Pope Leo XIV gives the homily at Mass with the cardinale electors in the Sistine Chapel on May 9, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media ACI Prensa Staff, May 14, 2025 / 14:18 pm (CNA).The Dicastery for Communication said "Leo XIV inherits the X @Pontifex accounts used by Pope Francis and previously by Benedict XVI."
Pope Leo XIV gives the homily at Mass with the cardinale electors in the Sistine Chapel on May 9, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media
ACI Prensa Staff, May 14, 2025 / 14:18 pm (CNA).
The Dicastery for Communication said "Leo XIV inherits the X @Pontifex accounts used by Pope Francis and previously by Benedict XVI."
The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage passes southwest of Omaha, Nebraska, on June 21, 2024. / Credit: Kate Quiñones/CNA CNA Staff, May 14, 2025 / 15:56 pm (CNA).Pilgrims preparing to take part in the 2025 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage spoke at a press conference about their preparation for the pilgrimage, set to kick off on Sunday.
The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage passes southwest of Omaha, Nebraska, on June 21, 2024. / Credit: Kate Quiñones/CNA
CNA Staff, May 14, 2025 / 15:56 pm (CNA).
Pilgrims preparing to take part in the 2025 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage spoke at a press conference about their preparation for the pilgrimage, set to kick off on Sunday.
A Planned Parenthood facility in Minneapolis. / Credit: Ken Wolter/Shutterstock CNA Staff, May 14, 2025 / 17:29 pm (CNA).In a recently released report, Charlotte Lozier Institute found that life-affirming women's health centers outnumber Planned Parenthood locations 15 to 1.
A Planned Parenthood facility in Minneapolis. / Credit: Ken Wolter/Shutterstock
CNA Staff, May 14, 2025 / 17:29 pm (CNA).
In a recently released report, Charlotte Lozier Institute found that life-affirming women's health centers outnumber Planned Parenthood locations 15 to 1.
Candlelight procession at Fatima on May 12, 2025. / Credit: Courtesy of Shrine of Fatima/EWTN ACI Prensa Staff, May 14, 2025 / 17:59 pm (CNA).Approximately 470,000 pilgrims gathered in Fátima, Portugal, on May 12–13 to commemorate the 108th anniversary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Candlelight procession at Fatima on May 12, 2025. / Credit: Courtesy of Shrine of Fatima/EWTN
ACI Prensa Staff, May 14, 2025 / 17:59 pm (CNA).
Approximately 470,000 pilgrims gathered in Fátima, Portugal, on May 12–13 to commemorate the 108th anniversary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Pope Leo XIV meets with Italian tennis star Jannick Sinner on May 14, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaCNA Staff, May 14, 2025 / 14:48 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV met Italian tennis star Jannik Sinner at the Vatican on Wednesday. Photos shared by Vatican News show the newly elected pope, who has described himself as "quite the amateur tennis player," warmly greeting the 23-year-old Italian and his family as well as the president of the Italian Tennis Federation, Alberto Binaghi.Sinner, who is ranked No. 1 in the world, is from a predominantly German-speaking region in Italy's far north. He became the first Italian man to win a major tennis title since 1976 when he bested Daniil Medvedev at the Australian Open in 2024, earning kudos from the late Pope Francis. Sinner is currently competing in the 2025 Italian Open, taking place in Rome. Greeting the pope in a room off the Vatican's Paul VI Audience Hall, Sinner presented Pope Leo with a tennis racket and bal...
Pope Leo XIV meets with Italian tennis star Jannick Sinner on May 14, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media
CNA Staff, May 14, 2025 / 14:48 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV met Italian tennis star Jannik Sinner at the Vatican on Wednesday.
Photos shared by Vatican News show the newly elected pope, who has described himself as "quite the amateur tennis player," warmly greeting the 23-year-old Italian and his family as well as the president of the Italian Tennis Federation, Alberto Binaghi.
Sinner, who is ranked No. 1 in the world, is from a predominantly German-speaking region in Italy's far north. He became the first Italian man to win a major tennis title since 1976 when he bested Daniil Medvedev at the Australian Open in 2024, earning kudos from the late Pope Francis.
Sinner is currently competing in the 2025 Italian Open, taking place in Rome.
Greeting the pope in a room off the Vatican's Paul VI Audience Hall, Sinner presented Pope Leo with a tennis racket and ball and asked the pope in Italian if he wanted to play.
The pope responded: "Here we'll break something. Best not to!"
Leo also joked that "Wimbledon would let" him compete in his white cassock, a reference to the famous rule at the All England Club tennis tournament that players must wear white.
The pope had previously been asked by journalists about whether he would like to play tennis again — perhaps a charity match — and "seemed game" but quipped that "we can't invite Sinner," in an apparent pun on the English meaning of Sinner's last name, the AP reported Monday.
When asked about the pope's comment, Sinner genially responded that it's "a good thing for us tennis players" that Leo likes the sport and expressed openness to hitting with the pontiff in the future.
Auxiliary Bishop Kevin Kenney of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and MinneapolisWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 13, 2025 / 16:49 pm (CNA).Auxiliary Bishop Kevin Kenney of the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis and other Catholics on Monday spoke at the Minnesota Capitol, where they urged lawmakers to continue allowing illegal immigrants access to MinnesotaCare, a state-funded program that provides health care to low-income families.Kenney told CNA that illegal immigrants "are brothers and sisters, and we need to care for all people. Basic health care is an important feature of who we are as Christians, as Catholics ... We're not advocating for free health care for undocumented but simply access to it."The Minnesota Catholic Conference lobbied for the establishment of MinnesotaCare, which in 1992 began providing coverage for low-income working families who earn above the Medicaid threshold (known as Medical Ass...
Auxiliary Bishop Kevin Kenney of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 13, 2025 / 16:49 pm (CNA).
Auxiliary Bishop Kevin Kenney of the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis and other Catholics on Monday spoke at the Minnesota Capitol, where they urged lawmakers to continue allowing illegal immigrants access to MinnesotaCare, a state-funded program that provides health care to low-income families.
Kenney told CNA that illegal immigrants "are brothers and sisters, and we need to care for all people. Basic health care is an important feature of who we are as Christians, as Catholics ... We're not advocating for free health care for undocumented but simply access to it."
The Minnesota Catholic Conference lobbied for the establishment of MinnesotaCare, which in 1992 began providing coverage for low-income working families who earn above the Medicaid threshold (known as Medical Assistance in Minnesota).
In 2023, the social safety net was expanded to include illegal immigrants. Some Republicans are advocating for their removal from the program, however, to reduce costs and deter migration to the state now that enrollment has exceeded projections.
Minnesota Republican Sen. Glenn Gruenhagen posted a statement on the state's Senate Republican Caucus website on Monday calling for "a commonsense amendment" that allocates taxpayer dollars toward nursing homes rather than health coverage for migrants who are in the country illegally.
"The cost to taxpayers so far is $134 million, and it's rising fast," Gruenhagen said. "At this rate, we'll soon be spending over $600 million on this program, with zero federal match. Every dollar is coming directly from you, the taxpayers of Minnesota."
As of April 24, data from the state Department of Human Services shows 20,187 illegal immigrants enrolled in the program, which operates on a fee-for-service model, according to a local Minnesota Reformer report. "DHS says it has received 4,306 claims for service, costing Minnesota $3.9 million," the report states, noting the figure is almost $1 million over the state's projected cost for the program by that date.
Kenney acknowledged Republican lawmakers' concerns but said "[we can] work this out so that it's not an additional expense on the state of Minnesota as they're trying to cut their budget, as a way of caring for people ... who can't afford health care."
The Minnesota House of Representatives is evenly split 67-67. The state's lawmakers are working to pass the budget before June 30 to avoid a July 1 government shutdown.
In addition, the U.S. House of Representatives will debate a bill in committee this week that, among other changes, would penalize states that provide health care to illegal immigrants.
Kenney noted that bill but stressed that "we can't make decisions out of fear of repercussions, we need to make them out of love for our fellow men and women, our fellow brothers and sisters … I'm hoping that the Holy Spirit touches some hearts."
Pope Leo XIV, when he was bishop of Chiclayo (Peru), recites the prayer of consecration before Our Lady of Fátima. / Credit: Courtesy of Fátima Mission PeruLima Newsroom, May 13, 2025 / 17:19 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV, when he was bishop of Chiclayo, Peru, offered a special prayer of consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary before the pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fátima, whose feast day the Catholic Church celebrates on May 13.On Jan. 7, 2019, after having requested a year earlier that the Marian image be brought to Chiclayo from the Fátima shrine in Portugal, then-Bishop Robert Prevost offered a special Mass in St. Mary's Cathedral that was attended by a large number of faithful."My memory of the January 2019 consecration is that the bishop [Prevost] agreed to it very easily, out of love for the Virgin. I remember that we priests were on a retreat and we asked him for permission so that we too could receive the image and consecrate ourselves, and he agreed," said Father Jorge...
Pope Leo XIV, when he was bishop of Chiclayo (Peru), recites the prayer of consecration before Our Lady of Fátima. / Credit: Courtesy of Fátima Mission Peru
Lima Newsroom, May 13, 2025 / 17:19 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV, when he was bishop of Chiclayo, Peru, offered a special prayer of consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary before the pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fátima, whose feast day the Catholic Church celebrates on May 13.
On Jan. 7, 2019, after having requested a year earlier that the Marian image be brought to Chiclayo from the Fátima shrine in Portugal, then-Bishop Robert Prevost offered a special Mass in St. Mary's Cathedral that was attended by a large number of faithful.
"My memory of the January 2019 consecration is that the bishop [Prevost] agreed to it very easily, out of love for the Virgin. I remember that we priests were on a retreat and we asked him for permission so that we too could receive the image and consecrate ourselves, and he agreed," said Father Jorge Millán Cotrina, pastor of Holy Family Parish in Chiclayo, in a statement to ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner.
"It was very moving because here in Chiclayo, the people are very Marian. The city of Chiclayo's original name is Our Lady of the Valleys of Chiclayo, which the Franciscans gave it in the 16th century," he continued.
"The pope is devoted to the Virgin Mary, but not under any specific title of hers, although it may be the Mother of Good Counsel, whom he recently went to venerate in Italy." However, he also celebrated Masses for "Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Lourdes, and Our Lady of Mount Carmel," due to the great Marian devotion of the people of Chiclayo.
Regarding the election of Cardinal Prevost as the successor of St. Peter, Millán said that when he saw the announcement, he experienced "a tremendous, indescribable emotion" and a cause of "great joy, great peace, and a soul open to hope, because there are always little things that are confusing, and knowing that he will be there gives us a certain hope that things will be better."
"Not because of him, but because of his personality, because of his docility to the things of God, to the Holy Spirit," he clarified.
The priest also commented that when he heard Pope Leo XIV mention his "beloved diocese of Chiclayo" from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, "many of us were brought to tears."
Below is the prayer of consecration that Pope Leo XIV recited before the pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fátima when he was bishop of Chiclayo:
"I, Robert Francis Prevost Martínez, make this day an act of consecration, repentance, [asking] forgiveness, and reparation to God for all the transgressions that have occurred in Peru.
"I do this before God and for those who have sought to eliminate the Catholic faith in times past and present. I ask for forgiveness, and through this act of [seeking] forgiveness, we want this consecration to be a reason to encourage us to seek in Peru the conversion and unity we so very much need, and that only comes from God.
"Through this act of repentance, [seeking] forgiveness, and reparation to God, I renew the consecration of Peru, united with the dioceses, parishes, priests, deacons, seminarians, men and women religious, and laypeople to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
"I wish, in this way, to consecrate and surrender to God all that we are and all that we have, and receive in turn his everlasting love and protection for every person and every family in Peru.
"And let us say together, Hail Mary…"
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Credit: ivanko80/ShutterstockCNA Staff, May 12, 2025 / 16:06 pm (CNA).California pregnancy centers filed an appeal last week asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit to stop the state from censoring pro-life pregnancy centers that provide abortion pill reversals.The National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) and the SCV Pregnancy Center in Santa Clarita, California, are asking the court to stop the state of California from censoring pro-life pregnancy centers that provide information about abortion pill reversal. In 2023 California's attorney general, Rob Bonta, sued five pro-life pregnancy centers over their promotion of a drug that is meant to reverse chemical abortions. In the suit, Bonta accused the pregnancy centers of using fraudulent and misleading claims when advertising the abortion pill reversal drug. The lawsuit accused the pregnancy centers of violating California's False Advertising Law and Unfair Competition Law. The May 7 a...
Credit: ivanko80/Shutterstock
CNA Staff, May 12, 2025 / 16:06 pm (CNA).
California pregnancy centers filed an appeal last week asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit to stop the state from censoring pro-life pregnancy centers that provide abortion pill reversals.
The National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) and the SCV Pregnancy Center in Santa Clarita, California, are asking the court to stop the state of California from censoring pro-life pregnancy centers that provide information about abortion pill reversal.
In 2023 California's attorney general, Rob Bonta, sued five pro-life pregnancy centers over their promotion of a drug that is meant to reverse chemical abortions.
In the suit, Bonta accused the pregnancy centers of using fraudulent and misleading claims when advertising the abortion pill reversal drug. The lawsuit accused the pregnancy centers of violating California's False Advertising Law and Unfair Competition Law.
The May 7 appeal alleges that California "targeted" pro-life organizations and violated the First Amendment right to freedom of speech as well as religious freedom, as NIFLA is a faith-based organization.
Abortion pill reversal entails taking progesterone within 72 hours of taking mifepristone, the first of two drugs taken for a chemical abortion. The progesterone can stop a chemical abortion.
Progesterone, a vital hormone for maintaining pregnancy, has been used for decades to prevent miscarriage and preterm labor. Abortion pill reversal has potentially saved thousands of unborn lives, with some sources citing a 64%-68% success rate.
"Progesterone therapy offers these women hope and their babies a second chance at life," the appeal read.
Caleb Dalton, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, the nonprofit legal group arguing on behalf of the pregnancy centers, said that "access to information is a hallmark of a free society and is essential to making informed medical choices."
"Every woman should have the option to reconsider going through with a chemical abortion, and the pro-life pregnancy centers we represent truthfully inform women about that choice," Dalton said in a statement.
"We urge the court to affirm the pregnancy centers' freedom to tell the public about this lawful, life-saving treatment and end the attorney general's censorship," Dalton said.
The appeal pointed to the story of two California mothers, Atoria Foley and Desirae Exendine, who "immediately regretted" taking the first abortion drug and "frantically sought an alternative."
Through online searches, the women found a NIFLA pregnancy center. An OB-GYN on staff prescribed progesterone free of cost after diagnosing the women and obtaining their informed consent.
"The treatment worked: Atoria gave birth to a healthy daughter and Desirae to a healthy son," the appeal read.
"If I hadn't heard about abortion pill reversal, I firmly believe my baby girl would not be alive today," Foley testified in the appeal.
"They gave me back my son's life. I believe all women should have the same second chance to save their babies," Exendine added.
Pope Leo XIV smiles as a jubilant crowd joins in prayer on Sunday, May 11, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNAWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 12, 2025 / 16:36 pm (CNA).As the world celebrates the election of the first pope born in the United States, the president of the only U.S.-based charitable organization dedicated to carrying out the Holy Father's humanitarian aid projects speculates that Leo XIV's papacy could increase charitable giving within the Church. "I do think that because Pope Leo is American, he will have a special rapport with Americans that it should lead to increased donation for his causes of the poor and the vulnerable and the marginalized," said Ward Fitzgerald, the Papal Foundation's board president. Funded by donations from its "Stewards of St. Peter," the Papal Foundation supports humanitarian aid projects designated by the pope and the continuing education of priests and religious. "Ninety to 95% of these benefactors are American," according to F...
Pope Leo XIV smiles as a jubilant crowd joins in prayer on Sunday, May 11, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 12, 2025 / 16:36 pm (CNA).
As the world celebrates the election of the first pope born in the United States, the president of the only U.S.-based charitable organization dedicated to carrying out the Holy Father's humanitarian aid projects speculates that Leo XIV's papacy could increase charitable giving within the Church.
"I do think that because Pope Leo is American, he will have a special rapport with Americans that it should lead to increased donation for his causes of the poor and the vulnerable and the marginalized," said Ward Fitzgerald, the Papal Foundation's board president.
Funded by donations from its "Stewards of St. Peter," the Papal Foundation supports humanitarian aid projects designated by the pope and the continuing education of priests and religious. "Ninety to 95% of these benefactors are American," according to Fitzgerald, who emphasized that none of their contributions go to the Vatican or the Holy See.
Part of the reason Fitzgerald believes the new pontiff's election could positively influence donations not only to the foundation but also to the Vatican is that the new Holy Father is a native English speaker.
"Too often ... the pope feels a bit foreign to Americans," he said. "We are not owed as a society having [a pope] that speaks our language, just like no other countries are owed that. But it can be helpful in catalyzing the faith and catalyzing the Holy See's causes when communication can be better."
"I think it's particularly important in an era, unfortunately, where people use video and phone constantly," he added.
Ultimately, he said, "I think communication through the verbal word as opposed to the written word is going to help Americans embrace the causes of the pope, which include the poor and the marginalized and the vulnerable."
Fitzgerald, who has met Cardinal Robert Prevost — now Pope Leo XIV — described the new pontiff as politically neither right nor left but as a "compassionate conservative or conservative compassionate."
He stated that the pontiff's philosophy rests on three pillars: an appreciation for the harmony of faith and reason, shaped by his study of Aquinas; a commitment to leading people to Christ, rooted in his Augustinian influences; and a deep concern for the poor and marginalized, reflected in his service in Peru.
Apart from serving as the foundation's board president, Fitzgerald is the CEO and founder of ExCorde Capital, a private equity firm that specializes in real estate debt and equity markets. One thing he said he hoped to see under Pope Leo XIV's pontificate is more transparency in Vatican finances and better stewardship of its real estate.
"I think that the universal Church would be more charitable to the Vatican if it understood its finances," he said, noting the general impression many people have is that of waste and lack of oversight.
"I'm not saying it's true or false because I have no idea," he said. "But I think the impression is that if they can communicate clearly where the capital is going … I believe the world would support it."
"Again, because this pope is from America, and America happens to be a more affluent country than many countries, America will probably provide more than its fair share towards those goals," he added.
In terms of Vatican real estate, Fitzgerald said that while sometimes Church property can be a true asset, other times it can be a "crutch and a burden."
"Now is the time to shed the burden of trying to maintain real estate that is not impactful towards the mission of the truth of the Church and for Jesus Christ," he said.
Archbishop Julian Porteous. / Credit: Archdiocese of HobartWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 12, 2025 / 17:06 pm (CNA).A Catholic archbishop in Australia is calling attention to an ecumenical statement on human sexuality released last year as the group behind the project seeks to gain approval for the creed from "biblically orthodox leaders" worldwide.Archbishop Julian Porteous of Hobart is among some 6,000 initial signatories of the "Australian Creed for Sexual Integrity," a statement affirming fundamental Christian ethics on sex and gender that was drafted last October by a team of over 100 Christian faith leaders, including Catholic clergy.In a Catholic Weekly interview last week, Porteous explained his decision to back the initiative, saying: "I thought it was good ecumenically to show support. And from the Catholic point of view, I felt we had a lot to offer because we have been able to articulate a lot of this material through magisterial teaching, through the catechism and ...
Archbishop Julian Porteous. / Credit: Archdiocese of Hobart
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 12, 2025 / 17:06 pm (CNA).
A Catholic archbishop in Australia is calling attention to an ecumenical statement on human sexuality released last year as the group behind the project seeks to gain approval for the creed from "biblically orthodox leaders" worldwide.
Archbishop Julian Porteous of Hobart is among some 6,000 initial signatories of the "Australian Creed for Sexual Integrity," a statement affirming fundamental Christian ethics on sex and gender that was drafted last October by a team of over 100 Christian faith leaders, including Catholic clergy.
In a Catholic Weekly interview last week, Porteous explained his decision to back the initiative, saying: "I thought it was good ecumenically to show support. And from the Catholic point of view, I felt we had a lot to offer because we have been able to articulate a lot of this material through magisterial teaching, through the catechism and so on, and help them with terminology."
The creed outlines common Christian moral tenets on the creation of every person as male or female, marriage and sexuality as exclusively between men and women, the belief that every human life is sacred, and the call to chastity and faithfulness both in marriage and singleness.
"We believe in one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who designed sex as part of his loving plan for humanity and whose will for sexual integrity is clearly revealed in holy Scripture," the statement reads.
"We believe our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit," the statement adds, "that Christ calls and empowers us to repent from all sin, including sexual sin, that his mercy abounds to forgive and restore, and that by living with sexual integrity we glorify God and humbly embrace his wise and loving plan for human life."
"Every era has its particular heresies," the creed website states. "We believe the time has come for a new creed that affirms the timeless teachings of the church regarding sexual integrity and that articulates God's glorious design for sex and marriage as revealed in holy Scripture."
"Our hope and prayer," the website notes, "is that the Australian Creed for Sexual Integrity will gain global approval from biblically orthodox leaders in the Catholic Church, the Anglican/Episcopalian Church, the Lutheran Church, the Presbyterian Church, the Orthodox Church, evangelical and Pentecostal churches, and many more besides."
