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Alabama executes man by nitrogen gas after Supreme Court denies request for firing squad #Catholic The state of Alabama on Oct. 23, 2025, executed convicted murderer Anthony Boyd by nitrogen gas just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider requiring the state to execute him by firing squad instead. / Credit: Alabama Department of Corrections via AP, File CNA Staff, Oct 24, 2025 / 11:32 am (CNA). The state of Alabama on Thursday executed convicted murderer Anthony Boyd by nitrogen gas just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider requiring the state to execute him by firing squad instead.Boyd reportedly took around 20 minutes to die from the execution method, according to the Associated Press. The news wire said he “clenched his fist, raised his head off the gurney slightly, and began shaking,” after which he became still but continued with a series of “heaving breaths” for “at least 15 minutes.”The Alabama man was convicted of capital murder in the 1993 killing of Gregory Huguley in Talladega County. Huguley was taped up, doused with gasoline, and set on fire. Boyd proclaimed his innocence until the last minutes of his life. “I didn’t kill anybody. I didn’t participate in killing anybody,” he said on Oct. 23 prior to being executed. The protracted execution came on the same day that the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider whether the execution by nitrogen gas violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. Nitrogen gas is a relatively new execution method in the U.S. In January 2024 Alabama executed Kenneth Smith with gas, the first time in U.S. history that such a method was used. Witnesses said Smith writhed for several minutes while being administered the gas and was observed breathing for a considerable amount of time during the execution itself. Advocates have warned that the process is drawn-out and painful for victims of execution. Boyd had asked the U.S. Supreme Court to consider requiring Alabama to execute him by firing squad. The Supreme Court declined to consider the case.In a scathing dissent ahead of the execution, Justice Sonia Sotomayor accused the high court of “turn[ing] its back” on Boyd and on the Constitution. Sotomayor, who was joined by Justice Elena Kagan and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, pointed to several other executions by nitrogen gas, including Kenneth Smith’s, noting reports that inmates have been seen “violent[ly] convulsing, eyes bulging, [and] thrashing against the restraints” while they are killed. All condemned prisoners suffer “distress” ahead of their executions, Sotomayor said. But drawn-out methods of execution like that of nitrogen gas create suffering “after the execution begins and while it is being carried out to completion.”Prisoners are not guaranteed a painless death under the Eighth Amendment, Sotomayor acknowledged.“But when a state introduces an experimental method of execution that superadds psychological terror as a necessary feature of its successful completion, courts should enforce the Eighth Amendment’s mandate against cruel and unusual punishment,” she said.Ahead of Boyd’s execution, the anti-death penalty group Catholic Mobilizing Network said capital punishment “remind[s] us how critically important it is that we include the abolition of the death penalty in our respect life advocacy.”“May we see the dignity of [Boyd] and of every individual sentenced to death, remembering always that no person is defined by the worst thing they’ve ever done,” the group said.
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Alabama executes man by nitrogen gas after Supreme Court denies request for firing squad #Catholic The state of Alabama on Oct. 23, 2025, executed convicted murderer Anthony Boyd by nitrogen gas just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider requiring the state to execute him by firing squad instead. / Credit: Alabama Department of Corrections via AP, File CNA Staff, Oct 24, 2025 / 11:32 am (CNA). The state of Alabama on Thursday executed convicted murderer Anthony Boyd by nitrogen gas just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider requiring the state to execute him by firing squad instead.Boyd reportedly took around 20 minutes to die from the execution method, according to the Associated Press. The news wire said he “clenched his fist, raised his head off the gurney slightly, and began shaking,” after which he became still but continued with a series of “heaving breaths” for “at least 15 minutes.”The Alabama man was convicted of capital murder in the 1993 killing of Gregory Huguley in Talladega County. Huguley was taped up, doused with gasoline, and set on fire. Boyd proclaimed his innocence until the last minutes of his life. “I didn’t kill anybody. I didn’t participate in killing anybody,” he said on Oct. 23 prior to being executed. The protracted execution came on the same day that the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider whether the execution by nitrogen gas violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. Nitrogen gas is a relatively new execution method in the U.S. In January 2024 Alabama executed Kenneth Smith with gas, the first time in U.S. history that such a method was used. Witnesses said Smith writhed for several minutes while being administered the gas and was observed breathing for a considerable amount of time during the execution itself. Advocates have warned that the process is drawn-out and painful for victims of execution. Boyd had asked the U.S. Supreme Court to consider requiring Alabama to execute him by firing squad. The Supreme Court declined to consider the case.In a scathing dissent ahead of the execution, Justice Sonia Sotomayor accused the high court of “turn[ing] its back” on Boyd and on the Constitution. Sotomayor, who was joined by Justice Elena Kagan and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, pointed to several other executions by nitrogen gas, including Kenneth Smith’s, noting reports that inmates have been seen “violent[ly] convulsing, eyes bulging, [and] thrashing against the restraints” while they are killed. All condemned prisoners suffer “distress” ahead of their executions, Sotomayor said. But drawn-out methods of execution like that of nitrogen gas create suffering “after the execution begins and while it is being carried out to completion.”Prisoners are not guaranteed a painless death under the Eighth Amendment, Sotomayor acknowledged.“But when a state introduces an experimental method of execution that superadds psychological terror as a necessary feature of its successful completion, courts should enforce the Eighth Amendment’s mandate against cruel and unusual punishment,” she said.Ahead of Boyd’s execution, the anti-death penalty group Catholic Mobilizing Network said capital punishment “remind[s] us how critically important it is that we include the abolition of the death penalty in our respect life advocacy.”“May we see the dignity of [Boyd] and of every individual sentenced to death, remembering always that no person is defined by the worst thing they’ve ever done,” the group said.

unitedyam

The state of Alabama on Oct. 23, 2025, executed convicted murderer Anthony Boyd by nitrogen gas just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider requiring the state to execute him by firing squad instead. / Credit: Alabama Department of Corrections via AP, File

CNA Staff, Oct 24, 2025 / 11:32 am (CNA).

The state of Alabama on Thursday executed convicted murderer Anthony Boyd by nitrogen gas just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider requiring the state to execute him by firing squad instead.

Boyd reportedly took around 20 minutes to die from the execution method, according to the Associated Press. The news wire said he “clenched his fist, raised his head off the gurney slightly, and began shaking,” after which he became still but continued with a series of “heaving breaths” for “at least 15 minutes.”

The Alabama man was convicted of capital murder in the 1993 killing of Gregory Huguley in Talladega County. Huguley was taped up, doused with gasoline, and set on fire. 

Boyd proclaimed his innocence until the last minutes of his life. “I didn’t kill anybody. I didn’t participate in killing anybody,” he said on Oct. 23 prior to being executed. 

The protracted execution came on the same day that the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider whether the execution by nitrogen gas violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. 

Nitrogen gas is a relatively new execution method in the U.S. In January 2024 Alabama executed Kenneth Smith with gas, the first time in U.S. history that such a method was used. 

Witnesses said Smith writhed for several minutes while being administered the gas and was observed breathing for a considerable amount of time during the execution itself. Advocates have warned that the process is drawn-out and painful for victims of execution. 

Boyd had asked the U.S. Supreme Court to consider requiring Alabama to execute him by firing squad. The Supreme Court declined to consider the case.

In a scathing dissent ahead of the execution, Justice Sonia Sotomayor accused the high court of “turn[ing] its back” on Boyd and on the Constitution. 

Sotomayor, who was joined by Justice Elena Kagan and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, pointed to several other executions by nitrogen gas, including Kenneth Smith’s, noting reports that inmates have been seen “violent[ly] convulsing, eyes bulging, [and] thrashing against the restraints” while they are killed. 

All condemned prisoners suffer “distress” ahead of their executions, Sotomayor said. But drawn-out methods of execution like that of nitrogen gas create suffering “after the execution begins and while it is being carried out to completion.”

Prisoners are not guaranteed a painless death under the Eighth Amendment, Sotomayor acknowledged.

“But when a state introduces an experimental method of execution that superadds psychological terror as a necessary feature of its successful completion, courts should enforce the Eighth Amendment’s mandate against cruel and unusual punishment,” she said.

Ahead of Boyd’s execution, the anti-death penalty group Catholic Mobilizing Network said capital punishment “remind[s] us how critically important it is that we include the abolition of the death penalty in our respect life advocacy.”

“May we see the dignity of [Boyd] and of every individual sentenced to death, remembering always that no person is defined by the worst thing they’ve ever done,” the group said.

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Virtual summit aims to inspire attendees to grow as digital missionaries for the Church #Catholic The Engage Virtual Summit, presented by eCatholic, is a two-day virtual conference bringing together lay Catholics, clergy, and religious from parishes, schools, dioceses, and ministries to explore innovative tools and strategies and share insights into evangelization in the digital world. / Credit: eCatholic CNA Staff, Oct 19, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA). A two-day virtual conference will bring together lay Catholics, clergy, and religious to explore innovative tools and strategies and share insights into evangelization in the digital world. The Engage Virtual Summit, presented by eCatholic, will take place online Oct. 21–22 and will feature many notable Catholic figures including Monsignor James Shea, Monsignor Roger Landry, co-founder of Hallow Alex Jones, radio host Katie McGrady, and evangelist Chris Stefanick, among others.eCatholic is an organization that supports parishes, schools, and dioceses to evangelize effectively and efficiently through the use of eCatholic’s digital engagement platform. Jason Jaynes, president and CEO of eCatholic; Michael Josephs, director of marketing at eCatholic; and Brandon Duncan, eCatholic’s marketing evangelist, spoke to CNA about the conference and what they hope attendees will take away from it.Duncan explained that they’ve had the idea for the conference for several years but it wasn’t until last September that he put a plan together for it and had it approved by the leadership team at eCatholic.“It’s amazing what we’ve been able to do and being able to turn this around so quickly and by the grace of God, everything’s been going so smoothly in the planning process,” Duncan said. “We’re so excited about this this opportunity and just what this summit means for the Church as a whole and for the leaders and to be able to provide them with the tools and inspiration to continue to carry out the mission of the Church.”The theme of the conference is “Made for Mission,” which, Jaynes explained, aims “to engage both religious and lay alike, who are out there, who are in this digital continent and trying to reach people — whether you’re a priest, you’re a ministry leader, you’re a communicator, an educator, a media professional — with practical strategies and things that they can do to really help to inspire them to be part of that digital evangelization.”Josephs added: “We are as humans made for mission. The Church is made for mission. And so we just felt like the theme resonated on all these different levels.”During a year in which the Vatican hosted the Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and the Church’s first digital missionary was canonized a saint (Carlo Acutis), the importance of digital missionaries in today’s world seemed obvious. While the “online world is not perfect … the Church needs to not ignore it but engage with it and be a light in that space,” Josephs said. Jaynes pointed out the many Catholic ministries and organizations doing important work for the Church in the digital space and said he believes there is a “shift happening in the mainstream culture right now where people are looking through the emptiness of some of the secular narratives that we’ve all been sold for the past couple of decades and saying, ‘There has to be more, there has to be more meaning to the human condition and to this need for joy that’s in a part of all of us.’”As for what they hope attendees will take away from the summit, they said practical tips, inspiration, and “feeling challenged to do more.” “I hope that attendees come away with practical tips to make them better communicators … inspiration, new strategies, new ideas, even a renewed zeal,” Josephs said. Jaynes added: “We see it as a chance for folks to, if you will, in a retreat-style way, go to the mountain to pause, pray, seek wisdom, receive some form of renewal before they then go back out into the mission field.”
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Virtual summit aims to inspire attendees to grow as digital missionaries for the Church #Catholic The Engage Virtual Summit, presented by eCatholic, is a two-day virtual conference bringing together lay Catholics, clergy, and religious from parishes, schools, dioceses, and ministries to explore innovative tools and strategies and share insights into evangelization in the digital world. / Credit: eCatholic CNA Staff, Oct 19, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA). A two-day virtual conference will bring together lay Catholics, clergy, and religious to explore innovative tools and strategies and share insights into evangelization in the digital world. The Engage Virtual Summit, presented by eCatholic, will take place online Oct. 21–22 and will feature many notable Catholic figures including Monsignor James Shea, Monsignor Roger Landry, co-founder of Hallow Alex Jones, radio host Katie McGrady, and evangelist Chris Stefanick, among others.eCatholic is an organization that supports parishes, schools, and dioceses to evangelize effectively and efficiently through the use of eCatholic’s digital engagement platform. Jason Jaynes, president and CEO of eCatholic; Michael Josephs, director of marketing at eCatholic; and Brandon Duncan, eCatholic’s marketing evangelist, spoke to CNA about the conference and what they hope attendees will take away from it.Duncan explained that they’ve had the idea for the conference for several years but it wasn’t until last September that he put a plan together for it and had it approved by the leadership team at eCatholic.“It’s amazing what we’ve been able to do and being able to turn this around so quickly and by the grace of God, everything’s been going so smoothly in the planning process,” Duncan said. “We’re so excited about this this opportunity and just what this summit means for the Church as a whole and for the leaders and to be able to provide them with the tools and inspiration to continue to carry out the mission of the Church.”The theme of the conference is “Made for Mission,” which, Jaynes explained, aims “to engage both religious and lay alike, who are out there, who are in this digital continent and trying to reach people — whether you’re a priest, you’re a ministry leader, you’re a communicator, an educator, a media professional — with practical strategies and things that they can do to really help to inspire them to be part of that digital evangelization.”Josephs added: “We are as humans made for mission. The Church is made for mission. And so we just felt like the theme resonated on all these different levels.”During a year in which the Vatican hosted the Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and the Church’s first digital missionary was canonized a saint (Carlo Acutis), the importance of digital missionaries in today’s world seemed obvious. While the “online world is not perfect … the Church needs to not ignore it but engage with it and be a light in that space,” Josephs said. Jaynes pointed out the many Catholic ministries and organizations doing important work for the Church in the digital space and said he believes there is a “shift happening in the mainstream culture right now where people are looking through the emptiness of some of the secular narratives that we’ve all been sold for the past couple of decades and saying, ‘There has to be more, there has to be more meaning to the human condition and to this need for joy that’s in a part of all of us.’”As for what they hope attendees will take away from the summit, they said practical tips, inspiration, and “feeling challenged to do more.” “I hope that attendees come away with practical tips to make them better communicators … inspiration, new strategies, new ideas, even a renewed zeal,” Josephs said. Jaynes added: “We see it as a chance for folks to, if you will, in a retreat-style way, go to the mountain to pause, pray, seek wisdom, receive some form of renewal before they then go back out into the mission field.”

unitedyam

The Engage Virtual Summit, presented by eCatholic, is a two-day virtual conference bringing together lay Catholics, clergy, and religious from parishes, schools, dioceses, and ministries to explore innovative tools and strategies and share insights into evangelization in the digital world. / Credit: eCatholic

CNA Staff, Oct 19, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

A two-day virtual conference will bring together lay Catholics, clergy, and religious to explore innovative tools and strategies and share insights into evangelization in the digital world. 

The Engage Virtual Summit, presented by eCatholic, will take place online Oct. 21–22 and will feature many notable Catholic figures including Monsignor James Shea, Monsignor Roger Landry, co-founder of Hallow Alex Jones, radio host Katie McGrady, and evangelist Chris Stefanick, among others.

eCatholic is an organization that supports parishes, schools, and dioceses to evangelize effectively and efficiently through the use of eCatholic’s digital engagement platform. 

Jason Jaynes, president and CEO of eCatholic; Michael Josephs, director of marketing at eCatholic; and Brandon Duncan, eCatholic’s marketing evangelist, spoke to CNA about the conference and what they hope attendees will take away from it.

Duncan explained that they’ve had the idea for the conference for several years but it wasn’t until last September that he put a plan together for it and had it approved by the leadership team at eCatholic.

“It’s amazing what we’ve been able to do and being able to turn this around so quickly and by the grace of God, everything’s been going so smoothly in the planning process,” Duncan said. “We’re so excited about this this opportunity and just what this summit means for the Church as a whole and for the leaders and to be able to provide them with the tools and inspiration to continue to carry out the mission of the Church.”

The theme of the conference is “Made for Mission,” which, Jaynes explained, aims “to engage both religious and lay alike, who are out there, who are in this digital continent and trying to reach people — whether you’re a priest, you’re a ministry leader, you’re a communicator, an educator, a media professional — with practical strategies and things that they can do to really help to inspire them to be part of that digital evangelization.”

Josephs added: “We are as humans made for mission. The Church is made for mission. And so we just felt like the theme resonated on all these different levels.”

During a year in which the Vatican hosted the Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and the Church’s first digital missionary was canonized a saint (Carlo Acutis), the importance of digital missionaries in today’s world seemed obvious. While the “online world is not perfect … the Church needs to not ignore it but engage with it and be a light in that space,” Josephs said. 

Jaynes pointed out the many Catholic ministries and organizations doing important work for the Church in the digital space and said he believes there is a “shift happening in the mainstream culture right now where people are looking through the emptiness of some of the secular narratives that we’ve all been sold for the past couple of decades and saying, ‘There has to be more, there has to be more meaning to the human condition and to this need for joy that’s in a part of all of us.’”

As for what they hope attendees will take away from the summit, they said practical tips, inspiration, and “feeling challenged to do more.” 

“I hope that attendees come away with practical tips to make them better communicators … inspiration, new strategies, new ideas, even a renewed zeal,” Josephs said. 

Jaynes added: “We see it as a chance for folks to, if you will, in a retreat-style way, go to the mountain to pause, pray, seek wisdom, receive some form of renewal before they then go back out into the mission field.”

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New Catholic app hopes to ‘relight the hope of Catholic dating’ #Catholic Daniël Hussem and Emily Wilson-Hussem are the creators of the new Catholic dating app, SacredSpark. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Daniël Hussem and Emily Wilson-Hussem CNA Staff, Oct 9, 2025 / 07:10 am (CNA). When Emily Wilson-Hussem began sharing “matchmaking” posts on Instagram, inviting Catholic singles to share their names and locations to connect with others, she wasn’t expecting that her lighthearted experiment would lead to 12 marriages, 20 engagements, hundreds of dating couples, and even a baby.The Catholic speaker and digital content creator realized that young Catholics are in search of holy marriages but need help finding one another. This led her and her husband, Daniël Hussem, to create a new Catholic dating app — SacredSpark.The new matchmaking app blends technology and tradition to foster meaningful online connections with the goal of creating lasting offline relationships.“Over these years I have seen the difficulty singles [have] to connect with one another, especially of the same age, and a lot of the young single Catholics I met were having a really hard time, and so I felt like a nudge from the Lord,” Wilson-Hussem told CNA.After seeing the immense response from young people on her matchmaking posts, yet realizing the downfalls of trying to help connect people on Instagram, the Hussems decided to create an app that was intentional and focused on the fact that each user was made in the image and likeness of God.SacredSpark is a Catholic dating and matchmaking app that is blending technology and tradition to foster meaningful online connections with the goal of creating lasting offline relationships. Credit: SacredSparkOne of the main features of SacredSpark is its commitment to more meaningful connections between people. To foster that, all profile pictures are blurred. Photos become unblurred once both individuals match with one another. So instead of simply swiping through images of a person, users can record audio messages introducing themselves and other users can listen and determine if they believe there could be a connection.Hussem explained that this feature was created “because we want to start meaningful connections beyond just the appearance.”The couple also pointed out that unlike other dating apps that allow users to place filters on things like physical traits, including eye color, hair color, or even height, SacredSpark does not allow for any filters to be placed on physical qualities.“For us, we want it to be extremely intentional about the person as a whole, not just their physical appearance,” Hussem shared. “If you’re looking at the general scope of a sacramental marriage, are those things — someone’s color of their eyes or the color of their hair or their height — I think those are more superficial things that people can get sidetracked by versus just these intentional things.”“Our focus is on the image and likeness of God in each person you will connect with on the app. That’s a huge part of the core of what we’re doing,” Wilson-Hussem added.The app also includes a matchmaking feature, which allows the user to invite a friend or family member to act as a matchmaker on their behalf on the app. Wilson-Hussem explained that this feature was added into the app because of the great success matchmakers had on her Instagram posts. “A huge part of the success was a girl saying, ‘I have a brother, Jeff. He’s 31 and he lives in Wisconsin. If there are any great gals out there, I would love to connect you,’” she shared. “I would say at least half of the marriages have been from one person who put one person out there and was linking two other people and we thought, ‘Wow. A, that’s amazing because a lot of people know single Catholics, they have fun with it, but B, our singles need support. They need to feel like people are in their corner.’”She added: “You can hire a matchmaker for thousands of dollars — a person who has to get to know you, a person who has to look at who you are on paper. The people who have known you your whole life know you best. They know what you’re looking for. So, why don’t we find a way to activate those people and support our singles?”SacredSpark will be launched and open to the public in mid-October, but interested singles can already sign up to join the waitlist. The Hussems said they hope the new app will “relight the hope of Catholic dating.”“The overall mission is actually to help build up the Church one relationship at a time,” Daniël Hussem said.“I think a big part of the cultural breakdown is the breakdown of the family, and we want SacredSpark to really be a place, down the road, where we can connect people who will build up the Church because they’ve entered into a sacramental marriage and will build up the family,” Wilson-Hussem added. “The restoration of the family is going to be a huge part of the next many years and we think SacredSpark, hopefully, will play a part in that.”
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New Catholic app hopes to ‘relight the hope of Catholic dating’ #Catholic Daniël Hussem and Emily Wilson-Hussem are the creators of the new Catholic dating app, SacredSpark. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Daniël Hussem and Emily Wilson-Hussem CNA Staff, Oct 9, 2025 / 07:10 am (CNA). When Emily Wilson-Hussem began sharing “matchmaking” posts on Instagram, inviting Catholic singles to share their names and locations to connect with others, she wasn’t expecting that her lighthearted experiment would lead to 12 marriages, 20 engagements, hundreds of dating couples, and even a baby.The Catholic speaker and digital content creator realized that young Catholics are in search of holy marriages but need help finding one another. This led her and her husband, Daniël Hussem, to create a new Catholic dating app — SacredSpark.The new matchmaking app blends technology and tradition to foster meaningful online connections with the goal of creating lasting offline relationships.“Over these years I have seen the difficulty singles [have] to connect with one another, especially of the same age, and a lot of the young single Catholics I met were having a really hard time, and so I felt like a nudge from the Lord,” Wilson-Hussem told CNA.After seeing the immense response from young people on her matchmaking posts, yet realizing the downfalls of trying to help connect people on Instagram, the Hussems decided to create an app that was intentional and focused on the fact that each user was made in the image and likeness of God.SacredSpark is a Catholic dating and matchmaking app that is blending technology and tradition to foster meaningful online connections with the goal of creating lasting offline relationships. Credit: SacredSparkOne of the main features of SacredSpark is its commitment to more meaningful connections between people. To foster that, all profile pictures are blurred. Photos become unblurred once both individuals match with one another. So instead of simply swiping through images of a person, users can record audio messages introducing themselves and other users can listen and determine if they believe there could be a connection.Hussem explained that this feature was created “because we want to start meaningful connections beyond just the appearance.”The couple also pointed out that unlike other dating apps that allow users to place filters on things like physical traits, including eye color, hair color, or even height, SacredSpark does not allow for any filters to be placed on physical qualities.“For us, we want it to be extremely intentional about the person as a whole, not just their physical appearance,” Hussem shared. “If you’re looking at the general scope of a sacramental marriage, are those things — someone’s color of their eyes or the color of their hair or their height — I think those are more superficial things that people can get sidetracked by versus just these intentional things.”“Our focus is on the image and likeness of God in each person you will connect with on the app. That’s a huge part of the core of what we’re doing,” Wilson-Hussem added.The app also includes a matchmaking feature, which allows the user to invite a friend or family member to act as a matchmaker on their behalf on the app. Wilson-Hussem explained that this feature was added into the app because of the great success matchmakers had on her Instagram posts. “A huge part of the success was a girl saying, ‘I have a brother, Jeff. He’s 31 and he lives in Wisconsin. If there are any great gals out there, I would love to connect you,’” she shared. “I would say at least half of the marriages have been from one person who put one person out there and was linking two other people and we thought, ‘Wow. A, that’s amazing because a lot of people know single Catholics, they have fun with it, but B, our singles need support. They need to feel like people are in their corner.’”She added: “You can hire a matchmaker for thousands of dollars — a person who has to get to know you, a person who has to look at who you are on paper. The people who have known you your whole life know you best. They know what you’re looking for. So, why don’t we find a way to activate those people and support our singles?”SacredSpark will be launched and open to the public in mid-October, but interested singles can already sign up to join the waitlist. The Hussems said they hope the new app will “relight the hope of Catholic dating.”“The overall mission is actually to help build up the Church one relationship at a time,” Daniël Hussem said.“I think a big part of the cultural breakdown is the breakdown of the family, and we want SacredSpark to really be a place, down the road, where we can connect people who will build up the Church because they’ve entered into a sacramental marriage and will build up the family,” Wilson-Hussem added. “The restoration of the family is going to be a huge part of the next many years and we think SacredSpark, hopefully, will play a part in that.”

unitedyam

Daniël Hussem and Emily Wilson-Hussem are the creators of the new Catholic dating app, SacredSpark. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Daniël Hussem and Emily Wilson-Hussem

CNA Staff, Oct 9, 2025 / 07:10 am (CNA).

When Emily Wilson-Hussem began sharing “matchmaking” posts on Instagram, inviting Catholic singles to share their names and locations to connect with others, she wasn’t expecting that her lighthearted experiment would lead to 12 marriages, 20 engagements, hundreds of dating couples, and even a baby.

The Catholic speaker and digital content creator realized that young Catholics are in search of holy marriages but need help finding one another. This led her and her husband, Daniël Hussem, to create a new Catholic dating app — SacredSpark.

The new matchmaking app blends technology and tradition to foster meaningful online connections with the goal of creating lasting offline relationships.

“Over these years I have seen the difficulty singles [have] to connect with one another, especially of the same age, and a lot of the young single Catholics I met were having a really hard time, and so I felt like a nudge from the Lord,” Wilson-Hussem told CNA.

After seeing the immense response from young people on her matchmaking posts, yet realizing the downfalls of trying to help connect people on Instagram, the Hussems decided to create an app that was intentional and focused on the fact that each user was made in the image and likeness of God.

SacredSpark is a Catholic dating and matchmaking app that is blending technology and tradition to foster meaningful online connections with the goal of creating lasting offline relationships. Credit: SacredSpark
SacredSpark is a Catholic dating and matchmaking app that is blending technology and tradition to foster meaningful online connections with the goal of creating lasting offline relationships. Credit: SacredSpark

One of the main features of SacredSpark is its commitment to more meaningful connections between people. To foster that, all profile pictures are blurred. Photos become unblurred once both individuals match with one another. So instead of simply swiping through images of a person, users can record audio messages introducing themselves and other users can listen and determine if they believe there could be a connection.

Hussem explained that this feature was created “because we want to start meaningful connections beyond just the appearance.”

The couple also pointed out that unlike other dating apps that allow users to place filters on things like physical traits, including eye color, hair color, or even height, SacredSpark does not allow for any filters to be placed on physical qualities.

“For us, we want it to be extremely intentional about the person as a whole, not just their physical appearance,” Hussem shared. “If you’re looking at the general scope of a sacramental marriage, are those things — someone’s color of their eyes or the color of their hair or their height — I think those are more superficial things that people can get sidetracked by versus just these intentional things.”

“Our focus is on the image and likeness of God in each person you will connect with on the app. That’s a huge part of the core of what we’re doing,” Wilson-Hussem added.

The app also includes a matchmaking feature, which allows the user to invite a friend or family member to act as a matchmaker on their behalf on the app. Wilson-Hussem explained that this feature was added into the app because of the great success matchmakers had on her Instagram posts. 

“A huge part of the success was a girl saying, ‘I have a brother, Jeff. He’s 31 and he lives in Wisconsin. If there are any great gals out there, I would love to connect you,’” she shared. “I would say at least half of the marriages have been from one person who put one person out there and was linking two other people and we thought, ‘Wow. A, that’s amazing because a lot of people know single Catholics, they have fun with it, but B, our singles need support. They need to feel like people are in their corner.’”

She added: “You can hire a matchmaker for thousands of dollars — a person who has to get to know you, a person who has to look at who you are on paper. The people who have known you your whole life know you best. They know what you’re looking for. So, why don’t we find a way to activate those people and support our singles?”

SacredSpark will be launched and open to the public in mid-October, but interested singles can already sign up to join the waitlist. 

The Hussems said they hope the new app will “relight the hope of Catholic dating.”

“The overall mission is actually to help build up the Church one relationship at a time,” Daniël Hussem said.

“I think a big part of the cultural breakdown is the breakdown of the family, and we want SacredSpark to really be a place, down the road, where we can connect people who will build up the Church because they’ve entered into a sacramental marriage and will build up the family,” Wilson-Hussem added. “The restoration of the family is going to be a huge part of the next many years and we think SacredSpark, hopefully, will play a part in that.”

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Philadelphia Archdiocese launches ‘missionary hubs’ to help bring faithful back to Church
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Philadelphia Archdiocese launches ‘missionary hubs’ to help bring faithful back to Church

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Archbishop of Philadelphia Nelson J. Perez speaks to members of his congregation at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul following a special Mass for Pope Francis on April 21, 2025, in Philadelphia. / Credit: Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images

CNA Staff, Sep 29, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson Pérez on Sept. 29 announced the designation of multiple “missionary hubs” throughout the Philadelphia Archdiocese, part of a broad effort to help bring lapsed Catholics back into the Church while highlighting the “deeply positive impact” the Church has had on the region.

The rollout comes after Pérez earlier this year revealed the 10-year plan meant to bring Catholics back to the pews. The archdiocese said in January that the effort would be “phased in” across the region.

A “standout feature” of the campaign, the archdiocese said on Monday, is the creation of five “missionary hubs” at parishes in the region’s four major counties of Delaware, Bucks, Montgomery, and Chester as well as Philadelphia County itself.

Those parishes will serve as “a new method of evangelization that will be instrumental in reaching out to Catholics who no longer attend Mass regularly and others seeking a spiritual connection in their lives and an outlet to serve those in need.”

“Following the example of Jesus Christ, we are moving to encounter all of our brothers and sisters where they are,” Pérez said in a press release. “I want everyone to know that they are not alone and that they will always have a home in the Catholic Church.”

The hubs will feature trained individuals under the leadership of the parish’s pastor, with teams working to “address the distinct needs and priorities of the people living within the neighborhoods of that parish and beyond.” The designation of the hubs came after “dozens of meetings” with hundreds of Catholics throughout the year.

The parishes will use pastoral, educational, and charitable ministries to “reach people who feel far from the Church,” according to the archdiocese.

‘Catholic. Every day’

In addition to the hub effort, the archdiocese will also be rolling out a marketing campaign, dubbed “Catholic. Every Day,” that will broadcast on local TV and radio stations. It will also be featured on displays such as billboards and bus shelters.

The archdiocese described the effort as an “extensive and privately funded marketing and advertising campaign covering Philadelphia and its suburbs.”

The donor-sponsored ads will feature “the many faces of Catholicism in the region” and will run in several phases through July 2026, coinciding with multiple major events in the region, including the FIFA World Cup and events marking the 250th anniversary of the founding of the U.S.

“This campaign will remind Catholics of their rich heritage of service to others in Philadelphia while introducing our message to new audiences in fresh and compelling ways,” Pérez said.

The archbishop said in the Monday press release that the Philadelphia Church “has 1.5 million Catholics, directly helps hundreds of thousands of people through our schools and charitable ministries, and has an economic impact of more than $1 billion a year.”

Organizers wanted to “highlight the broad scope of compassionate and dignified service we provide to people of faith traditions and diverse walks of life,” he said.

Archdiocesan spokesman Kenneth Gavin told CNA earlier this year that the entire effort will be funded primarily by “private philanthropic funding secured over time and hopefully endowed for long-term sustainability.”

“The archbishop recognizes the urgency of reaching out to the 83% of baptized Catholics not regularly practicing their faith while continuing to serve more effectively and efficiently the 17% who do attend Mass,” he said.

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Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael: The 3 great archangels of the Bible
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Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael: The 3 great archangels of the Bible

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A stained-glass window in St. Sulpice Church in Fougeres, France, depicts (from left to right) the archangels Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel. / Credit: Tiberiu Stan/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Sep 29, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

Many Catholics can, at the drop of a hat, recite the prayer to St. Michael the Archangel — the famous petition to that venerable saint to “defend us in battle” and “cast into hell Satan.”

In the culture of the Church, Michael is often accompanied by his two fellow archangels — Sts. Gabriel and Raphael — with the three forming a phalanx of protection, healing, and petition for those who ask for their intercession. The Church celebrates the three archangels with a joint feast day on Sept. 29.

St. Michael the Archangel

St. Michael the Archangel is hailed in the Book of Daniel as “the great prince who has charge of [God’s] people.”

Michael Aquilina, the executive vice president and trustee of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology in Steubenville, Ohio, described Michael among angels as “the one most often named — and most often invoked — and most often seen in history-changing apparitions.”

Devotion to Michael, Aquilina told CNA, “has been with the Church from the beginning. And Michael has been with God’s people since before the beginning of the Church.”

Michael’s history in the Bible is depicted through Daniel, in Jude (in which he battles Satan for possession of Moses’ body), and in Revelation as he “wag[es] war with the dragon” alongside his fellow angels. 

Michael, Aquilina said, was “a supremely important character who was there from the beginning of the story.” Rabbinic tradition holds that Michael was at the center of many of the great biblical dramas even if not explicitly mentioned. 

He was an early subject of veneration in the Church, though Aquilina noted that the Reformation led to a steep decline in devotion to the angels — until the end of the 19th century, when Michael began an “amazing comeback journey” in the life of the Church. 

Following a vision of Satan “running riot” on the planet, “Pope Leo composed three prayers to St. Michael, ranging from short to long,” Aquilina said. “The brief one, he commanded, should be prayed at the end of every Mass.” 

This was a regular feature of the Mass until the Vatican II era, after which it came to an end — though Pope John Paul II in 1994 urged Catholics to make the prayer a regular part of their lives.

“St. Michael is there for us in the day of battle, which is every day,” Aquilina said.

The St. Michael Prayer: St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil / May God rebuke him, we humbly pray / And do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the divine power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

St. Gabriel the Archangel

Gabriel appears regularly in Scripture as a messenger of God’s word, both in the Old and New Testaments. Daniel identifies Gabriel as a “man” who came “to give [him] insight and understanding,” relaying prophetic answers to Daniel’s entreaties to God. 

In the New Testament, Luke relays Gabriel’s appearances to both Zechariah and the Virgin Mary. At the former, he informs the priest that his wife, Elizabeth, will soon conceive a child; at the latter he informs Mary herself that she will do the same. The two children in question, of course, were respectively John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. 

Christian tradition further associates Gabriel with the apostle Paul’s reference in his First Letter to the Thessalonians to the “archangel’s call” and “the sound of the trumpet of God.”

“Judgment will begin with the archangel’s call and the sound of the horn,” Aquilina told CNA. “Thus we hear often of Gabriel’s trumpet.”

Media workers in particular have “good professional reasons to go to Gabriel,” Aquilina said.

“Since he is the Bible’s great communicator — the great teller of good news — he is the natural patron of broadcasters and all those who work in electronic media,” he said. 

“For the same reason, he’s the patron saint of preachers … but also of postal workers, diplomats, and messengers.”

The St. Gabriel Prayer: O Blessed Archangel Gabriel, we beseech thee, do thou intercede for us at the throne of divine mercy in our present necessities, that as thou didst announce to Mary the mystery of the Incarnation, so through thy prayers and patronage in heaven we may obtain the benefits of the same, and sing the praise of God forever in the land of the living. Amen.

St. Raphael the Archangel

Lesser-known among the three great archangels, Raphael’s mission from God “is not obvious to the casual reader” of the Bible, Aquilina said. Yet his story, depicted in the Book of Tobit, is “something unique in the whole Bible.” In other depictions of angels, they come to Earth only briefly, to deliver a message or to help God’s favored people in some way. 

“Raphael is different,” Aquilina said. “He stays around for the whole story, and by the end he’s become something more than an angel … he’s become a friend.”

In Tobit, Raphael accompanies Tobias, the son of the book’s namesake, as he travels to retrieve money left by his father in another town, helping him along the way and arranging for his marriage to Sarah. 

The biblical account “has in every generation provided insight and consolation to the devout,” Aquilina said. 

Notably, Raphael deftly uses the natural world to work God’s miracles: “What we would ordinarily call catastrophes — blindness, multiple widowhood, destitution, estrangement — all these become providential channels of grace by the time the threads of the story are all wound up in the end.”

“Raphael is patron of many kinds of people,” Aquilina said. “Of course, he’s the patron of singles in search of a mate — and those in search of a friend. He is the patron of pharmacists because he provided the salve of healing. He is a patron for anyone in search of a cure.” 

He is also the patron saint of blind people, travelers, sick people, and youth. 

“Raphael’s story,” Aquilina said, “remains a model for those who would enjoy the friendship of the angels.”

Prayer to St. Raphael: St. Raphael, of the glorious seven who stand before the throne of him who lives and reigns, angel of health, the Lord has filled your hand with balm from heaven to soothe or cure our pains. Heal or cure the victim of disease. And guide our steps when doubtful of our ways. Amen.

This story was first published on Sept. 29, 2023, and has been updated.

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