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The Archdiocese of New York superintendent of schools announced the launch of a school renewal plan and the final results of a school viability study on June 4, 2025. / Credit: alexkich/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 5, 2025 / 12:35 pm (CNA).Archdiocese of New York Superintendent of Schools Sister Mary Grace Walsh, ASCJ, announced this week the launch of a school renewal plan and the final results of a school viability study.On June 3, the archdiocese laid out the first part of the Elementary School Renewal Plan based on the results of the School Viability Study (SVS), which assessed every elementary school in the archdiocese between October 2024 and January 2025 in order "to ensure the long-term sustainability and effectiveness of Catholic education within the community." The two-part school renewal plan, according to a press release, will evaluate four key areas for each school: mission and Catholic identity, governance and leadership, academic excellence, a...
Pope Leo XIV greets members of the Vatican Secretariat of State on June 5, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Jun 5, 2025 / 14:51 pm (CNA).In his audience with members of the Vatican Secretariat of State on Thursday, Pope Leo XIV thanked them for their support in the first month of his pontificate.Among those present was Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, who introduced the meeting with a brief address. Also participating was Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, substitute for general affairs of the Secretariat of State.Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary of relations with states within the Secretariat of State, did not participate in the audience because he is in Cuba for the 90th anniversary of relations between that Caribbean country and the Holy See.At the outset of his speech, Pope Leo thanked the Secretariat of State for assisting him in the "first steps" of his pontificate and for "carrying forward the mission" entrusted to him....
Al Pacino as Father Theophilus Riesinger in "The Ritual." / Credit: XYZ FilmsCNA Staff, Jun 5, 2025 / 15:21 pm (CNA).In 1928, Father Joseph Steiger, a priest at St. Joseph's in Earling, Iowa, was approached with an urgent concern. A 46-year-old woman named Emma Schmidt was experiencing blackouts, aversions to holy objects, and other terrible afflictions. After years of extensive psychiatric treatment provided no relief, Schmidt's priest suggested an exorcism. Father Theophilus Riesinger, a Capuchin friar, was assigned to perform the exorcism while Steiger would be the stenographer. After a 23-day battle, Schmidt was freed from her affliction and able to live the rest of her life in peace.The exorcism of Schmidt remains the most thoroughly documented and widely publicized exorcism in American history and now a new movie has been made to tell the story. "The Ritual," starring Al Pacino, Dan Stevens, Ashley Greene, and Patricia Heaton, will be released in theaters on June 6.F...
Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux Bishop-elect Simon Peter Engurait. / Credit: Courtesy of the Diocese of Houma-ThibodauxVatican City, Jun 5, 2025 / 08:54 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV on Thursday named Uganda-born Father Simon Peter Engurait, a former business analyst who became a priest at age 41, to lead the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux in southeastern Louisiana.The 53-year-old priest, ordained for the diocese in 2013, has acted as diocesan administrator since the death of Bishop Mario Dorsonville in January 2024."While I am still shocked by the news that the Lord has asked me to be a bishop, I must admit that knowing the people of this diocese brings me great comfort in saying yes," the bishop-elect said in a statement published to the Houma-Thibodaux Diocese's website on June 5."South Louisiana is home, and I love the people here. It is a privilege to say yes to you as much as I am saying yes to God. I love you, and I consider it a great honor to serve you as your bishop," he added.Engurai...
South loop area of Chicago. / Credit: Sea Cow, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 5, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago is using a lobbying firm that supports pro-abortion political candidates and lobbies for abortion providers, raising concerns that the relationship could amount to cooperation with evil by the charitable entity.Since 2022, Catholic Charities of Chicago has contracted with Cozen O'Connor Public Strategies to lobby on its behalf before the State of Illinois. Cozen O'Connor is a national lobbying firm with offices in major cities across the country, including New York; Washington, D.C.; and Chicago.According to the Illinois State Board of Elections, Cozen O'Connor donated $3,500 in 2024 to Personal PAC, a political action committee in Illinois that supports pro-choice candidates at the state and local levels. The firm donated $3,000 in 2023 and $3,500 in 2024, while an individual employee of the f...
Pope Leo XIV greets the crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square for his Wednesday general audience on June 4, 2025. / Credit: Vatican MediaCNA Newsroom, Jun 5, 2025 / 10:43 am (CNA).Follow our live coverage of the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV, first U.S.-born pope in history.
Pope Leo XIV addresses pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square for his general audience on Wednesday, June 4, 2025. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Jun 4, 2025 / 15:52 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV will gather the cardinals at the Vatican on June 13 to give final approval to the canonizations of eight blesseds whose causes were promoted by Pope Francis.This event is known as an ordinary public consistory and will be the first of Pope Leo XIV's pontificate. It should be noted that Pope Francis convened it at the end of February, when he was hospitalized at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome, but no date was set.This ceremony determines the final step of the canonization process through a vote to set the date on which the blessed will be proclaimed a saint.On Wednesday, the Office of Liturgical Celebrations confirmed the list of blesseds.Among them is Blessed Bartolo Longo, an Italian layman and lawyer and founder of the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary in Pompeii, Italy.After abandoning ...
Bishop Robert Barron spoke on political commentator Tucker Carlson's show on June 2, 2025. / Credit: CNA/EWTN NewsWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 4, 2025 / 16:29 pm (CNA).Bishop Robert Barron sat down with conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson this week to talk about the Catholic faith and discuss some hot cultural topics. Carlson, an Episcopalian, began the June 2 interview by saying that his friends urged him to have Barron on his show. "I don't think I've ever received more texts about any guest than I did about you," Tucker told Barron. "From Catholics I know, from non-Catholics I know." Barron, founder of Word on Fire Catholic ministries and bishop of the Winona-Rochester Diocese in Minnesota, and Carlson discussed a wide range of subjects, including how to find happiness, prayer, grace, persecution, technology, and the future of the Church.Finding happinessThe interview began with a discussion about happiness. Carlson cited falling birth rates an...
null / Credit: Orhan Cam/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Jun 4, 2025 / 16:59 pm (CNA).The Trump administration on Tuesday nixed a Biden-era requirement that forced emergency room doctors to perform abortions. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), a branch of the Department of Health and Human Services, announced on June 3 that it would rescind the July 2022 guidelines issued under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA).That law, originally passed in 1986, was designed to prevent "patient dumping" by requiring Medicare-participating hospitals to provide stabilizing treatment to patients who can't pay for treatment rather than transferring them. The Biden administration expanded the requirements in the wake of the repeal of Roe v. Wade, requiring hospitals to perform abortions as "stabilizing treatment" in emergency situations. The government will "continue to enforce" EMTALA "including for identified emergency medical conditions that...
Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass at St. Peter's Square on Sunday, June 1, 2025 for the Jubilee of Families, Children, Grandparents and the Elderly. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNAWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 4, 2025 / 17:06 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call Wednesday afternoon."The pope made an appeal for Russia to take a gesture that would favor peace, emphasizing the importance of dialogue to create positive contacts between the parties and seek solutions to the conflict," Holy See Press Office Director Matteo Bruni said in a statement.Bruni told members of the press that the Holy Father appealed to the Russian leader about the humanitarian situation in Ukraine and advocated for the facilitation of aid into affected areas.The two leaders also discussed Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi's efforts to facilitate prisoner exchanges. "Pope Leo made reference to Patriarch Kirill, thanking him for the congratulations received at the beginning...
