Catholic News

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 29, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has issued new guidance to safeguard the right of federal employees to express religion in the workplace, including the display of religious imagery on desks, voluntary conversations, and prayer.

The new guidelines, issued by U.S. Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor, were sent to the heads of all federal departments and agencies on Monday, July 28. The guidance is meant to clarify the religious liberty protections guaranteed in the First Amendment and already enshrined in federal law.

"Federal employees should never have to choose between their faith and their career," Kupor said in a statement. "This guidance ensures the federal workplace is not just compliant with the law but welcoming to Americans of all faiths. Under President Trump's leadership, we are restoring constitutional freedoms and making government a place where people of faith are respected, not sidelined."

Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Michael Ross praised the memo in a statement to CNA, saying that "no American should have to check their faith at the door when they walk into the workplace."

"We're grateful for President Trump's leadership in reaffirming every federal employee's right to exercise their religious beliefs at work to the fullest extent permitted by law," he said. "This is a critical step in restoring a workplace culture that respects and promotes religious freedom for every American."

Protected religious expressions

The federal guidance clarifies religious liberty protections in five specific categories: display and use of items for religious purposes, expressions by groups of federal employees, conversations between federal employees, expressions directed at members of the public, and expressions in areas accessible to the public.

For the first category, the guidance states that employees can display and use religious items at their desks, on their person, and in assigned workplaces. This applies to a variety of items, such as Bibles, rosaries, jewelry, artwork, crosses, and mezuzahs.

The second category guarantees that federal employees can "engage in individual or communal religious expressions in both formal and informal settings alone or with fellow employees" when the employees are not on duty.

On the subject of conversations between employees, the guidance states that a person "may engage in conversations regarding religious topics." This includes voluntary conversations that seek to "persuade others of the correctness of their own religious views" as long as it is not harassing in nature.

The protection of religious conversations also extends to an employee encouraging a co-worker to participate in prayer or other expressions of faith "to the same extent that they would be permitted to encourage co-workers [to] participate in other personal activities." An employee cannot be disciplined in any way for not wanting to participate.

When engaging with members of the public as a private person — as long as the employee is not making a statement as part of his official duties — his or her religious expression must "not be suppressed," according to the guidance. It states that constitutional rights "are not limited by the venue or the hearer."

Additionally, the guidance states religious expressions, when done in an employee's personal capacity, are permitted "in areas accessible to the public." It states such religious expressions must "be treated in the same manner as if those expressions are made in areas inaccessible to the public."

Examples of protected activities

The guidelines offer the heads of federal departments and agencies several examples of religious expressions that are protected.

In one example, it notes that an employee could keep a Bible on his or her desk to read during breaks or an employee could keep a rosary at his or her desk to pray during breaks. Employees can wear crosses or other clothing that displays a religious message.

The guidelines explain that a group of employees could form a prayer group or a group to study the Bible or other religious texts at the office, as long as they are not on duty. Employees should be allowed to use empty conference rooms for such activities, according to the guidance.

An employee is allowed to engage in a "polite discussion of why his faith is correct and why the non-adherent should rethink his religious beliefs," invite a member to church, or post a bulletin that advertises a religious service. Yet, conversations must be voluntary. If a co-worker does not want to continue the conversation, "the employee should honor the request."

Other protected activities listed include a park ranger leading a tour through a national park joining a group in prayer or a doctor praying over his or her patient for recovery. It would also permit a security guard to display a crucifix, among many other protected activities.

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CNA Staff, Jul 29, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Musicians from around the world came together for the first-ever Catholic Music Awards on July 27 at the Auditorium Conciliazione in Rome. Nicknamed the "Grammys of Catholic Music," the international event aims to promote, encourage, and recognize the talent of Catholic singers by not only celebrating the Catholic faith but also honoring artists who evangelize through music.

Finalists were evaluated based on content, artistic value, and technical professionalism, with the final decision made by an international jury of more than 60 experts. Winners were chosen across 19 categories in four languages: Spanish, English, Italian, and Portuguese.

Among the winners was Nathali Paredes Lozano, singer-songwriter and anchor for "EWTN Noticias," the Spanish-language broadcast edition of EWTN News, who won Best Praise-Worship Song in the Spanish category.

Lozano won for her song titled "Te Pertenezco," which translates to "I Belong to You."

She explained at the event that the song was "composed to the heart of Jesus, to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which is my greatest devotion. It is that heart that reaches out to take our hearts," according to ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner. 

"It is a song of Eucharistic worship, he who is present in the Eucharist, so I am very happy about it too. It's a song that I love very much and that, I tell you and confess, every time I sing it I also break down," she added.

When speaking about the award show she said: "This is the first event of its kind held at a global level, and it's so important because it values, rewards, and above all highlights the music of so many, many Catholic musicians around the world who offer their voices, who offer the gifts the Lord has given us to praise him, to praise God, our beloved Jesus. What could be better than valuing and supporting this kind of music, which is sometimes lacking?"

Opera singer Luciano Lamonarca, founder and CEO of the Saint Pio Foundation, won for Best Male Singer in the English category. He won for the song "The Song of Saint Pio," which he composed in honor of St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio) as a gesture of gratitude for the saint's intercession for the birth of Lamonarca's son Sebastián.

In 2010, Lamonarca and his wife, Valentina, were expecting their first child — a daughter whom they named Alma. Suddenly, their whole life changed when Alma was delivered stillborn and Valentina had to undergo additional surgeries due to complications from the delivery. Due to those surgeries, it was unlikely that Valentina would ever be able to conceive again.

In their despair, the couple spent their first wedding anniversary in San Giovanni Rotondo, the hometown of Padre Pio. It was here that they were blessed with an opportunity to pray with a first-class relic — a handkerchief with blood stains from Padre Pio. The couple grew closer to the beloved saint and turned to him for his intercession.

Despite suffering multiple more miscarriages, they continued praying and on Dec. 25, 2014, Valentina discovered she was pregnant. Their son Sebastian was born in September 2015.

"When you sing, expressing faith, the emotions you give is much more than anything else. You don't do this because you have been paid. You don't do this because you have been rewarded by some things. You do this because you feel a connection with God, with those who love, you feel the faith expand," Lamonarca said.  "So this is the best music that everybody will ever experience."

Francesco Lorenzi, lead singer of the Italian band The Sun, accepted the award won by his group for Best Italian Catholic Band.

"Never would I have thought 20 years ago that today we would be here near St. Peter's, awarded as the best Italian Catholic band. And this is something extraordinary: how the Lord can truly guide our lives, heal them, and lead us to where we are called to be, because each of us has a mission," the Italian singer told the crowd. 

Lorenzi is known for his powerful conversion story and was awarded the Pontificated Medal in 2016 by Pope Francis "for the contribution given to Christian humanism in the world."

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 28, 2025 / 18:54 pm (CNA).

Notre Dame des Champs, an iconic Catholic church in the Parisian neighborhood of Montparnasse, was targeted in an arson attack just 24 hours after an accidental fire broke out in its choir loft. 

The cause of the first fire, which broke out on the morning of July 23, has been attributed to a failed electrical circuit that resulted in the destruction of the church's sound system and choir organ, according to a Le Figaro report. 

The next day, in a side chapel dedicated to St. Joseph, vandals set fire to wood panels. A recently renovated canvas located above the wood panels sustained significant damage. A statue of St. Joseph fell and broke while firefighters put out the flames, according to a report from the Tablet, which said there have been "50 fires or attempted arson cases" in French churches in the past year, compared with 38 in 2023. 

No one was reported injured in either incident. 

"This second fire caused even more damage," Father Camille Millour, the pastor, wrote in a July 25 statement on the parish website following the second incident, which occurred on the afternoon of July 24. Millour noted that an investigation is ongoing and thanked first responders for their efforts.

The pastor noted that he had jointly filed a joint police complaint with the City of Paris and that the archbishop of Paris had expressed his support for the parish community amid the ordeal. 

"For reasons of the investigation and rehabilitation of the building, our church will remain closed for an indefinite period," Millour stated.

Jean-Pierre Lecoq, mayor of the sixth arrondissement in Paris, where the church is located, expressed concern that the church suffered two fires in 48 hours, writing in a post on X: "Second fire in less than 24 hours at Notre-Dame-des-Champs church! The investigation will determine the causes, as the occurrence of these two incidents in such a short time raises legitimate questions. In any case, the building must be secured urgently."

In a post the morning after the first fire, but before the second, the mayor noted that he had requested an audit of the electrical networks and security system due to the failure of the fire alarm system.

Millour stated that in wake of the fire, the campaign to replace the church's lights are now "essential," not only for aesthetic purposes but also safety amid electrical concerns. The church had been planning to install new lights ahead of its 150th anniversary next year.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 28, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

As artificial intelligence (AI) transforms the way we consume and create media, the "media nuns" are on a mission to ensure humanity stays mindful in the digital age and remembers that "human beings create, machines generate."

AI "generates a lot of questions, it generates a lot of concerns, but it also generates a lot of excitement," Sister Nancy Usselmann, FSP, director for the Daughters of St. Paul's Pauline Media Studies, told CNA. 

The Daughters of St. Paul are known as the "media nuns" for their media-centered mission and outreach. They study new trends, issues, and advances in media to look at what the changes mean for people including parents, teenagers, and young adults.

As director of Pauline Media Studies, Usselmann leads the sisters' efforts to "develop media mindfulness catechesis for a lived discipleship" and help people find ways to integrate their faith with daily media use. The sisters seek to accomplish this mission through writing, hosting workshops, and speaking across the country.

Usselmann is a theologian, writer, international speaker, and film reviewer, among other things. With a doctorate in ministry from The Catholic University of America and certificates in catechetics and media literacy education, Usselmann is now also studying and teaching about AI, including what the Church teaches about it and how Catholics can "live within this digital world, while also living our faith."

AI at a glance 

"I know everybody gets excited about new tools and hopping on the bandwagon of trying out the newest, latest, and greatest, but so much of it needs reflection," Usselmann said. "Taking what the Church says about [AI], with its document Antiqua et Nova … we need to take a step back in this rapid change, where every single day there is a new AI app coming." 

Usselmann highlighted that it's not necessarily a matter of educating on whether AI is good or bad but teaching people to "understand what it is." AI is "machine learning that's trained to be able to mimic some aspects of human intelligence." 

We can acknowledge that AI offers "great tools" that "can help us in our lives in many ways, including medicine, finance, and so on," Usselmann explained. "They help us with a huge amount of data to make information more accessible. But, the problem is that we really have to stop and think."

While AI has beneficial aspects, it also raises a number of concerns including job displacement, privacy, data security, accountability if the systems fail, and "there will be bad actors out there using it for malicious purposes."

"This is moving so fast, and young people, especially kids and teens, are using the chatbots for assistance and therapy and for friendship. It's concerning to a lot of people," Usselmann said. 

When using AI tools, it is important to ask: "Does this particular app promote the common good? Is this respected dignity of the human person?"

AI as an evangelization tool

"The Church is never going to say: 'Don't go there and don't use AI.' It's saying we need to delve within the culture, we need to be present in that digital culture and illuminate the culture from within it with God," Usselmann said. "We need to be present there to help transform it for good." 

In order to use this technology "for good," a number of Catholics are starting companies that are working to use AI "for the Church's mission of evangelization," Usselmann said. "It's pretty exciting and amazing that there are so many out there that are thinking that way."

AI technologies created by Catholics include Longbeard, Magisterium AI, and Truthly, which offer daily Mass readings and liturgical resources at the click of a button. Some of them are even drawing from the pontifical universities in Rome's libraries to have access to "tremendous theological and philosophical knowledge."

Many of the Catholic AI tools provide sourcing and give footnotes that explain where in the Church's teaching the information was found. "And that's phenomenal because it's helping us learn," Usslemann said. "It's being a research tool, but it's not taking away our own ability to discover."

"There's also a prayer app called the Grace app," Usselmann said. "It's a generative AI model that's … not replacing traditional spiritual guidance in the Church, but it gives personalized spiritual guidance or companionship to help somebody grow in their faith."

Usselmann said of course she "questions it," but also "it's really interesting." 

The sisters, and other Catholics working in the media, she added, need to "help people think and question" AI. People need to understand why they are using it and then use it in ways that are "supportive of human dignity" and that don't "take away from our own ability to reason and think through problems."

Only humans can create

While AI has many capabilities, it cannot create the same way human beings can because, according to Usselmann, it doesn't have the "soul" to do so. 

"Human beings create, machines generate. So they're just generating based on information that's out there — learned algorithms and learned practices that it's being fed. But human beings, we have this amazing gift of creativity because we are made in God's image and likeness. God, who is the creator, endowed us with this spark, this element of God-likeness, which is creativity."

"It comes from the depth of the person, body and soul, where we reflect and can think and be self-aware and give self-expression, and have moral agency, which is something a machine cannot do … Can AI generate beauty and art? Maybe. But where does beauty and art come from? It comes from our God-likeness, being made in God's image and likeness."

Usselmann plans to continue to expand her knowledge of AI and keep the conversation around the technology open. This fall, she will attend the Builders AI Forum hosted by the Pontifical Gregorian University at the Collegium Maximum in Rome.

The event reported that it "aims to foster a new interdisciplinary community of practice dedicated to supporting the development of AI products that serve the Church's mission." The gathering will "bring together companies leading in Catholic AI, venture capital and angel investors, as well as prominent AI thought leaders and researchers." 

While many are going as "creators and investors," Usselmann is attending as an "investigator." She explained that guests will discuss "innovative new ideas," while "having the educators and theologians helping to ask questions," to help keep future AI "in line with the Church's understanding of Christian anthropology."

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ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 27, 2025 / 17:18 pm (CNA).

An armed group linked to the Islamic State on Sunday killed dozens of worshippers at a Catholic church in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of Congo while they were participating in a prayer vigil.

According to the BBC, members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) stormed a church in the town of Komanda, where they shot and killed the worshippers, then looted and set fire to nearby businesses.

Komanda is in the Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, an area rich in minerals and whose control is disputed by several armed groups.

Dieudonne Duranthabo, a coordinator of civil society in Komanda, told the Associated Press: "More than 21 people were shot dead inside and outside [the church] and we have recorded at least three charred bodies and several houses burned. But the search is continuing."

Aime Lokana Dhego, a local priest, told AFP: "We have at least 31 dead members of the Eucharistic Crusade movement, with six seriously injured. Some young people were kidnapped; we have no news of them."

On the other hand, Radio Okapi estimated the number of dead at 43.

Italy Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on Sunday condemned the massacre through his X account: "I express the strongest condemnation of the attack on a church in Komanda, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where a terrorist group linked to ISIS killed more than 40 civilians."

"Places of worship must always be preserved and religious freedom must be protected. Italy stands in solidarity with the families of the victims and the Congolese people," he added.

What is the ADF?

The ADF emerged in Uganda in the 1990s, according to the BBC, accusing the government of persecuting Muslims, but is now based across the border in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where they regularly attack civilians of all religions, as in Uganda.

Vatican News said the ADF is "responsible for the murder of thousands of people. Two weeks ago they killed 66 people in the Irumu area."

Jamil Mukulu, a Christian convert to Islam, is the founder of the ADF, which in early 2024, according to Vatican News, perpetrated an attack also in the eastern part of the country in which at least eight people were killed, five of them while praying, and 30 others were taken hostage.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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Vatican City, Jul 27, 2025 / 08:30 am (CNA).

Pope Leo?XIV called for peace negotiations and respect for humanitarian law in Gaza, 10 days after an Israeli strike caused the death of three people at the only Catholic church in the enclave.

"I renew my heartfelt appeal for a ceasefire, for the release of hostages, and for the full respect for humanitarian law," the pope said, speaking of the nearly two-year-old war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Speaking as is customary at midday on Sunday from a window of the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, Leo emphasized "the very grave humanitarian situation in Gaza, where the civilian population is crushed by hunger and remains exposed to violence and death."

Leo called on the parties in all conflicts around the world to recognize the God-given dignity of every person and "put an end to all actions contrary to it."

The pope specifically voiced his concern over the escalation of violence in southern Syria and over the situation on the border between Cambodia and Thailand, where violent clashes have broken out in a territorial dispute.

He made his remarks after leading a crowd in St. Peter's Square in a recitation of the Angelus. Before the prayer, he offered a short catechesis on the Our Father.

"We cannot pray to God as 'Father' and then be harsh and insensitive towards others. Instead, it is important to let ourselves be transformed by his goodness, his patience, his mercy, so that his face may be reflected in ours as in a mirror," he said.

The pope reflected on the day's Gospel in which Jesus teaches his disciples the Our Father and explained that this passage "invites us, through prayer and charity, to feel loved and to love as God loves us: with openness, discretion, mutual concern, and without deceit."

Leo also said that this part of the Gospel shows "the characteristics of God's fatherhood" through evocative images such as "that of a man who gets up in the middle of the night to assist a friend in welcoming an unexpected visitor"; and also "that of a parent who is concerned about giving good things to his children."

The pope explained that these images remind us that God "never turns his back on us when we come to him, even if we arrive late to knock at his door, perhaps after mistakes, missed opportunities, or failures."

In the great family of the Church, "the Father does not hesitate to make us all participants in each of his loving gestures," Leo said.

He added: "The Lord always listens to us when we pray to him. If he sometimes responds in ways or at times that are difficult to understand, it is because he acts with wisdom and providence, which are beyond our understanding."

Following the prayer, the pope greeted, among other groups, participants in the EWTN Summer Academy, an intensive training program in Catholic communication organized by EWTN News and aimed at young people between 21 and 35 years old with prior experience in digital content creation.

Leo also recalled that this Sunday marks the fifth World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly under the theme "Blessed Are Those Who Have Not Lost Hope."

"Let us look to grandparents and the elderly as witnesses of hope, capable of illuminating the path of new generations. Let us not leave them alone but join them in an alliance of love and prayer," he said.

Finally, the pope spoke in Spanish to greet the thousands of young people who will participate in the Jubilee of Youth from July?28 to Aug.?3, one of the biggest events of the current holy year.

"I hope it will be for everyone an occasion to encounter Christ and to be strengthened in faith and in the commitment to follow him with consistency," the pope said.

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CNA Newsroom, Jul 26, 2025 / 12:00 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV has urged the U.S. chapter of the international Pax Christi movement to move in "the peripheries" of society to spread peace and forgiveness there.

The pope issued the message to the national Pax Christi USA assembly taking place in Detroit. The group says the July 25-27 gathering is an opportunity for participants to renew their "commitment to peacemaking and care for the Earth and all its inhabitants."

Writing to the gathering, Pope Leo said: "In the midst of the many challenges facing our world at this time, including widespread armed conflict, division among peoples, and the challenges of forced migration, efforts to promote nonviolence are all the more necessary."

Leo noted that, following the "violence of the Crucifixion," the risen Christ greeted his apostles with peace, one that was "unarmed and disarming, humble and persevering."

Christ continues to charge his followers with spreading his peace, Leo wrote.

"In parishes, neighbourhoods, and especially on the peripheries, it is all the more important for a Church capable of reconciliation to be present and visible," he said.

The pontiff prayed that the gathering would inspire the event's participants to "work to make their local communities" into "houses of peace" that spread justice and forgiveness.

Pax Christi was founded in 1945 near the end of World War II and was recognized by Pope Pius XII in 1952. Its U.S. arm was founded in 1972.

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CNA Staff, Jul 26, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Catholics in Nagasaki, Japan, have replaced a bell in a cathedral bell tower there almost exactly 80 years to the day after it was destroyed by the atomic blast that leveled most of the city at the end of World War II.

An international effort to fund the construction and installation of the bell at Urakami Cathedral raised $125,000 in just over a year, with the funds coming from over 600 individual donors, according to Williams College Professor James Nolan.

Nagasaki was one of the two Japanese cities, along with Hiroshima, largely destroyed by the U.S. atomic bombings at the close of World War II. The city was bombed on Aug. 9, 1945, marking the second and last time an atomic bomb was used as an act of war.

Nolan told CNA last year that parishioners at Urakami Cathedral managed to dig up one of the original bells after the bombing and save it; the bell was installed in the cathedral's right bell tower after it was rebuilt in 1959.

The remaining bell, however, was destroyed, with the second rebuilt tower remaining empty for decades.

Nolan — a sociology professor who came to Nagasaki frequently while writing and researching a book about the local Catholic population's response to the bombing — said a parishioner at the cathedral, Kojiro Moriuchi, remarked to him at one point that it would be "wonderful if American Catholics gave us the bell for the left tower," leading the professor to help spearhead the effort to replace the instrument. 

For the professor, his own involvement in the project is personal. His grandfather served as the chief medical officer at the Los Alamos, New Mexico, facility where the atomic bomb was developed and later came with a survey team to both Nagasaki and Hiroshima after the bombs fell.

People "were keen to give, once they learned the story about Nagasaki," Nolan told CNA this week.

"We reached our goal of $125,000 on July 15," he said. The funds will pay off the cost of making the bell as well as transporting and installing it, he said. 

"It took about one year and four months to raise the funds. In the final tally there were a total of 628 individual donations," Nolan said. 

Moriuchi spoke at the blessing ceremony on July 17 and "got a bit choked up," Nolan said. 

Nagasaki Archbishop Peter Michiaki Nakamura blessed the bell on that date and named it the "St. Kateri Bell of Hope," according to the Associated Press.

The bell will be officially installed on Aug. 9, eight decades after the parish was leveled by the atomic bomb. Nolan said it will be rung at 11:02 a.m., the exact moment in 1945 when the bomb detonated around 1,600 feet west of the church. 

At the bombing location, a section of wall from the old, destroyed cathedral sits in Nagasaki Peace Park. At the rebuilt parish to the east, meanwhile, Nolan said he hopes the bell "will bear the fruit of fostering hope and peace and solidarity between American and Japanese Catholics." 

In remarks delivered at the blessing ceremony this month, Nolan said American Catholics learning of the destruction wrought at Nagasaki "expressed sorrow, regret, sadness, and a wish for forgiveness and reconciliation."

One person, he said, wrote to him: "May the ringing of these bells continue to remind the people of Nagasaki of our sorrow for what their people have endured and reassure them of ours and God's love for them."

Another said the bell's donation was meant "to heal the wounds of this war and progress to world peace."

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 25, 2025 / 17:25 pm (CNA).

More than two dozen Planned Parenthood facilities across the country in recent months have announced plans to shut down amid funding concerns caused by new federal rules that prevent the abortion giant from receiving Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements.

As of Friday, July 25, the growing number of Planned Parenthood facility closures has reached at least 25, which span across 10 states. The most recent announcement came yesterday, July 24, with Planned Parenthood Mar Monte indicating its plan to shut down five facilities in northern California.

On July 4, President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which put a one-year freeze on Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements for Planned Parenthood. The provision is being challenged in court, but a federal judge this week allowed the freeze to go into effect for most Planned Parenthood affiliates.

Some of Planned Parenthood's facilities announced closures before the bill's passage in anticipation of the funding cuts while others have begun announcing closures this week.

"We are heartbroken and outraged to have to close five of our health centers and sunset three crucial services," Planned Parenthood Mar Monte wrote in an Instagram post.

In the post, the Planned Parenthood affiliate called the defunding provision "a back-door ban on abortion in reproductive freedom states."

The affiliate will still operate 30 other abortion clinics in California and Nevada.

Students for Life of America President Kristan Hawkins referred to the news as "a win for babies in California," a state she said is "a hub for late-term abortions," in a statement on X.

Planned Parenthood affiliates are also shutting down four facilities in Iowa, four in Michigan, four in Minnesota, two in Ohio, two in Utah, one in Vermont, one in New York, one in Indiana, and one in Texas.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America stated on July 1 that the defunding provision could force the abortion network to shut down nearly 200 clinics, which is 60% of Planned Parenthood's facilities.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said in a statement provided to CNA that Planned Parenthood should "look in the mirror for the reason their centers are shuttering."

"Planned Parenthood's focus is on abortions, gender transitions, and political spending — all while raking in hundreds of millions from taxpayers," Dannenfelser said. "Many times they've been offered a path to keep their funding by dropping abortions, but they refuse. Meanwhile, they have no monopoly on health, as women already go to community health centers that provide much more comprehensive care and are more accessible, outnumbering Planned Parenthoods 15:1 nationwide."

Michael New, a senior associate scholar at the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute, told CNA that "it should come as no surprise that Planned Parenthood is responding to the federal funding cutoff by closing some of its facilities," noting that Planned Parenthood receives hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds annually.

New said Planned Parenthood closures "should be seen as a win for the pro-life movement."

"Even those Planned Parenthood facilities that do not perform abortions still do abortion referrals," New said. "Furthermore, when a Planned Parenthood closes, that means that there are fewer people who work for the abortion industry. Finally, Planned Parenthood's contraception and sex education programs create a more promiscuous culture that result in more abortions."

Under long-standing federal law, Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements were not available for most abortions. But before the new law went into effect, Planned Parenthood was able to obtain reimbursements from those programs for non-abortive services.

According to Planned Parenthood's annual report for July 2023 through June 2024, about 40% of the abortion network's total revenue came from taxpayer money, a large portion of which was obtained through Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements. Over that year, Planned Parenthood was given nearly $800 million in public funds.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 25, 2025 / 13:23 pm (CNA).

The humanitarian organization United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has reported that "1 in every 5 children is malnourished in Gaza City" and cases continue to "increase every day."

In a post to the social media platform X, Commissioner General of UNRWA Philippe Lazzarini wrote that "when child malnutrition surges, coping mechanisms fail, access to food and care disappears, famine silently begins to unfold."

As "more than 100 people, the vast majority of them children, have reportedly died of hunger," UNRWA is urging "humanitarian partners to bring unrestricted and uninterrupted humanitarian assistance to Gaza."

Lazzarini said the people in Gaza are "neither dead nor alive, they are walking corpses." He added that the children are "emaciated, weak, and at high risk of dying if they don't get the treatment they urgently need."

"Parents are too hungry to care for their children" and "families are no longer coping, they are breaking down, unable to survive," he said. Lazzarini detailed that "those who reach UNRWA clinics don't have the energy, food, or means to follow medical advice."

"This deepening crisis is affecting everyone, including those trying to save lives in the war-torn enclave," Lazzarini wrote. Frontline health workers "are surviving on one small meal a day … if at all. Since they "cannot find enough to eat, the entire humanitarian system is collapsing." 

In an interview with EWTN on July 24, Gaza parish priest Father Gabriel Romanelli also warned of the famine. He said: "There is dire need, particularly for food and medicine."

Romanelli, who was recently injured in the strike on Holy Family Church, said despite the bombings and lack of resources, "almost no aid has entered northern Gaza." 

"We implore and beg that large-scale humanitarian assistance be allowed in," the priest said. "Even though some trucks are looted at times, that cannot justify stopping all humanitarian assistance. The more aid comes in, the less likely theft becomes."

While families mostly "fend for themselves," Romanelli shared that the parish cooks for everyone twice per week. But the parish relies mainly on solar panels, and the need for purified water continues.

Amid the devastating war, Pope Leo XIV has called multiple times "for an immediate halt to the barbarism" and "for a peaceful resolution of the conflict."

"I renew my appeal to the international community to observe humanitarian law and to respect the obligation to protect civilians, as well as the prohibition of collective punishment, the indiscriminate use of force, and the forced displacement of the population," the pope said.

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