Body

New Carmelite monastery to open in Fort Worth Diocese following scandal #Catholic The skyline of Fort Worth, Texas. / Credit: 21 Aerials/Shutterstock CNA Staff, Dec 12, 2025 / 09:41 am (CNA). Bishop Michael Olson of the Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, has announced the opening of a new order of Discalced Carmelite nuns after an older one in the diocese lost its canonical status last year. Olson announced the news of the opening in a letter on Dec. 2 in which he said the Vatican’s Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life gave permission for the new monastery.The prelate described it as “a moment of extraordinary grace for our local Church.”In an interview with CNA, Olson said there has been “a need in our diocese for prayers, for reparation of sin … and through adoration and contemplation and meditation, to pray for all of those intentions — that is the vocation of the new Carmel.”Olson said that about six months ago he requested that a new order of nuns come to reside in the diocese from the Christ the King Association of Discalced Carmelite Monasteries in the U.S.A.After making a formal request for permission from the Holy See in October, he received word in November that the Holy See approved the establishment of the new monastery. The nuns are coming from the Carmel in Lake Elmo, Minnesota. The bishop emphasized that the Carmel “is an autonomous body even though I have supervisory rights.”He said the land was “donated generously by the faithful in the diocese” after he acted as an intermediary between the sisters and parishioners.Asked when he believes the monastery, located in a rural part of northern Cooke County about 80 miles north of Dallas, will be completed, he replied: “That’s in God’s time.” He said the sisters will not have a website “because it’s a distraction from their religious life. Social media can have adverse effects on a religious vocation, as we have seen.” Olson told CNA he is “very grateful to the Holy See for this permission, but also to the religious sisters, the nuns who have given of themselves to Christ. It’s a very unique vocation.” The bishop is encouraging people to be generous with the sisters as they establish their new home in the Fort Worth Diocese: “They’re in full communion with the Church, are rightly ordered in their Carmelite vocation.”A new page for the Carmelites after scandalIn 2023, a public scandal erupted after Olson began an investigation of an alleged relationship of a sexual nature between the former prioress of the Discalced Carmelite nuns of Arlington, Rev. Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach, and a priest outside the diocese. Gerlach denied the allegation and accused Olson of overstepping his authority while seeking to obtain the nuns’ property located in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Olson has denied both claims. The scandal played out in the press through actions taken by the Vatican, lawsuits in civil courts, and through public statements on both sides. Last December, the Vatican issued a decree of suppression of the Arlington Carmelite monastery.Olson announced the suppression just over a year ago, on Dec. 2, 2024, emphasizing at the time that the women at the monastery “are neither nuns nor Carmelites despite their continued and public self-identification to the contrary.”He added that the Holy See “suppressed the monastery, so it exists no longer, despite any public self-identification made to the contrary by the former nuns who continue to occupy the premises.”In August of that year, the nuns posted on their website that they had joined the Society of St. Pius X, a group that is in an “irregular” canonical situation within the Church.‘May their vocation bring forth many graces’In his most recent letter announcing the new monastery, Olson said it “will be a place where the beauty of contemplative life radiates outward into the world. Through prayer, silence, work, and sacrifice, the Discalced Carmelite nuns will accompany the faithful and intercede for the needs of our communities.” “I ask all the faithful of the diocese to join me in prayer for these nuns as they begin this new chapter in their vocation,” the bishop said. “May their vocation bring forth many graces including priestly and religious vocations, holy and happy marriages, and faithful discipleship,” he added.
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New Carmelite monastery to open in Fort Worth Diocese following scandal #Catholic The skyline of Fort Worth, Texas. / Credit: 21 Aerials/Shutterstock CNA Staff, Dec 12, 2025 / 09:41 am (CNA). Bishop Michael Olson of the Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, has announced the opening of a new order of Discalced Carmelite nuns after an older one in the diocese lost its canonical status last year. Olson announced the news of the opening in a letter on Dec. 2 in which he said the Vatican’s Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life gave permission for the new monastery.The prelate described it as “a moment of extraordinary grace for our local Church.”In an interview with CNA, Olson said there has been “a need in our diocese for prayers, for reparation of sin … and through adoration and contemplation and meditation, to pray for all of those intentions — that is the vocation of the new Carmel.”Olson said that about six months ago he requested that a new order of nuns come to reside in the diocese from the Christ the King Association of Discalced Carmelite Monasteries in the U.S.A.After making a formal request for permission from the Holy See in October, he received word in November that the Holy See approved the establishment of the new monastery. The nuns are coming from the Carmel in Lake Elmo, Minnesota. The bishop emphasized that the Carmel “is an autonomous body even though I have supervisory rights.”He said the land was “donated generously by the faithful in the diocese” after he acted as an intermediary between the sisters and parishioners.Asked when he believes the monastery, located in a rural part of northern Cooke County about 80 miles north of Dallas, will be completed, he replied: “That’s in God’s time.” He said the sisters will not have a website “because it’s a distraction from their religious life. Social media can have adverse effects on a religious vocation, as we have seen.” Olson told CNA he is “very grateful to the Holy See for this permission, but also to the religious sisters, the nuns who have given of themselves to Christ. It’s a very unique vocation.” The bishop is encouraging people to be generous with the sisters as they establish their new home in the Fort Worth Diocese: “They’re in full communion with the Church, are rightly ordered in their Carmelite vocation.”A new page for the Carmelites after scandalIn 2023, a public scandal erupted after Olson began an investigation of an alleged relationship of a sexual nature between the former prioress of the Discalced Carmelite nuns of Arlington, Rev. Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach, and a priest outside the diocese. Gerlach denied the allegation and accused Olson of overstepping his authority while seeking to obtain the nuns’ property located in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Olson has denied both claims. The scandal played out in the press through actions taken by the Vatican, lawsuits in civil courts, and through public statements on both sides. Last December, the Vatican issued a decree of suppression of the Arlington Carmelite monastery.Olson announced the suppression just over a year ago, on Dec. 2, 2024, emphasizing at the time that the women at the monastery “are neither nuns nor Carmelites despite their continued and public self-identification to the contrary.”He added that the Holy See “suppressed the monastery, so it exists no longer, despite any public self-identification made to the contrary by the former nuns who continue to occupy the premises.”In August of that year, the nuns posted on their website that they had joined the Society of St. Pius X, a group that is in an “irregular” canonical situation within the Church.‘May their vocation bring forth many graces’In his most recent letter announcing the new monastery, Olson said it “will be a place where the beauty of contemplative life radiates outward into the world. Through prayer, silence, work, and sacrifice, the Discalced Carmelite nuns will accompany the faithful and intercede for the needs of our communities.” “I ask all the faithful of the diocese to join me in prayer for these nuns as they begin this new chapter in their vocation,” the bishop said. “May their vocation bring forth many graces including priestly and religious vocations, holy and happy marriages, and faithful discipleship,” he added.

unitedyam

The skyline of Fort Worth, Texas. / Credit: 21 Aerials/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Dec 12, 2025 / 09:41 am (CNA).

Bishop Michael Olson of the Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, has announced the opening of a new order of Discalced Carmelite nuns after an older one in the diocese lost its canonical status last year. 

Olson announced the news of the opening in a letter on Dec. 2 in which he said the Vatican’s Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life gave permission for the new monastery.

The prelate described it as “a moment of extraordinary grace for our local Church.”

In an interview with CNA, Olson said there has been “a need in our diocese for prayers, for reparation of sin … and through adoration and contemplation and meditation, to pray for all of those intentions — that is the vocation of the new Carmel.”

Olson said that about six months ago he requested that a new order of nuns come to reside in the diocese from the Christ the King Association of Discalced Carmelite Monasteries in the U.S.A.

After making a formal request for permission from the Holy See in October, he received word in November that the Holy See approved the establishment of the new monastery. 

The nuns are coming from the Carmel in Lake Elmo, Minnesota. 

The bishop emphasized that the Carmel “is an autonomous body even though I have supervisory rights.”

He said the land was “donated generously by the faithful in the diocese” after he acted as an intermediary between the sisters and parishioners.

Asked when he believes the monastery, located in a rural part of northern Cooke County about 80 miles north of Dallas, will be completed, he replied: “That’s in God’s time.” 

He said the sisters will not have a website “because it’s a distraction from their religious life. Social media can have adverse effects on a religious vocation, as we have seen.” 

Olson told CNA he is “very grateful to the Holy See for this permission, but also to the religious sisters, the nuns who have given of themselves to Christ. It’s a very unique vocation.” 

The bishop is encouraging people to be generous with the sisters as they establish their new home in the Fort Worth Diocese: “They’re in full communion with the Church, are rightly ordered in their Carmelite vocation.”

A new page for the Carmelites after scandal

In 2023, a public scandal erupted after Olson began an investigation of an alleged relationship of a sexual nature between the former prioress of the Discalced Carmelite nuns of Arlington, Rev. Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach, and a priest outside the diocese. 

Gerlach denied the allegation and accused Olson of overstepping his authority while seeking to obtain the nuns’ property located in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Olson has denied both claims. 

The scandal played out in the press through actions taken by the Vatican, lawsuits in civil courts, and through public statements on both sides. 

Last December, the Vatican issued a decree of suppression of the Arlington Carmelite monastery.

Olson announced the suppression just over a year ago, on Dec. 2, 2024, emphasizing at the time that the women at the monastery “are neither nuns nor Carmelites despite their continued and public self-identification to the contrary.”

He added that the Holy See “suppressed the monastery, so it exists no longer, despite any public self-identification made to the contrary by the former nuns who continue to occupy the premises.”

In August of that year, the nuns posted on their website that they had joined the Society of St. Pius X, a group that is in an “irregular” canonical situation within the Church.

‘May their vocation bring forth many graces’

In his most recent letter announcing the new monastery, Olson said it “will be a place where the beauty of contemplative life radiates outward into the world. Through prayer, silence, work, and sacrifice, the Discalced Carmelite nuns will accompany the faithful and intercede for the needs of our communities.” 

“I ask all the faithful of the diocese to join me in prayer for these nuns as they begin this new chapter in their vocation,” the bishop said. 

“May their vocation bring forth many graces including priestly and religious vocations, holy and happy marriages, and faithful discipleship,” he added.

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Daughter of political prisoner Jimmy Lai speaks out for the first time #Catholic Claire Lai, daughter of imprisoned Hong Kong activist and Catholic Jimmy Lai, speaks with EWTN News President Montse Alvarado on “EWTN News Nightly” on Dec. 8, 2025. / Credit: “EWTN News Nightly”/Screenshot Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 9, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA). Daughter of imprisoned Catholic activist Jimmy Lai spoke out for the first time ahead of her father’s 78th birthday. “As a daughter, every day I wake up and I hope that today is the day we get my dad home … the day we get to go to Mass together, or to eat dinner around the table, things that years ago I almost took for granted,” Claire Lai said in an interview with EWTN News.Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy entrepreneur and human rights activist, was arrested in 2020 in Hong Kong. He underwent a trial that lasted nearly two years for allegations of colluding with foreign forces under a national security law put in effect by the communist-controlled Chinese government.The trial ended in August, and Lai continues to wait for the verdict in prison where he faces inhumane living conditions, deteriorating health, and is denied the Eucharist, his daughter said. In an interview with Montse Alvarado, president and COO of EWTN News, Lai’s daughter Claire said: “We’re still waiting for a verdict, five years after he was charged. He is turning 78. We have waited a very, very long time for his cases to be resolved. We do not believe that they will be through the domestic system. Our only hope is outside, and that’s why I’m here now.”Dec. 8 was Jimmy Lai’s 78th birthday, which falls on the feast of the Immaculate Conception. His daughter highlighted Lai’s deep devotion to the Blessed Mother. She said her family has tried to send him a rosary in prison, but “each attempt failed.” She said he fell down once in the shower, and “because of his waist pain he wasn’t able to get up.”“Even some of the guards came over and tried to help him … but he couldn’t get up. So he pretended as though he had a rosary in his hand and prayed to the Blessed Mother. Then he was able to get up without pain,” Claire Lai said.“When you’re a daughter … and you hear stories like that, you wish you could yourself physically pull him up when he is in pain like that. But you find such great comfort in the fact that Our Lady is protecting him,” she said.Conversion to the faithLai said her father’s conversion to Catholicism has been a stable presence during his time in prison. “My father had quite an unconventional childhood. He came to Hong Kong when he was 12. He had nothing to his name, nothing in his pockets. But he was full of optimism and he had a yearning for freedom,” she said.“It was only later on that he understood that there was something, a higher force, guiding him all along, which was why he was able to go from child laborer to a successful entrepreneur and do so almost without fear. It was later on that he understood that to be God,” she said.Jimmy Lai converted the year of the handover of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to China when “people were filled with doubt and with a certain amount of fear,” his daughter said. “As Our Lady has taught us, there is nothing that conquers doubt and fear except for the love of God. And that was a time when he was ready to receive it.”“My father converted one year after I was born. Really, the only memories I have are of growing up in a very loving Catholic family,” she said.Legal sagaClaire Lai studied law and has been involved with her father’s case and lengthy trial. “There’s an equal amount of outrage, but also it’s a privilege to be able to be there and witness it as closely as I have,” she said. “As someone who grew up admiring the Hong Kong legal system … it has been heartbreaking to see the rule of law break down, but even more so to see my father and his case is at the helm of it.”The bench was “not neutral in any sense of the word,” she said. “They just grilled him repeatedly. There were gag orders that were imposed when the evidence just did not suit the narrative … it was just so deeply unfair.”The trial had unexplained delays that were “clearly meant so that people would forget about my father and so that it would crush his spirit,” she said. But “with the good Lord as his guide, his spirit remained just as strong.”Prison conditions Lai has been in prison for five years, but “his incarceration has just deepened his faith,” his daughter said. “I think there isn’t anything quite as much as suffering that opens your heart to God’s love. We are so grateful that Our Lord has accompanied my father. He wakes up around midnight every night to pray,” she said.“Before the crack of dawn, he would read the Gospel,” Lai said. “At first, he would ask the guards if they could turn on the light so that he could read … For about the first six months, they said ‘yes.’ Afterwards, they always said ‘no.’”“The conditions he’s kept in have just gotten worse over time. They aren’t a natural byproduct of prison. In the prison cell, there is a window that leads outside that should give access to sunlight. His is deliberately blocked so that he doesn’t have access,” she said.“He’s been denied holy Communion for over two years and got it only very, very intermittently this year,” she said. “It’s something that costs them nothing … for him to get. It costs them nothing for him to get the rosary, and it costs them nothing to turn on the light so that he can read the Gospel.”Kept in solitary confinement, he faces extreme heat conditions in his small cell. “In summer, the heat can get up to … 111 degrees Fahrenheit,” she said. “To say that it’s sweltering is a massive understatement.”“He gets heat rushes all over his body, and they last until the middle of autumn. It is outrageous, and it is torturous,” she said.“We have typhoon seasons in Hong Kong … and the cells get wet. Almost everything in there gets wet. Once that happened, the first thing he checked was his Bible, and it was the one thing that remained dry. We’re very grateful that Our Lord and Our Lady continue to watch over him,” she said.Lai’s health has declined rapidly while behind bars. “In less than a year, he lost 10 kilos … after already having lost a significant amount of weight the last few years. His nails are rotting … He has infections that last for months in spite of antibiotics. And his limbs get swollen, very red, and they’re agonizingly painful,” she said.“My dad is not someone who complains. He doesn’t even make faces. You know that when he does, it’s very painful,” she said. “There are times when even from a distance, you can tell that he’s pale and he’s shivering.”“Then there’s the less visible signs,” she said. “He’s diabetic, and he’s had heart issues. He had a perfectly healthy heart before he went to prison.” He has said “that every few days he would have heart palpitations and they would be disabling,” his daughter said.Call for international involvement Jimmy Lai is a British citizen and his daughter said that any communication between Britain and the Chinese government should include discussion of her father. “He is in prison for basically standing in defense for the freedoms he first came to know as a child in Hong Kong when it was still a British embassy and for hoping that they would keep the promise made during the sign of the British Joint Declaration,” she said.U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to do “everything” possible to “save” Lai. A White House official told EWTN News in October that Trump spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping about his imprisonment. “We are so extremely grateful to President Trump and his administration,” Claire Lai said. “They have a long, proven record of freeing the unjustly detained, and we hope that my father will follow soon.”“We are also very, very grateful for members of the public. My father is sustained by your prayers,” she said.She shared that Pope Leo XIV is also praying for her father during this time. In October, Lai’s wife, Teresa Lai, and his daughter met Pope Leo after a general audience. “It was such a privilege and a blessing to have an audience with our Holy Father,” Claire Lai said. Hope for a release “The government has no case,” she said. “All they’ve proven is that my father is a good man, a man who loves God, a man who loves freedom, who loves truth, and loves his family.”If she could speak with the Chinese government, Lai said she would say to “do the only just and … only honorable thing, which is to release a 78-year-old man, my father, Jimmy Lai, against whom no case has been made.”“Don’t let him die a martyr in these conditions, in this health. It is a stain on your history that you will never be able to wipe off,” she said.She said she does “worry” that her father could die in prison, but she is “hopeful.”When her father “reflected on his earlier years, he said that even before he converted and before he opened his heart to the love of God, he was always guided by him — even before he knew it,” she said. “I think that’s how he wants to be remembered, as a faithful servant of Our Lord.”
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Daughter of political prisoner Jimmy Lai speaks out for the first time #Catholic Claire Lai, daughter of imprisoned Hong Kong activist and Catholic Jimmy Lai, speaks with EWTN News President Montse Alvarado on “EWTN News Nightly” on Dec. 8, 2025. / Credit: “EWTN News Nightly”/Screenshot Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 9, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA). Daughter of imprisoned Catholic activist Jimmy Lai spoke out for the first time ahead of her father’s 78th birthday. “As a daughter, every day I wake up and I hope that today is the day we get my dad home … the day we get to go to Mass together, or to eat dinner around the table, things that years ago I almost took for granted,” Claire Lai said in an interview with EWTN News.Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy entrepreneur and human rights activist, was arrested in 2020 in Hong Kong. He underwent a trial that lasted nearly two years for allegations of colluding with foreign forces under a national security law put in effect by the communist-controlled Chinese government.The trial ended in August, and Lai continues to wait for the verdict in prison where he faces inhumane living conditions, deteriorating health, and is denied the Eucharist, his daughter said. In an interview with Montse Alvarado, president and COO of EWTN News, Lai’s daughter Claire said: “We’re still waiting for a verdict, five years after he was charged. He is turning 78. We have waited a very, very long time for his cases to be resolved. We do not believe that they will be through the domestic system. Our only hope is outside, and that’s why I’m here now.”Dec. 8 was Jimmy Lai’s 78th birthday, which falls on the feast of the Immaculate Conception. His daughter highlighted Lai’s deep devotion to the Blessed Mother. She said her family has tried to send him a rosary in prison, but “each attempt failed.” She said he fell down once in the shower, and “because of his waist pain he wasn’t able to get up.”“Even some of the guards came over and tried to help him … but he couldn’t get up. So he pretended as though he had a rosary in his hand and prayed to the Blessed Mother. Then he was able to get up without pain,” Claire Lai said.“When you’re a daughter … and you hear stories like that, you wish you could yourself physically pull him up when he is in pain like that. But you find such great comfort in the fact that Our Lady is protecting him,” she said.Conversion to the faithLai said her father’s conversion to Catholicism has been a stable presence during his time in prison. “My father had quite an unconventional childhood. He came to Hong Kong when he was 12. He had nothing to his name, nothing in his pockets. But he was full of optimism and he had a yearning for freedom,” she said.“It was only later on that he understood that there was something, a higher force, guiding him all along, which was why he was able to go from child laborer to a successful entrepreneur and do so almost without fear. It was later on that he understood that to be God,” she said.Jimmy Lai converted the year of the handover of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to China when “people were filled with doubt and with a certain amount of fear,” his daughter said. “As Our Lady has taught us, there is nothing that conquers doubt and fear except for the love of God. And that was a time when he was ready to receive it.”“My father converted one year after I was born. Really, the only memories I have are of growing up in a very loving Catholic family,” she said.Legal sagaClaire Lai studied law and has been involved with her father’s case and lengthy trial. “There’s an equal amount of outrage, but also it’s a privilege to be able to be there and witness it as closely as I have,” she said. “As someone who grew up admiring the Hong Kong legal system … it has been heartbreaking to see the rule of law break down, but even more so to see my father and his case is at the helm of it.”The bench was “not neutral in any sense of the word,” she said. “They just grilled him repeatedly. There were gag orders that were imposed when the evidence just did not suit the narrative … it was just so deeply unfair.”The trial had unexplained delays that were “clearly meant so that people would forget about my father and so that it would crush his spirit,” she said. But “with the good Lord as his guide, his spirit remained just as strong.”Prison conditions Lai has been in prison for five years, but “his incarceration has just deepened his faith,” his daughter said. “I think there isn’t anything quite as much as suffering that opens your heart to God’s love. We are so grateful that Our Lord has accompanied my father. He wakes up around midnight every night to pray,” she said.“Before the crack of dawn, he would read the Gospel,” Lai said. “At first, he would ask the guards if they could turn on the light so that he could read … For about the first six months, they said ‘yes.’ Afterwards, they always said ‘no.’”“The conditions he’s kept in have just gotten worse over time. They aren’t a natural byproduct of prison. In the prison cell, there is a window that leads outside that should give access to sunlight. His is deliberately blocked so that he doesn’t have access,” she said.“He’s been denied holy Communion for over two years and got it only very, very intermittently this year,” she said. “It’s something that costs them nothing … for him to get. It costs them nothing for him to get the rosary, and it costs them nothing to turn on the light so that he can read the Gospel.”Kept in solitary confinement, he faces extreme heat conditions in his small cell. “In summer, the heat can get up to … 111 degrees Fahrenheit,” she said. “To say that it’s sweltering is a massive understatement.”“He gets heat rushes all over his body, and they last until the middle of autumn. It is outrageous, and it is torturous,” she said.“We have typhoon seasons in Hong Kong … and the cells get wet. Almost everything in there gets wet. Once that happened, the first thing he checked was his Bible, and it was the one thing that remained dry. We’re very grateful that Our Lord and Our Lady continue to watch over him,” she said.Lai’s health has declined rapidly while behind bars. “In less than a year, he lost 10 kilos … after already having lost a significant amount of weight the last few years. His nails are rotting … He has infections that last for months in spite of antibiotics. And his limbs get swollen, very red, and they’re agonizingly painful,” she said.“My dad is not someone who complains. He doesn’t even make faces. You know that when he does, it’s very painful,” she said. “There are times when even from a distance, you can tell that he’s pale and he’s shivering.”“Then there’s the less visible signs,” she said. “He’s diabetic, and he’s had heart issues. He had a perfectly healthy heart before he went to prison.” He has said “that every few days he would have heart palpitations and they would be disabling,” his daughter said.Call for international involvement Jimmy Lai is a British citizen and his daughter said that any communication between Britain and the Chinese government should include discussion of her father. “He is in prison for basically standing in defense for the freedoms he first came to know as a child in Hong Kong when it was still a British embassy and for hoping that they would keep the promise made during the sign of the British Joint Declaration,” she said.U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to do “everything” possible to “save” Lai. A White House official told EWTN News in October that Trump spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping about his imprisonment. “We are so extremely grateful to President Trump and his administration,” Claire Lai said. “They have a long, proven record of freeing the unjustly detained, and we hope that my father will follow soon.”“We are also very, very grateful for members of the public. My father is sustained by your prayers,” she said.She shared that Pope Leo XIV is also praying for her father during this time. In October, Lai’s wife, Teresa Lai, and his daughter met Pope Leo after a general audience. “It was such a privilege and a blessing to have an audience with our Holy Father,” Claire Lai said. Hope for a release “The government has no case,” she said. “All they’ve proven is that my father is a good man, a man who loves God, a man who loves freedom, who loves truth, and loves his family.”If she could speak with the Chinese government, Lai said she would say to “do the only just and … only honorable thing, which is to release a 78-year-old man, my father, Jimmy Lai, against whom no case has been made.”“Don’t let him die a martyr in these conditions, in this health. It is a stain on your history that you will never be able to wipe off,” she said.She said she does “worry” that her father could die in prison, but she is “hopeful.”When her father “reflected on his earlier years, he said that even before he converted and before he opened his heart to the love of God, he was always guided by him — even before he knew it,” she said. “I think that’s how he wants to be remembered, as a faithful servant of Our Lord.”

unitedyam

Claire Lai, daughter of imprisoned Hong Kong activist and Catholic Jimmy Lai, speaks with EWTN News President Montse Alvarado on “EWTN News Nightly” on Dec. 8, 2025. / Credit: “EWTN News Nightly”/Screenshot

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 9, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Daughter of imprisoned Catholic activist Jimmy Lai spoke out for the first time ahead of her father’s 78th birthday. 

“As a daughter, every day I wake up and I hope that today is the day we get my dad home … the day we get to go to Mass together, or to eat dinner around the table, things that years ago I almost took for granted,” Claire Lai said in an interview with EWTN News.

Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy entrepreneur and human rights activist, was arrested in 2020 in Hong Kong. He underwent a trial that lasted nearly two years for allegations of colluding with foreign forces under a national security law put in effect by the communist-controlled Chinese government.

The trial ended in August, and Lai continues to wait for the verdict in prison where he faces inhumane living conditions, deteriorating health, and is denied the Eucharist, his daughter said. 

In an interview with Montse Alvarado, president and COO of EWTN News, Lai’s daughter Claire said: “We’re still waiting for a verdict, five years after he was charged. He is turning 78. We have waited a very, very long time for his cases to be resolved. We do not believe that they will be through the domestic system. Our only hope is outside, and that’s why I’m here now.”

Dec. 8 was Jimmy Lai’s 78th birthday, which falls on the feast of the Immaculate Conception. His daughter highlighted Lai’s deep devotion to the Blessed Mother. 

She said her family has tried to send him a rosary in prison, but “each attempt failed.” She said he fell down once in the shower, and “because of his waist pain he wasn’t able to get up.”

“Even some of the guards came over and tried to help him … but he couldn’t get up. So he pretended as though he had a rosary in his hand and prayed to the Blessed Mother. Then he was able to get up without pain,” Claire Lai said.

“When you’re a daughter … and you hear stories like that, you wish you could yourself physically pull him up when he is in pain like that. But you find such great comfort in the fact that Our Lady is protecting him,” she said.

Conversion to the faith

Lai said her father’s conversion to Catholicism has been a stable presence during his time in prison. 

“My father had quite an unconventional childhood. He came to Hong Kong when he was 12. He had nothing to his name, nothing in his pockets. But he was full of optimism and he had a yearning for freedom,” she said.

“It was only later on that he understood that there was something, a higher force, guiding him all along, which was why he was able to go from child laborer to a successful entrepreneur and do so almost without fear. It was later on that he understood that to be God,” she said.

Jimmy Lai converted the year of the handover of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to China when “people were filled with doubt and with a certain amount of fear,” his daughter said. “As Our Lady has taught us, there is nothing that conquers doubt and fear except for the love of God. And that was a time when he was ready to receive it.”

“My father converted one year after I was born. Really, the only memories I have are of growing up in a very loving Catholic family,” she said.

Legal saga

Claire Lai studied law and has been involved with her father’s case and lengthy trial. “There’s an equal amount of outrage, but also it’s a privilege to be able to be there and witness it as closely as I have,” she said. 

“As someone who grew up admiring the Hong Kong legal system … it has been heartbreaking to see the rule of law break down, but even more so to see my father and his case is at the helm of it.”

The bench was “not neutral in any sense of the word,” she said. “They just grilled him repeatedly. There were gag orders that were imposed when the evidence just did not suit the narrative … it was just so deeply unfair.”

The trial had unexplained delays that were “clearly meant so that people would forget about my father and so that it would crush his spirit,” she said. But “with the good Lord as his guide, his spirit remained just as strong.”

Prison conditions 

Lai has been in prison for five years, but “his incarceration has just deepened his faith,” his daughter said. 

“I think there isn’t anything quite as much as suffering that opens your heart to God’s love. We are so grateful that Our Lord has accompanied my father. He wakes up around midnight every night to pray,” she said.

“Before the crack of dawn, he would read the Gospel,” Lai said. “At first, he would ask the guards if they could turn on the light so that he could read … For about the first six months, they said ‘yes.’ Afterwards, they always said ‘no.’”

“The conditions he’s kept in have just gotten worse over time. They aren’t a natural byproduct of prison. In the prison cell, there is a window that leads outside that should give access to sunlight. His is deliberately blocked so that he doesn’t have access,” she said.

“He’s been denied holy Communion for over two years and got it only very, very intermittently this year,” she said. “It’s something that costs them nothing … for him to get. It costs them nothing for him to get the rosary, and it costs them nothing to turn on the light so that he can read the Gospel.”

Kept in solitary confinement, he faces extreme heat conditions in his small cell. “In summer, the heat can get up to … 111 degrees Fahrenheit,” she said. “To say that it’s sweltering is a massive understatement.”

“He gets heat rushes all over his body, and they last until the middle of autumn. It is outrageous, and it is torturous,” she said.

“We have typhoon seasons in Hong Kong … and the cells get wet. Almost everything in there gets wet. Once that happened, the first thing he checked was his Bible, and it was the one thing that remained dry. We’re very grateful that Our Lord and Our Lady continue to watch over him,” she said.

Lai’s health has declined rapidly while behind bars. 

“In less than a year, he lost 10 kilos … after already having lost a significant amount of weight the last few years. His nails are rotting … He has infections that last for months in spite of antibiotics. And his limbs get swollen, very red, and they’re agonizingly painful,” she said.

“My dad is not someone who complains. He doesn’t even make faces. You know that when he does, it’s very painful,” she said. “There are times when even from a distance, you can tell that he’s pale and he’s shivering.”

“Then there’s the less visible signs,” she said. “He’s diabetic, and he’s had heart issues. He had a perfectly healthy heart before he went to prison.” He has said “that every few days he would have heart palpitations and they would be disabling,” his daughter said.

Call for international involvement 

Jimmy Lai is a British citizen and his daughter said that any communication between Britain and the Chinese government should include discussion of her father. 

“He is in prison for basically standing in defense for the freedoms he first came to know as a child in Hong Kong when it was still a British embassy and for hoping that they would keep the promise made during the sign of the British Joint Declaration,” she said.

U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to do “everything” possible to “save” Lai. A White House official told EWTN News in October that Trump spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping about his imprisonment. 

“We are so extremely grateful to President Trump and his administration,” Claire Lai said. “They have a long, proven record of freeing the unjustly detained, and we hope that my father will follow soon.”

“We are also very, very grateful for members of the public. My father is sustained by your prayers,” she said.

She shared that Pope Leo XIV is also praying for her father during this time. In October, Lai’s wife, Teresa Lai, and his daughter met Pope Leo after a general audience. “It was such a privilege and a blessing to have an audience with our Holy Father,” Claire Lai said. 

Hope for a release 

“The government has no case,” she said. “All they’ve proven is that my father is a good man, a man who loves God, a man who loves freedom, who loves truth, and loves his family.”

If she could speak with the Chinese government, Lai said she would say to “do the only just and … only honorable thing, which is to release a 78-year-old man, my father, Jimmy Lai, against whom no case has been made.”

“Don’t let him die a martyr in these conditions, in this health. It is a stain on your history that you will never be able to wipe off,” she said.

She said she does “worry” that her father could die in prison, but she is “hopeful.”

When her father “reflected on his earlier years, he said that even before he converted and before he opened his heart to the love of God, he was always guided by him — even before he knew it,” she said. “I think that’s how he wants to be remembered, as a faithful servant of Our Lord.”

Read More
New print journal for ‘intellectual Catholic women’ to be released in April #Catholic Promo photo for the The Better Part Journal of shadows of Madonna lilies for the Blessed Virgin Mary. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Heidi Bollich-Erne Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 7, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA). While teaching an ethics and culture course, Heidi Bollich-Erne was looking for a journal featuring the work of Catholic women for her students to read. After being told that it simply didn’t exist, she decided to create one herself.With the help of a team of women, Bollich-Erne has founded what she calls the “first intellectual Catholic women’s journal.” Its purpose is to not only define the feminine genius but also to show how faithful women can embody its beauty in their daily lives. “I want women to find a home, a place that values their work. The journal itself is edited, written, and published solely by Catholic women,” Bollich-Erne told CNA. “The way that women write, the way that we express ourselves is very different. That’s just who we are. That’s part of the genius of women.”The Better Part Journal is intended to give women of the Church “hope” by discussing issues that are relevant to them. The first edition of the journal will be released in April 2026. Before starting the journal, Bollich-Erne studied theology at the University of St. Thomas, where she “fell in love with philosophy.” She went to the Center for Thomistic Studies for her master’s degree in Thomistic philosophy but took a break from her doctorate and started teaching. She is now based in Texas where she has taught high school, college preparation, college, and adults. While teaching, she tried to find content to help guide discussion on gender complementarity but couldn’t find much written by Catholic women.“I thought, ‘I want to read more intellectual women,’ but it was a struggle… So I found a friend who works at a university and I said: ‘Can you recommend … an intellectual Catholic women’s magazine? She got back to me a few days later and said, ‘It doesn’t exist.’”Bollich-Erne started The Better Part Journal by first launching a company called JBG Publishings as “a home” for the journal. She wanted to ensure the publication would not be independently published but be part of a company that would help it to grow.Bollich-Erne named the company with the initials of her father, who passed away a few years prior. His passing “was a realization that ‘life is too short,’”  Bollich-Erne said. “I need to love what I do; I need to really work to find meaning.’”Heidi Bollich-Erne is the founding editor and editor-in-chief of The Better Part Journal, the first intellectual Catholic women’s journal. She holds an undergraduate degree in theology from the University of St. Thomas and a master’s in Thomistic Philosophy from the Center for Thomistic Studies. Credit: Photo courtesy of Heidi Bollich-ErneThe Better Part Journal’s mission“The purpose of the journal is to bring together the voices of intellectual Catholic women who are faithful to the magisterium,” Bollich-Erne said. “I want voices of all backgrounds. I want women of all areas of discipline. I want academics. I want nonacademics. I want all women contributing to this conversation.”“We all throw around the ‘feminine genius,’ but when you ask someone to stop and give an actual definition, most people can’t,” Bollich-Erne said. Most people define it with a quote by St. John Paul II who coined the term in his apostolic letter Mulieris Dignitatem to describe the unique gifts and qualities women possess, but, she said, “that’s a quote, not a definition.” “There’s a lot of work that needs to be done in this area, and I know there’s room for it to be done on a theological, philosophical level. So the idea was that we would … define the feminine genius and then show it. Live it. It’s not a theology journal and it’s not a philosophy journal. It’s truly interdisciplinary.”The first issue of the journal is called “Uncharted” and will tackle a number of topics.“As soon as women realized that I was serious about truly hearing their voices and not editing them out or telling them what they can and can’t write about, they gave us some really amazing work. I’ve just been blown away. I’m only so creative, but I have a great team.”The journal will feature articles covering neuroscience and theology and apply it to Mary and the Incarnation. It will have columns by doctors and scientists to look at “faith in the formula” and “applying science to religion.”There will be discussion of issues women face including body image, infertility, and violence. Articles will explore “the psychology of fairy tales and what that does to young girls growing up, whether that be positive or negative,” Bollich-Erne said. It will look into “what we are exposed to …from the media and what it does to us.”“The beauty behind the journal has been the women that have come forth to lend their voices,” Bollich-Erne said. “It’s been really amazing to see how excited they are about freedom of voice. It’s been something I wasn’t expecting.”A print journal in a digital eraDespite a shift in media from print to online formats, The Better Part Journal will only be released in print copies because, Bollich-Erne said, “I want it to be lasting.”“I am a tactile person. I like to hold a book. I wanted it to be something that is kept. So obviously that’s print,” Bollich-Erne said. “But then if you want to keep it has to be high quality.”The journal will use original photographs and crafted artwork to accompany the written works. “It is stunning. It looks like a book,” Bollich-Erne said. “The idea is that you read it, you keep it, and you put it on your bookshelf and you never get rid of it because the topics are lasting.”For an article to be included, it has to be “something that I think women will find valuable, whether you’re an academic or a high school student,” Bollich-Erne said. “It has to be something that all women find valuable, or we cannot print it.”“Many women have said they’re excited to hold their work and see it in print as opposed to scrolling past the work. There’s nothing wrong with online formats; it gives voices to a lot of people, but this is just different.”“I had an author tell me, ‘I don’t write anymore for anyone,’ because, she said, ‘I am so tired of my work just disappearing. It’s online for a week. I spent all this work, all this time, and it was something substantial that I really cared about, and it’s just gone.’” “She signed up with us for a column specifically because we are in print. The idea is that this work is kept forever.”The print journals will be published twice a year only, because “I want it to be something that takes a while to digest,” Bollich-Erne said. “Beautiful things take time.”Looking to the futureJGB Publishings has “goals to expand substantially over the next five to 10 years,” Bollich-Erne said. The company will “take care of” the journal to ensure its message can “grow and expand.”“To be able, as women in the Church, to truly have a serious conversation about all of these things … we are going to forge our future,” Bollich-Erne said. “We’re going to step forward in hope and show the world this is what an intelligent Catholic woman looks like.”“We’re not stifled. We’re not sad. We’re not miserable people. We are happy. We are excited about life, and we are treated with respect. We are loved and we love who we are,” Bollich-Erne said. “I want people, especially women, of all ages to see that and to understand that.”
Read More

New print journal for ‘intellectual Catholic women’ to be released in April #Catholic Promo photo for the The Better Part Journal of shadows of Madonna lilies for the Blessed Virgin Mary. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Heidi Bollich-Erne Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 7, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA). While teaching an ethics and culture course, Heidi Bollich-Erne was looking for a journal featuring the work of Catholic women for her students to read. After being told that it simply didn’t exist, she decided to create one herself.With the help of a team of women, Bollich-Erne has founded what she calls the “first intellectual Catholic women’s journal.” Its purpose is to not only define the feminine genius but also to show how faithful women can embody its beauty in their daily lives. “I want women to find a home, a place that values their work. The journal itself is edited, written, and published solely by Catholic women,” Bollich-Erne told CNA. “The way that women write, the way that we express ourselves is very different. That’s just who we are. That’s part of the genius of women.”The Better Part Journal is intended to give women of the Church “hope” by discussing issues that are relevant to them. The first edition of the journal will be released in April 2026. Before starting the journal, Bollich-Erne studied theology at the University of St. Thomas, where she “fell in love with philosophy.” She went to the Center for Thomistic Studies for her master’s degree in Thomistic philosophy but took a break from her doctorate and started teaching. She is now based in Texas where she has taught high school, college preparation, college, and adults. While teaching, she tried to find content to help guide discussion on gender complementarity but couldn’t find much written by Catholic women.“I thought, ‘I want to read more intellectual women,’ but it was a struggle… So I found a friend who works at a university and I said: ‘Can you recommend … an intellectual Catholic women’s magazine? She got back to me a few days later and said, ‘It doesn’t exist.’”Bollich-Erne started The Better Part Journal by first launching a company called JBG Publishings as “a home” for the journal. She wanted to ensure the publication would not be independently published but be part of a company that would help it to grow.Bollich-Erne named the company with the initials of her father, who passed away a few years prior. His passing “was a realization that ‘life is too short,’”  Bollich-Erne said. “I need to love what I do; I need to really work to find meaning.’”Heidi Bollich-Erne is the founding editor and editor-in-chief of The Better Part Journal, the first intellectual Catholic women’s journal. She holds an undergraduate degree in theology from the University of St. Thomas and a master’s in Thomistic Philosophy from the Center for Thomistic Studies. Credit: Photo courtesy of Heidi Bollich-ErneThe Better Part Journal’s mission“The purpose of the journal is to bring together the voices of intellectual Catholic women who are faithful to the magisterium,” Bollich-Erne said. “I want voices of all backgrounds. I want women of all areas of discipline. I want academics. I want nonacademics. I want all women contributing to this conversation.”“We all throw around the ‘feminine genius,’ but when you ask someone to stop and give an actual definition, most people can’t,” Bollich-Erne said. Most people define it with a quote by St. John Paul II who coined the term in his apostolic letter Mulieris Dignitatem to describe the unique gifts and qualities women possess, but, she said, “that’s a quote, not a definition.” “There’s a lot of work that needs to be done in this area, and I know there’s room for it to be done on a theological, philosophical level. So the idea was that we would … define the feminine genius and then show it. Live it. It’s not a theology journal and it’s not a philosophy journal. It’s truly interdisciplinary.”The first issue of the journal is called “Uncharted” and will tackle a number of topics.“As soon as women realized that I was serious about truly hearing their voices and not editing them out or telling them what they can and can’t write about, they gave us some really amazing work. I’ve just been blown away. I’m only so creative, but I have a great team.”The journal will feature articles covering neuroscience and theology and apply it to Mary and the Incarnation. It will have columns by doctors and scientists to look at “faith in the formula” and “applying science to religion.”There will be discussion of issues women face including body image, infertility, and violence. Articles will explore “the psychology of fairy tales and what that does to young girls growing up, whether that be positive or negative,” Bollich-Erne said. It will look into “what we are exposed to …from the media and what it does to us.”“The beauty behind the journal has been the women that have come forth to lend their voices,” Bollich-Erne said. “It’s been really amazing to see how excited they are about freedom of voice. It’s been something I wasn’t expecting.”A print journal in a digital eraDespite a shift in media from print to online formats, The Better Part Journal will only be released in print copies because, Bollich-Erne said, “I want it to be lasting.”“I am a tactile person. I like to hold a book. I wanted it to be something that is kept. So obviously that’s print,” Bollich-Erne said. “But then if you want to keep it has to be high quality.”The journal will use original photographs and crafted artwork to accompany the written works. “It is stunning. It looks like a book,” Bollich-Erne said. “The idea is that you read it, you keep it, and you put it on your bookshelf and you never get rid of it because the topics are lasting.”For an article to be included, it has to be “something that I think women will find valuable, whether you’re an academic or a high school student,” Bollich-Erne said. “It has to be something that all women find valuable, or we cannot print it.”“Many women have said they’re excited to hold their work and see it in print as opposed to scrolling past the work. There’s nothing wrong with online formats; it gives voices to a lot of people, but this is just different.”“I had an author tell me, ‘I don’t write anymore for anyone,’ because, she said, ‘I am so tired of my work just disappearing. It’s online for a week. I spent all this work, all this time, and it was something substantial that I really cared about, and it’s just gone.’” “She signed up with us for a column specifically because we are in print. The idea is that this work is kept forever.”The print journals will be published twice a year only, because “I want it to be something that takes a while to digest,” Bollich-Erne said. “Beautiful things take time.”Looking to the futureJGB Publishings has “goals to expand substantially over the next five to 10 years,” Bollich-Erne said. The company will “take care of” the journal to ensure its message can “grow and expand.”“To be able, as women in the Church, to truly have a serious conversation about all of these things … we are going to forge our future,” Bollich-Erne said. “We’re going to step forward in hope and show the world this is what an intelligent Catholic woman looks like.”“We’re not stifled. We’re not sad. We’re not miserable people. We are happy. We are excited about life, and we are treated with respect. We are loved and we love who we are,” Bollich-Erne said. “I want people, especially women, of all ages to see that and to understand that.”

unitedyam

Promo photo for the The Better Part Journal of shadows of Madonna lilies for the Blessed Virgin Mary. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Heidi Bollich-Erne

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 7, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

While teaching an ethics and culture course, Heidi Bollich-Erne was looking for a journal featuring the work of Catholic women for her students to read. After being told that it simply didn’t exist, she decided to create one herself.

With the help of a team of women, Bollich-Erne has founded what she calls the “first intellectual Catholic women’s journal.” Its purpose is to not only define the feminine genius but also to show how faithful women can embody its beauty in their daily lives. 

“I want women to find a home, a place that values their work. The journal itself is edited, written, and published solely by Catholic women,” Bollich-Erne told CNA. “The way that women write, the way that we express ourselves is very different. That’s just who we are. That’s part of the genius of women.”

The Better Part Journal is intended to give women of the Church “hope” by discussing issues that are relevant to them. The first edition of the journal will be released in April 2026. 

Before starting the journal, Bollich-Erne studied theology at the University of St. Thomas, where she “fell in love with philosophy.” She went to the Center for Thomistic Studies for her master’s degree in Thomistic philosophy but took a break from her doctorate and started teaching. 

She is now based in Texas where she has taught high school, college preparation, college, and adults. While teaching, she tried to find content to help guide discussion on gender complementarity but couldn’t find much written by Catholic women.

“I thought, ‘I want to read more intellectual women,’ but it was a struggle… So I found a friend who works at a university and I said: ‘Can you recommend … an intellectual Catholic women’s magazine? She got back to me a few days later and said, ‘It doesn’t exist.’”

Bollich-Erne started The Better Part Journal by first launching a company called JBG Publishings as “a home” for the journal. She wanted to ensure the publication would not be independently published but be part of a company that would help it to grow.

Bollich-Erne named the company with the initials of her father, who passed away a few years prior. His passing “was a realization that ‘life is too short,’”  Bollich-Erne said. “I need to love what I do; I need to really work to find meaning.’”

Heidi Bollich-Erne is the founding editor and editor-in-chief of The Better Part Journal, the first intellectual Catholic women’s journal. She holds an undergraduate degree in theology from the University of St. Thomas and a master's in Thomistic Philosophy from the Center for Thomistic Studies. Credit: Photo courtesy of Heidi Bollich-Erne
Heidi Bollich-Erne is the founding editor and editor-in-chief of The Better Part Journal, the first intellectual Catholic women’s journal. She holds an undergraduate degree in theology from the University of St. Thomas and a master’s in Thomistic Philosophy from the Center for Thomistic Studies. Credit: Photo courtesy of Heidi Bollich-Erne

The Better Part Journal’s mission

“The purpose of the journal is to bring together the voices of intellectual Catholic women who are faithful to the magisterium,” Bollich-Erne said. “I want voices of all backgrounds. I want women of all areas of discipline. I want academics. I want nonacademics. I want all women contributing to this conversation.”

“We all throw around the ‘feminine genius,’ but when you ask someone to stop and give an actual definition, most people can’t,” Bollich-Erne said. Most people define it with a quote by St. John Paul II who coined the term in his apostolic letter Mulieris Dignitatem to describe the unique gifts and qualities women possess, but, she said, “that’s a quote, not a definition.” 

“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done in this area, and I know there’s room for it to be done on a theological, philosophical level. So the idea was that we would … define the feminine genius and then show it. Live it. It’s not a theology journal and it’s not a philosophy journal. It’s truly interdisciplinary.”

The first issue of the journal is called “Uncharted” and will tackle a number of topics.

“As soon as women realized that I was serious about truly hearing their voices and not editing them out or telling them what they can and can’t write about, they gave us some really amazing work. I’ve just been blown away. I’m only so creative, but I have a great team.”

The journal will feature articles covering neuroscience and theology and apply it to Mary and the Incarnation. It will have columns by doctors and scientists to look at “faith in the formula” and “applying science to religion.”

There will be discussion of issues women face including body image, infertility, and violence. Articles will explore “the psychology of fairy tales and what that does to young girls growing up, whether that be positive or negative,” Bollich-Erne said. It will look into “what we are exposed to …from the media and what it does to us.”

“The beauty behind the journal has been the women that have come forth to lend their voices,” Bollich-Erne said. “It’s been really amazing to see how excited they are about freedom of voice. It’s been something I wasn’t expecting.”

A print journal in a digital era

Despite a shift in media from print to online formats, The Better Part Journal will only be released in print copies because, Bollich-Erne said, “I want it to be lasting.”

“I am a tactile person. I like to hold a book. I wanted it to be something that is kept. So obviously that’s print,” Bollich-Erne said. “But then if you want to keep it has to be high quality.”

The journal will use original photographs and crafted artwork to accompany the written works. 

“It is stunning. It looks like a book,” Bollich-Erne said. “The idea is that you read it, you keep it, and you put it on your bookshelf and you never get rid of it because the topics are lasting.”

For an article to be included, it has to be “something that I think women will find valuable, whether you’re an academic or a high school student,” Bollich-Erne said. “It has to be something that all women find valuable, or we cannot print it.”

“Many women have said they’re excited to hold their work and see it in print as opposed to scrolling past the work. There’s nothing wrong with online formats; it gives voices to a lot of people, but this is just different.”

“I had an author tell me, ‘I don’t write anymore for anyone,’ because, she said, ‘I am so tired of my work just disappearing. It’s online for a week. I spent all this work, all this time, and it was something substantial that I really cared about, and it’s just gone.’” 

“She signed up with us for a column specifically because we are in print. The idea is that this work is kept forever.”

The print journals will be published twice a year only, because “I want it to be something that takes a while to digest,” Bollich-Erne said. “Beautiful things take time.”

Looking to the future

JGB Publishings has “goals to expand substantially over the next five to 10 years,” Bollich-Erne said. The company will “take care of” the journal to ensure its message can “grow and expand.”

“To be able, as women in the Church, to truly have a serious conversation about all of these things … we are going to forge our future,” Bollich-Erne said. “We’re going to step forward in hope and show the world this is what an intelligent Catholic woman looks like.”

“We’re not stifled. We’re not sad. We’re not miserable people. We are happy. We are excited about life, and we are treated with respect. We are loved and we love who we are,” Bollich-Erne said. “I want people, especially women, of all ages to see that and to understand that.”

Read More
Hidden Catholic histories come alive in new Black and Native American films #Catholic A still from “Trailblazers of Faith: The Legacy of African American Catholics,” which tells the inspiring story of how African Americans found a home in Catholicism without abandoning their identity or culture. Those pictured are the African Americans currently on the path to sainthood: Venerable Henriette DeLille, Julia Greeley, Father Augustus Tolton, Mother Mary Lange, Pierre Toussaint, and Sister Thea Bowman. / Credit: Black and Indian Mission Office CNA Staff, Dec 7, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA). The Black and Indian Mission Office in Washington, D.C., recently released two documentaries — one highlighting African American Catholics on the path to sainthood and the focusing on Native American Catholic communities in the United States. “Trailblazers of Faith: The Legacy of African American Catholics” tells the inspiring story of how African Americans found a home in Catholicism without abandoning their identity or culture. From the pioneering Oblate Sisters of Providence and St. Frances Academy to the lives of Venerable Henriette DeLille, Julia Greeley, Father Augustus Tolton, and Sister Thea Bowman, the documentary celebrates a legacy of leadership and faith.The second film, “Walking the Sacred Path: The Story of the Black and Indian Mission Office,” uncovers the often-hidden story of Native American Catholics in the United States. The film explores the powerful intersection of faith and culture — where the beauty of Native traditions and the universality of Catholicism meet — and highlights more than 140 years of the Black and Indian Mission Office’s mission to walk alongside Native American communities. Father Maurice Henry Sands is the executive director of the Black and Indian Mission Office. He told CNA in an interview that these documentaries were created “to educate people about these two groups of people that a lot of people don’t know much about,” as well as “to educate people about the work that our office is doing with these two groups of people.”The Black and Indian Mission Collection was the first national collection established at the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1884 and is still taken up yearly funding the Black and Indian Mission Office.The United States bishops recognized the need to support missionary work among African American and Native American Catholics and since its creation the collection has allowed for grants to be given to dioceses across the country to operate schools, parishes, and other missionary services that build the body of Christ in Native American, Alaska Native, and Black Catholic communities.Sands shared that it is important for Catholics to walk alongside these communities because “we are all part of the human race that the Lord directs his work of salvation towards.”“It’s important that we learn how to live together and walk together because as human beings we do put up walls and barriers and we see differences among ourselves,” he said, adding that racism “has caused a lot of difficulties for the two groups of people.” “So, we have a fundamental call as disciples of Christ, as Catholics, as Christians, to help the Lord and his work of salvation to love one another and to have a special concern for those of our brothers and sisters who are disadvantaged and in need,” he said.Speaking specifically to the documentary on the African American Catholics on their way to sainthood, Sands explained that the six individuals included all serve as great role models for the faithful because “each of them had very challenging beginnings but went on to be great lovers of Our Lord and were a great witness to others and helped people in need as they saw the needs of people around them and were very effective in doing that.”He added that the early Church missionaries who served Native Americans also serve as role models in how to “help people where they are to come to know Christ, to love him, and to have a relationship with him.”Sands said he hopes viewers will feel moved to “learn more about how they can support the ministry to these two groups of people and to learn more about how they can support the work that we are doing in our office.”Both documentaries can be viewed on Formed.
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Hidden Catholic histories come alive in new Black and Native American films #Catholic A still from “Trailblazers of Faith: The Legacy of African American Catholics,” which tells the inspiring story of how African Americans found a home in Catholicism without abandoning their identity or culture. Those pictured are the African Americans currently on the path to sainthood: Venerable Henriette DeLille, Julia Greeley, Father Augustus Tolton, Mother Mary Lange, Pierre Toussaint, and Sister Thea Bowman. / Credit: Black and Indian Mission Office CNA Staff, Dec 7, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA). The Black and Indian Mission Office in Washington, D.C., recently released two documentaries — one highlighting African American Catholics on the path to sainthood and the focusing on Native American Catholic communities in the United States. “Trailblazers of Faith: The Legacy of African American Catholics” tells the inspiring story of how African Americans found a home in Catholicism without abandoning their identity or culture. From the pioneering Oblate Sisters of Providence and St. Frances Academy to the lives of Venerable Henriette DeLille, Julia Greeley, Father Augustus Tolton, and Sister Thea Bowman, the documentary celebrates a legacy of leadership and faith.The second film, “Walking the Sacred Path: The Story of the Black and Indian Mission Office,” uncovers the often-hidden story of Native American Catholics in the United States. The film explores the powerful intersection of faith and culture — where the beauty of Native traditions and the universality of Catholicism meet — and highlights more than 140 years of the Black and Indian Mission Office’s mission to walk alongside Native American communities. Father Maurice Henry Sands is the executive director of the Black and Indian Mission Office. He told CNA in an interview that these documentaries were created “to educate people about these two groups of people that a lot of people don’t know much about,” as well as “to educate people about the work that our office is doing with these two groups of people.”The Black and Indian Mission Collection was the first national collection established at the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1884 and is still taken up yearly funding the Black and Indian Mission Office.The United States bishops recognized the need to support missionary work among African American and Native American Catholics and since its creation the collection has allowed for grants to be given to dioceses across the country to operate schools, parishes, and other missionary services that build the body of Christ in Native American, Alaska Native, and Black Catholic communities.Sands shared that it is important for Catholics to walk alongside these communities because “we are all part of the human race that the Lord directs his work of salvation towards.”“It’s important that we learn how to live together and walk together because as human beings we do put up walls and barriers and we see differences among ourselves,” he said, adding that racism “has caused a lot of difficulties for the two groups of people.” “So, we have a fundamental call as disciples of Christ, as Catholics, as Christians, to help the Lord and his work of salvation to love one another and to have a special concern for those of our brothers and sisters who are disadvantaged and in need,” he said.Speaking specifically to the documentary on the African American Catholics on their way to sainthood, Sands explained that the six individuals included all serve as great role models for the faithful because “each of them had very challenging beginnings but went on to be great lovers of Our Lord and were a great witness to others and helped people in need as they saw the needs of people around them and were very effective in doing that.”He added that the early Church missionaries who served Native Americans also serve as role models in how to “help people where they are to come to know Christ, to love him, and to have a relationship with him.”Sands said he hopes viewers will feel moved to “learn more about how they can support the ministry to these two groups of people and to learn more about how they can support the work that we are doing in our office.”Both documentaries can be viewed on Formed.

unitedyam

A still from “Trailblazers of Faith: The Legacy of African American Catholics,” which tells the inspiring story of how African Americans found a home in Catholicism without abandoning their identity or culture. Those pictured are the African Americans currently on the path to sainthood: Venerable Henriette DeLille, Julia Greeley, Father Augustus Tolton, Mother Mary Lange, Pierre Toussaint, and Sister Thea Bowman. / Credit: Black and Indian Mission Office

CNA Staff, Dec 7, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The Black and Indian Mission Office in Washington, D.C., recently released two documentaries — one highlighting African American Catholics on the path to sainthood and the focusing on Native American Catholic communities in the United States. 

“Trailblazers of Faith: The Legacy of African American Catholics” tells the inspiring story of how African Americans found a home in Catholicism without abandoning their identity or culture. 

From the pioneering Oblate Sisters of Providence and St. Frances Academy to the lives of Venerable Henriette DeLille, Julia Greeley, Father Augustus Tolton, and Sister Thea Bowman, the documentary celebrates a legacy of leadership and faith.

The second film, “Walking the Sacred Path: The Story of the Black and Indian Mission Office,” uncovers the often-hidden story of Native American Catholics in the United States. The film explores the powerful intersection of faith and culture — where the beauty of Native traditions and the universality of Catholicism meet — and highlights more than 140 years of the Black and Indian Mission Office’s mission to walk alongside Native American communities. 

Father Maurice Henry Sands is the executive director of the Black and Indian Mission Office. He told CNA in an interview that these documentaries were created “to educate people about these two groups of people that a lot of people don’t know much about,” as well as “to educate people about the work that our office is doing with these two groups of people.”

The Black and Indian Mission Collection was the first national collection established at the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1884 and is still taken up yearly funding the Black and Indian Mission Office.

The United States bishops recognized the need to support missionary work among African American and Native American Catholics and since its creation the collection has allowed for grants to be given to dioceses across the country to operate schools, parishes, and other missionary services that build the body of Christ in Native American, Alaska Native, and Black Catholic communities.

Sands shared that it is important for Catholics to walk alongside these communities because “we are all part of the human race that the Lord directs his work of salvation towards.”

“It’s important that we learn how to live together and walk together because as human beings we do put up walls and barriers and we see differences among ourselves,” he said, adding that racism “has caused a lot of difficulties for the two groups of people.” 

“So, we have a fundamental call as disciples of Christ, as Catholics, as Christians, to help the Lord and his work of salvation to love one another and to have a special concern for those of our brothers and sisters who are disadvantaged and in need,” he said.

Speaking specifically to the documentary on the African American Catholics on their way to sainthood, Sands explained that the six individuals included all serve as great role models for the faithful because “each of them had very challenging beginnings but went on to be great lovers of Our Lord and were a great witness to others and helped people in need as they saw the needs of people around them and were very effective in doing that.”

He added that the early Church missionaries who served Native Americans also serve as role models in how to “help people where they are to come to know Christ, to love him, and to have a relationship with him.”

Sands said he hopes viewers will feel moved to “learn more about how they can support the ministry to these two groups of people and to learn more about how they can support the work that we are doing in our office.”

Both documentaries can be viewed on Formed.

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Leader of schismatic Colorado Springs group disregards excommunication #Catholic null / Credit: Paul Gueu/Shutterstock Denver, Colorado, Dec 5, 2025 / 18:18 pm (CNA). After receiving a letter of excommunication from the Vatican, the leader of a schismatic group in Colorado Springs told congregants he would ignore it — furthering the divide between the small splinter group and the Catholic Church.Anthony Ward heads the Servants of the Holy Family, a group that labels itself as Catholic in spite of the Diocese of Colorado Springs’ declaration that the group is schismatic.  In a 40-minute speech to his congregation in which he called Church authorities “a kangaroo court” of “heretics” and “freemasons,” Ward went public on Nov. 16 about his excommunication and his plans to continue ignoring the Catholic Church’s directives. During a secret ceremony in 2024, a bishop whose name was withheld at the time consecrated Ward as a bishop without papal permission.In the Catholic Church, only the pope can appoint bishops. Consecrating a bishop without papal mandate is considered illicit and incurs an automatic “latae sententiae” excommunication for both parties.During the meeting at the Servants’ chapel on Nov. 16, Ward told his congregation that the Catholic Church had made a declaration of excommunication against him due to what he described as “persistent, rebellious disobedience.”Though excommunication is a “medicinal penalty” designed to urge an individual to repent, Ward has said he is “ignoring” the letter and will not be responding within the 30-day window given to him. Embracing the claims of the letter, Ward said he will continue to disobey, instead putting his loyalty toward what he called “the true Catholic faith.” “I have not and will not obey commands from the kangaroo court composed of heretics, schismatics, Freemasons, representatives of the most vile sinful perversions, enemies of the cross of Christ,” Ward told the congregation, “of whom the majority of bishops — particularly in this country — no longer believe in the real presence of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus, Christ in the Eucharist.”The U.S. Catholic bishops recently led a yearslong Eucharistic Revival that centered on the Catholic belief that the Eucharist is the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ.Despite the local Catholic diocese’s denouncement of the Servants, the group continues to hold Eucharistic celebrations and is recruiting minors as well as adult men to be trained as priests.The Servants’ website advertises the group as “faithful to the Latin Mass” as well as to “Catholic doctrine and morals” and claims it is “endorsed by Catholic bishops worldwide.” Ward named Archbishop Telesphore George Mpundu Lusaka, the African archbishop emeritus of Zambia, as the bishop who illicitly consecrated him, but the other bishops are not specified readily on the website. When asked to comment, a spokesperson for the Diocese of Colorado Springs referred to the most recent public statement by Bishop James Golka in April 2024. Since 2013, the Diocese of Colorado Springs has publicly held that the Servants are “not in good standing” with the Church.   Pointing to continued “obstinate ill will” by the Servants, Golka declared last year that Ward and other priests affiliated with the Servants “are not in good standing with the diocesan or the universal Catholic Church” and declared it “a schismatic group.” Pointing to canon law, Golka declared that its Eucharistic celebration “is illicit and a grave moral offense” and that its celebration of baptism “is illicit.” The bishop also declared celebrations of penance, the sacrament of matrimony, confirmation, and holy orders by this group to be invalid. Golka said it would be “an act of spiritual danger” for Catholics to attend celebrations led by the Servants and encouraged the faithful to pray for reconciliation. The Servants did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.
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Leader of schismatic Colorado Springs group disregards excommunication #Catholic null / Credit: Paul Gueu/Shutterstock Denver, Colorado, Dec 5, 2025 / 18:18 pm (CNA). After receiving a letter of excommunication from the Vatican, the leader of a schismatic group in Colorado Springs told congregants he would ignore it — furthering the divide between the small splinter group and the Catholic Church.Anthony Ward heads the Servants of the Holy Family, a group that labels itself as Catholic in spite of the Diocese of Colorado Springs’ declaration that the group is schismatic.  In a 40-minute speech to his congregation in which he called Church authorities “a kangaroo court” of “heretics” and “freemasons,” Ward went public on Nov. 16 about his excommunication and his plans to continue ignoring the Catholic Church’s directives. During a secret ceremony in 2024, a bishop whose name was withheld at the time consecrated Ward as a bishop without papal permission.In the Catholic Church, only the pope can appoint bishops. Consecrating a bishop without papal mandate is considered illicit and incurs an automatic “latae sententiae” excommunication for both parties.During the meeting at the Servants’ chapel on Nov. 16, Ward told his congregation that the Catholic Church had made a declaration of excommunication against him due to what he described as “persistent, rebellious disobedience.”Though excommunication is a “medicinal penalty” designed to urge an individual to repent, Ward has said he is “ignoring” the letter and will not be responding within the 30-day window given to him. Embracing the claims of the letter, Ward said he will continue to disobey, instead putting his loyalty toward what he called “the true Catholic faith.” “I have not and will not obey commands from the kangaroo court composed of heretics, schismatics, Freemasons, representatives of the most vile sinful perversions, enemies of the cross of Christ,” Ward told the congregation, “of whom the majority of bishops — particularly in this country — no longer believe in the real presence of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus, Christ in the Eucharist.”The U.S. Catholic bishops recently led a yearslong Eucharistic Revival that centered on the Catholic belief that the Eucharist is the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ.Despite the local Catholic diocese’s denouncement of the Servants, the group continues to hold Eucharistic celebrations and is recruiting minors as well as adult men to be trained as priests.The Servants’ website advertises the group as “faithful to the Latin Mass” as well as to “Catholic doctrine and morals” and claims it is “endorsed by Catholic bishops worldwide.” Ward named Archbishop Telesphore George Mpundu Lusaka, the African archbishop emeritus of Zambia, as the bishop who illicitly consecrated him, but the other bishops are not specified readily on the website. When asked to comment, a spokesperson for the Diocese of Colorado Springs referred to the most recent public statement by Bishop James Golka in April 2024. Since 2013, the Diocese of Colorado Springs has publicly held that the Servants are “not in good standing” with the Church.   Pointing to continued “obstinate ill will” by the Servants, Golka declared last year that Ward and other priests affiliated with the Servants “are not in good standing with the diocesan or the universal Catholic Church” and declared it “a schismatic group.” Pointing to canon law, Golka declared that its Eucharistic celebration “is illicit and a grave moral offense” and that its celebration of baptism “is illicit.” The bishop also declared celebrations of penance, the sacrament of matrimony, confirmation, and holy orders by this group to be invalid. Golka said it would be “an act of spiritual danger” for Catholics to attend celebrations led by the Servants and encouraged the faithful to pray for reconciliation. The Servants did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

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null / Credit: Paul Gueu/Shutterstock

Denver, Colorado, Dec 5, 2025 / 18:18 pm (CNA).

After receiving a letter of excommunication from the Vatican, the leader of a schismatic group in Colorado Springs told congregants he would ignore it — furthering the divide between the small splinter group and the Catholic Church.

Anthony Ward heads the Servants of the Holy Family, a group that labels itself as Catholic in spite of the Diocese of Colorado Springs’ declaration that the group is schismatic.  

In a 40-minute speech to his congregation in which he called Church authorities “a kangaroo court” of “heretics” and “freemasons,” Ward went public on Nov. 16 about his excommunication and his plans to continue ignoring the Catholic Church’s directives. 

During a secret ceremony in 2024, a bishop whose name was withheld at the time consecrated Ward as a bishop without papal permission.

In the Catholic Church, only the pope can appoint bishops. Consecrating a bishop without papal mandate is considered illicit and incurs an automatic “latae sententiae” excommunication for both parties.

During the meeting at the Servants’ chapel on Nov. 16, Ward told his congregation that the Catholic Church had made a declaration of excommunication against him due to what he described as “persistent, rebellious disobedience.”

Though excommunication is a “medicinal penalty” designed to urge an individual to repent, Ward has said he is “ignoring” the letter and will not be responding within the 30-day window given to him. 

Embracing the claims of the letter, Ward said he will continue to disobey, instead putting his loyalty toward what he called “the true Catholic faith.” 

“I have not and will not obey commands from the kangaroo court composed of heretics, schismatics, Freemasons, representatives of the most vile sinful perversions, enemies of the cross of Christ,” Ward told the congregation, “of whom the majority of bishops — particularly in this country — no longer believe in the real presence of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus, Christ in the Eucharist.”

The U.S. Catholic bishops recently led a yearslong Eucharistic Revival that centered on the Catholic belief that the Eucharist is the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ.

Despite the local Catholic diocese’s denouncement of the Servants, the group continues to hold Eucharistic celebrations and is recruiting minors as well as adult men to be trained as priests.

The Servants’ website advertises the group as “faithful to the Latin Mass” as well as to “Catholic doctrine and morals” and claims it is “endorsed by Catholic bishops worldwide.” 

Ward named Archbishop Telesphore George Mpundu Lusaka, the African archbishop emeritus of Zambia, as the bishop who illicitly consecrated him, but the other bishops are not specified readily on the website. 

When asked to comment, a spokesperson for the Diocese of Colorado Springs referred to the most recent public statement by Bishop James Golka in April 2024. 

Since 2013, the Diocese of Colorado Springs has publicly held that the Servants are “not in good standing” with the Church.   

Pointing to continued “obstinate ill will” by the Servants, Golka declared last year that Ward and other priests affiliated with the Servants “are not in good standing with the diocesan or the universal Catholic Church” and declared it “a schismatic group.” 

Pointing to canon law, Golka declared that its Eucharistic celebration “is illicit and a grave moral offense” and that its celebration of baptism “is illicit.” The bishop also declared celebrations of penance, the sacrament of matrimony, confirmation, and holy orders by this group to be invalid. 

Golka said it would be “an act of spiritual danger” for Catholics to attend celebrations led by the Servants and encouraged the faithful to pray for reconciliation. 

The Servants did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

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What do we know about the presentation of Mary? #Catholic Alessandro Allori, “The Presentation of Mary,” 1598. / Credit: Public domain National Catholic Register, Nov 21, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA). It’s easy to conceptualize the presentation of the Lord because we find it in Scripture. Luke’s Gospel tells of the Holy Family’s journey to the Temple when Jesus was 8 days old. According to Jewish custom, Jesus was to be circumcised and Mary purified. There Mary and Joseph meet the prophets Anna and Simeon, who recognized the child as the Messiah who would bring about the fall and rise of many and become a sign of contradiction and the cause of a sword that would one day pierce Mary’s heart. We celebrate the feast of the Presentation of the Lord annually on Feb. 2.The presentation of Mary, however, is not found in Scripture. Instead, we learn about Mary’s presentation from accounts that have come to us from apostolic times. What we know is found mainly in Chapter 7 of the “Protoevangelium of James,” which has been dated by historians before the year A.D. 200.The “Protoevangelium of James” was ostensibly written by the apostle of the same name. It gives a detailed account in which Mary’s father, Joachim, tells his wife, Anna, that he wishes to bring their daughter to the Temple and consecrate her to God. Anna responds that they should wait until Mary is 3 years old so that she will not need her parents as much. On the agreed day for Mary to be taken to the Temple, Hebrew virgins accompanied the family with burning lamps. The Temple priest received Mary, kissed her, and blessed her. According to James’ writing, the priest then proclaimed: “The Lord has magnified thy name in all generations. In thee, the Lord will manifest his redemption to the sons of Israel.” After that, Mary was placed on the third step of the Temple and danced with joy. All the House of Israel loved Mary, and she was nurtured from then on in the Temple while her parents returned to their Nazareth home, glorifying God.The celebration of the feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary grew slowly over the years. On Nov. 21, 543, Emperor Justinian dedicated a church to Mary in the Temple area of Jerusalem. Many of the early Church Fathers celebrated this feast day, such as St. Germanus and St. John Damascene. In 1373, it was formally celebrated in Avignon, France, and in 1472, Pope Sixtus IV extended it to the universal Church. The Byzantine Church considers Mary’s Presentation one of the 12 great feasts of the liturgical year.In 1974, Pope Paul VI wrote about this feast in his encyclical Marialis Cultus, saying: “Despite its apocryphal content, it presents lofty and exemplary values and carries on the venerable traditions having their origins in the Eastern Churches.”The memorial of the Presentation of Mary has been noted in the Church since its early years and yet is easily forgotten or misunderstood. Since it’s classified as a memorial and not a solemnity or holy day of obligation, it doesn’t draw much attention to itself other than a special opening prayer in the Mass. With this memorial, we celebrate the fact that God chose to dwell in Mary in a unique way. In response, she placed her whole self at his service. By our baptism, God invites us, too, into his service.But there’s more to celebrating the presentation of Mary. This feast gives us cause for great joy since Mary is truly our mother, given to us by Christ as he hung dying on the cross. Because we are part of her Son’s body, she loves us with as much devotion and tenderness as she loves Jesus. When we celebrate Mary’s presentation, we are giving Mary the honor she deserves and witnessing to her perfect purity as the virgin of Nazareth, the mother of God, and our mother.Sts. Joachim and Anne surrendered their only daughter to God so that she would be completely free to follow his holy will. Although they loved her dearly, they knew that in the Temple Mary would always be near the Holy of Holies, surrounded by an atmosphere of godliness and grace. She would be instructed in Scripture and the history of the Jewish people. She would be under the guardianship and tutelage of the holy women of the Temple who had given their lives to God. One of them, Scripture scholars believe, was Anna — the woman who prophesied at the presentation of Our Lord. In the Temple, Mary would be completely focused on God and well prepared for becoming the mother of the Savior and mother of the body of Christ.When we celebrate the presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we remember the tremendous sacrifice Sts. Joachim and Anne made for our sakes. We give honor and respect to the Virgin, who is an example for all of us in our struggle for holiness. It is a privilege and an opportunity to express our gratitude for the gift of a pure, tender, and always-loving mother.This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, on Nov. 21, 2023, and has been adapted and updated by CNA.
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What do we know about the presentation of Mary? #Catholic Alessandro Allori, “The Presentation of Mary,” 1598. / Credit: Public domain National Catholic Register, Nov 21, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA). It’s easy to conceptualize the presentation of the Lord because we find it in Scripture. Luke’s Gospel tells of the Holy Family’s journey to the Temple when Jesus was 8 days old. According to Jewish custom, Jesus was to be circumcised and Mary purified. There Mary and Joseph meet the prophets Anna and Simeon, who recognized the child as the Messiah who would bring about the fall and rise of many and become a sign of contradiction and the cause of a sword that would one day pierce Mary’s heart. We celebrate the feast of the Presentation of the Lord annually on Feb. 2.The presentation of Mary, however, is not found in Scripture. Instead, we learn about Mary’s presentation from accounts that have come to us from apostolic times. What we know is found mainly in Chapter 7 of the “Protoevangelium of James,” which has been dated by historians before the year A.D. 200.The “Protoevangelium of James” was ostensibly written by the apostle of the same name. It gives a detailed account in which Mary’s father, Joachim, tells his wife, Anna, that he wishes to bring their daughter to the Temple and consecrate her to God. Anna responds that they should wait until Mary is 3 years old so that she will not need her parents as much. On the agreed day for Mary to be taken to the Temple, Hebrew virgins accompanied the family with burning lamps. The Temple priest received Mary, kissed her, and blessed her. According to James’ writing, the priest then proclaimed: “The Lord has magnified thy name in all generations. In thee, the Lord will manifest his redemption to the sons of Israel.” After that, Mary was placed on the third step of the Temple and danced with joy. All the House of Israel loved Mary, and she was nurtured from then on in the Temple while her parents returned to their Nazareth home, glorifying God.The celebration of the feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary grew slowly over the years. On Nov. 21, 543, Emperor Justinian dedicated a church to Mary in the Temple area of Jerusalem. Many of the early Church Fathers celebrated this feast day, such as St. Germanus and St. John Damascene. In 1373, it was formally celebrated in Avignon, France, and in 1472, Pope Sixtus IV extended it to the universal Church. The Byzantine Church considers Mary’s Presentation one of the 12 great feasts of the liturgical year.In 1974, Pope Paul VI wrote about this feast in his encyclical Marialis Cultus, saying: “Despite its apocryphal content, it presents lofty and exemplary values and carries on the venerable traditions having their origins in the Eastern Churches.”The memorial of the Presentation of Mary has been noted in the Church since its early years and yet is easily forgotten or misunderstood. Since it’s classified as a memorial and not a solemnity or holy day of obligation, it doesn’t draw much attention to itself other than a special opening prayer in the Mass. With this memorial, we celebrate the fact that God chose to dwell in Mary in a unique way. In response, she placed her whole self at his service. By our baptism, God invites us, too, into his service.But there’s more to celebrating the presentation of Mary. This feast gives us cause for great joy since Mary is truly our mother, given to us by Christ as he hung dying on the cross. Because we are part of her Son’s body, she loves us with as much devotion and tenderness as she loves Jesus. When we celebrate Mary’s presentation, we are giving Mary the honor she deserves and witnessing to her perfect purity as the virgin of Nazareth, the mother of God, and our mother.Sts. Joachim and Anne surrendered their only daughter to God so that she would be completely free to follow his holy will. Although they loved her dearly, they knew that in the Temple Mary would always be near the Holy of Holies, surrounded by an atmosphere of godliness and grace. She would be instructed in Scripture and the history of the Jewish people. She would be under the guardianship and tutelage of the holy women of the Temple who had given their lives to God. One of them, Scripture scholars believe, was Anna — the woman who prophesied at the presentation of Our Lord. In the Temple, Mary would be completely focused on God and well prepared for becoming the mother of the Savior and mother of the body of Christ.When we celebrate the presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we remember the tremendous sacrifice Sts. Joachim and Anne made for our sakes. We give honor and respect to the Virgin, who is an example for all of us in our struggle for holiness. It is a privilege and an opportunity to express our gratitude for the gift of a pure, tender, and always-loving mother.This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, on Nov. 21, 2023, and has been adapted and updated by CNA.

unitedyam

Alessandro Allori, “The Presentation of Mary,” 1598. / Credit: Public domain

National Catholic Register, Nov 21, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

It’s easy to conceptualize the presentation of the Lord because we find it in Scripture. Luke’s Gospel tells of the Holy Family’s journey to the Temple when Jesus was 8 days old. According to Jewish custom, Jesus was to be circumcised and Mary purified.

There Mary and Joseph meet the prophets Anna and Simeon, who recognized the child as the Messiah who would bring about the fall and rise of many and become a sign of contradiction and the cause of a sword that would one day pierce Mary’s heart. We celebrate the feast of the Presentation of the Lord annually on Feb. 2.

The presentation of Mary, however, is not found in Scripture. Instead, we learn about Mary’s presentation from accounts that have come to us from apostolic times. What we know is found mainly in Chapter 7 of the “Protoevangelium of James,” which has been dated by historians before the year A.D. 200.

The “Protoevangelium of James” was ostensibly written by the apostle of the same name. It gives a detailed account in which Mary’s father, Joachim, tells his wife, Anna, that he wishes to bring their daughter to the Temple and consecrate her to God. Anna responds that they should wait until Mary is 3 years old so that she will not need her parents as much. 

On the agreed day for Mary to be taken to the Temple, Hebrew virgins accompanied the family with burning lamps. The Temple priest received Mary, kissed her, and blessed her. According to James’ writing, the priest then proclaimed: “The Lord has magnified thy name in all generations. In thee, the Lord will manifest his redemption to the sons of Israel.” 

After that, Mary was placed on the third step of the Temple and danced with joy. All the House of Israel loved Mary, and she was nurtured from then on in the Temple while her parents returned to their Nazareth home, glorifying God.

The celebration of the feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary grew slowly over the years. 

On Nov. 21, 543, Emperor Justinian dedicated a church to Mary in the Temple area of Jerusalem. Many of the early Church Fathers celebrated this feast day, such as St. Germanus and St. John Damascene. In 1373, it was formally celebrated in Avignon, France, and in 1472, Pope Sixtus IV extended it to the universal Church. The Byzantine Church considers Mary’s Presentation one of the 12 great feasts of the liturgical year.

In 1974, Pope Paul VI wrote about this feast in his encyclical Marialis Cultus, saying: “Despite its apocryphal content, it presents lofty and exemplary values and carries on the venerable traditions having their origins in the Eastern Churches.”

The memorial of the Presentation of Mary has been noted in the Church since its early years and yet is easily forgotten or misunderstood. 

Since it’s classified as a memorial and not a solemnity or holy day of obligation, it doesn’t draw much attention to itself other than a special opening prayer in the Mass. With this memorial, we celebrate the fact that God chose to dwell in Mary in a unique way. In response, she placed her whole self at his service. By our baptism, God invites us, too, into his service.

But there’s more to celebrating the presentation of Mary. 

This feast gives us cause for great joy since Mary is truly our mother, given to us by Christ as he hung dying on the cross. Because we are part of her Son’s body, she loves us with as much devotion and tenderness as she loves Jesus. When we celebrate Mary’s presentation, we are giving Mary the honor she deserves and witnessing to her perfect purity as the virgin of Nazareth, the mother of God, and our mother.

Sts. Joachim and Anne surrendered their only daughter to God so that she would be completely free to follow his holy will. Although they loved her dearly, they knew that in the Temple Mary would always be near the Holy of Holies, surrounded by an atmosphere of godliness and grace. She would be instructed in Scripture and the history of the Jewish people. She would be under the guardianship and tutelage of the holy women of the Temple who had given their lives to God. One of them, Scripture scholars believe, was Anna — the woman who prophesied at the presentation of Our Lord. In the Temple, Mary would be completely focused on God and well prepared for becoming the mother of the Savior and mother of the body of Christ.

When we celebrate the presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we remember the tremendous sacrifice Sts. Joachim and Anne made for our sakes. We give honor and respect to the Virgin, who is an example for all of us in our struggle for holiness. It is a privilege and an opportunity to express our gratitude for the gift of a pure, tender, and always-loving mother.

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, on Nov. 21, 2023, and has been adapted and updated by CNA.

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How pregnancy centers help women: Centers provide $450 million in value, report finds #Catholic Jessica Williams and her 3-year-old daughter were helped by First Choice Pregnancy Services in Las Vegas. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America CNA Staff, Nov 17, 2025 / 16:11 pm (CNA). When Jessica Williams became pregnant with another man’s child while she and her husband were separated, her husband pressured her to abort the child.As soon as she took the first abortion pill, mifepristone, she regretted it. “As a nurse, the reality of what I had done had hit me hard,” said Williams, who was nine weeks pregnant at the time. “Here I was working to save lives and about to take one of my own child’s lives.” But as a nurse, Williams knew that in spite of the pill cutting off the progesterone supply to her child, the baby might still be alive. She hadn’t yet taken the second pill, misoprostol, which would expel the child from her body.  When she found a pregnancy center, First Choice Pregnancy Services in Las Vegas, staff immediately brought her in for an ultrasound.“They provided a free ultrasound, and that moment changed everything,” she said. Her baby was still alive.First Choice helped her through the abortion pill reversal process, a practice to reverse the effects of mifepristone soon after the woman takes the first abortion pill. Now, her daughter is a “healthy” and “thriving” 3-year-old, Williams said when she shared her story at a Nov. 17 online press conference.Williams is one of many women who have received help from pregnancy resource centers. Pregnancy centers across the U.S. “provided over $452 million in total medical care, support and education services, and material goods in 2024,” according to a Nov. 17 report by the Charlotte Lozier Institute. Pregnancy centers saw a total of 1 million new patients last year, “which is the equivalent of each center serving a new client every day in 2024,” Karen Czarnecki, the head of Charlotte Lozier Institute, said during the press conference. During the press conference, Marjorie Dannenfelser, head of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, called pregnancy centers the “beating heart” of pro-life movement.  Pregnancy centers, Dannenfelser said, “are going to the roots of the problem” by providing support for mothers across the board, whether they are struggling with addiction, domestic abuse, homelessness, completing school, or any other challenge. Report debunks false claims about pregnancy centers Dannenfelser noted there are some claims “often unchecked in the media” that call pregnancy centers “fake clinics” or say they “don’t have licensed medical staff.”“This is flat-out false,” Dannenfelser said. “Eight in 10 centers are providing free or low-cost medical services, staffed by over 10,000 medical professionals.” More than 80% of these centers provide ultrasound services, according to the report. Many of the centers also provide STD and STI testing and treatment, as well as abortion pill reversal, like in Williams’ experience. The report also found a 98% satisfaction rate among their clients — something Williams attested to.“They greeted me gently and were nonjudgmental,” Williams said of the staff and volunteers at the pregnancy clinic she went to. “They provided a safe, calm space for me, emotionally, spiritually.”“They gave me information and education without pushing me in any direction,” she continued. “They simply supported me in whatever path I chose.”More than three years later, Williams still keeps up with the women at the clinic.“I’m meeting with these ladies every month still,” Williams said. “They’re just a phone call, a text away, anything I need. I mean, we’re just almost becoming a family now.” Pregnancy centers also provide material, educational, and emotional support. For instance, 92% of centers offer material items to women in need. On average, each pregnancy center distributed six-packs of diapers and five baby outfits every day, according to the report. First Choice “provided diapers, material support, emotional and spiritual support groups, parenting resources, community connections, and just so much practical help in general,” Williams said. “It was a level of compassion that carried me through my entire pregnancy.” Offering material support is a growing effort in the pro-life movement. At pregnancy centers, material support has grown by more than 300% from 2019 to 2024.Many pregnancy centers also offer a variety of other resources, including childbirth classes, breastfeeding consultations, and outreach to victims of human trafficking. “Even right now, they’re doing a monthly get-together — we get to network with other mamas,” Williams said. “We’re [able] to access any resources.”  The majority of pregnancy centers also help support women who are recovering from abortions.Williams said the women at the clinic “understood the pressure and fear” she was under to abort. Even after the reversal, her husband drove her to an abortion clinic when she was 16 weeks pregnant “to finish the job,” she said. “The clinic was on the same exact street [where] I saved my baby,” she said. “I couldn’t do it and demanded he take me home. I now know that the strategic location has also saved many other babies.” “They created a safe place for me to heal and feel supported,” she said of the clinic.
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How pregnancy centers help women: Centers provide $450 million in value, report finds #Catholic Jessica Williams and her 3-year-old daughter were helped by First Choice Pregnancy Services in Las Vegas. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America CNA Staff, Nov 17, 2025 / 16:11 pm (CNA). When Jessica Williams became pregnant with another man’s child while she and her husband were separated, her husband pressured her to abort the child.As soon as she took the first abortion pill, mifepristone, she regretted it. “As a nurse, the reality of what I had done had hit me hard,” said Williams, who was nine weeks pregnant at the time. “Here I was working to save lives and about to take one of my own child’s lives.” But as a nurse, Williams knew that in spite of the pill cutting off the progesterone supply to her child, the baby might still be alive. She hadn’t yet taken the second pill, misoprostol, which would expel the child from her body.  When she found a pregnancy center, First Choice Pregnancy Services in Las Vegas, staff immediately brought her in for an ultrasound.“They provided a free ultrasound, and that moment changed everything,” she said. Her baby was still alive.First Choice helped her through the abortion pill reversal process, a practice to reverse the effects of mifepristone soon after the woman takes the first abortion pill. Now, her daughter is a “healthy” and “thriving” 3-year-old, Williams said when she shared her story at a Nov. 17 online press conference.Williams is one of many women who have received help from pregnancy resource centers. Pregnancy centers across the U.S. “provided over $452 million in total medical care, support and education services, and material goods in 2024,” according to a Nov. 17 report by the Charlotte Lozier Institute. Pregnancy centers saw a total of 1 million new patients last year, “which is the equivalent of each center serving a new client every day in 2024,” Karen Czarnecki, the head of Charlotte Lozier Institute, said during the press conference. During the press conference, Marjorie Dannenfelser, head of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, called pregnancy centers the “beating heart” of pro-life movement.  Pregnancy centers, Dannenfelser said, “are going to the roots of the problem” by providing support for mothers across the board, whether they are struggling with addiction, domestic abuse, homelessness, completing school, or any other challenge. Report debunks false claims about pregnancy centers Dannenfelser noted there are some claims “often unchecked in the media” that call pregnancy centers “fake clinics” or say they “don’t have licensed medical staff.”“This is flat-out false,” Dannenfelser said. “Eight in 10 centers are providing free or low-cost medical services, staffed by over 10,000 medical professionals.” More than 80% of these centers provide ultrasound services, according to the report. Many of the centers also provide STD and STI testing and treatment, as well as abortion pill reversal, like in Williams’ experience. The report also found a 98% satisfaction rate among their clients — something Williams attested to.“They greeted me gently and were nonjudgmental,” Williams said of the staff and volunteers at the pregnancy clinic she went to. “They provided a safe, calm space for me, emotionally, spiritually.”“They gave me information and education without pushing me in any direction,” she continued. “They simply supported me in whatever path I chose.”More than three years later, Williams still keeps up with the women at the clinic.“I’m meeting with these ladies every month still,” Williams said. “They’re just a phone call, a text away, anything I need. I mean, we’re just almost becoming a family now.” Pregnancy centers also provide material, educational, and emotional support. For instance, 92% of centers offer material items to women in need. On average, each pregnancy center distributed six-packs of diapers and five baby outfits every day, according to the report. First Choice “provided diapers, material support, emotional and spiritual support groups, parenting resources, community connections, and just so much practical help in general,” Williams said. “It was a level of compassion that carried me through my entire pregnancy.” Offering material support is a growing effort in the pro-life movement. At pregnancy centers, material support has grown by more than 300% from 2019 to 2024.Many pregnancy centers also offer a variety of other resources, including childbirth classes, breastfeeding consultations, and outreach to victims of human trafficking. “Even right now, they’re doing a monthly get-together — we get to network with other mamas,” Williams said. “We’re [able] to access any resources.”  The majority of pregnancy centers also help support women who are recovering from abortions.Williams said the women at the clinic “understood the pressure and fear” she was under to abort. Even after the reversal, her husband drove her to an abortion clinic when she was 16 weeks pregnant “to finish the job,” she said. “The clinic was on the same exact street [where] I saved my baby,” she said. “I couldn’t do it and demanded he take me home. I now know that the strategic location has also saved many other babies.” “They created a safe place for me to heal and feel supported,” she said of the clinic.

unitedyam

Jessica Williams and her 3-year-old daughter were helped by First Choice Pregnancy Services in Las Vegas. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America

CNA Staff, Nov 17, 2025 / 16:11 pm (CNA).

When Jessica Williams became pregnant with another man’s child while she and her husband were separated, her husband pressured her to abort the child.

As soon as she took the first abortion pill, mifepristone, she regretted it. 

“As a nurse, the reality of what I had done had hit me hard,” said Williams, who was nine weeks pregnant at the time. “Here I was working to save lives and about to take one of my own child’s lives.” 

But as a nurse, Williams knew that in spite of the pill cutting off the progesterone supply to her child, the baby might still be alive. She hadn’t yet taken the second pill, misoprostol, which would expel the child from her body.  

When she found a pregnancy center, First Choice Pregnancy Services in Las Vegas, staff immediately brought her in for an ultrasound.

“They provided a free ultrasound, and that moment changed everything,” she said. 

Her baby was still alive.

First Choice helped her through the abortion pill reversal process, a practice to reverse the effects of mifepristone soon after the woman takes the first abortion pill. 

Now, her daughter is a “healthy” and “thriving” 3-year-old, Williams said when she shared her story at a Nov. 17 online press conference.

Williams is one of many women who have received help from pregnancy resource centers. 

Pregnancy centers across the U.S. “provided over $452 million in total medical care, support and education services, and material goods in 2024,” according to a Nov. 17 report by the Charlotte Lozier Institute. 

Pregnancy centers saw a total of 1 million new patients last year, “which is the equivalent of each center serving a new client every day in 2024,” Karen Czarnecki, the head of Charlotte Lozier Institute, said during the press conference. 

During the press conference, Marjorie Dannenfelser, head of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, called pregnancy centers the “beating heart” of pro-life movement.  

Pregnancy centers, Dannenfelser said, “are going to the roots of the problem” by providing support for mothers across the board, whether they are struggling with addiction, domestic abuse, homelessness, completing school, or any other challenge. 

Report debunks false claims about pregnancy centers 

Dannenfelser noted there are some claims “often unchecked in the media” that call pregnancy centers “fake clinics” or say they “don’t have licensed medical staff.”

“This is flat-out false,” Dannenfelser said. “Eight in 10 centers are providing free or low-cost medical services, staffed by over 10,000 medical professionals.” 

More than 80% of these centers provide ultrasound services, according to the report. Many of the centers also provide STD and STI testing and treatment, as well as abortion pill reversal, like in Williams’ experience. 

The report also found a 98% satisfaction rate among their clients — something Williams attested to.

“They greeted me gently and were nonjudgmental,” Williams said of the staff and volunteers at the pregnancy clinic she went to. “They provided a safe, calm space for me, emotionally, spiritually.”

“They gave me information and education without pushing me in any direction,” she continued. “They simply supported me in whatever path I chose.”

More than three years later, Williams still keeps up with the women at the clinic.

“I’m meeting with these ladies every month still,” Williams said. “They’re just a phone call, a text away, anything I need. I mean, we’re just almost becoming a family now.” 

Pregnancy centers also provide material, educational, and emotional support. For instance, 92% of centers offer material items to women in need. On average, each pregnancy center distributed six-packs of diapers and five baby outfits every day, according to the report. 

First Choice “provided diapers, material support, emotional and spiritual support groups, parenting resources, community connections, and just so much practical help in general,” Williams said. “It was a level of compassion that carried me through my entire pregnancy.” 

Offering material support is a growing effort in the pro-life movement. At pregnancy centers, material support has grown by more than 300% from 2019 to 2024.

Many pregnancy centers also offer a variety of other resources, including childbirth classes, breastfeeding consultations, and outreach to victims of human trafficking. 

“Even right now, they’re doing a monthly get-together — we get to network with other mamas,” Williams said. “We’re [able] to access any resources.”  

The majority of pregnancy centers also help support women who are recovering from abortions.

Williams said the women at the clinic “understood the pressure and fear” she was under to abort. Even after the reversal, her husband drove her to an abortion clinic when she was 16 weeks pregnant “to finish the job,” she said. 

“The clinic was on the same exact street [where] I saved my baby,” she said. “I couldn’t do it and demanded he take me home. I now know that the strategic location has also saved many other babies.” 

“They created a safe place for me to heal and feel supported,” she said of the clinic.

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CNA explains: Why does the Catholic Church prohibit ‘gay marriage’? #Catholic null / Credit: Daniel Jedzura/Shutterstock CNA Staff, Nov 17, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA). Slightly over 10 years after it redefined marriage to include same-sex couples, the U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 10 declined to revisit that controversial decision, upholding at least for now its ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges that made “gay marriage” the law of the land.A decade after that ruling, nearly a million same-sex couples in the U.S. are participating in what the law now defines as marriage. Yet the Catholic Church has continued to affirm the definition of marriage as being exclusively a union between a man and a woman. That has been the prevailing definition of marriage around the world for at least about 5,000 years of human history, though many societies have allowed polygamy, or multiple spouses, in various forms. The same-sex variant of marriage, meanwhile, only became accepted in recent decades. The Church has held since its beginning that marriage is strictly between one man and one woman. The Catechism of the Catholic Church directs that marriage occurs when “a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life.” It is “by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring.”Church Fathers and theologians from the earliest days of Catholicism have consistently upheld that marriage is meant to be a lifelong, permanent union between one man and one woman, with St. Augustine explicitly naming “offspring” as one of the blessings of marriage, along with “fidelity” and “the sacramental bond.”Gay marriage a ‘misnomer’ by Church teachingJohn Grabowski, a professor of moral theology at The Catholic University of America, told CNA that marriage in the Catholic Church’s teaching is based on “unity, indissolubility, and [is ordered] toward life,” or the begetting of children.“Those criteria can only be met in a union between a man and a woman,” he said. “They cannot be met in a union between two men and two women. ‘Gay marriage’ is thus a misnomer in the Church’s understanding.”The Supreme Court’s redefinition of marriage, Grabowski argued, was an act of “judicial fiat” rather than a recognition of what marriage actually is. He said the high court was functioning more as a “cultural barometer” reflecting an erroneous shift in perception on what marriage is.“It would be similar to if the court passed a rule saying we could call a square a circle,” he said. “It’s just not based on the reality of the natural world.”The Obergefell ruling came after years of LGBT activist efforts to redefine marriage both within individual states and at the federal level. Advocates had argued that there was no meaningful reason to restrict marriage to opposite-sex couples and that to do so constituted discrimination. Many critics have claimed that the Church’s broader teaching on marriage actually left the door open for same-sex couples to marry — for instance, they argued, by allowing opposite-sex couples to marry even if one or both of the spouses are infertile, the Church implicitly divorces biological childbearing from marriage itself. Grabowski acknowledged that the Church does allow infertile couples to get married (and to stay married if infertility occurs at a later date). But he pointed out that the Church does in fact prohibit marriage for those who are impotent, or constitutionally incapable of intercourse. The key point for the Church, he said, is what St. John Paul II called the “spousal meaning of the body.” The late pope argued that men and women “exist in the relationship of the reciprocal gift of self,” ordered to the communion of “one flesh” of which the Bible speaks in Genesis. The Church’s teaching, Grabowski said, “is based on the natural law. It tells us that the way God designed us is for the good of our flourishing, both as individuals and as the good of society.”Though marriage advocates have continued to criticize the Supreme Court’s decision over the past decade, others have at times suggested a pivot away from directly challenging it at the legal level. In 2017, for instance, Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, Bishop Robert Barron affirmed his opposition to gay marriage but questioned “the prudence and wisdom” of attempting to legislatively outlaw it at that time. The bishop suggested instead that “personal witness and education” were better tools for the current political climate.Grabowski acknowledged that one “could say, realistically, the ship has sailed and the political question is dead.”“But that’s a political judgment,” he said. Catholics should not lose sight of the goal to reestablish correct laws on marriage, he argued.“In terms of something to hope for, pray for, and to the degree that we’re able to, work for it — that’s something Catholics should aspire to.”
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CNA explains: Why does the Catholic Church prohibit ‘gay marriage’? #Catholic null / Credit: Daniel Jedzura/Shutterstock CNA Staff, Nov 17, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA). Slightly over 10 years after it redefined marriage to include same-sex couples, the U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 10 declined to revisit that controversial decision, upholding at least for now its ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges that made “gay marriage” the law of the land.A decade after that ruling, nearly a million same-sex couples in the U.S. are participating in what the law now defines as marriage. Yet the Catholic Church has continued to affirm the definition of marriage as being exclusively a union between a man and a woman. That has been the prevailing definition of marriage around the world for at least about 5,000 years of human history, though many societies have allowed polygamy, or multiple spouses, in various forms. The same-sex variant of marriage, meanwhile, only became accepted in recent decades. The Church has held since its beginning that marriage is strictly between one man and one woman. The Catechism of the Catholic Church directs that marriage occurs when “a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life.” It is “by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring.”Church Fathers and theologians from the earliest days of Catholicism have consistently upheld that marriage is meant to be a lifelong, permanent union between one man and one woman, with St. Augustine explicitly naming “offspring” as one of the blessings of marriage, along with “fidelity” and “the sacramental bond.”Gay marriage a ‘misnomer’ by Church teachingJohn Grabowski, a professor of moral theology at The Catholic University of America, told CNA that marriage in the Catholic Church’s teaching is based on “unity, indissolubility, and [is ordered] toward life,” or the begetting of children.“Those criteria can only be met in a union between a man and a woman,” he said. “They cannot be met in a union between two men and two women. ‘Gay marriage’ is thus a misnomer in the Church’s understanding.”The Supreme Court’s redefinition of marriage, Grabowski argued, was an act of “judicial fiat” rather than a recognition of what marriage actually is. He said the high court was functioning more as a “cultural barometer” reflecting an erroneous shift in perception on what marriage is.“It would be similar to if the court passed a rule saying we could call a square a circle,” he said. “It’s just not based on the reality of the natural world.”The Obergefell ruling came after years of LGBT activist efforts to redefine marriage both within individual states and at the federal level. Advocates had argued that there was no meaningful reason to restrict marriage to opposite-sex couples and that to do so constituted discrimination. Many critics have claimed that the Church’s broader teaching on marriage actually left the door open for same-sex couples to marry — for instance, they argued, by allowing opposite-sex couples to marry even if one or both of the spouses are infertile, the Church implicitly divorces biological childbearing from marriage itself. Grabowski acknowledged that the Church does allow infertile couples to get married (and to stay married if infertility occurs at a later date). But he pointed out that the Church does in fact prohibit marriage for those who are impotent, or constitutionally incapable of intercourse. The key point for the Church, he said, is what St. John Paul II called the “spousal meaning of the body.” The late pope argued that men and women “exist in the relationship of the reciprocal gift of self,” ordered to the communion of “one flesh” of which the Bible speaks in Genesis. The Church’s teaching, Grabowski said, “is based on the natural law. It tells us that the way God designed us is for the good of our flourishing, both as individuals and as the good of society.”Though marriage advocates have continued to criticize the Supreme Court’s decision over the past decade, others have at times suggested a pivot away from directly challenging it at the legal level. In 2017, for instance, Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, Bishop Robert Barron affirmed his opposition to gay marriage but questioned “the prudence and wisdom” of attempting to legislatively outlaw it at that time. The bishop suggested instead that “personal witness and education” were better tools for the current political climate.Grabowski acknowledged that one “could say, realistically, the ship has sailed and the political question is dead.”“But that’s a political judgment,” he said. Catholics should not lose sight of the goal to reestablish correct laws on marriage, he argued.“In terms of something to hope for, pray for, and to the degree that we’re able to, work for it — that’s something Catholics should aspire to.”

unitedyam

null / Credit: Daniel Jedzura/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Nov 17, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Slightly over 10 years after it redefined marriage to include same-sex couples, the U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 10 declined to revisit that controversial decision, upholding at least for now its ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges that made “gay marriage” the law of the land.

A decade after that ruling, nearly a million same-sex couples in the U.S. are participating in what the law now defines as marriage. Yet the Catholic Church has continued to affirm the definition of marriage as being exclusively a union between a man and a woman. 

That has been the prevailing definition of marriage around the world for at least about 5,000 years of human history, though many societies have allowed polygamy, or multiple spouses, in various forms. The same-sex variant of marriage, meanwhile, only became accepted in recent decades. 

The Church has held since its beginning that marriage is strictly between one man and one woman. The Catechism of the Catholic Church directs that marriage occurs when “a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life.” It is “by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring.”

Church Fathers and theologians from the earliest days of Catholicism have consistently upheld that marriage is meant to be a lifelong, permanent union between one man and one woman, with St. Augustine explicitly naming “offspring” as one of the blessings of marriage, along with “fidelity” and “the sacramental bond.”

Gay marriage a ‘misnomer’ by Church teaching

John Grabowski, a professor of moral theology at The Catholic University of America, told CNA that marriage in the Catholic Church’s teaching is based on “unity, indissolubility, and [is ordered] toward life,” or the begetting of children.

“Those criteria can only be met in a union between a man and a woman,” he said. “They cannot be met in a union between two men and two women. ‘Gay marriage’ is thus a misnomer in the Church’s understanding.”

The Supreme Court’s redefinition of marriage, Grabowski argued, was an act of “judicial fiat” rather than a recognition of what marriage actually is. He said the high court was functioning more as a “cultural barometer” reflecting an erroneous shift in perception on what marriage is.

“It would be similar to if the court passed a rule saying we could call a square a circle,” he said. “It’s just not based on the reality of the natural world.”

The Obergefell ruling came after years of LGBT activist efforts to redefine marriage both within individual states and at the federal level. Advocates had argued that there was no meaningful reason to restrict marriage to opposite-sex couples and that to do so constituted discrimination. 

Many critics have claimed that the Church’s broader teaching on marriage actually left the door open for same-sex couples to marry — for instance, they argued, by allowing opposite-sex couples to marry even if one or both of the spouses are infertile, the Church implicitly divorces biological childbearing from marriage itself. 

Grabowski acknowledged that the Church does allow infertile couples to get married (and to stay married if infertility occurs at a later date). But he pointed out that the Church does in fact prohibit marriage for those who are impotent, or constitutionally incapable of intercourse. 

The key point for the Church, he said, is what St. John Paul II called the “spousal meaning of the body.” The late pope argued that men and women “exist in the relationship of the reciprocal gift of self,” ordered to the communion of “one flesh” of which the Bible speaks in Genesis. 

The Church’s teaching, Grabowski said, “is based on the natural law. It tells us that the way God designed us is for the good of our flourishing, both as individuals and as the good of society.”

Though marriage advocates have continued to criticize the Supreme Court’s decision over the past decade, others have at times suggested a pivot away from directly challenging it at the legal level. 

In 2017, for instance, Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, Bishop Robert Barron affirmed his opposition to gay marriage but questioned “the prudence and wisdom” of attempting to legislatively outlaw it at that time. The bishop suggested instead that “personal witness and education” were better tools for the current political climate.

Grabowski acknowledged that one “could say, realistically, the ship has sailed and the political question is dead.”

“But that’s a political judgment,” he said. Catholics should not lose sight of the goal to reestablish correct laws on marriage, he argued.

“In terms of something to hope for, pray for, and to the degree that we’re able to, work for it — that’s something Catholics should aspire to.”

Read More
Catholics mobilize in Caribbean following Category 5 hurricane  #Catholic Residents help move food supplies at a community center before distribution to the Whitehouse community in Westmoreland, Jamaica, one of the areas most severely affected by the passage of Hurricane Melissa, on Nov. 2, 2025. / Credit: Ricardo Makyn/AFP via Getty Images Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 6, 2025 / 14:15 pm (CNA). Catholic leaders and agencies have mobilized to help communities left devastated after Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica.The Category 5 hurricane swept through the Caribbean with sustained winds of 185 miles per hour and claimed up to 50 lives after making landfall on Oct. 28. Jamaica suffered the largest impact, but neighboring nations also experienced immense effects including flash flooding and landslides.In Jamaica, practically no buildings along the country’s southern coast remain intact. Areas have experienced structural failures, immense roof damage, floods, power outages, and communication disruptions. Families have a long road to recovery after many lost loved ones, property, possessions, and livelihoods.To help communities suffering from Hurricane Melissa’s aftermath, Catholic agencies are on the ground supporting relief efforts and fundraising across the globe to provide aid. Providing aid Dominican friars with St. Martin’s Missions, an initiative that supports communities in Jamaica and Grenada, are working to help communities most affected. Father Bede Mullens, OP, one of the friars working in Jamaica, told CNA they are based in Kingston, “which mercifully was left largely unscathed by the hurricane.”“Nonetheless, some of our poorer parishioners in August Town, an impoverished neighborhood, did lose roofs, walls, and in one case pretty much the whole house,” Mullens said. With the help of donations from across the globe, St. Martin’s will purchase and provide materials for repairs and food.Mullens explained that “after recent panic-buying, some food items are hard to come by, and food prices on the whole are set to go up in the coming months, as the part of the island hardest hit is a major agricultural area.”This Friday, Nov. 7, the friars will distribute 300 meals to students at the University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica, and to several less-well-off parishioners. Mullens said: “We are trying to arrange sponsorship from local benefactors for students in need to receive support for food and personal hygiene items.”Across the island the friars have been able to contact some parishes near Montego Bay, which suffered great damage. “One of the churches is currently operating as a shelter with just half a roof,” Mullens said.The friars have also coordinated provisions of basic building materials and essentials including water and baby food that will be transported to Sacred Heart Church near Montego Bay and St. Agnes Church in Chester Castle.When the roads reopen and the friars are able to make contact with more parishes in other areas, they plan to also assist their rebuilding efforts and support the local community needs.“There is, of course, a massive need for material assistance, but for us it is very important that St. Martin’s bears witness to our worldwide solidarity in the body of Christ,” Mullens said. “We belong to a Church that is at once truly Catholic and truly one, at once global and personal.”Franciscan Friars Charities (FFC), the charitable arm of the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe, activated the Franciscan Relief Fund to help the people in western Jamaica recover from extensive damage.“The friars in Negril have quickly mobilized to assess the community’s needs after the storm,” FFC said in a statement. “Each day they ground their hearts in faith through morning prayer and daily Mass before heading out into the community to provide vital services.”The friars are serving warm meals daily at St. Anthony Kitchen, a soup kitchen in Negril. They anticipate a significant increase in the number of people coming to the kitchen, expecting approximately 400 to 500 people a day.The friars are cleaning the Revival Health Clinic, which provides basic medical care, and are looking into creating a mobile clinic to visit remote areas. They are also visiting parishioners, many of whom have lost their homes, and providing them with immediate relief including water and food.“Communicating with our friars in Negril has been difficult because there’s no electricity and the cellular services are down,” said Brother Jim Bok, OFM. “There’s just unbelievable destruction. It’s going to take years to recover. A tremendous amount of outside support will be needed to help deal with it.”Organizations respond with action Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach, an Illinois-based organization that partners with organizations, hospitals, and clinics around the world, is working directly with Food for the Poor and other organizations transporting and distributing aid.After learning there was an urgent need for diapers, Mission Outreach’s warehouse team mobilized to send out 4,000 it had available. It also shipped out a 40-foot container to Jamaica filled with requested medical supplies and equipment.A number of Catholic relief organizations including Cross Catholic Outreach (CCO) and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) are fundraising to send food, medicines, and housing supplies to ministry partners in Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Cuba.CCO said it is “sending shipments of recovery supplies to the Compassionate Franciscan Sisters of the Poor and will airlift medical supplies into Montego Bay when conditions are safe enough to do so.” It is also working to help the Diocese of Mandeville to rebuild St. Theresa Kindergarten, which was destroyed in the storm.CRS is working to help on the ground with “a team of 100 staff in Haiti and local partners in Jamaica and the region,” the organization reported. “CRS and the Catholic Church are committed to walking with families through every phase of recovery — from immediate relief to long-term rebuilding. ”The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs will coordinate with the Catholic Church to distribute million in humanitarian assistance. The funds will go directly to helping those impacted in eastern Cuba by the devastation of Hurricane Melissa.
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Catholics mobilize in Caribbean following Category 5 hurricane  #Catholic Residents help move food supplies at a community center before distribution to the Whitehouse community in Westmoreland, Jamaica, one of the areas most severely affected by the passage of Hurricane Melissa, on Nov. 2, 2025. / Credit: Ricardo Makyn/AFP via Getty Images Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 6, 2025 / 14:15 pm (CNA). Catholic leaders and agencies have mobilized to help communities left devastated after Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica.The Category 5 hurricane swept through the Caribbean with sustained winds of 185 miles per hour and claimed up to 50 lives after making landfall on Oct. 28. Jamaica suffered the largest impact, but neighboring nations also experienced immense effects including flash flooding and landslides.In Jamaica, practically no buildings along the country’s southern coast remain intact. Areas have experienced structural failures, immense roof damage, floods, power outages, and communication disruptions. Families have a long road to recovery after many lost loved ones, property, possessions, and livelihoods.To help communities suffering from Hurricane Melissa’s aftermath, Catholic agencies are on the ground supporting relief efforts and fundraising across the globe to provide aid. Providing aid Dominican friars with St. Martin’s Missions, an initiative that supports communities in Jamaica and Grenada, are working to help communities most affected. Father Bede Mullens, OP, one of the friars working in Jamaica, told CNA they are based in Kingston, “which mercifully was left largely unscathed by the hurricane.”“Nonetheless, some of our poorer parishioners in August Town, an impoverished neighborhood, did lose roofs, walls, and in one case pretty much the whole house,” Mullens said. With the help of donations from across the globe, St. Martin’s will purchase and provide materials for repairs and food.Mullens explained that “after recent panic-buying, some food items are hard to come by, and food prices on the whole are set to go up in the coming months, as the part of the island hardest hit is a major agricultural area.”This Friday, Nov. 7, the friars will distribute 300 meals to students at the University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica, and to several less-well-off parishioners. Mullens said: “We are trying to arrange sponsorship from local benefactors for students in need to receive support for food and personal hygiene items.”Across the island the friars have been able to contact some parishes near Montego Bay, which suffered great damage. “One of the churches is currently operating as a shelter with just half a roof,” Mullens said.The friars have also coordinated provisions of basic building materials and essentials including water and baby food that will be transported to Sacred Heart Church near Montego Bay and St. Agnes Church in Chester Castle.When the roads reopen and the friars are able to make contact with more parishes in other areas, they plan to also assist their rebuilding efforts and support the local community needs.“There is, of course, a massive need for material assistance, but for us it is very important that St. Martin’s bears witness to our worldwide solidarity in the body of Christ,” Mullens said. “We belong to a Church that is at once truly Catholic and truly one, at once global and personal.”Franciscan Friars Charities (FFC), the charitable arm of the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe, activated the Franciscan Relief Fund to help the people in western Jamaica recover from extensive damage.“The friars in Negril have quickly mobilized to assess the community’s needs after the storm,” FFC said in a statement. “Each day they ground their hearts in faith through morning prayer and daily Mass before heading out into the community to provide vital services.”The friars are serving warm meals daily at St. Anthony Kitchen, a soup kitchen in Negril. They anticipate a significant increase in the number of people coming to the kitchen, expecting approximately 400 to 500 people a day.The friars are cleaning the Revival Health Clinic, which provides basic medical care, and are looking into creating a mobile clinic to visit remote areas. They are also visiting parishioners, many of whom have lost their homes, and providing them with immediate relief including water and food.“Communicating with our friars in Negril has been difficult because there’s no electricity and the cellular services are down,” said Brother Jim Bok, OFM. “There’s just unbelievable destruction. It’s going to take years to recover. A tremendous amount of outside support will be needed to help deal with it.”Organizations respond with action Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach, an Illinois-based organization that partners with organizations, hospitals, and clinics around the world, is working directly with Food for the Poor and other organizations transporting and distributing aid.After learning there was an urgent need for diapers, Mission Outreach’s warehouse team mobilized to send out 4,000 it had available. It also shipped out a 40-foot container to Jamaica filled with requested medical supplies and equipment.A number of Catholic relief organizations including Cross Catholic Outreach (CCO) and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) are fundraising to send food, medicines, and housing supplies to ministry partners in Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Cuba.CCO said it is “sending shipments of recovery supplies to the Compassionate Franciscan Sisters of the Poor and will airlift medical supplies into Montego Bay when conditions are safe enough to do so.” It is also working to help the Diocese of Mandeville to rebuild St. Theresa Kindergarten, which was destroyed in the storm.CRS is working to help on the ground with “a team of 100 staff in Haiti and local partners in Jamaica and the region,” the organization reported. “CRS and the Catholic Church are committed to walking with families through every phase of recovery — from immediate relief to long-term rebuilding. ”The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs will coordinate with the Catholic Church to distribute $3 million in humanitarian assistance. The funds will go directly to helping those impacted in eastern Cuba by the devastation of Hurricane Melissa.

unitedyam

Residents help move food supplies at a community center before distribution to the Whitehouse community in Westmoreland, Jamaica, one of the areas most severely affected by the passage of Hurricane Melissa, on Nov. 2, 2025. / Credit: Ricardo Makyn/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 6, 2025 / 14:15 pm (CNA).

Catholic leaders and agencies have mobilized to help communities left devastated after Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica.

The Category 5 hurricane swept through the Caribbean with sustained winds of 185 miles per hour and claimed up to 50 lives after making landfall on Oct. 28. Jamaica suffered the largest impact, but neighboring nations also experienced immense effects including flash flooding and landslides.

In Jamaica, practically no buildings along the country’s southern coast remain intact. Areas have experienced structural failures, immense roof damage, floods, power outages, and communication disruptions. Families have a long road to recovery after many lost loved ones, property, possessions, and livelihoods.

To help communities suffering from Hurricane Melissa’s aftermath, Catholic agencies are on the ground supporting relief efforts and fundraising across the globe to provide aid. 

Providing aid 

Dominican friars with St. Martin’s Missions, an initiative that supports communities in Jamaica and Grenada, are working to help communities most affected. Father Bede Mullens, OP, one of the friars working in Jamaica, told CNA they are based in Kingston, “which mercifully was left largely unscathed by the hurricane.”

“Nonetheless, some of our poorer parishioners in August Town, an impoverished neighborhood, did lose roofs, walls, and in one case pretty much the whole house,” Mullens said. With the help of donations from across the globe, St. Martin’s will purchase and provide materials for repairs and food.

Mullens explained that “after recent panic-buying, some food items are hard to come by, and food prices on the whole are set to go up in the coming months, as the part of the island hardest hit is a major agricultural area.”

This Friday, Nov. 7, the friars will distribute 300 meals to students at the University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica, and to several less-well-off parishioners. Mullens said: “We are trying to arrange sponsorship from local benefactors for students in need to receive support for food and personal hygiene items.”

Across the island the friars have been able to contact some parishes near Montego Bay, which suffered great damage. “One of the churches is currently operating as a shelter with just half a roof,” Mullens said.

The friars have also coordinated provisions of basic building materials and essentials including water and baby food that will be transported to Sacred Heart Church near Montego Bay and St. Agnes Church in Chester Castle.

When the roads reopen and the friars are able to make contact with more parishes in other areas, they plan to also assist their rebuilding efforts and support the local community needs.

“There is, of course, a massive need for material assistance, but for us it is very important that St. Martin’s bears witness to our worldwide solidarity in the body of Christ,” Mullens said. “We belong to a Church that is at once truly Catholic and truly one, at once global and personal.”

Franciscan Friars Charities (FFC), the charitable arm of the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe, activated the Franciscan Relief Fund to help the people in western Jamaica recover from extensive damage.

“The friars in Negril have quickly mobilized to assess the community’s needs after the storm,” FFC said in a statement. “Each day they ground their hearts in faith through morning prayer and daily Mass before heading out into the community to provide vital services.”

The friars are serving warm meals daily at St. Anthony Kitchen, a soup kitchen in Negril. They anticipate a significant increase in the number of people coming to the kitchen, expecting approximately 400 to 500 people a day.

The friars are cleaning the Revival Health Clinic, which provides basic medical care, and are looking into creating a mobile clinic to visit remote areas. They are also visiting parishioners, many of whom have lost their homes, and providing them with immediate relief including water and food.

“Communicating with our friars in Negril has been difficult because there’s no electricity and the cellular services are down,” said Brother Jim Bok, OFM. “There’s just unbelievable destruction. It’s going to take years to recover. A tremendous amount of outside support will be needed to help deal with it.”

Organizations respond with action 

Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach, an Illinois-based organization that partners with organizations, hospitals, and clinics around the world, is working directly with Food for the Poor and other organizations transporting and distributing aid.

After learning there was an urgent need for diapers, Mission Outreach’s warehouse team mobilized to send out 4,000 it had available. It also shipped out a 40-foot container to Jamaica filled with requested medical supplies and equipment.

A number of Catholic relief organizations including Cross Catholic Outreach (CCO) and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) are fundraising to send food, medicines, and housing supplies to ministry partners in Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Cuba.

CCO said it is “sending shipments of recovery supplies to the Compassionate Franciscan Sisters of the Poor and will airlift medical supplies into Montego Bay when conditions are safe enough to do so.” It is also working to help the Diocese of Mandeville to rebuild St. Theresa Kindergarten, which was destroyed in the storm.

CRS is working to help on the ground with “a team of 100 staff in Haiti and local partners in Jamaica and the region,” the organization reported. “CRS and the Catholic Church are committed to walking with families through every phase of recovery — from immediate relief to long-term rebuilding. ”

The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs will coordinate with the Catholic Church to distribute $3 million in humanitarian assistance. The funds will go directly to helping those impacted in eastern Cuba by the devastation of Hurricane Melissa.

Read More
Preparing for death with the Sister Servants of Mary #Catholic The Sister Servants of Mary hold a procession with the statue of Our Lady of the Assumption at Mary Health of the Sick Convalescent Hospital in Newbury Park, California. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Servants of Mary, Ministers to the Sick CNA Staff, Nov 2, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA). When a 93-year-old Catholic father from New Orleans had a stroke, he knew he was prepared to die.Clinton Jacob attended adoration and Mass daily and was “rarely without a prayer book or rosary in hand,” according to his daughter, Kim DeSopo.“[He] never spoke of death with fear or sadness,” she told CNA. “He would simply say, ‘I’ll be going home.’”But not everyone feels prepared for death.The Servants of Mary, Ministers to the Sick, is a Catholic community of sisters who dedicate their lives to caring for the sick and dying in New Orleans and around the world. As nurses, they are at the bedside of the dying through the long nights, whether their patients are lifelong Catholics or have never thought about religion.The sisters often encounter patients as well as family members who are struggling to accept “an illness or imminent death,” Sister Catherine Bussen, a Servant of Mary, told CNA.“Many times, there is a need for reconciliation within the family, for a return to their faith, for acceptance of their condition, etc.,” Bussen said.As medical professionals, the sisters provide physical treatment, but they also walk with their patients throughout their illnesses, encouraging patients and families “always with the hope of eternal life,” Bussen said. DeSopo, Jacob’s daughter, called the sisters for support. The next day, Bussen arrived at their doorstep, and every night for two weeks, she sat at Jacob’s bedside. Bussen’s presence was “a gift,” DeSopo said. “Sister Catherine brought peace and calm into a time filled with stress and sorrow.”“Her prayers, patience, and care provided comfort not only to my father but also to my mother, who could finally sleep knowing someone trustworthy and compassionate was by his side,” DeSopo said, recalling Bussen’s “selfless dedication” and “unwavering faith.” Bussen was with Jacob when he died on Sept. 26, 2024. She prepared his body, cleaning him and sprinkling him with holy water, and then prayed with his wife and daughter.“I will never forget the care and dignity she gave him, even after his final breath,” DeSopo said.Sister Catherine (left) and Sister Dorian Salvador (right) pray for the soul of Kim DeSopa’s father on Oct. 1, 2024, at St. Clement of Rome Church in Metairie, Louisiana. Credit: Photo courtesy of Kim DeSopa and Sister CatherineMary at the foot of the cross “I was sick and you visited me.”This Scripture verse, Matthew 25:36, summarizes the charism of the Servants of Mary, according to Bussen. When they care for the sick, they care for Christ.The sisters will care for anyone in need, preferably within the sick person’s own home. In those who are suffering, the sisters “discover Jesus carrying his cross,” Bussen explained. “By caring for the sick, we believe that we are caring for Christ himself, who still suffers today in the suffering mystical body of Christ,” she said.Sister Angélica Ramos cares for Mrs. Hura, a resident of Mary Health of the Sick Convalescent Hospital in Newbury Park, California. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Servants of Mary, Ministers to the SickFounded in Madrid, Spain, in the 1800s, the sisters care for the sick and dying in Louisiana, Kansas, and California as well as throughout Central and South America, Spain, France, England, Italy, Cameroon, the Philippines, and Indonesia. They run a hospital for the poor in Bamenda, Cameroon, as well as two missionary houses in Oaxaca, Mexico.The sisters look to Mary as an example as they accompany those who are suffering.“Although we are not able to take away someone’s cross, we are present to them, offering all to the Father, like Mary did at the cross of Jesus, that all suffering may be redemptive and fruitful,” Bussen said.“Every one of us sisters would tell you that it is an absolute privilege to be able to enter into the intimacy of a family’s home, listening to the dying, praying with them, and encouraging them on the final stage of their journey as their soul passes into eternity,” she said.Sister Servants of Mary Fatima Muñoz and Carmela Sanz (front) celebrate a May crowning in Kansas City, Kansas. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Servants of Mary, Ministers to the Sick“Our Catholic Christian faith is a beautiful comfort during these times because it is all about looking forward to the promised life to come, the whole goal of our lives, eternal life,” Bussen said.One woman from New Orleans received news no one wants to hear — she had a terminal illness. Though she was not religious, she knew she needed help and did not know who else to turn to, so she called the Servants of Mary.As they cared for her and helped her deal with her terminal diagnosis, the sisters learned the woman was “completely alone in the world,” said Bussen, who took care of her. Other people from the surrounding Catholic community volunteered to stay with her.During that time, the woman found a home in the Catholic Church and received the sacrament of baptism.Her “anxiety was transformed into peace,” said Bussen, who was with her as she died.“As the end drew near, she had a new faith family,” Bussen said. “She was no longer alone.”Remembering the dead The life of a sister Servant of Mary is “contemplative in action.” The sisters unite “our prayer life with our work — going about what we are doing, in all the business of daily life, in a prayerful spirit,” Bussen said.The sisters have time set aside for prayer and work, “but these two aspects cannot be separated from one another,” she continued. “The grace and light received in prayer flows into our work and ministry, and everything we experience in our ministry is taken to prayer.”The Servants of Mary, Ministers to the Sick care for the sick and the dying. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Servants of Mary, Ministers to the SickThroughout the year, the sisters take special care to remember the dead. In November especially, Bussen said the sisters “remember all our patients who have died with us by placing their names in our chapel and offering Masses for their eternal happiness.”“Even after a patient has passed,” she said, “and they no longer need physical care, our ministry continues by praying for their soul.”
Read More

Preparing for death with the Sister Servants of Mary #Catholic The Sister Servants of Mary hold a procession with the statue of Our Lady of the Assumption at Mary Health of the Sick Convalescent Hospital in Newbury Park, California. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Servants of Mary, Ministers to the Sick CNA Staff, Nov 2, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA). When a 93-year-old Catholic father from New Orleans had a stroke, he knew he was prepared to die.Clinton Jacob attended adoration and Mass daily and was “rarely without a prayer book or rosary in hand,” according to his daughter, Kim DeSopo.“[He] never spoke of death with fear or sadness,” she told CNA. “He would simply say, ‘I’ll be going home.’”But not everyone feels prepared for death.The Servants of Mary, Ministers to the Sick, is a Catholic community of sisters who dedicate their lives to caring for the sick and dying in New Orleans and around the world. As nurses, they are at the bedside of the dying through the long nights, whether their patients are lifelong Catholics or have never thought about religion.The sisters often encounter patients as well as family members who are struggling to accept “an illness or imminent death,” Sister Catherine Bussen, a Servant of Mary, told CNA.“Many times, there is a need for reconciliation within the family, for a return to their faith, for acceptance of their condition, etc.,” Bussen said.As medical professionals, the sisters provide physical treatment, but they also walk with their patients throughout their illnesses, encouraging patients and families “always with the hope of eternal life,” Bussen said. DeSopo, Jacob’s daughter, called the sisters for support. The next day, Bussen arrived at their doorstep, and every night for two weeks, she sat at Jacob’s bedside. Bussen’s presence was “a gift,” DeSopo said. “Sister Catherine brought peace and calm into a time filled with stress and sorrow.”“Her prayers, patience, and care provided comfort not only to my father but also to my mother, who could finally sleep knowing someone trustworthy and compassionate was by his side,” DeSopo said, recalling Bussen’s “selfless dedication” and “unwavering faith.” Bussen was with Jacob when he died on Sept. 26, 2024. She prepared his body, cleaning him and sprinkling him with holy water, and then prayed with his wife and daughter.“I will never forget the care and dignity she gave him, even after his final breath,” DeSopo said.Sister Catherine (left) and Sister Dorian Salvador (right) pray for the soul of Kim DeSopa’s father on Oct. 1, 2024, at St. Clement of Rome Church in Metairie, Louisiana. Credit: Photo courtesy of Kim DeSopa and Sister CatherineMary at the foot of the cross “I was sick and you visited me.”This Scripture verse, Matthew 25:36, summarizes the charism of the Servants of Mary, according to Bussen. When they care for the sick, they care for Christ.The sisters will care for anyone in need, preferably within the sick person’s own home. In those who are suffering, the sisters “discover Jesus carrying his cross,” Bussen explained. “By caring for the sick, we believe that we are caring for Christ himself, who still suffers today in the suffering mystical body of Christ,” she said.Sister Angélica Ramos cares for Mrs. Hura, a resident of Mary Health of the Sick Convalescent Hospital in Newbury Park, California. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Servants of Mary, Ministers to the SickFounded in Madrid, Spain, in the 1800s, the sisters care for the sick and dying in Louisiana, Kansas, and California as well as throughout Central and South America, Spain, France, England, Italy, Cameroon, the Philippines, and Indonesia. They run a hospital for the poor in Bamenda, Cameroon, as well as two missionary houses in Oaxaca, Mexico.The sisters look to Mary as an example as they accompany those who are suffering.“Although we are not able to take away someone’s cross, we are present to them, offering all to the Father, like Mary did at the cross of Jesus, that all suffering may be redemptive and fruitful,” Bussen said.“Every one of us sisters would tell you that it is an absolute privilege to be able to enter into the intimacy of a family’s home, listening to the dying, praying with them, and encouraging them on the final stage of their journey as their soul passes into eternity,” she said.Sister Servants of Mary Fatima Muñoz and Carmela Sanz (front) celebrate a May crowning in Kansas City, Kansas. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Servants of Mary, Ministers to the Sick“Our Catholic Christian faith is a beautiful comfort during these times because it is all about looking forward to the promised life to come, the whole goal of our lives, eternal life,” Bussen said.One woman from New Orleans received news no one wants to hear — she had a terminal illness. Though she was not religious, she knew she needed help and did not know who else to turn to, so she called the Servants of Mary.As they cared for her and helped her deal with her terminal diagnosis, the sisters learned the woman was “completely alone in the world,” said Bussen, who took care of her. Other people from the surrounding Catholic community volunteered to stay with her.During that time, the woman found a home in the Catholic Church and received the sacrament of baptism.Her “anxiety was transformed into peace,” said Bussen, who was with her as she died.“As the end drew near, she had a new faith family,” Bussen said. “She was no longer alone.”Remembering the dead The life of a sister Servant of Mary is “contemplative in action.” The sisters unite “our prayer life with our work — going about what we are doing, in all the business of daily life, in a prayerful spirit,” Bussen said.The sisters have time set aside for prayer and work, “but these two aspects cannot be separated from one another,” she continued. “The grace and light received in prayer flows into our work and ministry, and everything we experience in our ministry is taken to prayer.”The Servants of Mary, Ministers to the Sick care for the sick and the dying. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Servants of Mary, Ministers to the SickThroughout the year, the sisters take special care to remember the dead. In November especially, Bussen said the sisters “remember all our patients who have died with us by placing their names in our chapel and offering Masses for their eternal happiness.”“Even after a patient has passed,” she said, “and they no longer need physical care, our ministry continues by praying for their soul.”

unitedyam

The Sister Servants of Mary hold a procession with the statue of Our Lady of the Assumption at Mary Health of the Sick Convalescent Hospital in Newbury Park, California. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Servants of Mary, Ministers to the Sick

CNA Staff, Nov 2, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

When a 93-year-old Catholic father from New Orleans had a stroke, he knew he was prepared to die.

Clinton Jacob attended adoration and Mass daily and was “rarely without a prayer book or rosary in hand,” according to his daughter, Kim DeSopo.

“[He] never spoke of death with fear or sadness,” she told CNA. “He would simply say, ‘I’ll be going home.’”

But not everyone feels prepared for death.

The Servants of Mary, Ministers to the Sick, is a Catholic community of sisters who dedicate their lives to caring for the sick and dying in New Orleans and around the world. As nurses, they are at the bedside of the dying through the long nights, whether their patients are lifelong Catholics or have never thought about religion.

The sisters often encounter patients as well as family members who are struggling to accept “an illness or imminent death,” Sister Catherine Bussen, a Servant of Mary, told CNA.

“Many times, there is a need for reconciliation within the family, for a return to their faith, for acceptance of their condition, etc.,” Bussen said.

As medical professionals, the sisters provide physical treatment, but they also walk with their patients throughout their illnesses, encouraging patients and families “always with the hope of eternal life,” Bussen said. 

DeSopo, Jacob’s daughter, called the sisters for support. The next day, Bussen arrived at their doorstep, and every night for two weeks, she sat at Jacob’s bedside. 

Bussen’s presence was “a gift,” DeSopo said. “Sister Catherine brought peace and calm into a time filled with stress and sorrow.”

“Her prayers, patience, and care provided comfort not only to my father but also to my mother, who could finally sleep knowing someone trustworthy and compassionate was by his side,” DeSopo said, recalling Bussen’s “selfless dedication” and “unwavering faith.” 

Bussen was with Jacob when he died on Sept. 26, 2024. She prepared his body, cleaning him and sprinkling him with holy water, and then prayed with his wife and daughter.

“I will never forget the care and dignity she gave him, even after his final breath,” DeSopo said.

Sister Catherine (left) and Sister Dorian Salvador (right) pray for the soul of Kim DeSopa’s father on Oct. 1, 2024, at St. Clement of Rome Church in Metairie, Louisiana. Credit: Photo courtesy of Kim DeSopa and Sister Catherine
Sister Catherine (left) and Sister Dorian Salvador (right) pray for the soul of Kim DeSopa’s father on Oct. 1, 2024, at St. Clement of Rome Church in Metairie, Louisiana. Credit: Photo courtesy of Kim DeSopa and Sister Catherine

Mary at the foot of the cross 

“I was sick and you visited me.”

This Scripture verse, Matthew 25:36, summarizes the charism of the Servants of Mary, according to Bussen. 

When they care for the sick, they care for Christ.

The sisters will care for anyone in need, preferably within the sick person’s own home. In those who are suffering, the sisters “discover Jesus carrying his cross,” Bussen explained. 

“By caring for the sick, we believe that we are caring for Christ himself, who still suffers today in the suffering mystical body of Christ,” she said.

Sister Angélica Ramos cares for Mrs. Hura, a resident of Mary Health of the Sick Convalescent Hospital in Newbury Park, California. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Servants of Mary, Ministers to the Sick
Sister Angélica Ramos cares for Mrs. Hura, a resident of Mary Health of the Sick Convalescent Hospital in Newbury Park, California. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Servants of Mary, Ministers to the Sick

Founded in Madrid, Spain, in the 1800s, the sisters care for the sick and dying in Louisiana, Kansas, and California as well as throughout Central and South America, Spain, France, England, Italy, Cameroon, the Philippines, and Indonesia. They run a hospital for the poor in Bamenda, Cameroon, as well as two missionary houses in Oaxaca, Mexico.

The sisters look to Mary as an example as they accompany those who are suffering.

“Although we are not able to take away someone’s cross, we are present to them, offering all to the Father, like Mary did at the cross of Jesus, that all suffering may be redemptive and fruitful,” Bussen said.

“Every one of us sisters would tell you that it is an absolute privilege to be able to enter into the intimacy of a family’s home, listening to the dying, praying with them, and encouraging them on the final stage of their journey as their soul passes into eternity,” she said.

Sister Servants of Mary Fatima Muñoz and Carmela Sanz (front) celebrate a May crowning in Kansas City, Kansas. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Servants of Mary, Ministers to the Sick
Sister Servants of Mary Fatima Muñoz and Carmela Sanz (front) celebrate a May crowning in Kansas City, Kansas. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Servants of Mary, Ministers to the Sick

“Our Catholic Christian faith is a beautiful comfort during these times because it is all about looking forward to the promised life to come, the whole goal of our lives, eternal life,” Bussen said.

One woman from New Orleans received news no one wants to hear — she had a terminal illness. Though she was not religious, she knew she needed help and did not know who else to turn to, so she called the Servants of Mary.

As they cared for her and helped her deal with her terminal diagnosis, the sisters learned the woman was “completely alone in the world,” said Bussen, who took care of her. Other people from the surrounding Catholic community volunteered to stay with her.

During that time, the woman found a home in the Catholic Church and received the sacrament of baptism.

Her “anxiety was transformed into peace,” said Bussen, who was with her as she died.

“As the end drew near, she had a new faith family,” Bussen said. “She was no longer alone.”

Remembering the dead 

The life of a sister Servant of Mary is “contemplative in action.” 

The sisters unite “our prayer life with our work — going about what we are doing, in all the business of daily life, in a prayerful spirit,” Bussen said.

The sisters have time set aside for prayer and work, “but these two aspects cannot be separated from one another,” she continued. “The grace and light received in prayer flows into our work and ministry, and everything we experience in our ministry is taken to prayer.”

The Servants of Mary, Ministers to the Sick care for the sick and the dying. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Servants of Mary, Ministers to the Sick
The Servants of Mary, Ministers to the Sick care for the sick and the dying. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Servants of Mary, Ministers to the Sick

Throughout the year, the sisters take special care to remember the dead. 

In November especially, Bussen said the sisters “remember all our patients who have died with us by placing their names in our chapel and offering Masses for their eternal happiness.”

“Even after a patient has passed,” she said, “and they no longer need physical care, our ministry continues by praying for their soul.”

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Poll: 7 in 10 voters support requiring doctor’s visit for abortion pills #Catholic null / Credit: SibRapid/Shutterstock Denver, Colorado, Nov 1, 2025 / 07:19 am (CNA). Here is a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news.7 in 10 voters support requiring doctor’s visit for abortion pills More than 7 in 10 voters believe a doctor’s visit should be required for a chemical abortion prescription, a recent poll found. The McLaughlin & Associates poll of 1,600 participants found that 71% of voters approved of a proposal “requiring a doctor’s visit in order for the chemical abortion drug to be prescribed to terminate an unwanted pregnancy.” The poll also found that 30% of voters had “significant concerns” about the safety of the abortion pill.  Current federal regulations allow providers to prescribe abortion drugs through telehealth and send them by mail. States like California even allow anonymous prescription of the abortion pill, and states including New York and California have “shield laws” that protect abortion providers who ship drugs into states where it is illegal. SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said this week, “The harmful impact of Biden’s FDA removing safeguards on abortion drugs, like in-person doctor visits, is an issue that overwhelmingly unites voters of all stripes.”“As a growing body of research indicates these drugs are far more dangerous than advertised, and new horror stories emerge day after day of women coerced and drugged against their will, landing in the ER and even dying along with their babies, Americans’ concerns are more than valid,” she said in an Oct. 28 statement.Dannenfelser urged the Trump administration to “heed the emerging science and the will of the people and immediately reinstate in-person doctor visits.” Texas AG Paxton secures win in Yelp’s targeting of pregnancy centersTexas Attorney General Ken Paxton secured an appellate court victory against Yelp, Inc. for allegedly adding misleading notices to pro-life pregnancy centers. Paxton filed the lawsuit after misleading notices were attached to the pages of crisis pregnancy centers. The 15th U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s dismissal, which had concluded that Texas did not have jurisdiction over Yelp because it is based in California. The 15th U.S. Court of Appeals concluded this week that the company is still “subject to specific jurisdiction in Texas” and that the concern is relevant to other states as well. “As evidenced by the number of attorneys general who signed the letter sent to Yelp, several states share Texas’s interest in ensuring that Crisis Pregnancy Centers are not the targets of actionable misleading statements,” Justice April Farris wrote in the opinion. Paxton said in a statement that Yelp tried to “steer users away from pro-life resources,” noting that Texas will keep Yelp accountable. Paxton pledged to “continue to defend pro-life organizations that serve Texans and make sure that women and families are receiving accurate information about our state’s resources.”Virginia superintendent denies that staff facilitated student abortionsA Virginia public school district has denied allegations that staff at a high school facilitated student abortions without parental consent or knowledge.In an Oct. 16 letter to families and staff at Centreville High School, Fairfax County Superintendent Michelle Reid said that internal investigations found that the “allegations are likely untrue” as “new details have emerged.” In the wake of an investigative report by a local blogger and accusations by a teacher on staff, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin instructed police to launch a criminal investigation. U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee as well as the U.S. Department of Education also launched investigations. Reid said that “such behavior would never be acceptable” in the school district, which “is fully cooperating with these government investigations.” Planned Parenthood Wisconsin resumes abortionsAfter a temporary pause this month, Wisconsin Planned Parenthood resumed providing abortions in the state by giving up its designation as an “essential community provider” under the Affordable Care Act. Planned Parenthood Wisconsin stopped offering abortions on Oct. 1, after President Donald Trump cut federal Medicaid funding for abortion providers. The yearlong pause is designed to prevent federal tax dollars from subsidizing organizations that provide abortions. Heather Weininger, executive director of Wisconsin Right to Life, said, “Planned Parenthood’s abortion-first business model underscores why taxpayer funding should never support organizations that make abortion a priority.”“Women in difficult circumstances deserve compassionate, life-affirming care — the kind of support the pro-life movement is committed to offering,” she said in an Oct. 27 statement.  Ohio cuts medicaid contract with Planned Parenthood Ohio has terminated Medicaid provider contracts with Planned Parenthood, preventing state funds from going to the abortion giant there.The Ohio Department of Medicaid cited Trump’s recent yearlong pause on Medicaid reimbursements to abortion providers as the reason for termination. Planned Parenthood has since requested a hearing with the department to oppose the termination. Whether the state’s decision to end the agreement will extend longer than the federal pause is unclear.
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Poll: 7 in 10 voters support requiring doctor’s visit for abortion pills #Catholic null / Credit: SibRapid/Shutterstock Denver, Colorado, Nov 1, 2025 / 07:19 am (CNA). Here is a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news.7 in 10 voters support requiring doctor’s visit for abortion pills More than 7 in 10 voters believe a doctor’s visit should be required for a chemical abortion prescription, a recent poll found. The McLaughlin & Associates poll of 1,600 participants found that 71% of voters approved of a proposal “requiring a doctor’s visit in order for the chemical abortion drug to be prescribed to terminate an unwanted pregnancy.” The poll also found that 30% of voters had “significant concerns” about the safety of the abortion pill.  Current federal regulations allow providers to prescribe abortion drugs through telehealth and send them by mail. States like California even allow anonymous prescription of the abortion pill, and states including New York and California have “shield laws” that protect abortion providers who ship drugs into states where it is illegal. SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said this week, “The harmful impact of Biden’s FDA removing safeguards on abortion drugs, like in-person doctor visits, is an issue that overwhelmingly unites voters of all stripes.”“As a growing body of research indicates these drugs are far more dangerous than advertised, and new horror stories emerge day after day of women coerced and drugged against their will, landing in the ER and even dying along with their babies, Americans’ concerns are more than valid,” she said in an Oct. 28 statement.Dannenfelser urged the Trump administration to “heed the emerging science and the will of the people and immediately reinstate in-person doctor visits.” Texas AG Paxton secures win in Yelp’s targeting of pregnancy centersTexas Attorney General Ken Paxton secured an appellate court victory against Yelp, Inc. for allegedly adding misleading notices to pro-life pregnancy centers. Paxton filed the lawsuit after misleading notices were attached to the pages of crisis pregnancy centers. The 15th U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s dismissal, which had concluded that Texas did not have jurisdiction over Yelp because it is based in California. The 15th U.S. Court of Appeals concluded this week that the company is still “subject to specific jurisdiction in Texas” and that the concern is relevant to other states as well. “As evidenced by the number of attorneys general who signed the letter sent to Yelp, several states share Texas’s interest in ensuring that Crisis Pregnancy Centers are not the targets of actionable misleading statements,” Justice April Farris wrote in the opinion. Paxton said in a statement that Yelp tried to “steer users away from pro-life resources,” noting that Texas will keep Yelp accountable. Paxton pledged to “continue to defend pro-life organizations that serve Texans and make sure that women and families are receiving accurate information about our state’s resources.”Virginia superintendent denies that staff facilitated student abortionsA Virginia public school district has denied allegations that staff at a high school facilitated student abortions without parental consent or knowledge.In an Oct. 16 letter to families and staff at Centreville High School, Fairfax County Superintendent Michelle Reid said that internal investigations found that the “allegations are likely untrue” as “new details have emerged.” In the wake of an investigative report by a local blogger and accusations by a teacher on staff, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin instructed police to launch a criminal investigation. U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee as well as the U.S. Department of Education also launched investigations. Reid said that “such behavior would never be acceptable” in the school district, which “is fully cooperating with these government investigations.” Planned Parenthood Wisconsin resumes abortionsAfter a temporary pause this month, Wisconsin Planned Parenthood resumed providing abortions in the state by giving up its designation as an “essential community provider” under the Affordable Care Act. Planned Parenthood Wisconsin stopped offering abortions on Oct. 1, after President Donald Trump cut federal Medicaid funding for abortion providers. The yearlong pause is designed to prevent federal tax dollars from subsidizing organizations that provide abortions. Heather Weininger, executive director of Wisconsin Right to Life, said, “Planned Parenthood’s abortion-first business model underscores why taxpayer funding should never support organizations that make abortion a priority.”“Women in difficult circumstances deserve compassionate, life-affirming care — the kind of support the pro-life movement is committed to offering,” she said in an Oct. 27 statement.  Ohio cuts medicaid contract with Planned Parenthood Ohio has terminated Medicaid provider contracts with Planned Parenthood, preventing state funds from going to the abortion giant there.The Ohio Department of Medicaid cited Trump’s recent yearlong pause on Medicaid reimbursements to abortion providers as the reason for termination. Planned Parenthood has since requested a hearing with the department to oppose the termination. Whether the state’s decision to end the agreement will extend longer than the federal pause is unclear.

unitedyam

null / Credit: SibRapid/Shutterstock

Denver, Colorado, Nov 1, 2025 / 07:19 am (CNA).

Here is a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news.

7 in 10 voters support requiring doctor’s visit for abortion pills 

More than 7 in 10 voters believe a doctor’s visit should be required for a chemical abortion prescription, a recent poll found. 

The McLaughlin & Associates poll of 1,600 participants found that 71% of voters approved of a proposal “requiring a doctor’s visit in order for the chemical abortion drug to be prescribed to terminate an unwanted pregnancy.” 

The poll also found that 30% of voters had “significant concerns” about the safety of the abortion pill.  

Current federal regulations allow providers to prescribe abortion drugs through telehealth and send them by mail. 

States like California even allow anonymous prescription of the abortion pill, and states including New York and California have “shield laws” that protect abortion providers who ship drugs into states where it is illegal. 

SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said this week, “The harmful impact of Biden’s FDA removing safeguards on abortion drugs, like in-person doctor visits, is an issue that overwhelmingly unites voters of all stripes.”

“As a growing body of research indicates these drugs are far more dangerous than advertised, and new horror stories emerge day after day of women coerced and drugged against their will, landing in the ER and even dying along with their babies, Americans’ concerns are more than valid,” she said in an Oct. 28 statement.

Dannenfelser urged the Trump administration to “heed the emerging science and the will of the people and immediately reinstate in-person doctor visits.” 

Texas AG Paxton secures win in Yelp’s targeting of pregnancy centers

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton secured an appellate court victory against Yelp, Inc. for allegedly adding misleading notices to pro-life pregnancy centers. 

Paxton filed the lawsuit after misleading notices were attached to the pages of crisis pregnancy centers. The 15th U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s dismissal, which had concluded that Texas did not have jurisdiction over Yelp because it is based in California. 

The 15th U.S. Court of Appeals concluded this week that the company is still “subject to specific jurisdiction in Texas” and that the concern is relevant to other states as well. 

“As evidenced by the number of attorneys general who signed the letter sent to Yelp, several states share Texas’s interest in ensuring that Crisis Pregnancy Centers are not the targets of actionable misleading statements,” Justice April Farris wrote in the opinion. 

Paxton said in a statement that Yelp tried to “steer users away from pro-life resources,” noting that Texas will keep Yelp accountable. 

Paxton pledged to “continue to defend pro-life organizations that serve Texans and make sure that women and families are receiving accurate information about our state’s resources.”

Virginia superintendent denies that staff facilitated student abortions

A Virginia public school district has denied allegations that staff at a high school facilitated student abortions without parental consent or knowledge.

In an Oct. 16 letter to families and staff at Centreville High School, Fairfax County Superintendent Michelle Reid said that internal investigations found that the “allegations are likely untrue” as “new details have emerged.” 

In the wake of an investigative report by a local blogger and accusations by a teacher on staff, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin instructed police to launch a criminal investigation. U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee as well as the U.S. Department of Education also launched investigations. 

Reid said that “such behavior would never be acceptable” in the school district, which “is fully cooperating with these government investigations.” 

Planned Parenthood Wisconsin resumes abortions

After a temporary pause this month, Wisconsin Planned Parenthood resumed providing abortions in the state by giving up its designation as an “essential community provider” under the Affordable Care Act. 

Planned Parenthood Wisconsin stopped offering abortions on Oct. 1, after President Donald Trump cut federal Medicaid funding for abortion providers. The yearlong pause is designed to prevent federal tax dollars from subsidizing organizations that provide abortions. 

Heather Weininger, executive director of Wisconsin Right to Life, said, “Planned Parenthood’s abortion-first business model underscores why taxpayer funding should never support organizations that make abortion a priority.”

“Women in difficult circumstances deserve compassionate, life-affirming care — the kind of support the pro-life movement is committed to offering,” she said in an Oct. 27 statement.  

Ohio cuts medicaid contract with Planned Parenthood 

Ohio has terminated Medicaid provider contracts with Planned Parenthood, preventing state funds from going to the abortion giant there.

The Ohio Department of Medicaid cited Trump’s recent yearlong pause on Medicaid reimbursements to abortion providers as the reason for termination. Planned Parenthood has since requested a hearing with the department to oppose the termination. Whether the state’s decision to end the agreement will extend longer than the federal pause is unclear.

Read More
Killer, rapist of girl in Catholic church identified more than 60 years later #Catholic Authorities say the killer of 9-year-old Carol Ann Dougherty, raped and murdered in a Pennsylvania Catholic church 63 years ago, was identified in October 2025 as William Schrader, who died in 2002. / Credit: Courtesy of Buck's County District Attorney's Office CNA Staff, Oct 31, 2025 / 15:48 pm (CNA). Authorities announced this week that the killer of 9-year-old Carol Ann Dougherty, raped and murdered in a Pennsylvania Catholic church 63 years ago, has finally been identified as William Schrader, who died in 2002.The Bucks County Investigation Grand Jury found that Schrader is “definitively linked” to the murder “through the combination of decades-old evidence” and a recent breakthrough in the case, the district attorney’s office said in a statement.The breakthrough came last year when Pennsylvania State Police interviewed Schrader’s stepson, Robert Leblanc, in November 2024, who said Schrader “confessed to him on two separate occasions that he murdered a little girl in a Pennsylvania church.”Schrader allegedly told his stepson he lured Carol Ann inside the church, raped her and “had to kill the girl in Bristol to keep her from talking.”“We believe it may be the only rape and murder of a little girl in a church in the United States,” Bucks County D.A. Jennifer Schorn said at a news conference on Oct 29.In 1962, a witness reported seeing Schrader — who lived a block and a half from the church — outside the church around the time of the murder, and police initially questioned him, the D.A.’s office said. Schrader failed a polygraph test and lied to investigators about his alibi, saying he had been at work at the time of the murder. He also provided a pubic hair sample, authorities said. Knowing he was under investigation, Schrader fled Pennsylvania and moved to Florida and then Texas, eventually settling in Louisiana.The pubic hair was tested in 1993, and it showed “significant similarities” to hair found in Carol Ann’s hand, according to the DA. Of samples collected from 176 men over the years, 141 pubic hair samples were tested during the decadeslong investigation, and “all other individuals were eliminated,” officials said.The grand jury’s findings, detailed in a 53-page report approved this week by Judge Raymond McHugh, identified Schrader as an “absolute predator” whose criminal history included assaults with deadly weapons in multiple states.  According to the prosecutor, “Schrader’s life was marked by a pattern of violence and sexual violence, particularly against young, pre-pubescent, and adolescent females.”The grand jury found that Schrader also “sexually abused nearly every female child he lived with or had access to, including his own biological daughter and granddaughters.”He was convicted in 1985 in Louisiana for the death of 12-year-old Catherine Smith after he intentionally set fire to his own house, knowing she and her family were still inside.On Oct. 22, 1962, Carol Ann, an avid reader excited to check out the next book in a mystery series she was reading, was riding her bike to the Bristol Borough Free Library to meet her friends, according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s office. On her way, she had stopped to buy a soda and candy and was last seen alive outside of the doors to St. Mark’s Roman Catholic Church in Bristol, where she was raped and strangled to death. Authorities examine a bicycle after the murder of Carol Ann Dougherty in 1962. Credit: Courtesy of Buck’s County District Attorney’s Office.Her parents began to look for her when she did not return home for dinner. Her father found her body inside the church.Carol Ann’s sister, Kay Dougherty, speaking at Wednesday’s news conference, expressed her gratitude to Vincent Faragali, the Bristol police chief at the time of her sister’s murder, who kept a framed photograph of Carol Ann on his desk throughout his career to remind him of “a promise he made to seek justice for her.”She also thanked Faragali’s nephew, Mike Misanelli, a journalist who in 2024 produced a podcast that brought attention to the case. Doughterty said :“My parents both passed away without knowing on this earth who murdered their daughter. … After so many decades of unknowing, this finding finally brings closure and a truth to a wound that never healed.”“Our family lived without answers,” Dougherty said, crying, “and the uncertainty surrounding Carol’s death became a part of who we were, a shadow that touched every day of our lives.”“Though I know nothing can bring Carol back,” Dougherty said, “we can finally let her rest in peace knowing that her story has been told, her truth revealed, and her memory honored.”
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Killer, rapist of girl in Catholic church identified more than 60 years later #Catholic Authorities say the killer of 9-year-old Carol Ann Dougherty, raped and murdered in a Pennsylvania Catholic church 63 years ago, was identified in October 2025 as William Schrader, who died in 2002. / Credit: Courtesy of Buck's County District Attorney's Office CNA Staff, Oct 31, 2025 / 15:48 pm (CNA). Authorities announced this week that the killer of 9-year-old Carol Ann Dougherty, raped and murdered in a Pennsylvania Catholic church 63 years ago, has finally been identified as William Schrader, who died in 2002.The Bucks County Investigation Grand Jury found that Schrader is “definitively linked” to the murder “through the combination of decades-old evidence” and a recent breakthrough in the case, the district attorney’s office said in a statement.The breakthrough came last year when Pennsylvania State Police interviewed Schrader’s stepson, Robert Leblanc, in November 2024, who said Schrader “confessed to him on two separate occasions that he murdered a little girl in a Pennsylvania church.”Schrader allegedly told his stepson he lured Carol Ann inside the church, raped her and “had to kill the girl in Bristol to keep her from talking.”“We believe it may be the only rape and murder of a little girl in a church in the United States,” Bucks County D.A. Jennifer Schorn said at a news conference on Oct 29.In 1962, a witness reported seeing Schrader — who lived a block and a half from the church — outside the church around the time of the murder, and police initially questioned him, the D.A.’s office said. Schrader failed a polygraph test and lied to investigators about his alibi, saying he had been at work at the time of the murder. He also provided a pubic hair sample, authorities said. Knowing he was under investigation, Schrader fled Pennsylvania and moved to Florida and then Texas, eventually settling in Louisiana.The pubic hair was tested in 1993, and it showed “significant similarities” to hair found in Carol Ann’s hand, according to the DA. Of samples collected from 176 men over the years, 141 pubic hair samples were tested during the decadeslong investigation, and “all other individuals were eliminated,” officials said.The grand jury’s findings, detailed in a 53-page report approved this week by Judge Raymond McHugh, identified Schrader as an “absolute predator” whose criminal history included assaults with deadly weapons in multiple states.  According to the prosecutor, “Schrader’s life was marked by a pattern of violence and sexual violence, particularly against young, pre-pubescent, and adolescent females.”The grand jury found that Schrader also “sexually abused nearly every female child he lived with or had access to, including his own biological daughter and granddaughters.”He was convicted in 1985 in Louisiana for the death of 12-year-old Catherine Smith after he intentionally set fire to his own house, knowing she and her family were still inside.On Oct. 22, 1962, Carol Ann, an avid reader excited to check out the next book in a mystery series she was reading, was riding her bike to the Bristol Borough Free Library to meet her friends, according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s office. On her way, she had stopped to buy a soda and candy and was last seen alive outside of the doors to St. Mark’s Roman Catholic Church in Bristol, where she was raped and strangled to death. Authorities examine a bicycle after the murder of Carol Ann Dougherty in 1962. Credit: Courtesy of Buck’s County District Attorney’s Office.Her parents began to look for her when she did not return home for dinner. Her father found her body inside the church.Carol Ann’s sister, Kay Dougherty, speaking at Wednesday’s news conference, expressed her gratitude to Vincent Faragali, the Bristol police chief at the time of her sister’s murder, who kept a framed photograph of Carol Ann on his desk throughout his career to remind him of “a promise he made to seek justice for her.”She also thanked Faragali’s nephew, Mike Misanelli, a journalist who in 2024 produced a podcast that brought attention to the case. Doughterty said :“My parents both passed away without knowing on this earth who murdered their daughter. … After so many decades of unknowing, this finding finally brings closure and a truth to a wound that never healed.”“Our family lived without answers,” Dougherty said, crying, “and the uncertainty surrounding Carol’s death became a part of who we were, a shadow that touched every day of our lives.”“Though I know nothing can bring Carol back,” Dougherty said, “we can finally let her rest in peace knowing that her story has been told, her truth revealed, and her memory honored.”

unitedyam

Authorities say the killer of 9-year-old Carol Ann Dougherty, raped and murdered in a Pennsylvania Catholic church 63 years ago, was identified in October 2025 as William Schrader, who died in 2002. / Credit: Courtesy of Buck's County District Attorney's Office

CNA Staff, Oct 31, 2025 / 15:48 pm (CNA).

Authorities announced this week that the killer of 9-year-old Carol Ann Dougherty, raped and murdered in a Pennsylvania Catholic church 63 years ago, has finally been identified as William Schrader, who died in 2002.

The Bucks County Investigation Grand Jury found that Schrader is “definitively linked” to the murder “through the combination of decades-old evidence” and a recent breakthrough in the case, the district attorney’s office said in a statement.

The breakthrough came last year when Pennsylvania State Police interviewed Schrader’s stepson, Robert Leblanc, in November 2024, who said Schrader “confessed to him on two separate occasions that he murdered a little girl in a Pennsylvania church.”

Schrader allegedly told his stepson he lured Carol Ann inside the church, raped her and “had to kill the girl in Bristol to keep her from talking.”

“We believe it may be the only rape and murder of a little girl in a church in the United States,” Bucks County D.A. Jennifer Schorn said at a news conference on Oct 29.

In 1962, a witness reported seeing Schrader — who lived a block and a half from the church — outside the church around the time of the murder, and police initially questioned him, the D.A.’s office said. 

Schrader failed a polygraph test and lied to investigators about his alibi, saying he had been at work at the time of the murder. He also provided a pubic hair sample, authorities said. 

Knowing he was under investigation, Schrader fled Pennsylvania and moved to Florida and then Texas, eventually settling in Louisiana.

The pubic hair was tested in 1993, and it showed “significant similarities” to hair found in Carol Ann’s hand, according to the DA. Of samples collected from 176 men over the years, 141 pubic hair samples were tested during the decadeslong investigation, and “all other individuals were eliminated,” officials said.

The grand jury’s findings, detailed in a 53-page report approved this week by Judge Raymond McHugh, identified Schrader as an “absolute predator” whose criminal history included assaults with deadly weapons in multiple states.  

According to the prosecutor, “Schrader’s life was marked by a pattern of violence and sexual violence, particularly against young, pre-pubescent, and adolescent females.”

The grand jury found that Schrader also “sexually abused nearly every female child he lived with or had access to, including his own biological daughter and granddaughters.”

He was convicted in 1985 in Louisiana for the death of 12-year-old Catherine Smith after he intentionally set fire to his own house, knowing she and her family were still inside.

On Oct. 22, 1962, Carol Ann, an avid reader excited to check out the next book in a mystery series she was reading, was riding her bike to the Bristol Borough Free Library to meet her friends, according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s office. 

On her way, she had stopped to buy a soda and candy and was last seen alive outside of the doors to St. Mark’s Roman Catholic Church in Bristol, where she was raped and strangled to death. 

Authorities examine a bicycle after the murder of Carol Ann Dougherty in 1962. Credit: Courtesy of Buck's County District Attorney's Office.
Authorities examine a bicycle after the murder of Carol Ann Dougherty in 1962. Credit: Courtesy of Buck’s County District Attorney’s Office.

Her parents began to look for her when she did not return home for dinner. Her father found her body inside the church.

Carol Ann’s sister, Kay Dougherty, speaking at Wednesday’s news conference, expressed her gratitude to Vincent Faragali, the Bristol police chief at the time of her sister’s murder, who kept a framed photograph of Carol Ann on his desk throughout his career to remind him of “a promise he made to seek justice for her.”

She also thanked Faragali’s nephew, Mike Misanelli, a journalist who in 2024 produced a podcast that brought attention to the case. 

Doughterty said :“My parents both passed away without knowing on this earth who murdered their daughter. … After so many decades of unknowing, this finding finally brings closure and a truth to a wound that never healed.”

“Our family lived without answers,” Dougherty said, crying, “and the uncertainty surrounding Carol’s death became a part of who we were, a shadow that touched every day of our lives.”

“Though I know nothing can bring Carol back,” Dougherty said, “we can finally let her rest in peace knowing that her story has been told, her truth revealed, and her memory honored.”

Read More
Picture of the day Top view of grafted Gymnocalycium mihanovichii (chin cactus). The host cactus has been digitally blanked out. The red body is about 3.5 cm (1.4 in) diameter. The small “moons” are 0.5–0.8 cm (0.20–0.31 in) diameter. House plant in Ooty, The Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, India. Focus stack of 89 images using PMax mode of ZereneStacker. #ImageOfTheDay
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Picture of the day Top view of grafted Gymnocalycium mihanovichii (chin cactus). The host cactus has been digitally blanked out. The red body is about 3.5 cm (1.4 in) diameter. The small “moons” are 0.5–0.8 cm (0.20–0.31 in) diameter. House plant in Ooty, The Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, India. Focus stack of 89 images using PMax mode of ZereneStacker. #ImageOfTheDay

unitedyam
Picture of the day
Top view of grafted Gymnocalycium mihanovichii (chin cactus). The host cactus has been digitally blanked out. The red body is about 3.5 cm (1.4 in) diameter. The small “moons” are 0.5–0.8 cm (0.20–0.31 in) diameter. House plant in Ooty, The Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, India. Focus stack of 89 images using PMax mode of ZereneStacker.
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Picture of the day Church of El Salvador, Luesia, Zaragoza, Spain. The church is located in the highest area of the nucleus of the village of Luesia, next to the remains of the old medieval castle, to which it is historically and constructively associated. Its origin dates back to the end of the 11th century with the construction of the semicircular triple apse head with a double crypt at the bottom, while the body with three naves was built throughout the 12th century and the two portals on its southern fronts and occidental already respond to models from the beginning of the 13th century. The Romanesque building underwent a profound reform though in the mid-16th century. The main altarpiece is a Romanesque piece carved in wood; polychrome and gilt. The work is attributed to Gaspar Ramos, a sculptor from Sangüesa, who executed it around 1630. #ImageOfTheDay
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Picture of the day Church of El Salvador, Luesia, Zaragoza, Spain. The church is located in the highest area of the nucleus of the village of Luesia, next to the remains of the old medieval castle, to which it is historically and constructively associated. Its origin dates back to the end of the 11th century with the construction of the semicircular triple apse head with a double crypt at the bottom, while the body with three naves was built throughout the 12th century and the two portals on its southern fronts and occidental already respond to models from the beginning of the 13th century. The Romanesque building underwent a profound reform though in the mid-16th century. The main altarpiece is a Romanesque piece carved in wood; polychrome and gilt. The work is attributed to Gaspar Ramos, a sculptor from Sangüesa, who executed it around 1630. #ImageOfTheDay

unitedyam
Picture of the day
Church of El Salvador, Luesia, Zaragoza, Spain. The church is located in the highest area of the nucleus of the village of Luesia, next to the remains of the old medieval castle, to which it is historically and constructively associated. Its origin dates back to the end of the 11th century with the construction of the semicircular triple apse head with a double crypt at the bottom, while the body with three naves was built throughout the 12th century and the two portals on its southern fronts and occidental already respond to models from the beginning of the 13th century. The Romanesque building underwent a profound reform though in the mid-16th century. The main altarpiece is a Romanesque piece carved in wood; polychrome and gilt. The work is attributed to Gaspar Ramos, a sculptor from Sangüesa, who executed it around 1630.
Read More
Picture of the day Orbicular (round body) batfish (Platax orbicularis), Red Sea, Egypt. It belongs to the family Ephippidae, the spadefishes and batfishes. This species is found in the Indo-Pacific but has been recorded outside its native range in the western Atlantic Ocean. The adult can reach a total length of 40 centimetres (16 in). #ImageOfTheDay
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Picture of the day Orbicular (round body) batfish (Platax orbicularis), Red Sea, Egypt. It belongs to the family Ephippidae, the spadefishes and batfishes. This species is found in the Indo-Pacific but has been recorded outside its native range in the western Atlantic Ocean. The adult can reach a total length of 40 centimetres (16 in). #ImageOfTheDay

unitedyam
Picture of the day
Orbicular (round body) batfish (Platax orbicularis), Red Sea, Egypt. It belongs to the family Ephippidae, the spadefishes and batfishes. This species is found in the Indo-Pacific but has been recorded outside its native range in the western Atlantic Ocean. The adult can reach a total length of 40 centimetres (16 in).
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Picture of the day This painting on the ceiling in Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini, a church on Via Veneto in Rome, depicts the Virgin Mary being assumed body and soul into heaven. Today is the Feast of the Assumption of Mary in much of Western Christianity or the Dormition of the Mother of God in Eastern Christianity. #ImageOfTheDay
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Picture of the day This painting on the ceiling in Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini, a church on Via Veneto in Rome, depicts the Virgin Mary being assumed body and soul into heaven. Today is the Feast of the Assumption of Mary in much of Western Christianity or the Dormition of the Mother of God in Eastern Christianity. #ImageOfTheDay

unitedyam
Picture of the day
This painting on the ceiling in Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini, a church on Via Veneto in Rome, depicts the Virgin Mary being assumed body and soul into heaven. Today is the Feast of the Assumption of Mary in much of Western Christianity or the Dormition of the Mother of God in Eastern Christianity.
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NASA Drop Test Supports Safer Air Taxi Designs
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NASA Drop Test Supports Safer Air Taxi Designs

unitedyam

An aircraft body modeled after an air taxi with weighted test dummies inside is being prepared for a drop test by researchers at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The test was completed June 26 at Langley’s Landing and Impact Research Facility. The aircraft was dropped from a tall steel structure, known as a gantry, after being hoisted about 35 feet in the air by cables. NASA researchers are investigating aircraft materials that best absorb impact forces in a crash.

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Picture of the day (purge this page’s cache) Passion of Jesus; sculpture of Crucifixion of Jesus observing Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus (known as Pietà). National Gallery of Slovenia. Today is Good Friday. #ImageOfTheDay
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Picture of the day (purge this page’s cache) Passion of Jesus; sculpture of Crucifixion of Jesus observing Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus (known as Pietà). National Gallery of Slovenia. Today is Good Friday. #ImageOfTheDay

unitedyam
Picture of the day
(purge this page’s cache)
Passion of Jesus; sculpture of Crucifixion of Jesus observing Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus (known as Pietà). National Gallery of Slovenia. Today is Good Friday.
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