Article Archive
Please click below to view any of the articles in our archive.
Jesus and the disciples during Season 4 of "The Chosen." / Credit: The Chosen/Mike KubeisyVatican City, Jun 19, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).On June 23, there will be an exclusive presentation at the Vatican of the fourth episode of the fifth season of "The Chosen," the successful series based on the life of Jesus Christ and the apostles.According to the Holy See Press Office, next Monday at 11:30 a.m. local time in the Marconi Hall, the cast and producers of "The Chosen" will hold a press conference to discuss the innovative and impactful series.Jonathan Roumie, the actor who plays Jesus, will be in attendance for the presentation of the fifth season, titled "The Last Supper." Also present will be Dallas Jenkins, creator and director of the series; Elizabeth Tabish, who portrays Mary Magdalene in the series; George Xanthis, who plays St. John; and Vanessa Benavente, who plays the Virgin Mary.They will also discuss the release of two feature films by "The Chosen" about the crucifixion...
Scenes from the beatification of Floribert Bwana Chui Bin Kositi, a Congolese martyr, in Rome on Sunday, June 15, 2025. In a Monday, June 16, audience with pilgrims from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), who traveled for the beatification of Bwana Chui at the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls, the Holy Father said: "This Congolese layman highlights the precious witness of the laity and young people." / Credit: Vatican MediaACI Africa, Jun 18, 2025 / 11:57 am (CNA).Floribert Bwana Chui Bin Kositi, a Congolese martyr beatified in Rome on Sunday, June 15, provides a powerful testament to the invaluable witness of the laity and youth, Pope Leo XIV said.In his Monday, June 16, audience with pilgrims from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), who traveled to participate in the beatification of Bwana Chui at the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, the Holy Father said: "This Congolese layman highlights the precious witness of the laity and young people.""T...
Father Theodore Gabrielli, SJ. / Credit: San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's OfficeCNA Staff, Jun 18, 2025 / 12:27 pm (CNA).A priest in California has been arrested and charged with acts of child sex abuse that reportedly occurred through the 1990s. Police arrested Father Theodore Gabrielli last week on charges of aggravated sexual assault of a minor, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office said in a post on X on Tuesday. Authorities identified three alleged male victims of the priest, the sheriff's office said; all three were members of the same family. At the time of the alleged abuse, "the family was living in Mexico" where they allegedly befriended Gabrielli. "The priest became close with the family, and he was allowed to take the three boys with him to many places in California including his parents' residence in Los Osos," the sheriff's office said. "It was there, the victims stated, the priest would sexually assault them." The alleged assaults "...
Pope Leo XIV addresses pilgrims at his general audience in St. Peter's Square on June 18, 2025. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Jun 18, 2025 / 14:25 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV on June 18 renewed his strong call for peace, urging people to not "get used to war."Addressing pilgrims at the end of Wednesday's general audience, the pontiff lamented that "the Church is brokenhearted at the cry of pain rising from places devastated by war."In particular, he focused on the conflicts in Ukraine, Iran, Israel, and Gaza. "We must not get used to war!" he exclaimed from St. Peter's Square at the Vatican.In this context, he emphasized that "the temptation to have recourse to powerful and sophisticated weapons needs to be rejected."He then cited the Second Vatican Council noting that in modern warfare, "every kind of weapon produced by modern science is used in war, the savagery of war threatens to lead the combatants to barbarities far surpassing those of former ages.""For this reason, in t...
Credit: Quisquilia/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Jun 17, 2025 / 11:16 am (CNA).A group of Orthodox churches has joined the Catholic bishops of Washington state in suing the government over its requirement that clergy either violate the seal of confession or face jail time.The Orthodox Church in America, the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, and numerous other Orthodox jurisdictions on Monday sued dozens of public officials in the state challenging the constitutionality of its mandatory reporter law.Signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson on May 2, the law goes into effect July 27 and adds clergy to Washington's list of mandatory reporters for child abuse but explicitly denies them the "privileged communication" exemption granted to other professionals, such as nurses and therapists.Priests who fail to report abuse learned in confession could face up to 364 days in jail and a $5,000 fine.In a lawsuit filed last month in federal district court, the Catholic bishops of the ...
Renowned exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth. / Credit: Angela Musolesi (CC BY-SA 4.0)ACI Prensa Staff, Jun 17, 2025 / 11:54 am (CNA).Father Marcello Lanza of the International Association of Exorcists (IAE) recently honored Father Gabriele Amorth on the 100th anniversary of Amorth's birth as "the most famous exorcist of the 20th century.""Don Amorth was the most famous exorcist of the 20th century because, with his great love for the 'poorest of the poor,' he was not afraid of attracting negative preconceptions by communicating to the entire world the suffering that many believers were experiencing due to extraordinary diabolical phenomena," Lanza wrote in an article published this month on the IAE website.The Italian priest, who knew the late exorcist, emphasized that "one of his main warnings was to point out the presence of Satan behind the seemingly harmless phenomenon of magic."Amorth, who was born on May 1, 1925, "exposed the work of Satan behind the illicit activities of ma...
Actor Al Pacino and Italian film producer Andrea Iervolino give Pope Leo XIV a miniature model of a Maserati car during a private audience at the Vatican on June 17, 2025. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Andrea IervolinoVatican City, Jun 17, 2025 / 13:38 pm (CNA).In an unexpected visit, Hollywood actor Al Pacino was received by Pope Leo XIV on June 17 at the Vatican, according to photos shared on Instagram by Italian film producer Andrea Iervolino.Pacino and Iervolino are currently in Italy filming their next movie, which is dedicated to the origins of the iconic Maserati automobile brand. The film, "The Brothers," which chronicles the vicissitudes of the Maserati brothers, stars the Oscar-winning actor and is produced by Iervolino.During the private audience with the pontiff, Leo was presented with a miniature model of a Maserati vehicle, a symbol of the Italian design-and-engineering legacy.The Holy See Press Office has not issued an official statement about the meeting, nor has ...
Bernardo García is executive director of the Casablanca Declaration. / Credit: "EWTN Noticias"/ScreenshotLima Newsroom, Jun 17, 2025 / 09:42 am (CNA).Bernardo García, executive director of the Casablanca Declaration, a coalition that calls for the universal abolition of surrogacy, said that in reality the practice amounts to "the exploitation of poor women and the sale of children." The Casablanca Declaration takes its name from a conference on the subject held in Casablanca, Morocco, in 2023.García spoke to "EWTN Noticias," the Spanish-language broadcast edition of EWTN News, during the coalition's third summit, held last week in Lima, Peru, with specialists in bioethics, law, and communications participating.García emphasized that the Casablanca Declaration "is an NGO [nongovernmental organization] that informs about the risks and dangers of surrogacy worldwide and actively promotes an international treaty at the United Nations level to abolish this practice.""We believe that...
The New Jersey State House. / Credit: Felix Lipov/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Jun 17, 2025 / 10:37 am (CNA).The New Jersey government will be allowed to assemble a grand jury to investigate allegations of clergy sexual abuse there, the state Supreme Court said Monday.In a unanimous ruling, the New Jersey Supreme Court said a lower court had erred when it held the state could not empanel the jury, with the high court stating that the government "has the right to proceed with its investigation and present evidence before a special grand jury."The lower court had said in part that any findings from the grand jury could be "fundamentally unfair" because any priests accused in it would lack the ability to adequately challenge the allegations.But the Supreme Court said it was up to judges to decide if any report complied with prevailing legal standards. Courts "cannot and [do] not decide the ultimate question in advance," the ruling said.The court's decision comes just over a month after ...
The Vatican Gardens at Castel Gandolfo is located on the wooded slopes of the Alban Hills, overlooking the blue waters of a small volcanic crater lake. / Credit: Courtney Mares/CNARome Newsroom, Jun 17, 2025 / 06:47 am (CNA).The town of Castel Gandolfo has said Pope Leo XIV will again partake in the centuries-long tradition of spending a summer vacation at the lakeside papal residence in the Alban Hills south of Rome.The Vatican has not responded to a request for confirmation, but a spokeswoman for the small town, Giulia Agostinelli, told CNA Leo will arrive sometime during the first week of July.Pope Francis in 2013 broke with the papal practice of escaping the Roman heat in Castel Gandolfo, with its extensive gardens, preferring to remain at his Vatican residence, Santa Marta, even during the summer.Francis opted to turn the papal summer residence into a museum. It opened to the public in 2016.The gardens of the papal residence, called the Barberini Gardens, were opened...
