Day: October 21, 2025

Prayer to St. John Paul II: Prayer of the Day for Wednesday, October 22, 2025 – #Prayer – Oh, St. John Paul, from the window of heaven, grant us your blessing! Bless the church that you loved and served and guided, courageously leading it along the paths of the world in order to bring Jesus to everyone and everyone to Jesus. Bless the young, who were your great passion. Help them dream again, help them look up high again to find the light that illuminates the paths of life here on earth. May you bless families, bless each family! You warned of Satan’s assault against this …

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Oh, St. John Paul, from the window of heaven, grant us your blessing! Bless the church that you loved and served and guided, courageously leading it along the paths of the world in order to bring Jesus to everyone and everyone to Jesus. Bless the young, who were your great passion. Help them dream again, help them look up high again to find the light that illuminates the paths of life here on earth.

May you bless families, bless each family! You warned of Satan’s assault against this …

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Gospel and Word of the Day – 22 October 2025 – A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans 6:12-18 Brothers and sisters: Sin must not reign over your mortal bodies so that you obey their desires. And do not present the parts of your bodies to sin as weapons for wickedness, but present yourselves to God as raised from the dead to life and the parts of your bodies to God as weapons for righteousness. For sin is not to have any power over you, since you are not under the law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Of course not! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, although you were once slaves of sin, you have become obedient from the heart to the pattern of teaching to which you were entrusted. Freed from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness.From the Gospel according to Luke 12:39-48 Jesus said to his disciples: "Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come." Then Peter said, "Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?" And the Lord replied, "Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of his servants to distribute the food allowance at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so. Truly, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk, then that servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish the servant severely and assign him a place with the unfaithful. That servant who knew his master’s will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely; and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly. Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more."Vigilance is being alert, being vigilant in life. (…) “Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes” (v. 37): it is the beatitude of faithfully awaiting the Lord, of being ready, with an attitude of service. He presents himself each day, knocks at the door of our heart. Those who open it will be blessed, because they will have a great reward: indeed, the Lord will make himself a servant to his servants — it is a beautiful reward — in the great banquet of his Kingdom He himself will serve them. With this parable, (…) Jesus proposes life as a vigil of diligent expectation, which heralds the bright day of eternity. To be able to enter one must be ready, awake and committed to serving others, from the comforting perspective that, “beyond”, it will no longer be we who serve God, but He himself who will welcome us to his table. If you think about it, this already happens today each time we meet the Lord in prayer, or in serving the poor, and above all in the Eucharist, where he prepares a banquet to nourish us of his Word and of his Body. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 7 August 2016)

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A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans
6:12-18

Brothers and sisters:
Sin must not reign over your mortal bodies
so that you obey their desires.
And do not present the parts of your bodies to sin
as weapons for wickedness,
but present yourselves to God as raised from the dead to life
and the parts of your bodies to God
as weapons for righteousness.
For sin is not to have any power over you,
since you are not under the law but under grace.

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law
but under grace?
Of course not!
Do you not know that if you present yourselves
to someone as obedient slaves,
you are slaves of the one you obey,
either of sin, which leads to death,
or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
But thanks be to God that, although you were once slaves of sin,
you have become obedient from the heart
to the pattern of teaching to which you were entrusted.
Freed from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness.

From the Gospel according to Luke
12:39-48

Jesus said to his disciples:
"Be sure of this:
if the master of the house had known the hour
when the thief was coming,
he would not have let his house be broken into.
You also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come."

Then Peter said,
"Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?"
And the Lord replied,
"Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward
whom the master will put in charge of his servants
to distribute the food allowance at the proper time?
Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so.
Truly, I say to you, he will put him
in charge of all his property.
But if that servant says to himself,
‘My master is delayed in coming,’
and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants,
to eat and drink and get drunk,
then that servant’s master will come
on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour
and will punish the servant severely
and assign him a place with the unfaithful.
That servant who knew his master’s will
but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will
shall be beaten severely;
and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will
but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating
shall be beaten only lightly.
Much will be required of the person entrusted with much,
and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more."

Vigilance is being alert, being vigilant in life. (…) “Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes” (v. 37): it is the beatitude of faithfully awaiting the Lord, of being ready, with an attitude of service. He presents himself each day, knocks at the door of our heart. Those who open it will be blessed, because they will have a great reward: indeed, the Lord will make himself a servant to his servants — it is a beautiful reward — in the great banquet of his Kingdom He himself will serve them. With this parable, (…) Jesus proposes life as a vigil of diligent expectation, which heralds the bright day of eternity. To be able to enter one must be ready, awake and committed to serving others, from the comforting perspective that, “beyond”, it will no longer be we who serve God, but He himself who will welcome us to his table. If you think about it, this already happens today each time we meet the Lord in prayer, or in serving the poor, and above all in the Eucharist, where he prepares a banquet to nourish us of his Word and of his Body. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 7 August 2016)

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State-level religious freedom protections grow in recent years #Catholic Thirty states have adopted some version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) first signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1993. / Credit: Leigh Prather/Shutterstock Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 21, 2025 / 17:56 pm (CNA). Protections for religious freedom in the U.S. have grown in recent years with multiple states adopting laws to strengthen the constitutional right to freely exercise one’s religion.As of 2025, 30 states have adopted a version of the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) or similar legislative protection for religious freedom. The most recent states to adopt those protections for state-level laws were Georgia and Wyoming in 2025 and Iowa, Utah, and Nebraska in 2024. West Virginia and North Dakota adopted them in 2023 and South Dakota and Montana did the same in 2021.RFRA was first adopted in 1993, when then-President Bill Clinton signed it into law to expand religious freedom protections. Under the law, the federal government cannot “substantially burden” the free exercise of religion unless there is a “compelling government interest” and it is carried out in the “least restrictive” means possible.Congress passed the law in response to the 1990 Supreme Court decision in Employment Division v. Smith, which asserted that the First Amendment was not violated as long as a law was “neutral and generally applicable.” The law was intended to provide a stronger safeguard for the free exercise of religion than what was provided by the highest court. Bipartisan consensus gone, but opposition weakeningWhen RFRA was adopted at the federal level in the 1990s, the protections had overwhelming bipartisan support. In the 2010s, that bipartisan consensus waned as most Democrats voiced opposition to the protections.Tim Schultz, the president of the 1st Amendment Partnership, told CNA that in 2013, two states adopted RFRA with nearly unanimous support from Republicans and about two-thirds support from Democrats. However, the law became more divisive after the 2014 Supreme Court ruling in favor of exempting Hobby Lobby from a mandate to provide abortifacient drugs based on RFRA.“That [bipartisan support] seems like a million years ago,” Schultz said. “Now I would say Republican support is about the same as it was then. Democratic support is under 5%.”Although Schultz did not express optimism that bipartisan support could return any time soon, he credited some cultural shifts for the strong success in Republican-leaning states over the past four years.From 2014 through 2020, he said business groups and LGBT groups “were working together very strongly … in opposition to religious freedom bills” because they saw them as threats to certain anti-discrimination laws related to workplace policies from religious employers.However, post-2020, he said, “the politics of RFRA are far more favorable,” and he noted there has been “far less opposition from business groups.”One reason for this change, according to Schultz, was the widely-published story of NCAA championship swimmer Lia Thomas, a biologically male swimmer who identified as a transgender woman and competed in women’s sports. This led polling to “change on every issue related to LGBT,” he noted.Another reason, he argued, was the response to transgender-related policies by Target and the Bud Light ads, which led to “consumer anger at both of them.” He noted the money lost by the corporations “made business groups say ‘we are not going to have the same posture.’”In spite of the partisanship that fuels the current debate, Schultz noted RFRA has been used to defend religious freedom on a wide range of issues, some of which have pleased conservatives and others that have pleased progressives.Although RFRA has been used to defend religious freedom on issues related to contraception, abortion, gender, and sexuality, it has also been used to defend religious organizations that provide services for migrants. “[RFRA is] not politically predictable,” Schultz said.
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State-level religious freedom protections grow in recent years #Catholic Thirty states have adopted some version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) first signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1993. / Credit: Leigh Prather/Shutterstock Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 21, 2025 / 17:56 pm (CNA). Protections for religious freedom in the U.S. have grown in recent years with multiple states adopting laws to strengthen the constitutional right to freely exercise one’s religion.As of 2025, 30 states have adopted a version of the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) or similar legislative protection for religious freedom. The most recent states to adopt those protections for state-level laws were Georgia and Wyoming in 2025 and Iowa, Utah, and Nebraska in 2024. West Virginia and North Dakota adopted them in 2023 and South Dakota and Montana did the same in 2021.RFRA was first adopted in 1993, when then-President Bill Clinton signed it into law to expand religious freedom protections. Under the law, the federal government cannot “substantially burden” the free exercise of religion unless there is a “compelling government interest” and it is carried out in the “least restrictive” means possible.Congress passed the law in response to the 1990 Supreme Court decision in Employment Division v. Smith, which asserted that the First Amendment was not violated as long as a law was “neutral and generally applicable.” The law was intended to provide a stronger safeguard for the free exercise of religion than what was provided by the highest court. Bipartisan consensus gone, but opposition weakeningWhen RFRA was adopted at the federal level in the 1990s, the protections had overwhelming bipartisan support. In the 2010s, that bipartisan consensus waned as most Democrats voiced opposition to the protections.Tim Schultz, the president of the 1st Amendment Partnership, told CNA that in 2013, two states adopted RFRA with nearly unanimous support from Republicans and about two-thirds support from Democrats. However, the law became more divisive after the 2014 Supreme Court ruling in favor of exempting Hobby Lobby from a mandate to provide abortifacient drugs based on RFRA.“That [bipartisan support] seems like a million years ago,” Schultz said. “Now I would say Republican support is about the same as it was then. Democratic support is under 5%.”Although Schultz did not express optimism that bipartisan support could return any time soon, he credited some cultural shifts for the strong success in Republican-leaning states over the past four years.From 2014 through 2020, he said business groups and LGBT groups “were working together very strongly … in opposition to religious freedom bills” because they saw them as threats to certain anti-discrimination laws related to workplace policies from religious employers.However, post-2020, he said, “the politics of RFRA are far more favorable,” and he noted there has been “far less opposition from business groups.”One reason for this change, according to Schultz, was the widely-published story of NCAA championship swimmer Lia Thomas, a biologically male swimmer who identified as a transgender woman and competed in women’s sports. This led polling to “change on every issue related to LGBT,” he noted.Another reason, he argued, was the response to transgender-related policies by Target and the Bud Light ads, which led to “consumer anger at both of them.” He noted the money lost by the corporations “made business groups say ‘we are not going to have the same posture.’”In spite of the partisanship that fuels the current debate, Schultz noted RFRA has been used to defend religious freedom on a wide range of issues, some of which have pleased conservatives and others that have pleased progressives.Although RFRA has been used to defend religious freedom on issues related to contraception, abortion, gender, and sexuality, it has also been used to defend religious organizations that provide services for migrants. “[RFRA is] not politically predictable,” Schultz said.

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Thirty states have adopted some version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) first signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1993. / Credit: Leigh Prather/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 21, 2025 / 17:56 pm (CNA).

Protections for religious freedom in the U.S. have grown in recent years with multiple states adopting laws to strengthen the constitutional right to freely exercise one’s religion.

As of 2025, 30 states have adopted a version of the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) or similar legislative protection for religious freedom. 

The most recent states to adopt those protections for state-level laws were Georgia and Wyoming in 2025 and Iowa, Utah, and Nebraska in 2024. West Virginia and North Dakota adopted them in 2023 and South Dakota and Montana did the same in 2021.

RFRA was first adopted in 1993, when then-President Bill Clinton signed it into law to expand religious freedom protections. Under the law, the federal government cannot “substantially burden” the free exercise of religion unless there is a “compelling government interest” and it is carried out in the “least restrictive” means possible.

Congress passed the law in response to the 1990 Supreme Court decision in Employment Division v. Smith, which asserted that the First Amendment was not violated as long as a law was “neutral and generally applicable.” The law was intended to provide a stronger safeguard for the free exercise of religion than what was provided by the highest court. 

Bipartisan consensus gone, but opposition weakening

When RFRA was adopted at the federal level in the 1990s, the protections had overwhelming bipartisan support. In the 2010s, that bipartisan consensus waned as most Democrats voiced opposition to the protections.

Tim Schultz, the president of the 1st Amendment Partnership, told CNA that in 2013, two states adopted RFRA with nearly unanimous support from Republicans and about two-thirds support from Democrats. However, the law became more divisive after the 2014 Supreme Court ruling in favor of exempting Hobby Lobby from a mandate to provide abortifacient drugs based on RFRA.

“That [bipartisan support] seems like a million years ago,” Schultz said. “Now I would say Republican support is about the same as it was then. Democratic support is under 5%.”

Although Schultz did not express optimism that bipartisan support could return any time soon, he credited some cultural shifts for the strong success in Republican-leaning states over the past four years.

From 2014 through 2020, he said business groups and LGBT groups “were working together very strongly … in opposition to religious freedom bills” because they saw them as threats to certain anti-discrimination laws related to workplace policies from religious employers.

However, post-2020, he said, “the politics of RFRA are far more favorable,” and he noted there has been “far less opposition from business groups.”

One reason for this change, according to Schultz, was the widely-published story of NCAA championship swimmer Lia Thomas, a biologically male swimmer who identified as a transgender woman and competed in women’s sports. This led polling to “change on every issue related to LGBT,” he noted.

Another reason, he argued, was the response to transgender-related policies by Target and the Bud Light ads, which led to “consumer anger at both of them.” He noted the money lost by the corporations “made business groups say ‘we are not going to have the same posture.’”

In spite of the partisanship that fuels the current debate, Schultz noted RFRA has been used to defend religious freedom on a wide range of issues, some of which have pleased conservatives and others that have pleased progressives.

Although RFRA has been used to defend religious freedom on issues related to contraception, abortion, gender, and sexuality, it has also been used to defend religious organizations that provide services for migrants. 

“[RFRA is] not politically predictable,” Schultz said.

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BOMBSHELL DISCOVERY: Holes In Fairfax County, VA, Absentee Ballot Envelopes Conveniently Reveal Who Voter Chose For AG Candidate – On October 5, shocking text messages were released, allegedly from a conversation between the Democrat candidate for attorney general in Virginia, Jay Jones, and Republican State Delegate Carrie Coyner. The post BOMBSHELL DISCOVERY: Holes In Fairfax County, VA, Absentee Ballot Envelopes Conveniently Reveal Who Voter Chose For AG Candidate appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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BOMBSHELL DISCOVERY: Holes In Fairfax County, VA, Absentee Ballot Envelopes Conveniently Reveal Who Voter Chose For AG Candidate – On October 5, shocking text messages were released, allegedly from a conversation between the Democrat candidate for attorney general in Virginia, Jay Jones, and Republican State Delegate Carrie Coyner. The post BOMBSHELL DISCOVERY: Holes In Fairfax County, VA, Absentee Ballot Envelopes Conveniently Reveal Who Voter Chose For AG Candidate appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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VA AG candidates Hole In Ballot Envelope

VA AG candidates Hole In Ballot Envelope

On October 5, shocking text messages were released, allegedly from a conversation between the Democrat candidate for attorney general in Virginia, Jay Jones, and Republican State Delegate Carrie Coyner.

The post BOMBSHELL DISCOVERY: Holes In Fairfax County, VA, Absentee Ballot Envelopes Conveniently Reveal Who Voter Chose For AG Candidate appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Trump-Putin Meeting in Budapest This Week Is Called Off – But the Sudden Announcement Raises Eyebrows – America Reports on FOX News reported on Tuesday that the meeting between President Trump and President Putin in Budapest was called off. The post Trump-Putin Meeting in Budapest This Week Is Called Off – But the Sudden Announcement Raises Eyebrows appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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Trump-Putin Meeting in Budapest This Week Is Called Off – But the Sudden Announcement Raises Eyebrows – America Reports on FOX News reported on Tuesday that the meeting between President Trump and President Putin in Budapest was called off. The post Trump-Putin Meeting in Budapest This Week Is Called Off – But the Sudden Announcement Raises Eyebrows appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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America Reports on FOX News reported on Tuesday that the meeting between President Trump and President Putin in Budapest was called off.

The post Trump-Putin Meeting in Budapest This Week Is Called Off – But the Sudden Announcement Raises Eyebrows appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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WATCH LIVE: President Trump Participates in a Diwali Celebration – President Trump will participate in a celebration of the Hindu Diwali holiday this afternoon.  The President recognized the holiday and participated in a celebration during his first term in office. The post WATCH LIVE: President Trump Participates in a Diwali Celebration appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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WATCH LIVE: President Trump Participates in a Diwali Celebration – President Trump will participate in a celebration of the Hindu Diwali holiday this afternoon.  The President recognized the holiday and participated in a celebration during his first term in office. The post WATCH LIVE: President Trump Participates in a Diwali Celebration appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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President Trump will participate in a celebration of the Hindu Diwali holiday this afternoon.  The President recognized the holiday and participated in a celebration during his first term in office.

The post WATCH LIVE: President Trump Participates in a Diwali Celebration appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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The ‘Vivere Christus’ awards: Discipleship in action on World Mission Sunday #Catholic – “… For here the saying is verified that ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the work, and you are sharing the fruits of their work.” Jn. 4:37-38 BISHOP KEVIN J. SWEENEY I have often thought of these words from St. John’s Gospel, “One sows and another reaps,” when I consider the ministry and efforts of our Bishop Emeritus Arthur Serratelli, as our diocese continues to “reap” the efforts of the “seeds sown” by Bishop Serratelli in his 16 years of service and leadership as bishop of our diocese. One of the countless examples of the ways in which I have benefitted and been supported in my five-plus years as bishop is the tradition that was initiated by Bishop Serratelli in 2009 for an annual recognition of parishioners, parish leaders, and ministers who receive the Vivere Christus Award. This year, the Vivere Christus Ceremony was held on Sunday, Oct. 19, which was also World Mission Sunday. In preparing for Mass and for the Vivere Christus Ceremony, I realized that there was a spiritual “connection” between what (and who) was being celebrated by the Universal Church and what we were doing, here in our diocese, by means of the Vivere Christus Ceremony. I hope that it may be helpful for those who were not able to attend the Vivere Christus Ceremony to read the text of the homily that I offered (below). As individuals and families, as parishes and as a diocese, we can be aware that there are many challenges to living our faith, day by day. Still, as we pray for and support missionaries and the missionary work of the Church, and as we recognize the generosity, dedication, and faithful service of those who receive the Vivere Christus Award, we can be renewed, inspired, and strengthened to live as true “pilgrims of Hope” and be the missionary disciples Jesus is calling us to be. It was providential that Mission Sunday should be the day when the Vivere Christus medals are awarded, since the intersection between our baptismal call to be evangelizers and the ministry of missionaries and life in Christ is evident. Jesus himself directs our goals through our baptism into his Paschal Mystery, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). All of our efforts draw their life from the Lord Jesus, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing (John 15:5). The witness of members of our own families and parish communities helps us to understand our call to share the gospel with others. To evangelize is to look outward to discover where we can most effectively be instruments of God’s love and mercy. Missionaries are keenly aware of the need to take the dynamism of the gospel to wherever they are sent by God, even to distant corners of a world far from their experience. Most of those missionaries, I feel quite certain, would tell us that the power of the gospel was first understood through the love of their parents, through grandparents whose whole lives were suffused with faith, or from catechists, teachers, and members of their parish family who demonstrated the joy of faith in action. In presenting the Vivere Christus Awards, we not only honor the contributions of individuals — important as that is in its own right — but we recognize the call of our common baptismal vocation to announce the truth that life in this world and in the next is found in our relationship to Jesus Christ. In establishing the Vivere Christus award, Bishop Serratelli insightfully recognized the indispensable need to foster in our families and parishes the yearning for holiness of life that is found in our relationship with Jesus Christ in the sacraments He gives us to celebrate His presence among us and in His unchanging and living Word that directs our attention toward love of neighbor as a guidepost to heaven.  Homily at the Vivere Christus Awards Ceremony, Oct. 19, 2025:  We just heard from St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians: “…What difference does it make, as long as in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is being proclaimed? And in that I rejoice. Indeed, I shall continue to rejoice, for I know that this will result in deliverance for me through your prayers and support from the Spirit of Jesus Christ. My eager expectation and hope is that I shall not be put to shame in any way, but that with all boldness, now as always, Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me life is Christ, and death is gain…” (Phil. 1: 18-21) The Award and Recognition that you receive today is called “Vivere Christus.” These words of St. Paul are also the Episcopal Motto of Bishop Arthur Serratelli, our bishop emeritus: “Vivere Christus est” — “To Live is Christ.” Each year, we ask our pastors and parish leaders to nominate women and men who live these words, who live, as St. Paul says, so that Christ and His Love are proclaimed. Today, we recognize and give thanks for your lives of Faith, Hope, and Love; for your generosity of time, talent, and treasure; for the ways in which you share your gifts and talents in service, leadership, and ministry. In this Jubilee Year of Hope and on this day when the Universal Church celebrates World Mission Sunday, we give thanks for the ways in which you live for Christ as Pilgrims of Hope and as Missionaries of Hope among God’s people, especially here in our Diocese of Paterson. In preparing for Mass today, I was doing a little research on “World Mission Sunday” and I came across this summary on the website of the Pontifical Missions Society of the United States: Celebrated every year on the second-to-last Sunday of October, World Mission Sunday is the day when Catholics around the world unite to support the missionary work of the Church. Established by Pope Pius XI in 1926, it remains the only annual global collection that directly supports the 1,124 mission territories where the Church is young, struggling, or persecuted. On this day, every parish, in every diocese, in every country, joins in prayer and giving to ensure that missionaries can continue their vital work — building churches, forming priests, supporting catechists, and serving communities in need. Be a missionary of hope this World Mission Sunday and support the work of the Pope’s Missions. On this day when, Catholics around the world unite to support the missionary work of the Church. Be a Missionary of Hope How appropriate and meaningful it is that Catholics from all parts of the Diocese of Paterson unite to recognize the ways in which our Vivere Christus honorees live as “Missionary Disciples” in our parishes and contribute to the “missionary” work of Evangelization, Catechesis, Charity, and countless other ministries. In a video message for World Mission Sunday, Pope Leo XIV invites every Catholic parish in the world to take part in World Mission Sunday. He also shares his personal experience, as he says: “When I served as a missionary priest and Bishop in Peru, I saw firsthand how the faith, the prayer, and the generosity shown on World Mission Sunday can transform entire communities.” I am very happy and blessed to be able to echo Pope Leo’s words and say that, as Bishop of Paterson, I get to see “firsthand,” every day, how the faith, dedication and generosity of our priests and pastors, deacons and consecrated religious, parish and diocesan staff members and leaders help to build up the Church of our diocese. I also get to see “firsthand” that we could not be the vibrant Church that we are without dedicated and generous volunteers, parishioners, and parish leaders who are represented each year by those who receive the Vivere Christus Award. Pope Leo concludes the video message with these words: THANK YOU for everything you will do to help me to help missionaries throughout the world. To our Vivere Christus recipients, to your families, pastors, and co-workers, on behalf of the Church of our Paterson, I say THANK YOU for helping each of us to strive each day to be able to say with St. Paul, “Vivere Christus,” “for to me, Life is Christ.” Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.  
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The ‘Vivere Christus’ awards: Discipleship in action on World Mission Sunday #Catholic – “… For here the saying is verified that ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the work, and you are sharing the fruits of their work.” Jn. 4:37-38 BISHOP KEVIN J. SWEENEY I have often thought of these words from St. John’s Gospel, “One sows and another reaps,” when I consider the ministry and efforts of our Bishop Emeritus Arthur Serratelli, as our diocese continues to “reap” the efforts of the “seeds sown” by Bishop Serratelli in his 16 years of service and leadership as bishop of our diocese. One of the countless examples of the ways in which I have benefitted and been supported in my five-plus years as bishop is the tradition that was initiated by Bishop Serratelli in 2009 for an annual recognition of parishioners, parish leaders, and ministers who receive the Vivere Christus Award. This year, the Vivere Christus Ceremony was held on Sunday, Oct. 19, which was also World Mission Sunday. In preparing for Mass and for the Vivere Christus Ceremony, I realized that there was a spiritual “connection” between what (and who) was being celebrated by the Universal Church and what we were doing, here in our diocese, by means of the Vivere Christus Ceremony. I hope that it may be helpful for those who were not able to attend the Vivere Christus Ceremony to read the text of the homily that I offered (below). As individuals and families, as parishes and as a diocese, we can be aware that there are many challenges to living our faith, day by day. Still, as we pray for and support missionaries and the missionary work of the Church, and as we recognize the generosity, dedication, and faithful service of those who receive the Vivere Christus Award, we can be renewed, inspired, and strengthened to live as true “pilgrims of Hope” and be the missionary disciples Jesus is calling us to be. It was providential that Mission Sunday should be the day when the Vivere Christus medals are awarded, since the intersection between our baptismal call to be evangelizers and the ministry of missionaries and life in Christ is evident. Jesus himself directs our goals through our baptism into his Paschal Mystery, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). All of our efforts draw their life from the Lord Jesus, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing (John 15:5). The witness of members of our own families and parish communities helps us to understand our call to share the gospel with others. To evangelize is to look outward to discover where we can most effectively be instruments of God’s love and mercy. Missionaries are keenly aware of the need to take the dynamism of the gospel to wherever they are sent by God, even to distant corners of a world far from their experience. Most of those missionaries, I feel quite certain, would tell us that the power of the gospel was first understood through the love of their parents, through grandparents whose whole lives were suffused with faith, or from catechists, teachers, and members of their parish family who demonstrated the joy of faith in action. In presenting the Vivere Christus Awards, we not only honor the contributions of individuals — important as that is in its own right — but we recognize the call of our common baptismal vocation to announce the truth that life in this world and in the next is found in our relationship to Jesus Christ. In establishing the Vivere Christus award, Bishop Serratelli insightfully recognized the indispensable need to foster in our families and parishes the yearning for holiness of life that is found in our relationship with Jesus Christ in the sacraments He gives us to celebrate His presence among us and in His unchanging and living Word that directs our attention toward love of neighbor as a guidepost to heaven.  Homily at the Vivere Christus Awards Ceremony, Oct. 19, 2025:  We just heard from St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians: “…What difference does it make, as long as in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is being proclaimed? And in that I rejoice. Indeed, I shall continue to rejoice, for I know that this will result in deliverance for me through your prayers and support from the Spirit of Jesus Christ. My eager expectation and hope is that I shall not be put to shame in any way, but that with all boldness, now as always, Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me life is Christ, and death is gain…” (Phil. 1: 18-21) The Award and Recognition that you receive today is called “Vivere Christus.” These words of St. Paul are also the Episcopal Motto of Bishop Arthur Serratelli, our bishop emeritus: “Vivere Christus est” — “To Live is Christ.” Each year, we ask our pastors and parish leaders to nominate women and men who live these words, who live, as St. Paul says, so that Christ and His Love are proclaimed. Today, we recognize and give thanks for your lives of Faith, Hope, and Love; for your generosity of time, talent, and treasure; for the ways in which you share your gifts and talents in service, leadership, and ministry. In this Jubilee Year of Hope and on this day when the Universal Church celebrates World Mission Sunday, we give thanks for the ways in which you live for Christ as Pilgrims of Hope and as Missionaries of Hope among God’s people, especially here in our Diocese of Paterson. In preparing for Mass today, I was doing a little research on “World Mission Sunday” and I came across this summary on the website of the Pontifical Missions Society of the United States: Celebrated every year on the second-to-last Sunday of October, World Mission Sunday is the day when Catholics around the world unite to support the missionary work of the Church. Established by Pope Pius XI in 1926, it remains the only annual global collection that directly supports the 1,124 mission territories where the Church is young, struggling, or persecuted. On this day, every parish, in every diocese, in every country, joins in prayer and giving to ensure that missionaries can continue their vital work — building churches, forming priests, supporting catechists, and serving communities in need. Be a missionary of hope this World Mission Sunday and support the work of the Pope’s Missions. On this day when, Catholics around the world unite to support the missionary work of the Church. Be a Missionary of Hope How appropriate and meaningful it is that Catholics from all parts of the Diocese of Paterson unite to recognize the ways in which our Vivere Christus honorees live as “Missionary Disciples” in our parishes and contribute to the “missionary” work of Evangelization, Catechesis, Charity, and countless other ministries. In a video message for World Mission Sunday, Pope Leo XIV invites every Catholic parish in the world to take part in World Mission Sunday. He also shares his personal experience, as he says: “When I served as a missionary priest and Bishop in Peru, I saw firsthand how the faith, the prayer, and the generosity shown on World Mission Sunday can transform entire communities.” I am very happy and blessed to be able to echo Pope Leo’s words and say that, as Bishop of Paterson, I get to see “firsthand,” every day, how the faith, dedication and generosity of our priests and pastors, deacons and consecrated religious, parish and diocesan staff members and leaders help to build up the Church of our diocese. I also get to see “firsthand” that we could not be the vibrant Church that we are without dedicated and generous volunteers, parishioners, and parish leaders who are represented each year by those who receive the Vivere Christus Award. Pope Leo concludes the video message with these words: THANK YOU for everything you will do to help me to help missionaries throughout the world. To our Vivere Christus recipients, to your families, pastors, and co-workers, on behalf of the Church of our Paterson, I say THANK YOU for helping each of us to strive each day to be able to say with St. Paul, “Vivere Christus,” “for to me, Life is Christ.” Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.  

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The ‘Vivere Christus’ awards: Discipleship in action on World Mission Sunday #Catholic –

“… For here the saying is verified that ‘One sows and another reaps.’

I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the work, and you are sharing the fruits of their work.”

Jn. 4:37-38

BISHOP KEVIN J. SWEENEY

I have often thought of these words from St. John’s Gospel, “One sows and another reaps,” when I consider the ministry and efforts of our Bishop Emeritus Arthur Serratelli, as our diocese continues to “reap” the efforts of the “seeds sown” by Bishop Serratelli in his 16 years of service and leadership as bishop of our diocese. One of the countless examples of the ways in which I have benefitted and been supported in my five-plus years as bishop is the tradition that was initiated by Bishop Serratelli in 2009 for an annual recognition of parishioners, parish leaders, and ministers who receive the Vivere Christus Award.

This year, the Vivere Christus Ceremony was held on Sunday, Oct. 19, which was also World Mission Sunday. In preparing for Mass and for the Vivere Christus Ceremony, I realized that there was a spiritual “connection” between what (and who) was being celebrated by the Universal Church and what we were doing, here in our diocese, by means of the Vivere Christus Ceremony.

I hope that it may be helpful for those who were not able to attend the Vivere Christus Ceremony to read the text of the homily that I offered (below). As individuals and families, as parishes and as a diocese, we can be aware that there are many challenges to living our faith, day by day. Still, as we pray for and support missionaries and the missionary work of the Church, and as we recognize the generosity, dedication, and faithful service of those who receive the Vivere Christus Award, we can be renewed, inspired, and strengthened to live as true “pilgrims of Hope” and be the missionary disciples Jesus is calling us to be.

It was providential that Mission Sunday should be the day when the Vivere Christus medals are awarded, since the intersection between our baptismal call to be evangelizers and the ministry of missionaries and life in Christ is evident. Jesus himself directs our goals through our baptism into his Paschal Mystery, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). All of our efforts draw their life from the Lord Jesus, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing (John 15:5). The witness of members of our own families and parish communities helps us to understand our call to share the gospel with others.

To evangelize is to look outward to discover where we can most effectively be instruments of God’s love and mercy. Missionaries are keenly aware of the need to take the dynamism of the gospel to wherever they are sent by God, even to distant corners of a world far from their experience. Most of those missionaries, I feel quite certain, would tell us that the power of the gospel was first understood through the love of their parents, through grandparents whose whole lives were suffused with faith, or from catechists, teachers, and members of their parish family who demonstrated the joy of faith in action. In presenting the Vivere Christus Awards, we not only honor the contributions of individuals — important as that is in its own right — but we recognize the call of our common baptismal vocation to announce the truth that life in this world and in the next is found in our relationship to Jesus Christ.

In establishing the Vivere Christus award, Bishop Serratelli insightfully recognized the indispensable need to foster in our families and parishes the yearning for holiness of life that is found in our relationship with Jesus Christ in the sacraments He gives us to celebrate His presence among us and in His unchanging and living Word that directs our attention toward love of neighbor as a guidepost to heaven.

 Homily at the Vivere Christus Awards Ceremony, Oct. 19, 2025:

 We just heard from St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians:

“…What difference does it make, as long as in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is being proclaimed? And in that I rejoice. Indeed, I shall continue to rejoice, for I know that this will result in deliverance for me through your prayers and support from the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

My eager expectation and hope is that I shall not be put to shame in any way, but that with all boldness, now as always, Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me life is Christ, and death is gain…”

(Phil. 1: 18-21)

The Award and Recognition that you receive today is called “Vivere Christus.” These words of St. Paul are also the Episcopal Motto of Bishop Arthur Serratelli, our bishop emeritus: “Vivere Christus est” — “To Live is Christ.”

Each year, we ask our pastors and parish leaders to nominate women and men who live these words, who live, as St. Paul says, so that Christ and His Love are proclaimed. Today, we recognize and give thanks for your lives of Faith, Hope, and Love; for your generosity of time, talent, and treasure; for the ways in which you share your gifts and talents in service, leadership, and ministry.

In this Jubilee Year of Hope and on this day when the Universal Church celebrates World Mission Sunday, we give thanks for the ways in which you live for Christ as Pilgrims of Hope and as Missionaries of Hope among God’s people, especially here in our Diocese of Paterson.

In preparing for Mass today, I was doing a little research on “World Mission Sunday” and I came across this summary on the website of the Pontifical Missions Society of the United States:

  • Celebrated every year on the second-to-last Sunday of October, World Mission Sunday is the day when Catholics around the world unite to support the missionary work of the Church.
  • Established by Pope Pius XI in 1926, it remains the only annual global collection that directly supports the 1,124 mission territories where the Church is young, struggling, or persecuted.
  • On this day, every parish, in every diocese, in every country, joins in prayer and giving to ensure that missionaries can continue their vital work — building churches, forming priests, supporting catechists, and serving communities in need.
  • Be a missionary of hope this World Mission Sunday and support the work of the Pope’s Missions.
  • On this day when, Catholics around the world unite to support the missionary work of the Church.

Be a Missionary of Hope

How appropriate and meaningful it is that Catholics from all parts of the Diocese of Paterson unite to recognize the ways in which our Vivere Christus honorees live as “Missionary Disciples” in our parishes and contribute to the “missionary” work of Evangelization, Catechesis, Charity, and countless other ministries.

In a video message for World Mission Sunday, Pope Leo XIV invites every Catholic parish in the world to take part in World Mission Sunday. He also shares his personal experience, as he says:

“When I served as a missionary priest and Bishop in Peru, I saw firsthand how the faith, the prayer, and the generosity shown on World Mission Sunday can transform entire communities.”

I am very happy and blessed to be able to echo Pope Leo’s words and say that, as Bishop of Paterson, I get to see “firsthand,” every day, how the faith, dedication and generosity of our priests and pastors, deacons and consecrated religious, parish and diocesan staff members and leaders help to build up the Church of our diocese. I also get to see “firsthand” that we could not be the vibrant Church that we are without dedicated and generous volunteers, parishioners, and parish leaders who are represented each year by those who receive the Vivere Christus Award.

Pope Leo concludes the video message with these words: THANK YOU for everything you will do to help me to help missionaries throughout the world.

To our Vivere Christus recipients, to your families, pastors, and co-workers, on behalf of the Church of our Paterson, I say THANK YOU for helping each of us to strive each day to be able to say with St. Paul, “Vivere Christus,” “for to me, Life is Christ.”

Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

 

– “… For here the saying is verified that ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the work, and you are sharing the fruits of their work.” Jn. 4:37-38 BISHOP KEVIN J. SWEENEY I have often thought of these words from St. John’s Gospel, “One sows and another reaps,” when I consider the ministry and efforts of our Bishop Emeritus Arthur Serratelli, as our diocese continues to “reap” the efforts of the “seeds sown” by Bishop Serratelli in his 16 years of service and leadership as bishop of our

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Why every stargazer needs a logbook

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From Galileo’s meticulous sketches of Jupiter’s moons in 1610 to Caroline Herschel’s handwritten notes of comet discoveries, the history of astronomy is built on careful note-taking. Logbooks with descriptions of as-yet-unknown objects, sketches of Saturn’s rings, and hand-drawn plots of the stars led to numerous discoveries. Today, whether you’re a newcomer scanning the sky withContinue reading “Why every stargazer needs a logbook”

The post Why every stargazer needs a logbook appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

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Instagram revamps restrictions on teen accounts #Catholic null / Credit: Antonio Salaverry/Shutterstock Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 21, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA). Instagram updated restrictions on teen accounts to be guided by PG-13 movie ratings to prevent teenage users from accessing mature and inappropriate content.In 2024, Instagram introduced Teen Accounts to place teens automatically in built-in protections on the app. Last week, the social media platform announced additional updates to the accounts to only show teenagers content “similar to what they’d see in a PG-13 movie.”Teens under 18 will be automatically placed into the updated setting and will not be allowed to opt out without a parent’s permission. The new restrictions ban users from searching inappropriate words and from following or messaging accounts with mature content.Father Michael Baggot, LC, professor of bioethics at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome, said “any change to help empower parents, protect their children, and restrict age-inappropriate content from them is a positive step forward.”“However, I am concerned because there is quite a difference between static content like a movie that can be thoroughly reviewed by a committee and very dynamic conduct that is performed in social media,” Baggot said in an Oct. 20 interview on “EWTN News Nightly.” Social media platforms include forms of cyberbullying, online predators, and artificial intelligence (AI) companions. “Those kinds of dynamic relationships are not necessarily regulated fully with a mere label,” Baggot said.The updates follow feedback from thousands of parents worldwide who shared their suggestions with Instagram. After hearing from parents, Instagram also added an additional setting that offers even stricter guidelines if parents want more extensive limitations. “Parents have a unique responsibility in constantly monitoring and discussing with their children and with other vulnerable people the type of interactions they’re having,” Baggot said. “But I think we can’t put an undue burden on parents.”Baggot suggested additional laws that hold companies accountable for “exploitative behavior or design techniques,” because they can “become addictive and really mislead guidance and mislead people.”AI in social media Since Instagram recently introduced AI chatbots to the app, it also added preventions on messages sent from AI. The social media platform reported that “AIs should not give age-inappropriate responses that would feel out of place in a PG-13 movie.”AI on Instagram must be handled with “great vigilance and critical discernment,” Baggot said. AI platforms “can be tools of research and assistance, but they can also really promote toxic relationships when left unregulated.”Measures to restrict AI and online content are opportunities for parents and users “to step back and look critically at the digitally-mediated relationships that we constantly have” and to “look at the potentially dangerous and harmful content or relationships that can take place there.”“There should be healthy detachment from these platforms,” Baggot said. “We need healthy friendships. We need strong families. We need supportive communities. Anytime we see a form of social media-related interaction replacing, distracting, or discouraging in-personal contact, that should be an … alarm that something needs to change and that we need to return to the richness of interpersonal exchange and not retreat to an alternative digital world.”
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Instagram revamps restrictions on teen accounts #Catholic null / Credit: Antonio Salaverry/Shutterstock Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 21, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA). Instagram updated restrictions on teen accounts to be guided by PG-13 movie ratings to prevent teenage users from accessing mature and inappropriate content.In 2024, Instagram introduced Teen Accounts to place teens automatically in built-in protections on the app. Last week, the social media platform announced additional updates to the accounts to only show teenagers content “similar to what they’d see in a PG-13 movie.”Teens under 18 will be automatically placed into the updated setting and will not be allowed to opt out without a parent’s permission. The new restrictions ban users from searching inappropriate words and from following or messaging accounts with mature content.Father Michael Baggot, LC, professor of bioethics at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome, said “any change to help empower parents, protect their children, and restrict age-inappropriate content from them is a positive step forward.”“However, I am concerned because there is quite a difference between static content like a movie that can be thoroughly reviewed by a committee and very dynamic conduct that is performed in social media,” Baggot said in an Oct. 20 interview on “EWTN News Nightly.” Social media platforms include forms of cyberbullying, online predators, and artificial intelligence (AI) companions. “Those kinds of dynamic relationships are not necessarily regulated fully with a mere label,” Baggot said.The updates follow feedback from thousands of parents worldwide who shared their suggestions with Instagram. After hearing from parents, Instagram also added an additional setting that offers even stricter guidelines if parents want more extensive limitations. “Parents have a unique responsibility in constantly monitoring and discussing with their children and with other vulnerable people the type of interactions they’re having,” Baggot said. “But I think we can’t put an undue burden on parents.”Baggot suggested additional laws that hold companies accountable for “exploitative behavior or design techniques,” because they can “become addictive and really mislead guidance and mislead people.”AI in social media Since Instagram recently introduced AI chatbots to the app, it also added preventions on messages sent from AI. The social media platform reported that “AIs should not give age-inappropriate responses that would feel out of place in a PG-13 movie.”AI on Instagram must be handled with “great vigilance and critical discernment,” Baggot said. AI platforms “can be tools of research and assistance, but they can also really promote toxic relationships when left unregulated.”Measures to restrict AI and online content are opportunities for parents and users “to step back and look critically at the digitally-mediated relationships that we constantly have” and to “look at the potentially dangerous and harmful content or relationships that can take place there.”“There should be healthy detachment from these platforms,” Baggot said. “We need healthy friendships. We need strong families. We need supportive communities. Anytime we see a form of social media-related interaction replacing, distracting, or discouraging in-personal contact, that should be an … alarm that something needs to change and that we need to return to the richness of interpersonal exchange and not retreat to an alternative digital world.”

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null / Credit: Antonio Salaverry/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 21, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

Instagram updated restrictions on teen accounts to be guided by PG-13 movie ratings to prevent teenage users from accessing mature and inappropriate content.

In 2024, Instagram introduced Teen Accounts to place teens automatically in built-in protections on the app. Last week, the social media platform announced additional updates to the accounts to only show teenagers content “similar to what they’d see in a PG-13 movie.”

Teens under 18 will be automatically placed into the updated setting and will not be allowed to opt out without a parent’s permission. The new restrictions ban users from searching inappropriate words and from following or messaging accounts with mature content.

Father Michael Baggot, LC, professor of bioethics at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome, said “any change to help empower parents, protect their children, and restrict age-inappropriate content from them is a positive step forward.”

“However, I am concerned because there is quite a difference between static content like a movie that can be thoroughly reviewed by a committee and very dynamic conduct that is performed in social media,” Baggot said in an Oct. 20 interview on “EWTN News Nightly.” 

Social media platforms include forms of cyberbullying, online predators, and artificial intelligence (AI) companions. “Those kinds of dynamic relationships are not necessarily regulated fully with a mere label,” Baggot said.

The updates follow feedback from thousands of parents worldwide who shared their suggestions with Instagram. After hearing from parents, Instagram also added an additional setting that offers even stricter guidelines if parents want more extensive limitations. 

“Parents have a unique responsibility in constantly monitoring and discussing with their children and with other vulnerable people the type of interactions they’re having,” Baggot said. “But I think we can’t put an undue burden on parents.”

Baggot suggested additional laws that hold companies accountable for “exploitative behavior or design techniques,” because they can “become addictive and really mislead guidance and mislead people.”

AI in social media 

Since Instagram recently introduced AI chatbots to the app, it also added preventions on messages sent from AI. The social media platform reported that “AIs should not give age-inappropriate responses that would feel out of place in a PG-13 movie.”

AI on Instagram must be handled with “great vigilance and critical discernment,” Baggot said. AI platforms “can be tools of research and assistance, but they can also really promote toxic relationships when left unregulated.”

Measures to restrict AI and online content are opportunities for parents and users “to step back and look critically at the digitally-mediated relationships that we constantly have” and to “look at the potentially dangerous and harmful content or relationships that can take place there.”

“There should be healthy detachment from these platforms,” Baggot said. “We need healthy friendships. We need strong families. We need supportive communities. Anytime we see a form of social media-related interaction replacing, distracting, or discouraging in-personal contact, that should be an … alarm that something needs to change and that we need to return to the richness of interpersonal exchange and not retreat to an alternative digital world.”

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How to convey the serenity of a martyr? The challenge of painting Peter To Rot’s portrait - #Catholic - Artist Raúl Berzosa works on the portrait of St. Peter To Rot. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Raúl Berzosa ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 21, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA). Malaga, Spain-born artist Raúl Berzosa has painted portraits of popes for the Vatican, and his works have graced the covers of booklets at Vatican ceremonies and even the Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum. However, as he himself confessed on X, none had ever hung on the façade of St. Peter’s Basilica.That honor came this week with the portrait of St. Peter To Rot, which Berzosa painted for the saint’s canonization ceremony on Oct. 19. The Vatican commissioned the Catholic artist to paint the official portrait, which has been displayed since Oct. 17 on the façade of St. Peter’s Basilica. Berzosa considers the work to be a fruit of grace and the culmination of a life dedicated to reflecting the light of faith in art.Peter To Rot, who was born in Papua New Guinea, served as a catechist and died a martyr for the faith in 1945. He was canonized on Oct. 19 along with six others. In 1995, during his trip to Papua New Guinea, St. John Paul II described To Rot’s life as “a beacon shining bright, a signal fire leading you to hold aloft the noble ideals which inspired him: faith in God, love of family, service of neighbor, and unswerving courage in the face of trials and sacrifice.”Berzosa, 46, renowned worldwide for his realistic style and religious themes, explained to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, that with his work depicting the Papuan saint, he sought to convey the inner light of which the Polish pope spoke.Official portrait of St. Peter To Rot. Credit: Courtesy of Raúl Berzosa“If the portrait manages to convey some of Peter To Rot’s bright inner light and helps others strengthen their faith, then the work will have fulfilled its true function,” the Spanish painter said.“I hope that the faithful see in his gaze not only a martyr but a man full of peace, love for his family, and fidelity to the Gospel,” he added.For Berzosa, To Rot’s essential witness lies in the conviction that holiness “can be lived out in everyday life, even in the midst of suffering, as in his case.”The artist said he wanted the lighting effects in the portrait “to emerge from within the face itself, something serene that engages the viewer and seeks to convey hope.” Berzosa also noted that the “light blue and green brushstrokes” create a warm atmosphere, with the color and the overall composition seeking to accompany “this luminous message.”The challenges of painting the first Papuan saint“The main challenge was to approach Peter To Rot’s image itself with respect and accuracy. To achieve this, I had some black and white photographs as well as a color portrait based on one of the photographs. All of this helped me create my painting,” he said.In Berzosa’s portrait, To Rot is dressed in the traditional attire of local catechists: a white shirt and a type of blue wrap.“When the Japanese threatened the catechists and prohibited any apostolic activity, the vast majority — out of fear — hid the cross. Peter To Rot was the only catechist who continued to proudly display the white cross that identified him as a catechist,” Berzosa noted.“In one hand he holds a Bible and in the other [open hand he shows] two rings, a reference to his defense of marriage. A cross hangs from his neck,” the artist explained. To Rot wanted to die wearing that cross, which would later be key to identifying his mortal remains. Behind the figure of the saint, the countryside of his native land at the time can be seen.For the most accurate depiction, the painter researched photographs, traditional clothing, and other local references. “Throughout this work, I was assisted by Father Tomás Agustín Ravaioli, vice postulator of the cause,” Berzosa explained.Portraying a martyrThe artist noted that the lives of martyrs, although often short, are “full of meaning, dedicated out of love and fidelity to the Lord.” He said he always seeks to convey the serenity of these witnesses to the Gospel in the most decisive moment of their lives.“I try to understand that mixture of strength and peace of someone who gives his life for Christ,” he said.“When I paint portraits of martyrs, there is a special respect for the person portrayed. Their witness transcends cultures and eras,” he noted.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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How to convey the serenity of a martyr? The challenge of painting Peter To Rot’s portrait – #Catholic – Artist Raúl Berzosa works on the portrait of St. Peter To Rot. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Raúl Berzosa ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 21, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA). Malaga, Spain-born artist Raúl Berzosa has painted portraits of popes for the Vatican, and his works have graced the covers of booklets at Vatican ceremonies and even the Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum. However, as he himself confessed on X, none had ever hung on the façade of St. Peter’s Basilica.That honor came this week with the portrait of St. Peter To Rot, which Berzosa painted for the saint’s canonization ceremony on Oct. 19. The Vatican commissioned the Catholic artist to paint the official portrait, which has been displayed since Oct. 17 on the façade of St. Peter’s Basilica. Berzosa considers the work to be a fruit of grace and the culmination of a life dedicated to reflecting the light of faith in art.Peter To Rot, who was born in Papua New Guinea, served as a catechist and died a martyr for the faith in 1945. He was canonized on Oct. 19 along with six others. In 1995, during his trip to Papua New Guinea, St. John Paul II described To Rot’s life as “a beacon shining bright, a signal fire leading you to hold aloft the noble ideals which inspired him: faith in God, love of family, service of neighbor, and unswerving courage in the face of trials and sacrifice.”Berzosa, 46, renowned worldwide for his realistic style and religious themes, explained to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, that with his work depicting the Papuan saint, he sought to convey the inner light of which the Polish pope spoke.Official portrait of St. Peter To Rot. Credit: Courtesy of Raúl Berzosa“If the portrait manages to convey some of Peter To Rot’s bright inner light and helps others strengthen their faith, then the work will have fulfilled its true function,” the Spanish painter said.“I hope that the faithful see in his gaze not only a martyr but a man full of peace, love for his family, and fidelity to the Gospel,” he added.For Berzosa, To Rot’s essential witness lies in the conviction that holiness “can be lived out in everyday life, even in the midst of suffering, as in his case.”The artist said he wanted the lighting effects in the portrait “to emerge from within the face itself, something serene that engages the viewer and seeks to convey hope.” Berzosa also noted that the “light blue and green brushstrokes” create a warm atmosphere, with the color and the overall composition seeking to accompany “this luminous message.”The challenges of painting the first Papuan saint“The main challenge was to approach Peter To Rot’s image itself with respect and accuracy. To achieve this, I had some black and white photographs as well as a color portrait based on one of the photographs. All of this helped me create my painting,” he said.In Berzosa’s portrait, To Rot is dressed in the traditional attire of local catechists: a white shirt and a type of blue wrap.“When the Japanese threatened the catechists and prohibited any apostolic activity, the vast majority — out of fear — hid the cross. Peter To Rot was the only catechist who continued to proudly display the white cross that identified him as a catechist,” Berzosa noted.“In one hand he holds a Bible and in the other [open hand he shows] two rings, a reference to his defense of marriage. A cross hangs from his neck,” the artist explained. To Rot wanted to die wearing that cross, which would later be key to identifying his mortal remains. Behind the figure of the saint, the countryside of his native land at the time can be seen.For the most accurate depiction, the painter researched photographs, traditional clothing, and other local references. “Throughout this work, I was assisted by Father Tomás Agustín Ravaioli, vice postulator of the cause,” Berzosa explained.Portraying a martyrThe artist noted that the lives of martyrs, although often short, are “full of meaning, dedicated out of love and fidelity to the Lord.” He said he always seeks to convey the serenity of these witnesses to the Gospel in the most decisive moment of their lives.“I try to understand that mixture of strength and peace of someone who gives his life for Christ,” he said.“When I paint portraits of martyrs, there is a special respect for the person portrayed. Their witness transcends cultures and eras,” he noted.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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Artist Raúl Berzosa works on the portrait of St. Peter To Rot. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Raúl Berzosa

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 21, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Malaga, Spain-born artist Raúl Berzosa has painted portraits of popes for the Vatican, and his works have graced the covers of booklets at Vatican ceremonies and even the Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum. However, as he himself confessed on X, none had ever hung on the façade of St. Peter’s Basilica.

That honor came this week with the portrait of St. Peter To Rot, which Berzosa painted for the saint’s canonization ceremony on Oct. 19. The Vatican commissioned the Catholic artist to paint the official portrait, which has been displayed since Oct. 17 on the façade of St. Peter’s Basilica. Berzosa considers the work to be a fruit of grace and the culmination of a life dedicated to reflecting the light of faith in art.

Peter To Rot, who was born in Papua New Guinea, served as a catechist and died a martyr for the faith in 1945. He was canonized on Oct. 19 along with six others. 

In 1995, during his trip to Papua New Guinea, St. John Paul II described To Rot’s life as “a beacon shining bright, a signal fire leading you to hold aloft the noble ideals which inspired him: faith in God, love of family, service of neighbor, and unswerving courage in the face of trials and sacrifice.”

Berzosa, 46, renowned worldwide for his realistic style and religious themes, explained to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, that with his work depicting the Papuan saint, he sought to convey the inner light of which the Polish pope spoke.

Official portrait of St. Peter To Rot. Credit: Courtesy of Raúl Berzosa
Official portrait of St. Peter To Rot. Credit: Courtesy of Raúl Berzosa

“If the portrait manages to convey some of Peter To Rot’s bright inner light and helps others strengthen their faith, then the work will have fulfilled its true function,” the Spanish painter said.

“I hope that the faithful see in his gaze not only a martyr but a man full of peace, love for his family, and fidelity to the Gospel,” he added.

For Berzosa, To Rot’s essential witness lies in the conviction that holiness “can be lived out in everyday life, even in the midst of suffering, as in his case.”

The artist said he wanted the lighting effects in the portrait “to emerge from within the face itself, something serene that engages the viewer and seeks to convey hope.” Berzosa also noted that the “light blue and green brushstrokes” create a warm atmosphere, with the color and the overall composition seeking to accompany “this luminous message.”

The challenges of painting the first Papuan saint

“The main challenge was to approach Peter To Rot’s image itself with respect and accuracy. To achieve this, I had some black and white photographs as well as a color portrait based on one of the photographs. All of this helped me create my painting,” he said.

In Berzosa’s portrait, To Rot is dressed in the traditional attire of local catechists: a white shirt and a type of blue wrap.

“When the Japanese threatened the catechists and prohibited any apostolic activity, the vast majority — out of fear — hid the cross. Peter To Rot was the only catechist who continued to proudly display the white cross that identified him as a catechist,” Berzosa noted.

“In one hand he holds a Bible and in the other [open hand he shows] two rings, a reference to his defense of marriage. A cross hangs from his neck,” the artist explained. To Rot wanted to die wearing that cross, which would later be key to identifying his mortal remains. Behind the figure of the saint, the countryside of his native land at the time can be seen.

For the most accurate depiction, the painter researched photographs, traditional clothing, and other local references. 

“Throughout this work, I was assisted by Father Tomás Agustín Ravaioli, vice postulator of the cause,” Berzosa explained.

Portraying a martyr

The artist noted that the lives of martyrs, although often short, are “full of meaning, dedicated out of love and fidelity to the Lord.” He said he always seeks to convey the serenity of these witnesses to the Gospel in the most decisive moment of their lives.

“I try to understand that mixture of strength and peace of someone who gives his life for Christ,” he said.

“When I paint portraits of martyrs, there is a special respect for the person portrayed. Their witness transcends cultures and eras,” he noted.

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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Democrats Enjoy Their Favorite Pastime Of Holding All-White Rallies #BabylonBee – WASHINGTON, D.C.-Democrats continued their long tradition of holding whites-only rallies over the weekend as hundreds gathered around the country to protest what they see as executive overreach.
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Democrats Enjoy Their Favorite Pastime Of Holding All-White Rallies #BabylonBee – WASHINGTON, D.C.-Democrats continued their long tradition of holding whites-only rallies over the weekend as hundreds gathered around the country to protest what they see as executive overreach.

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WASHINGTON, D.C.-Democrats continued their long tradition of holding whites-only rallies over the weekend as hundreds gathered around the country to protest what they see as executive overreach.

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Bishops denounce rising Mafia-style violence in Sicily following murder of 21-year-old – #Catholic – Capella di Santa Rosa, St. Rosalia’s Chapel inside of the Palermo Cathedral, Basilica Cattedrale Metropolitana Primaziale della Santa Vergine Maria Assunta in Sicily, Itay, on May 5, 2022. / Credit: Frank Bienewald/LightRocket via Getty Images Rome, Italy, Oct 21, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA). The murder of a 21-year-old Italian man after trying to break up a fight has prompted two southern Italian archbishops to sound the alarm against the rise of Mafia-style killings among young people.  At a prayer service Oct. 18 for Paolo Taormina, who was killed one week ago outside the family-owned bar where he worked, Archbishop Gualtiero Isacchi of Monreale, Italy, told the faithful present that their presence was “a sign of resistance and a desire for change.”“The violent, typically Mafia-like logic of oppression, which some shamefully and unconsciously praise on social media, aims to erase human conscience and dignity, to extinguish hope, and to condemn the person to the resignation of ‘nothing will ever change,’” Isacchi said, according to SIR, the news agency of the Italian bishops’ conference.Archbishop Corrado Lorefice of Palermo also attended the prayer service, which was held at St. Philip Neri Church, located in the Zen neighborhood, the same area where Taormina was murdered. Invoking the memory of Blessed Pino Puglisi, a parish priest who was killed by the Mafia in 1993, Lorefice urged the people of Monreale and Palermo to “take on the challenge” of protecting youth from the influence of the Mafia and gang-related organizations.“We must shout to young people that criminal organizations do not want their happiness, and we must remember that the center of the city is wherever the person is,” the archbishop said.  Taormina’s murder is the latest in a series of gangland-style shootings related to a perceived rise in youth violence and organized crime in Monreale and Palermo.In April, three young men — Massimo Pirozzo, Salvatore Turdo, and Andrea Miceli — were shot and killed after four men — one of whom was 19 years old — shot at a crowd after an argument broke out. Two others were seriously injured in the shooting, which was dubbed “The Monreale Massacre.” Taormina’s alleged killer, 28-year-old Gaetano Maranzano, was the son of one of the area’s known drug kingpins and was caught with other firearms after he was arrested at his home.  At the prayer service, Isacchi said that some may view their gathering to pray for an end to violence as “useless“ or perhaps look at it “with an air of sufficiency and superiority.” Nevertheless, “we choose to listen to the faint inner voice that whispers to us: ‘God is there, lying on the ground next to Paolo, Massimo, Andrea, Salvo, to all our sons and friends, victims of senseless armed violence,’“ he said. “It is a voice that calls us, asking us to do our part to stop the violence and restore dignity to every person and every environment.”Father Giovanni Giannalia, pastor of St. Philip Neri Parish, told SIR that while many singled out the troubled Zen neighborhood as “trivial” and “violent,” there are still “many people willing to do good, and doing it here is more tiring than elsewhere.”  “Youth violence is worrying: three deaths in Monreale, one in Palermo. The situation is out of control, it’s an emergency,” Giannalia said, adding that everyone, especially priests, who “encounter evil” must fight against it. The warnings from Church leaders highlighted concerns regarding escalating violence among young people, particularly in Sicily, where the local Mafia, known as “Cosa Nostra,“ has taken to recruiting young people. According to a February report by the “Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime,” a demographic analysis conducted after raids against the Mafia organization found that of 181 individuals arrested, 40 were under the age of 35 and 10 were under the age of 25.  Following Taormina’s murder, Isacchi and Lorefice issued a joint statement Oct. 14 saying they had hoped that “The Monreale Massacre” would mark a turning point in the region that would end the wave of youth violence.  “Today, we renew the same hope. We believe that change is possible,” the bishops wrote. “May Paolo’s life become a sign of the transformation of our cities: a seed of rebirth.”“Let us entrust ourselves to Our Lady of Sorrows,” the archbishops added. “Only she knows how to enter the pierced heart of a mother who holds her murdered son in her arms, but also into the heart of the mother of a son who is a killer. May the mother of Jesus teach us the way of rebirth, love for the little ones, the poor, the children, and for those who have no voice; the way of nonviolence and peace.” 
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Bishops denounce rising Mafia-style violence in Sicily following murder of 21-year-old – #Catholic – Capella di Santa Rosa, St. Rosalia’s Chapel inside of the Palermo Cathedral, Basilica Cattedrale Metropolitana Primaziale della Santa Vergine Maria Assunta in Sicily, Itay, on May 5, 2022. / Credit: Frank Bienewald/LightRocket via Getty Images Rome, Italy, Oct 21, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA). The murder of a 21-year-old Italian man after trying to break up a fight has prompted two southern Italian archbishops to sound the alarm against the rise of Mafia-style killings among young people.  At a prayer service Oct. 18 for Paolo Taormina, who was killed one week ago outside the family-owned bar where he worked, Archbishop Gualtiero Isacchi of Monreale, Italy, told the faithful present that their presence was “a sign of resistance and a desire for change.”“The violent, typically Mafia-like logic of oppression, which some shamefully and unconsciously praise on social media, aims to erase human conscience and dignity, to extinguish hope, and to condemn the person to the resignation of ‘nothing will ever change,’” Isacchi said, according to SIR, the news agency of the Italian bishops’ conference.Archbishop Corrado Lorefice of Palermo also attended the prayer service, which was held at St. Philip Neri Church, located in the Zen neighborhood, the same area where Taormina was murdered. Invoking the memory of Blessed Pino Puglisi, a parish priest who was killed by the Mafia in 1993, Lorefice urged the people of Monreale and Palermo to “take on the challenge” of protecting youth from the influence of the Mafia and gang-related organizations.“We must shout to young people that criminal organizations do not want their happiness, and we must remember that the center of the city is wherever the person is,” the archbishop said.  Taormina’s murder is the latest in a series of gangland-style shootings related to a perceived rise in youth violence and organized crime in Monreale and Palermo.In April, three young men — Massimo Pirozzo, Salvatore Turdo, and Andrea Miceli — were shot and killed after four men — one of whom was 19 years old — shot at a crowd after an argument broke out. Two others were seriously injured in the shooting, which was dubbed “The Monreale Massacre.” Taormina’s alleged killer, 28-year-old Gaetano Maranzano, was the son of one of the area’s known drug kingpins and was caught with other firearms after he was arrested at his home.  At the prayer service, Isacchi said that some may view their gathering to pray for an end to violence as “useless“ or perhaps look at it “with an air of sufficiency and superiority.” Nevertheless, “we choose to listen to the faint inner voice that whispers to us: ‘God is there, lying on the ground next to Paolo, Massimo, Andrea, Salvo, to all our sons and friends, victims of senseless armed violence,’“ he said. “It is a voice that calls us, asking us to do our part to stop the violence and restore dignity to every person and every environment.”Father Giovanni Giannalia, pastor of St. Philip Neri Parish, told SIR that while many singled out the troubled Zen neighborhood as “trivial” and “violent,” there are still “many people willing to do good, and doing it here is more tiring than elsewhere.”  “Youth violence is worrying: three deaths in Monreale, one in Palermo. The situation is out of control, it’s an emergency,” Giannalia said, adding that everyone, especially priests, who “encounter evil” must fight against it. The warnings from Church leaders highlighted concerns regarding escalating violence among young people, particularly in Sicily, where the local Mafia, known as “Cosa Nostra,“ has taken to recruiting young people. According to a February report by the “Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime,” a demographic analysis conducted after raids against the Mafia organization found that of 181 individuals arrested, 40 were under the age of 35 and 10 were under the age of 25.  Following Taormina’s murder, Isacchi and Lorefice issued a joint statement Oct. 14 saying they had hoped that “The Monreale Massacre” would mark a turning point in the region that would end the wave of youth violence.  “Today, we renew the same hope. We believe that change is possible,” the bishops wrote. “May Paolo’s life become a sign of the transformation of our cities: a seed of rebirth.”“Let us entrust ourselves to Our Lady of Sorrows,” the archbishops added. “Only she knows how to enter the pierced heart of a mother who holds her murdered son in her arms, but also into the heart of the mother of a son who is a killer. May the mother of Jesus teach us the way of rebirth, love for the little ones, the poor, the children, and for those who have no voice; the way of nonviolence and peace.” 

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Capella di Santa Rosa, St. Rosalia’s Chapel inside of the Palermo Cathedral, Basilica Cattedrale Metropolitana Primaziale della Santa Vergine Maria Assunta in Sicily, Itay, on May 5, 2022. / Credit: Frank Bienewald/LightRocket via Getty Images

Rome, Italy, Oct 21, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

The murder of a 21-year-old Italian man after trying to break up a fight has prompted two southern Italian archbishops to sound the alarm against the rise of Mafia-style killings among young people.  

At a prayer service Oct. 18 for Paolo Taormina, who was killed one week ago outside the family-owned bar where he worked, Archbishop Gualtiero Isacchi of Monreale, Italy, told the faithful present that their presence was “a sign of resistance and a desire for change.”

“The violent, typically Mafia-like logic of oppression, which some shamefully and unconsciously praise on social media, aims to erase human conscience and dignity, to extinguish hope, and to condemn the person to the resignation of ‘nothing will ever change,’” Isacchi said, according to SIR, the news agency of the Italian bishops’ conference.

Archbishop Corrado Lorefice of Palermo also attended the prayer service, which was held at St. Philip Neri Church, located in the Zen neighborhood, the same area where Taormina was murdered. 

Invoking the memory of Blessed Pino Puglisi, a parish priest who was killed by the Mafia in 1993, Lorefice urged the people of Monreale and Palermo to “take on the challenge” of protecting youth from the influence of the Mafia and gang-related organizations.

“We must shout to young people that criminal organizations do not want their happiness, and we must remember that the center of the city is wherever the person is,” the archbishop said.  

Taormina’s murder is the latest in a series of gangland-style shootings related to a perceived rise in youth violence and organized crime in Monreale and Palermo.

In April, three young men — Massimo Pirozzo, Salvatore Turdo, and Andrea Miceli — were shot and killed after four men — one of whom was 19 years old — shot at a crowd after an argument broke out. Two others were seriously injured in the shooting, which was dubbed “The Monreale Massacre.” 

Taormina’s alleged killer, 28-year-old Gaetano Maranzano, was the son of one of the area’s known drug kingpins and was caught with other firearms after he was arrested at his home.  

At the prayer service, Isacchi said that some may view their gathering to pray for an end to violence as “useless“ or perhaps look at it “with an air of sufficiency and superiority.” 

Nevertheless, “we choose to listen to the faint inner voice that whispers to us: ‘God is there, lying on the ground next to Paolo, Massimo, Andrea, Salvo, to all our sons and friends, victims of senseless armed violence,’“ he said. “It is a voice that calls us, asking us to do our part to stop the violence and restore dignity to every person and every environment.”

Father Giovanni Giannalia, pastor of St. Philip Neri Parish, told SIR that while many singled out the troubled Zen neighborhood as “trivial” and “violent,” there are still “many people willing to do good, and doing it here is more tiring than elsewhere.”  

“Youth violence is worrying: three deaths in Monreale, one in Palermo. The situation is out of control, it’s an emergency,” Giannalia said, adding that everyone, especially priests, who “encounter evil” must fight against it. 

The warnings from Church leaders highlighted concerns regarding escalating violence among young people, particularly in Sicily, where the local Mafia, known as “Cosa Nostra,“ has taken to recruiting young people. 

According to a February report by the “Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime,” a demographic analysis conducted after raids against the Mafia organization found that of 181 individuals arrested, 40 were under the age of 35 and 10 were under the age of 25.  

Following Taormina’s murder, Isacchi and Lorefice issued a joint statement Oct. 14 saying they had hoped that “The Monreale Massacre” would mark a turning point in the region that would end the wave of youth violence.  

“Today, we renew the same hope. We believe that change is possible,” the bishops wrote. “May Paolo’s life become a sign of the transformation of our cities: a seed of rebirth.”

“Let us entrust ourselves to Our Lady of Sorrows,” the archbishops added. “Only she knows how to enter the pierced heart of a mother who holds her murdered son in her arms, but also into the heart of the mother of a son who is a killer. May the mother of Jesus teach us the way of rebirth, love for the little ones, the poor, the children, and for those who have no voice; the way of nonviolence and peace.” 

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Catholic experts say new AI ‘Friend’ device undermines real relationships #Catholic A commuter waits at the Westchester/Veterans Metro K Line station on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. / Credit: Carlin Stiehl/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 21, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA). A controversial ad campaign posted in the New York City subway system has sparked criticism and vandalism over the past few weeks. The print ads are selling an AI companion necklace called “Friend” that promises to be “someone who listens, responds, and supports.”The device first launched in 2024, retailing at 9. It is designed to listen to conversations, process the information, and send responses to the user’s phone via a connected app. While users can tap the disc’s button to prompt an immediate response, the product will also send unprompted texts. The device’s microphones don’t offer an off switch, so it is constantly listening and sending messages based on conversations it picks up.CNA did not receive a response to a question from Friend.com about the success of its subway ad campaign and how many people are currently using the devices, but Sister Nancy Usselmann, FSP, director of the Daughters of St. Paul’s Pauline Media Studies who also studies AI, told CNA that “people are turning to AI for companionship because they find human relationships too complicated.” But “without that complicatedness, we cannot grow to become the best that we can be. We remain stagnant or selfish, which is a miserable existence,” she said.Creating ‘Friend’ amid loneliness epidemic Avi Schiffmann, the 22-year-old who started Friend.com, was a Harvard student before leaving school to focus on a number of projects. At 18, he created a website that tracked early COVID-19 data from Chinese health department sources. In 2022, he built another website that matched Ukrainian refugees with hosts around the world to help them find places to stay. He then founded Friend and now serves as the company’s CEO. Schiffmann and his company first turned heads when an eerie video announcing the new gadget was released in July 2024. The advertisement featured four different individuals interacting with their “friends.” One woman takes a hike with her pendant, while another watches a movie with hers. A man gets a text from his “friend” while playing video games with his human friends. He first appears to be sad and lonely around his friends, until his AI “friend” texts him, which appears to put him at ease.The marketing video ends with a young man and woman spending time together as the woman discusses how she has only ever brought “her” to where they are hanging out, referencing her AI gadget. “It’s so strange because it’s awkward to have an AI in between a human friendship,” Usselmann said about the video ad. Hundreds took to the comments section of the YouTube video to respond — mostly negatively — to both the Friend.com ads and the technology. Commentators called out the company for capitalizing on loneliness and depression. One user even called the video “the most dystopian advertisement” he had ever seen, and others wrote the video felt like a “horror film.”“While its creators might have good intentions to bring more people the joys of companionship, they are misguided in trying to achieve this through a digital simulacrum,” Father Michael Baggot, LC, professor of bioethics at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome, told CNA.The device “suffers from a misnomer, since authentic friendship involves an interpersonal relationship of mutual support,” said Baggot, who studies AI chatbots and works on the development of the Catholic AI platform Magisterium AI. “The product risks both worsening the loneliness epidemic by isolating users from others and undermining genuine solitude by intruding on quiet moments with constant notifications and surveillance. Friend commodities connection and may exploit human emotional vulnerabilities for profit,” he said, adding: “It might encourage users to avoid the challenging task of building real relationships with people and encourage them to settle for the easily controllable substitute.” Usselmann agreed. “Only by reaching out in genuine compassion and care can another person who feels lonely realize that they matter to someone else,” she said. “We need to get to know our neighbors and not remain so self-centered in our apartments, neighborhoods, communities, or places of work.”AI device ad campaign causes stirIn a post to social media platform X on Sept. 25, Schiffmann announced the launch of the subway ad campaign. The post has more than 25 million views and nearly 1,000 comments criticizing the pendant and campaign — and some commending them.Dozens of the ads have since been torn up and written on. People have posted images to social media of the vandalized ads with messages about the surveillance dangers and the general threats of chatbots. One urged the company to “stop profiting off of loneliness,” while another had “AI is not your friend” written on it.One person added to the definition of “friend,” writing it is also a “living being.” It also had the message: “Don’t use AI to cure your loneliness. Reach out into the world!”Usselmann said the particular issue with the campaign and device is “the tech world assuming certain words and giving them different connotations.” “A ‘friend’ is someone with whom you have a bond based on mutual affection,” she said. “A machine does not have real affection because it cannot love. It does not have a spiritual soul from which intellect, moral agency, and love stem.”She continued: “And from a Christian understanding, a friend is someone who exhibits sacrificial love, who supports through the ups and downs of life, and who offers spiritual encouragement and forgiveness. An AI ‘friend’ can do none of those things.”
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Catholic experts say new AI ‘Friend’ device undermines real relationships #Catholic A commuter waits at the Westchester/Veterans Metro K Line station on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. / Credit: Carlin Stiehl/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 21, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA). A controversial ad campaign posted in the New York City subway system has sparked criticism and vandalism over the past few weeks. The print ads are selling an AI companion necklace called “Friend” that promises to be “someone who listens, responds, and supports.”The device first launched in 2024, retailing at $129. It is designed to listen to conversations, process the information, and send responses to the user’s phone via a connected app. While users can tap the disc’s button to prompt an immediate response, the product will also send unprompted texts. The device’s microphones don’t offer an off switch, so it is constantly listening and sending messages based on conversations it picks up.CNA did not receive a response to a question from Friend.com about the success of its subway ad campaign and how many people are currently using the devices, but Sister Nancy Usselmann, FSP, director of the Daughters of St. Paul’s Pauline Media Studies who also studies AI, told CNA that “people are turning to AI for companionship because they find human relationships too complicated.” But “without that complicatedness, we cannot grow to become the best that we can be. We remain stagnant or selfish, which is a miserable existence,” she said.Creating ‘Friend’ amid loneliness epidemic Avi Schiffmann, the 22-year-old who started Friend.com, was a Harvard student before leaving school to focus on a number of projects. At 18, he created a website that tracked early COVID-19 data from Chinese health department sources. In 2022, he built another website that matched Ukrainian refugees with hosts around the world to help them find places to stay. He then founded Friend and now serves as the company’s CEO. Schiffmann and his company first turned heads when an eerie video announcing the new gadget was released in July 2024. The advertisement featured four different individuals interacting with their “friends.” One woman takes a hike with her pendant, while another watches a movie with hers. A man gets a text from his “friend” while playing video games with his human friends. He first appears to be sad and lonely around his friends, until his AI “friend” texts him, which appears to put him at ease.The marketing video ends with a young man and woman spending time together as the woman discusses how she has only ever brought “her” to where they are hanging out, referencing her AI gadget. “It’s so strange because it’s awkward to have an AI in between a human friendship,” Usselmann said about the video ad. Hundreds took to the comments section of the YouTube video to respond — mostly negatively — to both the Friend.com ads and the technology. Commentators called out the company for capitalizing on loneliness and depression. One user even called the video “the most dystopian advertisement” he had ever seen, and others wrote the video felt like a “horror film.”“While its creators might have good intentions to bring more people the joys of companionship, they are misguided in trying to achieve this through a digital simulacrum,” Father Michael Baggot, LC, professor of bioethics at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome, told CNA.The device “suffers from a misnomer, since authentic friendship involves an interpersonal relationship of mutual support,” said Baggot, who studies AI chatbots and works on the development of the Catholic AI platform Magisterium AI. “The product risks both worsening the loneliness epidemic by isolating users from others and undermining genuine solitude by intruding on quiet moments with constant notifications and surveillance. Friend commodities connection and may exploit human emotional vulnerabilities for profit,” he said, adding: “It might encourage users to avoid the challenging task of building real relationships with people and encourage them to settle for the easily controllable substitute.” Usselmann agreed. “Only by reaching out in genuine compassion and care can another person who feels lonely realize that they matter to someone else,” she said. “We need to get to know our neighbors and not remain so self-centered in our apartments, neighborhoods, communities, or places of work.”AI device ad campaign causes stirIn a post to social media platform X on Sept. 25, Schiffmann announced the launch of the subway ad campaign. The post has more than 25 million views and nearly 1,000 comments criticizing the pendant and campaign — and some commending them.Dozens of the ads have since been torn up and written on. People have posted images to social media of the vandalized ads with messages about the surveillance dangers and the general threats of chatbots. One urged the company to “stop profiting off of loneliness,” while another had “AI is not your friend” written on it.One person added to the definition of “friend,” writing it is also a “living being.” It also had the message: “Don’t use AI to cure your loneliness. Reach out into the world!”Usselmann said the particular issue with the campaign and device is “the tech world assuming certain words and giving them different connotations.” “A ‘friend’ is someone with whom you have a bond based on mutual affection,” she said. “A machine does not have real affection because it cannot love. It does not have a spiritual soul from which intellect, moral agency, and love stem.”She continued: “And from a Christian understanding, a friend is someone who exhibits sacrificial love, who supports through the ups and downs of life, and who offers spiritual encouragement and forgiveness. An AI ‘friend’ can do none of those things.”

unitedyam

A commuter waits at the Westchester/Veterans Metro K Line station on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. / Credit: Carlin Stiehl/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 21, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

A controversial ad campaign posted in the New York City subway system has sparked criticism and vandalism over the past few weeks. The print ads are selling an AI companion necklace called “Friend” that promises to be “someone who listens, responds, and supports.”

The device first launched in 2024, retailing at $129. It is designed to listen to conversations, process the information, and send responses to the user’s phone via a connected app. While users can tap the disc’s button to prompt an immediate response, the product will also send unprompted texts. The device’s microphones don’t offer an off switch, so it is constantly listening and sending messages based on conversations it picks up.

CNA did not receive a response to a question from Friend.com about the success of its subway ad campaign and how many people are currently using the devices, but Sister Nancy Usselmann, FSP, director of the Daughters of St. Paul’s Pauline Media Studies who also studies AI, told CNA that “people are turning to AI for companionship because they find human relationships too complicated.” 

But “without that complicatedness, we cannot grow to become the best that we can be. We remain stagnant or selfish, which is a miserable existence,” she said.

Creating ‘Friend’ amid loneliness epidemic 

Avi Schiffmann, the 22-year-old who started Friend.com, was a Harvard student before leaving school to focus on a number of projects. At 18, he created a website that tracked early COVID-19 data from Chinese health department sources. In 2022, he built another website that matched Ukrainian refugees with hosts around the world to help them find places to stay. He then founded Friend and now serves as the company’s CEO. 

Schiffmann and his company first turned heads when an eerie video announcing the new gadget was released in July 2024. The advertisement featured four different individuals interacting with their “friends.” One woman takes a hike with her pendant, while another watches a movie with hers. A man gets a text from his “friend” while playing video games with his human friends. He first appears to be sad and lonely around his friends, until his AI “friend” texts him, which appears to put him at ease.

The marketing video ends with a young man and woman spending time together as the woman discusses how she has only ever brought “her” to where they are hanging out, referencing her AI gadget. 

“It’s so strange because it’s awkward to have an AI in between a human friendship,” Usselmann said about the video ad. 

Hundreds took to the comments section of the YouTube video to respond — mostly negatively — to both the Friend.com ads and the technology. Commentators called out the company for capitalizing on loneliness and depression. One user even called the video “the most dystopian advertisement” he had ever seen, and others wrote the video felt like a “horror film.”

“While its creators might have good intentions to bring more people the joys of companionship, they are misguided in trying to achieve this through a digital simulacrum,” Father Michael Baggot, LC, professor of bioethics at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome, told CNA.

The device “suffers from a misnomer, since authentic friendship involves an interpersonal relationship of mutual support,” said Baggot, who studies AI chatbots and works on the development of the Catholic AI platform Magisterium AI. 

“The product risks both worsening the loneliness epidemic by isolating users from others and undermining genuine solitude by intruding on quiet moments with constant notifications and surveillance. Friend commodities connection and may exploit human emotional vulnerabilities for profit,” he said, adding: “It might encourage users to avoid the challenging task of building real relationships with people and encourage them to settle for the easily controllable substitute.” 

Usselmann agreed. “Only by reaching out in genuine compassion and care can another person who feels lonely realize that they matter to someone else,” she said. “We need to get to know our neighbors and not remain so self-centered in our apartments, neighborhoods, communities, or places of work.”

AI device ad campaign causes stir

In a post to social media platform X on Sept. 25, Schiffmann announced the launch of the subway ad campaign. The post has more than 25 million views and nearly 1,000 comments criticizing the pendant and campaign — and some commending them.

Dozens of the ads have since been torn up and written on. People have posted images to social media of the vandalized ads with messages about the surveillance dangers and the general threats of chatbots. One urged the company to “stop profiting off of loneliness,” while another had “AI is not your friend” written on it.

One person added to the definition of “friend,” writing it is also a “living being.” It also had the message: “Don’t use AI to cure your loneliness. Reach out into the world!”

Usselmann said the particular issue with the campaign and device is “the tech world assuming certain words and giving them different connotations.” 

“A ‘friend’ is someone with whom you have a bond based on mutual affection,” she said. “A machine does not have real affection because it cannot love. It does not have a spiritual soul from which intellect, moral agency, and love stem.”

She continued: “And from a Christian understanding, a friend is someone who exhibits sacrificial love, who supports through the ups and downs of life, and who offers spiritual encouragement and forgiveness. An AI ‘friend’ can do none of those things.”

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Catholics across the U.S. encouraged to participate in Respect Life Novena - #Catholic - null / Credit: Ivon19, public domain via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA-4.0) CNA Staff, Oct 21, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA). Catholics across the United States are encouraged to participate in the national Respect Life Novena beginning Oct. 22 in an effort to unite in prayer for the protection of the unborn and all those affected by abortion.The Respect Life Novena is offered annually by the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) and consists of nine days of prayers, Scripture readings, and suggested acts of reparation.Some of the prayer intentions in this year’s novena include ones for the protection of life from conception to natural death, for those who have undergone an abortion to experience God’s healing and mercy, for those with disabilities to be treated with dignity, and for an end to the death penalty, among others.This year, the Respect Life Novena will be available on the free version of the Hallow app and a different U.S. bishop will lead the faithful in prayer each day. The bishops taking part include Bishop Daniel Thomas of Toledo, Ohio; Archbishop Alexander Sample of Portland, Oregon; Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia; Bishop Robert Brennan of Brooklyn, New York; Bishop Chad Zielinski of New Ulm, Minnesota; Bishop Barry Knestout of Richmond, Virginia; Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois; Bishop Elias Zaidan, the Maronite eparch of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles; and Bishop Stephen Parkes of Savannah, Georgia. Archbishop Samuel Aquila of the Archdiocese of Denver is urging all Catholic Coloradoans to take part in the novena — especially as Colorado continues to expand access to abortion.On Oct. 25, the fourth day of the novena, Aquila will be leading a Eucharistic procession around Denver’s Planned Parenthood facility — the largest abortion provider in the state. “The Respect Life Office is filled with joy and anticipation for the upcoming Eucharistic procession with Archbishop Aquila,” said Jennifer Torres, community engagement coordinator for Respect Life Denver, a ministry of Catholic Charities, in an interview with the Denver Catholic. “This sacred time offers our community a beautiful opportunity to come together in witness and worship, united in our shared mission to be light in a darkened world.”“As we walk with Christ truly present in the Eucharist, we are reminded that he calls us to be faithful, to carry hope, and to boldly proclaim the dignity of every human life,” she added. “We believe that a deepened devotion to the Eucharist has the power to transform hearts and ultimately renew a culture that too often chooses death over life. We invite all to come as they are, [to] rest and pray with us.”Earlier this year, the Colorado Legislature passed a measure that mandates taxpayer funding for elective abortions. As part of the new law, an earlier provision in the state constitution that prohibited public funds for abortion has now been repealed; the new law requires abortion coverage for Medicaid patients and Child Health Plan Plus program recipients using state money.  “The allocation of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds to subsidize the deliberate ending of innocent life and harm of women is a tragedy for Colorado,” the Colorado Catholic Conference, which represents the state’s bishops, wrote April 24. The Respect Life Novena can be found here.
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Catholics across the U.S. encouraged to participate in Respect Life Novena – #Catholic – null / Credit: Ivon19, public domain via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA-4.0) CNA Staff, Oct 21, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA). Catholics across the United States are encouraged to participate in the national Respect Life Novena beginning Oct. 22 in an effort to unite in prayer for the protection of the unborn and all those affected by abortion.The Respect Life Novena is offered annually by the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) and consists of nine days of prayers, Scripture readings, and suggested acts of reparation.Some of the prayer intentions in this year’s novena include ones for the protection of life from conception to natural death, for those who have undergone an abortion to experience God’s healing and mercy, for those with disabilities to be treated with dignity, and for an end to the death penalty, among others.This year, the Respect Life Novena will be available on the free version of the Hallow app and a different U.S. bishop will lead the faithful in prayer each day. The bishops taking part include Bishop Daniel Thomas of Toledo, Ohio; Archbishop Alexander Sample of Portland, Oregon; Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia; Bishop Robert Brennan of Brooklyn, New York; Bishop Chad Zielinski of New Ulm, Minnesota; Bishop Barry Knestout of Richmond, Virginia; Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois; Bishop Elias Zaidan, the Maronite eparch of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles; and Bishop Stephen Parkes of Savannah, Georgia. Archbishop Samuel Aquila of the Archdiocese of Denver is urging all Catholic Coloradoans to take part in the novena — especially as Colorado continues to expand access to abortion.On Oct. 25, the fourth day of the novena, Aquila will be leading a Eucharistic procession around Denver’s Planned Parenthood facility — the largest abortion provider in the state. “The Respect Life Office is filled with joy and anticipation for the upcoming Eucharistic procession with Archbishop Aquila,” said Jennifer Torres, community engagement coordinator for Respect Life Denver, a ministry of Catholic Charities, in an interview with the Denver Catholic. “This sacred time offers our community a beautiful opportunity to come together in witness and worship, united in our shared mission to be light in a darkened world.”“As we walk with Christ truly present in the Eucharist, we are reminded that he calls us to be faithful, to carry hope, and to boldly proclaim the dignity of every human life,” she added. “We believe that a deepened devotion to the Eucharist has the power to transform hearts and ultimately renew a culture that too often chooses death over life. We invite all to come as they are, [to] rest and pray with us.”Earlier this year, the Colorado Legislature passed a measure that mandates taxpayer funding for elective abortions. As part of the new law, an earlier provision in the state constitution that prohibited public funds for abortion has now been repealed; the new law requires abortion coverage for Medicaid patients and Child Health Plan Plus program recipients using state money.  “The allocation of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds to subsidize the deliberate ending of innocent life and harm of women is a tragedy for Colorado,” the Colorado Catholic Conference, which represents the state’s bishops, wrote April 24. The Respect Life Novena can be found here.

unitedyam

null / Credit: Ivon19, public domain via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA-4.0)

CNA Staff, Oct 21, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Catholics across the United States are encouraged to participate in the national Respect Life Novena beginning Oct. 22 in an effort to unite in prayer for the protection of the unborn and all those affected by abortion.

The Respect Life Novena is offered annually by the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) and consists of nine days of prayers, Scripture readings, and suggested acts of reparation.

Some of the prayer intentions in this year’s novena include ones for the protection of life from conception to natural death, for those who have undergone an abortion to experience God’s healing and mercy, for those with disabilities to be treated with dignity, and for an end to the death penalty, among others.

This year, the Respect Life Novena will be available on the free version of the Hallow app and a different U.S. bishop will lead the faithful in prayer each day. The bishops taking part include Bishop Daniel Thomas of Toledo, Ohio; Archbishop Alexander Sample of Portland, Oregon; Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia; Bishop Robert Brennan of Brooklyn, New York; Bishop Chad Zielinski of New Ulm, Minnesota; Bishop Barry Knestout of Richmond, Virginia; Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois; Bishop Elias Zaidan, the Maronite eparch of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles; and Bishop Stephen Parkes of Savannah, Georgia. 

Archbishop Samuel Aquila of the Archdiocese of Denver is urging all Catholic Coloradoans to take part in the novena — especially as Colorado continues to expand access to abortion.

On Oct. 25, the fourth day of the novena, Aquila will be leading a Eucharistic procession around Denver’s Planned Parenthood facility — the largest abortion provider in the state. 

“The Respect Life Office is filled with joy and anticipation for the upcoming Eucharistic procession with Archbishop Aquila,” said Jennifer Torres, community engagement coordinator for Respect Life Denver, a ministry of Catholic Charities, in an interview with the Denver Catholic. “This sacred time offers our community a beautiful opportunity to come together in witness and worship, united in our shared mission to be light in a darkened world.”

“As we walk with Christ truly present in the Eucharist, we are reminded that he calls us to be faithful, to carry hope, and to boldly proclaim the dignity of every human life,” she added. “We believe that a deepened devotion to the Eucharist has the power to transform hearts and ultimately renew a culture that too often chooses death over life. We invite all to come as they are, [to] rest and pray with us.”

Earlier this year, the Colorado Legislature passed a measure that mandates taxpayer funding for elective abortions. As part of the new law, an earlier provision in the state constitution that prohibited public funds for abortion has now been repealed; the new law requires abortion coverage for Medicaid patients and Child Health Plan Plus program recipients using state money.  

“The allocation of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds to subsidize the deliberate ending of innocent life and harm of women is a tragedy for Colorado,” the Colorado Catholic Conference, which represents the state’s bishops, wrote April 24. 

The Respect Life Novena can be found here.

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