O wondrous Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus, who, in thy brief earthly life, didst become a mirror of angelic purity, of courageous love and of whole-hearted surrender to Almighty God, now that thou art enjoying the reward of thy virtues, turn thine eyes of mercy upon us who trust in thee. Obtain for us the grace to keep our hearts and minds pure and clean like unto thine, and to detest in all sincerity whatever might tarnish ever so slightly the luster of a virtue so sublime, a virtue that …
Read MoreA reading from the First Letter of John
2:12-17
I am writing to you, children,
because your sins have been forgiven for his name’s sake.
I am writing to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
because you have conquered the Evil One.
I write to you, children,
because you know the Father.
I write to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you are strong and the word of God remains in you,
and you have conquered the Evil One.
Do not love the world or the things of the world.
If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world,
sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life,
is not from the Father but is from the world.
Yet the world and its enticement are passing away.
But whoever does the will of God remains forever.
From the Gospel according to Luke
2:36-40
There was a prophetess, Anna,
the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.
She was advanced in years,
having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage,
and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.
She never left the temple,
but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer.
And coming forward at that very time,
she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child
to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.
When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions
of the law of the Lord,
they returned to Galilee,
to their own town of Nazareth.
The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom;
and the favor of God was upon him.
The narrative recounts that when Mary and Joseph “had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee to their own city, Nazareth. And the child grew” — the Gospel says — “and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favour of God was upon him” (vv. 39-40). Children’s growth is a great joy for the family, we all know it. They are destined to grow and become strong, to acquire knowledge and receive the grace of God, just as happened to Jesus. He is truly one of us: the Son of God becomes a child, agrees to grow, to become strong; he is filled with knowledge, and the grace of God is upon him. Mary and Joseph have the joy of seeing all this in their son; and this is the mission to which the family is directed: to create conditions favourable to the harmonious and full growth of its children, so they may live a good life, worthy of God and constructive for the world. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 31 December 2017)
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Micah Kim, 5, son of popular Catholic speaker Paul Kim, is anointed by a priest on Dec. 26, 2025. Credit: Courtesy of Paul Kim's Facebook page / null
Dec 29, 2025 / 17:51 pm (CNA).
Paul Kim, a highly popular Catholic youth and young adult speaker, continues to share updates on his 5-year-old son, Micah, who remains on life support following a sudden medical emergency just days before Christmas.
Entering his ninth day in the hospital, Micah’s condition has sparked an outpouring of prayers across the globe, with the family invoking the intercession of Venerable Fulton Sheen for a miracle amid grim medical prognoses.
The ordeal began when Micah was rushed to the hospital last week after experiencing severe internal bleeding and other complications. Kim, a devoted husband and father of six known for his engaging talks on faith and family at Catholic conferences, first alerted followers via social media on Dec. 22: “My son Micah is having a medical emergency right now and headed to the hospital in an ambulance.”
By Dec. 24, Micah underwent emergency chest surgery to address the bleeding, which successfully stabilized his heart function. Kim shared on social media that after the surgery, his son’s heart began beating independently and his vital signs remained steady.
Doctors gradually reduced life support, with Micah’s lungs showing slow improvement on a ventilator. However, a subsequent MRI revealed severe brain damage, leading physicians to conclude there is “no medical possibility” of recovery.
“Micah is fighting for his life,” Kim said in a Dec. 29 update on Instagram. “We’re waiting on the Lord, and we don’t give up trust.”
Micah received the sacrament of anointing of the sick on Dec. 23 at 3 p.m., “when divine mercy redeemed us all,” and Kim invited all Catholics to join with his family in praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet, humbly requesting a miracle “through the intercession of Archbishop Fulton Sheen.”
In addition to an outpouring of prayer for Micah, a GoFundMe campaign was begun to support the family amid mounting medical costs.
“Praying that all is stable and the parents are resting,” one supporter posted on social media platform X, echoing widespread sentiment.
As of Dec. 29, Micah’s kidney function remains a concern, but the family is holding fast to hope. “Please keep praying! God has the ultimate say. He is the Divine Physician,” Kim noted on Instagram.
Read More![Jonathan Roumie tells Father Mike Schmitz: ‘Everything in my life has prepared me for this role’ #Catholic
Actor Jonathan Roumie, known for his role as Jesus in “The Chosen,” and Father Mike Schmitz, known for the “Bible in a Year” podcast, sit down for an in-depth interview. Credit: Ascension Presents
Dec 29, 2025 / 17:21 pm (CNA).
In a new sit-down interview with Father Mike Schmitz, who is best known for the “Bible in a Year” podcast and YouTube videos on Ascension Presents, actor Jonathan Roumie spoke in depth about his role portraying Jesus in the hit series “The Chosen.”“Everything in my life has prepared me for this role,” Roumie told Schmitz in the 43-minute-long interview, which aired Dec. 28 on the Ascension Presents YouTube channel.Looking back at his childhood, Roumie recalled a couple of moments and experiences that deeply impacted him and his own portrayal of Jesus. He said at 12 years old he reenacted Christ’s passion and crucifixion in his backyard after watching Robert Powell’s portrayal of Jesus in “Jesus of Nazareth.”“I had 2-by-8 planks that I found and I hammered them together and I hammered the nails where the hands would go and I painted the blood and the same thing with the feet,” he recalled. “And then I grabbed like a bush, a piece of a branch of a bush, and made my own crown of thorns and I painted blood on it and everything and I processed around to the side of my garage.”Roumie also opened up about his experience being bullied as a child and how it led him to offer up his past trauma to God as he was reenacting the Crucifixion during filming of Season 6 of “The Chosen,” which focuses on Jesus’ passion and crucifixion.“I was bullied as a kid a lot and I had to kind of look at what Jesus went through as a righteous man and a peaceful man and meek and humble and see just the level of devastation and terrorized bullying that he received to the point of death,” he said. “So for me, I think, and I’ll go back and look at all those experiences I had as a kid, which might have been part of the reason that led me to reenact the Passion, as something that I could relate to and I think all of that prepared me for this role.”He added: “I understand it now a bit more, at least I think, in my own sort of human ignorance and pride… Of course I don’t know exactly what all of this is about but it feels authentic. Like, ‘Well, I went through that as a kid and my compassion increased and my empathy increased and now I’m playing the most compassionate, empathetic human being that was God in the universe for all time.’ So I can lend that experience in his suffering and in his empathy even in wanting to forgive his enemies, which I had to do.”“I was beaten pretty bad. So, I had to offer up all of my past trauma to him as I was recreating it, knowing that that was part of my own personal sacrifice — was my own offering for him on behalf of what he suffered for humanity.”The actor shared that before beginning the filming of Season 6, he asked God in prayer that “if it were his will to allow me a fraction of a fraction of what he went through.”Before traveling to Matera, Italy — the location where the Crucifixion was filmed — Roumie injured his right shoulder after falling while filming a scene. An X-ray and MRI showed that he had separated a bit of his AC joint from the clavicle, causing sharp pain.“It was the right shoulder, so the shoulder that was carrying the beam [of the cross] on and it was extremely painful,” Roumie said. “And that was just one of many things.”Roumie added that while filming the Crucifixion “certain adjustments” also had to be made due to pain being felt by the metal and real nails being used during filming.“He [God] gave me exactly what I asked for — just a glimpse, just a glimpse,” he said. “And I think the thing that I got was that I got to enter into it in a way that I had never entered into it before.”Schmitz asked Roumie how his experience portraying Jesus’ passion and crucifixion has impacted the way he attends or prays at Mass. Roumie shared that in the past year he began to feel “convicted to give more reverence to Christ in the Eucharist.”“I started receiving on my knees and on the tongue, which I hadn’t before,” he said, adding that it was slightly “disorienting at first.”He recalled an experience at Mass where he kneeled to receive the Eucharist but the priest asked him to stand up. He hesitated but rose and continued on with the Mass. Afterward, he asked his spiritual director if that was permissible, to which he responded that a priest “shouldn’t do that but it happens.”After this experience, Roumie shared that he “doubled down on it and now I’m prepared to just wait as long as I need to until somebody concedes because I’m not going anywhere.”Returning to his time portraying Jesus in the series, Schmitz told Roumie that “the show is called ‘The Chosen’ in the sense that it’s also about those who were chosen, but you were chosen and there’s something in that that has changed you. You being chosen to not only portray Jesus, but to be his disciple, an imitator of him, as St. Paul says, and that’s changed you.”“That’s something I’m trying to wrap my head around and identify with,” Roumie responded. “It wasn’t somebody else. He picked me. And I, of course, said yes, because I needed the work initially. I didn’t know what it was going to do to me internally.”Once the final season of “The Chosen” airs, it will have been a span of 10 years that Roumie will have been portraying Jesus. He said that this experience is something that might take “the rest of my life to unpack.”There was an error serializing the imagefile_get_contents(https://iframe.ly/api/iframely/oembed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DtLHZ1qYhph0&api_key=): Failed to open stream: HTTP request failed! HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found
“So, I have to give myself a little bit of grace, but it’s something that I think I will always live with. And in fact, I don’t know that I want to let it go because it keeps me connected to him, especially when the show ends.”](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/jonathan-roumie-tells-father-mike-schmitz-everything-in-my-life-has-prepared-me-for-this-role-catholic-actor-jonathan-roumie-known-for-his-role-as-jesus-in-the-chosen.png)
Actor Jonathan Roumie, known for his role as Jesus in “The Chosen,” and Father Mike Schmitz, known for the “Bible in a Year” podcast, sit down for an in-depth interview. Credit: Ascension Presents
Dec 29, 2025 / 17:21 pm (CNA).
In a new sit-down interview with Father Mike Schmitz, who is best known for the “Bible in a Year” podcast and YouTube videos on Ascension Presents, actor Jonathan Roumie spoke in depth about his role portraying Jesus in the hit series “The Chosen.”
“Everything in my life has prepared me for this role,” Roumie told Schmitz in the 43-minute-long interview, which aired Dec. 28 on the Ascension Presents YouTube channel.
Looking back at his childhood, Roumie recalled a couple of moments and experiences that deeply impacted him and his own portrayal of Jesus. He said at 12 years old he reenacted Christ’s passion and crucifixion in his backyard after watching Robert Powell’s portrayal of Jesus in “Jesus of Nazareth.”
“I had 2-by-8 planks that I found and I hammered them together and I hammered the nails where the hands would go and I painted the blood and the same thing with the feet,” he recalled. “And then I grabbed like a bush, a piece of a branch of a bush, and made my own crown of thorns and I painted blood on it and everything and I processed around to the side of my garage.”
Roumie also opened up about his experience being bullied as a child and how it led him to offer up his past trauma to God as he was reenacting the Crucifixion during filming of Season 6 of “The Chosen,” which focuses on Jesus’ passion and crucifixion.
“I was bullied as a kid a lot and I had to kind of look at what Jesus went through as a righteous man and a peaceful man and meek and humble and see just the level of devastation and terrorized bullying that he received to the point of death,” he said.
“So for me, I think, and I’ll go back and look at all those experiences I had as a kid, which might have been part of the reason that led me to reenact the Passion, as something that I could relate to and I think all of that prepared me for this role.”
He added: “I understand it now a bit more, at least I think, in my own sort of human ignorance and pride… Of course I don’t know exactly what all of this is about but it feels authentic. Like, ‘Well, I went through that as a kid and my compassion increased and my empathy increased and now I’m playing the most compassionate, empathetic human being that was God in the universe for all time.’ So I can lend that experience in his suffering and in his empathy even in wanting to forgive his enemies, which I had to do.”
“I was beaten pretty bad. So, I had to offer up all of my past trauma to him as I was recreating it, knowing that that was part of my own personal sacrifice — was my own offering for him on behalf of what he suffered for humanity.”
The actor shared that before beginning the filming of Season 6, he asked God in prayer that “if it were his will to allow me a fraction of a fraction of what he went through.”
Before traveling to Matera, Italy — the location where the Crucifixion was filmed — Roumie injured his right shoulder after falling while filming a scene. An X-ray and MRI showed that he had separated a bit of his AC joint from the clavicle, causing sharp pain.
“It was the right shoulder, so the shoulder that was carrying the beam [of the cross] on and it was extremely painful,” Roumie said. “And that was just one of many things.”
Roumie added that while filming the Crucifixion “certain adjustments” also had to be made due to pain being felt by the metal and real nails being used during filming.
“He [God] gave me exactly what I asked for — just a glimpse, just a glimpse,” he said. “And I think the thing that I got was that I got to enter into it in a way that I had never entered into it before.”
Schmitz asked Roumie how his experience portraying Jesus’ passion and crucifixion has impacted the way he attends or prays at Mass. Roumie shared that in the past year he began to feel “convicted to give more reverence to Christ in the Eucharist.”
“I started receiving on my knees and on the tongue, which I hadn’t before,” he said, adding that it was slightly “disorienting at first.”
He recalled an experience at Mass where he kneeled to receive the Eucharist but the priest asked him to stand up. He hesitated but rose and continued on with the Mass. Afterward, he asked his spiritual director if that was permissible, to which he responded that a priest “shouldn’t do that but it happens.”
After this experience, Roumie shared that he “doubled down on it and now I’m prepared to just wait as long as I need to until somebody concedes because I’m not going anywhere.”
Returning to his time portraying Jesus in the series, Schmitz told Roumie that “the show is called ‘The Chosen’ in the sense that it’s also about those who were chosen, but you were chosen and there’s something in that that has changed you. You being chosen to not only portray Jesus, but to be his disciple, an imitator of him, as St. Paul says, and that’s changed you.”
“That’s something I’m trying to wrap my head around and identify with,” Roumie responded. “It wasn’t somebody else. He picked me. And I, of course, said yes, because I needed the work initially. I didn’t know what it was going to do to me internally.”
Once the final season of “The Chosen” airs, it will have been a span of 10 years that Roumie will have been portraying Jesus. He said that this experience is something that might take “the rest of my life to unpack.”
There was an error serializing the image
file_get_contents(https://iframe.ly/api/iframely/oembed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DtLHZ1qYhph0&api_key=): Failed to open stream: HTTP request failed! HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found
“So, I have to give myself a little bit of grace, but it’s something that I think I will always live with. And in fact, I don’t know that I want to let it go because it keeps me connected to him, especially when the show ends.”
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Data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory come together in this eye-catching photo of colliding spiral galaxies released on Dec. 1, 2025.
Read More
Tim Walz’s team has responded to the scandal of the century in their state with perhaps the lie of the century as the governor fights for his political life.
The post Tim Walz’s Office Responds with an Outrageous Falsehood After Journalist Nick Shirley Exposes Fraud of the Century in Minnesota appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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A 54-minute secret recording from a December 11, 2021, closed-door meeting inside Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s official state office is resurfacing amid explosive revelations that 70 Somali community members in Minnesota participated in stealing $250 million in federal COVID child-feeding funds.
The post FLASHBACK: MN AG Keith Ellison CAUGHT ON TAPE Promising Favors to Somali Immigrant Fraudsters — Including Now-Convicted Defendants — In Exchange for Campaign Cash appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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(Note: Thank you for supporting businesses like the one presenting a sponsored message below and working with them through the links below which benefits Gateway Pundit.
The post Ivermectin for Arthritis? A Promising Treatment appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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Pope Leo XIV’s Christmas Address to the Roman Curia: Mission and Communion #Catholic – 
“The light of Christmas comes to meet us, inviting us to rediscover the newness that, from the humble grotto of Bethlehem, runs throughout human history. Drawn by this newness, which embraces all creation, let us walk in joy and hope, for a Savior has been born for us (cf. Lk 2:11): God has become flesh, has become our brother, and remains forever God-with-us.”
Address of the Holy Father Leo XIV to the Roman Curia
BISHOP KEVIN J. SWEENEY
What’s next? We have just concluded the Jubilee Year, a Jubilee of Hope and an invitation to all Christians to realize that we are called to be “Pilgrims of Hope.” The theme for the Jubilee Year was given to us by Pope Francis. He led us, 12 months ago, into the Holy Year, opening the Holy Door at Christmas Mass on December 24, 2025. We did not know at that time that Pope Francis’ earthly pilgrimage would come to an end only four months into the Jubilee Year, on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025. After Pope Francis’ funeral, the Cardinals prepared for the Conclave that many would describe as “surprisingly brief” and on May 8, 2025, the world was introduced to Pope Leo XIV, as he greeted us with the words of Jesus to his disciples following his resurrection, “Peace be with you.”
In that same first address, Pope Leo remembered and thanked Pope Francis: “We can still hear the faint yet ever courageous voice of Pope Francis as he blessed Rome … We are followers of Christ. Christ goes before us. The world needs his light. Humanity needs him as the bridge that can lead us to God and his love. Help us, one and all, to build bridges through dialogue and encounter, joining together as one people, always at peace. Thank you, Pope Francis!” Pope Leo XIV: ‘Peace be with all of you’
Pope Leo XIV is now leading us to the close of the Jubilee Year (in Rome, on January 6, 2026) and it reasonable to ask the question, “What’s next?” Some commentators have suggested that we will now see Pope Leo begin to set his own agenda and direction, as much of his calendar for the first eight months of his Pontificate was already “pre-scheduled” with Jubilee events and gatherings.
In his Christmas Address to the Roman Curia, given on December 22, 2025, we seem to have received some (very strong) hints or perhaps even the beginning of a statement of Pope Leo XIVs priorities. I have quoted the first paragraph of the Christmas Address above. I encourage readers to carefully and prayerfully read the full text of the brief address. I also recommend, once again, the Inside the Vatican podcast and it’s Dec. 23rd episode in which host Colleen Dulle with producers Fr. Ricardo da Silva, S.J., and Sebastian Gomes discuss the content and context of the Christmas address, also giving the listener some helpful (recent) history of the Papal Christmas Address to the Curia, going back to Pope Benedict’s address on December 22, 2005. The episode can be found here.
As the conversation on the podcast turns to Pope Leo’s address, Fr. Da Silva focuses on and reads a line from the second paragraph of the address, as Pope Leo said, “… I wish first of all to remember my beloved predecessor, Pope Francis, who this year concluded his earthly life. His prophetic voice, pastoral style and rich magisterium have marked the Church’s journey in recent years, encouraging us above all to place God’s mercy at the center, to give renewed impetus to evangelization, and to be a joyful Church, welcoming to all and attentive to the poorest.
Father Da Silva says that Pope Leo is emphasizing what Pope Francis wanted to teach us, that as the Church, as disciples, we are called, “… above all to place God’s mercy at the center, to give renewed impetus to evangelization, and to be a joyful Church, welcoming to all and attentive to the poorest.” In the following line Pope Leo states: “Taking inspiration from his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, I would like to reflect on two fundamental aspects of the Church’s life: mission and communion.”
“Mission and Communion” — is Pope Leo XIV telling us that these will be his priorities? Is he telling us that “mission and communion” will be the focus of his Pontificate? It may be too soon to draw those conclusions, but he clearly took this opportunity to communicate to those who have roles of leadership and responsibility in implementing the vision of the Holy Father that he wants them to understand and appreciate the importance and meaning of “mission and communion.”
I listened to the podcast on the morning of Christmas Eve and then I read the full text of the Address on the day after Christmas, as I was preparing to celebrate our Diocesan Mass for the (local) conclusion of the Jubilee Year on Sunday, December 28th, the Feast of the Holy Family. As I thought about the conclusion of the Jubilee Year in our Diocese, I had also been reflecting on the question, “What’s next?” As I read the text of Pope Leo’s address, I felt that he was helping us to answer that question.
During the past year, in conversations with our priests, pastors, consecrated religious, laity and diocesan leaders, the question or topic of a “vision” for our Diocese has been raised and discussed. The more that I have thought and prayed about the ongoing process of discerning a vision and identifying priorities, the more frequently I return to our understanding and appreciation of what it means to be “Missionary Disciples.”
In the fourth and fifth paragraphs of the Address, Pope Leo refers to the Church’s missionary nature, “By her very nature, the Church is outward-looking, turned toward the world, missionary…” (pp. 4) and Jesus’ great commission (mandate): “Evangelii Gaudium encourages us to make progress in the missionary transformation of the Church, who draws her inexhaustible strength from the mandate of the Risen Christ. “Jesus’ command to ‘go and make disciples’ echoes in the changing scenarios and ever new challenges to the Church’s mission of evangelization, and all of us are called to take part in this new missionary ‘going forth’” (no. 20).
I hope that most, if not all, readers are aware of that “Great Commission”, from the conclusion of Matthew’s Gospel:
“Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
(Mt. 28: 18-20)
“What’s next?” I am hoping that Pope Leo’s invitation to reflect on “mission and communion” as two fundamental aspects of the Church’s life will be a graced opportunity for us, as missionary disciples in this local Church of Paterson to discern how the Lord may be calling us to focus and continue to discern a vision, aided by the “light of Christmas.”
– “The light of Christmas comes to meet us, inviting us to rediscover the newness that, from the humble grotto of Bethlehem, runs throughout human history. Drawn by this newness, which embraces all creation, let us walk in joy and hope, for a Savior has been born for us (cf. Lk 2:11): God has become flesh, has become our brother, and remains forever God-with-us.” Address of the Holy Father Leo XIV to the Roman Curia BISHOP KEVIN J. SWEENEY What’s next? We have just concluded the Jubilee Year, a Jubilee of Hope and an invitation to all Christians to realize that we are
In this episode, Astronomy magazine Editor Emeritus Dave Eicher invites you to head out in the evening and early morning hours around January 4. The time before sunrise on that date will be the peak of the Quadrantid meteor shower. The Moon will be bright, so look away from it. Hopefully, you’ll see some bright shooting stars.Continue reading “This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher: The Quadrantid meteor shower”
The post This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher: The Quadrantid meteor shower appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.
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Graduates pose with their degrees at St. Mary’s University College in Belfast, Northern Ireland. / Credit: St. Mary’s University College
EWTN News, Dec 29, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).
Four generations of teachers, a Nobel Prize winner, and a kicker with the New Orleans Saints are among those who have graduated from Northern Ireland’s only Catholic higher education institution.
St. Mary’s University College in Belfast is marking the 125th year of a remarkable journey that began in 1900.
Since its foundation, St. Mary’s has been synonymous with training Catholic teachers. It is rooted in a profound commitment to Catholic education, with its alumni teaching in every Catholic school in Northern Ireland and in schools around the world.
Principal Peter Finn told CNA: “At Christmastime, St. Mary’s University College in Belfast celebrates an institutional identity which reflects a Christian, explicitly faith-inspired worldview.”
“We are the only Catholic higher education institution in Northern Ireland, with an identity which is not defined by what proportion of our students are Catholic or any other denomination or none. Our identity has the core characteristics of faith and service as well as a commitment to the values of the Gospel.”
When St. Mary’s opened in 1900, Bishop Henry Henry, bishop of Down and Connor, welcomed “many intelligent, earnest young ladies from different parts of the country.” He assured them: “The good Dominican nuns placed over you will see that you will be proficient in religious knowledge, theoretical and practical.”
Finn said: “In our 125th anniversary year, we celebrate the pioneering work of our founders, Bishop Henry of Down and Connor and the Dominican sisters. We also celebrate what St. Mary’s has become today — a small, specialist, and distinctive institution of higher education in the model of a liberal arts college, which performs very highly. Key to our performance is a partnership of collaborative provision with Queen’s University, Belfast.”
The college campus is situated on the Lower Falls Road in West Belfast, a location that placed it at the very front line during the conflict in Northern Ireland. Over the decades, St. Mary’s has thrived in West Belfast, weathering global and local challenges with unwavering resolve.
Students who boarded there during World War II recalled adapting to the harsh realities of life behind heavy blackout curtains and under curfew, as fears of Nazi bombing raids loomed over Belfast. Even amid the turbulence of the Troubles, the college continued its mission, undeterred by social unrest in the surrounding streets.
St. Mary’s is embedded in the West Belfast community, which is rich in history and culture. The college attracts applicants from across Northern Ireland and beyond, now complemented by a growing international student community.
Finn explained: “There is a special place at St. Mary’s for both community and international engagement. Each year we host events and activities with over 100 community groups, and at the other level we maintain membership of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities and the European Federation of Catholic Universities, as well as facilitating international student mobility.”
Finn pointed to St. Mary’s widened international links. “For example, we have established an international summer school in partnership with Féile an Phobail, which is a major community festival held annually in West Belfast during the month of August.”
“We have been delighted to welcome students from partner universities in the United States who travel here to learn about conflict resolution and the Northern Ireland peace process.”
It is for its role in training generations of educators that St. Mary’s is most famous. Since the 1980s, when the former St. Joseph’s teacher training college merged with St. Mary’s, it has educated male and female trainee teachers together. Distinguished alumni include Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney and playwright Brian Friel, author of “Dancing at Lughnasa.”
The college’s governing body is chaired by Bishop Alan McGuckian, bishop of Down and Connor and episcopal successor to founder Henry. Priests have traditionally formed part of the teaching faculty contributing to the certificate in religious education, which is an award of St. Mary’s University College, validated by the Church authority, and a requirement for Catholic primary school teachers in Northern Ireland.
Teachers educated at the college find their way to schools not only in Northern Ireland but also across the globe. The college is supplemented by a liberal arts program empowering students as they contemplate their future pathways. It also has a key role in training teachers for schools where pupils are taught through the medium of the Irish language.
One alumnus making his mark is New Orleans Saints kicker Charlie Smyth. In 2024, Smyth completed his master’s in education degree at St. Mary’s University College in Belfast, having previously graduated from the college as a primary school teacher qualified to teach through the Irish language.
As the 125th milestone is celebrated, the legacy of Henry and the founding Dominican sisters ensures St. Mary’s University College continues and endures in the achievement of its teachers in educating successive generations of Catholic children.
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Pope Leo XIV, Pope Francis, Michael Iskander, Bishop Mark Seitz, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and Andrea Bocelli. Credit: Vatican Media; ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images; Jason Davis/Getty Images; Hakim Shammo/EWTN News; Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem; Franco Origlia/Getty Images
ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 29, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).
The year 2025 will be etched in the memory of the Catholic Church for various profoundly significant events, including the death of Pope Francis, the election of a new pontiff, and a series of testimonies of faith that resonated throughout the world.
Below we take a look back at six Catholic public figures who made major headlines this past year.
1. Pope Francis
Pope Francis passed away on April 21, Easter Monday, after a pontificate marked by pastoral closeness, defense of the poorest, and a missionary approach of reaching out to the peripheries. His legacy of mercy and dialogue left a profound mark on the universal Church, and his death was a moment of sorrow for millions.
His last act of love for the Church was on Easter Sunday, April 20, during the urbi et orbi blessing. Francis appeared on the balcony of the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica to impart the blessing to the crowd of pilgrims that filled St. Peter’s Square and the surrounding area.
2. Pope Leo XIV
Elected in May following the conclave convened after the death of Pope Francis, Leo XIV began his pontificate with a strong emphasis on ecclesial communion, doctrinal continuity, and pastoral closeness to the poor. In October, he released his apostolic exhortation Dilexi Te (“I Have Loved You”), focused on love for the poor and the urgency of placing those most in need at the heart of the Church’s mission.
The Holy Father marked significant milestones throughout 2025, such as the canonization of contemporary saints — including Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati — his ongoing strong support for the Jubilee of Hope, and repeated calls for ecumenism, dialogue, and peace, especially during his first apostolic journey to Turkey and Lebanon.
3. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa was one of the clearest voices of the Church amid the tragedy of war in the Holy Land. As Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, he bore witness to the suffering of Christians and civilians in Gaza and Israel, denouncing the violence and reminding everyone that Christ is present, “crucified in the wounded.” His messages to young people, the faithful, and international leaders solidified his position as a moral authority who consistently called for peace, reconciliation, and respect for human dignity.
His pastoral leadership was also expressed in concrete actions: visiting communities affected by the war, celebrating the feast of Our Lady Queen of Palestine, accompanying persecuted Christians, and traveling to the United States to raise awareness and funds for the Holy Land.
4. Bishop Mark Seitz
The bishop of El Paso, Texas, Mark Seitz, has established himself as one of the country’s strongest voices in defense of migrants. From a diocese located right on the border with Mexico, he clearly affirmed that immigration is above all a “matter of the Gospel” and not merely a political debate. His encouragement for bipartisan legislative initiatives such as the Dignity Act and his criticism of immigration policies that he considered “contrary to moral law” reflected a pastoral approach centered on human dignity, the preferential option for the poor, and the formation of consciences.
In addition, his leadership went beyond the national scene as he presented Pope Leo XIV with testimonies and letters from migrant families living in fear of deportation, a gesture that visibly moved the pontiff. He also promoted the “Cabrini Commitment” during National Migration Week and, along with his diocese, received the 2025 Pax Christi International Peace Award.
5. Michael Iskander
The American-Egyptian actor Michael Iskander, known for playing King David in the Prime Video series “House of David,” delivered one of the most inspiring testimonies of faith of the year when he converted to Catholicism in 2025.
Although he was raised in the Coptic Orthodox Church, Iskander shared that his conversion was a “calling from God” that he felt deeply after an inner experience during a visit to St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan.
6. Andrea Bocelli
The renowned Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli was one of the most influential Catholic figures of 2025 thanks to his testimony of faith and his participation in key events in the life of the Church.
On Sept. 13, Bocelli sang in St. Peter’s Square during the historic “Grace for the World” concert, held at the Vatican to close the World Meeting on Human Fraternity, where he offered performances of profound spiritual content and emphasized the centrality of faith, peace, and fraternity. Days earlier, after singing before Pope Leo XIV at the inauguration of the Borgo Laudato Si’ ecological project, he stated that the Holy Father is “a beacon to guide us in these complex times.”
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Read More![U.S. executions rise in 2025 amid shifting public opinion - #Catholic -
The lethal injection chamber at the Oklahoma State Penintentiary, May 7, 2010. Credit: Josh Rushing via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Dec 29, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).
A rise in executions in the United States in 2025 occurred alongside “shifting public opinion” against the death penalty, offering anti-death-penalty advocates a hopeful sign going into 2026 even amid high levels of capital punishment.The Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit group that tracks and catalogs executions in the United States, said in its year-end report that 48 prisoners were executed in the U.S. in 2025, up from 25 the year before.The near-100% increase in executions was driven in large part by Florida, which at 19 executions counted for about 40% of the year’s total, the group noted.The year also saw the expanded use of a controversial method of execution, that of nitrogen gas. Louisiana and Alabama both killed two condemned prisoners using this method, which advocates have said poses the risk of a slow, agonizing death. Alabama murderer Anthony Boyd reportedly took around 20 minutes to die during his execution by gas.South Carolina executed two inmates by firing squad, the first such executions in the U.S. in 15 years. Lawyers alleged that one of those executions was botched, leading to the inmate suffering before dying.The U.S. Supreme Court, meanwhile, “denied every request to stay an execution” in 2025, the Death Penalty Information Center noted, while several states passed laws expanding the death penalty or otherwise supporting it.Public opinion shifts against death penalty; new death sentences declineThough executions were up in 2025, data indicate a growing public opposition to the death penalty, both in poll numbers and in the declining number of prisoners condemned to death in the United States.The Death Penalty Information Center noted that new death sentences were down in 2025, declining to 22 from 24, with “only 14 juries nationwide” reaching unanimous death verdicts.Though the decline was relatively small, it reflects a decades-long overall trend in the reduction of death sentences in the U.S., which peaked at 325 in 1986.A Gallup poll this year, meanwhile, found that public support for the death penalty reached a 50-year low of 52%, while 44% of Americans oppose the death penalty, the highest level recorded since 1966.A majority of those under 55, meanwhile, oppose the death penalty.The shift suggests changing opinions in a country known for its relatively high levels of executions. The U.S. ranked third in 2023 for the number of executions in countries where that number was known.And while countries such as China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia regularly record significantly more executions than the U.S., many of the United States’ traditional geopolitical allies outlaw executions entirely, including effectively all of Western Europe.A near-majority of U.S. states outlaw executions, which could help to explain decreasing public support for the practice.Yet while opinion is shifting, Catholics notably remain largely supportive of the practice: A November poll from EWTN News and RealClear Opinion Research found a majority of Catholic voters in the U.S. support it.‘Vengeance’s empty promises’Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, the executive director for the anti-death penalty group Catholic Mobilizing Network, admitted that 2025 was a “tough year” for pro-life advocates looking to abolish capital punishment in the U.S.“We started off the year on a high note,” she told CNA, pointing to former President Joe Biden’s December 2024 commutations of 37 federal prisoners on death row. The beginning of the Catholic Church’s jubilee year, meanwhile, offered a spiritual bolster to life advocates.But “executions have been happening at breakneck speed” in 2025, she said.“The Trump administration was talking about the death penalty from day one,” she said. “They haven’t been able to do much in terms of executions [at the federal level], but it’s kind of permeated things and given political cover to elected officials in states.”Murphy acknowledged that Florida carried out “the lion’s share” of executions in 2025. “I’ve talked to almost every Catholic bishop in the state of Florida,” she said. “They’re stumped. It’s very troubling.” Like many bishops in the U.S., the Florida bishops regularly petition the state government to commute death sentences, though to no avail. The last clemency granted by an executive in Florida was in 1983, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.Executive clemency is somewhat rare in the U.S., though at times it has been used dramatically, including Biden’s mass clemency order as well as North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s commutation of 15 death row cases at the end of 2024.In spite of the grim execution numbers in 2025, Murphy admitted there are “encouraging signs” for life advocates.“The jubilee year has been a true reminder that our compass, our North Star, is life — the sanctity of life,” she said. “There’s something about a jubilee year and about the promise it holds. It has exposed vengeance’s empty promises.”She pointed out that the executions being carried today are actually reflective of “the standard of three decades ago.”“When you look at the sentencing of the average person being executed today, that sentence happened 25, 30 years ago,” she said. “When you look at the number of death sentences now, it’s low.” She pointed to the well-documented decline in death sentences both this year and overall from decades before.Murphy said life advocates are looking to 2026 to continue those encouraging trends. Catholic Mobilizing Network in December joined a broad coalition of more than 50 organizations seeking to end the death penalty in the United States.Activists are generally required to “go state by state” in their efforts to abolish the death penalty, Murphy said. She pointed to promising abolition efforts in Ohio and Oklahoma, among others.One of the Catholic group’s key focuses, she said, is in speaking to younger generations.“Young people don’t have the baggage around the death penalty that some older generations might,” she said. “We’re bringing exonerees and murder victim family members to campuses and younger communities and helping them really grab onto the issue and make it their own.”“Young people are sometimes our best advocates,” she said. “They have lots of energy and a real commitment to a broad consistent life ethic.”Among the more notable developments in death penalty advocacy in recent years was the Catholic Church’s 2018 update of the Catechism of the Catholic Church that declared the death penalty “inadmissible” and stated that the Church seeks its abolition around the world.Pope Francis regularly spoke out against the death penalty, while Pope Leo XIV has signaled his own opposition to it. In September he said support for the death penalty is “not really pro-life,” a remark that drew controversy even as it appeared to line up with the catechism’s directive.Elsewhere, Church leaders have turned to Catholic tradition as part of efforts to abolish the death penalty. In August the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops called for a novena asking the faithful to pray for an end to Florida’s death penalty.Murphy acknowledged that the 2018 catechism revision “threw some people,” though she said there are opportunities at hand for Catholics to evangelize on the need to save the lives of those condemned to die.“There’s catechesis we need to do, and formation, about how we can be reconcilers and restorers,” she said. “It’s Jesus’ way. But we need to spend time walking with one another and figuring this out together.”](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/u-s-executions-rise-in-2025-amid-shifting-public-opinion-catholic-the-lethal-injection-chamber-at-the-oklahoma-state-penintentiary-may-7-2010-credit-josh-rushing-via-flickr-cc-by-nc-sa.jpg)
The lethal injection chamber at the Oklahoma State Penintentiary, May 7, 2010. Credit: Josh Rushing via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Dec 29, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).
A rise in executions in the United States in 2025 occurred alongside “shifting public opinion” against the death penalty, offering anti-death-penalty advocates a hopeful sign going into 2026 even amid high levels of capital punishment.
The Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit group that tracks and catalogs executions in the United States, said in its year-end report that 48 prisoners were executed in the U.S. in 2025, up from 25 the year before.
The near-100% increase in executions was driven in large part by Florida, which at 19 executions counted for about 40% of the year’s total, the group noted.
The year also saw the expanded use of a controversial method of execution, that of nitrogen gas. Louisiana and Alabama both killed two condemned prisoners using this method, which advocates have said poses the risk of a slow, agonizing death. Alabama murderer Anthony Boyd reportedly took around 20 minutes to die during his execution by gas.
South Carolina executed two inmates by firing squad, the first such executions in the U.S. in 15 years. Lawyers alleged that one of those executions was botched, leading to the inmate suffering before dying.
The U.S. Supreme Court, meanwhile, “denied every request to stay an execution” in 2025, the Death Penalty Information Center noted, while several states passed laws expanding the death penalty or otherwise supporting it.
Public opinion shifts against death penalty; new death sentences decline
Though executions were up in 2025, data indicate a growing public opposition to the death penalty, both in poll numbers and in the declining number of prisoners condemned to death in the United States.
The Death Penalty Information Center noted that new death sentences were down in 2025, declining to 22 from 24, with “only 14 juries nationwide” reaching unanimous death verdicts.
Though the decline was relatively small, it reflects a decades-long overall trend in the reduction of death sentences in the U.S., which peaked at 325 in 1986.
A Gallup poll this year, meanwhile, found that public support for the death penalty reached a 50-year low of 52%, while 44% of Americans oppose the death penalty, the highest level recorded since 1966.
A majority of those under 55, meanwhile, oppose the death penalty.
The shift suggests changing opinions in a country known for its relatively high levels of executions. The U.S. ranked third in 2023 for the number of executions in countries where that number was known.
And while countries such as China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia regularly record significantly more executions than the U.S., many of the United States’ traditional geopolitical allies outlaw executions entirely, including effectively all of Western Europe.
A near-majority of U.S. states outlaw executions, which could help to explain decreasing public support for the practice.
Yet while opinion is shifting, Catholics notably remain largely supportive of the practice: A November poll from EWTN News and RealClear Opinion Research found a majority of Catholic voters in the U.S. support it.
‘Vengeance’s empty promises’
Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, the executive director for the anti-death penalty group Catholic Mobilizing Network, admitted that 2025 was a “tough year” for pro-life advocates looking to abolish capital punishment in the U.S.
“We started off the year on a high note,” she told CNA, pointing to former President Joe Biden’s December 2024 commutations of 37 federal prisoners on death row. The beginning of the Catholic Church’s jubilee year, meanwhile, offered a spiritual bolster to life advocates.
But “executions have been happening at breakneck speed” in 2025, she said.
“The Trump administration was talking about the death penalty from day one,” she said. “They haven’t been able to do much in terms of executions [at the federal level], but it’s kind of permeated things and given political cover to elected officials in states.”
Murphy acknowledged that Florida carried out “the lion’s share” of executions in 2025. “I’ve talked to almost every Catholic bishop in the state of Florida,” she said. “They’re stumped. It’s very troubling.”
Like many bishops in the U.S., the Florida bishops regularly petition the state government to commute death sentences, though to no avail. The last clemency granted by an executive in Florida was in 1983, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Executive clemency is somewhat rare in the U.S., though at times it has been used dramatically, including Biden’s mass clemency order as well as North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s commutation of 15 death row cases at the end of 2024.
In spite of the grim execution numbers in 2025, Murphy admitted there are “encouraging signs” for life advocates.
“The jubilee year has been a true reminder that our compass, our North Star, is life — the sanctity of life,” she said. “There’s something about a jubilee year and about the promise it holds. It has exposed vengeance’s empty promises.”
She pointed out that the executions being carried today are actually reflective of “the standard of three decades ago.”
“When you look at the sentencing of the average person being executed today, that sentence happened 25, 30 years ago,” she said. “When you look at the number of death sentences now, it’s low.” She pointed to the well-documented decline in death sentences both this year and overall from decades before.
Murphy said life advocates are looking to 2026 to continue those encouraging trends. Catholic Mobilizing Network in December joined a broad coalition of more than 50 organizations seeking to end the death penalty in the United States.
Activists are generally required to “go state by state” in their efforts to abolish the death penalty, Murphy said. She pointed to promising abolition efforts in Ohio and Oklahoma, among others.
One of the Catholic group’s key focuses, she said, is in speaking to younger generations.
“Young people don’t have the baggage around the death penalty that some older generations might,” she said. “We’re bringing exonerees and murder victim family members to campuses and younger communities and helping them really grab onto the issue and make it their own.”
“Young people are sometimes our best advocates,” she said. “They have lots of energy and a real commitment to a broad consistent life ethic.”
Among the more notable developments in death penalty advocacy in recent years was the Catholic Church’s 2018 update of the Catechism of the Catholic Church that declared the death penalty “inadmissible” and stated that the Church seeks its abolition around the world.
Pope Francis regularly spoke out against the death penalty, while Pope Leo XIV has signaled his own opposition to it. In September he said support for the death penalty is “not really pro-life,” a remark that drew controversy even as it appeared to line up with the catechism’s directive.
Elsewhere, Church leaders have turned to Catholic tradition as part of efforts to abolish the death penalty. In August the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops called for a novena asking the faithful to pray for an end to Florida’s death penalty.
Murphy acknowledged that the 2018 catechism revision “threw some people,” though she said there are opportunities at hand for Catholics to evangelize on the need to save the lives of those condemned to die.
“There’s catechesis we need to do, and formation, about how we can be reconcilers and restorers,” she said. “It’s Jesus’ way. But we need to spend time walking with one another and figuring this out together.”
Read More