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Vancouver Archbishop J.. Michael Miller, left, watches as Edmonton Archbishop Richard Smith places the mitre on Father Gary Franken at his ordination as bishop of St. Paul, Alberta, Canada, in December 2022. Archbishop Smith has been appointed the next archbishop of Vancouver after Pope Francis accepted Archbishop Miller's retirement. / Credit: Prithi SpoethVancouver, Canada, Feb 25, 2025 / 17:50 pm (CNA).Archbishop Richard W. Smith of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, has been appointed by Pope Francis as the next archbishop of Vancouver, succeeding Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, whose retirement has been accepted by the Holy Father.Smith, 65, has led the Archdiocese of Edmonton since 2007 and has served in dioceses across Canada.Miller reached the age of 75 in 2021 and submitted his resignation to the pope as required by canon law. However, he was asked to remain in office until a successor was named. The Vatican announced this morning that Smith will be the next shepherd o...
Father Emil Kapaun celebrates Mass using the hood of a Jeep as his altar on Oct. 7, 1950. / Credit: Public domainVatican City, Feb 25, 2025 / 12:15 pm (CNA).Renowned Korean War military chaplain and Kansas native Emil Joseph Kapaun was declared "venerable" by Pope Francis on Tuesday.The Holy Father on Monday met with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, substitute for general affairs of the Secretariat of State, at Gemelli Hospital where the pope is currently undergoing medical treatment to approve decrees from the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints for six men and one woman currently on the path to sainthood.Kapaun is one of five servants of God who will be proclaimed venerable by the Catholic Church. The others are Italian layman Salvo D'Acquisto; Miquel Maura i Montaner, a 19th-century Spanish priest; Italian priest Didaco Bessi; and Kunegunda Siwiec, a Polish laywoman who died in 1955.The Holy Father approved Kapaun and D'Acqui...
null / Credit: Andy - Rock News/ShutterstockVatican City, Feb 25, 2025 / 12:45 pm (CNA).Pope Francis has named two secretaries-general to serve under Sister Raffaella Petrini, FSE, in the Governorate of the Vatican City State, giving the Vatican's first woman president "the power to dispose and confer... specific competencies or particular tasks" on the appointees.The Vatican announced on Tuesday that Francis had appointed Archbishop Emilio Nappa and layman Giuseppe Puglisi-Alibrandi to serve as joint secretaries-general of the governing body of the Vatican City State.The nomination follows the pope's appointment of Franciscan Sister Petrini as president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and president of the Governorate of Vatican City State on Feb. 15, after she served as secretary-general of the governorate for just over three years.Petrini, who will assume her new roles on March 1, is the first woman and non-cardinal to ho...
U.S. Vice President JD Vance addresses the 2025 International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Migi Fabara/EWTN NewsWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 25, 2025 / 14:05 pm (CNA).Vice President JD Vance will speak at the 20th National Catholic Prayer Breakfast (NCPB) held on Friday, Feb. 28, in Washington, D.C., the organization has announced."I am honored to be able to address the 20th annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast and represent the Trump administration's support for people of faith across the United States," Vance said in a statement.Vance spoke about returning to the NCPB as vice president. "Last year, I was moved to witness the joyful devotion of over a thousand Catholics praying for the future and success of our country," he said."Thanks to their faithful prayers, President Trump's leadership has restored the hopes and dreams of the American people and our great nation is on the path to peace and prosperity once more," Vance said.NCPB Chair...
U.S. Supreme Court. / Credit: PT Hamilton/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Feb 25, 2025 / 14:35 pm (CNA).The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered that condemned Oklahoma death row prisoner Richard Glossip be given a new trial amid concerns that he may have been wrongfully convicted of arranging an assassination nearly three decades ago.In a 5-3 decision, the nation's highest court said prosecutors had "violated [their] constitutional obligation to correct false testimony" in the trial that led to Glossip's murder conviction in 1998. Glossip was convicted that year for allegedly ordering Justin Sneed to murder the owner of a hotel Glossip himself managed. The owner was found bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat. Sneed, who worked as a handyman at the hotel, confessed to killing the man and alleged that Glossip had ordered the hit; Sneed himself is currently serving a life sentence. Sneed's testimony was the decisive factor in convicting Glossip. But prosecutors failed to dis...
Pope Francis presides over Ash Wednesday Mass at the Basilica of Santa Sabina in Rome on Feb. 14, 2024. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Feb 25, 2025 / 10:55 am (CNA).In his message for Lent 2025, Pope Francis emphasized the importance of living one's life as a constant journey of conversion, choosing to walk in peace and hope aside one's fellow humans."May the hope that does not disappoint, the central message of the jubilee, be the focus of our Lenten journey toward the victory of Easter," the pope said in the message, released Tuesday. He also quoted St. Paul's exclamation in the first letter to the Corinthians: "Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" Though Francis is in Gemelli Hospital to receive treatment for multiple respiratory infections, his Lenten message is dated Feb. 6, well ahead of his hospitalization on Feb. 14. The season of Lent will begin on Ash Wednesday, March 5. The Vatic...
Hundreds of people gather to pray the rosary for Pope Francis' health and recovery on Feb. 24, 2025, in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNAVatican City, Feb 24, 2025 / 07:34 am (CNA).Pope Francis' condition remains serious but has shown "slight improvement" as he continues treatment on his 11th day in Rome's Gemelli Hospital, the Vatican said Feb. 24. The pope was admitted to Rome's Gemelli Hospital on Friday, Feb. 14, to undergo testing and treatment for bronchitis. Follow here for the latest news on Pope Francis' health and hospitalization:
Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas is apostoolic nuncio to Ukraine. / Credit: Courtesy of the nuncioVatican City, Feb 24, 2025 / 16:05 pm (CNA).Monday, Feb. 24, marked three years of Ukrainian resistance against the Russian invasion. According to U.N. data, more than 12,600 civilians have died in the conflict, including more than 2,400 children. In addition, more than 10% of the country's housing stock has been damaged or destroyed, causing more than 2 million families to be displaced.In this context, the apostolic nuncio in Ukraine, Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, emphasized that, despite the pain and devastation, hope remains the only refuge for those suffering from the war."Pope Francis has proclaimed the Jubilee Year of Hope, and in such a horrible war, there is nothing left but hope. Military chaplains tell us that soldiers are grateful for any message of hope, because it is the only thing they have left," Kulbokas said in an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-languag...
null / Credit: Brian A Jackson/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Feb 24, 2025 / 16:35 pm (CNA).A federal judge has ruled that the U.S. government will not be permitted to conduct unrestricted arrests of suspected unauthorized immigrants at some religious sites while a lawsuit over the policy plays out in federal court. In an injunction on Monday, U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang blocked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) along with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from carrying out "potential or actual immigration actions" at houses of worship belonging to several groups, including the Quakers and a Sikh temple in Sacramento. DHS under President Donald Trump last month rescinded Biden-era guidelines that previously required ICE agents to seek their superior's approval before arresting people at or near "sensitive locations" such as churches, hospitals, or schools.The religious groups filed suit against the federal g...
Religious sisters and dozens of faithful gather around the statue of St. John Paul II at Gemelli hospital to pray the rosary for Pope Francis on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 22, 2025 / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNAVatican City, Feb 24, 2025 / 07:34 am (CNA).Pope Francis' condition remains serious but has shown "slight improvement" as he continues treatment on his 11th day in Rome's Gemelli Hospital, the Vatican said Feb. 24. The pope was admitted to Rome's Gemelli Hospital on Friday, Feb. 14, to undergo testing and treatment for bronchitis. Follow here for the latest news on Pope Francis' health and hospitalization:
