Deacon in San Diego says he will self-deport after residency status revoked

View of the San Diego skyline. / Credit: russellstreet, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia CommonsCNA Staff, Sep 17, 2025 / 13:19 pm (CNA).A deacon in San Diego told parishioners last week that he will voluntarily deport himself after his residency status was revoked by the U.S. government.The deacon reportedly made the announcement at St. Jude Shrine of the West during Masses on Sept. 14. Local media reported that the clergyman came to the U.S. when he was 13 and "served the St. Jude community for roughly four decades." He will reportedly be returning to Tijuana, Mexico.Local reports did not identify the deacon. A diocesan representative indicated to CNA that the news reports were accurate, but the diocese said it could not identify the deacon himself and that he was handling the matter privately.Representatives at St. Jude Parish did not respond to queries regarding the announcement.The deacon's self-deportation comes amid a wave of heightened immigration enforcement around the coun...

Nigeria bishops' conference president: Country now full of 'fear, flight, and funerals'

Nigeria is "sinking in many fronts," the president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria, Archbishop Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, has said. / Credit: Catholic Secretariat of NigeriaACI Africa, Sep 17, 2025 / 14:10 pm (CNA).Nigeria is "sinking in many fronts," the president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) said at a recent meeting, lamenting that in addition to economic hardships Nigerians are grappling with, many communities have been thrown into perpetual mourning due to unending insecurity.In his address at the ongoing interactive session between CBCN and the "prominent lay faithful" of Calabar ecclesiastical province, Archbishop Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji said many Nigerians have been killed, and those who fled are languishing in camps where they are exposed to extreme weather conditions, often without food and water.Acknowledging "notable progress here and there" in the country where persecution against Christians is said to be the highest globally, the a...

Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem forgives school debt of all diocesan families

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa visits a kindergarten in Haifa. / Credit: Latin Patriarchate of JerusalemACI Prensa Staff, Sep 17, 2025 / 15:44 pm (CNA).The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem has decided to forgive the school debts of all families in the diocese for the school years prior to the Jubilee of Hope as a gesture "to promote and demand justice, equity, and, above all, solidarity."The patriarchate is the Latin-rite Catholic diocese based in Jerusalem, reestablished in 1847 by Pope Pius IX. Its ecclesiastical jurisdiction encompasses Israel, Palestine, Jordan, and Cyprus, serving the Latin Catholic communities present in the Holy Land and these regions of the Middle East.In a statement, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, said the jubilee year "has taken place in a context of violence and war," which "seems to be increasing evermore."The cardinal explained that under the motto "Hope Does Not Disappoint," Catholics are called "to a special conv...

Pope Leo XIV expels deacon from the clerical state for abuse of minors

Pope Leo XIV on Sept. 16, 2025, expelled from the clerical state an Italian deacon who was convicted of sexual offenses against minors. / Credit: Freedom Studio/ShutterstockACI Prensa Staff, Sep 17, 2025 / 16:19 pm (CNA).Italian permanent deacon Alessandro Frateschi, who was convicted of sexual offenses against minors, has been expelled from the clerical state directly by Pope Leo XIV.The Diocese of Latina-Terracina-Sezze-Priverno announced the news Sept. 16, stating that Frateschi was notified of the decree in prison, where he is currently serving a 12-year sentence. This is the first known case of canonical sanction for abuse during the new pope's pontificate.Frateschi, 46, was sentenced in the Italian civil court in 2024 after being found guilty of sexually abusing five minors between 2018 and January 2023. Three of the victims were his students at a secondary school in Latina where he taught Catholic religion; another was a minor in foster care; and the fifth was the son of...

Report: Assisted suicide in Canada poses higher death risk for vulnerable groups

null / Credit: GBALLGIGGSPHOTO/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 17, 2025 / 16:49 pm (CNA).The legalization of medical assistance in dying (MAID) in Canada has led to disproportionately high rates of premature deaths among vulnerable groups, according to a recent Cardus Health report.Cardus Health, an organization that aims to foster a social system that supports natural death and helps institutions care for patients approaching the end of life, conducted a report to evaluate assisted suicide in Canada.The report, "In Contrast to Carter: Assisted Dying's Impact on Canadians with Disabilities," examines if the expectations of MAID laid out in the British Columbia Supreme Court case, Carter v. Canada, are being met.In 2012, the court concluded in Carter v. Canada that an appropriately safeguarded physician-assisted dying program could be adopted in Canada that would not create a "heightened risk" or an "inordinate" impact on vulnerable groups, and there would not be a di...

2 widows at Jubilee of Consolation: Our husbands 'are with God, in a joy not of this world'

Widows Norma Pérez and Olga Pallares. / Credit: Victoria Cardiel/EWTN NewsVatican City, Sep 17, 2025 / 17:19 pm (CNA).Norma Pérez, a widow for five years, and Olga Pallares, a widow for two, have experienced the piercing visceral pain of losing a loved one.Friends for over 30 years, they have managed to cast a light on something as dark as the death of their husbands. "I know he is with God, without suffering, in a joy that is not of this world," said Pérez, whose grief did not completely break her; on the contrary, she said it strengthened her faith.'A part of him has remained with us'Together, the two friends participated in this week's Jubilee of Consolation in Rome to bear witness that death does not have the last word. "A part of him has remained with us. We are not completely empty. We widows are filled with the other half of the other person who has passed away," Pérez told ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, just before participating in a vigil with Pope Le...

St. Hildegard of Bingen's gifts served the whole Church, Pope Benedict said

St. Hildegard of Bingen. / Credit: Lettera43.it, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsCNA Staff, Sep 17, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).Every gift from the Holy Spirit is meant for the edification of the community of believers, Pope Benedict XVI said in a general audience back in 2010 when he focused his catechesis on the life of St. Hildegard of Bingen, whose feast is celebrated Sept. 17 in the universal Church. Benedict praised her as a model for modern women religious and noted that she benefited the faithful by her willingness to submit her supernatural visions to the interpretation of the Church.Referring first to St. John Paul II's apostolic letter Mulieris Dignitatem on the role of women in the life of the Church, Benedict XVI noted that the letter "gives thanks for all the manifestations of the feminine 'genius' which have appeared in the course of history." He then highlighted the figure of St. Hildegard of Bingen as one of the saintly women who stood out nearly a millennium ago...

4 Carmelite religious sisters, driver killed in crash in Tanzania

Four members of the Missionary Sisters of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus (MCST) in Tanzania lost their lives in a road accident in the country's Archdiocese of Mwanza on Sept. 15, 2025. / Credit: Suore Carmelitane Missionarie Italia Malta RomaniaACI Africa, Sep 17, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).Four members of the Missionary Sisters of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus (MCST) in Tanzania are among five people who lost their lives in a tragic road accident in the country's Archdiocese of Mwanza on Monday. The Sept. 15 accident in which the MCST superior general and secretary died alongside two other sisters and a driver happened in the Kaluluma-Bukumbi area. One sister survived the tragic accident and was admitted to Bugando Hospital, where she remains in critical condition.In a statement obtained on Tuesday by ACI Africa, CNA's news partner in Africa, Archbishop Renatus Leonard Nkwande of the Mwanza Archdiocese announced the passing of the four Carmelites, "who were serving...

New study shows just over half of Americans support a right to assisted suicide

null / Credit: HQuality/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Sep 17, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).A new Lifeway Research study reveals that a slim majority of Americans, 51%, believe terminally ill individuals should have the right to request physician-assisted suicide.The study, titled "American Views on Assisted Suicide," found that 51% of respondents consider it morally acceptable for someone with a painful terminal disease to seek a physician's assistance in ending his or her life. However, the support is not robust, according to the study: Only 1 in 5 Americans said they "strongly agree" with this stance, while 30% said they "somewhat agree." The study also found 34% opposed to physician-assisted suicide, with the remainder undecided.Regionally, support varies, with urban and coastal areas showing higher approval (up to 60% in some places) compared with rural or Southern states, where opposition often aligns with faith-based values, according to Lifeway. The Lifeway study, conducted via o...

U.S. bishops launch 'Healing and Hope' initiative to promote, strengthen mental health

null / Credit: Prostock-studio/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 16, 2025 / 14:07 pm (CNA).Ahead of World Mental Health Day on Oct. 10, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has announced an addition to its ongoing National Catholic Mental Health Campaign to amplify local engagement on mental health. The title for the initiative, "Healing and Hope," was taken from the National Catholic Mental Health Campaign's introductory statement, written by Archbishop Borys Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia and Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, Bishop Robert Barron."As pastors, we want to emphasize this point to anyone who is suffering from mental illness or facing mental health challenges: Nobody and nothing can alter or diminish your God-given dignity. You are a beloved child of God, a God of healing and hope," the U.S. bishops said this week. The initiative "builds upon the goal of promoting healing and hope for all who struggle with me...