti where fighting has not been intense, schools have been converted to camps for people fleeing from places where there is still intense fighting. Children not going to school is a challenge that we are going to grapple with for a very long time even after the war is ended.

A majority of those staying in crowded camps are women, children, and the elderly. Most of them are really traumatized. The Sudanese, especially those in the Darfur region, have experienced war before, but nothing came close to what they are witnessing now. Those in Khartoum, going north and in other parts of the east, had never experienced what they’re experiencing now. That is why many in camps are really traumatized.

Even in locations where there is no fighting, we are having economical challenges. The inflation is very high. Liquidity is at zero. It’s very rare to see hard currency. The old currency that was changed is now back into circulation because people don’t have money. Whatever they had that they couldn’t change because of the war is what they are using.

And then, it’s also making it difficult for agencies to easily meet their financial obligations because the banking systems are not efficient because of the situation. 

In what ways does CAFOD work with local partners and the Catholic Church on the ground?

CAFOD is a partner-led organization. We work with local partners because they are the ones who are closest to the people, and our desire is to strengthen their operational systems.

Some of these organizations are within the communities, and so, they can easily respond to the needs of the people. We work with Caritas Sudan and secular organizations located within these communities.

We also work with small Christian communities. The challenge, however, is that most humanitarian organizations fled when fighting intensified in north Darfur.

What are CAFOD’s success stories while intervening in the Sudanese crisis?

Beginning August last year up to early this year, we had a huge influx of IDPs [internally displaced people] across the country in about 11 states. Displaced people found refuge in Church premises. The Church was overwhelmed. There were no resources to meet the needs of the people and there was the fear of the outbreak of diseases, especially cholera. 

Fortunately, we had already launched the CAFOD Sudan Appeal, where we get support from well-wishers back in the U.K. From the appeal, we raised funds, and we were able to reach all the 11 states, in the Church premises where IDPs were gathering. We went around distributing food, water, and medication. Many people who came in injured were provided with care. 

We also worked with other mutual aid groups to support people who were camping in open spaces to provide them with hot meals and clean water. Our immediate response was appreciated by both the Church and the authorities.

What areas does CAFOD generally focus on in Sudan?

CAFOD started its operations as a grant management organization from the U.K. in the 1970s, and then it opened the country offices in 2004. Our work focuses on WASH [water, sanitation, and hygiene] as well as nutrition and protection. We are also doing emergency response for situations like floods and also support schools. We engage in sustainable livelihoods, and we are focusing quite a lot on agriculture and cash assistance.

How has the conflict impacted CAFOD’s operations?

We have been forced to close our offices in El Fashir. Now we are working through local partners who are based there, and things are not as they were before when we had CAFOD staff and an office in the city of El Fashir.

We also had to close our country offices in Khartoum, and this has been a great challenge because now we are operating from our few remaining field offices. This has been very inconvenient.

When war broke out, we had to downsize our staff as we monitored the situation. What we had for a long time was skeletal manpower as we worked mainly through partners, but as we stabilized again after the shock and started getting used to the situation, we had to bring in more new people as the needs grew.

We need to expand our protection program for the vulnerable and fast-track the WASH activities we put on hold for about five to six months. Some of our water projects are lagging behind, and we are fast-tracking them to reach at least 90% completion by the end of this year.

What areas in Sudan remain completely inaccessible to aid organizations?

There are areas where you can’t really access where there is active fighting. Like now, El Fashir town is completely inaccessible. For you to get to this place, you must first go to Chad. You fly to Egypt or Ethiopia, then connect to N’Djamena.

At the border between Chad and Sudan, you encounter a fresh set of challenges. You must first be cleared by Chad authorities. You get a visa, which sometimes takes days to process before you are cleared to proceed to Sudan.

There are also areas in-country that are not easily accessible because they are controlled by either of the warring parties. In many cases, there has not been any engagement between the parties to allow for safe passage for international agencies. Traveling to these areas is like traveling to another country altogether.

What I know is that El Fashir is not accessible. You can’t go in. Coming out is also a challenge because of the unending bombardments. There is fighting going on in other places such as West and South of Kordofan. What we only see are people coming out of these places to seek refuge. But it is still difficult for other people to go in, even humanitarian agencies.

What kind of support is most urgently needed from the international community right now?

Health care and food. Those who need urgent health care are the terminally ill who cannot access treatment because the systems have been broken down, as well as the women and teenage girls who have been abused and require trauma-related support.

People need food. I’ve been in Sudan for a number of years, and I never saw the number of women and children on the streets begging as it is now. All they want is something to eat. The issue of hunger is really serious, and it needs to be addressed. 

But the most urgent need for me is for some level of understanding to be reached so that people can have a break from all this stress, and for humanitarian agencies to have free access to places where there is so much need.

Who would you address in your final message concerning the situation in Sudan? 

My message is to the media: Sudan needs a voice. I look forward to the day when the world will be made aware of what is actually happening in this country. It is only this awareness that will create a change of attitude of the leaders of the two warring factions, so that they can give peace a chance. And by giving peace an opportunity, people will be able to get back to their normal lives.

This is one of the biggest humanitarian situations in the world, which, unfortunately, has not received much international press. Sudan is not heard. There isn’t much awareness on what is actually happening here. And because of this, not much pressure has been exerted on the warring parties to reach some level of compromise, so that there can be some level of peace for people to at least be a bit free. And also, for humanitarian agencies to have access to the parts of the country where the people have been caught in crossfire, where we cannot access. So, the humanitarian situation remains dire.

The information and interview for this story was first published by ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa.

Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on Jan. 28, 2024. / Credit: Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 29, 2025 / 18:52 pm (CNA).

News this week of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s engagement sparked positive commentary from a wide cross-section of Catholics on social media, who anticipate a positive cultural shift from the marriage between the beloved pop star and Kansas City Chiefs tight end. 

“Expect a spike in marriage,” wrote marriage and family expert Brad Wilcox in a social media post. “Taylor and Travis put a ring on it.” 

“The Life of a Showgirl” singer announced her engagement to Kelce in an Aug. 26 Instagram post, captioned: “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married.”

Wilcox, the author of “Why Americans Must Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families, and Save Civilization,” noted in another post the engagement came on the same day as a new study highlighting the value of marriage for women today.

The study, “In Pursuit: Marriage, Motherhood, and Women’s Well-Being,” found married women with children make up the majority of women ages 25 to 55 who describe themselves as “very happy.”

Swift’s engagement “as a sort of left-leaning pop celebrity could create a space where it’s OK again for center-left Americans, both elite and ordinary Americans, to publicly embrace marriage,” Wilcox also told the Wall Street Journal.

“Marriage is a beautiful thing,” Students for Life President Kristan Hawkins chimed in, reacting to the news on social media. 

She added: “I hope Taylor Swift’s engagement inspires young women to see the joy and purpose in getting married, starting a family, and committing to one person for the rest of their lives.” In another post, Hawkins expressed confidence that “America is heading into its ‘get married and have babies era.’”

Defending the singer against negative reactions on social media to the news of her engagement, CEO and founder of the Classical Learning Test Jeremy Wayne Tate wrote in a post on X: “I’m disappointed with some conservatives today … Boy proposed to girl to enter into the most traditional relationship in human history … marriage.”

“That’s a beautiful thing,” he added. “Just say congratulations.”

LiveAction President Lila Rose also congratulated the happy couple on social media and praised their decision to get married. 

“Marriage is the best and tons of women look up to Taylor,” Rose said. “So happy to see her embracing it.”

Pope Leo XIV on Aug. 29, 2025, appointed Father Andres Ligot as auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of San Jose, California. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Diocese of San Jose

Vatican City, Aug 29, 2025 / 14:06 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Friday appointed Father Andres Ligot as auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of San Jose, California.

The bishop-elect is currently parish priest of St. Elizabeth of Portugal and vicar general of the San Jose Diocese.

Prior to his 2021 appointment to St. Elizabeth of Portugal, Ligot, 59, served as judicial vicar of the diocese from 2008 to 2021. 

Bishop Oscar Cantú expressed his gratitude for Ligot’s elevation to bishop in an Aug. 29 statement published on the diocesan website.

“His priestly heart, pastoral experience, and steady leadership will bless our parishes, schools, and ministries,” Cantú said. “I invite the faithful to keep him in prayer as he prepares for episcopal ordination.”

Ligot said he was “humbled” by the trust and support he has received from Pope Leo and Cantú and asked people to pray that he will continue to be a “faithful servant” within the diocese. 

“I renew my promise to serve Christ and his people with joy — especially those most in need,” he said in a statement published by his diocese. 

Ordained a priest in 1992 by Pope John Paul II in the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome for the Diocese of Laoag City, Philippines, Ligot was incardinated into the Diocese of San Jose on March 30, 2004.

Before his incardination to the California diocese, Ligot served as parish vicar for St. John Vianney Parish, San Jose, from 2003 to 2005. He was also a chaplain at the Veterans Medical Center in San Francisco and a visiting priest at the Church of the Nativity in Menlo Park.

From 2005 to 2009, the bishop-elect was parish priest of St. Lawrence the Martyr Catholic Parish in Santa Clara.

Ligot attended San Pablo College Seminary in Baguio City, Philippines, and later continued his priestly studies at the Bidasoa International Seminary in Navarra, Spain, where he obtained a master’s degree in theology. He later obtained a doctorate in canon law from the University of Navarra in Spain.

Ligot, who is fluent in English, Spanish, Tagalog, and Ilocano, will become the second auxiliary bishop appointed to the Diocese of San Jose and the sixth U.S. prelate from the Philippines.

Pharrell Williams (left) and Andrea Bocelli. / Credit: Paras Griffin/Getty Images; Jakub Janecki, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Vatican City, Aug 29, 2025 / 11:51 am (CNA).

Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and American songwriter Pharrell Williams will direct a concert featuring musicians John Legend, Teddy Swims, Jelly Roll, Karol G, BamBam, and Angélique Kidjo in St. Peter’s Square next month.

The Sept. 13 concert, which is free and open to the public, will also include a drone light show and talks on themes including peace, justice, food, freedom, and humanity.

Called “Grace for the World,” the show will close the third edition of the World Meeting on Human Fraternity, organized by the Fratelli Tutti Foundation and St. Peter’s Basilica, and will be preceded by roundtables on social issues in Rome and Vatican City on Sept. 12–13.

Pope Francis established the Fratelli Tutti Foundation at the end of 2021. It is named after his 2020 encyclical on fraternity and social friendship, which expanded on themes in the “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together,” signed with Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, grand imam of Al-Azhar, in Abu Dhabi in 2019.

The final event of the World Meeting on Human Fraternity 2025 is intended “to communicate to the whole world, with a symbolic embrace, the joy of fraternal love,” Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, president of the Fratelli Tutti Foundation and archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, said at an Aug. 29 press conference at the Vatican.

Gambetti said organizers tried to “broaden our international scope” with the choice of music artists.

In the press conference, the cardinal said Karol G — a Grammy-winning Colombian reggaeton and urban pop artist — was asked to take part because she is Latin American and “because she is involved in important social work” with women and children. “It seemed relevant to the theme we are trying to address,” Gambetti said.

Prominent U.S. artists will also take the stage in front of the Vatican basilica: rapper Jelly Roll and singer-songwriters John Legend, Teddy Swims, and Pharrell Williams.

Thai rapper BamBam, who is also a member of the South Korean boy band Got7, will perform, as well as Angélique Kidjo, a Beninese-French singer, actress, and activist. The concert will also feature the choir of the Diocese of Rome and the Voices of Fire Gospel choir.

Andrea Bocelli, who has performed in St. Peter’s Square on previous occasions, shared in a video message Aug. 29 that his participation in the concert is “a great honor.”

“I sincerely hope that it will truly succeed in spreading, in everyone’s hearts, a sense of brotherhood and great humanity, which is so badly needed,” the world-famous singer added.

The World Meeting on Human Fraternity 2025 will start with a meeting with Pope Leo XIV on Sept. 12. The program will then focus on roundtables on topics including artificial intelligence, education, economics, literature, children, health, and the environment. 

Sept. 13 will include an assembly on the topic of “What It Means to Be a Human Today” and a visit to St. Peter’s Basilica and the Holy Door of the Jubilee of Hope.

“While the world suffers from wars, loneliness, even new poverty, we have decided to stop and ask ourselves what it means to be human today,” Father Francesco Occhetta, SJ, Fratelli Tutti Foundation secretary-general, said Aug. 29.

“It is not an easy question, it even seems a little naive, but it is the only one that can save us if we ask it together,” he added.

Nicaraguan dictator Daniel Ortega (whose image is regularly displayed in public places) has perpetrated more than 1,000 attacks on the Catholic Church and banned more than 16,500 religious processions, according to a report released Aug. 27, 2025. / Credit: Barna Tanco/Shutterstock

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 29, 2025 / 10:24 am (CNA).

The dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, in Nicaragua has banned more than 16,500 religious processions and activities in recent years and has perpetrated 1,010 attacks against the Catholic Church.

The statistics are recorded in the seventh installment of the Spanish-language report “Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church” by exiled lawyer and researcher Martha Patricia Molina, released on Aug. 27. 

Regarding the ban on processions, Molina explained that it has worsened since 2022 and that the dictatorship has imposed it throughout the country since then. However, the report does not cover all parish churches or chapels, of which there are 400 in Managua alone.

“So the figure presented in the study could be at least three or four times higher than what is being recorded,” she emphasized.

In an interview with the Spanish-language edition of EWTN News, Molina explained that so far this year, only 32 attacks by the dictatorship against the Church have been recorded, a figure that could be much higher.

Reporting attacks against the Catholic Church in Nicaragua

The researcher explained that there are a series of factors that prevent these types of incidents from being reported: “Laypeople are terrified that members of the Citizen Power Council and the paramilitaries, which are organizations affiliated with the dictatorship, will harm them if they decide to report.”

Furthermore, Catholic priests “are prohibited from making any complaints, and if by chance any attack is reported in the media, [the dictatorship] simply denies it.”

“Another negative aspect we find, and which makes it possible for these attacks to continue to go unreported, is that there is no independent media presence in the country,” the expert stated.

An example of this, she said, was the recent confiscation of St. Joseph School run by the Josephine Sisters in Jinotepe: “When people reported it [to the outside free press] several authorities, including Catholic ones, said it was false. But two days later when dictator Rosario Murillo announced the confiscation, it was already known that what was being reported was actually true.”

The researcher also noted that her study “has documented the arbitrary closure of 13 universities and educational or training centers” and added that “what the dictatorship is doing is first prohibiting the students who remained at the confiscated school from withdrawing their enrollment,” since if they do so, “they will face some kind of retaliation.”

Molina also told EWTN News that these schools or educational centers are then used to “indoctrinate young people, children, so they see Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo as the saviors of Nicaragua.”

So far in 2025, she continued, “24 media outlets and 75 nonprofit organizations have been arbitrarily closed simultaneously,” and the dictatorship has confiscated 36 properties, despite the fact that Nicaragua’s Political Constitution, “even the one recently reformed in 2025, prohibits this type of action.”

“Priests and bishops are constantly under surveillance. Some of them are even followed 24 hours a day,” she continued.

“The clergy meetings held by bishops and priests are constantly monitored by the police [who] come to take photographs and videos of the religious who attend, and [the Ortega regime’s security forces] must be fully informed of everything discussed at these meetings.”

Nicaragua and the Vatican

After noting that the dictatorship has not returned the bank accounts confiscated from the Catholic Church and that “heavy fines and high fees are being imposed on religious buildings,” the lawyer addressed the relationship with the Holy See.

The latest constitutional reform, she said, “is creating a rift between the Nicaraguan Catholic Church and the Vatican because the dictatorship included in this reform that no interference in these religious activities is permitted. So what this means is that the [Nicaraguan] Catholic Church should not have any contact with the Vatican.”

“The relationship between the Vatican City State and the Sandinista dictatorship is nonexistent. It is known that there is no dialogue of any kind, at least not openly,” she commented.

Pope Leo XIV’s meeting with Nicaraguan bishops

Regarding the meeting that Pope Leo XIV held on Aug. 23 with three exiled bishops from Nicaragua, Molina expressed her joy and emphasized: “Who better than these bishops, who have been exiled and stripped of their citizenship, to attest to the persecution that is unfolding in Nicaragua”

The Holy Father received at the Vatican Bishop Silvio Báez, whom he confirmed as auxiliary bishop of Managua; Bishop Isidoro Mora of Siuna; and Bishop Carlos Enrique Herrera, bishop of Jinotega and president of the Nicaraguan Bishops’ Conference.

Báez wrote on X on Aug. 26: “The Holy Father, Leo XIV, received me in a private audience on Saturday, Aug. 23, together with Bishop Herrera and Bishop Mora. We spoke at length about Nicaragua and the situation of the Church in particular. He encouraged me to continue my episcopal ministry … I am sincerely grateful for his fraternal welcome and his encouraging words.”

“The pope needs true, objective information,” Molina pointed out, “and I believe that these three bishops who attended this private audience with Pope Leo were very intent on reporting on what is being suffered in Nicaragua and also what we, the migrant community, whether Catholic or not, are going through in other countries as a result of the damage the Sandinista dictatorship is causing in the country.”

‘There are attacks that cannot be published’

Molina told EWTN News that she also keeps a separate record of “attacks that cannot be published in the media or in studies because of the fear felt by the people who leaked the information.”

She said she does send these reports to “the authorities of some countries that monitor freedom, attacks on religious freedom, and also to human rights organizations at the Organization of American States and the U.N., so that they can truly hear from the victims what is happening.”

Molina also reported that recently “the seminary that was confiscated from the Diocese of Matagalpa [in January of this year] is being destroyed, dismantled, a place where future priests who would serve the Diocese of Matagalpa were being formed.” 

She called on the international community to closely monitor events in Nicaragua so that the people can finally “be free from this criminal dictatorship, because I don’t see how the people in Nicaragua can mount any kind of protest because the dictatorship only prescribes jail, exile, or the cemetery for people who demand human rights.”

The report can be accessed here.

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

The offices of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Farragutful, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, Aug 28, 2025 / 11:00 am (CNA).

Over 60 Catholic military chaplains and other priests who serve the U.S. military gathered in San Diego this month for a convocation focused on pastoral issues related to gender and deliverance ministry, according to a news release from the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA. 

The event, part of a series organized by Military Services Archbishop Timothy Broglio, marks the beginning of a broader initiative to address contemporary challenges faced by chaplains serving some 1.8 million Catholics across 220 military installations worldwide.

The San Diego convocation is the first of four scheduled gatherings, with Broglio planning additional sessions in Washington, D.C., from Sept. 1–5; San Antonio from Sept. 15–19; and Rome from Oct. 13–17.

Broglio, who will direct all four meetings, regularly hosts the same five-day gatherings at different locations in order to make it “more affordable and convenient for the more than 200 priests on active duty worldwide, as well as those serving the military as civilians, to attend one nearest them.” 

The archdiocese highlighted the gatherings as opportunities for liturgical celebrations, prayer, reflection, dialogue, and expert-led presentations, with this year’s theme centered on “Military Chaplaincy and Contemporary Pastoral Issues in Gender and Deliverance Ministry.”

Broglio emphasized the importance of these gatherings, saying: “Together we learn to grow in the ministry of caring for the men and women in uniform and their families. These privileged moments of the convocations allow me time to spend with the priests who serve the faithful of the [archdiocese], to hear their concerns, and to draw near to the Lord together in prayer.”

“In a special way this year, we are uniting ourselves to the prayers of Pope Leo for world peace,” Broglio said.

The convocations will feature input from notable figures, including Monsignor Stephen J. Rossetti, a U.S. Air Force Academy graduate and an exorcist from the Diocese of Syracuse, New York. He is the author of more than a dozen books including the 2021 bestseller “Diary of an American Exorcist: Demons, Possession, and the Modern-Day Battle Against Ancient Evil.”

Additionally, the Nesti Center for Faith and Culture at the University of St. Thomas in Houston will contribute through presentations by its director, Kevin Stuart, and research fellow Amy Hamilton, who will explore the intersection of faith and contemporary issues, including gender.

Devastating flooding after in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. / Credit: News Muse via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 28, 2025 / 10:30 am (CNA).

On the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, two U.S. bishops called on Catholics to remember the victims of the tragedy and to “renew our commitment to racial equity and justice in all sectors of public life.”

Washington Auxiliary Bishop Roy E. Campbell Jr., chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Subcommittee on African American Affairs, and Chicago Auxiliary Bishop Joseph N. Perry, chairman of the USCCB Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism, issued a joint statement on the occasion.

“As we mark the 20th anniversary of this tragedy, we remember those who were lost and displaced but also renew our commitment to racial equity and justice in every sector of public life,” the prelates stated.

A still open wound

Hurricane Katrina, which struck New Orleans and the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, 2005, left more than 1,800 dead and forced thousands of families, mostly African American, to flee their homes.

The bishops emphasized that “the impacts of ongoing mental and physical injuries remain and today the cost of the injuries is borne unequally.”

In particular, they recalled the devastation in neighborhoods like the predominantly African American Ninth Ward, where residents were forced to take refuge in attics and on rooftops to escape the floodwaters. There, they noted, not only human lives were lost but also “the loss of irreplaceable items handed down through generations such as photos, videos, diaries, genealogical records, documents, and other mementos.”

The role of the Catholic Church

In the face of a delayed and inadequate response from the federal government, the bishops highlighted the role of the Church.

“The powerful witness of the Catholic Church filled the gaps of an inadequate governmental response to the tragedy. It was people of faith, moved by their hearts, who assisted in resettlement efforts in new cities and supported rebuilding when people attempted to return home,” they stated.

They mentioned several of the Church’s actions in the aftermath of the devastation. Catholic Charities USA mobilized hundreds of volunteer teams to clean and rebuild thousands of homes, providing critical support to affected communities. The Catholic Home Missions Appeal allocated more than $3 million in immediate financial assistance to five dioceses. 

Additionally, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development provided $665,000 in grants to low-income communities across 11 dioceses. The Knights of Columbus contributed $2 million in relief assistance, further bolstering the Church’s response. Through the work of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, by Oct. 1, 2005, 95% of Catholic school students in the city were enrolled in Catholic schools in other parts of the country.

A present reality

The bishops pointed out that Hurricane Katrina revealed not only the fragility of cities in the face of natural disasters but also the reality of poverty and deep-rooted racial inequalities in the United States.

They urged the faithful to reflect on the words of Pope Leo XIV: “In our time, we still see too much discord, too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of the other, and an economic system that exploits the Earth’s resources and marginalizes the poorest.”

Finally, they called on the Church to be a sign of hope amid inequalities: “As Church, let us be a lifeboat in the floodwaters of injustice.”

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