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Parishioners at a church in Akute Ogun State, Nigeria, in June 11, 2023. / Credit: Ariyo Olasunkanmi/ ShutterstockACI Prensa Staff, Nov 24, 2025 / 17:41 pm (CNA).The Catholic Church is facing a new wave of violence in Africa: In Nigeria, 265 students from a Catholic school remain captive after being kidnapped last week while an archbishop in Cameroon is threatening to close parishes if a kidnapped priest is not released.In Nigeria, Bishop Bulus Dauwa Yohanna of Kontagora told Fides: "The kidnappers are almost certainly criminals seeking illicit gain by demanding a ransom."An official statement from the diocese, published on Nov. 23, reported that 50 minors managed to escape and reunite with their families after fleeing between Friday and Saturday following the attack. These developments were confirmed through visits and phone calls with their relatives, the statement said.However, of the 315 people initially captured, "265 remain in the hands of the kidnappers, of whom 239 are ...
Franciscan University of Steubenville. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Franciscan University of SteubenvilleWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 24, 2025 / 15:08 pm (CNA).The 2025-2026 Newman Guide will be available in December to help parents and students find reliable Catholic elementary, secondary, college, international, and graduate education programs.The Cardinal Newman Society, which publishes a yearly guide on the most faithfully Catholic schools in the U.S., will release its new edition as both an e-book and a digest-sized print book. The Newman Guide has recommended colleges for Catholic families for 20 years, but the 2025-2026 edition is the first that will recommend elementary schools, secondary schools, colleges, and graduate programs. The new guide follows the recent announcements of St. John Henry Newman becoming a doctor of the Church and a patron saint of Catholic education. The Newman Guide has recommended colleges for Catholic families for 20 years, but the 2...
A celebration of liturgical music is the focus of the Mass for the Jubilee of Choirs on Nov. 23, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Nov 23, 2025 / 13:10 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV on Sunday praised the "precious" ministry of liturgical music and told choir members from around the world that their service at the altar must be sustained above all by a deep life of prayer. He later used his pre-Angelus remarks to appeal for the release of hostages kidnapped in Nigeria and Cameroon and to encourage young people on World Youth Day. The pope celebrated Mass in St. Peter's Square for the Jubilee of Choirs on the solemnity of Christ the King, telling choristers and musicians that their vocation is to lead God's people into the mystery of worship. "Dear choristers and musicians, today you celebrate your jubilee and you show thanks to the Lord for granting you the gift and grace to serve him by offering your voices and talents for his glory and for the spirit...
Father Gary Graf walks down a rural road during his trek across America in support of immigrants on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Father Gary GrafCNA Staff, Nov 24, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).After a month and a half of walking an average of 17 miles a day, 67-year-old Father Gary Graf said he is starting to get "a little pain in one shin," but his broken ribs are "getting much better."On Oct. 6, Graf, a Catholic priest from Chicago, began a journey on foot from Pope Leo XIV's childhood home in Dolton, Illinois, to New York City to bring attention to the plight of immigrants amid the sometimes "inhumane" ways the Trump administration is treating them during its immigration enforcement actions.He hopes to arrive at the Statue of Liberty on Ellis Island, where his own great-grandparents entered the country as immigrants, by Dec. 2.Father Gary Graf speaks to a fellow American at Red Horse Tavern in Pleasant Gap, Pennsylvania, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. Credit: Photo c...
Priests process into Lucas Oil Stadium on Nov. 22, 2025, for the concluding Mass in Lucas Oil Stadium at the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis. / Credit: Tessa Gervasini/CNAIndianapolis, Indiana, Nov 24, 2025 / 10:35 am (CNA).The 2025 National Catholic Youth Conferences (NCYC) concluded with a nighttime Mass drawing around 16,000 teenagers.After three days of prayer, community, sacraments, and a conversation with Pope Leo XIV, young Catholics packed into Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis to end the conference with Mass on Nov. 22. Archbishop Nelson Pérez told CNA it was "beautiful" to celebrate the Mass alongside 25 of his brother bishops and more than 240 priests. "It's the Church in its splendor," Pérez said. "Tonight, we experienced the Church in its splendor." The final Mass was celebrated on the Saturday before the solemnity of Christ the King. In his homily, Pérez said: "When I think about a king, I think about palaces and big thrones and power ...
The Church of the Holy Savior in Chora in Istanbul, Turkey. / Credit: G Da, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia CommonsACI MENA, Nov 24, 2025 / 11:05 am (CNA).With the countdown underway for Pope Leo XIV's first official journey outside Italy, excitement is building across Turkey's Christian and wider faith communities. Ahead of the historic visit, EWTN News spoke with several individuals who shared their hopes, expectations, and reflections on what the pope's presence could mean for the country.Linda Tito, a 67-year-old Levantine from Izmir, is eagerly awaiting the visit. "I am happy to go to Istanbul to see the pope, because his visit is a sign of unity and hope for us Christians in Turkey. It is wonderful that he can also see us, know that we exist and that we love him. Meeting him in person is for me a gesture of faith and an opportunity to feel fully part of the universal Church."Linda Tito, a 67-year-old Levantine from Izmir, is eagerly awaiting the visit of Pope Leo XIV. "I am h...
A celebration of liturgical music is the focus of the Jubilee Mass Nov. 23, 2025. / Credit: Vatican MediaRome Newsroom, Nov 23, 2025 / 13:10 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV on Sunday praised the "precious" ministry of liturgical music and told choir members from around the world that their service at the altar must be sustained above all by a deep life of prayer. He later used his pre-Angelus remarks to appeal for the release of hostages kidnapped in Nigeria and Cameroon and to encourage young people on World Youth Day. The pope celebrated Mass in St. Peter's Square for the Jubilee of Choirs on the Solemnity of Christ the King, telling choristers and musicians that their vocation is to lead God's people into the mystery of worship. "Dear choristers and musicians, today you celebrate your jubilee and you show thanks to the Lord for granting you the gift and grace to serve him by offering your voices and talents for his glory and for the spiritual edification of your brothers and...
Pope Leo XIV receives Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople at the Vatican on May 30, 2025. / Vatican MediaVatican City, Nov 23, 2025 / 12:29 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV has called on Christians to move beyond "theological controversies" that no longer serve the cause of unity and to rediscover together the faith professed at the Council of Nicaea 1,700 years ago.In a new apostolic letter, In unitate fidei ("In the Unity of Faith"), released Nov. 23, the solemnity of Christ the King, the pope links the anniversary of the first ecumenical council to the Holy Year of 2025 and to his upcoming apostolic journey to Türkiye, where he will commemorate Nicaea's 1700th anniversary and take part in an ecumenical event with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on Nov. 30 before traveling on to Lebanon."I would like this Letter to encourage the whole Church to renew her enthusiasm for the profession of faith," the pope writes, stressing that the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed "for centuries… has ...
null / Credit: Kara Monroe via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)CNA Staff, Nov 23, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).As Advent quickly approaches and the hustle and bustle of the holiday season begins to make its way into our lives, here are five resources to help you prepare to welcome Jesus this Christmas. From Ascension: Join Father Mike Schmitz this Advent for "Waiting Well: Advent with Fr. Mike Schmitz" on the Ascension app. Beginning Nov. 30, a 26-day video series will guide viewers on becoming aware of how God is shaping them through seasons of waiting and how to wait well. Each day a five-minute video will be released and feature a reflection from Schmitz that unpacks the daily Mass reading as well as Scripture versus, catechism excerpts, and reflection questions to encourage participants to go deeper into the meaning of Advent. Ascension's "Waiting Well: Advent with Fr. Mike Schmitz" video series. Credit: AscensionSchmitz's weekly homily videos during Advent are part of...
null / Credit: Courtesy of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of ApostlesDublin, Ireland, Nov 22, 2025 / 13:00 pm (CNA).Marthe de Noaillat, called the "Apostle of Christ the King" by her biographer, had a singular mission in life that she believed had been entrusted to her: to promote the universal kingship of Jesus Christ."Marthe was the woman who single-handedly brought this to the Church. This is not unusual, indeed the hard lifting in many of these causes was done by women of profound faith," Father Bernard McGuckian, SJ, host of a new EWTN Ireland television series, told CNA.De Noaillat was the seventh child in a family of 12 whose parents, Jean-Baptiste Devuns and Anne Zélina, were pious Catholics.After spending seven years discerning a cloistered vocation, de Noaillat was led instead into the heart of the world as a missionary. With the encouragement and approval of Popes Benedict XV and Pius XI, she organized a global referendum aimed at gathering the faithful to acknowled...
