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Pope Leo XIV honors Our Lady of Guadalupe during the Mass on her feast day, Dec. 12, 2025, in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Dec 12, 2025 / 17:46 pm (CNA).On Dec. 12, Pope Leo XIV presided over his first Mass on the solemnity of Our Lady of Guadalupe, whom he asked to come to his aid "so that she may confirm in the one true path that leads to the blessed Fruit of your womb all those who have been entrusted to me."A large number of the faithful, mostly from the Mexican community residing in Rome as well as clergy and members of the Roman Curia, attended the ceremony held in St. Peter's Basilica at 4 p.m. local time.The Holy Father delivered a homily in Spanish in the form of a prayer addressed to the patroness of Mexico and empress of the Americas.The pontiff recalled that Mary allows the Word of God "to enter her life and transform it," bringing "that joy wherever human joy is insufficient, wherever the wine has run out." For the ...
Official appearance of the exhibition in Vienna from Vienna Künstlerhaus website. / Credit: Vienna Künstlerhaus websiteCNA Deutsch, Dec 12, 2025 / 10:11 am (CNA).On Dec. 8, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, a prayer rally against an exhibition called "Du sollst dir ein Bild machen" ("You shall make yourself an image") took place in front of the Vienna Künstlerhaus Vereinigung, a cultural center for artists. The prayer rally's organizers said the show, which includes a crucified frog and a depiction of the Virgin Mary as a transgender woman, is an attack on the Catholic faith.Organized by the Austrian Society for the Protection of Tradition, Family, and Private Property (TFP), the rosary rally featured participants carrying placards calling for an immediate stop to blasphemy. Protesters said the exhibition strikes "at the heart of the Catholic faith with abominable depictions, including a crucified green frog mocking Our Lord, a bearded man dressed as the Mother of God...
Pope Leo XIV receives members of the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology on Dec. 11, 2025, in the Clementine Hall of the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Dec 11, 2025 / 18:30 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV on Dec. 11 emphasized the academic, cultural, and ecclesial value of archaeology and called for the promotion of "cultural diplomacy" to overcome borders and prejudices.Receiving members of the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology in an audience, the pope emphasized that its literary and monumental sources constitute an essential part of the "roots" of European society and nations."Take part through your studies in that cultural diplomacy that the world so desperately needs in our day," the pope urged, addressing the faculty, students, and staff of the center.To introduce his reflection, he referenced the motu proprio I Primitivi Cemeteri ("The Primitive Cemeteries"), published exactly a century ago by Pius XI, in which he emphasized the Church's respon...
Death penalty. / California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Wikipedia CC 2.0.Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 11, 2025 / 13:00 pm (CNA).A majority of Catholic voters in the United States support the death penalty for convicted murderers in spite of the Catechism of the Catholic Church calling capital punishment "inadmissible," according to a poll published by EWTN News and RealClear Opinion Research.The survey of 1,000 Catholic voters between Nov. 9 and Nov. 11 found that 55% support the death penalty "for a person convicted of murder." Only 20% said they oppose the death penalty in such situations, and another 25% are unsure.Based on the poll, Catholics who attend Mass regularly are much more likely to say they oppose the death penalty than Catholics whose attendance is less frequent.Among Catholics who attend Mass at least once per week, 52% say they support the death penalty for convicted murderers, 26% say they oppose it, and 22% are unsure. For Catholics who at...
Congress is set to vote on two plans regarding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits that are scheduled to expire Dec. 31, 2025. / Credit: usarmyband, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 11, 2025 / 06:30 am (CNA).Congress is set to vote on two plans regarding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits that are scheduled to expire Dec. 31, 2025. The Senate is expected to vote Dec. 11 on a Democratic proposal to extend existing ACA tax credits for three years, as 24 million Americans use ACA marketplaces for health insurance. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, told reporters Tuesday after a Senate Republican meeting that lawmakers also will vote on a Republican alternative measure. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, chair of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, and Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, who leads the Finance panel, announced the legislation on Monday. The measure (S. 3386) would s...
Former archbishop's palace in Mexico City. / Credit: Government of Mexico CityPuebla, Mexico, Dec 11, 2025 / 07:10 am (CNA).Although millions of faithful recognize Tepeyac Hill in Mexico City as the site of the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe, not many know that the miracle of the imprinting of her image did not occur there, but in a place that is now practically forgotten.According to tradition, in December 1531, the Virgin appeared to an indigenous man named Juan Diego and asked him to request that the first bishop of Mexico, Friar Juan de Zumárraga, build a "sacred little house," a chapel at the foot of Tepeyac.As a sign for the bishop, the Virgin Mary caused roses to bloom in the middle of winter on the arid hill and asked Juan Diego to carry them in his cloak. When he arrived at the bishop's residence to show the bishop the roses, he unfolded his cloak, and the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was miraculously imprinted on it.After the miracle, the cloak was placed...
Tom Vander Woude with baby Joseph "Josie" Vander Woude. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Tom Vander Woude GuildCNA Staff, Dec 11, 2025 / 09:30 am (CNA).When Virginia father Tom Vander Woude's 19-year-old son, a boy with Down syndrome, fell into a toxic sewage tank, Tom jumped into the tank with him, pushing him to the surface even as the toxic fumes filled his own lungs.The father of seven, whose sainthood cause is now under investigation, will be posthumously awarded this year's Walk for Life "Saint Gianna Molla Award for Pro-Life Heroism" on Jan. 24, 2026 at the West Coast Walk for Life in San Francisco. "When we heard Tom's story years ago, we were touched by the love of a father for his child," Dolores Meehan, co-chair of the West Coast Walk for Life, told CNA. "The fact that his son has Down syndrome made it all the more important to share his story of love and sacrifice and joy."Unborn children with Down syndrome often become victims of abortion.The award named for St...
Pro-life advocates are calling for action as top federal health officials deny reports that they are delaying a promised safety review of the abortion pill. / Credit: Yta23/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Dec 10, 2025 / 18:30 pm (CNA).Pro-life advocates are calling for action as top federal health officials deny reports that they are delaying a promised safety review of the abortion pill. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, "has delayed a promised review of safety data" until after midterm elections at Commissioner Marty Makary's request, a Tuesday report by Bloomberg Law claimed, citing unnamed sources. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has denied the claim, saying it is "baseless." "Assertions that the FDA is slow walking this review for political purposes are baseless," an HHS spokesperson told CNA. "FDA takes the time necessary to conduct comprehensive scientific revie...
Empty beds in a student dormitory at St Mary's Catholic School in the Kontagora Diocese.on Nov. 21, 2025. / Credit: Bishop Bulus Dauwa YohannaACI Africa, Dec 10, 2025 / 19:10 pm (CNA).Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a UK-based human rights organization, has welcomed the release of 100 schoolchildren, who were among 303 children abducted on Nov. 21 from St. Mary's Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools in Papiri community in Nigeria's Niger State served by the Catholic Diocese of Kontagora.In a press release shared with ACI Africa, CNA's African news partner, on Dec. 9, officials with the Christian group called on the Nigerian government to ensure that the children receive help after their trauma.Nigerian authorities reportedly secured the release of the children on Dec. 7, although details of how this was achieved remain unclear.Confirming the release to Catholic pontifical and charity foundation Aid to the Church in Need, Bishop Bulus Dauwa Yohanna of the Kontagora Dioces...
Cardinal Baltazar Enrique Porras. / Daniel Ibanez/CNACaracas, Venezuela, Dec 10, 2025 / 16:45 pm (CNA).On Dec. 10 Venezuelan immigration police confiscated and invalidated the passport of Cardinal Baltazar Porras, the archbishop emeritus of Caracas, as he was preparing to travel to Bogotá, Colombia, from Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía.According to the Grand Priory of the Military and Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem in Venezuela, on Wednesday morning the cardinal "was subjected to humiliating treatment" by airport authorities under the government of Nicolas Maduro.From Bogotá, Porras was scheduled to take a flight to Madrid and then travel to Toledo, where he was going to participate in the solemn ceremony that would invest him as Spiritual Protector of the Order of St. Lazarus in Venezuela. Accompanying the cardinal were Grand Prior José Antonio Rodríguez and his wife, who were allowed to board the plane."Immigration police officers unjustly deta...
