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Jonathan Roumie, the actor who plays Jesus in the series "The Chosen," greets Pope Leo XIV at the end of Wednesday's general audience on June 25, 2025, in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaACI Prensa Staff, Jun 25, 2025 / 15:32 pm (CNA).Jonathan Roumie, the actor who plays Jesus in the series "The Chosen," greeted Pope Leo XIV at the end of Wednesday's general audience on June 25 in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican.Also present were other actors and actresses from the hit series based on the life of Jesus Christ and the apostles, including Elizabeth Tabish, who plays Mary Magdalene in the series; George Xanthis, who plays the apostle St. John; and Vanessa Benavente, who plays the Virgin Mary. Some members of the series' crew also participated in the meeting.In the photographs released by the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV and Roumie can be seen smiling and shaking hands. The actor also gave the pontiff a gift on behalf of the entire crew.Actor Jonathan Roumie gi...
About 300 sisters and supporters gathered on June 24, 2025, for "Sisters Speak Out" in the nation's capital in anticipation of the Senate voting on the budget bill this week. / Credit: Julia MorrisWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 25, 2025 / 16:07 pm (CNA).Sisters from 60 congregations gathered in Washington, D.C., on June 24 to urge lawmakers not to cut government programs that support immigrants and people with low incomes.The event, called "Sisters Speak Out," was held in the nation's capital while approximately 40 "echo events" took place across the country. Around 300 sisters and supporters attended the D.C. gathering for "immigrants and a just economy" in anticipation of the Senate voting on the reconciliation bill this week.According to a press release from the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, the sisters were gathered to speak out against budget cuts they believe will "gut health care and food assistance, inflicting serious harm on families, children, the elderly, and dis...
A judge in Ohio ruled the state's educational voucher program unconstitutional, but the Ohio Catholic Conference said on June 24, 2025, it is confident the issue, which benefits Catholic schools, will ultimately prevail on appeal. / Credit: Take Photo/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 25, 2025 / 18:01 pm (CNA).The Catholic Conference of Ohio has issued a statement expressing confidence that the state's voucher program allowing parents to send their children to private schools would ultimately prevail after a judge ruled the program unconstitutional.Franklin County Judge Jaiza Page on June 24 declared the Educational Choice Scholarship (EdChoice) Program, which provides funding for public school students to attend private schools in the state, unconstitutional, claiming it harms public education by channeling funds toward private schools, including Catholic institutions.Page said in her ruling that the plaintiffs had proved "beyond a reasonable doubt that the EdChoice v...
Bishop Alberto Rojas of San Bernardino. / Credit: Diocese of San Bernardino/ScreenshotCNA Staff, Jun 25, 2025 / 13:24 pm (CNA).Bishop Alberto Rojas of San Bernardino, California, on Tuesday urged authorities to cease their aggressive arrests of immigrants in the state, with the prelate calling for immigration enforcement that "respects human rights and human dignity."The plea comes as the federal government under President Donald Trump continues its broad effort to arrest and deport unauthorized immigrants in California and throughout the rest of the country.California has been at the epicenter of much of that enforcement. Pew Research Center estimated last year that the state is home to 1.8 million "unauthorized immigrants," the highest number of any state in the country.The federal government, meanwhile, has been boasting of its immigration raids in the state, describing in press releases its arrests of the "worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens" in Los Angeles and slamm...
Pope Leo XIV waves to pilgrims at the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter's Square, Wednesday, June 25, 2025 / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNAACI Prensa Staff, Jun 25, 2025 / 13:54 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV expressed his closeness to persecuted Christians during the Wednesday general audience on June 25, referring to the "heinous terrorist attack" on Sunday by the Islamic State against the Greek Orthodox community in Damascus, in which 25 faithful lost their lives while attending the Divine Liturgy.On Sunday, June 22, the solemnity of Corpus Christi, eyewitnesses reported that two armed men stormed the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Elias in Douailah on the outskirts of the Syrian capital. The brutal attack, the first since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, also left 63 injured.During his greetings to the Italian-speaking faithful, the pontiff entrusted the deceased "to the mercy of God" while offering prayers for the wounded and their families."To the Christians of t...
A Colorado department will allow a Christian summer camp to separate boys and girls on the basis of biology after the camp sued the state in May. The agreement was reached June 24, 2025, and the camp has dropped the lawsuit. / Credit: anatoliy_gleb/shutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 25, 2025 / 14:53 pm (CNA).The Colorado Department of Early Childhood will allow a Christian summer camp to separate showers, bathrooms, and sleeping areas on the basis of biological sex after both sides reached a legal settlement on Tuesday, June 24.Per the settlement, Camp IdRaHaJe is exempt from a state rule that requires camps to separate facilities on the basis of self-asserted "gender identity" rather than biological sex. If the rule had been enforced, the camp would have been required to let biological males who identify as transgender girls access all private facilities reserved for biological girls.In the settlement, the department recognizes that the camp is a nonprofit organized ex...
The original face of Our Lady of Hope of Macarena. / Credit: Emilio Sáenz/Macarena BrotherhoodMadrid, Spain, Jun 25, 2025 / 10:54 am (CNA).The recent changes made to the expression on the face of the iconic image of Our Lady of Hope of Macarena, a popular Spanish devotion, has sparked a wave of reactions among those who consider her an essential part of their faith.The main focus of discontent has centered on the Virgin's expression, as the addition of false eyelashes and other changes during recent conservation work visibly altered her expression, causing a negative reaction from numerous devotees who said they no longer recognized "their Virgin.""That is not my Virgin, it's not the image we have venerated for generations," is how many of the faithful have expressed their bewilderment in recent days at Our Lady of Hope of Macarena Basilica in Seville Spain, where the image known as the "Virgin of Macarena" is kept.The statue was removed from public veneration for five days to ...
Pope Leo XIV speaks to bishops gathered for the Jubilee of Bishops on June 25, 2025, in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Jun 25, 2025 / 11:24 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday called bishops to be firm and decisive in dealing with scandal and sexual abuse, linking vigilance against abuse to living a chaste life.Speaking to over 400 bishops from 38 countries in St. Peter's Basilica, the pope also emphasized the importance of pastoral prudence, poverty, and synodality in the ministry of a bishop."Together with material poverty, the life of the bishop is also marked by that specific form of poverty, which is celibacy and virginity for the sake of the kingdom of heaven," he said during the June 25 meeting, the last part of a morning of spiritual activities for the Jubilee of Bishops.Leo said celibacy is more than living as a celibate but includes "chastity of heart and conduct, and in this way, living a life of Christian discipleship and pr...
Father Francesco Ielpo, a Franciscan friar, on June 24, 2025, was appointed the new custos of the Holy Land and guardian of Mount Zion. Previously, since 2022, he was president of the Holy Land Foundation in addition to holding other organizational roles across Italian Franciscan provinces. / Credit: Custodia Terræ SanctæACI MENA, Jun 25, 2025 / 11:54 am (CNA).In a decision carrying both spiritual and humanitarian significance, Pope Leo XIV on June 24 approved the election of Father Francesco Ielpo, a member of the Order of Friars Minor, as the new custos of the Holy Land and guardian of Mount Zion, succeeding Father Francesco Patton, who concluded nine years of service in this sensitive role.The appointment followed an election conducted by the minister general of the Franciscan order and his council, in line with a long-standing tradition that reflects the historical continuity of the Franciscans' mission in the land where Jesus Christ walked.The new custos of the Holy Land, ...
Mourners gather at the Church of the Holy Cross in Qassaa, Damascus, on June 24, 2025, around white caskets of some of the worshippers who lost their lives in a terrorist attack at the Mar Elias Church in the Dweila neighborhood of Syria's capital on Sunday, June 22, 2025. / Credit: Mohammad Al-Rifai/ACI MENAACI MENA, Jun 25, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).In a scene marked by deep sorrow and righteous anger, churches across Syria held funeral services for the victims of the suicide bombing that targeted St. Elias Church in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Sunday. The attack claimed the lives of 25 people and left dozens injured.Mourners carry the caskets of the deceased into the Church of the Holy Cross in the Qassaa district of Damascus on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, for the funeral of many of those who lost their lives in a terrorist attack on Mar Elias Church in Damascus two days earlier. Credit: Mohammad Al-Rifai/ACI MENAThe main funeral service for the majority of the victims took pla...
