Catholic News

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Vatican City, Jun 13, 2025 / 04:42 am (CNA).

The Vatican announced Friday that Blessed Carlo Acutis and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, two young Catholics beloved for their vibrant faith and witness to holiness, will be canonized together on Sept. 7.

The date was set during the first ordinary public consistory of cardinals of Pope Leo XIV's pontificate, held June 13 at the Apostolic Palace. Acutis, who died of leukemia in 2006 at age 15, will become the first millennial to be declared a saint by the Catholic Church.

Acutis' canonization had originally been scheduled for April 27 during the Vatican's Jubilee of Teenagers. That ceremony was postponed following the death of Pope Francis on April 21. Despite the change, thousands of young pilgrims from around the world who had traveled to Rome for Acutis' canonization attended the late pope's funeral and the jubilee Mass, which drew an estimated 200,000 people.

In an unexpected move, the consistory also decided to move the date for Frassati's canonization, which had been set for Aug. 3 during the Jubilee of Youth.

Carlo Acutis: The first millennial saint

Acutis, an Italian computer-coding teenager who died of cancer in 2006, is known for his great devotion to the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.

He became the first millennial to be beatified by the Catholic Church in 2020 and is widely popular among Catholics, particularly youth. Known for his deep faith and digital savvy, he used his computer-coding skills to draw attention to Eucharistic miracles around the world. His miracles' exhibit, featuring more than 100 documented miracles involving the Eucharist throughout history, has since traveled to thousands of parishes across five continents.

The Vatican formally recognized a second miracle attributed to Acutis' intercession on May 23, 2024. The case involved the healing of 21-year-old Valeria Valverde of Costa Rica, who sustained a serious brain injury in a bicycle accident while studying in Florence in 2022. She was not expected to survive but recovered after her mother prayed for Acutis' intercession at his tomb in Assisi.

Born in London in 1991 and raised in Milan, Acutis attended daily Mass from a young age and was passionate about the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Shortly after his first Communion at the age of 7, Carlo told his mother: "To always be united to Jesus: This is my life plan."

Carlo called the Eucharist "my highway to heaven," and he did all in his power to make the Real Presence known. His witness inspired his parents to return to practicing the Catholic faith and his Hindu au pair to convert and be baptized.

Many of Carlo's classmates, friends, and family members testified to the Vatican how he brought them closer to God. He is remembered for saying: "People who place themselves before the sun get a tan; people who place themselves before the Eucharist become saints."

Shortly before his death, Acutis offered his suffering from cancer "for the pope and for the Church" and expressed a desire to go "straight to heaven."

Known as a cheerful and kind child with a love for animals, video games, and technology, Acutis' life has inspired documentaries, digital evangelization projects, and the founding of schools in his name. His legacy continues to resonate strongly with a new generation of Catholics.

Pier Giorgio Frassati: 'To the heights' of holiness

Frassati, who died at the age of 24 in 1925, is also beloved by many today for his enthusiastic witness to holiness that reaches "to the heights."

The young man from the northern Italian city of Turin was an avid mountaineer and Third Order Dominican known for his charitable outreach.

Born on Holy Saturday, April 6, 1901, Frassati was the son of the founder and director of the Italian newspaper La Stampa.

At the age of 17, he joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society and dedicated much of his spare time to taking care of the poor, the homeless, and the sick as well as demobilized servicemen returning from World War I.

Frassati was also involved in the Apostleship of Prayer and Catholic Action. He obtained permission to receive daily Communion.

On a photograph of what would be his last climb, Frassati wrote the phrase "Verso L'Alto," which means "to the heights." This phrase has become a motto for Catholics inspired by Frassati to strive for the summit of eternal life with Christ.

Frassati died of polio on July 4, 1925. His doctors later speculated that the young man had caught polio while serving the sick.

Pope John Paul II, who beatified Frassati in 1990, called him a "man of the Eight Beatitudes," describing him as "entirely immersed in the mystery of God and totally dedicated to the constant service of his neighbor."

The canonization Mass for Acutis and Frassati is expected to take place in St. Peter's Square.

During Friday's consistory, the College of Cardinals approved the upcoming canonizations of seven other blesseds, including Bartolo Longo, José Gregorio Hernández, Peter To Rot, Vincenza Maria Poloni, Ignazio Choukrallah Maloyan, María del Monte Carmelo Rendiles Martínez, and Maria Troncatti, who will be canonized together on Oct. 19.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 13, 2025 / 10:56 am (CNA).

Women in America and the United Kingdom are taking legal action against Pfizer and other birth control producers after a study indicated that injectable contraceptives were found to cause brain tumors.

A case management conference regarding the multi-district litigation was held on May 30 in Pensacola, Florida, to discuss the next steps in the lawsuits filed against New York-based Pfizer. 

The legal action follows a 2024 French study that found that the use of the contraceptive medication medroxyprogesterone, often known under Pfizer's brand name Depo-Provera, renders a woman five times more likely to develop a meningioma brain tumor.

Meningiomas are slow-growing tumors that are usually benign but can cause severe injury or death if they become large enough to compress the brain or spinal cord.

The research study conducted by the National Agency for Medicines and Health Products Safety examined data on 18,061 women. The participants were on average around 57 years old and had all undergone intracranial surgeries for meningiomas between 2009 and 2018. 

The observational study found that women who had used progestational hormones including medrogestone, medroxyprogesterone acetate, or promegestone for a year or longer had a heightened risk of suffering from a meningioma that required surgical intervention.

The research showed that the risk of developing a meningioma tumor was 5.6% higher among women who had used Depo-Provera.

After the study was released, Pfizer acknowledged the "potential risk associated with long-term use of progestogens." The company said it was working to update "product labels and patient information leaflets with appropriate wording," but as of 2025 the drug still does not have a written warning in the United States.

According to a press release filed on behalf of the roughly 400 plaintiffs, "the lawsuits allege that Pfizer and other generic producers of Depo-Provera were aware of the link between these birth control injections and brain tumors and that they failed to adequately warn of the risk and promote safer alternatives."

Women in the United Kingdom are also starting to take legal action against pharmaceutical companies that have issued the drug. According to Britain's National Health Service, in the U.K. about 10,000 women receive an injection of the contraceptive every month.

In 2021, a study published in the Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care estimated that 42 million reproductive-age women were using injectable contraceptives and reported that the shot was ranked the fourth most prevalent contraceptive worldwide. 

The French research was released about a year after a study at the University of Oxford found that use of any progestogen-only hormonal contraceptives is associated with a 20%-30% higher risk of breast cancer.

The Catholic Church has held for centuries that artificial contraception of any kind is immoral and prohibited. That was articulated most famously in Humanae Vitae, the 1968 encyclical by St. Paul VI.

In the encyclical, the pontiff wrote that "each and every marital act must of necessity retain its intrinsic relationship to the procreation of human life."

The Holy Father said that "similarly excluded is any action which either before, at the moment of, or after sexual intercourse is specifically intended to prevent procreation — whether as an end or as a means."

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Vatican City, Jun 13, 2025 / 04:42 am (CNA).

The Vatican announced Friday that Blessed Carlo Acutis and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, two young Catholics beloved for their vibrant faith and witness to holiness, will be canonized together on Sept. 7.

The date was set during the first ordinary public consistory of cardinals of Pope Leo XIV's pontificate, held June 13 at the Apostolic Palace. Acutis, who died of leukemia in 2006 at age 15, will become the first millennial to be declared a saint by the Catholic Church.

Acutis' canonization had originally been scheduled for April 27 during the Vatican's Jubilee of Teenagers. That ceremony was postponed following the death of Pope Francis on April 21. Despite the change, thousands of young pilgrims from around the world who had traveled to Rome for Acutis' canonization attended the late pope's funeral and the jubilee Mass, which drew an estimated 200,000 people.

In an unexpected move, the consistory also decided to move the date for Frassati's canonization, which had been set for Aug. 3 during the Jubilee of Youth.

Carlo Acutis: the first millennial saint

Acutis, an Italian computer-coding teenager who died of cancer in 2006, is known for his great devotion to the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.

He became the first millennial to be beatified by the Catholic Church 2020 and is widely popular among Catholics, particularly youth. Known for his deep faith and digital savvy, he used his computer-coding skills to draw attention to Eucharistic miracles around the world. His miracles' exhibit, featuring more than 100 documented miracles involving the Eucharist throughout history, has since traveled to thousands of parishes across five continents.

The Vatican formally recognized a second miracle attributed to Acutis' intercession on May 23, 2024. The case involved the healing of 21-year-old Valeria Valverde of Costa Rica, who sustained a serious brain injury in a bicycle accident while studying in Florence in 2022. She was not expected to survive but recovered after her mother prayed for Acutis' intercession at his tomb in Assisi.

Born in London in 1991 and raised in Milan, Acutis attended daily Mass from a young age and was passionate about the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Shortly after his first Communion at the age of 7, Carlo told his mother: "To always be united to Jesus: This is my life plan."

Carlo called the Eucharist "my highway to heaven," and he did all in his power to make the real presence known. His witness inspired his parents to return to practicing the Catholic faith and his Hindu au pair to convert and be baptized.

Many of Carlo's classmates, friends, and family members testified to the Vatican how he brought them closer to God. He is remembered for saying, "People who place themselves before the sun get a tan; people who place themselves before the Eucharist become saints."

Shortly before his death, Acutis offered his suffering from cancer "for the pope and for the Church" and expressed a desire to go "straight to heaven."

Known as a cheerful and kind child with a love for animals, video games, and technology, Acutis' life has inspired documentaries, digital evangelization projects, and the founding of schools in his name. His legacy continues to resonate strongly with a new generation of Catholics.

Pier Giorgio Frassati: 'To the heights' of holiness

Frassati, who died at the age of 24 in 1925, is also beloved by many today for his enthusiastic witness to holiness that reaches "to the heights."

The young man from the northern Italian city of Turin was an avid mountaineer and Third Order Dominican known for his charitable outreach.

Born on Holy Saturday, April 6, 1901, Frassati was the son of the founder and director of the Italian newspaper La Stampa.

At the age of 17, he joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society and dedicated much of his spare time to taking care of the poor, the homeless, and the sick as well as demobilized servicemen returning from World War I.

Frassati was also involved in the Apostleship of Prayer and Catholic Action. He obtained permission to receive daily Communion.

On a photograph of what would be his last climb, Frassati wrote the phrase "Verso L'Alto," which means "to the heights." This phrase has become a motto for Catholics inspired by Frassati to strive for the summit of eternal life with Christ.

Frassati died of polio on July 4, 1925. His doctors later speculated that the young man had caught polio while serving the sick.

John Paul II, who beatified Frassati in 1990, called him a "man of the eight beatitudes," describing him as "entirely immersed in the mystery of God and totally dedicated to the constant service of his neighbor."

The canonization Mass for Acutis and Frassati is expected to take place in St. Peter's Square.

During Friday's consistory, the College of Cardinals approved the upcoming canonizations of seven other blesseds, including Bartolo Longo, José Gregorio Hernández, Peter To Rot, Vincenza Maria Poloni, Ignazio Choukrallah Maloyan, María del Monte Carmelo Rendiles Martínez, and Maria Troncatti, who will be canonized together on Oct. 19.

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CNA Staff, Jun 13, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

For many years in the United States, Catholic dioceses have periodically announced major settlements involving victims of Catholic clergy abuse, with the payouts coming as part of bankruptcy proceedings related to abuse claims. 

Since 2004, when the Archdiocese of Portland declared bankruptcy, dioceses and archdioceses have used Chapter 11 law to navigate the complex and often financially crushing process of resolving decades of sex abuse claims. 

In recent years, many U.S. bishops have announced major nine-figure settlements for abuse victims. Most recently, the Archdiocese of New Orleans last month agreed to pay a massive $180 million to victims of clergy abuse there, bringing an end to years of bankruptcy proceedings in federal court.

Where does the money come from? 

Marie Reilly, a professor of law at Penn State University and an expert in bankruptcy litigation,  including Catholic diocesan bankruptcy proceedings, told CNA that the popular perception is that dioceses and archdioceses simply have tremendous amounts of money lying around to contribute to settlements. 

That's far from the truth, she said — and the process is unique for each diocese.

"In general, the plans of reorganization in diocesan and religious order bankruptcy cases are structured so that [the diocese and] the committees that represent sex abuse claimants agree on an amount of money to be contributed to this settlement trust," she said.  

The parties "also agree on the process and criteria by which the claims are going to be paid by the settlement trust," she said. "Then they agree on where and how the diocese will fund the settlement trust."

In many cases, she said, a diocese will fund a trust by selling property it may have in its portfolio. In the New Orleans case, for instance, the archdiocese is moving to sell a set of low-income housing properties it owns. 

"In other cases I've seen dioceses proposing to sell property that was once used maybe for a church, but the church has been closed and is just sitting there as a deferred maintenance nightmare," she said. "They'll sell the properties and use the proceeds to fund the settlement trust. In more than one case the diocese has sold buildings that they used as offices or retreat houses."

Reilly noted that insurance is a "huge component" of many payouts. 

Multiple U.S. dioceses and archdioceses, including Baltimore and New York, have recently sued their insurance providers, alleging that the companies are refusing to help pay abuse claims even though they are reportedly legally obliged to do so. 

Reilly said that insurance companies largely changed how they cover such incidents in the 1990s. "Up until about the mid-'90s, a general liability policy used to include coverages for employee liability," she said. "It would cover sex abuse claims against the diocese stemming from an employee's abuse. After 1996, insurance policies issued under new revised standards just don't provide that coverage anymore." 

Data indicate that the vast majority of credible abuse allegations in the U.S. occurred prior to the 1990s. 

In some cases, Reilly said, dioceses will borrow money to help pay settlements, including from affiliate organizations and services such as cemeteries. 

"It's very challenging to hypothetically value a lot of property that is entitled in the name of the diocese," she said. "What is a cemetery worth? It's subject to so many public health restrictions. Most cemeteries are zoned in a way that they always have to be used as cemeteries." 

"Even Church property that is no longer actively being used for worship is sometimes subject to a restrictive trust," she pointed out. 

Parish funds 

Among the more controversial sources for diocesan settlement payments are funds from individual parishes. Reilly said it's "very common" for parishes to pay into settlement trusts. 

When a diocese files for bankruptcy, she said, it will usually ask the court to halt any litigation against individual parishes, in part because a parish being sued for the actions of a diocesan priest could claim the diocese itself is liable and sue the diocese in turn. 

"The diocese will say it wants any settlement to be the ultimate solution for both their liability, and for the parishes too," she said. "In order to get that to happen, parishes typically have to contribute to a settlement." 

Parishes in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, she noted, were recently required to contribute to a settlement trust after the diocese said last year it would pay $323 million to abuse survivors. 

The Diocese of Buffalo, meanwhile, said this week that its parishes would be required to pay up to 80% of their "unrestricted cash" to help fund a $150 million settlement there. 

Bankruptcy plans, Reilly said, are advantageous not just for a diocese but for those seeking compensation from it, as the alternative is for a plaintiff to "prove their case on a trial of evidence against the diocese," which requires considerably more effort with less chance of payment.

Committees of survivors usually agree that bankruptcy is the better option, she said, insofar as it ensures that everyone gets some form of compensation instead of just a few big payouts being limited to the quickest litigants. 

"Outside of bankruptcy, we call it 'the race of the diligent,' where the speediest get the spoils," she said.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 13, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Here's a roundup of Catholic world news from the past week that you might have missed:

China recognizes Pope Leo XIV's first bishop appointment 

The People's Republic of China has officially recognized Pope Leo XIV's first bishop appointment, the Vatican announced, signaling what some say is an indication that the new pontiff intends to continue operating under the controversial Vatican-China deal.

Chinese officials recognized Bishop Joseph Lin Yuntuan, who was installed as auxiliary bishop of Fuzhou on June 11, just six days after Leo announced the appointment. "This event constitutes a further fruit of the dialogue between the Holy See and the Chinese authorities and is an important step in the journey of communion of the diocese," Vatican Press Office Director Matteo Bruni said in a statement. 

Historic St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev damaged in deadly drone attack 

The historic Holy Wisdom Cathedral, also known as St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, has been damaged following a deadly Russian drone attack on the Ukrainian city, which left seven people dead and 13 injured.

According to Reuters, the blast damaged the cornice on the main apse of the cathedral, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Iraqi Christian village faces cultural and religious identity crisis 

Residents of the Christian town of Ankawa, Iraq, are raising alarms over rapid changes threatening the community's cultural and religious identity, reported ACI MENA, CNA's Arabic-language news partner. Local activists, clergy, and officials are condemning the unchecked spread of nightclubs, tourism venues, and real estate acquisitions by outsiders often through legal loopholes as signs of a slow erosion of the town's Christian heritage. 

Chaldean patriarch Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako and Iraqi Member of Parliament Farouq Hanna Atto have both blamed poor planning, government negligence, and weak representation for the worsening situation. Catholic and Orthodox bishops have voiced support for efforts made by youth to defend the town's values, encouraging responsible public discourse. Ankawa traces its Christian roots back nearly two millennia and many fear the changes may permanently alter one of the last strongholds of Christianity in the region. 

Nigerian clergy directed to take longer route to avoid abduction

Nigerian priests and religious have been directed to take the longer route when traveling in northeast Nigeria to the city of Maiduguri, where their diocese is headquartered, due to a surge in cases of targeted abductions.

"Given the recent resurgence of Boko Haram and the constant attacks, the diocese has now placed a ban on the use of the road between Mubi through Gwoza to Maiduguri by all priests, religious, and even the laity of the Diocese of Maiduguri," Father Fidelis Joseph Bature, a diocesan priest, told ACI Africa, CNA's news partner in Africa. The ban follows the killing of a diocesan staff member and the abduction of a priest by suspected Boko Haram militants. 

German archdiocese joins TikTok: 'Our Church is not unworldly' 

The Archdiocese of Paderborn has launched its own TikTok account in a bid to appeal to young people on the controversial app, reported CNA Deutsch, CNA's German-language news partner. 

The account will seek to proclaim the Gospel in "the language of the respective platform and of the young people on it," in order to show that the Church "is not unworldly," a spokesperson for the archdiocese, Till Kupitz, explained. Though the app "is not without controversy," Kupitz emphasized that TikTok "is also the platform par excellence on which young people look for their information." 

Centennial visit of St. Thérèse's relics to Lebanon 

As Lebanon marks 100 years since the canonization of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the saint's relics are once again touring the country from June 13 to July 20, ACI MENA reported. The initiative aims to offer Lebanese faithful a renewed encounter with the "Little Flower." This will be the second time her relics have visited Lebanon, the first being over two decades ago.

According to Father Charbel Sawaya, the pilgrimage's theme, "I Travel Through Lebanon for Love and Peace," reflects St. Thérèse's mission of drawing people closer to Jesus. Her relics will travel from the south to the north of the country, stopping at churches and dioceses.

Africa's bishops to hold plenary assembly in Rwanda 

The need for a common vision in witnessing "hope, reconciliation, and integral development" across the continent will be the central focus for African bishops at their 20th plenary assembly in Rwanda next month.

In a document shared with ACI Africa, bishops explained that the idea for this year's focus comes as the country "remains deeply wounded by persistent conflicts, political instability, coups, and widespread human suffering, leaving millions displaced, traumatized, or living without hope."

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CNA Staff, Jun 12, 2025 / 17:38 pm (CNA).

Twenty-two states and various religious freedom and free speech advocates have filed friend-of-the-court briefs on behalf of two Vermont couples who are suing the state after their licenses to be foster parents were revoked due to their religious beliefs concerning human sexuality. 

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is suing on behalf of Brian and Katy Wuoti and Bryan and Rebecca Gantt after the Vermont Department for Children and Families informed the two families that their belief that persons cannot change biological sex and that marriage is only between a man and a woman precluded them from serving as foster parents in the state.

Despite describing the Wuotis and the Gantts as "amazing," "wonderful," and "welcoming," state officials revoked the couples' foster care licenses after they expressed their commonly-held and constitutionally-protected religious beliefs. The state said these beliefs made them "unqualified" to parent any child, regardless of the child's age, beliefs, or identity. 

In 2014, the Wuotis became foster parents, eventually adopting two brothers from foster care. The Gantts started fostering in 2016, caring for children born with drug dependencies or fetal alcohol syndrome, and have adopted three children.

Attorneys general from 21 states and the Arizona Legislature filed an amicus curiae, or friend-of-the-court brief, on June 6 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on behalf of the families, writing that the state is burdening the couples' "free speech and free exercise rights."

In another friend-of-the-court brief, The Conscience Project director Andrea Picciotti-Bayer decried Vermont's "ideological intolerance," writing that Vermont's stance is "nothing other than an ideological snare set to identify and exclude anyone — especially those with religious convictions — unwilling to embrace gender ideology."

Picciotti-Bayer told CNA that the Vermont policy is especially egregious because there is a tremendous need for foster families in the state and nationwide. Because of the huge shortage, Picciotti-Bayer said children are being placed in "crazy situations" like hotels and sheriff's offices.

She criticized the Vermont Department for Children and Families, saying the state's "priorities are so far off," because excluding Christian families like the Wuotis and the Gantts prevents foster children from "finding safe, loving, and stable homes."

ADF Senior Counsel Johannes Widmalm-Delphonse agreed, saying in a statement that "Vermont's foster-care system is in crisis: There aren't enough families to care for vulnerable kids. Yet instead of inviting families from diverse backgrounds to help care for vulnerable kids, Vermont is shutting the door on them, putting its ideological agenda ahead of the needs of suffering kids."

According to Picciotti-Bayer, Christians have an "incredible track record in fostering," saying Christian families are more likely than the general population to foster and are also more likely to foster more complex placements.

"Hard-to-place kids often find the best homes in families of faith," Picciotti-Bayer told CNA, because of the "deep bench of community support" found in churches and faith communities, who support foster families by providing food, clothes, and respite support. 

"When you know these Christian families make stellar foster families," she continued, "for the state to categorically exclude them seems nonsensical, apart from the possibility of grave discrimination."

A friend-of-the-court brief was also filed by Concerned Women for America, the First Liberty Institute, the Foundation for Moral Law, and professors Mark Regnerus, Catherine Pakaluk, Loren Marks, and Joseph Price.

A friend-of-the-court brief was even filed by the left-leaning Women's Liberation Front, whose attorney, Lauren Bone, wrote that "gender ideology is religious in nature," and mandating that foster parents adopt such ideology is akin to an "unconstitutional establishment of religion."  

Bone also wrote that gender ideology, rather than being "progressive," is actually a "regressive approach to sex stereotypes and sexuality" that "harms children, women, and LGB [lesbian, gay, and bisexual] people" by "leading often troubled children to question their sex, by subverting the basis for necessary sex separation, and by confounding the meaning of same-sex attraction."

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 12, 2025 / 18:08 pm (CNA).

A parental rights group has filed formal complaints against the YMCA with three federal agencies, requesting an investigation of the organization for allegedly violating the law by permitting biological males to use girls' locker rooms, bathrooms, and overnight cabins.

The American Parents Coalition (APC), led by Alleigh Marré, sent letters on June 10 to the secretaries of the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. She requested an investigation into possible Title IX violations on the part of the YMCA.

"The YMCA has betrayed the families it claims to serve," Marré said in a statement. "Girls are expected to share teams, locker rooms, bathrooms, and overnight cabins with biological males, while parents are often kept in the dark."

"As a federally funded institution receiving more than 600 million taxpayer dollars, the YMCA is legally obligated to protect girls, not sacrifice fairness, safety, and privacy to promote gender ideology," she added.

The APC alleges that because the YMCA is a recipient of federal funds, it is required to adhere to Title IX rules, which ban sex-based discrimination. President Donald Trump issued executive orders clarifying that federal anti-discrimination rules are based on a person's "sex" and not self-purported "gender identity," instructing agencies to safeguard "intimate spaces" reserved for girls and women such as locker rooms and bathrooms.

The APC accuses the YMCA of maintaining "discriminatory policies" that go against Title IX rules and "imperil vulnerable children." It alleges the YMCA embraces "radical gender ideology" through its policies.

"Under such an ideology, a man can walk into a YMCA locker room where young girls are changing because he feels like a woman," the complaint alleges. "The YMCA policies prioritize the man but not the young girls in the locker room."

The letter cites a since-deleted 2017 document on the American YMCA's website about "how to create a safe space for LGBTQ+ campers." One of the recommendations in the document was to "ensure all campers and staff have access to the facilities aligned with their gender identity and comfort within facility and resource limitations" as opposed to separating facilities on the basis of biological sex.

Marré told CNA that these recommendations are not "just theoretical" and cited examples in which YMCA facilities forced women and girls to "share that space with a man."

In 2022, an 80-year-old woman was banned from a YMCA pool in Washington after expressing concerns about a biological male being present in a female locker room while young girls were changing. An article from the Daily Mail this week detailed an ongoing dispute at a YMCA gym in California in which several women have complained about a biological male who frequently uses the female locker room.

In April, police in Missouri launched an investigation into reports that a biological male exposed himself to children in a girls' locker room at North Kansas City YMCA. North Kansas City YMCA told the local Fox affiliate that it was cooperating with the investigation but that "individuals are allowed to use the locker room or restroom that they identify with" according to state and local law.

Some YMCA summer camps include information on their websites that state that facilities are separated on the basis of self-asserted "gender identity" rather than biological sex. Camp Olson in Minnesota, for example, states that cabin assignments are based on "gender preference."

YMCA disputes APC's letter

The YMCA is disputing some of the APC letter's characterizations of its policies.

A spokesperson for the YMCA dismissed the now-deleted 2017 document about separating facilities on the basis of gender identity as simply a "blog" that "had a number of ideas for camps that were interested in being more inclusive," telling CNA this was never a mandatory policy.

"Y-USA does not have a nationwide policy around locker room and bathroom facilities," according to an official statement from the YMCA provided to CNA.

"State laws about transgender inclusion in gendered spaces remain an ever-evolving topic," the statement added. "Considering this, Y-USA advocates for the personal safety and privacy of all members and participants."

Marré told CNA that the YMCA's response is "insufficient" and criticized the American YMCA for quietly removing the 2017 document and several other webpages that discuss gender ideology and homosexual pride without providing a public explanation or officially revising its policy.

"Until they explicitly say that their locker rooms, private spaces, and sports teams are [separated based on] biological sex, we have no reason to believe that's actually the case," Marré said.

Marré said the YMCA should "respect and follow Title IX as it is written," but if the organization chooses not to, it should not "delete those policies" from its website but instead should "clearly communicate [it] to [its] members."

APC is urging parents to question local YMCAs about their policies before allowing their children to participate in activities there. The organization has provided sample questions to help parents inquire about gender-related policies.

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Vatican City, Jun 12, 2025 / 09:22 am (CNA).

The priests of Rome met for the first time on Thursday with their new bishop, Pope Leo XIV, to whom they are looking for greater leadership and fatherly care after several years of administrative disruption.

"We are very hopeful; you perceive a lot of enthusiasm, anyway, whether from brother priests or from the people of God," the 32-year-old newly ordained Father Simone Troilo told CNA this month. "The fact that he even set this meeting [with priests] as a priority a little more than a month after his election … is a very important sign as well."

The pope is not only the head of the universal Catholic Church, but he is also the bishop of the Diocese of Rome, though he does not manage the diocese like a typical diocesan bishop. A cardinal vicar general, vice regent (deputy), and auxiliary bishops are responsible for the ordinary running of the diocese.

Just over a month since Leo's election, priests of the diocese told CNA there is a lot of excitement for the new pope and interest in how he will lead the Church in Rome as it confronts shifts in religious and ethnic demographics amid an overall loss of religious practice in the diverse and sprawling diocese.

Leo asked priests in the meeting June 12 "to pay attention to the pastoral journey of this Church, which is local but, because of who guides it, is also universal." He promised to walk alongside them as they seek communion, fraternity, and serenity.

Several hundred priests attended the audience, the first with their new bishop, in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall.

According to Cardinal Baldassare Reina, the vicar general of Rome, there are 8,020 priests and deacons currently in the diocese, of which 809 are permanent Rome diocesan priests, and most of the remaining are part of religious communities or doing advanced studies.

Jesuit Father Anthony Lusvardi, a sacramental theologian in Rome, told CNA that "the Diocese of Rome is meant to be an example for the rest of the world" and "setting the right tone here will have an effect elsewhere."

Leo's speech underlined the importance of a strong communion and fraternity among the diocesan community and hinted at the challenge of "certain 'internal' obstacles," along with interpersonal relationships and the weariness of feeling misunderstood or not heard.

Administrative upheaval

Multiple priests who spoke to CNA expressed a strong desire to have a clear point of reference in the diocese, underlining that two of the diocese's four sectors have not had auxiliary bishops for months.

Pope Francis' publication of a new constitution for the diocese in January 2023, the first major change in 25 years, launched a series of organizational shifts for the ecclesiastical territory, many involving personnel. It also downgraded the role of the vicar general, giving final decision power on some issues to the pope.

Over 10 months starting in April 2024, five of seven auxiliary bishops were transferred to new positions outside of the Diocese of Rome. A few were replaced in the meantime, but two sectors — north and east — remain without auxiliary bishops.

At that time, Pope Francis also moved the diocese's vicar general of nearly seven years, Cardinal Angelo De Donatis. The two had clashed over issues for several years, going back to 2020, when the vicar general publicly called out the pope's inconsistency over whether to shutter churches during the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in Italy.

Francis officially replaced De Donatis half a year later with Reina, a relative newcomer to Rome and former auxiliary bishop of the diocese who has also kept his responsibilities over the western zone of the city in addition to the heavy workload of a vicar general.

"It was very difficult the last two, three years" when the leadership kept changing, Father Esron Antony Samy, a member of the Order of the Mother of God, told CNA.

The administrator of a large parish in the troubled Torre Maura neighborhood on Rome's eastern outskirts, Samy said he and his assistant have found the changes and instability in the diocesan curia over the last few years challenging. "We couldn't follow one guide for the spiritual and pastoral activities," he said.

Following the June 12 meeting with Leo, Samy said he was flooded with motivation and excitement from the pope's encouragement to face challenges with faith and hope, and that he felt a fatherly presence in the hall.

Father Simone Caleffi, a theology teacher at a private Rome university and an editor for the Vatican's L'Osservatore Romano newspaper, said he hopes Pope Leo will complete the implementation of the legislative changes Francis introduced, including the appointment of the missing auxiliary bishops for the north and east zones of the city.

"I am somewhat interpreting the feelings I have heard, even in some meetings, that it is hoped that these figures, who are essential guides for us, may return, if that is the will of the Holy Father," Father Maurizio Modugno, ordained in 2005, said.

Attention for the diocese

Troilo was one of 11 men ordained to the priesthood by Pope Leo in St. Peter's Basilica on May 31 after the original ordination date of May 10 was postponed by Francis' death and the "sede vacante."

The young priest, who has been assigned to a parish in the southwestern periphery of Rome, said that for him it was another sign of Leo's solicitude and deep care for the diocese that he did not want to further delay their ordinations or delegate another bishop to celebrate it.

According to Father John D'Orazio, Pope John Paul II was the first to ordain priests of the diocese himself, a practice that grew the connection between pontiff and diocese, and was continued by each of his successors. 

D'Orazio, who is from New Hampshire but has spent the 22 years of his priestly ministry in Rome, noted that John Paul II would also visit Rome's major seminary every year for the feast of Our Lady of Trust.

Pope Francis did not observe that tradition during his pontificate. "My hope is that Pope Leo will again give time and value to having some contact with the Roman seminary," D'Orazio said. 

John Paul II also tried to spend as much time as possible with the people of Rome; he managed to visit 317 of 333 parishes throughout his long pontificate. During his final years, when he was too ill to travel to them, he invited the remaining 16 parishes to come to the Vatican.

Pope Francis in his 12 years as pope made 20-some pastoral visits to parishes in Rome, mostly concentrated in the city's outskirts, part of his great attention to the peripheries, which was also reflected in his visits to many of the city's prisons and charitable entities.

'The shepherd we are waiting for'

Father Samy, from India but in Rome since 2011 to study and since 2013 as a priest, said his parish celebrates large numbers of the sacraments of initiation — baptism, first holy Communion, and confirmation — but many parents are unmarried and do not understand the importance of the sacrament of matrimony.

Father Claudio Occhipinti, who has spent many of his 30 years in priestly ministry helping families in crisis, also identified a need for a renewal of belief in the value of the sacramental union of husband and wife and the problem of the growing number of what he called "baptized nonbelievers."

"The greatest challenge I see is to help the faithful to rediscover the power, the greatness, the fundamental importance of their baptism," he said. "I will pray that this Pope Leo XIV will … no longer take for granted that the baptized are believers and to focus attention on this reality of a 'Christian secularism.'"

The religious priest from India said the population in his area of Rome is growing, in part due to the city's construction of additional public housing. The Muslim population is also rising and they are trying to welcome even non-Catholic families to their parish festivals and parish community center — for many, the "only place [in the struggling neighborhood] where they can stay with security and freedom."

Samy said he is looking for guidance and "a fatherly figure" from Pope Leo. "We also understand the difficulties the Church is facing now, but we hope our new pope will help us [and] will give us support to do something better for the Diocese of Rome," he said.

Modugno, whose parish is much closer to the city center, said he also hopes Leo "can truly be the shepherd we are waiting for."

All of the priests described Rome as unique, especially for its size and diversity, including among the priests, many of whom are foreign or from other parts of Italy. 

Caleffi, who is originally from the Italian city of Parma, said it's obvious the priests of Rome "won't all think the same way," but what they would all like is "as direct a relationship with [the pope] as possible, even if this can be difficult."

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CNA Staff, Jun 12, 2025 / 10:59 am (CNA).

Catholic families in Pennsylvania won a victory at federal court this week when a local school district agreed to allow students of parochial schools to participate in district sporting events and other activities.

The Thomas More Society, a public interest law firm based in Chicago, said in a press release that multiple Catholic families had won the "major victory" in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania after bringing the suit in July 2023.

The State College Area School District had originally said that parochial school students were not allowed to participate in district extracurricular activities, though it allowed home-schooled and charter school students to take part in those events.

The Catholic school families had sued the district arguing that the policy violated their constitutional rights to freedom of religion and equal protection.

In December 2023, U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann allowed the challenge to proceed, agreeing that the rule appeared to violate the defendants' constitutional rights.

In a filing on June 10, the Catholic families and the school district agreed to a consent order stipulating that the Catholic students "are generally entitled to the same generally available benefits as those provided to home-schooled and charter school students" in the district.

The district said it agreed to "make available to parochial school students … the same extracurricular and co-curricular activities (including athletics) and educational programs offered to home-schooled students and charter school students."

Thomas Breth, special counsel for the Thomas More Society, said in the press release that school districts in Pennsylvania "cannot discriminate against students and exclude them from activities simply because they choose to attend a religious-based school."

"Religious discrimination has no place in our society, but especially in our public schools," Breth said.

He argued that the order "strengthens the ability of parents to prioritize their family's religious beliefs when making educational decisions without being forced to sacrifice educational and athletic opportunities that are offered to other students and paid for with their tax dollars."

In an interview with CNA, the lawyer said that though the consent order does not apply statewide, it will likely help to ensure that other districts do not exclude parochial students from district activities.

"I fully expect that many, many school districts are going to fall in line and decide not to litigate the issue," he said.

The district ended up paying $150,000 in legal fees to the plaintiffs, Breth noted. He urged parents of Catholic school students to consider pressing their districts to allow their children access to extracurricular activities.

"I've already been in contact with parents in other school districts," he added. "They're in similar situations. We're going to push hard in other districts if they don't recognize they have a constitutional obligation to let parochial school students participate in the same manner as charter and home-schooled students."

"Hopefully, it's not going to take litigation. Hopefully, it will take letters," he said. "Hopefully, the district will do what's right for the kids, because ultimately that's what this is about."

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Puebla, Mexico, Jun 11, 2025 / 17:44 pm (CNA).

The Catholic bishops of neighboring Mexico are reacting to the wave of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids that are provoking riots in various cities.

In a June 10 statement, the Mexican Bishops' Conference expressed its concern about "the difficult situation that has arisen" as a result of the enforcement operations, saying that, although no one desires the presence of criminals, "it is necessary to distinguish that, although some undocumented migrants commit criminal acts, not all undocumented migrants are criminals." 

They affirmed that most undocumented migrants "contribute to the good of the communities in which they live and work" and emphasized that this distinction "makes it possible to overcome confusion that leads to mistakes, allows us to see reality clearly and make appropriate decisions for the benefit of all."

They also pointed out that the migration phenomenon cannot be addressed with isolated solutions, as it "requires multiple joint actions; among them, an immigration system that allows us to do things well without having to resort to other means that only end up complicating everyone's lives."

They also expressed their closeness to those suffering from the situation and, through the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, asked that she "help us understand that we are all brothers and sisters and help us build a better world together."

Mexican government's response

During a June 10 press conference, Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum expressed her support for immigration reform in the United States "that recognizes the role of migrants in the United States, especially those who have been working there for many years."

She also called on those participating in the protests "not to engage in violent actions and to support each other as we as Mexicans have always done."

Sheinbaum anticipated an upcoming meeting with President Donald Trump during the G-7 summit from June 15–17 in Canada, where Mexico will participate as a guest country. 

Within this framework, Sheinbaum said she will seek to advance agreements that go beyond immigration control, since recognizing that "Mexicans living in the United States and contributing to the U.S. economy must be part of the agenda."

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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