GAZA — Following news that the diminutive eco-geopolitical activist was once again planning to set sail to arrive in support of the Palestinian cause, Hamas terrorists released an official statement distancing themselves from Greta Thunberg.
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U.S. — One of the world’s most revered musical geniuses was heard from for the first time in nearly two centuries, as the ghost of Ludwig van Beethoven expressed tremendous joy after hearing his magnum opus being used in a toothpaste commercial.
Read MoreYou govern your creation, O God,
and bring it to perfection by the work of our hands.
Hear the prayers of your people who ask for work
that will enhance their human dignity
and promote the upbuilding of your kingdom.
Enable them to provide for those confided to their care
either by family ties or by charity we owe to one another
for the betterment of human life.
We ask this blessing in the name of Jesus
who laboured with his own hands while he lived on earth.
Amen.
Read MoreA reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians
1 Thes 5:1-6, 9-11
Concerning times and seasons, brothers and sisters,
you have no need for anything to be written to you.
For you yourselves know very well
that the day of the Lord will come like a thief at night.
When people are saying, "Peace and security,"
then sudden disaster comes upon them,
like labor pains upon a pregnant woman,
and they will not escape.
But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness,
for that day to overtake you like a thief.
For all of you are children of the light
and children of the day.
We are not of the night or of darkness.
Therefore, let us not sleep as the rest do,
but let us stay alert and sober.
For God did not destine us for wrath,
but to gain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep
we may live together with him.
Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up,
as indeed you do.
From the Gospel according to Luke
4:31-37
Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee.
He taught them on the sabbath,
and they were astonished at his teaching
because he spoke with authority.
In the synagogue there was a man with the spirit of an unclean demon,
and he cried out in a loud voice,
"What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?
I know who you are–the Holy One of God!"
Jesus rebuked him and said, "Be quiet! Come out of him!"
Then the demon threw the man down in front of them
and came out of him without doing him any harm.
They were all amazed and said to one another,
"What is there about his word?
For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits,
and they come out."
And news of him spread everywhere in the surrounding region.
God’s holiness is an expanding force, and we ask that the barriers in our world be quickly broken down. When Jesus begins to preach, the first to pay the consequences is precisely the evil that afflicts the world. The evil spirits curse: “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God” (Mk 1:24). Such holiness had never been seen before: not concerned with itself but radiating outward. A holiness — that of Jesus — that expands in concentric circles, as when one throws a stone into a pond. The evil one’s days are numbered — evil is not eternal; evil can no longer harm us: the strong man has arrived to take possession of his house (cf. Mk 3:23-27). And this strong man is Jesus, who gives us, too, the strength to take possession of our inner house. Prayer drives away all fears. The Father loves us; the Son lifts up his arms to support ours; the Spirit works secretly for the redemption of the world. And we? We do not waver in uncertainty; for we have one great certainty: God loves me; Jesus gave his life for me! The Spirit is within me. This is the great certainty. And the evil one? He is afraid. And this is good. (Pope Francis, General audience, 27 February 2019)
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Obituary: Father Rafael A. Ciro, 45 – 
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025, at 10 a.m. at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson, N.J., for Father Rafael A. Ciro. He died on Aug. 27. He was 45. Father Ciro was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Paterson in New Jersey by Bishop Emeritus Arthur J. Serratelli on May 25, 2013, and was pastor of St. Stephen Parish in Paterson at the time of his passing. He was born on Oct. 29, 1979, in Colombia to the late Rafael Angel Ciro-Rios and Aura Elena Guarín. Father Ciro
Vatican City, Sep 1, 2025 / 14:38 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV celebrated the Holy Mass for the opening of the general chapter of the Order of Saint Augustine on Monday evening, invoking the Holy Spirit to guide the religious community’s Sept. 1-18 assembly.
Nearly 100 Augustinian priests from around the world, who are participating in this year’s chapter, attended the pope’s Mass held inside the Basilica of Saint Augustine in Rome’s city center.
Religious sisters belonging to Augustinian orders also attended the Mass. Though the sisters will not participate in the chapter, the Holy Father extended his invitation to them to pray for the “gift of the Holy Spirit” and the “gift of listening” for the fruits of the religious assembly.
During the Sept. 1 homily, Pope Leo — who wore red vestments for the votive Mass dedicated to the Holy Spirit — invited his confreres to focus on “listening, humility, and unity” and respond to God’s grace during the period of prayer and discernment within the order.
“The Holy Spirit speaks, today as in the past,” he said. “He does so in the ‘penetralia cordis’ and through the brothers and the circumstances of life.”
“This is why it is important for the atmosphere of the Chapter, in harmony with the centuries-long tradition of the Church, to be an atmosphere of listening: of listening to God and to others,” he continued.
Reflecting on the teachings of St. Augustine, the Holy Father said the Church doctor highlighted the need for unity and collaboration among Christian faithful for the “common good.”
“Each single believer was speaking in all languages; and now the unity of believers is speaking in all languages,” he said, quoting St. Augustine. “And so even now all languages are ours, since we are members of the body in which they are to be found.”
“Live these days, therefore, in a sincere effort to communicate and to understand, and do so as a generous response to the great and unique gift of light and grace that the Father of Heaven gives you by summoning you here, specifically you, for the good of all,” he added.
While encouraging his brothers “openly share what they have” during the 18-day chapter, he emphasized the importance of doing so with humility.
“Let no one think they have all the answers,” Leo said Monday.
“Only in this way will the Spirit be able to teach and remind us of what Jesus said, inscribing it in our hearts so that its echo may spread from them, in the uniqueness and unrepeatability of every beat,” he added.
In his reflection on the “miracle of Pentecost,” Pope Leo said St. Augustine observed that the Holy Spirit is the “protagonist” who creates unity amid diversity.
“Just as spiritual people … take pleasure in unity, so worldly people are ever ready to wrangle,” the Holy Father said, referring to St. Augustine’s writings.
“The time you can be sure you have the Holy Spirit is when you consent through sincere charity firmly to attach your minds to the unity,” he continued.
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Vatican City, Sep 1, 2025 / 13:00 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV has voiced his support for the Sept. 1 celebration of the World Day of Prayer for Creation, an ecumenical initiative encouraged by Pope Francis.
“It is more important and urgent than ever,” Leo said during his Sunday Angelus message on Aug. 31. “This year’s theme is ‘Seeds of Peace and Hope.’”
Pope Francis in 2015 established the day of prayer for creation as a universal celebration in the Catholic Church. It had been commemorated by other Christian churches since 1989.
Also known as “Creation Day,” the day of prayer marks the start of a monthlong “Season of Creation,” which ends on Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi.
“In the spirit of the ‘Canticle of Brother Sun,’ composed by [St. Francis] 800 years ago, we praise God and renew our commitment not to ruin his gift but to take care of our common home,” Leo said at the Aug. 31 Angelus.
In a message for the World Day of Prayer for Creation 2025, released earlier this year, the pope emphasized “that the destruction of nature does not affect everyone in the same way. When justice and peace are trampled underfoot, those who are most hurt are the poor, the marginalized, and the excluded.”
He also criticized the reduction of nature into a bargaining chip and commodity to be bartered for economic or political gain.
“God’s creation turns into a battleground for the control of vital resources. We see this in agricultural areas and forests peppered with landmines, ‘scorched earth’ policies, conflicts over water sources, and the unequal distribution of raw materials,” the pontiff said.
“These various wounds are the effect of sin,” he said. “This is surely not what God had in mind when he entrusted the earth to the men and women whom he created in his image.”
In July, Pope Leo approved new Mass prayers to support the Church’s appreciation for God’s creation. The “Mass for the Care of Creation” was inspired by Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical Laudato Si’, which marks 10 years this year.
Bishops in some countries plan to celebrate the new Mass formulary to mark the World Day of Prayer for Creation.
Bishop Gerardo Alminaza, president of the commission for social action of the Philippines bishops’ conference, said: “We started promoting Creation Day back in 2003, so it has become immensely popular.”
“This year, for the first time in history, we have a Mass formulary — the Missa pro custodia creationis — that allows us to celebrate Creation Day around the altar, with tailored liturgical texts for the occasion. Our bishops’ conference is animating all parishes across the Philippines to mark the day with the new Mass,” he told The Feast of Creation, an initiative coordinated by the World Council of Churches.
In a press release for Creation Day, the Feast of Creation said the day has roots in ancient Orthodox liturgical tradition from the fifth century: “It is a day to praise God as creator, commemorate the mystery of creation in Christ, and inspire Christians to care for the created world.”
Read MoreIn this episode, Astronomy magazine Editor Emeritus Dave Eicher invites you to head out during the early morning hours the first week of September. It’s then when you’ll see the brilliant planet Venus pass by the Beehive Cluster, which lies in the constellation Cancer the Crab. Venus will be easy to spot but if twilight has started,Continue reading “This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher: Venus and the Beehive”
The post This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher: Venus and the Beehive appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.
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Vatican City, Sep 1, 2025 / 11:51 am (CNA).
With “deep gratitude and relief beyond words,” the humanitarian organization Nos Petits Frères et Sœurs (Our Little Brothers and Sisters, or NPH, by its Spanish acronym), confirmed the release of eight hostages who had been held captive since Aug. 3 in Haiti.
Among them were a 3-year-old boy and Irish lay missionary Gena Heraty, who has dedicated her life to children with disabilities in Haiti for more than 30 years.
Heraty, 58, is the director of NPH’s special needs programs and a leader in working with children in the chronically stricken Caribbean country since 1993. She is also responsible for the St. Helena orphanage, run by NPH and located in Kenscoff, about six miles southeast of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
The kidnapping took place on Aug. 3 when an armed group broke into the facility and forcibly took several employees and the 3-year-old child. All of them have since been released after weeks of great tension and uncertainty.
In a statement released through NPH, Heraty’s family confirmed that the missionary and the other hostages had been released: “We are relieved beyond words. We are deeply grateful to everyone, in Haiti and internationally, who has worked tirelessly during these terrible weeks to ensure their safe return.”
NPH confirmed that the freed hostages “are safe, receiving medical and psychological care, and are with their loved ones.” One of the organization’s staff members emphasized: “Despite everything that happened, Gena has always remained strong. As soon as she returned, she went straight to greet the children. Everyone was crying; the children and the staff were waiting for her with open arms.”
“The global outpouring of concern, love, prayers, and solidarity shown by friends, neighbors, communities, colleagues, and even people with no connection to us has been an immense source of comfort and support,” he said.
However, “although we are thankful for her return today, we know the recovery process will be long.”
The release comes following Pope Leo XIV’s call for the immediate release of the hostages during the Angelus on Aug. 10.
There are currently no known ransom demands, nor has the armed group responsible for the kidnapping been identified. The Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste reported that gang members are believed to have been responsible for the attack.
Gang violence and kidnappings are also common in other areas in and around Port-au-Prince, where, according to the U.N., armed groups control about 85% of the city.
In the first six months of 2025, according to U.N. figures, nearly 350 people were kidnapped in Haiti.
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Vatican City, Sep 1, 2025 / 11:05 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV expressed his condolences for the more than 800 dead left by the earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan on Sunday night, with a magnitude of 6 on the Richter scale, also causing widespread destruction.
According to local authorities, more than 800 people died and 1,500 were injured, especially in the districts of Nurgal, Sawkay, Watapur, Dara Pech, and Chapi Dara.
“Deeply saddened by the significant loss of life caused by the earthquake in eastern Afghanistan, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV offers fervent prayers for the souls of the deceased, the wounded, and those still missing,” read the telegram sent on behalf of the pontiff.
The telegram, signed by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, stated that the pontiff entrusts “all affected by this disaster to the providence of the Almighty.”
The pope also expressed “his heartfelt solidarity in particular with those who mourn the loss of loved ones and with the emergency personnel and civil authorities involved in rescue and recovery efforts.”
The main quake, recorded around midnight, was followed by two magnitude 5.2 aftershocks. The U.S. Geological Survey reported that the epicenter was located 27 kilometers (16.7 miles) east of Nangarhar province, at a depth of eight kilometers (about five miles), which normally amplifies the destructive power.
According to the Afghan news agency Khaama Press, the earthquake destroyed several entire villages because the epicenter was close to the surface and many homes were built with stone and mud.
For now, rescue teams continue working to locate survivors among the rubble, although they say operations are being hampered by landslides that have blocked key roads.
Deputy information minister and Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid wrote on his social media account X that “local officials and residents are involved in the rescue efforts, and all available resources will be used to save lives.”
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From planet parades and eclipses to the return of aurora season, this month is a dream for stargazers.
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CNA Staff, Sep 1, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).
A recent study found that the rate of mental-health-related hospitalizations doubled for women who had abortions compared with women who gave birth.
The study, published this summer in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, compared abortions with other pregnancies in hospitals in Quebec, Canada, between 2006 and 2022, tracking data on women for up to 17 years.
The study, which compared more than 1.2 million women who gave birth in Quebec hospitals with more than 28,000 women who had abortions, found that “rates of mental-health-related hospitalization were higher following induced abortions than other pregnancies.”
Abortion was associated with a number of mental-health-related difficulties including hospitalization for psychiatric disorders, substance use disorders, and suicide attempts, the study found.
This association was especially high for women who were younger than 25 years at the time of their abortions, as well as for patients who already had an existing mental illness.
The risk of mental health hospitalization was highest within five years of the abortion. The risk decreased gradually after the five-year point, but only after 17 years did the risk begin “to resemble” pregnancies carried to term, according to the study.
Tessa Cox, senior research associate at the think tank Charlotte Lozier Institute, said the study was “particularly powerful.”
“This recent study out of Canada, which has more comprehensive health care data than the U.S., adds to a mounting body of research suggesting that abortion can harm women’s mental health,” Cox said.
“The abortion industry downplays the evidence, so the fact that this new study included more than a million women and took prior mental health and other related factors into account makes it particularly powerful,” she told CNA.
“Women deserve to have all the facts — and women and men who have been harmed by abortion need to know that forgiveness and healing are possible,” Cox said.
Another scholar called the study “robust,” noting that it followed the data over an extended period of time and had constants that enabled the information to be more accurate.
Michael New, senior associate scholar at the Charlotte Lozier Institute and assistant professor of practice at The Catholic University of America, noted that the study “provides strong statistical evidence that abortion increases the risk of a range of mental health problems.”
New said the study had many strengths, including its large sample size, the way it tracked women over an extended period of time, and how the authors analyzed data from an extended period of time.
This method was rare, according to the study, which noted that “large population-based studies with long-term follow-up are rare yet necessary to understand the mental health needs of women post abortion.”
New called this study’s results “robust,” noting that this study stands firm against criticism that similar studies have faced.
The study is one of several that have investigated correlation between mental health challenges and abortion.
“While other research has found that women who obtain abortions are likely to suffer from mental health disorders, critics of these studies have argued that women with mental health problems are more likely to obtain abortions in the first place,” New said.
“Most importantly it holds constant whether or not the women in the study had been hospitalized with mental health problems in the past,” he said of the Canadian study.
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Denver, Colo., Sep 1, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).
As the U.S. celebrates Labor Day, Catholics have a wealth of resources in biblical interpretation, Church teaching, and social thought that address the nature of work and the place of the worker in society and in God’s creation.
But are Catholics, and others, aware of these resources?
One Catholic leader considering such questions is Father Sinclair Oubre, a priest of the Diocese of Beaumont, Texas. He is the spiritual moderator of the Catholic Labor Network, a Catholic association that promotes Catholic teaching about work and labor unions. It also supports labor organizing.
“All work, no matter what the work is, is essential,” Oubre likes to say. In his view, if a woman in janitorial work at a major software company does not show up to clean the toilets and empty the trash, all production in the office will nosedive.
Centuries of Catholic teaching about labor can be found compiled in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, published in 2004 by the Pontifical Commission for Justice and Peace. It dedicates its entire sixth chapter to human work and labor, its place in God’s plan, its role in society, and the rights and duties of workers.
“The Compendium gathers together in one place those rights that are found in Catholic social teaching, whether it’s Rerum Novarum or Quadragesimo Anno, or Centesimus Annus, and synthesizes them,” Oubre told CNA, referring to the respective encyclicals of popes Leo XIII, Pius XI, and John Paul II.
“It’s a beautiful reflection on human work in the world and a very mature and in-depth discussion of the place of work, the place of labor, and the communal nature of it,” Oubre said.
Oubre said Catholic teaching is a challenge regardless of people’s political views.
“It’s a challenge to the right, but it’s also a challenge to the left,” he said. Catholicism encourages those on the political right not simply to pray novenas and commit themselves to spiritual actions. It is a challenge not to leave other questions about work and labor to the market.
For the political left, Catholic social teaching “means you have to enter into a more intimate relationship with your Church and your relationship with Jesus and not just be as a social justice person by throwing a couple of little quotes around. It requires you to enter into that deeper spiritual relationship.”
Oubre stressed the importance of starting from the view of Catholic spirituality, not only social justice, because if we don’t, our approach “becomes ideological and polemic.” The spiritual approach “brings us closer to Jesus Christ.”
“No matter how dirty, how uncomfortable, how awful the job is, we are participating in God’s ongoing creation. It’s important that we do that job in a way that gives glory to God,” Oubre said.
The Compendium’s reflection on work begins with its biblical aspects: There is a human duty to “cultivate and care for the earth” and other good things created by God, it says. Work existed before the fall of Adam and Eve, and it is not a punishment or curse until the break with God transforms it into “toil and pain.” However, God’s rest on the seventh day of creation is the sign of the “fuller freedom” of the “eternal Sabbath.”
The life of Jesus Christ is a mission of work, from his early life helping St. Joseph in the work of a carpenter to his ministry of preaching and healing, and most of all in his redemptive labors on the cross.
The Compendium presents human labor as a way of supporting oneself and one’s loved ones, but also a way to serve the needy. Work is a way to make God’s creation more beautiful, since humankind shares in God’s art and wisdom.
“Human work, directed to charity as its final goal, becomes an occasion for contemplation, it becomes devout prayer, vigilantly rising towards and in anxious hope of the day that will not end,” the Compendium says.
God’s rest on the seventh day of creation, the Compendium says, means men and women must enjoy “sufficient rest and free time that will allow them to tend to their family, cultural, social, and religious life.”
The Compendium outlines and explains the many rights of workers: the right to rest from work; the right to a working environment that is not harmful to a worker’s health or moral integrity; the right to unemployment protections; the right to a pension and insurance for old age, disability, and work-related accidents; the right to social security for working mothers; and the right to assemble and form associations; the right to just wages and remuneration; and the right to strike.
Labor unions play a “fundamental role” in serving the common good and promoting social order and solidarity, though they must not abuse their role in society or become simply arms of a political party.
“The recognition of workers’ rights has always been a difficult problem to resolve because this recognition takes place within complex historical and institutional processes, and still today it remains incomplete,” the Compendium says. “This makes the practice of authentic solidarity among workers more fitting and necessary than ever.”
Catholic teaching has a lengthy paper record. But as in other areas, there is a challenge to practice it.
“What I find over and over again that the Church — our Church — gives us wonderful documents of guidance… and we never go back and read them,” Oubre told CNA.
He cited the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ 1996 pastoral letter “Economic Justice for All,” which says the Church should be a model for labor rights and treating workers justly.
However, Oubre said that in his experience Catholic parishes often neglect to provide unemployment insurance to employees if the law allows them to opt out. Catholic institutions often act as “at-will” employers in which management can fire employees for any reason. They may show preferences for nonunion labor over unionized labor when planning and funding construction projects.
“You’re going to undercut the guy who has actually followed the Church’s teachings in regards to work by hiring somebody who may be not offering medical insurance for his employees,” the priest lamented.
For Labor Day, Oubre encouraged parishes, dioceses, and other institutions to make sure to adopt policies that put Catholic labor teaching into practice.
This story was first published on Sept. 4, 2023, and has been updated.
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