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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 16, 2025 / 13:18 pm (CNA).

Christian leaders delivered a letter to President Donald Trump on Oct. 15 urging him to redesignate Nigeria as a country of particular concern on the U.S. government's international religious freedom watch list. 

"We fervently urge you to redesignate Nigeria as a 'country of particular concern' (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom [IRF] Act, as you did in your first term," the letter states. "The last several years have seen a burgeoning of violent attacks specifically targeting rural Christians in the country's Middle Belt, while the government in Abuja barely lifts a finger to protect them." 

The letter's signatories included San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone; Nina Shea, Hudson Institute senior fellow and director for the Center for Religious Freedom; Kelsey Reinhardt, CatholicVote president and CEO; Robert Royal, editor-in-chief of The Catholic Thing; and Luke Moon, executive director of the Philos Project. 

"The Nigerian government is directly violating religious freedom by enforcing Islamic blasphemy laws that carry the death penalty and harsh prison sentences against citizens of various religions," the letter continued. "It also demonstrably tolerates relentless aggression uniquely against Christian farming families by militant Fulani Muslim herders, who appear intent on forcibly Islamizing the Middle Belt."

In a statement to CNA on Monday, Shea said the Nigerian government "refuses to enforce the law against Fulani militants who are relentlessly and systematically invading rural Christian areas in the Middle Belt and massacring and driving out the civilians while crying the jihadi war cry "Allahu Akbar." 

"Many Middle Belt Christian leaders are reporting that this is a concerted land grab from Christian communities in order to forcibly Islamicize Nigeria," she added. The letter describes the Fulani herdsmen as "the biggest threat facing Nigeria's Christians." 

The letter called attention to "innocent Muslims and Christians alike" who have been "brutally victimized by Boko Haram and other Islamic State and al-Qaeda-linked terror groups seeking religious and political domination within that country."

Citing research from various groups, the letter noted that 52,000 Christians have been killed and over 20,000 churches attacked and destroyed since 2009. In addition, it said, thousands of Christians have been murdered and raped in 2025, and "over 100 Christian pastors and Catholic priests have been taken hostage for ransom."

"We are concerned that your administration may be considering listing Nigeria on the IRF Act's 'Special Watch List' instead of designating it as a CPC," the letter said, noting the decision, likely influenced by the "misconception" that a CPC designation requires the U.S. to sanction Nigeria, would be a mistake.

"In fact, the IRF Act does not mandate automatic sanctions and, moreover, provides for a sanctions waiver and cites a range of other possible policy responses," it stated.

"We believe that, after nearly five years of simply 'watching' the arrest of individuals on harsh blasphemy charges and the relentless massacre and persecution of defenseless Christians solely for their faith, assigning only Special Watch List status would be a weak and legally inadequate response," the letter concluded. "Such a move would dishonor religious freedom as a core pillar of U.S. foreign policy and further reinforce the previous administration's downgrade and sidelining of the targeted killing of Christians."

In November 2021, the Biden administration, through then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken, removed Nigeria from the list of countries of particular concern.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 16, 2025 / 14:11 pm (CNA).

The number of young Americans who self-identify as transgender or nonheterosexual declined in 2024 and 2025, according to a report from the Centre for Heterodox Social Science (CHSS), which compiled data from undergraduate student surveys and broader surveys of young people.

The Oct. 10 report, titled "The Decline of Trans and Queer Identity Among Young Americans," found an overall decline in people who identify with the broader "LGBTQ+" community, with a bulk of the decline in those who identify as bisexual, transgender, and queer.

Eric Kaufmann, director of CHSS and a politics professor at the University of Buckingham, led the study.

The report noted a surge in young people identifying with those segments in the 2010s and the 2020s, which peaked in 2023. Since then, the report concluded that "trans, queer, and bisexual identities are in rapid decline among young educated Americans."

It found that the number of young people identifying as "nonbinary" — neither male nor female — dropped significantly in three of five data sources reviewed in the report. Both of the other surveys, however, showed stability in "nonbinary" identification.

According to the report, the Andover Phillips Academy survey saw the total number of students identifying as "nonbinary" drop from 9% to 3% from 2023 to 2025. A much larger sample from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) saw a decline from 6.8% to 3.6% in the same time period. The Brown University student survey showed a drop from 5% to 2.6%.

The other data sources — the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) and the Cooperative Election Study (CCES) — alternatively found "nonbinary" identification to be stable.

According to the report, the number of students identifying as "gay" and "lesbian" was stable in the time period measured, but researchers found a decrease in other nonheterosexual identification, such as "questioning," "asexual," "pansexual," and "other."

The report noted the Andover survey showed nonheterosexual identification peak in 2023, when 63.5% of the student body identified as heterosexual.

In that survey, identification as bisexual peaked in 2023 at 17% of the student body and decreased to 12% by 2025. "Queer" and "other" identifications also peaked in 2023 to 17%, dropped to 9% in 2024, and went back up to 12% in 2025. 

According to the FIRE data, identification as heterosexual was at 68% in 2023 and increased to 77% in 2025, with strong decreases in the "queer" and "other" categories of sexual orientation.

The HERI data showed heterosexual identification drop to 77% in 2023 and increase to 82% in 2024, which is the most recent year data is available. The Brown survey found that heterosexual identification reached its low point of 60% in its 2022-2023 data and increased to 68% in fall 2025.

The General Social Survey saw heterosexual identification drop to its low point of 71% in 2022 and rise to 81% in 2024. The CCES survey alternatively showed a stable increase in nonheterosexual identification through 2024.

"To the extent that the youngest represent the leading edge of new trends, this suggests that trans, bisexual, and queer identities are declining in popularity with each new cohort," the report noted.

The report concluded the decline is not likely related to political, cultural, or religious beliefs, but suggested a correlation with improved mental health, which "appears to be part of the explanation for the decline of BTQ+ identification."

"Only time will tell if the substantial decline of BTQ+ identification will continue among young Americans," the report's conclusion read. "If so, this represents a momentous and unanticipated post-progressive cultural shift in American society." 

Mary Rice Hasson, director of the Person and Identity Project at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, told CNA the research "is interesting and somewhat encouraging, but I wouldn't pop the champagne corks and celebrate a victory yet."

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed a "troubling rise" in transgender identification among high schoolers, Hasson said.

"Even with a possible decrease, young Americans are still self-identifying as 'trans' in radically higher numbers than in past generations, when only a fraction of a fraction of a percent self-identified as 'trans,'" she added. 

Even with the decrease in nonheterosexuality among college students, Hasson said "the 'improvement' still leaves nearly a quarter of our youngest generation as self-identified 'nonheterosexuals' … which means they reject the nature and truth of the body and human sexuality."

"The overall concern remains — too many young people do not know the truth of 'who they are' and don't accept the sexual identity God has given to them," Hasson added. "So, it doesn't change the work we do — we continue to pray and speak the truth, to reach those who are lost and searching for the truth and love that only God can give."

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ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 16, 2025 / 14:41 pm (CNA).

On Wednesday, Oct. 15, Uruguay's Senate passed the Death with Dignity bill, which opens the door to euthanasia in the country.

Following a favorable vote by 20 senators (out of 31 present), the bill, which had previously been approved in August by Uruguay's lower house, will go to the office of President Yamandú Orsi, a member of the Broad Front, the political coalition that promoted the legislative initiative.

Orsi can sign the bill into law or veto it, either entirely or partially. 

The measure approved by the Senate would allow any person over the age of 18 in Uruguay who "suffers from one or more chronic, incurable, and irreversible pathologies or health conditions that seriously impair their quality of life, causing unbearable suffering" to have access to euthanasia.

With this outcome, Uruguay would become the first country in South America to legalize euthanasia through a legislative process. Countries such as Colombia and Ecuador have opened the door to this practice through judicial mechanisms.

Bishops lament law that promotes 'culture of death'

In a statement released after the Senate vote, the Uruguayan Bishops' Conference said that "this law promotes the 'culture of death.'"

"In a country with a high suicide rate, with serious difficulties in addressing the issue of mental health, this law goes against the value and dignity of human life and puts us on a risky path of normalizing the search for death as a solution to life situations that can be addressed in other ways," the Uruguayan bishops pointed out.

Reiterating a message released in June of this year, the bishops asserted that "every human life appears before us as something unique, unrepeatable, and irreplaceable; its value is independent of health status, ethnicity, sex, culture, socioeconomic status, or any other circumstance."

"Dying with dignity means dying without pain or other poorly controlled symptoms; dying in one's natural time, without life being unnecessarily shortened or prolonged; dying surrounded by the love of family and friends; dying with the opportunity to have been adequately informed, choosing, if possible, the place (hospital or home) and participating in all important decisions that affect one; dying with the spiritual support one needs," they emphasized.

The prelates said that "as the Church on pilgrimage in Uruguay, we want to continue working to protect life and its dignity, as is also recognized by our Constitution and the several international treaties our country has signed."

"We are convinced that sharing our moments of greatest human weakness can become a great opportunity to discover together the transcendent and profound meaning of our lives," the bishops noted.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 16, 2025 / 06:03 am (CNA).

The Order of St. Augustine and the Vatican Publishing House announced the publication of a new book by Pope Leo XIV, Robert Francis Prevost O.S.A., titled "Free Under Grace: Writings and Meditations 2001-2013." The book will be presented at the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany, which opened Wednesday.

The tome will include, for the first time, the writings of the current pontiff during his term as prior general of the Augustinian Order, offering readers a "closer look at his spirituality," according to a statement from the Vatican Publishing House. It will include reflections, meditations, homilies, and addresses, all imbued with the characteristic Augustinian spirituality of the reigning pontiff.

The book will be published in Italian in the Spring of 2026. Spanish and English versions will also be available, the Vatican Publishing House confirmed to ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner.

Fr. Joseph Lawrence Farrell, O.S.A., current prior general of the Augustinian Order, commented: "This book, which compiles many of the communications of the then prior general, Robert Francis Prevost, O.S.A., offers an overview of some of the important themes developed during his years at the head of the Order of Saint Augustine."

Lorenzo Fazzini, editorial director of the Vatican Publishing House, said that "We are truly delighted to participate in the Frankfurt Book Fair by presenting this previously unpublished book by Robert Francis Prevost O.S.A. — Leo XIV — to publishers around the world." Fazzini noted that "This text will allow readers to delve into the pope's writings during his time as an Augustinian religious and superior of his order. It is a highly anticipated volume for readers around the world."

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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Vatican City, Oct 16, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

International Catholic nonprofit Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) will release its global religious freedom report in Rome next week with an Oct. 21 conference featuring the Vatican's secretary of state and victims of religious persecution.

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin will introduce the "Religious Freedom in the World Report 2025" with a speech at the Pontifical Patristic Institute Augustinianum conference center near the Vatican. 

The report, released every two years since 1999, is a global study of religious freedom and persecution across all countries and faith groups.

"Since the first edition of the RFR, the situation has steadily worsened, and unfortunately, this negative trend is expected to continue," Marta Petrosillo, the report's editor-in-chief, said in a press release published ahead of the report's launch.

According to ACN, this year's report highlights the continent of Africa, particularly the spread of jihadist violence into the countries of Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The daylong conference will feature the voices of religious freedom experts and persecuted Christians from Nigeria, Syria, India, Sudan, and Pakistan.

The second half of the day will also include a panel of speakers on the increasing restrictions to religious freedom in democratic societies in the West, including legal and cultural pressure, secularist intolerance, and challenges to public witness.

In 2024, ACN spent more than $150 million on thousands of projects in 137 countries.

In an audience with members of the nonprofit at the Vatican on Oct. 10, Pope Leo XIV emphasized the importance of their work, especially in a world that continues to "witness growing hostility and violence against those who hold different beliefs, including many Christians."

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 15, 2025 / 17:51 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa has given an update on the status of Christians in Gaza after the first phase of the historic peace deal between Israel and Hamas began this week. 

"We are in daily contact with them," the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem said of the Catholic community in Gaza in a Vatican News interview. "They keep writing that they still cannot believe they were able to sleep through the night without hearing the sound of bombs." 

Despite the promising outcome of the first phase of the peace deal, which saw the return of Israeli hostages and the strategic withdrawal of IDF troops from Gaza, Pizzaballa emphasized that the situation in Gaza "remains very fluid." Amid de-escalation between Israel and Hamas forces, clashes among warring factions have broken out across Gaza. Furthermore, he said, "we still do not know if [the war] has truly ended," and the way forward is not yet clear. 

"The situation remains dramatic because everything is destroyed," he explained. "People are returning, but they are returning to the ruins. Hospitals are not functioning; schools do not exist. There is still the matter of the bodies of the deceased Israeli hostages that must be recovered."

"However, despite all this, there is a new atmosphere — still fragile, but we hope it will become more stable," he continued.

Throughout the conflict, Pizzaballa said Catholics in the region have "felt the closeness" of both Pope Leo XIV and Pope Francis. "They have different personalities, but both expressed their closeness in very concrete ways," he said, noting both pontiffs had made a habit of frequent phone calls and contact with Father Gabriel Romanelli of Holy Family Parish in Gaza, in addition to concrete aid. Pope Leo sent antibiotics into Gaza this week. 

The cardinal said, "we must not confuse hope with a solution to the conflict," while discussing how the region must move forward. "The end of the war is not the beginning of peace, nor is it the end of the conflict," he said. Rather, fraternity must be built throughout the region, with new political and religious leadership "who can help rebuild a different narrative, one based on mutual respect." 

While Pizzaballa said he did not know whether a two-state solution "is achievable in the short term," he emphasized the need for Palestinians to not only be helped and supported financially, but to be "recognized in their dignity as a people." 

"One cannot tell the Palestinians that they have no right to be recognized as a people in their own land," he said. "There have been declarations — often only theoretical — that must find concrete realization within the context of dialogue between the parties, which they themselves will have to reach, with the help and support of the international community." 

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 15, 2025 / 18:22 pm (CNA).

The oldest Catholic and Jesuit institution of higher learning in the United States, Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., has named Eduardo Peñalver, current president of Seattle University and former dean of Cornell Law School, as its 49th president. 

"We are pleased to welcome Eduardo Peñalver to Georgetown University," Thomas A. Reynolds, chair of the board of directors, said in a press release announcing the decision. "President Peñalver is an exceptional leader steeped in the Catholic and Jesuit tradition who brings a wealth of experience in higher education, a global mindset, a commitment to social justice and academic excellence, and a bold vision for Georgetown's future."

Peñalver will assume his new role on July 1, 2026.  He has served as the 22nd president of Seattle University, also a Jesuit institution, since 2021. He succeeds Georgetown's interim president, Robert Groves. 

"I'm deeply honored to have the privilege of serving as Georgetown's next president," Peñalver said in the release. "I would like to thank the Presidential Search Committee and Georgetown's board of directors for entrusting this role to me at such a pivotal time for Georgetown and for higher education." 

In the university's announcement, Peñalver said he would apply his experience as leader of a Jesuit institution to his role at Georgetown. "At the center of our work, [Jesuit universities] share an interest in students as whole persons, focusing on their experiences both inside and outside the classroom," he said.

He continued: "We share an aspiration to do more than teach a skill or impart knowledge, but to get students to grapple with the deeper questions, to pursue more ambitious goals like wisdom and understanding and meaning, in their academic work and in their lives."

The incoming president said today "is an exciting moment in Georgetown's history," citing the expansion of the University's Capitol Campus, as well as the establishment of interdisciplinary programs, and increased efforts to make attendance more affordable for students. 

"I look forward to working with the students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends of Georgetown to deepen the university's impact on our country and on our world," he said. 

Peñalver was raised in a Catholic family in Puyallup, Washington. He graduated magna cum laude from Cornell University in 1994, before earning his law degree in 1999. He then clerked for Judge Guido Calabresi of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and for Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, according to the release. 

He later taught at Fordham Law School, the University of Chicago Law School, and Cornell Law School, where he was appointed dean in 2014. 

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EWTN News, Oct 15, 2025 / 09:45 am (CNA).

The Vatican announced Wednesday that Pope Leo XIV appointed Father Ignatius Wu Jianlin as auxiliary bishop of Shanghai on Aug. 11, with his episcopal ordination taking place today under the framework of the Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People's Republic of China.

Father Wu Jianlin's consecration at St. Ignatius Cathedral marks a further development in the complex relationship between Beijing and the Vatican.

Chinese authorities had previously announced Wu's "election" by an assembly of priests and laypeople on April 28, during the sede vacante period following the death of Pope Francis.

The Vatican Bollettino, published Wednesday, revealed that the Holy Father approved Wu's candidacy on Aug. 11.

While his appointment was not previously made public, the announcement suggests the move was made in accordance with the Vatican-China agreement.

At the time of Wu's election, observers expressed concern that Beijing was exploiting the papal interregnum to assert control over episcopal appointments.

Wednesday's Vatican statement confirms the new appointment was approved by Pope Leo XIV.

Bishop Wu, 55, was born on Jan. 27, 1970, and studied philosophy and theology at Sheshan Seminary in Shanghai from 1991 to 1996. He was ordained a priest in 1997, and served in a number of roles as cleric. 

Between 2013 and 2023, he helped administer the diocese during Shanghai's prolonged sede vacante, and later served as vicar general.

Agreement as 'seed of hope'?

The Provisional Agreement, first signed in 2018 and renewed in 2024 for four more years, establishes a system in which Chinese authorities apparently propose candidates for episcopal office, who must then receive pontifical approval before being appointed.

The exact terms of the controversial agreement remain unpublished, however, and the way the process is applied has repeatedly come under scrutiny.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, has long defended the agreement as an instrument of dialogue in an imperfect situation.

In an Oct. 11 address commemorating the 1924 Council of Shanghai, Parolin described the agreement as a "seed of hope" which, despite setbacks, could bear fruit in the long term "in the proclamation of the Gospel, in communion with the universal Church and the Bishop of Rome, and in authentic Christian life."

At the same conference, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, affirmed "the real life and ordinary daily routine of Catholic communities in China," even if "attention is usually focused on issues of episcopal appointments, local incidents, relations between the Chinese political authorities and the Holy See, or problems related to the state's religious policy."

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Rome Newsroom, Oct 15, 2025 / 11:00 am (CNA).

Optimism can disappoint us, but Christian hope "promises and fulfills" our hearts' desire for fullness, Pope Leo XIV said at his weekly audience on Wednesday.

Addressing thousands of pilgrims in St. Peter's Square on Oct. 15, the pope said, "This deep desire in our hearts can find its ultimate answer not in roles, not in power, not in having, but in the certainty that there is someone who guarantees this constitutive impulse of our humanity; in the awareness that this expectation will not be disappointed or thwarted. This certainty coincides with hope."

"This does not mean thinking in an optimistic way: often optimism lets us down, causing our expectations to implode, whereas hope promises and fulfills," he added in his weekly message.

The Holy Father continued his reflections on the mystery of Christ, which culminates in the Resurrection, but this time he linked it to "current human and historical reality, with its questions and challenges."

"From Christ's Resurrection springs that hope that gives us a foretaste, despite the fatigue of living, of a deep and joyful calm: that peace that only he can give us in the end, without end," the pope explained.

Leo recalled that human existence is full of contrasts — joy, sadness, gratitude, and stress — but that only in the Risen Christ does the heart find the fullness it seeks.

"We live busy lives, we concentrate on achieving results, and we even attain lofty, prestigious goals. Conversely, we remain suspended, precarious, awaiting success and recognition that are delayed or do not arrive at all," he continued.

The pope acknowledged that this tension between the desire for fulfillment and the experience of limitation defines much of the human condition: "We find ourselves experiencing a paradoxical situation: we would like to be happy, and yet it is very difficult to be happy in a continuous way, without any shadows. We come to terms with our limitations and, at the same time, with the irrepressible urge to try to overcome them. We feel deep down that we are always missing something."

However, the pontiff said, this feeling of "lack" is the call to find fulfillment in the Risen One.

"In truth," he said, "we were not created for lack, but for fullness, to rejoice in life, and life in abundance, according to Jesus' expression in the Gospel of John [10:10]," which says, "A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly."

Leo emphasized that the Risen Christ "is the wellspring that satisfies our thirst, the infinite thirst for fullness that the Holy Spirit imbues into our hearts. Indeed, the Resurrection of Christ is not a simple event of human history, but the event that transformed it from within."

The Holy Father noted that spiritual thirst is a permanent condition of the human heart, and only Jesus, who died and rose again, can answer our deepest questions, such as, "is there really a destination for us? Does our existence have any meaning? And the suffering of so many innocents, how can it be redeemed?"

"The Risen Jesus does not bestow upon us an answer 'from above,' but becomes our companion on this often arduous, painful and mysterious journey. Only He can fill our empty flask when our thirst becomes unbearable," he explained.

"We are fragile creatures," Leo added. "Mistakes are part of our humanity; it is the wound of sin that makes us fall, give up, despair. To rise again instead means to get up and stand on our feet."

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 15, 2025 / 11:48 am (CNA).

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) will select a new president and vice president during its Fall Plenary Assembly, which is set for Nov. 10 to Nov. 13 in Baltimore, Maryland.

In November, the three-year terms for the current president, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, and vice president, Archbishop William E. Lori, are set to expire. The new conference leaders, who will be chosen from a slate of 10 candidates, will also serve three-year terms.

The following slate of candidates was selected through nominations from the bishops:

• Bishop Robert E. Barron, Diocese of Winona-Rochester

• Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, Archdiocese of Oklahoma City

• Bishop Daniel E. Flores, Diocese of Brownsville

• Archbishop Richard G. Henning, Archdiocese of Boston

• Bishop David J. Malloy, Diocese of Rockford

• Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez, Archdiocese of Philadelphia

• Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades, Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend

• Archbishop Alexander K. Sample, Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon

• Archbishop Charles C. Thompson, Archdiocese of Indianapolis

• Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger, Archdiocese of Detroit

According to a news release from the USCCB, both positions are selected by a majority vote of present voting members. If no bishop receives more than 50% of the vote, the bishops will hold a second vote. If there is still no bishop with a majority, the assembly will vote in a head-to-head race between the two bishops who received the most votes in the second round. 

The president is chosen first, and the vice president is chosen from the remaining nine candidates, according to the USCCB.

At the gathering, bishops will also select new chairmen for six committees: the Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance; the Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs; the Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis; the Committee on International Justice and Peace; the Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People; and the Committee on Religious Liberty. 

For those positions, the elected bishops will serve a single year as chairman-elect and then begin a three-year term at the end of the 2026 Fall Assembly. 

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