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The scene outside a Catholic church in Istanbul, Turkey, where a reported armed attack took place on Jan. 28, 2024. / Credit: Rudolf Gehrig/EWTNRome Newsroom, Jan 28, 2024 / 06:53 am (CNA).Two masked assailants opened fire in a Catholic church in Istanbul during Mass on Sunday morning, reportedly killing one person during the consecration.Bishop Massimiliano Palinuro, the apostolic vicar of Istanbul, told EWTN News on Jan. 28 that a parishioner was killed "during the consecration" in the attack on Santa Maria Church in Istanbul's Sariyer district.Turkish Minister of the Interior Ali Yerlikaya has confirmed that the attack occurred around 11:40 a.m. local time and that "a full-scale investigation" has been launched as authorities work to apprehend the assailants."We strongly condemn this vile attack," Yerlikaya said.Turkish Police stand guard outside the scene of an armed attack at a Catholic Church in Istanbul, Turkey, on Jan. 28, 2024. Credit: Rudolf Gehrig/EWTNIn an interview...
Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Espaillat of the Archdiocese of New York. / Credit: EWTN News In DepthCNA Staff, Jan 28, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).At the age of 25, Joseph Espaillat was ordained a priest. Now, at the age of 45, he serves as an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of New York, making him America's youngest Catholic bishop.He currently serves as the pastor at St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church in the Bronx as well as the director of the Hispanic Catholic Charismatic Renewal for the archdiocese and at the Hispanic Catholic Charismatic Center in the Bronx. In an interview with Montse Alvarado on "EWTN News In Depth," the bishop admitted that previously he "was not charismatic at all.""I was the St. Paul, or rather Saul, because I was like 'These charis-maniacs! What's up with that?'"He shared that when Cardinal Timothy Dolan came to the Archdiocese of New York, he named Espaillat the director of youth ministry. However, after several years working in the mini...
A sister with the Nashville Dominicans of St. Cecilia gives a lecture at the University of Dallas. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the University of DallasCNA Staff, Jan 27, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).Catholic liberal arts college University of Dallas (UD) announced on Jan. 18 that it will be hosting a convent for the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, a teaching order of Catholic religious sisters also known as the Nashville Dominicans.Nine Nashville Dominican sisters are UD graduates, while several have taught at the university for about eight years in the philosophy and theology departments. They also teach at a local elementary school, Mary Immaculate Catholic Elementary School, but have been relying on temporary residence since they came to Texas in 2016."The university has been blessed by the presence of the Nashville Dominican sisters teaching and studying among us," university President Jonathan J. Sanford said in a statement to CNA on Thursday."Beyond the excellence they provide...
The Church of Saints Michael and Magnus, close to the Vatican, uses four of the bench seats from the Second Vatican Council as choir stalls for prayer. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA.ACI Prensa Staff, Jan 27, 2024 / 04:00 am (CNA).Every Jan. 27, the Church celebrates St. Angela Merici, foundress of the Order of St. Ursula, whose members are known as Ursulines, the first religious order dedicated entirely to the education of girls and young women.St. Angela, under the inspiration of St. Ursula, devoted herself to the education of girls and young women. In addition, she awakened the apostolic spirit in the laity to perform tasks previously assigned almost exclusively to religious.According to Pope Benedict XVI, "in the Renaissance, St. Angela of Merici proposed a path of holiness also for those who live in a lay environment," which constituted an important step in the understanding of the role of those who are not called to the consecrated life within the Church.The 'little friend' ...
In the history of the Catholic Church, various saints and blesseds have described what hell is like and even the precise place where the "bad" Christians would be. / Credit: Guido Jansen/UnsplashACI Prensa Staff, Jan 27, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).In the history of the Catholic Church various saints and blesseds have described what hell is like and even exactly where "bad Christians" would be placed, based on visions and messages they received during their lives.Hell's structureSt. Teresa of Ávila, a doctor of the Church, related in her "Autobiography" that when the Lord showed her hell it seemed to her that she was in an "entrance that seemed to me like a very long, narrow alley, like a very low, dark, and narrow furnace: The floor seemed to me to be like mud, with a pestilential smell."St. Frances of Rome was also at the entrance to hell. According to the testimony of her confessor, Father Juan Mattiotti, there she "saw an extremely great and terrible abyss." In addition, there wa...
Pope Francis gave a special message to Chinese Catholics at the end of his Mass in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on Sept. 3, 2023. / Vatican MediaRome Newsroom, Jan 25, 2024 / 16:40 pm (CNA).Father Thaddeus Wang Yuesheng was consecrated bishop of Zhengzhou, China, on Thursday, bringing an end to a 70-year-long sede vacante. The Holy See Press Office announced on Thursday morning that Wang was appointed by Pope Francis as the bishop of Zhengzhou on Dec. 16, 2023. The report noted that the decision took place "in the framework of the Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People's Republic of China." The Vatican Fides News Agency, which is part of the Dicastery for Evangelization, added that his appointment "was also favored by the direct contribution of the various components of the local Church, according to the criterion of synodality." In a statement published on the official website of the Bishops' Conference of the Catholic Churc...
Members of the Dominican Sisters of Saint Cecilia enjoying a performance of The Hillbilly Thomists at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville on Aug. 1, 2022. / Credit: Joe Bukuras/CNACNA Staff, Jan 25, 2024 / 17:30 pm (CNA).Almost all Catholic religious in the United States who took final vows in 2023 were raised by their biological parents during the "most formative part of their childhood," according to a new survey by Georgetown University's Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA).The survey report, published this month, polled 101 religious in the U.S. who professed perpetual vows in 2023. Forty-eight religious brothers and priests and 53 religious sisters were surveyed.The report found that the vast majority of those surveyed had one thing in common: They came from stable, two-parent families.Ninety-nine percent of respondents said they were raised by their biological parents during the "most formative part of their childhood," the report said. And 88% said...
null / Credit: ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 25, 2024 / 17:55 pm (CNA).Religiously unaffiliated people, often referred to as "nones," now make up the largest religious category in the U.S., according to a new report by the Pew Research Center.Pew's new report, released Jan. 24, shows that nones now account for 28% of the total U.S. population, outstripping the next largest group, Catholics, who make up 20%.The recent data is consistent with a long-term trend of Americans rejecting religious affiliation in growing numbers, with the percentage nearly doubling from 16% in 2007.The rise of the nones has resulted in not only lessened religious participation but also a decrease in civic engagement with nones being less likely to vote, do volunteer work, or have strong friend groups or community, according to Pew.What is a 'none'?Although nones do not ascribe to a particular church or religious group and are much less likely to attend church services, not all are ath...
Archbishop José María Gil Tamayo presides over the Archdiocese of Granada, Spain. / Credit: Archdiocese of GranadaACI Prensa Staff, Jan 26, 2024 / 05:30 am (CNA)."I am not going to bless even one homosexual union," said the archbishop of Granada, Spain, José María Gil Tamayo, when asked about the application of the declaration Fiducia Supplicans on the pastoral meaning of blessings, published in December by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF).In a meeting with journalists held on the feast day of St. Francis de Sales, the patron saint of journalists, Jan. 24, Gil stated that his intention is to "bless the person" without having to do "a ceremony," according to Europe Press.The prelate read a statement expressing the position of the archdiocese regarding Fiducia Supplicans and said that, "in communion with Pope Francis, he will proceed with respect to nonliturgical pastoral blessings with a pastoral meaning, faithfully observing what the Holy See indicated in the F...
Cardinal Christophe Pierre speaks during an educational event at St. Petersburg Catholic High School in St. Petersburg, Florida, on Jan. 24, 2024. The event included a panel discussion on "The Risk of Education" by Father Luigi Giussani. The event was sponsored by the Tampa Bay Communion and Liberation community. / Credit: Teresa PetersonCNA Staff, Jan 26, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the pope's ambassador to the United States, was in St. Petersburg, Florida, on Jan. 24 to draw attention to the issue of education and discuss what is needed to help young people thrive in the modern world.During his approximately 24-hour visit to the state, the apostolic nuncio moderated the education forum "Education and the Road to Destiny" at St. Petersburg Catholic High School. Bishop Gregory Parkes of St. Petersburg hosted the forum. The forum discussed "The Risk of Education," a book published by Italian priest and educator Father Luigi Giussani, founder of the Cat...
