Pope Leo XIV speaks to bishops gathered for the Jubilee of Bishops on June 25, 2025, in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. | Credit: Vatican Media
Jan 11, 2026 / 06:00 am (CNA).
Soon after the election of Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle shared in a press conference that moments before then-Cardinal Robert Prevost was chosen to be pontiff, Tagle noticed the emotion by the soon-to-be-pope as it was becoming more clear he would be elected, so he reached into his pocket and offered Prevost a piece of candy.
It was this simple moment that inspired Lauren Winter, founder of the Catholic company Brick House in the City, to start the Adopt a Bishop initiative.
“It really reminded me that these are all human beings who made the choice one day to accept a very serious ‘yes,’” Winter told CNA in an interview.
The Adopt a Bishop initiative, which has been launched in collaboration with The Dorothea Project, invites the faithful to adopt a bishop for the year and pray for that bishop throughout the year.
“I think our bishops carry an enormous and often invisible spiritual weight,” she said. “They carry a responsibility that most of us never see — it’s pastoral and spiritual and it’s deeply personal and they’re holding entire dioceses in their prayer. And I think that kind of weight requires spiritual support.”
This is the first year of the initiative and over 1,000 people have already signed up to adopt a bishop in prayer. When an individual signs up on the website that person is randomly assigned a bishop from anywhere in the world.
Winter explained that she decided to use a random generator in order to “remove preference.”
“I didn’t want anyone to choose a bishop that they already knew and admired and I wanted to leave that room for the Holy Spirit,” she said. “And it may be a bishop you are already familiar with. It may be a bishop that is someone that you have disagreed with. But the call to prayer is still there and I think receiving a bishop instead of choosing one, that felt more like a posture of reception, which I feel like it’s more aligned with how grace works in the Church — just leaving the room there for the Spirit to work.”
The Catholic business owner highlighted the importance spiritual adoption plays in the Church in that it reminds us that “we are also being prayed for, it strengthens the bonds within the Church, and then I feel like it helps us to live more intentionally as one body of Christ.”
Winter said she hopes that through this initiative “people feel more connected to their bishop, to the Church, to the quiet work of prayer, and how a small faithful commitment can really shape our faith.”
“I imagine many people when they meet a bishop, they ask the good bishop to pray for them and I think it’s really beautiful that we can return that — the reciprocity of prayer. I think they need our prayers too.”
Lauri Hauser stands in front of her IC2KG booth at the SEEK 2026 conference in Denver on Jan. 2, 2026. | Credit: Francesca Fenton/EWTN News
Jan 5, 2026 / 18:52 pm (CNA).
Twenty years ago, Lauri Hauser, a Catholic mom of two and high school math teacher from Madison, Wisconsin, started a chant with her children — something simple and fun that would keep God and their faith at the forefront of their minds.
“I would chant ‘IC’ and they would respond, ‘2KG,’” Hauser told CNA in an interview.
“IC2KG,” which stands for “I choose to know God,” would be chanted around the Hauser household as chores would be done, while the kids played, and after flag football games in the backyard.
Fast forward 20 years and the family chant is now being shared with children in Catholic schools and, most recently, at the SEEK 2026 conference in Denver, which took place Jan. 1–5.
Hauser explained that it was her youngest son, Joe, who inspired his mother to start her IC2KG ministry. While in college, Joe was a part of an Athletes in Action group and asked his mom if she could make IC2KG shirts for the young men in the group.
“I said, ‘No. We don’t do T-shirts and this is just kind of a family thing and I’m kind of private with my faith,’” she recalled.
After breaking his arm before his senior year of college, Joe took it upon himself to create a T-shirt design with the “IC2KG” phrase printed on the front. One hundred shirts were made and they were a huge hit among the athletes. It was after this that Hauser thought this could become a ministry.
Despite attending a Catholic grade school and college, Hauser never felt completely comfortable sharing her faith publicly. After the success of the T-shirts, she began to think that “maybe these are the words, or the saying, that somebody needs to be bold and be brave and stand up and be strong and be courageous to share our faith.”
“I thought maybe this could be something that kids could catch on to or kids could keep in their heart — I choose to know God. We need to make that choice every day that we get up,” she added.
Using her background in education, Hauser created a program that she now takes to Catholic schools in Wisconsin and neighboring states, as well as through Zoom, in order to speak with schools that are further away.
The program aims to teach kids how to know, love, serve, and share God with others. Some of the elements of the program include testimonies from older kids to young children, teaching kids the IC2KG chant, pairing younger kids with an older IC2KG buddy, and playing games such as IC2KG bingo. Many elements of the program vary from school to school.
The program also includes a powerful demonstration where a child is asked to stand on a ball. The other kids observe and then share what they see, such as the child on the ball is wobbly, unsure of himself, or is shaky. That child then goes and stands on a prop Bible.
“Then the kids will observe and say, ‘Oh yeah, when you’re standing on the Bible, you are steadfast, you’re strong, you’re solid. This is the foundation,’” Hauser said.
Hauser has also designed more apparel with the IC2KG message. Her website includes T-shirts, hats, stickers, and wristbands with the hope that people will join her movement to inspire the faithful everywhere to know, love, serve, and share God with others.
During the SEEK 2026 conference, Hauser greeted college students from all over the country at the IC2KG booth. She called her first experience at SEEK “beautiful” and that her heart was “booming.”
Lauri Hauser and her son, Ben Hauser, stand in front of their “IC2KG” booth at the SEEK 2026 conference in Denver on Jan. 2, 2026. | Credit: Francesca Fenton/EWTN News
“The response has been amazing. They’re all excited,” she added. “I’ve had conversations with kids and they’re like, ‘Yeah, I'm not really great at sharing.’ I said, ‘You know, neither am I, but it’s kind of time to take the duct tape off the word share — just take it off like a Band-Aid and let’s just do it because now is the time … It’s just going to be a more beautiful world if we all share our faith.’”
She said that as she folds each piece of clothing, she recites a prayer over it: “Bless the person who wears this shirt and help them spread your message.”
Hauser said she hopes her ministry will “help people to just take that little step forward” and act as a “little life raft to help us go to the public square and share our faith.”
The National Shrine of St. John Neumann at St. Peter the Apostle Church in Philadelphia. | Credit: Farragutful, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Jan 5, 2026 / 04:00 am (CNA).
Every Jan. 5 the Church celebrates the feast of St. John Neumann, Redemptorist missionary, fourth bishop of the city of Philadelphia, and organizer of the first Catholic education network in the U.S.
John Nepomucene Neumann was born in Bohemia, now the Czech Republic, in 1811. He attended school in Budweis and years later, in 1831, entered the seminary in that same city.
Upon completing his preparation for the priesthood, he presented himself to his diocese but suffered an unexpected setback. The local bishop had fallen ill and priestly ordinations in his diocese were suspended until further notice.
Neumann, eager to serve the Lord, wrote letters to the bishops of the neighboring dioceses, but none of them wanted to accept him. Despite the obstacles, the saint was not discouraged.
To earn his living, he went to work in a factory where he met a few Americans from whom he learned some English. Later, he contacted some bishops in the United States. Neumann had a missionary soul and was ready to move to America.
Priest and missionary in North America
The archbishop of New York agreed to receive and ordain Neumann, so he left his family and friends to embark on the adventure of proclaiming the Lord in a distant land. After being ordained in the U.S., Neumann joined 36 other priests who were to assist the almost 200,000 Catholics living in the U.S. at the time.
The newly ordained was entrusted with the administration of a parish. The first pastoral difficulty he faced was the vast territory entrusted to him: His parish stretched from Ontario, Canada, to Pennsylvania.
Given the immense need, Neumann spent most of his time visiting villages and towns. He had to cross inhospitable territories, walk long distances in extreme cold and sweltering heat, and trek high mountains and majestic landscapes — all in order to watch over his flock and to assist those in need.
These were long years of providing catechesis, administering the sacraments, and celebrating the Eucharist. It was common to see Neumann preach both in churches and in abandoned huts. He even preached outside taverns, refuges for impenitent souls.
Neumann often had to celebrate Mass in dining rooms and kitchens.
Redemptorist
With time and continued difficulties, the missionary priest discovered the need for the support of a religious community. He knew the Redemptorists well so he applied to join the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. When the time came, he took his vows at the congregation’s house in Baltimore in 1842.
Neumann was noted for his piety and kindness as well as his versatility in understanding and accompanying his parishioners, most of whom were European immigrants. Neumann knew up to six languages, so it was not difficult for him to communicate with Catholics who did not speak English well.
In 1847, he was appointed visitator of the Redemptorists in the United States. At the end of his service, the Redemptorists were ready to form an autonomous “province or religious province,” which became a reality in 1850.
Promoter of Catholic education in the U.S.
Neumann was then ordained bishop of Philadelphia, and from that city he organized the diocesan system of Catholic schools, becoming a great promoter of religious education in the country. He also founded the congregation of the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis, dedicated to teaching in schools, and was the promoter of the construction of more than 80 churches throughout the country.
Neumann was a simple man, short in stature and reportedly good-natured. Although he never had robust health, he carried out great pastoral and literary activity. He wrote many articles in magazines and newspapers, and published two catechisms and a history of the Bible for schoolchildren.
Once, in one of his articles, he wrote: “I have never regretted having dedicated myself to the mission in America.”
On Jan. 5, 1860, when he was just 48 years old, he suddenly collapsed in the street and went home to the Lord. He was beatified in 1963 and canonized in 1977 by Pope Paul VI.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Left to right: Curtis Martin, founder of FOCUS, and his son, Brock Martin, vice president of parish outreach at FOCUS, sit down for an interview with CNA on Dec. 10, 2025. | Credit: Francesca Fenton/EWTN News
Jan 3, 2026 / 08:00 am (CNA).
For nearly 30 years, FOCUS has been known for its missionary work on college campuses. Earlier this year, the ministry began to expand its reach with a new branch — FOCUS Parish.
FOCUS Parish brings FOCUS missionaries into Catholic parishes to help revitalize the parish itself and the parishioners, and to form missionary disciples — laypeople who effectively spread the Gospel message in the local community and diocese.
Founder of FOCUS Curtis Martin and his son, Brock Martin, vice president of parish outreach at FOCUS, both agree that FOCUS Parish is a response to the need of sending missionaries to “where the people are.”
“If we’re trying to bring the Gospel to every man, woman, and child on the face of the earth, the vast majority of people don’t currently live on U.S. college campuses,” Brock told CNA in an interview. “The Catholic Church has amazingly already done this work — every inch of the globe is already mapped out into a parish structure. So, FOCUS’ move into parishes is really a response to the fact that we want to take this mission seriously. We need to send missionaries to where the people are.”
Curtis added: “Everybody lives in a parish, as Brock said, and evangelization takes root when there’s real transformation. It’s going to take place in families and in parishes. That’s where Catholics live. And so we want to be with them to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them in the midst, as Brock said, in the midst of friendship.”
Parishes who take part in FOCUS’ new ministry will receive two full-time missionaries who become part of the parish’s leadership team, help advise and lead parish ministries, and work to create small communities where the Gospel message is shared and spread to all parishioners.
“These missionaries are imbedding into the parish culture,” Brock said.
FOCUS Parish is currently in 25 parishes and plans to expand to an additional 25 parishes in 2026.
When speaking to the fact that FOCUS Parish has become the fastest-growing part of the apostolate, Brock credited the current “landscape of the parish in the United States.”
“Right now there’s about 16,000 parishes [in the U.S.],” Brock said. “I think the number of parishes who are waking up, the number of pastors who recognize that business as usual is not working, we have to, with new ardor and new methodologies, try to figure out how to live the new evangelization. I just think there’s a unique moment where as pastors and finance councils become aware of the opportunity, we’re seeing more and more people start to raise their hand at a faster rate.”
Curtis highlighted the retention rate of FOCUS Parish missionaries leading to the success of the ministry.
“We’re seeing greater longevity with our missionaries because they’re not walking with 18- to 22-year-olds, they’re walking with people who are of their same age, maybe older, maybe younger,” he explained. “The retention rate for FOCUS missionaries in Parish last year was 100%. Nobody left. By way of comparison, probably 25% of the missionaries left on campus; that’s part of our cycle. And so to be able to recognize, we can grow because of the longevity.”
With the growth to 25 more parishes in the new year, FOCUS is looking to hire an additional 50 to 55 missionaries — considering both moving campus missionaries to parishes and hiring individuals who have never been FOCUS missionaries.
As for his hopes for the future, Brock said: “My deepest hope in FOCUS Parish is that this would be a simple and repeatable gift that we can offer to the Church.”
Curtis said: “My hope for FOCUS in the parish is actually hope. I think a lot of leaders in the Church are good people but they’re discouraged and they’re kind of managing a slow decline. And that’s not the way Christianity works. Christianity has grown in every generation since the time of Christ. We’re living in a very abnormal time, at least in the West. It’s shrinking. That’s not the way it should be.”
He added: “There’s a resurgence of faith — articles are being written about this all over the world — FOCUS is just participating in a little way. Millions of people awakening to Christ. We need to welcome them and to be able to recognize the Church ought to be growing. This can work. And when you have hope you start to make decisions based upon that and all of a sudden you see the Church should be a place of growth.”
Carolers outside Planned Parenthood in Aurora, Illinois, on Dec. 13, 2025. / Credit: John Jansen/Courtesy of the Pro-Life Action League
CNA Staff, Dec 17, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).
When a pregnant woman at an abortion facility heard distant carolers singing “Silent Night,” she got up and left.
The mother, back in 2003, decided to keep her baby after a pro-life group’s first Christmas caroling event outside a Chicago abortion clinic struck her heart.
“The memories of Christmases past stirred in her and she decided she couldn’t go through with the abortion and kept her child,” said Matthew Yonke, a spokesman for the Pro-Life Action League, the group that coordinates these events.
She would be the first of many women who chose life after hearing carols. Now, the tradition extends across the nation — and babies continue to be saved.
As Christmas Day approaches, nearly 100 caroling groups across the U.S. are gathering at various abortion facilities to sing.
Through the nationwide “Peace in the Womb” caroling effort, the group hopes “to bring the Christmas message of peace and joy to the darkness of abortion clinics,” according to a press release shared with CNA.
It’s a “simple call for an end to the violence of abortion,” according to Yonke.
“At the time of Christmas, the whole world tries to put aside differences and pursue peace, so we’re asking folks to make a connection to the womb, which should be a place of peace, but which is turned into a place of violent unrest in every abortion,” Yonke continued.
A caroler holds artwork of Mary, who is pregnant with Jesus, at a caroling event outside a Cedar Rivers abortion facility in Renton, Washington, on Dec. 14, 2025. Credit: Photo courtesy of Richard Bray
Saving lives
The carolers had already packed up after singing their final song outside an abortion site when a couple approached the remaining pro-lifers in Downers Grove, Illinois, on Dec. 13.
The couple, Yonke said, “told the sidewalk counselors still there that they had decided to keep their baby after hearing our carols.”
“Stories like this go all the way back to the first year,” Yonke said. “We’re thrilled when God can use these beloved songs that touch the hearts of even non-Christians to do his work in the world.”
This was one of two rescue stories so far this December that the league heard about, according to Yonke.
“Please don’t kill your baby at Christmas,” one caroler called out to a young woman in the back seat of a car that was driving into an abortion clinic.
Carolers outside of Planned Parenthood in Madison, Wisconsin, on Dec. 13, 2025. Credit: Cecile Gregory/Courtesy of the Pro-Life Action League
It was a Saturday in Milwaukee, and a group of carolers had gathered to sing outside the abortion clinic on St. Paul Avenue.
The car drove into the abortion center parking lot. But minutes later, the car turned around with the young woman still in the back seat — she never even entered the abortion clinic.
Salvation came through an unplanned pregnancy
Pro-Life Action League invites local pro-lifers to work with them to organize their own caroling groups.
On Sunday, Dec. 14, one such caroling group sang outside an abortion facility in Renton, Washington.
“This was a fantastic event and I think every Catholic church should do this in their community,” said local pro-life activist Richard Bray, who organized the caroling with the Respect Life Ministry at a local Catholic parish, St. Stephen the Martyr.
While every event organized with the league has a “Peace in the Womb” banner, Renton’s organizer would have something special — a handmade manger.
An 88-year-old parishioner at St. Stephen’s built an empty manger that the carolers brought to the event, according to Bray.
Manger made by an 88-year-old parishioner of St. Stephen’s in Renton, Washington. Carolers brought the empty manger to the caroling event on Dec. 14, 2025, as a sign of what an abortion does and the empty space it leaves. Credit: Photo courtesy of Richard Bray
The empty manger not only symbolizes that Christ is coming at Christmas — but it also represents how a crib is empty after an abortion, according to Bray.
“It’s particularly sad to think of someone getting an abortion during the Christmas season,” Bray told CNA. “So we gather to sing carols and remind abortion-bound mothers and our community that the salvation of the world came through an unplanned pregnancy.”
Bishop Evelio Menjivar speaks with “EWTN News in Depth” on Friday, March 14, 2025. / Credit: “EWTN News in Depth”
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 15, 2025 / 16:36 pm (CNA).
The Virgin Mary’s role as comforter to all was specially highlighted during a pilgrimage through the streets of Washington, D.C., Saturday morning.
“Our Lady of Guadalupe is the mother of all. She envelops each one of us with the same tenderness and the same love, no matter our country of origin or language,” Auxiliary Bishop Evelio Menjívar said during his homily at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
The words from the bishop, who was born in El Salvador, came after the Archdiocese of Washington’s annual “Walk with Mary” procession that began at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart, a Hispanic Catholic parish. Participants also prayed a rosary upon arriving at the basilica, which holds 2,500 people and was filled to capacity, according to the archdiocese.
The archdiocese billed this year’s celebration of the pilgrimage honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe on her feast day as “highlight[ing] a call to accompany and pray for migrants and refugees, reflecting the Church’s mission of compassion, solidarity, hope, and peace.”
“For more than a decade, thousands of pilgrims from diverse cultures and backgrounds have walked side by side, lifting their voices in prayer and songs of praise,” the archdiocese said. “Along the way, participants celebrate the archdiocese’s rich cultural diversity and unity in Jesus Christ, while reflecting on the appearance of the young mestiza Virgin of Guadalupe to the peasant St. Juan Diego on a hilltop near Mexico City in 1531.”
The Mass, which included a reenactment of the story of Mary’s apparition to St. Juan Diego, was celebrated by Cardinal Robert McElroy of Washington; Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States; and Auxiliary Bishops Menjívar, Juan Esposito, and Roy Campbell.
Menjívar interspersed his homily, which was mostly in Spanish, with reflections in English on the Virgin Mary and the Church’s role in accompanying poor and marginalized communities, particularly migrants.
“Let me say this in English because I believe it is very important for us to understand Mary reflects what the Church is called to be,” Menjívar said. “In the apostolic exhortation Dilexi Te [“I Have Loved You”] Pope Leo affirms the Church, like a mother, accompanies those who are walking. Where the world sees threats, she sees children. Where walls are built, she builds bridges.”
The Virgin Mary, he said, regards “every rejected migrant” as “Christ himself, who knocks at the door of the community.”
Reflecting on the significance of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Menjívar noted that Mary “did not manifest herself to a powerful or well-educated person.”
“She appeared to Juan Diego, a simple, poor, Indigenous man, marginalized by the systems of his time,” the bishop said. “With this, God proclaims another truth. He takes the side of the little ones, the despised, the ones who do not count.”
“So the good news,” he concluded, “is this: For God, we do count, and a lot, because we are his sons and daughters.”
Mass at Arizona State University’s Newman Center chapel. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Father Bill Clements, director of ASU Newman Center
Ann Arbor, Michigan, Dec 15, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).
Several college campuses across the country are witnessing a notable rise in baptisms and confirmations among students. Catholic evangelists tell CNA that this growth reflects a deepening desire among young adults for certainty, stability, and faith amid today’s turbulent cultural landscape.
For example, at Arizona State University, the Newman Center is experiencing its largest group of students entering the Church. Ryan Ayala, a former seminarian and campus minister who has served at ASU for three years, oversees the evangelization efforts.
“This past semester, we welcomed 52 students into the Church at Christ the King Parish” in Mesa, Ayala said. “And we are expecting 50 more for the Easter Vigil this spring.” According to Ayala, this year marked a record number of students received into the Catholic Church at ASU.
Each year, ASU’s campus ministry prepares students for baptism, confirmation, and full communion through a fall vigil held in collaboration with Christ the King Parish. Students enter the Church from a wide range of backgrounds: Some encounter Christianity for the first time, others come from Protestant communities, and still others are baptized Catholics preparing to complete their sacraments.
Yailen Cho (at left) was one of 52 Arizona State University students received into the Church last month. Credit: Photo courtesy of Yailen Cho
This year’s group included eight catechumens who were baptized, 26 Christians who made affirmations of faith, and a significant number of Catholics who received confirmation. The ceremony took place on the feast of Christ the King, Nov. 23.
Ayala attributes the growth in part to simple, consistent outreach. “No phone call goes unanswered,” he said. Students come from Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, and nondenominational evangelical backgrounds. Those not yet baptized often come from nonreligious homes, and two identified as atheists. One Muslim student is expected to join the program in January. ASU enrolls approximately 200,000 students.
Overall, participation in ASU’s OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults) program has more than doubled. “This is by far the biggest class we’ve had,” Ayala said.
Supporting this expansion are missionaries from the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), who lead Bible studies and accompany students in their growing faith. Ayala supervises the missionaries and has completed FOCUS formation himself. The Newman Center offers a focused nine-week OCIA process — shorter than the traditional yearlong program — requiring weekly sessions alongside FOCUS Bible studies.
Reflecting on the surge of interest, Ayala sees both cultural and pastoral dynamics at work. “Two things are going on in this surge. There’s a trend in Gen Z. They are asking deeper, philosophical, and theological questions. Some students were shaken up by the shooting of Charlie Kirk. The other thing is simply responding to emails. I ask my staff to be diligent to inquirers. The most important thing is to respond and give them clarity about how to become Catholic.”
“Our main strategy is to have an urgency to respond to them,” he added. “It was so moving to see all those students from other faith traditions stand up and make the commitment to become Catholic.”
Ayala also noted the role of Catholic media, highlighting one student influenced by Father Mike Schmitz’s online ministry. He further praised the spiritual guidance of Father Bill Clements, who leads the Newman Center. “He does a great job humanizing the priesthood but also removing a lot of the anxieties that newcomers to the faith may have.”
Clements, who has directed the Newman Center for 15 years, reports that about 400 students participate in weekly FOCUS Bible studies, and approximately 1,500 attend one of the six weekend Masses. He said he has seen a clear shift in the past two years.
“In the last two years, a switch was flipped. I think people are tired of crazy. They’re hungry for some direction, truth, goodness, and beauty. We have one of the most beautiful Newman chapels in the country,” he said, “and that has been a huge attraction.”
To meet the growing demand, Clements expanded the OCIA schedule. “I revamped the OCIA process here. When people would hit me up at this time of year, I would have to tell them that we start that in the fall. But I couldn’t stand making people wait. So now I have three sessions: fall, spring, and summer.”
He credited FOCUS missionaries for their close accompaniment of students. “They appeal to students. It affords students a chance to connect with other Catholics, and it’s been instrumental in reviving interest in the Church. The missionaries work hard,” he said.
One student, Yailen Cho, received baptism and confirmation on Nov. 23 at the ASU Newman Chapel. She told CNA: “I didn’t grow up very religious at all. My dad became Catholic two years ago, but I didn’t have any religious background.”
Cho now regularly attends Mass and says the FOCUS program helped deepen her reading of the Gospels. Reflecting on her journey, she shared: “I’d had a prayer relationship with God for a while, and I had prayed that my heart would be softened towards God.”
After wrestling with questions of faith, she reached out to the Newman Center, which she said she found “very warm and welcoming.”
Directing a message to others considering the Catholic faith, she said: “I want everyone to be happy, and I want to be happy. If you live by the Word, as the Bible says, you can be happy in heaven forever.”
Meanwhile, in Michigan and Nebraska
Similar momentum is evident at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Rita Zyber, OCIA coordinator at St. Mary Student Parish, said 50 students are currently preparing to enter the Church. Last Easter, 30 students were received, compared with about 20 in 2024.
With daily liturgies and seven weekend Masses, the parish remains consistently full. One Mass was added this year to accommodate greater attendance. “They are packed,” Zyber said.
Reflecting on the increase, she noted: “There is so much chaos in the world. They are looking for structure, stability, and some grounding in God.”
The parish is staffed by Jesuit priests whose Ignatian spirituality resonates strongly with students, Zyber said. She added that other campus and parish OCIA programs across Michigan are seeing similar growth.
Kaup reported that this past spring, 72 converts entered the Church at the Easter Vigil. So far this semester, they already have 125 students interested in joining the Church, he said.
“For patients with serious disabilities, this law will put us at risk of deadly discrimination," says Daniese McMullin-Powell, a polio survivor who has used a wheelchair for most of her life. / Credit: Institute for Patients' Rights
CNA Staff, Dec 10, 2025 / 06:10 am (CNA).
Several disability and patient advocacy groups filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Delaware on Dec. 8 alleging that Delaware’s new physician-assisted suicide law discriminates against people with disabilities.
In May 2025, Delaware passed a bill legalizing physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill adults with a prognosis of six months or less to live. The law, which goes into effect Jan. 1, 2026, allows patients to self-administer lethal medication.
The 74-page complaint alleges that the new law is unconstitutional under both Delaware and federal law and violates the Americans with Disabilities Act as well as the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, among other challenges.
Plaintiffs include the Institute for Patients’ Rights; The Freedom Center for Independent Living, Inc., in Middletown; the Delaware chapter of ADAPT; Not Dead Yet; United Spinal Association, the National Council on Independent Living; and disability advocate Sean Curran.
The lawsuit, which names Gov. Matthew Meyer and the Delaware Department of Health and Human Services as two of several defendants, said that “people with life-threatening disabilities” are at “imminent risk” because of Delaware’s new law.
“Throughout the country, a state-endorsed narrative is rapidly spreading that threatens people with disabilities: namely, that people with life-threatening disabilities should be directed to suicide help and not suicide prevention,” the lawsuit read.
“At its core, this is discrimination plain and simple,” the lawsuit continued. “With cuts in healthcare spending at the federal level, persons with life-threatening disabilities are now more vulnerable than ever.”
The lawsuit alleges that, under the new law, people with life-threatening disabilities who express suicidal thoughts will be treated differently than other people who express suicidal thoughts. The new law lacks requirements for mental health screening for depression or other mental illness, “all of which are necessary for informed consent and a truly autonomous choice,” according to the lawsuit.
Curran, a Delaware resident who has lived with a severe spinal cord injury for 36 years, called the law “repugnant.”
“The act tells people like me that they should qualify for suicide help, not suicide prevention,” said Curran, who is a quadriplegic, meaning he is paralyzed in all four limbs.
“The act devalues people like me,” Curran continued in a press release shared with CNA. “I have led a full life despite my disability.”
Daniese McMullin-Powell, who is representing Delaware ADAPT in the lawsuit, said that the medical system already neglects people with disabilities.
“We do not need exacerbate its brokenness by adding an element where some patients are steered toward suicide,” said McMullin-Powell, who is a polio survivor and has used a wheelchair for most of her life.
“For patients with serious disabilities, this law will put us at risk of deadly discrimination from doctors and insurance companies in Delaware to make subjective and speculative judgments based on their perception of our quality of life,” McMullin-Powell said, according to the press release.
The legal group Ted Kittila of Halloran Farkas + Kittila LLP, who are representing the plaintiffs, called the law “ill-considered” and said it will “cause real harm to people who need real help.”
“For too long, assisted suicide has been pitched as an act of mercy,” the group said in the press release. “For those in the disability community, it represents a real threat of continued discrimination.”
The office of Gov. Meyer did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.
![FOCUS expands reach into parishes, hoping to revitalize local Church #Catholic
Left to right: Curtis Martin, founder of FOCUS, and his son, Brock Martin, vice president of parish outreach at FOCUS, sit down for an interview with CNA on Dec. 10, 2025. | Credit: Francesca Fenton/EWTN News
Jan 3, 2026 / 08:00 am (CNA).
For nearly 30 years, FOCUS has been known for its missionary work on college campuses. Earlier this year, the ministry began to expand its reach with a new branch — FOCUS Parish.FOCUS Parish brings FOCUS missionaries into Catholic parishes to help revitalize the parish itself and the parishioners, and to form missionary disciples — laypeople who effectively spread the Gospel message in the local community and diocese.Founder of FOCUS Curtis Martin and his son, Brock Martin, vice president of parish outreach at FOCUS, both agree that FOCUS Parish is a response to the need of sending missionaries to “where the people are.”“If we’re trying to bring the Gospel to every man, woman, and child on the face of the earth, the vast majority of people don’t currently live on U.S. college campuses,” Brock told CNA in an interview. “The Catholic Church has amazingly already done this work — every inch of the globe is already mapped out into a parish structure. So, FOCUS’ move into parishes is really a response to the fact that we want to take this mission seriously. We need to send missionaries to where the people are.”Curtis added: “Everybody lives in a parish, as Brock said, and evangelization takes root when there’s real transformation. It’s going to take place in families and in parishes. That’s where Catholics live. And so we want to be with them to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them in the midst, as Brock said, in the midst of friendship.”Parishes who take part in FOCUS’ new ministry will receive two full-time missionaries who become part of the parish’s leadership team, help advise and lead parish ministries, and work to create small communities where the Gospel message is shared and spread to all parishioners.“These missionaries are imbedding into the parish culture,” Brock said.FOCUS Parish is currently in 25 parishes and plans to expand to an additional 25 parishes in 2026.When speaking to the fact that FOCUS Parish has become the fastest-growing part of the apostolate, Brock credited the current “landscape of the parish in the United States.”“Right now there’s about 16,000 parishes [in the U.S.],” Brock said. “I think the number of parishes who are waking up, the number of pastors who recognize that business as usual is not working, we have to, with new ardor and new methodologies, try to figure out how to live the new evangelization. I just think there’s a unique moment where as pastors and finance councils become aware of the opportunity, we’re seeing more and more people start to raise their hand at a faster rate.”Curtis highlighted the retention rate of FOCUS Parish missionaries leading to the success of the ministry.“We’re seeing greater longevity with our missionaries because they’re not walking with 18- to 22-year-olds, they’re walking with people who are of their same age, maybe older, maybe younger,” he explained. “The retention rate for FOCUS missionaries in Parish last year was 100%. Nobody left. By way of comparison, probably 25% of the missionaries left on campus; that’s part of our cycle. And so to be able to recognize, we can grow because of the longevity.”With the growth to 25 more parishes in the new year, FOCUS is looking to hire an additional 50 to 55 missionaries — considering both moving campus missionaries to parishes and hiring individuals who have never been FOCUS missionaries.As for his hopes for the future, Brock said: “My deepest hope in FOCUS Parish is that this would be a simple and repeatable gift that we can offer to the Church.”Curtis said: “My hope for FOCUS in the parish is actually hope. I think a lot of leaders in the Church are good people but they’re discouraged and they’re kind of managing a slow decline. And that’s not the way Christianity works. Christianity has grown in every generation since the time of Christ. We’re living in a very abnormal time, at least in the West. It’s shrinking. That’s not the way it should be.”He added: “There’s a resurgence of faith — articles are being written about this all over the world — FOCUS is just participating in a little way. Millions of people awakening to Christ. We need to welcome them and to be able to recognize the Church ought to be growing. This can work. And when you have hope you start to make decisions based upon that and all of a sudden you see the Church should be a place of growth.”](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/focus-expands-reach-into-parishes-hoping-to-revitalize-local-church-catholic-left-to-right-curtis-martin-founder-of-focus-and-his-son-brock-martin-vice-president-of-parish-outreach-at-focus.png)
![‘Our Lady of Guadalupe is the mother of all’: DC pilgrimage highlights value of migrants #Catholic
Bishop Evelio Menjivar speaks with “EWTN News in Depth” on Friday, March 14, 2025. / Credit: “EWTN News in Depth”
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 15, 2025 / 16:36 pm (CNA).
The Virgin Mary’s role as comforter to all was specially highlighted during a pilgrimage through the streets of Washington, D.C., Saturday morning. “Our Lady of Guadalupe is the mother of all. She envelops each one of us with the same tenderness and the same love, no matter our country of origin or language,” Auxiliary Bishop Evelio Menjívar said during his homily at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The words from the bishop, who was born in El Salvador, came after the Archdiocese of Washington’s annual “Walk with Mary” procession that began at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart, a Hispanic Catholic parish. Participants also prayed a rosary upon arriving at the basilica, which holds 2,500 people and was filled to capacity, according to the archdiocese. The archdiocese billed this year’s celebration of the pilgrimage honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe on her feast day as “highlight[ing] a call to accompany and pray for migrants and refugees, reflecting the Church’s mission of compassion, solidarity, hope, and peace.” “For more than a decade, thousands of pilgrims from diverse cultures and backgrounds have walked side by side, lifting their voices in prayer and songs of praise,” the archdiocese said. “Along the way, participants celebrate the archdiocese’s rich cultural diversity and unity in Jesus Christ, while reflecting on the appearance of the young mestiza Virgin of Guadalupe to the peasant St. Juan Diego on a hilltop near Mexico City in 1531.”The Mass, which included a reenactment of the story of Mary’s apparition to St. Juan Diego, was celebrated by Cardinal Robert McElroy of Washington; Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States; and Auxiliary Bishops Menjívar, Juan Esposito, and Roy Campbell.Menjívar interspersed his homily, which was mostly in Spanish, with reflections in English on the Virgin Mary and the Church’s role in accompanying poor and marginalized communities, particularly migrants.“Let me say this in English because I believe it is very important for us to understand Mary reflects what the Church is called to be,” Menjívar said. “In the apostolic exhortation Dilexi Te [“I Have Loved You”] Pope Leo affirms the Church, like a mother, accompanies those who are walking. Where the world sees threats, she sees children. Where walls are built, she builds bridges.”The Virgin Mary, he said, regards “every rejected migrant” as “Christ himself, who knocks at the door of the community.” Reflecting on the significance of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Menjívar noted that Mary “did not manifest herself to a powerful or well-educated person.” “She appeared to Juan Diego, a simple, poor, Indigenous man, marginalized by the systems of his time,” the bishop said. “With this, God proclaims another truth. He takes the side of the little ones, the despised, the ones who do not count.” “So the good news,” he concluded, “is this: For God, we do count, and a lot, because we are his sons and daughters.”](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/our-lady-of-guadalupe-is-the-mother-of-all-dc-pilgrimage-highlights-value-of-migrants-catholic-bishop-evelio-menjivar-speaks-with-ewtn-news-in-depth-on-f.webp)
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