Article Archive
Please click below to view any of the articles in our archive.
Mikal Mahdi. / Credit: Federal Public Defenders (proof), Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 12, 2025 / 18:06 pm (CNA).Lawyers who represent the recently executed Mikal Mahdi are alleging that the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) "botched" their client's firing squad execution, which caused him to scream out in pain and remain conscious for nearly one minute until he eventually died.Mahdi, who was convicted of murdering a police officer and a convenience store worker, died on April 11 at age 42 in South Carolina's second firing squad execution in the state's history, both of which occurred this year just five weeks apart.Although firing squad executions in the United States are extremely rare, the state legalized this method of execution, along with executions by the electric chair, in 2021 amid shortages of the drugs needed for lethal injections. Death row inmates can now choose whether to die by firing squad, lethal injection, or ...
Pope Leo XIV speaks to journalists on May 12, 2025, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. / Credit: Veronica Giacometti/EWTN NewsVatican City, May 12, 2025 / 09:22 am (CNA).In his first address to international media on Monday, Pope Leo XIV thanked journalists for their service to the truth and for communicating peace in difficult times."We are living in times that are both difficult to navigate and to recount. They present a challenge for all of us, but it is one that we should not run away from," Leo said in the Pope Paul VI Audience Hall on May 12. "On the contrary, they demand that each one of us, in our different roles and services, never give in to mediocrity.""Thank you, dear friends, for your service to the truth," he said, also underlining the importance of preserving free speech and the free press.In one of his first audiences, Pope Leo XIV met with several thousand members of the international press to thank them for their "long and tiring days" of work over t...
A burnt scooter on May 9, 2025, stands on the spot where twins Zian Khan and Urwa Fatima died on May 7 during Pakistani artillery shelling in the main town of Poonch district. / Credit: PUNIT PARANJPE/AFP via Getty ImagesBangalore, India, May 12, 2025 / 10:40 am (CNA).A Catholic school and convent in India came under shelling from Pakistan military forces last week, with three students killed in the town of Poonch close to the Pakistan border, as fighting between the two countries' militaries broke out before ending quickly over the weekend."One shell fell near our Christ School campus at Poonch, killing a twin brother and sister. The siblings were our students," Jammu Bishop Ivan Pereira told CNA. The Jammu Diocese covers the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir."Another shell fell over the convent of the Carmelites of Mary Congregation. But it damaged only the water tank and solar panels. The school has been closed and the nuns have been moved to a distant convent," Pereira said...
A Planned Parenthood facility in Indianapolis. / Credit: Jonathan Weiss/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 12, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).Pro-life organizations are stepping up their campaign to defund "big abortion" as the reconciliation bill is expected to come up for debate in the House Energy and Commerce Committee this week. On Wednesday, May 7, digital billboards with ads from pro-life organization Live Action lit up Times Square, urging passers-by to help defund Planned Parenthood.Since the Trump administration announced its plan to defund Planned Parenthood in March, pro-life leaders have been working with lawmakers and urging citizens to contact their representatives with the hope the reconciliation bill will defund federally defund the organization by Memorial Day. With that date only weeks away, activists are campaigning to make it happen."Although there are multiple reasons why Planned Parenthood deserves to be defunded," Live Action reported, "the bill...
Pope Leo XIV prays at the Shrine of the Mother of Good Counsel in Genazzano, Italy, Saturday, May 10, 2025 / Credit: Vatican MediaCNA Deutsch, May 10, 2025 / 13:42 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV on Saturday visited and prayed at a Marian shrine outside of Rome, greeting the community there and urging them to "be faithful to the Mother."The Holy Father visited the Shrine of the Mother of Good Counsel in Genazzano on Saturday afternoon. The sanctuary, located about an hour east of Rome, is run by the religious of the Order of St. Augustine and "houses an ancient image of the Virgin, dear to the Order and to the memory of Leo XIII," according to the Vatican.Pope Leo XIV visits the Shrine of the Mother of Good Counsel in Genazzano, Italy, Saturday, May 10, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaThe pope greeted the religious at the shrine before praying at both the altar and the Marian image there, according to the Vatican. The Holy Father also prayed St. John Paul II's prayer to the Mother of Good Cou...
An activist protests on Capitol Hill July 22, 2015 in Washington, DC. Members of the San Carlos Apache Nation and other activists gathered to protest the a section of the National Defense Authorization Act that would turn over parts of Oak Flat that are sacred to the Apache to a foreign copper mining company. / Credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty ImagesCNA Newsroom, May 10, 2025 / 11:45 am (CNA).An effort backed by the U.S. bishops to protect a centuries-old Native American religious site from destruction scored a win in federal court on Friday when a district judge blocked the sale of the location while the matter is considered by the U.S. Supreme Court.U.S. District Judge Steven Logan said in the Friday order that the federal government would be prohibited from selling the Oak Flat site in Arizona while the coalition group Apache Stronghold waits for the Supreme Court to potentially consider its case.The federal government several years ago moved to transfer Oak Flat to ...
Americans gather in St. Peter's Square on May 8, 2025, to celebrate the election of Pope Leo XIV, the first pontiff from the United States. / Credit: Courtney Mares/CNAVatican City, May 9, 2025 / 18:28 pm (CNA).Americans gathered in St. Peter's Square on May 8 to celebrate the election of Pope Leo XIV, the first pontiff from the United States. Born Robert Francis Prevost on Chicago's South Side, the 69-year-old Augustinian friar was chosen by the College of Cardinals after just two days of conclave. While American flags were scarce among the sea of international banners, those present from the U.S. lingered in the square long after the Holy Father appeared out on the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica for the first time. They shared prayers, chants, and reflections on the unprecedented moment. "Never in a million years did I think that the Holy Spirit would send us a beautiful cardinal from Chicago," said Deacon Steven Marcus, a Maronite Catholic from Florida. "You ...
At a leper colony in the Kon Tum area in Vietnam in April 2025, Pontifical Missions Society USA President Monsignor Roger Landry celebrated Mass, brought Communion to people, and distributed food and sandals. / Credit: The Pontifical Mission Societies/Margaret MurrayWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 9, 2025 / 11:47 am (CNA).The American arm of the worldwide Pontifical Mission Societies (TPMS) is celebrating yesterday's election of Pope Leo XIV. "The Pontifical Mission Societies in the USA rejoices in the historic election of the first pontiff from the United States of America, Leo XIV, Chicago native Robert Cardinal Prevost, a missionary at heart who served for many years as a priest and bishop bringing Christ and his Gospel to the people in rural Peru," said Monsignor Roger Landry, the organization's national director since January. "Together with all of our fellow American Catholics and citizens, and with all those served in the 1,124 missionary dioceses an...
Singaporean theology student Dominic Nalpon managed to arrive at the center of St. Peter's Square in time to hear the awaited "Habemus papam!" ("We have a pope!") announcement and see the new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, on May 8, 2025. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Dominic NalponRome Newsroom, May 9, 2025 / 12:26 pm (CNA).From Europe to the Asia Pacific, millions of Catholics are celebrating the election of U.S.-born Pope Leo XIV as the 267th leader of the Catholic Church.After news of "white smoke" began to spread across Rome, Singaporean theology student Dominic Nalpon managed to arrive at the center of St. Peter's Square in time to hear the awaited "Habemus papam!" ("We have a pope!") announcement and see the new Holy Father."My first impression of the new Pope Leo XIV was that he had a sense of presence about him," Nalpon told CNA on Thursday. "I was especially joyful at his name 'Leo' as it brings to mind two other popes of the same name who are dear to me.""Leo the Great who...
An explosive device detonates at St. Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, Tuesday, May 6, 2025. / Credit: Courtesy of St. Teresa of Calcutta ParishCNA Staff, May 9, 2025 / 12:56 pm (CNA).Police in a small Pennsylvania town have arrested a man they claim detonated an explosive on the altar of a small Catholic chapel this week. Father Kevin Gallagher, the pastor at St. Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Mahanoy City, told CNA on Friday that on Tuesday, May 6, a man came into the parish chapel at around 9 p.m., "placed an explosive device on the altar, lit it, and then ran out." The device subsequently exploded, damaging a monstrance, the altar, the ceiling, and some stained-glass windows.Investigators thought the explosive might have been a quarter-stick of dynamite, Gallagher said.Police arrested 32-year-old Kyle Kuczynski shortly after the incident. He was charged with multiple crimes including arson.Kyle Kuczynski. Credit: Mahanoy City Police Departmen...
