Catholic bishops back Trump's removal of gender ideology in refugee forms

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops headquarters in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Farragutful, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia CommonsWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 4, 2025 / 15:07 pm (CNA).The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has published a public comment that supports the removal of gender ideology within refugee resettlement forms for unaccompanied children.In accordance with President Donald Trump's executive order "defending women from gender ideology extremism" and restoring "biological truth to the federal government," the Office of Refugee Resettlement has proposed a change to forms that would replace the word "gender" with "sex."The proposed change would require that the forms reflect the child's biological sex as opposed to perceived identity. The form options will be limited to only "male" and female."In the public comment, the bishops said they have "historically partnered closely with the...

1 in 4 post-abortive women regret abortion decades later, study finds

null / Credit: MikeDotta/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Dec 4, 2025 / 15:37 pm (CNA).Here is a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news:1 in 4 post-abortive women regret abortion decades later, study finds A new study found that 1 in 4 women regret their abortion decades after undergoing the procedure. The study, published in the International Journal of Women's Health Care, measured the levels of distress abortive women feel years after having an abortion. Authored by Father Donald Paul Sullins with The Catholic University of America and the Ruth Institute, the study found that 24% of postabortive women in the U.S. "suffer from serious post-abortion distress." Of these post-abortive women, just under half showed "multiple symptoms of post-traumatic stress," according to the study. In the study, Sullins called for more research on the long-term effects of abortion as well as the development of "effective therapeutic interventions.""The health care o...

'You leave or we'll kick you out' can't be only answer for migrants, Chilean archbishop says

La Moneda Presidential Palace in Santiago, Chile. / Credit: Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia CommonsACI Prensa Staff, Dec 4, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).Chileans are preparing to go to the polls once again to elect their president. Following the general elections, two candidates will be vying to replace the current president, Gabriel Boric: Jeannette Jara, a former government official, and the opposition candidate José Antonio Kast of the Republican Party.In a climate marked by insecurity, rising crime rates, and the migration crisis, citizens are closely watching the proposals of both candidates to address these problems.The archbishop of Concepción, Sergio Pérez de Arce, addressed the debate over the situation of immigrants without legal status in the country in a column titled "It's Either 'You Leave or We Expel You'?" in which he maintains that migration policy cannot be reduced to these two options.The question that titles his column refers to the warning that candi...

Discalced Carmelites prepare to celebrate jubilee year of St. John of the Cross

Poster for the St. John of the Cross 2026 Jubilee. / Credit: Iberian Province of the Discalced CarmelitesACI Prensa Staff, Dec 4, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).The Iberian Province of the Discalced Carmelites is preparing to celebrate the jubilee year of St. John of the Cross, marking the 300th anniversary of his canonization and the 100th anniversary of his proclamation as a doctor of the Church.The jubilee year dedicated to St. John of the Cross was approved by the Apostolic Penitentiary at the request of the Order of Discalced Carmelites and the dioceses of Ávila, Jaén, and Segovia in Spain, which are particularly linked to the life and work of the mystic and reformer of the Carmelite order, along with St. Teresa of Ávila.The superior of the Iberian Province of the Discalced Carmelites, Friar Francisco Sánchez Oreja, stated in a message commemorating the jubilee that "the centenaries serve to confirm that St. John of the Cross, whom we are celebrating, is still alive and has a word ...

The kitchen friar's book that inspires Pope Leo's spirituality

Pope Leo XIV speaks with reporters on his flight from Beirut to Rome on Dec. 2, 2025. / Credit: Elias Turk/EWTNCNA Staff, Dec 3, 2025 / 18:21 pm (CNA).On the papal plane on the way home from his first international trip, Pope Leo XIV referenced a book that has greatly influenced his spirituality after being asked by a journalist about the conclave and what it's been like becoming the pope."Besides St. Augustine," Pope Leo said that "The Practice of the Presence of God" by a 17th-century Carmelite friar named Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection is a book that can help anyone to understand his spirituality."It's a very simple book by someone who doesn't even give his last name," the pope told journalists on the papal plane Dec. 2. "I read it many years ago, but it describes a type of prayer and spirituality where one simply gives his life to the Lord and allows the Lord to lead.""And if you want to know something about me, that's been my spirituality for many years, in midst of ...

Bishop Simon Kulli, witness to the faith in post-communist Albania, dies at 52

Bishop Simon Kulli of Sapë, Albania. / Credit: ACNACI Prensa Staff, Dec 3, 2025 / 18:51 pm (CNA).The pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) announced the sudden death of Bishop Simon Kulli of Sapë in northern Albania on Saturday, Nov. 29, at the age of 52.The prelate, a close collaborator of ACN and one of the most prominent voices in the Albanian Church, belonged to the first generation of priests formed after the fall of the communist regime, considered the most atheist and repressive of the 20th century.In a statement, the pontifical foundation said that it received "with deep sorrow the news of the sudden death of Bishop Kulli, who has been a project partner of ACN … He rendered an invaluable service not only to the Church but also to his country and to humanity."A vocation born from the suffering of the Albanian martyrsDuring a visit to the international headquarters of ACN earlier this year, Kulli recounted the origin of his priestly vocation, which was ins...

Nigerian, Iraqi priests tell of aiding persecuted Christians seen in photo exhibit

A photo display of persecuted Christians in Iraq and Nigeria can be seen at the Saint John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C., until Feb. 8, 2026. / Credit: Madalaine Elhabbal/CNAWashington, D.C., Dec 3, 2025 / 13:50 pm (CNA).A discussion featuring Father Atta Barkindo and Father Karam Shamasha breathed life into a photo exhibit featuring the "forgotten faces" of persecuted Christians in Nigeria and Iraq on Tuesday.The photo display can be seen at the Saint John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C., until Feb. 8, 2026. Stephen Rasche, a professor of theology at the Franciscan University of Steubenville and senior fellow at the Religious Freedom Institute, who spent years serving persecuted Christians in Iraq and Nigeria, said he hopes people will see "the spark of human dignity" in his photographs of Iraqi and Nigerian Christians on display.The Dec. 2 discussion, titled "Seeing the Persecuted and Displaced: Experts Tell Their Stories," organized in part by the K...

Catholics with disabilities reflect ahead of International Day of Persons with Disabilities

Pope Leo XIV greets sick and disabled people, including a young child in a wheelchair, in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall after the Wednesday general audience on Sept. 10, 2025. / Credit: Vatican MediaWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 3, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).Catholic adults with disabilities talked about how faith guides their lives and how dioceses and individuals can better accommodate and understand them in a panel ahead of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) on Dec. 3.Every year since 1992, those with disabilities and their supporters have observed the IDPD to promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. In honor of this year's IDPD, the National Catholic Partnership on Disability hosted a panel of adults who reflected on how disability and faith intersect in their lives. The panel, "Where Faith and Disability Meet," featured talks from Sue Do and Kathleen Davis, who are both Catholic adults with disabilities.Do is in the pastoral mini...

European Union imposes recognition of 'homosexual marriage' on all member states

null / Credit: Reshetnikov_art/ShutterstockACI Prensa Staff, Dec 3, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled that all member states are obliged to recognize so-called "homosexual marriages" legally contracted in another country, even when this type of union is not valid under their own legal system.Although the CJEU clarified that the regulation of these types of unions remains the responsibility of each state, it requires all European Union countries to recognize the "fundamental rights" entailed by these unions, such as the right to private and family life and freedom of residence.The ruling, issued Nov. 25, concerns the case of a Polish same-sex couple who "married" in Germany in 2018. Upon returning to Poland, the authorities refused to record the union in the civil registry. The European Court of Justice has deemed this refusal contrary to EU law, meaning that all member states are now obligated to recognize the rights stemming from...

Mary is the servant of her son, but not co-redemptrix, Brazilian archbishop says

Archbishop Juárez Marqués shepherds the Archdiocese of Teresina, Brazil. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Archbishop Juárez MarquésBrasilia, Brazil, Dec 3, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA)."We don't need to say that Mary is co-redemptrix, that Jesus needs Mary to save humanity. Mary herself is prepared, saved by God; she is a creature of God. She makes herself the servant of her own son, but she is not co-redemptrix; she is now our intercessor," Archbishop Juárez Marqués of Teresina, Brazil, declared on Nov. 27.In an interview with a local television station, the archbishop referred to the publication of the document Mater Populi Fidelis ("Mother of the Faithful People of God"), issued by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith on Nov. 3. The document discourages the use of the "co-redemptrix" title for Mary, considering that "some titles, such as that of Mediatrix of all graces, have limitations that do not facilitate a correct understanding of Mary's unique place."Marqués emphasized...