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U.S. Supreme Court. / Credit: PT Hamilton/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Mar 15, 2025 / 11:00 am (CNA).The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is backing an Oklahoma Catholic school's bid before the U.S. Supreme Court to become the first religious charter school in the country. St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School has been battling since 2023 to receive official status as a charter school in Oklahoma.A charter school is a free, privately managed institution that receives public funding like standard public schools. The school's opponents, led by Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, have argued that the state's funding of a religious school would violate both Oklahoma statutory and constitutional law regarding the separation of church and state.The school last year was dealt a blow when the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled against its establishment, claiming the school constituted "a governmental entity and a state actor." The institution, a joint project betwe...
Carolyn Woo, the former president and CEO of Catholic Relief Services, speaks with "EWTN News in Depth" on Friday, March 14, 2025. / Credit: "EWTN News in Depth"Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 15, 2025 / 11:30 am (CNA).Former president and CEO of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Carolyn Woo is speaking out in defense of the aid organization amid Trump administration funding cuts to its services internationally. "International aid was started at first for the benefit of the U.S. even though the aid goes overseas," Woo said during an appearance on "EWTN News In Depth" Friday evening, arguing that international aid to organizations like CRS is important "for two major reasons": security and prosperity. Woo led CRS from 2012 to 2016. The organization's current president and CEO is Sean Callahan. "Security is achieved when countries are working well," she said. "There are not as many incidences of conflicts or terrorism. In addition to that, it also allows...
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople during an audience at the Patriarchal headquarters in Istanbul with the German Association of the Holy Land, March 12, 2025. / Credit: Martin Rothweiler/EWTN GermanyCNA Newsroom, Mar 15, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople on Wednesday offered a hopeful historical assessment of the traditional 1054 date for the "Great Schism" between Rome and Constantinople, suggesting that tensions developed gradually over time and "are not insurmountable.""Of course, problems have accumulated over a thousand years. But we are full of hope that they will be resolved in a few years," the patriarch emphasized during an audience in Istanbul on March 12 with a pilgrimage group from the German Association of the Holy Land.The honorary head of worldwide Orthodoxy made these comments in the presence of Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch Emeritus Gregory III Laham, reported CNA Deutsch, CNA's German-language news...
Hallow's Lent Pray40 Challenge: "The Way." / Credit: HallowCNA Staff, Mar 15, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).This Lent, sales of "The Way" by St. Josemaría Escrivá have skyrocketed thanks to Hallow's Lent Pray40 Challenge, with listeners diving deeper into the writings of the Spanish-born saint in his most well-known book."The Way" reached the No. 1 spot on Amazon's "Christian Inspirational" and "Christian Devotionals" lists as well as the "Inspirational Spirituality" list. It was also No. 5 on Amazon's "Religion and Spirituality" list and No. 33 on the general books list.Hallow is using Escrivá's "The Way" as a companion to its Lenten prayer challenge this year. The book consists of 999 points that aim to help the faithful pray and encourage them to love God, live for him, and converse with him. Escrivá founded the personal prelature Opus Dei in 1928. John Coverdale, author of several books on the history of Opus Dei, spoke to CNA about Escrivá's book and why he believes it resona...
Well-wishers leave notes for Pope Francis at the foot of the St. John Paul II statue outside Gemelli Hospital in Rome on March 14, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNAVatican City, Mar 15, 2025 / 09:30 am (CNA).Pope Francis was admitted to Rome's Gemelli Hospital on Friday, Feb. 14, to undergo testing and treatment for bronchitis. Follow here for the latest news on his health and hospitalization:
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks about a toll highway relief program during a press conference held at the Greater Miami Expressway Agency on April 1, 2024, in Miami. / Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty ImagesCNA Newsroom, Mar 15, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).The Catholic bishops of Florida are urging Gov. Ron DeSantis to commute the death sentence of Edward James, who is scheduled to be executed by the state next week for a 1993 double homicide. James pleaded guilty in 1995 to the killings of Betty Dick and her eight-year-old granddaughter Toni Neuner in Casselberry, Florida. He had strangled and raped Toni prior to her death before stabbing Betty Dick. He was ultimately apprehended in California. In a Friday press release, the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops (FCCB) said it had "implored Gov. Ron DeSantis to stay the execution of Edward James and commute his sentence to life without parole."FCCB Executive Director Michael Sheedy in a letter to DeSantis noted that the murders ...
An Easter Vigil procession at St. Dominic Parish in San Francisco. / Credit: St. Dominic Parish/Lorelei LowCNA Staff, Mar 15, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).Five years ago this week, public health orders issued amid the uncertainty of the novel coronavirus turned Mass schedules across the country and the world upside down. In those early days following the WHO's March 11, 2020, declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic, the bishops of every U.S. diocese issued some form of dispensation, suspending the obligation that Catholics must attend Sunday Mass in person. Thousands of parishes and ministries scrambled to develop plans to offer livestreamed Masses, deliver the sacraments in a "socially distanced" manner, and live out the Church's life as best they could under extraordinary circumstances. Public Masses at most parishes were suspended entirely for a time, and those that were able to reopen were subject, in many areas, to distancing requirements and numerical or percentage-based...
Bishop Evelio Menjivar speaks with "EWTN News in Depth" on Friday, March 14, 2025. / Credit: "EWTN News in Depth"Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 15, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).Evelio Menjivar came to the United States as an undocumented immigrant in 1990. Today he serves as an auxiliary bishop of Washington, D.C., and is the first Salvadoran U.S. bishop in an archdiocese that is home to over 200,000 of his former countrymen.In an interview with "EWTN News in Depth," Menjivar shared his conviction that immigrants "make the United States a great nation" and "make society better." After years of "blue-collar jobs," upon his arrival to the U.S., Menjivar felt a calling to the priesthood and was ordained in 2004. He served as a parish priest in Washington for almost two decades until Pope Francis appointed him auxiliary bishop in 2022."I came here when I was 20 with a great desire to work hard, to go to school, to contribute to the well-being of this great nation that ...
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun (right) welcomies Sovereign Order of Malta Grand Chancellor Riccardo Paternò di Montecupo and the delegation at Baabda's presidential palace on March 14, 2025. / Credit: The Sovereign Order of MaltaACI MENA, Mar 14, 2025 / 15:40 pm (CNA).Faithful to its ongoing commitment to supporting Lebanon, a high-level delegation from the Sovereign Order of Malta is currently touring the country. The official visit, led by the order's grand chancellor, Riccardo Paternò di Montecupo, spans three days and will conclude Saturday. The delegation's agenda includes multiple stops aimed at exploring ways to help Lebanon overcome its ongoing crises and support its path toward recovery and reconstruction, relying on the country's new leadership. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun (right) welcomes Sovereign Order of Malta Grand Chancellor Riccardo Paternò di Montecupo and the delegation at Baabda's presidential palace on March 14, 2025. Credit: Sovereign Ord...
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shakes hands with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin during a meeting at the Vatican on Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Mar 14, 2025 / 16:10 pm (CNA).Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has provided the Vatican with a list of names of Ukrainians detained by the Russian military, requesting diplomatic mediation to secure their release."The Holy See has received a list of Ukrainians being held in Russian prisons and camps. We are counting on the support for their release," Zelenskyy said in a message shared on social media.The Ukrainian president indicated that he had a telephone conversation with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See's secretary of state, in which he also wished Pope Francis, who has been hospitalized for a month in Rome's Gemelli Hospital, "a speedy recovery.""I thanked him for his prayers and moral support for our people, as well as for his efforts in facilitating the return ...
