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Mass in a Catholic church in Cotia, Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Jan. 25, 2020. / Credit: wtondossantos/ShuttestockSao Paulo, Brazil, Jun 9, 2025 / 13:30 pm (CNA).The percentage of Brazilians who identify as Catholic fell to 56.75% in 2022, a reduction of 8.4% compared with 2010, according to data from the 2022 demographic census released by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics.Despite the reduction, Catholicism remains by far the largest religion in the country, followed by evangelicalism and Brazilians who identify as having no religion, whose percentage has grown by 1.4% since 2010, accounting for 9.28% of the population. Evangelicals posted growth of 5.2% during the period, comprising 26.9% of the country's population of just over 203 million people.The trend of increasing numbers of people without a religious affiliation was discussed by the bishops during a January meeting in Rio de Janeiro. The archbishop of Porto Alegre and president of the National Conference o...
Over 10,000 pilgrims joined together at the national Marian shrine in Knock, Ireland, to mark the 40th anniversary of the All Ireland Rosary Rally on June 8, 2025. / Credit: Photo courtesy of All Ireland Rosary RallyDublin, Ireland, Jun 9, 2025 / 14:00 pm (CNA).This past weekend, over 10,000 pilgrims joined together at the national Marian shrine in Knock, Ireland, to mark the 40th anniversary of the All Ireland Rosary Rally.Since the rally began in 1985, it has attracted increasingly larger crowds. This year's rally included a youth conference and a prayer vigil in the basilica to welcome the feast of Pentecost. Hundreds of rally-goers joined together to create a huge human rosary outside. On Sunday morning, attendees climbed Croagh Patrick holy mountain where Mass was celebrated at noon at the summit. "We are inspired in our efforts by the rallies of Father Patrick Peyton, a [County] Mayo native who inspired millions around the globe," event organizer Father Marius O...
Cardinal Anders Arborelius of Stockholm at the consistory in St. Peter's Basilica on June 28, 2017. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNAStockholm, Sweden, Jun 9, 2025 / 14:30 pm (CNA).The conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV was first and foremost a unifying experience, despite the frantic pace and intrigue, said Swedish Cardinal Anders Arborelius."The conclave was a wonderful experience of unity in the Church and openness to the voice of the Spirit," Arborelius told CNA on June 5. "It was also very well organized."However, one of the primary challenges for the cardinals at the conclave was getting to know one another, especially those from faraway countries. During the general congregations prior to the conclave, when cardinals discussed the challenges that the Church and the new pope would face, Arborelius told the New York Times that the "cardinals don't know each other so well" and that he himself felt "lost all the time."The cardinal explained to CNA that the College of Cardinals got...
Cloistered monastic nun Sister Maria Gloria Riva of the Nuns of Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament addresses Pope Leo XIV, cardinals, bishops, and other employees at the Vatican for the Jubilee of the Holy See on June 9, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNAVatican City, Jun 9, 2025 / 10:08 am (CNA).Sister Maria Gloria Riva of the Nuns of Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament spoke on the importance of working with eternity in mind during a talk delivered Monday morning at the Vatican, a highly unusual case of a layperson publicly addressing the pontiff on spiritual matters.The 66-year-old nun, part of a cloistered, contemplative monastery in the small state of San Marino in Italy, was the invited speaker for the Jubilee of the Holy See, part of the Catholic Church's wider 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope."Eternity is before us. If we work for short-term and mediocre horizons, we work in vain," Riva said in her June 9 meditation to Pope Leo XIV, cardinals, bishops, and ot...
Father Marko Rupnik in an interview with EWTN in 2020. / Credit: EWTNVatican City, Jun 9, 2025 / 11:08 am (CNA).The Vatican on Monday removed artwork by former Jesuit Father Marko Ivan Rupnik from its official websites.Digital images of the Slovenian priest's sacred art, which were frequently used by Vatican News to illustrate articles of the Church's liturgical feast days, are no longer found on the digital news service.Catholic writer Amy Welborn took to X to show screenshots of Vatican News' "Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church" article before and after Rupnik's accompanying artwork was removed from the website on June 9.Rupnik, who was expelled by the Society of Jesus in June 2023 for his "stubborn refusal to observe the vow of obedience," is accused by about two dozen women, mostly former nuns, of spiritual, psychological, and sexual abuse they allege has occurred over the past three decades.The recent changes to the Vatican News and the Dicastery for...
Jesuit Guy Consolmagno at the Vatican Observatory in Castel Gandolfo, Italy. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN NewsVatican City, Jun 9, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).A total of 24 fortunate young people from around the world are participating this year in the Vatican Observatory's summer camp, an exceptional opportunity to see "that science and faith work together."The camp is led by the observatory's director, Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno, who during these summer months is teaching the cohort of future astronomers."We hope that simply living and working alongside Jesuit astronomers will be the strongest evidence that science and faith work together, and even more so, that this is a very natural collaboration," Consolmagno told ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner.The veteran Vatican astronomer, born in Detroit, recalled that Pope John Paul II once described faith and reason "as the two wings that lift us toward the truth.""I hear in Pope Leo's comments an echo of that same int...
Brothers Father Joseph Wahlmeier (pictured on the left) and newly-ordained Father Isaac Wahlmeier (on the right), with their parents and Bishop James D. Conley after the ordination Mass May 24, 2025. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Diocese of LincolnLincoln, Neb., Jun 9, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).For parents, having the opportunity to see their children embrace the vocation to which God has called them marks the culmination of years of prayer and sacrifice. While most will see their children married, a smaller group will get to celebrate calls to the priesthood and religious life. Even more rare, though, is the opportunity to celebrate multiple ordinations from the same family, let alone among siblings. But as of Saturday, May 24, with the ordination of Father Isaac Wahlmeier, six families in the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, can celebrate such a blessing.These sets of brothers include Father Isaac Wahlmeier and his brother Father Joseph Wahlmeier, ordained in 2020, and Father...
Pope Leo XIV waves from the popemobile at the crowds gathered in St. Peter's Square for Mass on Pentecost Sunday on June 8, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNACNA Newsroom, Jun 8, 2025 / 12:05 pm (CNA).Follow our live coverage of the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV, first U.S.-born pope in history.
Sister Therese Mills, MGL, traveled from Australia to attend the Jubilee of Ecclesial Movements, Associations, and New Communities in Rome, June 8, 2025. / Credit: Sister Therese MillsRome Newsroom, Jun 8, 2025 / 13:45 pm (CNA).Traveling more than 10,000 miles to take part in this weekend's Jubilee of Ecclesial Movements, Associations, and New Communities, Sister Therese Mills, MGL, spoke to CNA of her great joy as she joined tens of thousands of other pilgrims in Rome.A leader of the Missionaries of God's Love Sisters, a charismatic Catholic group founded in Australia in 1987, Mills said her pilgrimage to Rome during the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope has been a time of refreshment and renewal.She described the "amazing" experience of walking through the Jubilee Door of St. Peter's Basilica on Saturday, the first day of the special jubilee dedicated to new Catholic movements and associations. Mills recalled "just opening my hands and just praying that the Lord would refr...
Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass for the Solemnity of Pentecost in St. Peter's Square on June 8, 2025. In his homily, he emphasized the significance of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Christian. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Jun 8, 2025 / 08:42 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass for the Solemnity of Pentecost in St. Peter's Square on Sunday with international pilgrims belonging to new Church movements, associations, and communities celebrating this year's Jubilee Year of Hope in Rome.Emphasizing the significance of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Christian, the Holy Father noted that it is the third person of the Blessed Trinity who anoints, heals, and strengthens followers of Jesus to "open borders" in hearts, in relationships with others, and between nations. "Let us invoke the Spirit of love and peace, that he may open borders, break down walls, dispel hatred and help us to live as children of our one Father who is in heaven," the pope said on a...
