Pope Leo XIV urges mercy, reform as Jubilee of Prisoners closes Holy Year

Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass for the Jubilee of Hope for prisoners in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on December 14, 2025. / Mirjana Gabric / EWTNVatican City, Dec 14, 2025 / 05:25 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV on Sunday presided over the final major celebration of the Holy Year, calling for renewed commitment to justice, rehabilitation, and hope as he celebrated a Jubilee Mass dedicated to prisoners in St. Peter's Basilica.About 6,000 pilgrims from some 90 countries took part in the Jubilee of Prisoners, including detainees and their families, prison chaplains, correctional officers, police, and prison administrators. Participants came from across Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Oceania, including Italy, Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Poland, Germany, Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, the United States, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Australia.In his homily, the pope said that as the Jubilee Year drew to a close, significant challenges remained within prison s...

Curtis Martin steps down as CEO of FOCUS after nearly 3 decades leading ministry group

FOCUS Founder Curtis Martin announces his retirement from the role of FOCUS CEO, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025 / Credit: FOCUSCNA Staff, Dec 13, 2025 / 14:25 pm (CNA).Curtis Martin, who founded the Catholic student ministry group FOCUS nearly 30 years ago, announced this week that he will step down from his management role there while continuing to serve in the long-running campus ministry organization.In a Dec. 12 letter announcing his retirement from the role of CEO, Martin said that after nearly three decades, the organization now numbers "more than 1,000 FOCUS missionaries … in over 250 locations," reaching "nearly 60,000 students and parishioners" in 2025 alone. Since 2008, meanwhile, missionaries with the group have led "over 1,200 mission trips" that have sent more than 20,000 people to more than 50 countries. Martin said the "ever-increasing time demands" of his multiple roles at the company, coupled with several years of prayer with the organization's board of direct...

Doug Keck honored with 2025 Mother Angelica Award

Former EWTN president Doug Keck was presented with the Mother Angelica Award on Dec. 12, 2025. / Credit: EWTN NewsWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 12, 2025 / 20:02 pm (CNA).The EWTN Global Catholic Network presented the 2025 Mother Angelica Award to its longtime former president, Doug Keck, in recognition of his decades of service, faithful leadership, and tireless commitment to the mission of evangelization.Following a 29-year career at EWTN, Keck retired from his duties as EWTN president and chief operating officer in June. He subsequently assumed the honorary title of president emeritus and continues to host his signature series "EWTN Bookmark" as well as serve as co-host of "Father Spitzer's Universe."The Mother Angelica Award, which was presented to Keck during a special ceremony broadcast globally, is the highest honor bestowed by the network to recognize individuals whose lives reflect the spirit of faith, courage, and evangelistic zeal embodied by EWTN's foundress, Mother...

Priests, laypeople, Poor Clare nun among 124 20th-century martyrs beatified in Spain

Detail of the commemorative painting of the 124 martyrs of Jaén, Spain, beatified in 2025. / Credit: Diocese of JaénACI Prensa Staff, Dec 12, 2025 / 16:03 pm (CNA).The Diocese of Jaén in Spain will celebrate on Dec. 13 the beatification of 109 priests, 14 laypeople, and one Poor Clare nun martyred during the Spanish Civil War.With the addition of these 124 new blesseds, the number of 20th-century martyrs in Spain recognized by the Catholic Church rises to 2,254, 11 of whom have been canonized.The beatification ceremony will be presided over by Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, and will take place in Assumption Cathedral in Jaén, where some of the new blesseds spent their last days before being murdered out of hatred for the faith. Bishop Sebastián Chico of Jaén in the pastoral letter published on the occasion of the beatification stated that "their blood, far from being sterile, has become a fertile seed that today nourishes the...

Bishops call Illinois assisted suicide law signed by Gov. Pritzker 'heartbreaking'

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker at Chi Hack Night on July 12, 2017. / Credit: Chi Hack Night, CC-BY-3.0CNA Staff, Dec 12, 2025 / 16:52 pm (CNA).Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law an assisted suicide bill that Catholic leaders have ardently opposed.Pritzker, who met with Pope Leo XIV on Nov. 19, cited "freedom," "choice," and "autonomy" as his reasons for signing the bill, which allows doctors to give terminally ill patients life-ending drugs if they request them. According to the law, patients must be mentally capable and have a prognosis of six months or less to live. Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago and other Illinois bishops had urged Pritzker to veto the bill. The Catholic Conference of Illinois, which speaks for the Catholic bishops in the state, condemned the law, calling it a "dangerous and heartbreaking path." Other jurisdictions with assisted suicide laws include: California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, Washing...

Pope Leo XIV entrusts pontificate to the Virgin of Guadalupe

Pope Leo XIV honors Our Lady of Guadalupe during the Mass on her feast day, Dec. 12, 2025, in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Dec 12, 2025 / 17:46 pm (CNA).On Dec. 12, Pope Leo XIV presided over his first Mass on the solemnity of Our Lady of Guadalupe, whom he asked to come to his aid "so that she may confirm in the one true path that leads to the blessed Fruit of your womb all those who have been entrusted to me."A large number of the faithful, mostly from the Mexican community residing in Rome as well as clergy and members of the Roman Curia, attended the ceremony held in St. Peter's Basilica at 4 p.m. local time.The Holy Father delivered a homily in Spanish in the form of a prayer addressed to the patroness of Mexico and empress of the Americas.The pontiff recalled that Mary allows the Word of God "to enter her life and transform it," bringing "that joy wherever human joy is insufficient, wherever the wine has run out." For the ...

Prayer rally protests Vienna exhibition depicting 'crucified frog and transgender Mary'

Official appearance of the exhibition in Vienna from Vienna Künstlerhaus website. / Credit: Vienna Künstlerhaus websiteCNA Deutsch, Dec 12, 2025 / 10:11 am (CNA).On Dec. 8, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, a prayer rally against an exhibition called "Du sollst dir ein Bild machen" ("You shall make yourself an image") took place in front of the Vienna Künstlerhaus Vereinigung, a cultural center for artists. The prayer rally's organizers said the show, which includes a crucified frog and a depiction of the Virgin Mary as a transgender woman, is an attack on the Catholic faith.Organized by the Austrian Society for the Protection of Tradition, Family, and Private Property (TFP), the rosary rally featured participants carrying placards calling for an immediate stop to blasphemy. Protesters said the exhibition strikes "at the heart of the Catholic faith with abominable depictions, including a crucified green frog mocking Our Lord, a bearded man dressed as the Mother of God...

Pope Leo calls for promoting 'cultural diplomacy' to overcome borders and prejudices

Pope Leo XIV receives members of the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology on Dec. 11, 2025, in the Clementine Hall of the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Dec 11, 2025 / 18:30 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV on Dec. 11 emphasized the academic, cultural, and ecclesial value of archaeology and called for the promotion of "cultural diplomacy" to overcome borders and prejudices.Receiving members of the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology in an audience, the pope emphasized that its literary and monumental sources constitute an essential part of the "roots" of European society and nations."Take part through your studies in that cultural diplomacy that the world so desperately needs in our day," the pope urged, addressing the faculty, students, and staff of the center.To introduce his reflection, he referenced the motu proprio I Primitivi Cemeteri ("The Primitive Cemeteries"), published exactly a century ago by Pius XI, in which he emphasized the Church's respon...

Poll: Majority of U.S. Catholics support death penalty despite Catechism

Death penalty. / California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Wikipedia CC 2.0.Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 11, 2025 / 13:00 pm (CNA).A majority of Catholic voters in the United States support the death penalty for convicted murderers in spite of the Catechism of the Catholic Church calling capital punishment "inadmissible," according to a poll published by EWTN News and RealClear Opinion Research.The survey of 1,000 Catholic voters between Nov. 9 and Nov. 11 found that 55% support the death penalty "for a person convicted of murder." Only 20% said they oppose the death penalty in such situations, and another 25% are unsure.Based on the poll, Catholics who attend Mass regularly are much more likely to say they oppose the death penalty than Catholics whose attendance is less frequent.Among Catholics who attend Mass at least once per week, 52% say they support the death penalty for convicted murderers, 26% say they oppose it, and 22% are unsure. For Catholics who at...

Senate to vote on health care plans as subsidies near expiration

Congress is set to vote on two plans regarding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits that are scheduled to expire Dec. 31, 2025.  / Credit: usarmyband, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 11, 2025 / 06:30 am (CNA).Congress is set to vote on two plans regarding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits that are scheduled to expire Dec. 31, 2025. The Senate is expected to vote Dec. 11 on a Democratic proposal to extend existing ACA tax credits for three years, as 24 million Americans use ACA marketplaces for health insurance. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, told reporters Tuesday after a Senate Republican meeting that lawmakers also will vote on a Republican alternative measure. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, chair of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, and Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, who leads the Finance panel, announced the legislation on Monday. The measure (S. 3386) would s...