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...

Nigerian foundation defends Catholic bishop after remarks about Christian genocide

Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto is the founder of The Kukah Centre, a Nigeria-based public policy institute. / Credit: The Kukah CentreACI Africa, Dec 3, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).The Kukah Centre (TKC), a Nigeria-based public policy institute, has responded to what it describes as a "mischaracterization" of the remarks of its founder, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, about the alleged genocide of Christians in the West African nation.In a press release on Tuesday, the executive director of TKC, Father Atta Barkindo, blamed the media for its inadequate reporting of Kukah's remarks, which he made during the launch of the 2025 World Report on Religious Freedom at the Vatican on Oct. 21, and in his subsequent address to the 46th Supreme Convention of the Knights of St. Mulumba (KSM) in Kaduna on Friday, Nov. 28.Barkindo said what the media are reporting reflect neither Kukah's remarks nor the context of his work spanning half a century."TKC has followed with ...

Canadian government set to remove religious exemptions from hate-speech laws

Supreme Court of Canada, Ottawa. / Credit: Robert Linsdell via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)CNA Staff, Dec 2, 2025 / 18:04 pm (CNA).Legislators in Canada are reportedly poised to strip religious protections from the country's hate-speech laws as part of an effort to crack down on hateful symbols throughout the country. Lawmakers with the Liberal Party of Canada have reportedly struck a deal with the Bloc Québécois party to remove the religious exemptions from the national code.Canadian law forbids people from "incit[ing] hatred against any identifiable group," though it provides exemptions for individuals whose opinions are grounded in religion or a religious text. The National Post reported on Dec. 1 that the exemptions are expected to be removed in an upcoming amendment to the country's hate-speech laws. The paper cited a "senior government source" who was granted anonymity to discuss the proceedings."The bill is in a place now … everyone is happy," the source told the Post.Re...

Colorado school to pay $10 million for ordering Catholic doctor, others to get COVID shot

null / Credit: Karina Lopatina/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Dec 2, 2025 / 12:33 pm (CNA).The University of Colorado's medical school will pay out a massive eight-figure settlement after it required multiple staffers, including a Catholic doctor, to obtain the COVID-19 vaccination. The Thomas More Society said the university's Anschutz School of Medicine "agreed to pay more than $10.3 million in damages, tuition, and attorney's fees" to 18 plaintiffs in the lawsuit. The legal group said in a Dec. 1 release that the plaintiffs had been "denied religious accommodations to mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations." The suit has been active for nearly five years. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit had ruled in 2024 that the university had violated the plaintiffs' "clearly established" First Amendment rights in refusing to issue religious exemptions to the COVID vaccine. Religious objectors have cited numerous concerns with the vaccines, including that they were developed...

Ohio Catholic high school and diocese hit with 4 lawsuits over alleged student-led abuse

St. Columba Cathedral in Youngstown, Ohio. / Credit: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsCNA Staff, Dec 2, 2025 / 13:03 pm (CNA).The Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio, and one of its Catholic high schools are facing multiple lawsuits over the alleged mishandling of multiple reports of bullying and student-led abuse.Of the four lawsuits, three were filed in federal district court and the fourth was filed in a county court of common pleas. They allege that Ursuline High School in Youngstown failed to prevent the bullying and harassment of several students.In the federal lawsuits, attorneys allege that Ursuline ignored multiple instances of harassment and bullying from the school's football players. Ursuline was aware of the abuse, the suits claim, though administrators allegedly did nothing in order to protect "the glory of [the school's] football team."One suit alleges that a football player engaged in protracted sexual harassment and eventually physical abuse of a...