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An EF2 tornado in the early hours of March 31, 2025, in Grand Prairie, Louisiana, tore off the roof of the St. Peter Parish catechism building. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Debbie LaFleurWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 1, 2025 / 15:01 pm (CNA).A Louisiana parish suffered major damage to its property after a tornado passed through during the early hours of Monday morning.Debbie LaFleur, secretary of St. Peter Catholic Church in Grand Prairie, Louisiana, told CNA the roof of the parish catechism building was torn off and that several fallen tree limbs fell onto the rectory, causing the above-ground structure to shift on its pillars. The rectory and catechism building were built in 1950 and 1970, respectively. The catwalk between the rectory and the church, a carport, and the awning over a handicap ramp will all need to be replaced, LaFleur said. She also noted that several of the parish's "very old" oak trees had been damaged or fallen down and that several headstones in its c...
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt attends a roundtable at the White House in Washington, D.C., on June 18, 2020. / Credit: Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead (public domain)CNA Staff, Apr 1, 2025 / 15:34 pm (CNA).Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt this week signed an executive order instructing state officials to ensure Oklahoma's laws are "the most robust" in the nation at protecting religious freedom, with the governor also criticizing the state attorney general for attempting to block a proposed Catholic charter school there.The order, announced on Monday, initiates a review of various state laws and policies to ensure they comply with religious freedom protections enshrined in both the U.S. Constitution and the Oklahoma Constitution.The directive explicitly targets several state laws, including one requiring charter schools to be "nonsectarian" in their operations.The order comes just weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court began considering a proposed Oklahoma school that could be ...
On April 2, 2025, the Augustine Institute will release its second documentary in its "Based on a True Saint" series, which airs on its faith formation streaming platform Formed. The latest installment in the series, "The Boy from Milan," focuses on soon-to-be saint Carlo Acutis. / Credit: The Augustine InstituteCNA Staff, Apr 1, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).On April 2, the Augustine Institute will release its second documentary in its "Based on a True Saint" series, which airs on its faith formation streaming platform Formed. The latest installment in the series, "The Boy from Milan," focuses on soon-to-be saint Carlo Acutis.The film aims to help viewers get to know the Church's first millennial saint better and show how an ordinary teenager with a deep love for God and other people can became a saint. The documentary includes interviews with three individuals who knew Acutis personally: his mother, Antonia Salzano Acutis; his high school religion teacher at Leone XIII Institute ...
Father José Luis Quijano is one of the 500 priests who participated in the March 28-30, 2025, Jubilee of Priests Instituted as Missionaries of Mercy. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/EWTN NewsVatican City, Apr 1, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).In 2016, when Pope Francis instituted the ministry of the Missionaries of Mercy during the extraordinary holy year, Argentine priest José Luis Quijano never imagined that the pope's initiative would renew his priestly zeal. With more than three decades of ministry, he thought he'd already learned everything."I wasn't a priest just going through the motions; I was always very pastoral, but this meant an authentic renewal in the inner fiber of my ministry," he explained to ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, nine years after having personally received from the pontiff the task of imparting God the Father's infinite forgiveness on a daily basis."Mercy is not for those who are squeaky clean, for those who are good or just. That's easy. The recipie...
Pilgrims gather in St. Peter's Square for a Mass and canonization of 14 new saints on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNAVatican City, Mar 31, 2025 / 13:17 pm (CNA).Pope Francis has advanced five people's paths to sainthood after approving decrees promulgated by the Vatican's Dicastery for the Causes of Saints on March 28. Blessed Peter To Rot of Papua New Guinea, Blessed Ignatius Shoukrallah Maloyan of Turkey, and Blessed María Carmen of Venezuela will be proclaimed saints of the Church. The pope also approved the beatification of Italian diocesan priest Carmelo De Palma and declared Brazilian priest José Antônio de Maria Ibiapina a "venerable" of the Church. The canonization ceremonies of both To Rot and Maloyan are to be discussed in a future customary consistory, according to a Holy See Press Office announcement. To Rot, a lay catechist born on March 5, 1912, and martyred for his faith during World War II, will be the first can...
Mosaics by alleged abuser Father Marko Rupnik are displayed throughout the shrine in Lourdes, France. / Credit: Courtney Mares/CNARome Newsroom, Mar 31, 2025 / 11:03 am (CNA).The Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in France announced Monday that the entrances to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, featuring art by the disgraced artist Father Marko Rupnik, are being covered.Bishop Jean-Marc Micas of Tarbes and Lourdes called the decision a "second step" after his initial decision in July 2024 to no longer light up the mosaics at night and during processions."You know my opinion about the presence of these mosaics on the doors of the basilica. It seemed to me, together with my collaborators, that a new symbolic step had to be taken to make the entrance to the basilica easier for all those who today cannot cross the threshold," Micas said in an online post from the renowned Marian apparition site.Mosaics by the alleged sexual abuser Rupnik, who is under investigation and awaiting a...
Christian families displaced by the violence in India's Odisha state in 2008. / Credit: Aid to the Church in NeedBangalore, India, Mar 31, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).A team of half a dozen Catholic nuns and lawyers have warned of increasing incidents of opposition to Christian funerals and hate campaigns against the Christian community in an eastern Indian state.The group sounded the alarm after making a fact-finding visit to several remote areas under the Balasore Diocese in the state of Odisha."What we heard from the people in the villages was shocking to us," Sister Clara D'Souza, a member of the Handmaid of Mary Congregation, told CNA on March 27."Our fact-finding report has details of incidents of tribal Hindu groups protesting and objecting to Christian funeral services and even Sunday Mass, starting [before Christmas]," she said. "As we released the fact-finding report, a third case of a Christian funeral obstruction happened on March 22," D'Souza added.Father Ajay ...
The proposed restoration of the frontage of the Basilica of Sainte Anne de Détroit. / Credit: Pulte Family Charitable FoundationCNA Staff, Mar 30, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).A major U.S.-based initiative is providing tens of millions of dollars to Catholic parishes and organizations across the country to "restore and endow" Catholic communities around the country "for generations to come."The Pulte Family Charitable Foundation earlier this month announced the launch of the Catholic Initiative, described in a press release by the organization as "an innovative, Vatican-approved funding model" to help ensure the continuation of Catholic properties and parishes.The unique model is "the first of its kind in the world in faith-based fundraising, one that "shifts ownership of church buildings and campuses to a newly created nonprofit organization" created solely for that purpose, the foundation said.The Basilica of Sainte Anne de Détroit is seen in an undated photograph. Credit: StAnneDeD...
The Association of Pilgrimages in Lebanon (APL) unveils its plans for Caminos Lebanon, an innovative project designed to revitalize Christian religious tourism through a unique pilgrimage experience inspired by the renowned Camino de Santiago in Spain, on March 28, 2025. / Credit: Marwan Semaan/ACI MENAACI MENA, Mar 30, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).Lebanon will soon have its own "camino," according to the Association of Pilgrimages in Lebanon (APL). On March 28, the group unveiled its plans for Caminos Lebanon, an innovative project designed to revitalize Christian religious tourism through a unique pilgrimage experience inspired by the renowned Camino de Santiago in Spain.The launch event, held in Bkerké, the episcopal see of the Maronite Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch of the Maronite Church in Lebanon, gathered prominent figures, including Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, Tourism Minister Laura Khazen Lahoud, and Father Khalil Alwan alongside a diverse audience...
Mural of Archbishop Oscar Romero, / Credit: Douglas Radamez Barahona, Giovani Ascencio Ardón and Raul Lemus- Grupo Cinteupiltzin CENAR El Salvador (CC BY-SA 3.0).ACI Prensa Staff, Mar 29, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).The apostolic nunciature in El Salvador issued a correction for the irregularities that occurred March 24 during a Mass marking the 45th anniversary of the assassination of St. Oscar Romero, who served as archbishop of San Salvador during that country's civil war.The Mass, held in the chapel where Romero was assassinated while celebrating Mass on March 24, 1980, included the unauthorized presence of a female Anglican bishop at the altar and banners in opposition to proposed gold mining, violating Catholic liturgical norms.In several photos released by Salvadoran media, a female Anglican bishop can be seen behind the altar along with the bishop of the Salvadoran Old Catholic Church and anti-mining activist Neftalí Ruiz; the celebrating bishop, Oswaldo Estefano Escobar Agui...
