Catholic pro-life activist Savannah Craven Antao was assaulted in New York City on Thursday, April 3, 2025, while conducting a video interview with a pro-abortion advocate. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Savannah Craven Antao
CNA Staff, Sep 26, 2025 / 10:37 am (CNA).
The suspect in the violent assault of a pro-life advocate in New York City earlier this year will not face charges after a prosecutor’s office dropped the case against the alleged assailant.
The Thomas More Society said this week it was launching a civil lawsuit against Brianna Rivers over her alleged assault of Savannah Craven Antao after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg dismissed the case.
Rivers struck Antao in the face and left her bloodied in the April assault in Manhattan. The assault, which was caught on camera, came as Antao was calmly interviewing Rivers and debating pro-life politics with her.
VIDEO OF THE ASSAULT OF PRO LIFE JOURNALIST BY PRO-ABORTION ADVOCATE IN NEW YORK
Savannah Craven was working with Live Action conducting man on the street interviews, asking “Do you know what Planned Parenthood does?” when she was attacked
Antao told CNA in April that she “had absolutely no time to see that it was coming.”
“I regularly do street interviews for my YouTube channel and various other organizations,” she said at the time. “This isn’t something I’m not used to doing. It was just like any other day.”
Antao’s injuries required a trip to the hospital and stitches. The Thomas More Society this week said the hospital visit resulted in $3,000 worth of bills.
Christopher Ferrara, a senior lawyer with the Thomas More Society, said this week that Bragg’s dismissal of the charges “only works to undermine confidence in the system, especially when our political climate has become as fraught as it is now.”
“Failing to prosecute these clear-cut charges sets a dangerous standard for how our society responds to violence against those engaging in democratic dialogue,” he said.
Antao did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNA on Sept. 26. In the Thomas More Society’s press release, she criticized the prosecutor’s decision to “quietly let the charges fade away” in spite of the “indisputable evidence” of the recording of the assault.
“Political violence should never be tolerated or given a free pass,” she said. “When those in power refuse to hold accountable those who respond to free speech with violence, it threatens the very fabric of our civil society.”
Bragg’s office did not immediately respond to a phone call and email seeking comment.
Ferrara said the lawsuit will seek punitive damages for Antao.
“Savannah’s assailant may have been spared criminal consequences by the Manhattan DA’s failure, but we will see to it that she faces accountability,” he said.
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.”
Artist Johnny Vrba presents the commissioned Carlo Acutis piece to kids at St. Carlo Acutis Parish in Chicago. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Chicago Catholic
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 9, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).
As the faithful continue to celebrate the canonization of St. Carlo Acutis, a 1,000-piece mosaic portrait of the new saint made of toy soldiers, Pokémon, shoelaces, and other surprises hangs in Rome.
After artist Johnny Vrba heard about Acutis, he was inspired to create a portrait of the saint out of recognizable items that visually tell his story. Vrba has now crafted and presented two portraits of Acutis to help young Catholics learn about the first millennial saint.
“Every figure, every toy, every single thing that is glued on the piece has a meaning and a purpose,” Vrba told CNA. “It’s all on there for a reason. Every single one of them is numbered, just like Scripture says: ‘He hasn’t just counted them, because he’s numbered us. He’s numbered the hairs on our heads.’”
Johnny Vrba with his Carlo Acutis portrait in Assisi, Italy. Credit: Photo courtesy of Johnny Vrba
Discovering ‘an ordinary, but extraordinary, saint’
Vrba was raised Catholic but didn’t completely commit to his faith until an unexpected trip established his relationship with Christ.
In 2020, Vrba was on a study abroad trip sailing to Shanghai, China, when the COVID-19 virus broke out. “The voyage did not go as planned, but during that uncertain time I actually met the Lord for the first time in a really powerful way.”
After the experience, Vrba got involved in missionary work, was in school, and created a bit of art on the side. He had always enjoyed painting and building small toys and thought: “I wonder if there’s a way to combine drawing, painting, and this sculptural component.”
Vrba put faith and art together to create a couple portraits of Jesus with the Crown of Thorns. One is made of wine corks to represent Jesus’ miracle in Cana, and the other is crafted of toy soldiers.Then a friend of Vrba’s told him about Acutis, inspiring the next steps for the young artist.
“I’d never heard of Carlo Acutis. He was totally under my radar,” Vrba said. “Then I researched him and thought: ‘He has some very similar things to my own story and synchronicities.’ Like bringing his parents to the faith and bringing them to Mass. Then being into technology and filming and animals, like his dogs and cats. He’s just such an ordinary, but extraordinary, saint.”
The St. Carlo Acutis mosaic in the making. Credit: Photo courtesy of Johnny Vrba
“I started dreaming about what a piece could look like,” Vrba said. He decided his next sculpture would be an image Acutis made of toys, because “Carlo would have played with video game controllers, and played Pokémon and Mario.”
‘The First Millennial Saint’
Creating the mosaic was no simple task. Vrba had to track down thousands of quality soldiers and toys, paint them, and meticulously glue each one in place. The result was the 45-pound mosaic called “The First Millennial Saint.”
“Every toy has a meaning and a purpose,” Vrba said. Many of the soldiers are turned facing a figure of the crucifixion to represent “the culture of death.” They are “flaccid, boring, colored, gray, white, and black figures that are all pointing at the cross — pointing at Jesus.”
There are also colorful soldiers that are “outward-facing, evangelizing, and filled with the joy of the Gospel.” The 163 colorful figures represent Christians who are fighting against the culture of death and also the 163 Eucharistic miracles Acutis documented on his website.
The sculpture also has dozens of hidden “Easter eggs” that viewers might just miss, including a dolphin and various Pokémon characters hinting at Acutis’ favorite animal and favorite game. The background is even a soccer field to represent his love for the sport.
“People really gravitate towards the computer desk setup. It has a saxophone, the Bible, a world map, a little soda, and his dogs and cats around him where he would have worked at his little station. It blends right in with the piece, you would never even know, but when you turn your head sideways you can see it.”
“Then both of the miracles are incorporated,” Vrba said. The miracle of Mattheus, a young boy from Brazil who was healed from a birth defect that caused him difficulty eating is represented with small steak and french fry figurines, because it was the first meal he was able to consume after his mother asked Acutis to intercede for her son.
The sculpture includes a bicycle to represent the miracle that saved Valeria Valverde, a young Costa Rican woman who suffered a serious head injury from a bike accident in Florence. The toy bike is “placed on Carlo’s head where she cracked her head and suffered brain hemorrhaging.” After her mother prayed at Acutis’ tomb, she made a complete recovery.
Artist Johnny Vrba presents the commissioned Carlo Acutis piece to kids at St. Carlo Acutis Parish in Chicago. Credit: Photo courtesy of Chicago Catholic
A mission of more than just art
Vrba created the original mosaic for Acutis’ mother, which he planned to give to her during a meeting at Acutis’ canonization in April. After it was postponed due to Pope Francis’ death, the meeting was unfortunately canceled. Since the piece had already traveled to Italy, Vrba decided to take it to the church where Acutis is buried in Assisi.
The sculpture traveled around the city where Vrba showed it to pilgrims and placed it in spots Acutis once stood himself. After gaining traction on its journey, it was acquired by and placed in the Vatican’s youth center.
While in Assisi, Vrba also met a number of parishioners of St. Carlo Acutis Parish in Chicago — the only church in the United States named after Acutis. One parishioner commissioned a replica of the piece that Vrba created with even more details than the original.
Inspired by Acutis’ quote “We are all born originals, but many of us die photocopies,” Vrba ensures each work of art, even replicas, are different. “I want to make every piece unique, because every person is unique. Die as an original, not as a photocopy.”
Vrba presented the original during the Jubilee of Youth and the replica to kids at St. Carlo Acutis Parish. When kids see the sculpture Vrba loves that they realize “each figure on the piece has a special mission, and each one of us in the Church [has] a special mission. We are made for a purpose. We are the lifeblood of the Church.”
“I want to make art that people don’t just look at but look into. And it’s the greatest joy in my life when kids come up to it and they’re able to touch things, push buttons, and they can get their hands on it, interact with it. I love seeing them look into it.”
Vrba is currently working on four pieces that will be shown at Miami Art Week in December, including portraits of St. John Paul II and newly canonized St. Pier Giorgio Frassati. Vrba’s art will be one of the very few, if not the only, religious pieces at the mostly secular show.
“Then the goal would be to use those pieces at school parishes, stand-alone parishes, churches, and any Catholic missions to preach the lives of the saints.” He added: “The mission is to speak and evangelize, and especially, convict the universal call to holiness in an artistic way … using the commonplace household items and toys that people recognize.”
