Article Archive
Please click below to view any of the articles in our archive.
Former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback speaks to EWTN News Nightly Anchor Mark Irons on Friday, April 11, 2025. / Credit; EWTN NewsCNA Newsroom, Apr 12, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).Former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback on Friday praised President Donald Trump's choice of former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker for the position, hailing the nominee as an "excellent pick" who will advance religious liberty worldwide. Brownback served in the religious freedom role from 2018 until 2021. He was the first Catholic to serve in that role; he was the governor of Kansas prior to the appointment and also served as a U.S. senator. Trump announced Walker's nomination on Thursday. Appearing on EWTN News Nightly on Friday night, Brownback told anchor Mark Irons that Walker brings "several real key assets" to the role. "Number one is he knows the president well, and the president knows him," Brownback said. "And that's the k...
Students from local schools lead the Colorado March for Life at the state capitol on April 11, 2025. / Credit: Kate Quiñones/CNADenver, Colo., Apr 12, 2025 / 11:00 am (CNA).When Beverly Jacobson was five months pregnant, the doctors told her she should have an abortion. Jacobson's daughter, Verity, had Edwards syndrome, a developmental condition that their specialist said was "incompatible with life." "He went on to say that if she survived, she would be a drain on the family mentally, emotionally, and financially," Jacobson said on Friday.But he was wrong. On Friday, Verity joined her mom on the steps of the state capitol as Jacobson addressed the Colorado March for Life."She is a gift from God," Jacobson told the crowd of 3,500 pro-lifers gathered at the steps of the capitol building.Jacobson has since founded a nonprofit called Mama Bear Care to support mothers and families who receive difficult pregnancy diagnoses.Beverly Jacobson, her husband, with their d...
Pope Francis greets visitors at his general audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. / Credit: Vatican MediaCNA Newsroom, Apr 12, 2025 / 05:34 am (CNA).Pope Francis encouraged university students linked to Opus Dei to share "the Gospel of Jesus Christ, dead and risen" with everyone during this jubilee year in a message to participants of an international congress in Rome.In a Spanish language letter released by the Holy See on Saturday, the pope greeted young people attending the International UNIV Congress 2025, which is taking place in Rome from April 12-20 during Holy Week."The International UNIV Congress that you are holding in Rome brings you together these days in the celebration of a double jubilee event: Holy Year 2025 and the centenary of the priestly ordination of St. Josemaría Escrivá," the pope wrote in the letter dated April 8.The Holy Father noted these occasions offer "many reasons to give thanks to God and to continue walking with enthusiasm in faith, ...
The exterior of St. Barnabas Cathedral in Nottingham. / Credit: Diocese of Nottingham/Luke PotterNottingham, England, Apr 12, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).A new project, the Restoring Pugin Project, aimed at restoring the original design of a popular English cathedral, is seeking to attract people to encounter "a representation of the glory of God." Nottingham's St. Barnabas Cathedral has been awarded a 1.69 million-pound (approximately $2.2 million) grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund as part of its 2.3 million-pound (approximately $3 million) Restoring Pugin Project, which is a conservation program aimed at restoring Pugin's original decorative scheme in the cathedral.Having previously received funding for the Restoring Pugin Project from the National Lottery, the latest substantial grant will enable significant work to be done on the project and to reach a far wider audience.Augustus Pugin was known as the father of the Victorian Gothic Revival, an iconic style of me...
The state capitol building of Yucatán, Mexico. / Credit: J. Magno, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia CommonsPuebla, Mexico, Apr 11, 2025 / 15:20 pm (CNA).Mexico's Yucatán state Congress has approved the decriminalization of abortion up to 12 weeks of gestation, amending the penal code, although the state constitution continues to protect life from the moment of fertilization.The April 9 legislative action passed with 22 votes in favor and 13 against. According to a statement from the local congress, the deputies approved "the right of women and pregnant persons to decide up to 12 weeks."In addition, the penalties for a forced abortion were increased from three to eight years in prison to five and 10 years, and in the case of forced abortion with violence, the penalties increased from six to nine years to nine to 15 years in prison.Nonetheless, the protection of life remains in force in the Yucatán Constitution, which "recognizes, protects, and guarantees the right to life of every hu...
null / Credit: Andy via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 11, 2025 / 15:52 pm (CNA).The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and Jubilee USA Network this week sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to pursue global debt relief initiatives that will economically serve both developing countries and the United States. In the letter, Bishop Abdallah Elias Zaidan, the chairman of the USCCB's Committee on International Justice and Peace, and Eric LeCompte, the executive director at Jubilee USA Network, argued that "building on the successes" of relief initiatives introduced by Trump during his first term could lower global debt. Jubilee USA Network on its website describes itself as "a coalition of religious, development, and advocacy groups" and "works on debt, tax, trade, and transparency policies that help end poverty."The letter stated the president previously "expanded and introduced new global debt relief initiatives … while also l...
A sign outside the Internal Revenue Service building in downtown Washington, D.C. / Credit: Rob Crandall/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Apr 11, 2025 / 16:23 pm (CNA).A federal bill proposed this week would affirm that nonprofits and charities are not receiving federal "financial assistance" simply by being granted a tax-exempt status.The Safeguarding Charity Act, introduced by Florida Rep. Greg Steube, would order that the term "federal financial assistance" in the U.S. code "shall not include any exemption from federal income tax.''The two-page bill would further direct that the government could not retroactively deem nonprofit groups as having received federal "assistance" prior to the bill's passage.Steube in a press release said the measure "is about protecting churches, religious schools, and charities from federal overreach."Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford introduced a companion bill in the U.S. Senate on Thursday. Lankford argued that tax-exempt organizations "should not live in fe...
Jimmy Lai and other demonstrators were convicted in 2021 of taking part in what the Hong Kong government argued was an "unauthorized assembly" at Victoria Park in Hong Kong's Causeway Bay neighborhood. / Credit: ??????, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 11, 2025 / 16:58 pm (CNA).The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation announced that Catholic human rights activist and political prisoner Jimmy Lai will be an honorary recipient of a 2025 Bradley Prize for being an "inspiration to all who value freedom."Lai is the founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily and a human rights activist who chose to stay in Hong Kong and risk imprisonment to fight for freedom against the Chinese Communist Party.The foundation said Lai "is a courageous advocate for democracy and freedom of the press, whose powerful criticisms of Beijing's control over Hong Kong have made him a target of Chinese authorities.""He is currently in prison, where he has spent more...
Photo illustration. / Credit: yougoigo/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 11, 2025 / 17:46 pm (CNA).Here is a roundup of Catholic world news that you might have missed this week:Traffickers pose as Christian missionaries to entrap victims, Thai-Phillippine law enforcement saysHuman traffickers have begun posing as Christian missionaries or pilgrims in order to pass airport controls, Philippine and Thai police reported after a recent investigation, according to a report from Agenzia Fides on Wednesday. Law enforcement recently stopped two young women, 23 and 25 years old, from being trafficked to Thailand by an older woman who claimed they were Christian missionaries. After noticing inconsistencies in their documents, airport officials detained the women, who said they were "volunteers belonging to the Catholic Church for missionary work in Thailand." Upon investigation, they discovered the older woman to be an organizer of a trafficking network that smuggles ...
Pope Francis appears at St. Peter's Basilica absent his usual papal attire on Thursday, April 10, 2025. / Credit: EWTN News/screenshotVatican City, Apr 11, 2025 / 09:38 am (CNA).A day after Pope Francis surprised pilgrims by appearing inside St. Peter's Basilica in a wheelchair, draped in a blanket and wearing a white undershirt and black pants instead of his usual white cassock and zucchetto, the Vatican on Friday offered a brief update on the 88-year-old pontiff's ongoing recovery.The pope, who has been largely absent from public life since being released from Rome's Gemelli Hospital nearly three weeks ago, was seen in the basilica Thursday with nasal tubes delivering oxygen, escorted by his personal nurse and health aides.A Vatican spokesman told journalists Friday morning that the pope had simply wanted to get some air and then spontaneously decided to extend his time outside of his Vatican residence by going to the basilica "as he was" to pray at the tomb of Pope Pius X an...
