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High Court weighs free speech in Colorado’s law banning counseling on gender identity
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High Court weighs free speech in Colorado’s law banning counseling on gender identity

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 8, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

The U.S. Supreme Court during oral arguments on Oct. 7 scrutinized Colorado’s law banning counseling on gender identity with some justices voicing concern about possible viewpoint discrimination and free speech restrictions embedded in the statute.

Colorado Solicitor General Shannon Stevenson defended the law, which prohibits licensed psychologists and therapists from engaging in any efforts that it considers “conversion therapy” when treating minors. It does not apply to parents, members of the clergy, or others.

Nearly half of U.S. states have a similar ban. The Supreme Court ruling on this matter could set nationwide precedent on the legality of such laws. 

The Colorado law defines “conversion therapy” as treatments designed to change a person’s “sexual orientation or gender identity,” including changes to “behaviors or gender expressions or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attraction or feelings toward individuals of the same sex” even if the minor and his or her family has requested that care.

Under the law, permitted therapy includes “acceptance, support, and understanding” of a minor’s self-asserted transgender identity or same-sex attraction.

The law is being challenged by Kaley Chiles, a Christian counselor who provides faith-based counseling to clients with gender dysphoria and same-sex attraction.

Free speech and viewpoint discrimination

Stevenson argued that Colorado’s law is not a speech restriction but instead a regulation on a specific type of “treatment,” saying that regulations cannot cease to apply “just because they are using words.”

“That treatment does not work and carries great risk of harm,” Stevenson said, referring to the practices the state considers to be “conversion therapy.”

She argued that health care has been “heavily regulated since the beginning of our country” and compared “conversion therapy” to doctors providing improper advice on how to treat a condition. She claimed this therapy falsely asserts “you can change this innate thing about yourself.”

“The client and the patient [are] expecting accurate information,” Stevenson said.

Justice Samuel Alito told Stevenson the law sounds like “blatant viewpoint discrimination,” noting that a minor can receive talk therapy welcoming homosexual inclinations but cannot access therapy to reduce those urges. He said it is a restriction “based on the viewpoint expressed.”

Alito said the state’s position is “a minor should not be able to obtain talk therapy to overcome same-sex attraction [even] if that’s what he wants.”

Stevenson argued Colorado is not engaged in viewpoint discrimination and said: “Counseling is an evidence-based practice.” She said it would be wrong to suggest lawmakers “reach[ed] this conclusion based on anything other than protection of minors.”

“There is no other motive going on to suppress viewpoint or expression,” Stevenson said.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Justice Neil Gorsuch asked questions about how to handle issues where medical disagreement exists.

Gorsuch noted, for example, that homosexuality was historically viewed as a mental disorder and asked Stevenson whether it would have been legal for states to ban therapy that affirmed a person’s homosexuality at that time. Stevenson argued that at that time, it would have been legal.

Banning ‘voluntary conversations’

Alliance Defending Freedom Chief Counsel Jim Campbell argued on behalf of Chiles and her counseling services, telling the justices his client offers “voluntary speech between a licensed professional and a minor,” and the law bans “voluntary conversations.”

Campbell noted that if one of her minor clients says, “I would like help realigning my identity with my sex,” then the law requires that Chiles “has to deny them.”

“Kids and families that want this kind of help … are being left without any kind of support,” he added, warning that Chiles, her clients, and potential clients are suffering irreparable harm if access to this treatment continues to be denied.

Campbell argued that “many people have experienced life-changing benefits from this kind of counseling,” many of whom are seeking to “align their life with their religion” and improve their “relationship with God.”

Justice Sonia Sotomayor contested whether the issue was about free speech, noting Colorado pointed to studies that such therapy efforts “harm the child … emotionally and physically.”

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson similarly objected to the claim, questioning whether a counselor acting in her professional capacity “is really expressing … a message for a First Amendment purposes.” She said treatment is different than writing an article about conversion therapy or giving a speech about it.

Campbell disagreed, arguing: “This involves a conversation,” and “a one-on-one conversation is a form of speech.” He said Chiles is “discussing concepts of identity and behaviors and attraction” and simply helping her clients “achieve their goals.”

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Mother Cabrini Institute aims to change ‘mental pattern’ of associating immigrants with crime
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Mother Cabrini Institute aims to change ‘mental pattern’ of associating immigrants with crime

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Vatican City, Oct 7, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

A new institute at Pope Leo XIV’s undergraduate alma mater wants to change the “mental pattern” that associates immigrants with crime.

In the 19th century, St. Frances Xavier Cabrini embraced the travails of millions of recently arrived Italian immigrants to the United States. Inspired by this legacy of the first American saint, Villanova University — the flagship institution of the Order of St. Augustine — has just launched the Mother Cabrini Institute on Immigration.

It was from this institution of higher learning in Philadelphia that Robert Francis Prevost — now Pope Leo XIV — earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics in 1977.

The initiative is based on the Augustinian values ​​of “veritas, unitas, and caritas” (truth, unity, and charity) and seeks to bring together the academic community and other external stakeholders to promote concrete actions to address the contemporary challenges of migration.

“Currently, there is a mentality that associates immigrants with crime, drug trafficking, or human trafficking. However, immigrants are the ones who care for our children and our elders; we open the doors of our homes to them so they can clean our homes. We invite them into the most intimate parts of our lives, yet the media generates contrary images that make it difficult to recognize their humanity,” explained Professor Michele Pistone, director of the center, which was inaugurated at the Vatican on Sept. 30.

Mother Cabrini Institute on Immigration Director Michele Pristone is shown here accompanied by Father Joseph Lawrence Farrell, OSA, prior general of the Augustinians. Credit: Photo courtesy of Mother Cabrini Institute on Immigration
Mother Cabrini Institute on Immigration Director Michele Pristone is shown here accompanied by Father Joseph Lawrence Farrell, OSA, prior general of the Augustinians. Credit: Photo courtesy of Mother Cabrini Institute on Immigration

The institute seeks to reverse negative perceptions through an interdisciplinary approach based on four pillars: teaching, research, advocacy, and service.

“We want to transform hearts and minds, work with all Villanova colleges, and connect with centers, alumni, and community partners to create systemic change,” the professor said.

For Pistone, the university is an ideal setting for this type of work. “What better place to do it than at a university, where we can study it, be active on the ground, learn from the experience, and teach students — the future leaders of our country and businesses — to understand the migrant experience?”

The scholar also participated in the event “Refugees and Migrants in Our Common Home,” which took place in Rome from Oct. 1–3 ahead of the Jubilee of Migrants (Oct. 4–5). The more than 200 participants in the global gathering from over 40 countries were welcomed to the Vatican last week by Pope Leo XIV.

As Pistone explained in conversation with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, the seed of the Mother Cabrini Institute on Immigration was planted in 2022 when Pope Francis called on universities to research and teach more about migrants and refugees.

“I was in the front row and felt like he was speaking directly to me. I felt a personal calling to be part of the solution,” said the law professor at Villanova’s Charles Widger School of Law.

Personal inspiration and lifelong commitment

Pistone’s passion for migration is deeply rooted in her family history. During her studies in Italy, she visited Sicily in search of the origins of her grandparents, who immigrated to the United States at the beginning of the 20th century.

Professor Michele Pistone is director of the Mother Cabrini Institute on Immigration. Credit: Victoria Cardiel/EWTN News
Professor Michele Pistone is director of the Mother Cabrini Institute on Immigration. Credit: Victoria Cardiel/EWTN News

“Seeing my relatives, who didn’t know my father, and seeing how they rejoiced in his accomplishments in New York, changed my life. I began to understand the history of migrants from a lived perspective, and that led me to work with asylum seekers since 1999,” Pistone said.

For Pistone, migration is part of the identity and mission of the United States. “My state, Pennsylvania, was founded as a refuge for those fleeing religious persecution. That’s what asylum is all about: offering refuge to those who cannot live according to their beliefs or express themselves freely,” she explained.

Inspired by the life and work of Mother Cabrini, canonized by Pius XII in 1946, Pistone emphasized the value of the newly inaugurated center as an intellectual and social hub: “Mother Cabrini was a visionary and social entrepreneur. Her charisma guides us today in asking ourselves: What is Mother Cabrini’s work in the contemporary world? We want to carry out that mission through education, research, public advocacy, and service.”

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

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7 common myths and facts about the rosary
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7 common myths and facts about the rosary

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A woman prays the rosary at the Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC, on Sept. 28, 2024. / Credit: Jeffrey Bruno

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 7, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

October is designated by the Catholic Church as the Month of the Rosary, and Oct. 7 is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

Here are seven common myths and facts about this devotion to Our Lady:

1. Only Catholics can pray the rosary. 

False. While rosaries are typically associated with Catholics, non-Catholics can certainly pray the rosary — and in fact, many credit it to their conversion. Even some Protestants recognize the rosary as a valid form of prayer.

2. Praying the rosary is idolatry. 

False. Some have objections to the rosary, claiming it idolizes Mary and is overly repetitive. 

Just like any practice, the rosary can be abused — just as someone might idolize a particular pastor or priest, a form of worship, or fasting. But the rosary itself is not a form of idolatry. 

The rosary is not a prayer to Mary — it is a meditation on the life of Christ revealed in five mysteries “with the purposes of drawing the person praying deeper into reflecting on Christ’s joys, sacrifices, sufferings, and the glorious miracles of his life.” 

When we pray the Hail Mary, we are not adoring Mary, we are asking for her intercession — just as we might ask a friend or family member to pray for us. 

Second, any prayer can lose its meaning if we do not intentionally meditate on it. Focusing on the mysteries with purpose and intention is key to the rosary’s transforming power. As one author encourages: “The rosary itself stays the same, but we do not.”

3. You can wear a rosary as a necklace.

It depends. It is typically considered disrespectful and irreverent to wear a rosary around one’s neck as jewelry, even though the Church does not have an explicit declaration against doing so. 

However, Canon 1171 of the Code of Canon Law says that “sacred objects, set aside for divine worship by dedication or blessing, are to be treated with reverence. They are not to be made over to secular or inappropriate use, even though they may belong to private persons.”

It is important to treat the rosary with respect and intention. If you intend to wear the rosary as a piece of jewelry, this would not be respectful and should be avoided. It goes without saying that wearing the rosary as a mockery or gang symbol would be a sin.

But if it is your intention to use the rosary and be mindful of prayer, then it could be permissible. It is not uncommon in some cultures, like in Honduras and El Salvador, to see the rosary respectfully worn around the neck as a sign of devotion.

Rosary rings or bracelets might be a better option if you want to keep your rosary close at hand as a reminder to pray, as they are kept more out of sight and would not be as easily misconstrued to be a piece of jewelry. 

4. The rosary is an extremist symbol.

False. A widely-shared 2022 Atlantic article went viral for accusing the rosary of being an “extremist symbol.” 

“Just as the AR-15 rifle has become a sacred object for Christian nationalists in general, the rosary has acquired a militaristic meaning for radical-traditional (or ‘rad trad’) Catholics,” the article read.

The author also cited the Church’s stance on traditional marriage and the sanctity of life as evidence of “extremism” and claimed that Catholics’ tendency to call the rosary a “weapon in the fight against evil” as dangerous.

As CNA reported in 2022, popes have urged Catholics to pray the rosary since 1571 — often referring to the rosary as a prayer “weapon” and most powerful spiritual tool.

5. The rosary is not biblical.

Untrue! Most of its words come directly from Scripture.

First, the Our Father is prayed. The words of the Our Father are those Christ taught his disciples to pray in Matthew 6:9–13.

The Hail Mary also comes straight from the Bible. The first part, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee,” comes from Luke 1:28, and the second, “Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb,” is found in Luke 1:42.

Finally, each of the decades prayed on the rosary symbolizes an event in the lives of Jesus and Mary. The decades are divided into four sets of mysteries: joyful, luminous, sorrowful, and glorious, the majority of which are found in Scripture. 

6. A rosary bead, or pea, can kill you.

Somewhat true. A rosary pea, or abrus seed, is a vine plant native to India and parts of Asia. The seeds of the vine, which are red with black spots, are often used to make beaded jewelry — including rosaries. Rosary pea seeds contain a toxic substance called “abrin,” which is a naturally-occurring poison that can be fatal if ingested. However, it’s unlikely for someone to get abrin poisoning just from holding a rosary made from abrus seeds, as one would have to swallow them.

Today, most rosaries are made from other nontoxic materials, such as olive wood or glass — eliminating this concern.

7. Carrying a rosary can protect you.

True. The rosary has proven to be a miraculous force for protecting those of faith and bestowing upon them extra graces, such as the victory of the Christian forces at the Battle of Lepanto after St. Pius V implored Western Christians to pray the rosary.

Many great saints across history, including Pope John Paul II, Padre Pio, and Lucia of Fátima, have also recognized the rosary as the most powerful weapon in fighting the real spiritual battles we face in the world. 

We know that spiritual warfare is a real and present danger: “For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens” (Eph 6:11–12). 

“The rosary is a powerful weapon to put the demons to flight and to keep oneself from sin … If you desire peace in your hearts, in your homes, and in your country, assemble each evening to recite the rosary. Let not even one day pass without saying it, no matter how burdened you may be with many cares and labors,” Pope Pius XI said. 

This story was first published on Oct. 1, 2022, and has been updated.

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Girl Scouts, Cincinnati Archdiocese announce ‘renewed’ partnership after LGBT dispute
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Girl Scouts, Cincinnati Archdiocese announce ‘renewed’ partnership after LGBT dispute

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null / Credit: maximino/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Oct 2, 2025 / 09:41 am (CNA).

After cutting ties with the Girl Scouts over the group’s endorsement of gender ideology, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati said this week that it has struck up a renewed partnership with the more-than-century-old youth organization. 

Last year, the archdiocese ended a 110-year relationship with Girl Scouts of the USA due to the group promoting gender ideology contrary to Catholic teaching. 

The decision was spearheaded by then-Archbishop Dennis Schnurr, who now serves as archbishop emeritus. At the time, Schnurr endorsed a faith-based scouting group, American Heritage Girls, as an alternative.

Newly-instated Archbishop Robert Casey has since made an agreement with the local Girl Scouts of Western Ohio to maintain Church moral teaching while operating in Catholic parishes.

Girl Scouts groups are “welcome” on Catholic campuses, so long as they pledge not to promote anything counter to the Church’s teaching on faith and morals, according to an archdiocesan press release. 

Casey said he is “proud” that the archdiocese and the Girl Scouts “focused on our shared desire for the flourishing of young women in virtue and faith, rather than being solely focused on our differences.”

“Girl Scouts is a secular organization, and as such, they do not share all of our views,” he said in a Sept. 30 statement. “As the Catholic Church we are called to uphold the Gospel and teach young people the truth of the Catholic faith.” 

“Despite these differences, we have reached a mutual understanding that allows us to fulfill our mission as Church in the faithful formation of young girls while also accessing all that is best about Girl Scouting,” he continued. 

Aimée Sproles, president and CEO of Girl Scouts of Western Ohio, said that organization hopes to encourage girls in their faith journey.  

“At Girl Scouts, we believe that a part of girls’ healthy development is encouraging girls in their spiritual journey, through partnerships with their individual faith communities,” Sproles said in a statement. 

“Girl Scouts of Western Ohio and the Archdiocese of Cincinnati have helped generations of girls to grow in their faith and develop the critical thinking and decision-making skills they need in order to act on the values of their faith in our complex world,” she said. 

“This renewed partnership allows our Catholic Girl Scouts to have the support of their family and the Catholic community as they grow in courage, confidence, and character,” she added. 

The agreement comes after “continued dialogue,” archdiocesan spokeswoman Jennifer Schack told CNA. 

“While this announcement highlights the renewed partnership, there has been ongoing dialogue, given the two agencies share a common interest to strengthen and support girls in our communities,” Schack said.

The agreement specifies that the Girl Scouts cannot promote anything that goes against Catholic faith and moral teachings, according to documents shared with CNA.  

Whether the renewal of the Girl Scouts will affect the archdiocese’s partnership with American Heritage Girls is unclear. 

When asked about the effect of the partnership renewal, American Heritage Girls told CNA that it looks forward to “deepening its relationship” with the archdiocese.

The interdenominational group has programs and activities designed for its Catholic scouting groups that promote the Catholic faith, including troop-led Stations of the Cross and Eucharistic Revival patches.

“Catholic families in Cincinnati and beyond have embraced AHG as a trusted youth ministry option,” the organization stated. “AHG looks forward to deepening its relationship with the Archdiocese of Cincinnati as more Catholic families and parishes build communities where virtue and faith flourish.”

Schack affirmed that the recent announcement “has no impact on American Heritage Girls troops” in the archdiocese.

American Heritage Girls, which has been endorsed by Catholic dioceses across the country, features a National Catholic Committee headed by Bishop James Conley of the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska. 

The group forms “girls of integrity through Catholic Faith Awards, troop life, service, outdoor adventure, and leadership,” the group stated. 

“American Heritage Girls is grateful for over 30 years of ministry rooted in a Christ-centered foundation, deeply aligned with the Catholic Church,” it added.

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Courage International marks 45 years helping faithful address same-sex attraction
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Courage International marks 45 years helping faithful address same-sex attraction

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Patricipants gather at a Courage and EnCourage annual conference. / Credit: Courage International

CNA Staff, Sep 26, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Courage International, the Catholic apostolate that helps men and women experiencing same-sex attraction “persevere on the path of holiness,” marked 45 years of ministry on Sept. 26, celebrating nearly half a century of helping individuals struggling with sexuality to “live a chaste life” in line with Church teaching. 

The Connecticut-based organization traces its earliest roots to an effort started by New York archbishop Cardinal Terence Cooke, who in 1978 conceived of a same-sex attraction ministry and asked Father John Harvey, OSFS, to lead the effort. 

Harvey, who died in 2010, authored the 1979 pamphlet “A Spiritual Plan to Redirect One’s Life,” offering a program for “homosexually-oriented persons” to “achieve a chaste, productive, and happy life.” 

The apostolate held its first official meeting the following year on Sept. 26 at the Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Manhattan. In 1981 the group published the first version of its “Five Goals,” which include dedications to chastity, service, the sacraments, and fellowship. 

Within a few years the program expanded to Canada, officially becoming an international organization; it also began to expand throughout the U.S. at the time. 

An endorsement by the Holy See came in 1994. The group by this time had already begun hosting annual “Courage Conferences,” with Harvey publishing several new works on the ministry over the years.

The group’s offerings for those struggling with same-sex attraction include retreats, literature, online chat groups, and a men’s sports camp — a weekend of “team sports with encouragement, coaching, and an abundance of Christian fellowship” (where teams compete in an “annual epic battle for the coveted Harvey Cup”).

‘Such a needed ministry’

Father Brian Gannon, the executive director of Courage, said the group was originally founded to minister to men with same-sex attraction and eventually expanded to include women. A sister program, “EnCourage,” ministers to family members of those with same-sex attraction. 

The group works primarily through chapters, which number around 160 worldwide and function as clergy-led support groups. 

“There’s individual groups in various dioceses that are run by chaplains — either priests or deacons — and they meet on a regular basis, usually about once a week,” Gannon said. 

Group members “come together, read through the goals, discuss their experiences and challenges during the week, and pray,” he said. “Prayer is absolutely central to it.” 

Courage has a presence in numerous countries worldwide, including the Philippines, Singapore, and Poland. In addition to executive leadership, the group is overseen by an episcopal board of several bishops. “It’s fully sanctioned by the Church,” Gannon said. 

Gannon himself came into the leadership role in 2024. Years before he helped to start a Courage chapter in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He was approached by the organization last year and asked to serve as director.

The priest took on that role in addition to his pastorship at St. Theresa Parish in Trumbull, Connecticut. “It’s a challenge,” he said with a chuckle. ”But you balance it as best you can. You always want to do more for both [roles].” 

He described the men and women who take part in the apostolate as “truly inspirational,” while the organization’s staff, including another full-time priest, are “very hardworking.” 

Looking to the future, Gannon said the group is hoping to expand its social media presence. He also said it is making efforts to contact each new bishop installed in the U.S. 

“We’ve just started to reach out to newly appointed bishops, sending them a welcome letter and encouraging them to get in touch with us, letting them know we’d love to come and talk to them about starting a Courage chapter if they don’t have one,” he said. 

Gannon said participants in the ministry do not seek a watered-down version of Catholic doctrine. “They want to follow exactly what the Church is teaching,” he said. 

“The secular world has a twisted view of sexuality,” he said. “This is such a needed ministry. It helps people find peace.”

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Mothers urge lawmakers to ban assault weapons after Minneapolis Catholic school shooting
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Mothers urge lawmakers to ban assault weapons after Minneapolis Catholic school shooting

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Police gather at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis on Aug. 27, 2025, following a mass shooting that killed two children and injured 17 others, 14 of them children. / Credit: Chad Davis, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, Sep 22, 2025 / 17:17 pm (CNA).

At a town hall meeting in Plymouth, Minnesota, over the weekend, three mothers whose children survived the school shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in August advocated for stricter gun laws. 

Two children were killed and 21 people were injured after Robin Westman, 23, a man who identified as a woman, shot through the stained-glass windows of the church during a school Mass on Aug. 27. 

Fletcher Merkel, 8, and Harper Moyski, 10, were killed in the attack. 

Carla Maldonado, who has two children at Annunciation Catholic School, said “taking action” by tightening gun laws would honor the deaths of the two children and “all lives taken by gun violence.”

“We cannot accept a world where civilians have access to weapons designed for battlefields,” she said, referring to assault weapons and calling for their prohibition.

Another mother, Malia Kimbrell, who also supports an assault weapons ban, asked: “If the next mass shooting happens at your child’s school, what type of weapon are you comfortable with the shooter being armed with?”

Kimbrell, whose daughter Vivian, 9, is recovering after she was shot multiple times, advocated for “more mental health resources and safer gun storage and better background checks and detecting potential threats online and improved security measures.” 

Stephanie Moscetti said her son “was an honorary pallbearer at his friend’s [Merkel’s] funeral; how is this our reality?” 

“Our kids deserve safe schools, they deserve safe childhoods where they can play and learn,” she said.

Rep. Kelly Morrison, a Democrat who represents Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional District, organized the town hall meeting, which focused on the prevention of gun violence. 

Several of the mothers at the town hall also testified last week before a working group of state lawmakers who deliberated over proposed reforms dealing with gun violence.

At the hearing, Rob Doar, senior vice president of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, asked lawmakers to strengthen the law surrounding mental health resources access, pointing out that none of the proposals put forward would have prevented the shooting because Westman legally purchased the weapons. 

Westman used three firearms during the August attack: a rifle, a shotgun, and a pistol, all of which were purchased legally under existing state law. The rifle was likely an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle, which is considered an assault weapon. 

Laws limiting those with mental health disorders from gun possession

Though Westman struggled with his gender identity, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) removed “gender identity disorder” from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and replaced it with “gender dysphoria” in the revised version, known as the DSM-5, published in 2013. 

This change marked a significant shift in how struggles with a person’s sexual identity are classified, with health care professionals no longer calling it a mental illness.

The new classification of gender dysphoria, though it is still in the APA’s manual of mental disorders, addresses the symptoms, or the distress, associated with gender incongruence and not the incongruence itself. 

Minnesota, along with 29 other states, bars people with mental health issues who have been involuntarily committed or found to be a danger to self or others from possessing a gun. 

This law did not come into play in the August shooting, however.

Gov. Tim Walz in early September called for a special session, which has yet to take place, that will focus on gun safety. He proposed banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazine clips as well as more safety regulations concerning storage and a stronger red flag law.

Minnesota’s current red flag law allows family or local and state officials to ask for an extreme risk protection order, or ERPO, which allows them to petition the court to have an at-risk person’s guns removed or to temporarily prohibit that person from buying a gun.

“We passed a red flag law. It was passed in 2023 and it was supposed to deal with a situation like this,” Minnesota House Republican leader Harry Niska said in early September after Walz proposed the special session. “So I hope everyone is asking serious questions about why — why did this incident not trigger either a background check flag or a red flag?”

Walz will need the support of Republican lawmakers in the special session, and they have different proposals. They want to make private school security eligible for state funding, something the Minnesota Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of Minnesota’s six Catholic dioceses, has asked for multiple times.

Republicans also want to allow doctors more discretion concerning transgender medical procedures, more funds for mental health facilities, and harsher penalties for certain gun crimes. 

Ten states ban assault weapons, but the proposal in Minnesota failed to come up for a vote in 2023. Just over half of rural residents opposed an assault weapons ban in a 2022 MinnPost poll, while 69% of urban dwellers supported it. Overall, the poll found that nearly 54% supported it.

Minnesota already has one of the nation’s stronger gun regulation frameworks, according to Everytown Research, which ranks the state 14th in the country for gun safety policies.

The state requires universal background checks for all firearm sales, including private transfers, and domestic violence protections prohibit access for those under restraining orders or with misdemeanor convictions, among many other regulations.

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Trump, Vance among those honoring Charlie Kirk’s Christian legacy 
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Trump, Vance among those honoring Charlie Kirk’s Christian legacy 

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Erika Kirk embraces U.S. President Donald Trump at the conclusion of the memorial service held for Charlie Kirk in Glendale, Arizona, on Sept. 21, 2025. / Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 22, 2025 / 09:35 am (CNA).

President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Erika Kirk, and more than a dozen others gave speeches to honor the late Charlie Kirk at Sunday’s memorial service, highlighting his efforts to promote conservative values to young people and promote the Gospel on campus.

Some 90,000 people gathered for the memorial service at State Farm Stadium and an adjacent venue in Glendale, Arizona, on Sept. 21. Bishop Robert Barron, who had scheduled Kirk to come on his show, was among those in attendance.

Kirk, an evangelical Christian, was assassinated on Sept. 10 during an event at Utah Valley University while debating students on campus. At the time, Kirk was conversing with a young ideological opponent about transgenderism and gun violence. Prior to the question, he had been discussing his Christian faith with another questioner, something he often included in his conservative campus activism.

“What was even more important to Charlie than politics and service was the choice he made in the fifth grade — which he called the most important decision of his life — to become a Christian and a follower of his Savior Jesus Christ,” Trump, a self-identified nondenominational Christian, said during his speech.

Trump praised Kirk’s legacy of evangelizing the message of Christ and his activism to promote conservative values on campus, saying Kirk was “inspired by faith and his love of freedom” to establish the conservative campus organization Turning Point USA when he was just 18 years old.

“Charlie Kirk started with an idea only to change minds on college campuses and instead he ended up with a far greater achievement: changing history,” the president said. “… Today Charlie Kirk rests in heaven for all eternity. He has gone from speaking on campuses in Wisconsin to kneeling at the throne of God.”

Vance, a Catholic who often discussed theology with Kirk, spoke about Kirk’s devotion to honest debate in his campus activism, saying his “unshakable belief in the Gospel led him to see differences in opinion, not as battlefields to conquer but as waystations in the pursuit of truth.”

“He knew it was right to love others, your neighbor, your interlocutor, your enemy,” Vance said.
“But he also understood his duty to say what is right and what is wrong, to distinguish what is false from what is true.”

U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaks during the memorial service for slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk in Glendale, Arizona, on Sept. 21, 2025. Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images
U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaks during the memorial service for slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk in Glendale, Arizona, on Sept. 21, 2025. Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images

The vice president noted that even after death, Kirk’s message to defend life, to get married and start a family, and to follow Christ, continue to reach people. Vance said his own public appearances have been particularly influenced by Kirk after the assassination.

“I was telling somebody backstage that I always felt a little uncomfortable talking about my faith in public, as much as I love the Lord, as much as it was an important part of my life,” Vance told the crowd. “I’ve talked more about Jesus Christ in the past two weeks than I have my entire time in public life. And that is the undeniable legacy of the great Charlie Kirk. You know, he loved God and because he wanted to understand God’s creation and the men and women made in his image.”

Kirk’s widow forgives assassin

Kirk’s wife, Erika, said her husband’s devotion to Christ has influenced many Americans in the aftermath of the assassination.

“This past week, we saw people open a Bible for the first time in a decade, we saw people pray for the first time since they were children, we saw people go to a church service for the first time in their entire lives,” Erika Kirk said.

“Pray again, read the Bible again, go to Church next Sunday and the Sunday after that, and break free from the temptations and shackles of this world,” she urged the audience.

“Being a follower of Christ is not easy,” she continued. “It’s not supposed to be easy. Jesus said ‘if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.’ He said he would be persecuted, he said we would be persecuted, and Charlie knew that and happily carried his cross all the way to the end.”

Erika Kirk said he had gone onto Utah Valley University’s campus to show people, especially young men, “a better path and a better life that was right there for the taking.” She added: “He wanted to save young men, just like the one who took his life.”

Appealing to the Gospel message, Erika Kirk also extended forgiveness to the man who shot her husband. 

“On the cross, our Savior said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,’” she said. “That man, that young man, I forgive him. I forgive him because it was what Christ did and is what Charlie would do. The answer to hate is not hate. The answer, we know from the Gospel, is love and always love. Love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us.”

‘I want to be remembered for courage for my faith’

Other speakers also highlighted Kirk’s emphasis on Christ in his campus activism. 

Donald Trump Jr. reminded the crowd that Kirk said just months before his death that if he were to die, “I want to be remembered for my courage for my faith.” 

“Those were not empty words,” Trump Jr. said. “Last week, Charlie joined a long line of courageous men and women who were martyred for what they believe.”

The country’s Health and Human Services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a Catholic, said Kirk’s devotion to God modeled St. Francis of Assisi’s instruction to try to live one’s life in imitation of Christ.

“Charlie understood the great paradox: That it’s only by surrender to God that God’s power can flow into our lives and make us effective human beings,” Kennedy said. “Christ died at 33 years old, but he changed the trajectory of history. Charlie died at 31 years old, but because he had surrendered, he also now has changed the trajectory of history.” 

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth similarly noted that Kirk “was a true believer,” one who understood that “Only Christ is King, our Lord and Savior.” 

“Our sins are washed away by the blood of Jesus,” Hegseth said. “Fear God and fear no man. That was Charlie Kirk.” 

Political commentator Tucker Carlson said Kirk was essentially “a Christian evangelist” who “was bringing the Gospel to the country.” 

“He also knew that politics wasn’t the final answer,” Carlson said. “It can’t answer the deepest questions, actually. That the only real solution is Jesus.”

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Lila Rose delivers strong pro-life message in Yale debate with Frances Kissling
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Lila Rose delivers strong pro-life message in Yale debate with Frances Kissling

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Lila Rose (left) debates Frances Kissling on Sept. 16, 2025, at Yale University. / Credit: Live Action via YouTube screenshot

National Catholic Register, Sep 19, 2025 / 10:40 am (CNA).

The news that pro-life activist Lila Rose was declared the winner by students attending a debate earlier this week with an abortion activist at Yale University — a campus not particularly known for its pro-life sentiment — lit up the pro-life corners of the internet.

Rose, the founder and president of Live Action, posted on X following Tuesday night’s debate, which was hosted by the Yale Political Union. She said the event’s organizer was “shocked” after those in attendance voted in favor of the pro-life argument by a margin of 60-31.

For defenders of the lives of unborn babies, it was heartening to see apparent evidence that arguments against abortion are making headway, even at one of the country’s most elite educational institutions. 

Rose’s opponent, Frances Kissling, the former head of Catholics for Choice and founding president of the National Abortion Federation, laid bare the diabolical essence of the “pro-choice” argument. An unborn baby may be human, according to Kissling, but a woman should be able to decide whether the child lives or dies.

“We need to begin to think about abortion as a conflict of values. I tend to favor more or think more about the value of women’s lives,” Kissling said.

“I’m not talking about whether they’re going to die or not,” she said. “I’m talking about the fact that they have decisions to make about how they are going to live that life,” Kissling clarified.

Kissling, who is Catholic and had spent two years as a religious sister in a convent, went on to say that abortion should be condoned by what she said is an ever-evolving Catholic Church.

“The idea that Catholicism never changes is not true, even in very serious decisions,” she said. “I was thinking about this. Whatever happened to limbo?”

“I’m in the group of Catholics who look at the idea that even the Catholic Church can change. We learn new things,” she said. 

Rose countered by describing what allowing “choice” to trump life really looks like, citing the recent case of a 21-year-old college student whose newborn baby was found dead, wrapped in a towel and stuffed in a closet.

“A child hidden in a closet, his humanity denied. If this does not grieve us, then what will? This is what choice over life looks like when the choice of adults is made supreme,” Rose said.

“What about the child’s choice? That has not been represented here yet tonight. And so let me ask the question here plainly: Should murder be legal? Of course not. Then why do we excuse abortion? Abortion is the direct and intentional killing of an innocent human being,” she said.

Rose called for more federal funding for pregnancy-resource centers, for government-funded cash credits for parents, and for making childbirth free.

“Instead of turning to violence against the most vulnerable as a solution to problems that we face, instead, we should be a society that uplifts, that makes life better for the vulnerable, that focuses our energy and our efforts and our organizations and our resources on supporting women and young families and children,” Rose said.

At the conclusion of the debate, Kissling revealed that at the heart of her position is a concession that an unborn child is, in fact, a human being. 

Kissling then presented the argument put forward by adherents of utilitarian moral theory that an action can be justified if it leads to the “happiness” of the greatest number of people.

The abortion activist suggested considering a “thought experiment” involving a situation in which there is a fire in a building, and one is faced with deciding whether to rescue a poor family of six or a doctor who was about to come up with a cure for cancer. 

“I’m asking you to think for yourself about how much you really believe and how much you act and how all our governments act within the principle of ‘every single life [has equal value],’” she said.

“The greatest good for the greatest number of people. Good principle. Do you save the family of six or do you save the doctor? That’s it,” she said.

Following the debate, Sabrina Soriano, a junior and art history major at Yale, said she thought Rose was the clear winner.

“I think Lila definitely just swept the floor and took the trophy prize because she came in with a sense of humility, and also with a deep sense of wanting to do justice to the Church in general, and also to the unborn.”

“I think regardless of if you were pro-choice, you understood that the argument [Kissling made] was weak, and it was based on more of a crowd-surfing or sentimentality rather than the facts,” said Soriano, who is Catholic and a member of the campus pro-life group, as were many students in attendance.

Kylyn Smith, a 19-year-old senior and double major in physics and economics, told the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, that while there was a strong contingent of pro-life advocates in the audience, Rose bested Kissling in the debate fair and square. 

“Lila Rose valiantly defended the pro-life position with a secular, logical argument centered on the humanity of the unborn child. It was incredible watching her speak just as incisively and coherently live and in person as on her videos,” Smith said. 

“Passion from attendees of all opinions quite literally rang throughout the auditorium, from hissing in disagreement to stomping in support. Ms. Rose’s cogent reasoning stood in stark contrast to the often-contradictory statements of the other guest, solidifying Lila’s win.”

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

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Homilies across U.S. take stock of Charlie Kirk assassination
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Homilies across U.S. take stock of Charlie Kirk assassination

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Priests throughout the country have mentioned assassinated conservative Christian activisit Charlie Kirk in their homilies this week. / Credit: ChoeWatt/Shutterstock

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Parents of Annunciation shooting victim say daughter’s progress is a ‘miracle’
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Parents of Annunciation shooting victim say daughter’s progress is a ‘miracle’

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Flowers are seen on Sept. 3, 2025, outside the Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, where a shooter killed two children and injured 21 other people on Aug. 27, 2025. / Credit: Alex Wroblewski/Getty

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

‘Shattered and heartbroken, but not lost’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Aftermath of a tragedy 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Faith, family and God’s mercy: Highlights from Erika Kirk’s TV address
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Faith, family and God’s mercy: Highlights from Erika Kirk’s TV address

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Vice President JD Vance (R) second lady Usha Vance (C) and Erika Kirk deplane Air Force Two while escorting the body of Charlie Kirk on Sept. 11, 2025 in Phoenix, Arizona. / Credit: Kirk, Eric Thayer/Getty Images

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here are other highlights from her remarks:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Alveda King responds to Charlie Kirk’s assassination: ‘We’ve got to care again’
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Alveda King responds to Charlie Kirk’s assassination: ‘We’ve got to care again’

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Alveda King has suffered three assassinations in her family: that of her father, Rev. Alfred Daniel Williams King; her grandmother, Alberta King; and her renowned uncle, Martin Luther King Jr. / Credit: “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo”/Screenshot

CNA Staff, Sep 12, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

After the assassination of Charlie Kirk at a college campus on Wednesday, Alveda King, the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., encouraged people to pray.

“It broke my heart,” King said when asked about her reaction to learning of the assassination.

“I was so very startled when I got the news that Charlie had been shot, and my heart immediately went to him and his family, his beautiful wife, his little children,” she told Raymond Arroyo on EWTN’s “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo.”

“Having experienced those kinds of occurrences in my own family, I immediately went into prayer,” she said.

King shared about her own experience with political assassinations in her family. Not only was her uncle, Dr. King, assassinated but her father, Rev. Alfred Daniel Williams King, was also assassinated as well as her grandmother, Alberta King.

“For me, I am a Christian. I still have the peace and the joy of the Lord, but it’s almost like a trauma or a trigger point when those things happen,” King said. 

But amid the trauma, King encouraged listeners to “do what my uncle talked about,” encouraging people to have “regard for human dignity.” 

“We’ve got to care again,” King said. “We’ve got to see human beings as human beings — from the womb to the tomb and beyond.”

“We’ve got to get back to a point of caring, of loving, of repenting, of forgiving,” she continued. “Therein lies the answer.”

The greatest of these is love 

Calling Charlie Kirk a “man of faith,” King said she will remember him with a Scripture verse: 1 Corinthians 13:13.

“Now abides faith, hope, and love. The greatest of these is love,” she said. “That’s the way that I do remember Charlie.”

King said she believed that if Charlie Kirk, Dr. King, or President John F. Kennedy were still with us, they would encourage us to not “seek our answers in humanity.” 

“We’re going to find not our heroes in humanity, but we’re going to have to look to Jesus at these times,” King said. 

“We’re living in tumultuous times, and social media drives us to retaliate, to strike back,” she said. “I want to remind people that if you don’t agree with someone, you don’t shoot the person. You pray, you talk, and you consider your position. But this violence is just absolutely wrong.”

She noted that we are living in “a time of violence and anger and fear and frustration.” 

“So that leads me to say to everyone: fear not, listen, love, communicate,” she said. 

King encouraged listeners “to do something good for someone” in remembrance of Charlie Kirk and in memory of the victims of the violence on the 24th anniversary of 9/11. 

“I would remind us to call for peace, to call for prayer,” she said. “And I know Charlie would want us to do that as well.”

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Catholic schools add security, including armed staff, after Minneapolis school shooting
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Catholic schools add security, including armed staff, after Minneapolis school shooting

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Police gather at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis on Aug. 27, 2025, following a mass shooting that killed two children and injured 17 others, 14 of them children. / Credit: Chad Davis, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, Sep 11, 2025 / 17:27 pm (CNA).

After two children died and more than 20 people were injured by a transgender-identifying man in Minneapolis in August, Catholic schools around the country have been evaluating their security measures, with some hiring security guards and others allowing teachers and staff to be armed.

The Diocese of Buffalo this week announced it has hired armed security guards for the 29 Catholic elementary schools in its jurisdiction and has also engaged a “security consultant” to help create “comprehensive safety plans tailored to each school community.”

Catholic schools superintendent Joleen Dimitroff sent a letter to parents informing them of the decisions, which she said are “a reflection of our shared belief that the safety of our children is priceless and must be protected with the highest level of care.”

Parents’ reactions have been mixed. Marc Bruno, a longtime Buffalo public school teacher, called the move “a necessary step.”

“No one wants to see guns in the schools,” he told local ABC news station WKBW. However, he continued, “if you look at some of the previous shootings, principals have thrown their bodies at the gunman, and you know, our bodies don’t stand a chance against a bullet.”

One mother opposed the move, saying having armed security guards will put “children’s lives in danger.” She said she will not continue sending her child to school with armed guards present, emphasizing that her child “isn’t allowed to have peanut butter in his classroom to protect kids, but you want a stranger strolling the halls with a gun?”

Arming teachers

A less-talked-about solution among Catholic schools is the practice of arming school staff, including teachers. 

In Ohio, nearly 100 public school districts — and even some private Christian schools — have anonymous armed staff this year, up from 67 the year before, according to a roster released by the Ohio Department of Public Safety.

Hametown Christian Academy, a private school in Norton, Ohio, allows armed staff. 

Associate pastor and head of school safety at the school Rick Wright told the Akron Beacon Journal on Aug. 25 that the school board decided it was “prudent to arm teachers and staff members” due to the increase in school shootings in recent years. 

“A gun is not evil,” Wright said. “It is a tool, and the fact that some of our staff may be armed is a deterrent.”

The names and numbers of teachers and other school staff carrying guns are not publicly available, nor are the total number of armed staff in each district. All armed staff are trained to use their weapons, according to Wright.

Schools post signs alerting visitors of the gun policy, hoping the knowledge that staff are armed will serve as “a deterrent,” Wright said.

If you “put up a no gun zone sign,” Wright said, “you’re telling somebody you can come in here and shoot all you want.” 

“It works the opposite (of the intent); you’ve made yourself a soft target,” he said.

An independent Catholic school in the South that wishes to remain unnamed told CNA that after extensive discussion about campus security, administrators arrived at an “informal” security policy that involves armed staff.

“We’re pretty sure some of the teachers have guns in their cars,” an administrator told CNA. 

When asked whether teachers were also carrying concealed weapons, the administrator said he does not know, and the school has “never said yes or no” to the practice.

Because of the “high quality of the teachers” at the school, the administrator said the leadership “came to the conclusion that the teachers would go after a guy with a gun rather than run away.” The school would “call the police and then the teachers with weapons would use … deadly force” if necessary to protect students. 

“We’re willing to bet that would be a sufficient response,” he said.

Funding for security measures

Funding for the new security measures in the Buffalo Diocese for the 2025-2026 school year has been provided by the Foundation for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, according to Dimitroff. Tuition will increase in subsequent years to cover the cost, which might also be covered by public funding.

James Cultrara, the director for education for the New York State Catholic Conference, told CNA after the 2012 school shooting in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, that New York state lawmakers had instituted two funding streams to address school security: one for public schools and one for private schools. 

The private school funding program has expanded tenfold, from $7 million initially to more than $70 million. Schools can use the funds to address anything related to “health, safety, and security.” Environmental hazard mitigation as well as security cameras, security guards, and remote door locks are covered by the funding, Cultrara said.

The Minnesota Catholic Conference released a statement on Sept. 5 saying it “welcomes a broader legislative discussion about preventing gun violence” and asking the state Legislature to address security funding disparities between public and private schools.

Jason Adkins, executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference, noted that while the Catholic Church in Minnesota “has long supported commonsense gun regulations, such as protective orders and expanded background checks,” neither of those measures prevented “the Annunciation tragedy.”

Adkins noted that while “Americans have a right to possess firearms,” that right comes with responsibilities, including that of public officials to address the “deeper causes of violence — mental health struggles, family breakdown, and a growing despair often worsened by harmful ideologies, substance abuse, and the effects of the absence of God in people’s lives.”

Adkins urged the Legislature to reconsider recently-enacted laws that loosen restrictions on THC (a cannabis plant derivative) and “the widely debated treatment of young people experiencing gender dysphoria.”

A controversial Minnesota law prohibits mental health counselors from practicing so-called conversion therapy on LGBT youth, which in practice means that therapists who want to help people who do not want to embrace a LGBT identity are fearful of doing so, according to Christian therapist Dr. David Kirby, who testified against the legislation before it passed.

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Catholic and U.S. leaders offer prayers on 24th anniversary of 9/11
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Catholic and U.S. leaders offer prayers on 24th anniversary of 9/11

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Memorial lights commemorate the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. / Credit: Brian E Kushner/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 11, 2025 / 13:34 pm (CNA).

On the 24th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Catholic and U.S. leaders offered prayers and paid tribute to those who lost their lives that day and for all those who continue to grieve.

“Today we remember Sept. 11, 2001,” Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York wrote in a joint post to social media. “We continue to pray for the souls lost that day, the families who still mourn, the heroes who served, and all those who have since died from 9/11-related illnesses or continue to suffer.”

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Dolan’s post offered a prayer to be said on the anniversary: “Lord, on this Sept. 11, we remember all who died 24 years ago in our city and throughout the country. We hold in our hearts those who still carry loss and grief from that day.”

“Grant eternal rest to the departed, strength to survivors and their families, and protection for first responders and all who serve our communities with courage and dedication. Lord God, continue to watch over our city and country, and help us turn hearts toward compassion and peace. Amen.”

In a post to X, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) also offered a prayer in memory of the attack: “God of understanding, overwhelmed by the magnitude of this tragedy, we seek your light and guidance as we confront such terrible events. Grant that those whose lives were spared may live so that the lives lost here may not have been lost in vain.”

“Comfort and console us, strengthen us in hope, and give us the wisdom and courage to work tirelessly for a world where true peace and love reign among nations and in the hearts of all.”

U.S. leaders also commemorated the day and paid tribute to the victims. 

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump attended an event at the Pentagon in Virginia on Thursday morning where prayers were offered for all the victims, first responders, those who continue to grieve, and U.S. active military members. 

“To every family member that still feels a void every day of your lives, the First Lady and I unite with you in sorrow,” Trump said at the event. “And today, as one nation, we renew our sacred vow that we will never forget Sept. 11, 2001.”

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also spoke, asking the crowd to honor the memory of the victims and to acknowledge “the decades of courage that followed” the attack. 

“We gather to pay tribute to the first responders who charged into the flames and up the stairs, to those trapped on planes fighting their final fight, and to the families whose lives were forever altered by that fateful day,” Hegseth said.  

“I thank God for all of you and all of our fighters from that day, to today and beyond. May God bless our warriors as they ruthlessly seek out enemies on behalf of the fellow citizens they love.”

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Politicians, faith leaders condemn political violence after Charlie Kirk assassination
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Politicians, faith leaders condemn political violence after Charlie Kirk assassination

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A makeshift memorial is seen at Timpanogos Regional Hospital in honor of political activist Charlie Kirk on Sept. 11, 2025, in Orem, Utah. / Credit: George Frey/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 11, 2025 / 13:04 pm (CNA).

Faith leaders and political leaders are uniting their voices to condemn politically motivated violence following the assassination of Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk.

Following the confirmation of Kirk’s death by President Donald Trump, some hours after the TPUSA founder was shot at a Utah Valley University event on Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 10, countless faith and political leaders began to speak out against the scourge of political violence.

In a statement, Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, railed against the “vicious pattern of political and social disorder” of the past several weeks, citing the Annunciation Catholic school shooting, the murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, “and now the political assassination of Charlie Kirk, known for his commitment to civil and rational discourse.” 

“What we see unfolding in our nation is a vicious pattern of hatreds rooted in the rejection of God, of the dignity of the human person, and the sanctity of the family,” the bishop observed.

“We are living through a perilous moment,” Burbridge continued. “Our challenge is not only one of partisan disagreement, law, and policy, but in a deeper way our challenge is to uphold the central goods of American political life: of faith, of families, and of a national commitment to live together in harmony as brothers and sisters.”

Kirk’s assasination hit Bishop Barron particularly hard

“I am devastated by the news of Charlie Kirk’s death,” Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, Bishop Robert Barron said after news of Kirk’s death was confirmed by President Donald Trump. 

Barron went on to reveal that Kirk had been scheduled to appear on his show, “Bishop Barron Presents,” in 10 days. The founder of Word on Fire called Kirk “a great debater and also one of the best advocates in our country for civil discourse, but he was, first and last, a passionate Christian,” recalling that when they first met four years ago, “we didn’t talk much about politics. We talked about theology, in which he had a deep interest, and about Christ. I know I’m joining millions of people around the world in praying that he rests now in the peace of the Lord.”

Moral theologian on root of problem

“You have to be willfully blind not to see that the root of the problem is political hatred, and that that hatred is no more obvious than in those who cannot restrain themselves from badmouthing a man even when he lay dying,” said Edward Feser, a Catholic philosopher and professor at Pasadena City College.

In a joint post showcasing their shared perspective across ideological divides, Princeton legal scholar Robert George and Harvard theology and philosophy professor Cornel West said: “For our nation, this is a moment for deep healing and for bearing witness to the precious humanity of all our brothers and sisters — those with whom we agree and those with whom we disagree.” The pair had appeared together on Kirk’s show recently.

Meanwhile, CatholicVote President Kelsey Reinhardt said the tragic shooting “was not merely an assault on one man: It was an assault on the principles of free dialogue, civic order, and human dignity.” 

“As Catholics, we affirm with unwavering conviction that every human life is sacred,” Reinhardt continued, offering prayers for the repose of Kirk’s soul. “I call upon every leader, regardless of party or persuasion, to condemn this murder unequivocally. To remain silent in the face of such evil is to be complicit in its advance. Let this tragedy awaken America to the urgent need to recover respect for life, civility in discourse, and courage in the pursuit of truth.”

Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts also weighed in, writing: “What a horrific day in American history.” 

“To Charlie’s family, friends, and @TPUSA colleagues: We must never, never, never, never, never, never stop fighting to build the America that he helped make possible,” Roberts added. 

Netanyahu: Kirk ‘stood tall for Judeo-Christian civilization’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined world leaders in condemning Kirk’s assasination, writing: “Charlie Kirk was murdered for speaking truth and defending freedom. A lion-hearted friend of Israel, he fought the lies and stood tall for Judeo-Christian civilization.” 

Netanyahu revealed he had spoken to Kirk “only two weeks ago” and had invited the late TPUSA founder to visit Israel.

“Sadly, that visit will not take place,” the prime minister said. “We lost an incredible human being. His boundless pride in America and his valiant belief in free speech will leave a lasting impact.” 

In another tribute, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who hosted Kirk as the first guest on his new podcast, said: “His senseless murder is a reminder of how important it is for all of us, across the political spectrum, to foster genuine discourse on issues that deeply affect us all without resorting to political violence.” 

“The best way to honor Charlie’s memory is to continue his work: Engage with each other, across ideology, through spirited discourse,” he continued. “In a democracy, ideas are tested through words and good-faith debate — never through violence.”

Newsom added: “Honest disagreement makes us stronger; violence only drives us further apart and corrodes the values at the heart of this nation.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden both took to social media as well, with Biden writing in a post: “There is no place in our country for this kind of violence. It must end now. Jill and I are praying for Charlie Kirk’s family and loved ones.” 

“I am deeply disturbed by the shooting in Utah. Doug and I send our prayers to Charlie Kirk and his family,” Harris wrote, adding: “Let me be clear: Political violence has no place in America. I condemn this act, and we all must work together to ensure this does not lead to more violence.”

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‘God is with Nicaragua!’ exclaims first Nicaraguan consecrated bishop in the U.S.
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‘God is with Nicaragua!’ exclaims first Nicaraguan consecrated bishop in the U.S.

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Bishop Pedro Bismarck Chau at his episcopal consecration Mass as the new auxiliary bishop of Newark, New Jersey, on Sept. 8, 2025. / Credit: Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 11, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

“Today, we Nicaraguans are making history again. Do not forget: God is with us and God is with Nicaragua!” said Pedro Bismarck Chau, the new auxiliary bishop of Newark, New Jersey, at the Sept. 8 Mass for his episcopal consecration, making him the first Nicaraguan-born bishop in the United States.

Amid a festive atmosphere and before a packed Sacred Heart Cathedral in Newark, where he had been rector since 2020, Chau received episcopal consecration through the laying on of hands by several bishops. The principal consecrator was Cardinal Joseph Tobin, the archbishop of Newark.

As part of the celebration, Cardinal Christoph Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, read the letter in which Pope Leo XIV officially appointed Chau as bishop and encouraged him to allow himself to be strengthened “by the grace of this jubilee year and you will have reason to be confident in the gift of hope, which does not disappoint. May God continue to bless you and may he bless the people of God in this archdiocese.”

The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep

In his homily in English and Spanish, Tobin encouraged the new bishop to remember that “you have been called from among the people of God and for the people of God. Not for yourself, but for the things that belong to God. Indeed, episcopacy is the name of a service, not an honor, for a bishop should strive to serve rather than rule.”

“According to the Master’s commandment, whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of all … Be a faithful steward and dispenser of the mysteries of Christ. Always follow the example of the Good Shepherd, who knows his sheep and is known by them, and who did not hesitate to give his life for them.”

The cardinal then recalled that “Pope Francis never tired of repeating to bishops that there are three aspects to a bishop’s closeness to the people he serves: closeness to God in prayer, the first task; closeness to the priests and deacons of the Church; and closeness to the people of God. … Do not forget your roots, do not forget those who have passed on the faith to you.”

‘God is with Nicaragua!’

At the beginning of his address as a newly consecrated bishop, Chau thanked the Deaf community in sign language, recalling that for 17 years they have been a great support and encouragement in his ministry, offering them his prayers and concluding with a clear: “I love you!”

Speaking later in Spanish, he addressed his “dear Hispanic community: Thank you for the faith and devotion you possess. You are a great gift of life for the Church in the United States. Continue, brothers, to be a Church that goes out in search of the lost sheep.”

“I would also like to acknowledge the presence this afternoon,” Chau continued, “of a group of people here from a very small country but with a big and resilient heart that cries out with a phrase that no other country has: ‘Who causes so much joy? The conception of Mary. Mary of Nicaragua! Nicaragua of Mary!’”

The prelate addressed his family, especially his mother: “Thank you, my dearest mother, for everything and for praying so many rosaries for me, three, four, and five times a day that you pray for me. I need them, so don’t stop praying those rosaries for me. OK, Mommy?”

“I love you very much,” he told his family, “you know I love you with all my heart.”

The example of the Virgin Mary

Chau said he hopes to “follow the example of Mary, whose birthday we celebrate today. Happy birthday, Mary! She trusted in God’s plan even though she didn’t know what she was being called to or where it would take or lead her. She renounced all the dreams and aspirations that a young girl would have and put God’s will first.”

Then addressing all those assembled he said: “I humbly ask you to remember me in your prayers to the Lord and to ask the Virgin to watch over me and bring me closer to her son, Jesus, so that I may reflect for you the image of the Good Shepherd. Thank you, and may God bless you all!” he said.

Words of Bishop Silvio Báez

Following the Mass, Bishop Silvio Báez, the exiled auxiliary bishop of Managua, Nicaragua, who has been living in the U.S. since 2019, said the episcopal consecration of Chau was a “historic celebration. The first Nicaraguan, born in Nicaragua, to be ordained a bishop in the United States. He was baptized and took his first steps in the faith in Nicaragua.”

“This is a sign of the richness and fruitfulness of the Church of Nicaragua and a message of hope for all the people of God in our country. The fact that Bismarck came from Nicaragua and settled in the United States shows that it is possible to move forward despite the difficulties one may encounter,” he added.

When asked about his meeting with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican in August, along with two other exiled Nicaraguan bishops — Carlos Herrera and Isidoro Mora — the prelate said: “The interview with the Holy Father was a moment of grace, a moment of hope, seeing how deeply he holds Nicaragua in his heart as well as the situation the Nicaraguan people are experiencing at this time.”

Who is Bishop Pedro Bismarck Chau?

Pedro Bismarck Chau was born on June 28, 1967, in Managua, Nicaragua. He studied at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey, earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology.

He completed his ecclesiastical studies at Immaculate Conception Seminary in South Orange and later earned a master’s degree in counseling from Seton Hall University.

He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Newark on May 24, 2008.

He served as parochial vicar of Our Lady of Mount Virgin in Garfield, New Jersey, from 2008–2012; as director of vocations from 2012–2016; and as head of campus ministry at Rutgers University and the New Jersey Institute of Technology from 2015–2020.

He also served as pastor of the Pro-Cathedral of Sts. John and Patrick in Newark from 2015–2020 and rector of the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart since 2020.

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

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Archdiocese of New Orleans offers 0 million to settle abuse claims
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Archdiocese of New Orleans offers $230 million to settle abuse claims

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St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans. / Credit: travelview/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Sep 9, 2025 / 14:53 pm (CNA).

After the Archdiocese of New Orleans increased its settlement offer to clergy sexual abuse claimants from $180 million to $230 million on Sept. 8, attorneys of the victims urged their clients to accept the deal.

The archdiocese was able to increase its initial offer, announced in May, after securing a buyer for the $50 million sale of Christopher Homes, a property that has provided affordable housing and assisted living to low-income and senior citizens in the Gulf Coast area for the last 50 years.

“We knew we could do better, and we have,” said attorneys Richard Trahant, Soren Gisleson, John Denenea, and several other attorneys who represent about 200 of the 660 claimants.

The attorneys, who said the initial settlement was “dead on arrival,” urged their clients to hold out for a better offer, saying that they deserved closer to $300 million, a figure similar to the $323 million paid out to about 600 claimants by the Diocese of Rockville Centre in New York in 2024. 

In the Diocese of Rockville Centre bankruptcy settlement, attorneys reportedly collected about 30% of the $323 million, or approximately $96.9 million. Similarly, the Los Angeles Archdiocese’s $660 million settlement in 2007 saw attorneys receiving an estimated $165-$217.8 million, or 25%-33% of the payout.

Payout amounts to individual claimants in the New Orleans case will be determined by a point system negotiated by a committee of victims. 

Administered by a trustee and an independent claims administrator appointed by the court, the point system is based on the type and nature of the alleged abuse. Additional points can be awarded for factors like participation in criminal prosecutions, pre-bankruptcy lawsuits, or leadership in victim efforts, while points may be reduced if the claimant was over 18 and consented to the contact. The impact of the alleged abuse on the victim’s behavior, academic achievement, mental health, faith, and family relationships can also adjust the score.

The settlement offer follows five years of negotiations in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, where the nation’s second-oldest Catholic archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in May 2020.

New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond said in a statement Monday that he is “very hopeful and committed to bringing this bankruptcy to a conclusion that benefits the survivors of abuse,” he said. 

“I know there remains much work to be done, and I continue to hold this work in prayer. Please know that I pray for the survivors of abuse every day and look forward to the opportunity to meet with them to hear their stories firsthand.”

Two-thirds of the victims in the lawsuit will have to accept the offer by Oct. 29. If they do not, the case could be thrown out of bankruptcy, giving alleged victims a chance to pursue lawsuits individually.

A New Orleans man who filed a lawsuit in 2021 against a Catholic religious order unrelated to the New Orleans bankruptcy case recently won a $2.4 million jury verdict. 

In 2021, the Louisiana Legislature eliminated the statute of limitations for civil actions related to the sexual abuse of minors. The new law allows victims to pursue civil damages indefinitely for abuse occurring on or after June 14, 1992, or where the victim was a minor as of June 14, 2021, with a three-year filing window (which ended June 14, 2024) for older cases. 

The Diocese of Lafayette, along with the Archdiocese of New Orleans, the Diocese of Baton Rouge, the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, Catholic Charities, the Diocese of Lake Charles, and several other entities challenged the law’s constitutionality, arguing it violated due process, but the Louisiana Supreme Court upheld it in June 2024 in a 4-3 decision.

Critics argued the retroactive nature of the law risks unfairness to defendants unable to defend against decades-old abuse claims due to lost evidence and highlighted the potentially devastating financial impact.

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Diocese investigates sainthood cause of Virginia father who saved son
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Diocese investigates sainthood cause of Virginia father who saved son

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Tom Vander Woude with two of his grandchildren, Michael and Bobby Vander Woude (from left to right). The Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, is investigating Tom Vander Woude’s cause for sainthood almost two decades after he died saving his son. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Tom Vander Woude Guild

CNA Staff, Sep 8, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Suffocation awaited a young man with Down syndrome when the eroded surface of a toxic sewage tank crumbled beneath his feet.

Joseph Vander Woude would have died alone in the cramped tank surrounded by toxic fumes, but his father jumped in, pushing him toward the surface with his last breath.

Even as his lungs filled with toxic gases, Tom called out to the farmhand who was trying to pull Joseph out.

“You pull, I’ll push,” he said.

Tom eventually faded into unconsciousness, still propping Joseph up until emergency responders pulled them both out of the 7-foot-deep tank.

By the time they did, Tom was dead.

It was Sept. 8, 2008, when Tom, 66, left behind his wife and seven sons. But Tom’s legacy wouldn’t end there.

Seventeen years later, a group of Catholics is now working with the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, to open his cause for sainthood.

“You’re shocked that he’s gone, and you miss him, and you don’t know what’s going to replace that void, if it ever will be replaced,” his fifth son, Chris Vander Woude, told CNA. “But then you’re like, that’s a hero.” 

More than 1,500 people attended Tom’s funeral Mass, including the local bishop, more than 75 priests, and more than 60 altar boys.

Tom’s story continues to resonate. A guild founded in his name is interviewing those who knew him, while the diocese has named a postulator and vice postulator to investigate his cause for sainthood.

Depending on what they find, his case could go to Rome.

Signs of holiness

In the Catholic Church, three things can put you on the path to sainthood: martyrdom, heroic virtue, and now — after a 2017 move by Pope Francis to expand sainthood — a sacrificial death. 

Keith Henderson never knew Tom, but as he learned about him, he was inspired to found the Tom Vander Woude Guild that is advocating for his cause by sharing his story. Alongside the guild, the Diocese of Arlington has taken several preliminary steps to open his cause, including naming a postulator and vice postulator, who are investigating and promoting the cause.

As Henderson has learned more about Tom, he found that “his entire life was one of tremendous faith and selfless service to everyone he met.”

“His selfless life and death serve as a model for how laypeople can pursue holiness in the 21st century,” he told CNA.

Tom Vander Woude and his wife, Mary Ellen. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Tom Vander Woude Guild
Tom Vander Woude and his wife, Mary Ellen. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Tom Vander Woude Guild

“He was very joyful. His charity abounds,” Chris added. “He was always helping people.”

But at the same time, Tom was ordinary.

Chris remembers his dad as “quiet” and more of a “St. Joseph character.” Born on April 24, 1942, Tom was a “South Dakota farmer boy” who married his high school sweetheart, Mary Ellen. It was a “country boy meets city girl” type of love story, Chris said. 

Tom would go on to become many more things — math whiz, Navy pilot, commercial pilot, farmer, father, and now, potential saint. 

In 1965, Tom Vander Woude became a Navy pilot. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Tom Vander Woude Guild
In 1965, Tom Vander Woude became a Navy pilot. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Tom Vander Woude Guild

“He was just an ordinary sort of a guy who made an extraordinary impact in so many ways, and on so many people during his life,” Henderson said.

By all accounts, Tom was a busy man: a commercial pilot with a demanding schedule, an attentive father of seven, and a dedicated farmer.

But Tom attended daily Mass often, prayed the rosary every day, and made a weekly Holy Hour from 2 to 3 a.m. — odd hours due to his flying schedule. 

“Dad was the unquestioned leader and protector of the family, and he led spiritually, too,” Chris said. “No matter what dad did that day, if it was flying or farming, he was on his knees saying the rosary.” 

Tom Vander Woude with baby Joseph “Josie” Vander Woude. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Tom Vander Woude Guild
Tom Vander Woude with baby Joseph “Josie” Vander Woude. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Tom Vander Woude Guild

Getting Josie off the sidelines 

For Chris it has been “surreal” to share his father’s story. People are praying for his father’s intercession in all sorts of scenarios — often related to having a child with special needs, Chris said. 

Tom’s third-oldest son, Dan Vander Woude, recalled how Tom went out of his way to ensure that Joseph, affectionately known as “Josie” by his family, was included.

When he was young, part of Joseph’s physical therapy entailed crawling on the ground. Tom was right there with him, crawling on the floor. 

When a grown-up Dan asked his father to coach a JV basketball team, Tom was all in — as long as Joseph could be there, too.

Tom Vander Woude coached basketball in his spare time. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Tom Vander Woude Guild
Tom Vander Woude coached basketball in his spare time. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Tom Vander Woude Guild

“I thought Joseph would simply do the warm-ups with the team and cheer them on from the bench,” Dan recalled. 

But to Dan’s surprise, during one basketball game, Tom had convinced the other coach and the referees to let Joseph play.

“Joseph went into the game and wasted no time getting a couple of fouls and chucking up some long shots,” Dan said. “Joseph was beaming because Dad had given him the opportunity to play in a real game.”

“I was deeply moved that my dad was always committed to getting Joseph off the sidelines and into the game — in basketball and all areas of life,” Dan said. 

Tom Vander Woude with Josie on a horse. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Tom Vander Woude Guild
Tom Vander Woude with Josie on a horse. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Tom Vander Woude Guild

‘Just do the right thing’

After the sewage tank accident, Joseph spent several days at the hospital recovering. Healthy now, Joseph takes care of his 81-year-old mother on the family farm. 

“Seventeen years later, Joseph actually takes care of Mom,” Chris said. “It’s just amazing to see God’s plan and providence.”

Joseph carries the groceries, gets the door for his mom, and offers her his arm when she needs it. 

“You always see Joseph and mom together — very similar to early on, you always saw Joseph and dad together in his last few years,” Chris said. 

Tom’s family continues to grow, with 39 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. His eldest son, Father Tom Vander Woude, is a Catholic priest. 

A family photo taken at Chris Vander Woude’s graduation from Christendom College. From right to left: Joseph, Tom, Dan Vander Woude (third son), Father Tom Vander Woude (oldest son), Steve Vander Woude (second son), Pat Vander Woude (sixth son), Chris Vander Woude (fifth son). Credit: Photo courtesy of the Tom Vander Woude Guild
A family photo taken at Chris Vander Woude’s graduation from Christendom College. From right to left: Joseph, Tom, Dan Vander Woude (third son), Father Tom Vander Woude (oldest son), Steve Vander Woude (second son), Pat Vander Woude (sixth son), Chris Vander Woude (fifth son). Credit: Photo courtesy of the Tom Vander Woude Guild

Chris had decided to spread his father’s story after telling it to a parish in Boston one day. 

“Many people were crying,” he recalled. “They were on the edge of their seats. A lot of it resonates with them.”

“Knowing that people were grateful for being able to hear the story — that was a big catalyst,” he said. “If they were grateful, there’s probably a lot of other people out there that would love to hear his story.” 

Since then, Chris is set on sharing his father’s story. In addition to several podcasts and talks he has given at local Virginia parishes and in Maryland, he plans to speak at parishes in Virginia, Indiana, Ohio, Texas, New York City, and several other states. 

“He’s a very humble man, so he’s probably not very happy with all the notoriety,” Chris said. 

Tom wasn’t one to turn a phrase, but Chris does remember a simple saying of his dad’s. Tom used to say: “Just do the right thing,” Chris recalled. “Usually, that’s pretty simple. We’re the ones that make it more complicated by thinking of all the different circumstances or possibilities.”

“Dad never aimed to do anything extraordinary. He just aimed to live every day as best he can,” Chris said. “And so I think that’s an example for all of us.”

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Kendrick Castillo: Lone fatality at 2019 STEM school shooting could become a saint
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Kendrick Castillo: Lone fatality at 2019 STEM school shooting could become a saint

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Kendrick Castillo, the lone fatality at the STEM School shooting in Highlands Ranch, Colorado on May 7, 2019. / Credit: Courtesy of John and Maria Castillo

Denver, Colo., Sep 4, 2025 / 07:30 am (CNA).

Kendrick Castillo was 18 years old when he tragically died in the STEM School shooting in Highlands Ranch, Colorado on May 7, 2019. He died, witnesses said, after he jumped up in the line of fire and ran to stop one of the shooters with a couple other students. He was the lone fatality. Now, this young man could become a saint in the Catholic Church.

The Diocese of Colorado Springs — the diocese to which the city of Highlands Ranch belongs — announced that a petition to open his cause for canonization has been received. 

“I am very grateful for the time and effort that Father Gregory Bierbaum and Father Patrick DiLoreto of St. Mark Parish in Highlands Ranch have spent gathering evidence and conducting interviews to prepare for a petition to open the cause for canonization of Kendrick Castillo. Although I have just begun to review the information submitted, it seems clear that Kendrick was an exceptional young man,” Bishop James Golka, of the Diocese of Colorado Springs, said in a statement.  

He added, “As we study and discern how to approach the massive undertaking of promoting a canonization cause, I ask all the faithful to keep Kendrick’s family in their prayers. I also encourage everyone to privately invoke Kendrick’s intercession, praying especially for the youth in our diocese, that they emulate his example of fortitude and generosity.”

While Castillo had many connections to the Archdiocese of Denver — attending Notre Dame School in Denver, serving as a Squire of the Knights of Columbus in a Denver council and having his funeral at St. Mary Parish in Littleton — the Church looks to where the individual’s life ended to determine which diocese has the right to petition for canonization. 

Therefore, since Castillo died in Highlands Ranch, which belongs to the Diocese of Colorado Springs, it is this diocese’s responsibility to conduct the investigation. Golka and the diocese will now review and examine the evidence collected and if approved, the petition will be sent to Rome for further consideration.

Father Patrick DiLoreto, the parochial vicar at St. Mark Parish in Highlands Ranch, is one of the individuals involved in gathering evidence for Castillo’s cause of canonization. He and the parish’s pastor, Father Gregory Bierbaum, both experienced Castillo’s story coming up in prayer for months, DiLoreto told CNA in an interview.

Kendrick Castillo serving with the Knights of Columbus. Credit: Courtesy of John and Maria Castillo
Kendrick Castillo serving with the Knights of Columbus. Credit: Courtesy of John and Maria Castillo

“After learning that the issue had been on both of our hearts, we felt this was a prompting by the Holy Spirit to investigate further,” he said. “After interviewing his parents and reviewing the manner in which he died we believed there was reason to petition the Diocese to open a cause for him.”

DiLoreto explained that the priests believe that Castillo qualifies for the category of “Offering of Life.” In a 2017 Motu proprio, Pope Francis declared a new category of Christian life suitable for consideration of beatification called “offering of life” — in which a person has died prematurely through an offering of their life for love of God and neighbor. 

Though similar to martyrdom, this definition fits those Servants of God who have in some way given up their life prematurely for charity, though the circumstances may fall outside the strict definition of martyrdom, which requires the presence of a persecutor.

“He [Castillo] courageously threw himself at one of the school shooters without hesitation allowing other students to follow and subdue the gunman. This saved the lives of his fellow classmates when in any other circumstance, there would surely have been more deaths on that day,” DiLoreto expressed. 

When discussing Castillo’s faith, DiLoreto called him “a pious young man who cared deeply for his faith and desired to be a witness of the faith for others, especially those who had never encountered our Lord.”  

“We have seen this through the devotionals which he had,” he continued. “For example, he always carried his rosary with him — seeing how well-worn the rosaries were, it can also be inferred that he used them frequently. He had one of his rosaries on him when he was murdered which has since been gifted to a classmate who was in the room.”

Actively served in his parish

DiLoreto also shared that Castillo served at Mass and funerals, actively volunteered at his parish, and attended the funerals of individuals he didn’t even know just to pray for the deceased and their family.

“As the country faces more and more persecution of Christians especially in these horrific school shootings, such as the one last week in Minnesota, we can look at the heroic examples such as Kendrick and the children who protected others for inspiration,” DiLoreto said.

“The elderly can look to such young examples as hope for the future generations where there may be skepticism over the future of the Church. Young people can look to such examples and be inspired that they too can live a life of virtue and that they can become saints,” he added. “It is not something that is out of reach for them if they are willing to build up virtue through acts of charity and the grace of the sacraments.” 

The canonization process is a lengthy one with many steps. A large part of the process is determining if the individual has miracles attributed to his or her intercession. The Church requires one verified miracle for beatification, after which the individual is referred to as a “Blessed.” After this, another verified miracle is needed for canonization, at which point they become a “Saint.”

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New animated movie aims to bring story of Jesus to life through eyes of John the disciple
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New animated movie aims to bring story of Jesus to life through eyes of John the disciple

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The disciple John and Jesus in the new animated movie “Light of the World.” / Credit: Salvation Poem Foundation

CNA Staff, Sep 2, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

A new 2D-animated movie, told through the eyes of Jesus’ beloved disciple John, will be released in theaters on Sept. 5, taking viewers from the beginning of Jesus’ ministry to his passion, death, and resurrection. “Light of the World” is the first movie from the Salvation Poem Project, a nonprofit ministry and independent studio that crafts stories to share Jesus Christ with the world.

Brennan McPherson, producer of the film, told CNA in an interview that his team chose to tell the story from John’s perspective because he was likely the youngest disciple so they believe his perspective is the most relatable.

“Telling it from the perspective of a young teenager — young kids want to age up and they see themselves in that. Teenagers are going through those formative years, so they relate with it. And then adults know what that formative time in their life was like. So it made it more appealing to a full family,” he explained. 

He added that the filmmakers “wanted to show how the Gospel changed a young boy’s life and how it can still change our lives today.”

For the filmmakers — who also create other forms of faith-based media — projects such as this one are an “an act of worship.”

“We’re nerdy animation lovers, and we wanted to make a beautiful animated film that honored God, that told the truth about the Gospel, and that could be used as a tool to share our faith with people in a way that’s nonthreatening and that is not just compelling but genuine and respectful towards the audience,” McPherson said.

“What we’re trying to give people is an experience of the goodness of Jesus and let that resonate on a heart level so that they can fall in love with him,” he added. 

The disciple John in the new animated movie "Light of the World." Credit: Salvation Poem Foundation
The disciple John in the new animated movie “Light of the World.” Credit: Salvation Poem Foundation

When deciding what parts of Jesus’ ministry to include in the film, McPherson explained that filmmakers were trying to answer the question “How do you tell the basic big fundamental beats that make the Gospel totally clear to someone who’s had zero background?” 

With this in mind, all of the choices “were through the lens of how do we make the actual structure of the story basically symbolize the Gospel itself, show the Gospel in action, as opposed to just telling us about it.”

He also emphasized the importance the filmmakers gave to “the biblical accuracy, the theological accuracy, [and] making it accessible for children.”

As for what he hopes viewers will take away from the film, McPherson said he hopes “that they will see Jesus is beautiful and fall in love with him and decide to follow him with their lives.”

“We wanted to give people a very clear emotional experience of the Gospel so that it just poured into their hearts. We’re so busy in this culture these days that it’s hard to get people to stop and really think about the claims of Jesus, really consider who he was and whether or not he was true,” he said. “And so this is our way of just basically like, ‘Hey, this is the most beautiful thing to us. That’s what we want to spend our time making art about, and we hope that you see what we see in it.’”

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The Catholic Church has a lot to say about Labor Day — why?
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The Catholic Church has a lot to say about Labor Day — why?

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null / Credit: mikeledray/Shutterstock

Denver, Colo., Sep 1, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

As the U.S. celebrates Labor Day, Catholics have a wealth of resources in biblical interpretation, Church teaching, and social thought that address the nature of work and the place of the worker in society and in God’s creation.

But are Catholics, and others, aware of these resources?

One Catholic leader considering such questions is Father Sinclair Oubre, a priest of the Diocese of Beaumont, Texas. He is the spiritual moderator of the Catholic Labor Network, a Catholic association that promotes Catholic teaching about work and labor unions. It also supports labor organizing.

“All work, no matter what the work is, is essential,” Oubre likes to say. In his view, if a woman in janitorial work at a major software company does not show up to clean the toilets and empty the trash, all production in the office will nosedive.

Centuries of Catholic teaching about labor can be found compiled in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, published in 2004 by the Pontifical Commission for Justice and Peace. It dedicates its entire sixth chapter to human work and labor, its place in God’s plan, its role in society, and the rights and duties of workers.

“The Compendium gathers together in one place those rights that are found in Catholic social teaching, whether it’s Rerum Novarum or Quadragesimo Anno, or Centesimus Annus, and synthesizes them,” Oubre told CNA, referring to the respective encyclicals of popes Leo XIII, Pius XI, and John Paul II.

“It’s a beautiful reflection on human work in the world and a very mature and in-depth discussion of the place of work, the place of labor, and the communal nature of it,” Oubre said.

Labor, politics, and spirituality

Oubre said Catholic teaching is a challenge regardless of people’s political views.

“It’s a challenge to the right, but it’s also a challenge to the left,” he said. Catholicism encourages those on the political right not simply to pray novenas and commit themselves to spiritual actions. It is a challenge not to leave other questions about work and labor to the market.

For the political left, Catholic social teaching “means you have to enter into a more intimate relationship with your Church and your relationship with Jesus and not just be as a social justice person by throwing a couple of little quotes around. It requires you to enter into that deeper spiritual relationship.”

Oubre stressed the importance of starting from the view of Catholic spirituality, not only social justice, because if we don’t, our approach “becomes ideological and polemic.” The spiritual approach “brings us closer to Jesus Christ.”

“No matter how dirty, how uncomfortable, how awful the job is, we are participating in God’s ongoing creation. It’s important that we do that job in a way that gives glory to God,” Oubre said.

God and man at work

The Compendium’s reflection on work begins with its biblical aspects: There is a human duty to “cultivate and care for the earth” and other good things created by God, it says. Work existed before the fall of Adam and Eve, and it is not a punishment or curse until the break with God transforms it into “toil and pain.” However, God’s rest on the seventh day of creation is the sign of the “fuller freedom” of the “eternal Sabbath.”

The life of Jesus Christ is a mission of work, from his early life helping St. Joseph in the work of a carpenter to his ministry of preaching and healing, and most of all in his redemptive labors on the cross.

The Compendium presents human labor as a way of supporting oneself and one’s loved ones, but also a way to serve the needy. Work is a way to make God’s creation more beautiful, since humankind shares in God’s art and wisdom.

“Human work, directed to charity as its final goal, becomes an occasion for contemplation, it becomes devout prayer, vigilantly rising towards and in anxious hope of the day that will not end,” the Compendium says.

The rights of labor

God’s rest on the seventh day of creation, the Compendium says, means men and women must enjoy “sufficient rest and free time that will allow them to tend to their family, cultural, social, and religious life.”

The Compendium outlines and explains the many rights of workers: the right to rest from work; the right to a working environment that is not harmful to a worker’s health or moral integrity; the right to unemployment protections; the right to a pension and insurance for old age, disability, and work-related accidents; the right to social security for working mothers; and the right to assemble and form associations; the right to just wages and remuneration; and the right to strike.

Labor unions play a “fundamental role” in serving the common good and promoting social order and solidarity, though they must not abuse their role in society or become simply arms of a political party.

“The recognition of workers’ rights has always been a difficult problem to resolve because this recognition takes place within complex historical and institutional processes, and still today it remains incomplete,” the Compendium says. “This makes the practice of authentic solidarity among workers more fitting and necessary than ever.”

A challenge for Catholics and institutions

Catholic teaching has a lengthy paper record. But as in other areas, there is a challenge to practice it.

“What I find over and over again that the Church — our Church — gives us wonderful documents of guidance… and we never go back and read them,” Oubre told CNA.

He cited the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ 1996 pastoral letter “Economic Justice for All,” which says the Church should be a model for labor rights and treating workers justly.

However, Oubre said that in his experience Catholic parishes often neglect to provide unemployment insurance to employees if the law allows them to opt out. Catholic institutions often act as “at-will” employers in which management can fire employees for any reason. They may show preferences for nonunion labor over unionized labor when planning and funding construction projects.

“You’re going to undercut the guy who has actually followed the Church’s teachings in regards to work by hiring somebody who may be not offering medical insurance for his employees,” the priest lamented.

For Labor Day, Oubre encouraged parishes, dioceses, and other institutions to make sure to adopt policies that put Catholic labor teaching into practice.

This story was first published on Sept. 4, 2023, and has been updated.

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GoFundMe campaigns raise more than .2 million for victims of Catholic school shooting
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GoFundMe campaigns raise more than $1.2 million for victims of Catholic school shooting

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Over $1 million has been raised through a GoFundMe campaign for victims of the shooting at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025. / Credit: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

CNA Staff, Aug 29, 2025 / 12:21 pm (CNA).

Numerous online fundraising campaigns have raised well over $1 million to help support victims of the Minneapolis Catholic school shooting that claimed the lives of two children and injured approximately 20 people. 

Verified GoFundMe fundraisers showed over $1.2 million raised as of the morning of Aug. 29, with the funds supporting those injured in the shooting as well as the family of one of the deceased children. 

The mass shooting took place on Aug. 27 when a gunman opened fire on the parochial school Mass at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis. The killer subsequently took his own life. 

The GoFundMe campaigns created in response to the tragedy include one in support of the Moyski-Flavin family, whose 10-year-old daughter, Harper, was one of the two children killed in the shooting. The other victim has been identified as 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel. 

The GoFundMe for Harper’s family says the funds will “be utilized by the family in honor of Harper’s memory with a portion donated in Harper’s honor to a nonprofit to be identified at a later date.” As of Friday morning it had raised about $80,000 of its $100,000 goal.

The largest campaign had raised roughly $530,000 of a $620,000 goal as of Friday morning to help support 12-year-old Sophia Forchas, who the fund said was “in critical condition in the ICU” after being shot during the attack.

The funds for that campaign will contribute to Sophia’s medical care, trauma counseling for her and her brother, family support services, and lost wages.

Other campaigns include fundraisers for 9-year-old Vivian St. Clair, 11-year-old Genevieve Bisek, and 13-year-old Endre Gunter.

‘Give your kids an extra hug’

In the hours after the shooting, family members of Harper Moyski and Fletcher Merkel identified them as the two children killed in the incident, which the FBI is investigating as a possible hate crime against Catholics.

“Because of [the shooter’s] actions, we will never be allowed to hold [Fletcher], talk to him, play with him, and watch him grow into the wonderful young man he was on the path to becoming,” the Merkel family said after the shooting.

“Please remember Fletcher for the person he was and not the act that ended his life,” the statement said. “Give your kids an extra hug and kiss today. We love you. Fletcher, you’ll always be with us.”

The Moyski-Flavin family, meanwhile, said they were “shattered, and words cannot capture the depth of our pain.” 

“No family should ever have to endure this kind of pain,” they said. “We urge our leaders and communities to take meaningful steps to address gun violence and the mental health crisis in this country.”

The other victims of the shooting are expected to survive, authorities have said, though several remain in serious condition.

Prior to carrying out the murders, the killer, identified as 23-year-old Robin Westman, a man who struggled with his sexual identity, indicated anti-Christian motivation for the murders and an affinity for mass shooters, Satanism, antisemitism, and racism.

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Picture of the day Moray eels (Muraena augusti) and a cleaner shrimp (Lysmata grabhami), Teno-Rasca marine strip, Tenerife, Spain. It belongs to the family of moray eel and is endemic of the Canary Islands, Madeira and Azores. It is non-migratory, and dwells at a depth range of 0 to 250 metres (0 to 820 ft), most often at around 0 to 50 metres (0 to 164 ft). Muraena augusti is active during the night and hides in holes or crevices during the day. It can reach up to 100 centimetres (39 in) length and is a carnivore that feeds on small fishes, shrimps and crabs. Like all other moray eels their vision is poor but their sense of smell extraordinary. #ImageOfTheDay
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Picture of the day Moray eels (Muraena augusti) and a cleaner shrimp (Lysmata grabhami), Teno-Rasca marine strip, Tenerife, Spain. It belongs to the family of moray eel and is endemic of the Canary Islands, Madeira and Azores. It is non-migratory, and dwells at a depth range of 0 to 250 metres (0 to 820 ft), most often at around 0 to 50 metres (0 to 164 ft). Muraena augusti is active during the night and hides in holes or crevices during the day. It can reach up to 100 centimetres (39 in) length and is a carnivore that feeds on small fishes, shrimps and crabs. Like all other moray eels their vision is poor but their sense of smell extraordinary. #ImageOfTheDay

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Picture of the day
Moray eels (Muraena augusti) and a cleaner shrimp (Lysmata grabhami), Teno-Rasca marine strip, Tenerife, Spain. It belongs to the family of moray eel and is endemic of the Canary Islands, Madeira and Azores. It is non-migratory, and dwells at a depth range of 0 to 250 metres (0 to 820 ft), most often at around 0 to 50 metres (0 to 164 ft). Muraena augusti is active during the night and hides in holes or crevices during the day. It can reach up to 100 centimetres (39 in) length and is a carnivore that feeds on small fishes, shrimps and crabs. Like all other moray eels their vision is poor but their sense of smell extraordinary.
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U.S. bishops identify several policy priorities in Congress this fall
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U.S. bishops identify several policy priorities in Congress this fall

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United States Conference of Catholic Bishops headquarters in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Farragutful, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Washington D.C., Aug 27, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

As lawmakers prepare to return next week from their August recess, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) wants them to get to work on immigration reform and bolstering federal safety net programs, among other issues, framing its advocacy work around protecting human dignity and supporting the most vulnerable.

“As a nonpartisan organization, the USCCB is engaged with members of Congress, their staff, and the White House and the administration to advance the common good for all and uphold the sacredness of human life and the God-given dignity of the human person,” Chieko Noguchi, the USCCB’s executive director for public affairs, told CNA.

“This means that the care for immigrants, refugees, and the poor is part of the same teaching of the Church that requires us to protect the most vulnerable among us, especially unborn children, the elderly, and the infirm,” Noguchi noted.

Addressing the conference’s ongoing public policy priorities, Noguchi referenced a letter to members of Congress earlier this year from USCCB President Archbishop Timothy Broglio that in addition to immigration reform called for legislation that supports vulnerable communities, especially children and low-income families.

But following this summer’s passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act spending package, Broglio faulted that measure for including “unconscionable cuts to health care and food assistance, tax cuts that increase inequality, immigration provisions that harm families and children, and cuts to programs that protect God’s creation.”

A recently emerging issue for the bishops is digital safety. In a joint letter this July with other faith-based and family organizations, the USCCB voiced support for the Kids Online Safety Act. The measure would place greater responsibility on technology companies to design platforms that protect minors from harmful content and addictive features. The bishops described the legislation as consistent with their commitment to safeguarding children and promoting environments where families can thrive.

Credit: Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock
Credit: Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock

This fall, immigration remains central to USCCB advocacy efforts. The bishops continue to press Congress to provide permanent protections for so-called “Dreamers,” referring to people who were brought to the U.S. as children.

“The continued uncertainty associated with the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program is untenable and unjust, depriving hardworking people the ability to be fully recognized members of our society,” the conference maintains.

The bishops also oppose changes to social safety net programs that would limit eligibility for mixed-status families (those with both legal and unauthorized members). They cite, for example, the Child Tax Credit, which currently only requires the benefiting child to have a Social Security number.

“This is consistent with the goals of such programs, which exist to empower families and to prevent them from falling into poverty,” the USCCB asserts.

Religious Workforce Protection Act

The bishops are also urging passage of the Religious Workforce Protection Act, which as of Aug. 22 had 10 Democrat and three Republican lawmakers cosponsoring the House bill and would authorize the continuation of lawful nonimmigrant status for certain religious workers affected by the current backlog for religious worker immigrant visas.

A similar bill in the Senate now has five Republicans and one Democrat cosponsoring. Numerous Catholic institutions such as parishes and schools depend on international clergy. In an Aug. 7 interview with EWTN, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration is committed to fixing the ongoing backlog of religious worker visas.

Despite the fact that earlier this year the USCCB ended its decades-long partnership with the federal government to resettle refugees due to funding cuts and suspended agreements that made the program unsustainable, the bishops continue to call for generous resettlement policies and humane border enforcement.

Housing is also an increasing policy focus. In an Aug. 8 letter, the bishops pressed Congress to strengthen funding for affordable housing and community development in the fiscal year 2026 appropriations process.

Community members tour a housing unit at "Caritas Casitas" in Oklahoma City on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. Credit: Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City
Community members tour a housing unit at “Caritas Casitas” in Oklahoma City on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. Credit: Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City

Meanwhile, the USCCB’s advocacy around health care policy remains linked to the Church’s pro-life stance. The bishops have been strongly supportive of congressional efforts to ensure that federal programs such as Medicaid do not fund abortion. In July, a federal judge blocked a provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that was aimed at defunding Planned Parenthood for one year and ordered the federal government to resume Medicaid reimbursements to the abortion giant while litigation over the law continues.

The USCCB also supports expanding access to maternal health services, pediatric care, and palliative care. Broadly on fiscal policy, the USCCB has called for a federal budget that prioritizes the poor and reflects Catholic principles of solidarity centered on the common good.

The bishops also continue to press for robust support for international humanitarian aid. As global crises intensify, the bishops have asked Congress to provide funding for humanitarian and development assistance in the fiscal year 2026 budget. Funding for the current fiscal year ends on Sept. 30. The USCCB frames these legislative priorities as connected parts of a single mission. 

“The decisions you make in your important work on behalf of our nation will have a lasting impact on the well-being and common good of many people,” Broglio wrote. Congress returns from its summer break on Sept. 2.

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Pope Leo XIV transfers Detroit auxiliary bishop to San Antonio Archdiocese
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Pope Leo XIV transfers Detroit auxiliary bishop to San Antonio Archdiocese

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Bishop José Arturo Cepeda. / Credit: Courtesy of the Archdiocese of Detroit

Vatican City, Aug 26, 2025 / 09:45 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday appointed Detroit Auxiliary Bishop José Arturo Cepeda as auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of San Antonio.

The transfer marks the Mexican-born bishop’s return to San Antonio, the south-central Texas city where he served as a priest from his ordination in 1996 until his consecration as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Detroit in 2011.

Born in San Luis Potosí in eastern-central Mexico, the 56-year-old bishop attended Catholic schools and the minor seminary. Cepeda immigrated to the United States with his family at the age of 19.

In the Archdiocese of San Antonio, the auxiliary bishop will assist Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, also born in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, and two other auxiliary bishops in leading over 1.1 million Catholics. 

In an Aug. 26 statement, García-Siller said he is “particularly glad to offer a heartfelt welcome home to Bishop Cepeda. San Antonio is where he grew up and first heard the Lord call him and nurture his priestly vocation.”

The archbishop added that Cepeda will bring the Archdiocese of San Antonio “valuable perspectives that will assist us in our evangelization efforts to spread the Gospel with missionary zeal.”

Cepeda earned a licentiate degree and later a doctorate in spiritual theology from the Pontifical University of Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum) in Rome in 2005. 

He also has a bachelor’s degree from the College Seminary of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and a master’s degree in biblical theology from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio.

Before being appointed an auxiliary bishop, he spent four years as parochial vicar of the San Fernando Cathedral in San Antonio, followed by a decade as a faculty member at Assumption Seminary and the Oblate School of Theology, also in San Antonio. 

Cepeda was vocation director and faculty member for the Transitional Ministry Formation Program for the Archdiocese of San Antonio. From 2010 to 2011 he was also rector of Assumption Seminary.

During his 14 years in Detroit, Cepeda was a leader in the Michigan archdiocese’s ministry to Hispanic and Spanish-speaking Catholics. He also served as director of the Department of Evangelization, Catechesis, and Schools from 2013 to 2017.

On the national level, he served as chairman of the U.S. bishops’ conference’s Subcommittee on Hispanic Affairs and Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church. He was also one of the organizers of the Fifth National Encuentro (“Encounter”) of Hispanic/Latino Ministry. 

“I am deeply grateful for the trust placed in me and for the opportunity I had to serve for 14 years in this archdiocese,” Cepeda said in an Aug. 26 message to Catholics of Detroit. “My episcopal ministry undoubtedly took shape here, my temporary home. As I begin my new mission, know that I hold you in my prayers and humbly ask that you keep me in yours.”

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Trump administration appeals to some pro-life reproductive health care despite IVF push
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Trump administration appeals to some pro-life reproductive health care despite IVF push

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null / Credit: Aykut Erdogdu/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 26, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

President Donald Trump’s administration has started to incorporate some elements of pro-life reproductive health care into its policy goals, which pro-life advocates argue are alternatives to in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures meant to address fertility problems.

So far the inclusion of these efforts has been limited and the president has remained consistent in supporting IVF as the major solution to fertility issues. Yet some Catholics and others in the pro-life movement have been urging these alternative approaches amid ethical concerns surrounding IVF, such as the millions of human embryos killed through the procedure.

Life-affirming options tend to focus on curing the root causes of infertility. This health care, which many practitioners call “restorative reproductive medicine,” can include charting one’s menstrual cycle, lifestyle and diet changes, and diagnosing and treating underlying conditions that lead to fertility struggles.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is currently considering grant applicants for an “infertility training center,” which is the most concrete plan to date to incorporate pro-life fertility care options within the administration’s policy goals.

The potential $1.5 million grant would use federal Title X family planning funds to help the recipient “educate on the root causes of infertility and the broad range of holistic infertility treatments and referrals available.” The money would also help “expand and enhance root cause infertility testing, treatments, and referrals.”

When reached for comment, an HHS spokesperson told CNA the agency could not comment on “potential or future policy decisions.”

Restorative reproductive medicine was also discussed at a recent event hosted by the MAHA Institute, named after HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” slogan. The institute is run by Del Bigtree, who is Kennedy’s former communications director.

“Traditional women’s health and fertility care has relied heavily on Big Pharma Band-Aids and workarounds that circumvent a woman’s reproductive system rather than working in harmony with it and doing the work of deeper investigation to find and treat underlying causes of infertility,” Maureen Ferguson, a commissioner on the Commission on International Religious Freedom, said at the event.

Ferguson introduced a roundtable of doctors who practice restorative reproductive medicine.

“Restorative reproductive medicine is effective, affordable, it leads to healthier moms and babies, and it’s far preferred by couples, most of whom wish to conceive naturally,” Ferguson said.

Reproductive medicine policy opportunities

Emma Waters, a policy analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation, told CNA there are several ways the government can promote restorative reproductive medicine.

“This needs to be a project that both states and the federal government prioritize,” she said.

Waters said current insurance coding “doesn’t account for the kinds of care that [restorative reproductive medicine] is offering” or “doesn’t cover each step.”

She noted that insurance will often cover surgeries to fix endometriosis, which often causes infertility, but will not cover the initial exploratory surgery needed to properly diagnose the condition.

She said this could be improved with broader coverage or a restorative reproductive medicine “bundle package for care,” similar to an OB-GYN bundle package for when a woman is pregnant, to “simplify the billing process.”

Additional policy options, Waters noted, include grant funding for research and training. 

Restorative reproductive medicine “is aiming to ensure that that man and woman’s body is the healthiest it can be for the pregnancy journey,” she said.

Waters noted that this health care “recognizes that infertility is not a disease but is a symptom of underlying conditions.” As opposed to IVF, restorative reproductive medicine focuses on “the root, rather than bypassing the body,” and helps ensure the body is healthy enough to “sustain that embryo through pregnancy and a live birth.”

Theresa Notare, who serves as the assistant director of the natural family planning program at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told CNA restorative reproductive medicine is often practiced in a way consistent with Catholic Church teaching, such as natural procreative technology and fertility education and medical management.

“You’re trying to basically healthfully address whatever problem a patient is having and you’re trying to restore them to the balance that they should have … to naturally conceive,” she said.

IVF alternatively violates Church teaching because it destroys human embryos and because “conception would be taking place outside of the marital embrace,” Notare said. 

She said marriage is a covenant in which “the man and the women are coming together in this one-flesh union.”

“That communion of persons — that environment — is where the Lord God gave husband and wife stewardship over the power of life and love,” Notare said.

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Alone at Mass, she found her calling to help others face addiction
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Alone at Mass, she found her calling to help others face addiction

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null / Credit: Srdjan Randjelovic/Shutterstock

Philadelphia, Pa., Aug 24, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Nina Marie Corona thought she was just checking the box like any good cradle Catholic when she sat down in a pew over a decade ago. From her perspective at the time, she wasn’t there for anything dramatic — just the usual holy day of obligation Christmas Mass. Her heart wasn’t in it though. Addiction had crept into her family’s life, and her entire world felt like it was falling apart. So, while others sang and smiled and shook hands at the sign of peace, she wept quietly.

Alone. A stranger. In a church filled with people.

“I remember looking and thinking, you know, why does nobody know that I’m going through this?” she said. “Like, I need you people, you know? Where else do I turn?”

Already immersed in theology classes triggered by a retreat she had attended, Corona — who once ran a successful food manufacturing business — turned to an educational pursuit that sought to weave her spirituality with her social conscience.

In the years that followed, that moment of personal desperation developed into a multipronged outreach titled Afire and launched an international multimedia ministry called “We Thirst: Christian Reflections on Addiction,” which is now in university and seminary libraries, including Trinity College Dublin, and has been shown in churches across the United States and beyond.

The five-part parish-based series is part catechesis, part communal healing, blending Catholic spirituality with the biological, psychological, and social realities of addiction. People have watched it in living rooms, church halls, and classrooms. It’s been used by priests, parents, social workers, and people recovering from addiction. It has freed people to talk about addiction, to open up, to stop hiding.

“They drop the armor,” she said. “They receive the gift of courage to face reality. That’s when healing can begin.”

The way it works is simple. You watch the series as a group — maybe over five weeks, maybe as a weekend retreat, and then you talk — not about solutions or strategies at first, but about what’s real: fear, guilt, grief, love, hope. Each session incorporates comprehensive educational presentations with prayer, music for reflection, and imagery to enlighten and inspire.” On the final night of each series, attendees are encouraged to discern next steps in their own communities.

“I initially didn’t know what they should do, but over time I realized those things that were helpful to me and my family,” she explained. “So, we eventually created kits with leader and member manuals to help guide groups through a discernment process. The leader’s manual has been granted an imprimatur.”

Each parish group is given space to listen to one another, assess the specific needs in their community, and create a plan — whether that’s hosting prayer gatherings, offering support to families affected by addiction, starting recovery ministries, or assembling care packages for local recovery homes. The work is deeply local and highly personal, but its spiritual and emotional resonance is what fuels a broader growth.

Among the programs now offered by Afire Ministries are weekly Vespers via Zoom, an online Advent Prayer Calendar, and Set Hearts AFIRE — an evangelization resource designed to equip both experienced ministers and everyday Catholics to share the Gospel. The program provides everything needed to present the material, including fully developed scripts, music, media, and opportunities for personal witness.

Also forthcoming is Graced Collaboration, an innovative faith-based recovery program developed by Corona during her doctoral studies. It integrates evidence-based scientific approaches with the spiritual wisdom of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

“I can’t do this alone,” Corona said. “We need more people stepping up.”

One of the newest groups has formed at St. Isidore in Quakertown, where Sharon Butler is a parishioner. “My daughter has been battling addiction for a very long time,” she said. “My husband and I… we’ve always had each other, but I never went to anything. People would suggest Al-Anon or different groups, but I just didn’t go.”

This was different, she said. Right from the start. “It was very inspiring,” Butler said. “I couldn’t wait for the next week. Each session gave me something to think about. It all just spoke to me.”

The formula is repeated throughout Afire’s various programs, Corona said. And, she believes, God’s fingerprints are all over it.

“I didn’t know how to listen for God’s voice at first, but once I did, he didn’t stop,” she said. “I know the resistance. The shame. You think you’ve heard it all — another addiction talk, more statistics, more blame. But this is different. This is about healing hearts, not just solving problems. It’s about rediscovering our humanity and God’s love for us in the middle of pain.”

She continued: “I believe strongly that God wants to work this way through every person. So many of us are asleep. We’re distracted, numb. But if we just pause — listen — we’ll hear him. And he’ll move. That’s what happened to me. I just finally stopped long enough to listen.”

This story was first published by Catholic Philly and has been reprinted with permission. It is part of the Face of Hope, a series of stories and videos “highlighting the work of those who make the Catholic Church in Philadelphia the greatest force for good in the region.” 

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Jimmy Lai’s son says his father is ‘still fighting’ amid ongoing trial
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Jimmy Lai’s son says his father is ‘still fighting’ amid ongoing trial

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Sebastien Lai, son of imprisoned free speech advocate Jimmy Lai, speaks on EWTN’s “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo” on Aug. 21, 2025. / Credit: “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo” screenshot

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 22, 2025 / 13:38 pm (CNA).

Sebastien Lai, son of imprisoned Hong Kong democracy advocate Jimmy Lai, said this week his father is “still fighting” and “holding on” as closing arguments continue in his lengthy national security trial.

Jimmy Lai, the Catholic billionaire, human rights activist, and founder of pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, has been on trial since 2023 in Hong Kong for allegations of colluding with foreign forces under a national security law put in effect by the communist-controlled Chinese government. He faces a life sentence if found guilty. 

“It’s a textbook example of a show trial, of the weaponization of the legal system,” Sebastien told EWTN’s “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo” on Thursday.

“He’s not going to see a fair trial … It’s an absolute kangoo trial.”

Sebastien said the evidence brought against his father “all turned out to be completely untrue,” adding: “My father is in prison because of his journalism and because of his courage. Because he stayed to defend his people, because he dared to campaign for democracy and for human rights in Hong Kong. And that didn’t sit well with the Hong Kong government.”

While closing arguments began on Aug. 18, they continue to be postponed. Sebastien said the issue is that “the national security law is so broad,” explaining that the “rule of law” in Hong Kong, which was once fairly enforced, “no longer holds.”

“Instead of the rule of law, it’s the rule of men,” he said. “My father got more than a year in maximum security prison in solitary confinement on one of the sentences, which was for lighting a candle and saying a prayer at a Tiananmen Square massacre vigil.”

People can see it is “not just ridiculous, but how horrible it is to give someone a jail sentence over commemorating people who died, [but] who died for freedom and democracy in China.”

While “it’s an open trial” and people in Hong Kong can follow what is happening, “there’s no free press,” Sebastien said. “People are going to jail for liking social media posts or even writing on bathroom toilets … But foreign journalists can still go and local journalists can still cover parts of it. There’s at least that element of it.”

“My father said it best … when he was giving testimony: ‘My job as a journalist, as a publisher, is to hold a torch to the truth.’” 

Call for international support 

As leaders around the world rally to support Jimmy, Sebastien said his family is “incredibly grateful” for the help but that he thinks “it’s time to put action” behind words. 

President Donald Trump recently vowed to do everything he can to bring about Jimmy’s release.

“The fact that [Trump] is still keeping my father’s case close to heart is something that I’m incredibly grateful for,” he said.

“The U.S. government is much more effective and much stronger in terms of liberating people around the world. Now that both [the U.K. and U.S.] governments are so supportive, it gives us a lot of hope as a family, but … I think the U.K. government can do more to free my father,” he said.

“But I think we are in a situation now where my father dying in jail is not beneficial for any party. It’s not beneficial for Hong Kong. It’s not beneficial for China. It’s obviously not beneficial for anybody who enjoys freedom.” Jimmy would “essentially act as a martyr if he died in prison,” Sebastien said. 

Jimmy’s health concerns

“His health is not good,” Sebastien continued. “From my understanding, my father is much skinnier and much weaker, but still strong in spirit and still strong in mind.”

The Chinese government is “always trying to essentially break his spirit with all these multiple show trials. The government tells him that nobody cares about him and that he’s going to die for nothing.”

In solitary confinement, where Jimmy is most of the time, he is “in a little concrete cell, and there’s no air conditioning, so he bakes under the sun … never mind his diabetes,” the younger Lai said. Recently, Jimmy’s lawyers also shared that he is suffering from heart palpitations in prison.

As the trial continues, Sebastien said a statement his father made is what gives him hope: “‘The truth will come out in the kingdom of God, and that is good enough for me.’”

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Picture of the day (purge this page’s cache) Assasi triggerfish (Rhinecanthus assasi), Red Sea, Egypt. This species of triggerfish reaches up to 30 centimetres (12 in) long, which makes them of the smallest in the family. It is tan above and white below with blue stripes between and below the eyes. R. assassi mostly lives in or near coral reefs. It occurs in the western Indian Ocean, including the Red Sea and Persian Gulf. #ImageOfTheDay
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Picture of the day (purge this page’s cache) Assasi triggerfish (Rhinecanthus assasi), Red Sea, Egypt. This species of triggerfish reaches up to 30 centimetres (12 in) long, which makes them of the smallest in the family. It is tan above and white below with blue stripes between and below the eyes. R. assassi mostly lives in or near coral reefs. It occurs in the western Indian Ocean, including the Red Sea and Persian Gulf. #ImageOfTheDay

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Picture of the day
(purge this page’s cache)
Assasi triggerfish (Rhinecanthus assasi), Red Sea, Egypt. This species of triggerfish reaches up to 30 centimetres (12 in) long, which makes them of the smallest in the family. It is tan above and white below with blue stripes between and below the eyes. R. assassi mostly lives in or near coral reefs. It occurs in the western Indian Ocean, including the Red Sea and Persian Gulf.
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Picture of the day Portrait of a geometric moray (Gymnothorax griseus), Red Sea, Egypt. This moray eel belongs to the family Muraenidae and is found throughout the western Indian Ocean and Red Sea at depths to 40 metres (130 ft). Its length is up to 65 centimetres (26 in). #ImageOfTheDay
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Picture of the day Portrait of a geometric moray (Gymnothorax griseus), Red Sea, Egypt. This moray eel belongs to the family Muraenidae and is found throughout the western Indian Ocean and Red Sea at depths to 40 metres (130 ft). Its length is up to 65 centimetres (26 in). #ImageOfTheDay

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Picture of the day
Portrait of a geometric moray (Gymnothorax griseus), Red Sea, Egypt. This moray eel belongs to the family Muraenidae and is found throughout the western Indian Ocean and Red Sea at depths to 40 metres (130 ft). Its length is up to 65 centimetres (26 in).
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‘Crass’: Chiranjeevi in soup over ‘have boy so legacy continues’ remark -Times of India- #timesofindia #India #News

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Actor Chiranjeevi’s remarks about preferring a grandson to carry forward his family legacy have sparked outrage for promoting gender bias and son preference. Political figures and activists have condemned his comments as sexist and reflective of patriarchal beliefs, urging him to withdraw his statement and apologize for reinforcing harmful son preference cultures.

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