Holy Michael, the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our safeguard against the wickedness
and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him,
we humbly pray;
and do you,
O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God
cast into hell Satan
and all the evil spirits
who wander through the world
seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.
Read MoreA reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Romans
5:12, 15b, 17-19, 20b-21
Brothers and sisters:
Through one man sin entered the world,
and through sin, death,
and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned.
If by that one person’s transgression the many died,
how much more did the grace of God
and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ
overflow for the many.
For if, by the transgression of the one,
death came to reign through that one,
how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace
and the gift of justification
come to reign in life through the one Jesus Christ.
In conclusion, just as through one transgression
condemnation came upon all,
so, through one righteous act
acquittal and life came to all.
For just as through the disobedience of one man
the many were made sinners,
so, through the obedience of the one
the many will be made righteous.
Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more,
so that, as sin reigned in death,
grace also might reign through justification
for eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
From the Gospel according to Luke
12:35-38
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Gird your loins and light your lamps
and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding,
ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.
Blessed are those servants
whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.
Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself,
have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them.
And should he come in the second or third watch
and find them prepared in this way,
blessed are those servants."
The Lord reminds us that life is a journey towards eternity; therefore, we are called to employ all the talents that we have, without ever forgetting that “here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city which is to come” (Heb 13:14). (…) We cannot truly understand in what this supreme joy consists. However, Jesus lets us sense it with the analogy of the master who, finding his servants still awake on his return: “will gird himself and have them sit at table, and he will come and serve them” (v. 37). The eternal joy in heaven is manifested this way: the situation will be reversed and it will no longer be the servants, that is, we who will serve God, but God himself will place himself at our service. And Jesus does this as of now: Jesus prays for us, Jesus looks at us and prays to the Father for us. Jesus serves us now. He is our servant. And this will be the definitive joy. The thought of the final encounter with the Father, abundant in mercy, fills us with hope and stirs us to constant commitment, for our sanctification and for the building of a more just and fraternal world.
May the Virgin Mary support this commitment of ours through her maternal intercession. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 11 August 2019)
Read More
Vatican City, Oct 20, 2025 / 14:23 pm (CNA).
Underlying political tensions have surfaced among Venezuelans in Rome celebrating the recent canonization of the country’s first two saints, José Gregorio Hernández and Mother Carmen Rendiles Martínez.
A Venezuelan government delegation led by Carmen Meléndez, mayor of Caracas, and hundreds of pilgrims from the Latin American nation were among the 70,000 people who attended the Oct. 19 canonization ceremony led by Pope Leo XIV in St. Peter’s Square.
However, in the days prior to Venezuelans converging at the Vatican to celebrate their country’s newly-proclaimed saints, reports of evident discord between government officials and citizens regarding President Nicolás Maduro’s authoritarian regime have also emerged.
Over the weekend, activists connected to the opposition political movement Vente Venezuela, led by 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado, shared posts on Instagram highlighting their cause to free hundreds of men and women political prisoners.
The activists carried posters with photos of men and women detained by Maduro’s government with the slogan “Release All Political Prisoners” at an Oct. 18 protest in Piazza Venezia, a public square near the Vatican, and at the Oct. 19 canonization ceremony held in St. Peter’s Square.
The Venezuelan government’s political agenda in Rome had also been called into question by the media in the days preceding the canonizations of the country’s first saints, with critics implying their presence at the Vatican is an attempt to project a positive image of national pride and unity under the Maduro regime.
Last week, a scuffle broke out between Venezuelan Vatican journalist Edgar Beltrán and Venezuelan businessman Ricardo Cisneros, a member of the Venezuelan government delegation present at the canonization, at an event held at the Lateran University of Rome to honor the two new saints.
During the Oct. 17 event, Beltrán’s interview with the Vatican’s substitute for the Secretariat of State, Archbishop Edgar Robinson Peña Parra, was interrupted by Cisneros after the prelate was asked about the Maduro government’s “apparent politicization” of the canonizations, according to Catholic news outlet The Pillar.
Undemocratic measures and human rights violations in Venezuela have continued to garner increasing international attention, particularly since January when Maduro was sworn in for a third term after contested presidential election results.
Meanwhile, earlier this month opposition leader Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her tireless work in “promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela” and for “her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”
On Monday, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin in a Mass of thanksgiving for the two saints held inside St. Peter’s Basilica urged Venezuelans to respect human rights and “create spaces for encounter and democratic coexistence.”
“Only in this way, dear Venezuela, will you be able to respond to your calling for peace, if you build it on the foundations of justice, truth, freedom, and love,” the cardinal said in his Oct. 20 homily.
Read More
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 20, 2025 / 13:53 pm (CNA).
U.S. Catholic bishops are criticizing President Donald Trump’s effort to expand access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) — a fertility treatment contrary to Church teaching that routinely discards human embryos.
Trump announced on Oct. 16 that the government entered an agreement with a pharmaceutical company to lower the cost of some IVF drugs and that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is working to expedite the review of a new drug.
IVF is a fertility treatment in which doctors fuse sperm and eggs in a laboratory to create human embryos to implant in the mother’s womb. Millions of excess embryos not implanted have been destroyed or used in scientific research. Some are indefinitely frozen.
“We strongly reject the promotion of procedures like IVF that … freeze or destroy precious human beings and treat them like property,” three bishops said in a joint statement released by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
“Every human life, born and preborn, is sacred and loved by God,” they continued. “Without diminishing the dignity of people born through IVF, we must recognize that children have a right to be born of a natural and exclusive act of married love rather than a business’ technological intervention. And harmful government action to expand access to IVF must not also push people of faith to be complicit in its evils.”
The bishops added: “We will continue to review these new policies and look forward to engaging further with the administration and Congress, always proclaiming the sanctity of life and of marriage.”
The statement was signed by Bishop Robert Barron, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth; Bishop Kevin Rhoades, chairman of the Committee for Religious Liberty; and Bishop Daniel Thomas, chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities.
Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, also released a statement criticizing the effort to expand IVF, calling such treatments “unethical and unjust.”
“God authors and blesses the life of every child born of IVF even as he wills the true good and thriving of all persons,” said Burbidge, who previously chaired the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities.
“The stark reality, however, is that IVF subverts the dignity of parents as well as the lives of unborn children,” he said. “Every child born by means of IVF will one day learn he or she has many missing brothers and sisters, who, although equal in dignity and rights, were conceived but deliberately denied their right to life. This is because many of the embryonic children brought about by every IVF process will either be discarded, having been deemed undesirable, or frozen, having been deemed unnecessary. By its nature, IVF both creates and destroys human lives.”
Regulators are also working to expand options for employers to offer fertility coverage for both IVF and treatments “that address the root causes of infertility.”
Although IVF is contrary to Church teaching, some of the latter treatments may include options compatible with Catholic teaching, such as natural procreative technology and fertility education and medical management.
In the joint USCCB statement, the bishops wrote that they are “grateful” the administration included non-IVF fertility treatments that provide “comprehensive and holistic restorative reproductive medicine, which can help ethically to address infertility and its underlying causes.”
Similarly, Burbidge called the inclusion “a welcome opportunity for all employers, and especially for the Church and its apostolates, to enhance their health care coverage by offering new or expanded coverage for ethical fertility care.”
“It is my hope that, by God’s grace and with time, all Christians and people of goodwill, especially including our civil authorities, will come to encourage and favor ethical and life-affirming fertility care that is conducive to the true health and flourishing of American families,” Burbidge wrote.
Read More
ACI Stampa, Oct 20, 2025 / 13:23 pm (CNA).
Cardinal Edoardo Menichelli, archbishop emeritus of Ancona-Osimo in the northern Italian region of Marche, has died at the age of 86 after a long illness.
“It is with great sadness that I learned that our Cardinal Edoardo Menichelli has returned to the Father’s house. Let us raise our prayers to the good Lord, rich in mercy, that he may welcome his beautiful soul into paradise,” Archbishop Angelo Spina of Ancona-Osimo said on the archdiocese’s website.
“Sick for some time, he faced his illness and heavy treatments with courage, revealing the indomitable spirit that characterized his temperament and his desire to live his consecration to the Lord with unshakeable faith until the end,” said Archbishop Francesco Massara of the nearby Diocese of Camerino-San Severino Marche.
Menichelli was born in Serripola di San Severino Marche on Oct. 14, 1939.
After studying at the Pius XI Regional Pontifical Seminary in Fano, he moved to Rome, where he obtained a licentiate in theology from the Pontifical Lateran University.
Ordained a priest in 1965, he was called to Rome in 1968 to work at the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the Church’s Supreme Court. He remained there until 1991, when he was transferred to the Congregation for Eastern Churches.
On June 10, 1994, Pope John Paul II appointed him archbishop of Chieti-Vasto in the region of Abruzzo. He was consecrated by Cardinal Achille Silvestrini.
On Jan. 8, 2004, Menichelli was named archbishop of Ancona-Osimo. Pope Francis appointed him a member of the two Synods of Bishops on the Family in 2014 and 2015.
Pope Francis made Menichelli cardinal in the consistory of February 2015, assigning him the titular church of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Tor Fiorenza.
Menichelli resigned in July 2017 upon reaching the age limit for bishops.
The funeral service for the late cardinal will take place at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 22, in the Madonna dei Lumi Sanctuary in San Severino Marche and will be presided over by Bishop Nazzareno Marconi of Macerata, president of the episcopal conference of the Marche region.
At the end of the funeral, the coffin will be taken to Ancona and, according to the cardinal’s will, he will be buried in the Cathedral of San Ciriaco.
The funeral chapel has been set up at the Madonna dei Lumi Sanctuary and will remain open from 5 p.m. to midnight Oct. 20 and from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Oct. 21.
This story was first published by ACI Stampa, CNA’s Italian-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Read More
While almost everyone in America has brutally mocked the Obama Presidential Center, former President Barack Obama has a different take.
The post Americans LIGHT UP Barack Obama With Creative Responses After He Posts Tweet Bragging About His Not So Attractive Presidential Center (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Read More
Federal prosecutors are now signaling they may remove James Comey’s attorney Patrick Fitzgerald as his lead counsel because of his involvement in the former FBI Director’s leaks of classified information to the media through Daniel Richman.
The post Federal Prosecutors Target Comey’s Lawyer Patrick Fitzgerald Over His Involvement in Comey’s Classified Trump Memo Leaks – Fitzgerald Fires Back! appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Read More
Democrats don’t even try to hide their violent ideations any more, even when a camera is rolling.
The post “No Kings” Protester Tells Reporter Brandi Kruse He’d Kill White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller (Video) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Read MoreFor the first time, astronomers have gotten a detailed look at how a supermassive black hole (SMBH) eats, discovering two large spiral arms of gas that are funneling its meals inward. The finding, made using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, has been accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. It offers aContinue reading “Supermassive black hole seen feeding via a pair of spiral arms”
The post Supermassive black hole seen feeding via a pair of spiral arms appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.
Read More
Bishop Sweeney appointment of deans: Oct. 2025 #Catholic – 
Bishop Sweeney has appointed the following priests to serve at dean upon the expiration of the previous dean’s term, due to reelection to a second term, or due to a vacancy because of a transfer of a pastor outside of the deanery. All of the appointments were effective by Oct. 1, 2025.
Clifton:
Passaic:
North Passaic:
Eastern Morris:
Northeast Morris:
Western Morris:
Sussex (West & East):
– Bishop Sweeney has appointed the following priests to serve at dean upon the expiration of the previous dean’s term, due to reelection to a second term, or due to a vacancy because of a transfer of a pastor outside of the deanery. All of the appointments were effective by Oct. 1, 2025. Clifton: Father Jeider Barraza Passaic: Father Rolands Uribe North Passaic: Father Greg Golba Eastern Morris: Father Vidal Gonzales Northeast Morris: Father Darwin Lastra Western Morris: Father Sean McDonnell Sussex (West & East): Father A. Richard Carton
![Assumption Knights honor charitable service that uplifts poor people #Catholic - The Knights of Columbus Council 359 of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Morristown, N.J., on Oct. 11 held their 11th Annual Mass and Dinner of Appreciation to recognize two community leaders.
The knights honored Dave Scott, also known as G. David Scott, executive director of the Market Street Mission in Morristown from 1989 to 2024. Mission has provided meals, shelter, and hope to thousands who are homeless, hungry, and struggling with addiction through the power of Christ and the support of the community. Under his leadership, the staff grew from a few members to nearly 80.
Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
That night, the knights also recognized Mike Bannon, a past grand knight, a significant contributor to the council, and a recognized leader in the community. He was recently named grand marshal of the 2026 Morris County St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Bannon is a member and former president of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick of Morris County and the Irish-American Association of Northwest Jersey. Retired, he is also an ardent volunteer, involved with DAWN Center for Independent Living and ARC Morris.
Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney celebrated a Mass in Assumption Church. Concelebrating were Msgr. John E. Hart, the pastor of the parish, and Father Krzysztof Tyszko, parochial vicar of Assumption. Joining them were Father Thomas Fallone, pastor of St. Thomas More Parish in the Convent Station neighborhood of Morris Township, N.J., and Father Daniel Chajkowski, a chaplain at Morristown Medical Center in Morristown who lives at St Thomas. Assumption and St. Thomas support Knights of Columbus Council 359.
After the Mass, a Dinner of Appreciation was held at Spring Brook Country Club, also in Morristown. The event raised funds for the more than 35 charities the knights support.
“The evening was a tremendous success. The event honored Dave Scott, Mike Bannon, and the outstanding charitable service of the Assumption knights to people who are poor and needy,” Msgr. Hart said.
BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI
[See image gallery at beaconnj.org]](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/assumption-knights-honor-charitable-service-that-uplifts-poor-people-catholic-the-knights-of-columbus-council-359-of-assumption-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary-parish-in-morristown-n-j-on-oct-11-hel.jpg)
Assumption Knights honor charitable service that uplifts poor people #Catholic – 
The Knights of Columbus Council 359 of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Morristown, N.J., on Oct. 11 held their 11th Annual Mass and Dinner of Appreciation to recognize two community leaders.
The knights honored Dave Scott, also known as G. David Scott, executive director of the Market Street Mission in Morristown from 1989 to 2024. Mission has provided meals, shelter, and hope to thousands who are homeless, hungry, and struggling with addiction through the power of Christ and the support of the community. Under his leadership, the staff grew from a few members to nearly 80.
That night, the knights also recognized Mike Bannon, a past grand knight, a significant contributor to the council, and a recognized leader in the community. He was recently named grand marshal of the 2026 Morris County St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Bannon is a member and former president of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick of Morris County and the Irish-American Association of Northwest Jersey. Retired, he is also an ardent volunteer, involved with DAWN Center for Independent Living and ARC Morris.
Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney celebrated a Mass in Assumption Church. Concelebrating were Msgr. John E. Hart, the pastor of the parish, and Father Krzysztof Tyszko, parochial vicar of Assumption. Joining them were Father Thomas Fallone, pastor of St. Thomas More Parish in the Convent Station neighborhood of Morris Township, N.J., and Father Daniel Chajkowski, a chaplain at Morristown Medical Center in Morristown who lives at St Thomas. Assumption and St. Thomas support Knights of Columbus Council 359.
After the Mass, a Dinner of Appreciation was held at Spring Brook Country Club, also in Morristown. The event raised funds for the more than 35 charities the knights support.
“The evening was a tremendous success. The event honored Dave Scott, Mike Bannon, and the outstanding charitable service of the Assumption knights to people who are poor and needy,” Msgr. Hart said.
– The Knights of Columbus Council 359 of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Morristown, N.J., on Oct. 11 held their 11th Annual Mass and Dinner of Appreciation to recognize two community leaders. The knights honored Dave Scott, also known as G. David Scott, executive director of the Market Street Mission in Morristown from 1989 to 2024. Mission has provided meals, shelter, and hope to thousands who are homeless, hungry, and struggling with addiction through the power of Christ and the support of the community. Under his leadership, the staff grew from a few members to nearly 80. Click
Obituary: Sister of Christian Charity Immacolata Scarogni, 57 #Catholic – 
A Mass of Christian Burial was held on Oct. 14 at John the Baptist Church in Landeck, Ohio, for Sister of Christian Charity Immacolata Scarogni. She died on Oct. 7 at St. John the Baptist Convent. She was 57. Sister Scarogni was a Sister of Christian Charity for 37 years.
Born in the Bronx, N.Y., Sister Scarogni was the second youngest of six children of Ercole and Assunta (Iodice) Scarogni and the first of her siblings to be born in the United States.
In 1987, Sister Scarogni entered the Sisters of Christian Charity in Mendham, N.J., after attending Bronx Community College for a year. She was invested as a sister in 1988, receiving the name Sister Immacolata. She made her first vows in 1990 and her final vows in 1996.
Sister Scarogni earned an associate’s degree from Assumption College for Sisters when it was located in Mendham, N.J.; a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and psychology from the College of St. Elizabeth (now St. Elizabeth University), in the Convent Station neighborhood of Morris Township, N.J.; and a master’s degree in pastoral ministry with a concentration in youth ministry from Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J.
Sister Scarogni’s ministry included teaching grades 1 through 8 in Catholic schools in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. In several parishes, she simultaneously worked in youth ministry.
In 2015, Sister Scarogni responded to the call to begin a ministry in Ohio. She became the parish manager and religious education coordinator for St. John the Baptist Parish in Landeck. A second parish, St. Patrick Parish in Spencerville, Ohio, was added to her duties, followed by the addition of a third sister-parish, St. John the Evangelist in Delphos, Ohio. She endeared herself to priests and parishioners, which resulted in a restoration of the Landeck and Spencerville churches during her tenure.
In 2020, Bishop Daniel Thomas of the Diocese of Toledo, Ohio, appointed Sister Scarogni to the diocesan Seminarian Admissions/Formation Board. In 2022, St. John the Baptist Parish dedicated a baseball field in her honor, “to show appreciation for everything Sister Immacolata has done in being a force that has energized the community,” according to then-pastor, Father Dennis Walsh.
Sister Scarogni is survived by the Sisters of Christian Charity; her brothers, Luigi (Deborah) Scarogni, and Massimo (Anna) Scarogni; her sisters, Doriana (Frank) Passafiume and Susie (Walter) Walsh; her sister-in-law, Gigi; her nieces and nephews; and the many people who were blessed to call her “friend.” She was predeceased by her parents and her brother, Anthony Scarogni.
Memorial donations in Sister Immacolata Scarogni’s memory can be sent to the Sisters of Christian Charity, 350 Bernardsville Road, Mendham, N.J. 07945, or made online at sccus.org/donate.
– A Mass of Christian Burial was held on Oct. 14 at John the Baptist Church in Landeck, Ohio, for Sister of Christian Charity Immacolata Scarogni. She died on Oct. 7 at St. John the Baptist Convent. She was 57. Sister Scarogni was a Sister of Christian Charity for 37 years. Born in the Bronx, N.Y., Sister Scarogni was the second youngest of six children of Ercole and Assunta (Iodice) Scarogni and the first of her siblings to be born in the United States. In 1987, Sister Scarogni entered the Sisters of Christian Charity in Mendham, N.J., after attending Bronx Community
![At Mass, Bishop Sweeney urges students to appreciate Catholic education #Catholic - DePaul Catholic High School in Wayne, N.J., on Oct. 14 welcomed Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney, who celebrated the school’s annual Bishop’s Mass.
Concelebrating the Mass with Bishop Sweeney were Father Frank Lennie, a DePaul chaplain and an alumnus of school, Class of 2010; Father Brian Ditullio, a DePaul chaplain; and Father John Tarantino, a retired priest of the Paterson Diocese in New Jersey. Father Tarantino is a DePaul Catholic alumnus, Class of 1968. During his priestly ministry, he served DePaul from 1980 to 1987, as a faculty member and chair of the Theology Department.
Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
In his homily, Bishop Sweeney reflected on the true meaning of Catholic education, reminding DePaul students that each day, they are blessed with the opportunity to pray together with classmates, faculty, staff, and members of the school community.
DePaul students grow in understanding of God’s presence in their lives and in one another by attending Mass, participating in theology classes, and sharing in faith-filled moments. Bishop Sweeney encouraged everyone to recognize God’s presence in themselves and in individuals they meet.
“Our dedicated DePaul Catholic teachers continue their mission to share their faith, guiding students to realize that God has placed each of us on this earth for a reason and a purpose,” DePaul posted on social media. “Thank you, Bishop Sweeney, for joining us and sharing your inspirational message with our community.”
BEACON PHOTOS | JENNIFER MAHON
[See image gallery at beaconnj.org]](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/at-mass-bishop-sweeney-urges-students-to-appreciate-catholic-education-catholic-depaul-catholic-high-school-in-wayne-n-j-on-oct-14-welcomed-bishop-kevin-j-sweeney-who-celebrated-the-school.jpg)
At Mass, Bishop Sweeney urges students to appreciate Catholic education #Catholic – 
DePaul Catholic High School in Wayne, N.J., on Oct. 14 welcomed Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney, who celebrated the school’s annual Bishop’s Mass.
Concelebrating the Mass with Bishop Sweeney were Father Frank Lennie, a DePaul chaplain and an alumnus of school, Class of 2010; Father Brian Ditullio, a DePaul chaplain; and Father John Tarantino, a retired priest of the Paterson Diocese in New Jersey. Father Tarantino is a DePaul Catholic alumnus, Class of 1968. During his priestly ministry, he served DePaul from 1980 to 1987, as a faculty member and chair of the Theology Department.
In his homily, Bishop Sweeney reflected on the true meaning of Catholic education, reminding DePaul students that each day, they are blessed with the opportunity to pray together with classmates, faculty, staff, and members of the school community.
DePaul students grow in understanding of God’s presence in their lives and in one another by attending Mass, participating in theology classes, and sharing in faith-filled moments. Bishop Sweeney encouraged everyone to recognize God’s presence in themselves and in individuals they meet.
“Our dedicated DePaul Catholic teachers continue their mission to share their faith, guiding students to realize that God has placed each of us on this earth for a reason and a purpose,” DePaul posted on social media. “Thank you, Bishop Sweeney, for joining us and sharing your inspirational message with our community.”
– DePaul Catholic High School in Wayne, N.J., on Oct. 14 welcomed Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney, who celebrated the school’s annual Bishop’s Mass. Concelebrating the Mass with Bishop Sweeney were Father Frank Lennie, a DePaul chaplain and an alumnus of school, Class of 2010; Father Brian Ditullio, a DePaul chaplain; and Father John Tarantino, a retired priest of the Paterson Diocese in New Jersey. Father Tarantino is a DePaul Catholic alumnus, Class of 1968. During his priestly ministry, he served DePaul from 1980 to 1987, as a faculty member and chair of the Theology Department. Click here to subscribe to our
CNA Staff, Oct 20, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).
As a competitive figure skater growing up, Rachael Popcak Isaac experienced firsthand the pressure that comes with competitive sports. Now as a devout Catholic and a professional counselor she has launched a new program for athletes inspired by St. John Paul II’s theology of the body.
The Faith-Based Success and Performance Coaching Program is offered by CatholicCounselors.com, where Isaac is chief operating officer.
In an interview with CNA, Isaac shared about her Catholic approach to the sports counseling program, which will offer resources such as tele-counseling, group workshops, and performance coaching.
CNA: What does sports therapy from a Catholic perspective look like? How does your approach differ from a traditional secular sports psychologist?
Rachael Popcak Isaac: From a Catholic perspective, sports therapy isn’t just about performance — it’s about the whole person: mind, body, and soul. Traditional sports psychology often focuses only on mental skills to improve performance. Those tools are valuable, but they can feel incomplete.
My approach integrates the science of performance with the truth of our identity being rooted in God and who God created us to be. That means I don’t just help athletes manage nerves or sharpen focus — I help them see their sport as part of their vocation, a way to glorify God and grow in virtue.
We work on confidence, resilience, and discipline, yes — but we root it in the deeper purpose of becoming the person God is calling them to be, on and off the field.
What inspired you to go into counseling and develop a Catholic-based coaching program? Will you tell us a bit about yourself and what led you to this work?
My background is twofold. I grew up as a dancer and competitive figure skater. So I saw the pressures, perfectionism, and anxiety that comes with sports, performance, competing, etc. I lived it. But I did the work to grow my skills and tools to manage stress and build my confidence in healthy ways and even learned to love performing rather than being afraid of it.
Likewise, I’ve always been fascinated by what helps people flourish. I studied psychology, became a licensed clinical social worker, and worked with individuals and families in traditional counseling. But I also saw the hunger people had for guidance that went deeper than just coping skills.
My own Catholic faith has always shaped how I see the human person — that we are created in the image of God, with dignity and purpose. CatholicCounselors.com integrates the best of psychology and performance science with the richness of our Catholic faith.
I want people — athletes, professionals, parents — to know that they can build confidence and resilience not by becoming “perfect” but by living fully as the person God created them to be.
How do you integrate St. John Paul II’s theology of the body into your sessions? Why are these teachings so important in your work?
The theology of the body reminds us that our bodies matter — they are not separate from who we are but integral to our identity. In performance work, this truth is huge. So often people live in their heads, battling anxiety, doubt, or perfectionism.
I help clients reconnect with their bodies, not as machines to be pushed harder but as gifts to be honored and trained in a way that reflects their dignity. Whether it’s an athlete learning to regulate their nervous system before competition or a professional learning to manage stress in their body during a high-stakes presentation, we use the body as a pathway to healing and growth.
St. John Paul II’s teaching gives language to the deeper meaning of this work: that our body reveals our call to relationship, to love, and to living fully alive.
What are the most common struggles that your clients face, and how does a Catholic approach help with these struggles? What would you tell Catholics facing similar struggles?
Most of my clients struggle with confidence, anxiety, and perfectionism. They’re often high-achievers who feel the weight of expectations — from themselves, others, or culture.
The Catholic approach helps because it grounds their worth in something unshakable: They are loved by God, regardless of wins, losses, or mistakes. That shift changes everything. Instead of seeing failure as proof they’re not enough, they can see it as part of the growth process — even as a way God is forming them.
I tell Catholics facing these struggles: Your confidence doesn’t come from never falling but from knowing who you are and who walks with you. Every challenge can be a chance to grow in resilience and trust.
Read More
U.S. — The countrywide "No Kings" protests are being hailed as an unmitigated success as after two days of rallies, America still does not have any kings.
Read More
SILVER SPRING, MD — An abjectly sinful four-month-old baby appeared to pay no attention whatsoever to the sermon at Bethel Lutheran Church this morning.
Read More
| Picture of the day |
|---|
|
|
Explosive Ordnance Disposal 1st Class Christopher Courtney assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit Six (EODMU-6), Det. 16 assists his team members during Special Purpose Insertion Extraction (SPIE) training from an SH-60 Seahawk helicopter. The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) shown below the helicopter was launched on this day 50 years ago.
|
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 20, 2025 / 05:20 am (CNA).
The Trump administration’s recent decision to cease publishing an annual U.S. Department of Agriculture report on household food insecurity is being met with strong criticism by the Catholic Health Association of the United States, anti-hunger activists, and academics.
The last USDA food insecurity report, covering 2024 data, is set for release Oct. 22. On Sept. 20, the USDA, led by Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, announced the termination of future “Household Food Security Reports,” which were first published in 1995 during the administration of then-President Bill Clinton.
“These redundant, costly, politicized, and extraneous studies do nothing more than fearmonger,” the USDA said in a published statement.
The USDA questioned the legitimacy of the annual reports, saying food insecurity trends have remained virtually unchanged since 1995, “regardless of an over 87% increase in SNAP spending between 2019–2023.”
SNAP is an acronym for “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,” which according to the USDA “provides food benefits to low-income families to enhance their grocery budget so they can afford the nutritious food essential to health and well-being.” SNAP was formerly known as the “Food Stamp Program.”
The Trump administration explained its decision for discontinuing the reports, saying: “For 30 years, this study — initially created by the Clinton administration as a means to support the increase of SNAP eligibility and benefit allotments — failed to present anything more than subjective, liberal fodder.”
“I don’t think collecting data about food insecurity across the country is ‘liberal fodder,’” said Lisa Smith, vice president of advocacy and public policy for the Catholic Health Association of the United States, which generally aligns with Church teaching but has clashed with the U.S. bishops in the past on health care issues, such as the Affordable Care Act. “When you don’t have the data, it makes it more difficult to know where the keys areas of need are.”
The end of the annual food security report “is going to impact the health of low-income communities,” Smith said. Smith’s concerns were echoed by Colleen Heflin, a professor of public administration and international affairs at Syracuse University and co-author of “Food for Thought: Understanding Older Adult Food Insecurity,” a book published last month along with Madonna Harrington Meyer, a sociology professor at Syracuse.
“Without national data from the Current Population Survey on food insecurity, it will no longer be possible to track year-to-year variation in food insecurity due to changing economic and policy conditions,” Heflin said. “This lack of data will make it harder for Catholic charities and other community-based organizations to effectively address food insecurity without a consistent and comprehensive understanding of how food insecurity is changing for different demographic and geographic communities.”
Like Smith, Heflin dismissed the Trump administration’s claim that the reports were little more than liberal, redundant fearmongering.
“Food insecurity data collection has been a bipartisan issue since the Reagan administration,” since the 1980s, Heflin said. Referring to the Trump administration’s plan to end the annual report, Heflin said she found “both the decision and the justification provided quite shocking and without merit.”
James Ziliak, a professor of microeconomics and founding director of the Center for Poverty Research at the University of Kentucky, told CNA that eliminating the USDA household food security reports could reduce public and policy awareness of hunger needs and hinder private-sector responses, such as those by Catholic health and social service organizations.
“This report was one of the most widely watched barometers of economic well-being among low- and moderate-income households in the U.S. and provided key information for policymakers, charitable organizations, and researchers,” Ziliak said in an email.
Like Smith and Heflin, Ziliak said he did not accept the Trump administration’s explanation for ending publication of the annual report.
“This is absolutely not justified, and the timing is especially harmful to public policy as the economy slows down and major cuts are being implemented in the largest federal food assistance program,” he said, referring to SNAP.
Read More
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/TAL-lead-image-BERKELEYSPRINGSWV1025-7acf4d1df53a47a1b52d8d35d496ee7c.jpg)