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ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 6, 2025 / 13:00 pm (CNA).

Domenico Sorrentino, the bishop of Assisi, Italy, where the remains of Blessed Carlo Acutis rest, sent a message of encouragement to young people just prior to Pope Leo XIV's declaring Acutis a saint of the Catholic Church along with another young Italian, Pier Giorgio Frassati.

"Dear faithful and most beloved young people, let yourselves be guided by Carlo, follow his example, follow in his footsteps, walk his path, because it is the right path, the one that leads to Jesus and, therefore, to love and joy," the Italian prelate said in a message published Sept. 5.

The bishop of Assisi sent his message just two days before the canonization of Acutis, who will be declared a saint alongside Frassati on Sunday, Sept. 7, at a Mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican at 10 a.m. local time.

Sorrentino also said that "today more than ever we need positive examples, exemplary life stories that will help our children not to be carried away by uncomfortable images, violent examples, and passing fads that leave nothing to be desired."

"Carlo, on the other hand, teaches us to live a normal life, putting Jesus at the center. You, parents, also help your children discover Carlo's holiness so that they can live a life full of joy, full of Jesus," he emphasized.

Born on May 3, 1991, Acutis was a young Italian who from a very early age experienced a profound love for God, with a special devotion to Eucharistic miracles, which he compiled in a digital exhibition that he shared online.

Suffering from leukemia, Carlo died on Oct. 12, 2006, at the age of 15. He was beatified on Oct. 10, 2020.

The Diocese of Assisi also reported that some 800 pilgrims will arrive in Rome from Assisi on a special train arranged by the diocese. Twelve volunteers will be on board to distribute backpacks, scarves, and hats, and several priests and religious, led by the rector of the Shrine of the Spogliazione (Dispossession), Father Marco Gaballo, will be in charge of the group.

The Shrine of Spogliazione is the place where Carlo Acutis wanted to be buried, so Assisi welcomes both him and St. Francis.

Relics of the soon-to-be-canonized St. Carlo Acutis at the canonization

The Diocese of Assisi also announced that the relic of the heart of the young man who will become the first millennial saint will be brought to St. Peter's Square in Rome. It was also announced that another relic of Carlo Acutis will be brought as a gift to Pope Leo XIV.

On Monday, Sept. 8, the day after the canonization, a Mass of thanksgiving will be celebrated in Assisi at St. Mary Major Church by Sorrentino. Carlo Acutis' parents; Valeria, the young Costa Rican woman who received the miracle leading to Acutis' canonization; and several civil authorities will be present.

The Diocese of Assisi also reported that, so far this year, some 630,000 pilgrims have come to the Shrine of the Spogliazione to venerate Acutis, with an average of up to 4,000 per day. In 2024, there were almost 1 million visitors.

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, Sep 6, 2025 / 13:30 pm (CNA).

Bishop Francesco Savino, vice president of the Italian Bishops' Conference, celebrated Mass at the Church of the Gesù on Saturday for LGBT pilgrims in Rome for the Jubilee of Hope.

An Italian lay association organized the international pilgrimage, which included a morning Mass celebration inside the mother church of the Society of Jesus in Rome and a St. Peter's Basilica Holy Door pilgrimage in the afternoon.

More than 1,000 pilgrims from around the world attended the Mass concelebrated by approximately 30 priests, including American Father James Martin, SJ, who had met with Pope Leo XIV in a Sept. 1 private audience at the Vatican.

Several people, including religious brothers and sisters, waved rainbow-colored fans to keep cool inside the packed church and some wore shirts with a phrase from 1 John 4:18, "nell'amore non c'e timore" ("there is no fear in love"), during the Mass.

In his homily, Savino underscored the inherent dignity of every person and the need to "restore dignity to those who had been denied it." 

"We are all a pilgrim people of hope and we want to leave this celebration more joyful and hopeful than ever," Savino said during his homily. "We have to go forward, convinced that God loves us [with] a unique and unrepeatable love … unconditional love."

"In that awareness there is the foundation of all hope," he said.

Reflecting on the selected Mass readings and Gospel for the day, Savino said St. Paul's writings in the New Testament teach us that "a small step" in the midst of great human limitations may be "more pleasing to God than the outwardly correct life" of those who do not experience trials in life.

"We all have to convert, that is, we turn, we look in the opposite direction than before. The Acts of the Apostles documents this experience as defining and definitive," he said. 

"Truly I am realizing that each of us, you here present, your family members, your brothers and sisters, we pastors and disciples of the Lord — each of us has had in our lives to accept or to reject a living truth," he added.

Asking the Lord to "deliver us freely from any polemical or ideological temptation, from any preconceived temptation based on prejudice," the Italian bishop spoke of the need for "Peter and the Apostolic College to put living truth before dead truth," a reference to the pope and bishops today.

The Sept. 6 Mass concluded with rounds of loud applause and great emotion. Family members and friends sang the recessional hymn and hugged each other as the bishop and concelebrating priests processed out of the main part of the basilica, led by a pilgrim holding a rainbow-colored cross.    

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, people with "deep-seated homosexual tendencies … must be treated with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided." 

The catechism also states that homosexual acts are "intrinsically disordered" and "under no circumstances can they be approved."

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National Catholic Register, Sep 6, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, who became the first senior British royal to be received into the Catholic Church since the 17th century, has died at the age of 92.

In a statement, Buckingham Palace said that the duchess died peacefully on Thursday evening at her Kensington Palace home, surrounded by her family.

"The king and queen and all members of the royal family join the Duke of Kent, his children and grandchildren in mourning their loss and remembering fondly the duchess's lifelong devotion to all the organisations with which she was associated, her passion for music and her empathy for young people," the statement read.

Renowned for her natural charm, compassion for the sick and downtrodden, and commitment to serving others, the duchess was a much-loved and hard-working British royal whose popularity was enhanced by her own personal suffering and self-effacing nature.

Born into a notable aristocratic and land-owning family, Katharine Lucy Mary Worsley was raised an Anglican and, in 1961, married Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, a grandson of King George V and a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II.

The first woman without a peerage or princess title at birth to marry a royal duke in over a century, Katharine devoted herself to a life of service, and often, together with the duke, represented the queen at charity and state events at home and abroad.

Her journey to the Catholic faith was historically significant and born out of considerable personal loss and suffering.

While pregnant with her fourth child in 1975, the duchess contracted measles and, following her doctors' advice, terminated the pregnancy for medical reasons. In 1977, when happily pregnant again, she gave an address to the British Congress of Obstetrics in which she declared human life was a gift from God and uniquely valuable as every birth is a miracle. She also paid tribute to those who fight to protect life and the family.

But some weeks later, the duchess lost the baby at 36 weeks; she described the experience as "devastating," and viewed the miscarriage as punishment for the abortion two years earlier.

The duchess went on to express deep empathy for others who had suffered similar tragedy, and turned to her faith, making the first of several regular visits to the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham with the then-Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie.

But some years later, seeing the uncertainties and internal struggles of the Church of England, which was then grappling with whether to accept women clergy, she was drawn to Catholicism.

Her journey culminated with being received into the Catholic Church in January 1994 by Cardinal Basil Hume, then-Archbishop of Westminster. Up until then, no senior royal had publicly been received into the Church since 1685. The Act of Settlement of 1701 also barred royals who became or married Catholics from the line of succession.

She described her conversion as a "long-pondered personal decision," and that she was attracted by the solace and clarity of the Catholic faith. "I do love guidelines and the Catholic Church offers you guidelines," she once told the BBC. "I have always wanted that in my life. I like to know what's expected of me."

As a Catholic, she made regular visits to Lourdes with her local parish, and often attended Mass at the Brompton Oratory in London, close to her Kensington Palace home.

In 2001, the third-eldest of her four children, Lord Nicholas Windsor, followed her into the Catholic Church, becoming the first male blood member of the British royal family to become a Catholic since King Charles II's probable deathbed conversion in 1685.

The Duchess of Kent gave her time and energy to various good causes, including becoming patron of the Samaritans, a charity that tries to deter people from committing suicide, and co-founding a charity called Future Talent, which supports young musicians from poor backgrounds.

After retiring from public service, she taught music to children at a primary school in the 2000s for over a decade in complete anonymity. Known simply as "Mrs. Kent" at the school, she said in a 2022 interview that "only the head knew who I was. The parents didn't know, and the pupils didn't know. No one ever noticed. There was no publicity about it at all — it just seemed to work."

Many of the children at the school in Hull, northern England, came from single-parent families and very deprived areas. "It was very, very rewarding," the duchess said. "The music did such wonderful things. It really did."

Many in Britain remember seeing the duchess' compassion visibly shown when, as the presenter of trophies at Wimbledon, she broke with protocol to comfort Jana Novotná, a Czech tennis player, who cried on her shoulder after narrowly losing the Wimbledon women's singles final.

In a statement, Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster recalled "with fondness her presence in our community, especially her participation in the pilgrimage to Lourdes, as well as her lifetime of public service."

The Prince and Princess of Wales said the duchess worked "tirelessly to help others" and would be a "much missed member of the family."

Writing on X, British Catholic broadcaster Colin Brazier wrote that "in a world of bombast, self-promotion and vanity, Katharine Worsley was that rarest of things: a public figure of genuine humility, even holiness."

The late Duchess of Kent's funeral — the first Catholic funeral for a member of the royal family in modern British history — will take place at Westminster Cathedral in the coming weeks.

This article was originally published by the National Catholic Register, CNA's news partner, and has been adapted for CNA.

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Vatican City, Sep 5, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

Real peace, often used as a slogan, begins in our own hearts and communities, Pope Leo XIV told a group of young adults from the Mediterranean region at the Vatican on Friday.

In a speech in both Italian and English Sept. 5, the pope called young people the "generation that envisions a better future and chooses to build it. You are the sign of a world that does not give in to indifference and complacency," he added, "but rolls up its sleeves and works to transform evil into good."

Leo met with around 50 members of the Mediterranean Youth Council, which was founded in 2022 and includes young adults from European and Middle Eastern countries bordered by the Mediterranean Sea.

"Peace is on the agenda of international leaders, it is the subject of global discussions, but sadly, it often gets reduced to a mere slogan," the pontiff said. "What we need is to cultivate peace in our own hearts and in our relationships, to let it blossom in our daily actions, to work for reconciliation in our homes, our communities, our schools and workplaces, in the Church and among the Churches."

Being a peacemaker is not easy, Leo said, and he denounced the use of religious traditions to justify violence, instead of bringing peace, fraternity, care for creation, and openness to others. 

"We need to reject these forms of blasphemy that dishonor God's Holy Name, and to do so by the way we live our lives," he underlined. "We are called to cultivate prayer and spirituality, together with action, as sources of peace and points of encounter between traditions and cultures."

"For believers, the future is not one of walls and barbed wire, but one of mutual acceptance," he added.

The pope encouraged the young people to not give up, even if someone does not understand them or what they are working for: "St. Charles de Foucauld said that God also uses headwinds to bring us to port."

"Do not be afraid: Be seeds of peace where the seeds of hate and resentment grow; be weavers of unity where polarization and enmity prevail; be the voice of those who have no voice to ask for justice and dignity; be light and salt where the flame of faith and the taste for life are dying out," he said.

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ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 4, 2025 / 15:03 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Thursday offered his "heartfelt condolences" to the families of those who were killed and injured in an accident involving the Elevador da Glória, an iconic funicular train that crashed at high speed into a building on Sept. 3.

In a Sept. 4 message signed by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin on behalf of the pope, Leo offered prayers "for the complete recovery of the injured" and invoked "the strength of Christian hope for all those affected by this disaster," Vatican News reported.

Pope Leo also expressed "special gratitude to those who took part in the rescue operations" and gave an apostolic blessing to all, especially to the families of the deceased.

The patriarch of Lisbon, Rui Valério, also offered his prayers following the accident. A statement posted on the patriarchate's website said the patriarch received "with profound sorrow and sadness" the news of the accident, which left 17 dead and at least 23 injured in the Portuguese city. The crash of the funicular, a type of railway operated by cables and designed for steep slopes, occurred around 6:05 p.m. local time.

"At this difficult time Bishop Rui Valério lifts up his prayers to God for the victims and expresses his closeness to their families during this time of separation and profound grief," read the statement in which the patriarch also wished the injured a speedy recovery.

The patriarch also expressed his gratitude and solidarity with those who mobilized to help the victims, including emergency teams, health care professionals, civil authorities, and volunteers.

The patriarchate also announced that Valério was scheduled to offer a Mass for the victims of the accident at St. Dominic Church in Rossio on Thursday, Sept. 4, at 7 p.m. local time. All faithful in the Portuguese capital were invited to attend.

According to the BBC, the cause of the accident is still unknown, nor is it clear how many people were on board the funicular, a tourist attraction inaugurated in 1885 and electrified 30 years later.

A witness told Portuguese television station SIC that just before the accident, the Elevador da Glória was descending "at full speed" down a steep street before violently colliding with a building.

"It crashed with brutal force and collapsed like a cardboard box; it had no brakes," a woman told SIC. 

Carlos Moedas, mayor of Lisbon, stated on X that the city council has declared three days of mourning for the victims of the accident and offered his "sincere condolences to all the families and friends of the victims. Lisbon is in mourning."

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA. It was updated on Sept. 4, 2025, at 3:59 p.m. ET with the pope's comments.

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ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 4, 2025 / 15:54 pm (CNA).

The bishop of Paterson, New Jersey, Kevin J. Sweeney, offered the funeral Mass for Father Rafael Ángel Ciro, a 45-year-old Colombian priest who died by suicide on Aug. 27. In a heartfelt homily on Sept. 3, Sweeney recalled that Jesus, who understands our pain and suffering, "is here and comforts us."

In his opening remarks in both English and Spanish, the bishop addressed the priest's mother, Elena Guarín, and his brother Jairo, saying: "We are with you, with you and the entire family there in Colombia. We are all one family, with our Bishop Emeritus [Arthur] Serratelli, with all the priests. We are also your children, Doña Elena: The mother of one priest is the mother of all priests. You are also our mom."

"We share the pain, but we also share the faith, especially with the community of St. Stephen and all the parishes where Father Rafael served as a priest," the prelate continued.

Jesus understands our pain and suffering

In his homily on the Gospel recounting the death of Lazarus, still alternating between English and Spanish, Sweeney recalled the lyrics of a well-known Spanish hymn: "God is here, as surely as the air I breathe, as surely as the morning sun rises, so surely that when I speak to him, he can hear me."

"We believe this: Jesus our God is here, in the home of Doña Elena and the family of Father Rafael in Colombia, in the hearts of each one of us present here. Jesus speaks to us and comforts us. He comes to us, as he did to that house in Bethany, which was also in mourning," the prelate emphasized.

The bishop of Paterson noted that "perhaps we are like Martha, angrily asking Jesus where he was, and if he had been, perhaps my brother would not have died. He doesn't answer Martha's question with an explanation, nor does he give us an explanation today to all our questions, but he answers us surely as he answers Martha: 'Your brother will rise.'"

"And she tells him with pain that she knows he will rise again on the last day. And Jesus tells her, he tells Doña Elena and us, 'I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will never die.'"

The prelate then added that "Jesus is here at this moment, walking with us, and will accompany the priests who will go with Father Rafael to his burial in his beloved Colombia."

"The shortest line in the Gospel says: 'Jesus wept.' He understands our pain and suffering and invites us to walk with him and the Blessed Virgin Mary to Calvary. Only God knows Father Rafael's journey, his daily life; only God knows how many families and individuals he accompanied, and who now weep."

Sweeney then thanked Guarín for giving the Church "a very good priest. A round of applause for our beloved Father Rafael! To his brother, Jairo, we priests are your brothers, too."

At the end of his homily, the bishop said: "To anyone who feels alone or anxious now, I want to say, 'You are not alone.' God does not leave us alone. If you are struggling with difficulties, psychological emotions, depression, you are not alone, we want to walk with you."

"We give thanks for the priesthood of Father Rafael Ángel Ciro, and we commend him to God now," he concluded.

Biography of Father Rafael Ángel Ciro

Rafael Ángel Ciro was born on Oct. 29, 1979, in the municipality of Alejandría in the district of Antioquia, Colombia. 

He earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana in Medellín, Colombia, in 2006.

He continued his theological studies at the Intercontinental University in Mexico City (2007–2009), Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, Connecticut (2011–2012), and Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland (2012–2013).

Before joining the Diocese of Paterson as a seminarian in January 2011, he dedicated nearly three years to missionary work in Medellín and another three years in Mexico City. He also ministered to Hispanic migrants in Alabama and New Jersey.

He was ordained a priest on March 25, 2013, at St. Philip the Apostle Parish in Clifton, New Jersey. Following his ordination, he served in the parish communities of St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Paterson, St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Passaic, St. Nicholas Parish, also in Passaic, and Sacred Heart and Holy Rosary Parish in Dover, New Jersey, before being appointed pastor of St. Stephen's Parish in Paterson. 

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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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 4, 2025 / 17:02 pm (CNA).

Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) testified during a Senate hearing on Sept. 4 that a federal review of the safety concerns related to the abortion pill is still ongoing.

Kennedy told the Senate Finance Committee that former President Joe Biden's administration "twisted the data" to downplay health concerns about the abortion pill mifepristone.

"We're going to make sure that doesn't happen anymore," Kennedy said. "We're producing honest science and gold-standard science on that."

Republican Sens. James Lankford and Steve Daines both pressed Kennedy on their concerns about the drug during the Thursday hearing.

Kennedy was unable to say when the review would be completed or whether HHS or the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would move toward regulating mifepristone more strictly. However, he committed to keeping the senators up to date on any developments. 

The FDA is "getting data in all the time — new data that we're reviewing," he said.

Daines, the founder of the Senate Pro-Life Caucus, referenced a study by the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) that found that 11% of women who take the abortion pill suffer at least one "serious adverse event" within 45 days. The study reviewed the insurance claims of 865,727 women who used the drug to calculate that number.

"That is 22 times higher than the FDA's long-standing estimate of less than 0.5%," Daines told Kennedy. "... For years we've heard the misleading and frankly very harmful lie that's being sold to women that this drug is 'as safe as Tylenol.' These lies sadly have real-world consequences."

Both Daines and Lankford expressed concern about the deregulation of mifepristone under both the Biden and Obama administrations.

The FDA reduced the number of in-person doctor visits required to obtain mifepristone from three to one in 2016 and then to zero in 2023. Another 2016 change ended requirements that mifepristone be dispensed by a physician, taken in a doctor's office, and monitored in a follow-up visit. 

Another 2023 change permitted mail delivery of the drugs.

Daines said the FDA "has steadily stripped away safeguards related to this drug" and asked Kennedy whether the Trump administration would reverse the Biden administration's deregulation.

Kennedy told Daines he needs to check with the White House to know its position on that and would "need to get back to you on that" by next week.

In December 2024, Trump told Time magazine that he was committed to ensuring the abortion pill remains legally available. However, he also directed Kennedy to facilitate studies on the safety of the drug.

"Those studies are progressing and … they're ongoing," Kennedy said in the hearing.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, in a statement published after the hearing thanked the senators for raising those concerns and thanked Kennedy and the administration for reviewing safety concerns about the drug.

"We are grateful that Secretary Kennedy confirmed the FDA's review of abortion drugs is now underway and look forward to his promised release of new data after years of the Biden administration ignoring this urgent issue," she said. "Secretary Kennedy even revealed that Biden's FDA 'twisted' data to bury safety signals."

Dannenfelser warned that "as women and children are harmed, these dangerous drugs continue to be bought and sold with no commonsense safeguards and no accountability."

"We look forward to hearing the update on restoring the in-person dispensing of mifepristone," she said.

More than half of all abortions nationwide are now conducted chemically with pills, including mifepristone.

The FDA approved mifepristone in 2000 to complete abortions through the first seven weeks of pregnancy. In 2016, the FDA expanded its approval to the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.

At 10 weeks of pregnancy, an unborn child has a fetal heartbeat, early brain activity, and partially developed eyes, lips, and nostrils. Mifepristone blocks the hormone progesterone, which cuts off the child's supply of oxygen and nutrients to kill the unborn child. A second pill, misoprostol, helps expel the body from the mother by essentially inducing labor.

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CNA Staff, Sep 4, 2025 / 11:32 am (CNA).

A transgender-identifying plaintiff in a major lawsuit being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court has requested that the court drop the case and reverse lower court rulings favorable to him, with opponents meanwhile urging the Supreme Court to hear the case as scheduled. 

Lindsay Hecox originally sued Idaho over its Fairness in Women's Sports Act, which was passed to block males from gaining access to women's sporting leagues. A district court and an appeals court both blocked the law. 

The high court in July had agreed to consider Hecox's challenge to Idaho's ban on men in women's sports. Two lower courts had ruled in the male athlete's favor, with Idaho ultimately appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court to settle the dispute. 

The Supreme Court at the time said it would also consider a similar case out of West Virginia. Both lawsuits have the potential to significantly affect U.S. case law regarding sports policy and accommodations for those who identify as the opposite sex. 

Yet in a Sept. 2 filing, Hecox — through his lawyers at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) — said he was "voluntarily dismiss[ing]" his case, with the ACLU further urging the Supreme Court to vacate the two favorable rulings in the lower courts. 

In a declaration in the filing, Hecox said he had made the "extremely difficult decision" to "cease playing women's sports" in any context covered by the Idaho law. He cited a desire to graduate college quickly, find employment, and move back home to be near his family. 

Hecox further cited "negative public scrutiny" and "increased intolerance" as he continued the case. He promised in the declaration that he would not sue Idaho over the law in the future and would not seek to participate in women's sports in the state.

Hecox's "unequivocal abandonment of [his] claims ... renders this case moot," the filing states. 

Women's advocates urge court not to drop the case

The decision brought rebuke from women's advocates, who argued that the filing was a means of avoiding a potentially unfavorable Supreme Court ruling.

John Bursch, a senior attorney with the legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, said in a Sept. 4 press release that the group would "urge the Supreme Court to rule in this case" and ensure that federal law continues to "protect fair competition and equal opportunities for women and girls."

Bursch noted that the high court has previously criticized efforts to "insulate a decision from review" by the justices. The Supreme Court has noted that such maneuvers "would permit a resumption of the challenged conduct as soon as the case is dismissed."

Alliance Defending Freedom President Kristen Waggoner similarly criticized the filing on X, describing it on Sept. 3 as "a desperate, bad-faith move that the court should soundly reject."  

"Let's be clear: The ACLU picked this fight. In red states throughout America, they've gone on offense, filing lawsuits against commonsense laws meant to protect women's sports," she wrote.

"And now that the Supreme Court has taken up the case, they suddenly want to take their ball and go home?"

Waggoner said advocates would "urge the Supreme Court to thwart the ACLU's attempt to game the system and to move forward with hearing the case."

The West Virginia dispute, also being considered by the Supreme Court, arose after a then-11-year-old boy brought a lawsuit against the state over its Save Women's Sports Act. 

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the law last year, claiming its enforcement would harm the boy "on the basis of sex."

Waggoner wrote on Wednesday that "too many women and girls are losing their chance to be champions to kick this can down the road."

"The issue of men in women's sports is an ongoing, nationwide controversy. It deserves its day at America's highest court," she said.

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Vatican City, Sep 4, 2025 / 12:14 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV discussed the conflict in Gaza, including a two-state solution, with Israel President Isaac Herzog in a private audience at the Vatican on Thursday morning. 

According to a Vatican statement after the meeting, the talks focused on the political and social situation in the Middle East and the need to guarantee "a future for the Palestinian people and peace and stability in the region, with the Holy See reiterating the two-state solution as the only way out of the ongoing war."

The Israeli president also met with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Vatican Secretary for Relations with States Archbishop Paul Gallagher.

The Sept. 4 Vatican audience was the first closed-door meeting between Leo and Herzog, 64, who has been Israel's president since 2021.

In a post on X following the encounter, Herzog thanked Leo for a "warm welcome today at the Vatican" and said he looked forward to strengthening Israel's cooperation with the Holy See "for a better future of justice and compassion."

The Vatican communique on Leo's meeting with Herzog — a longer and much more detailed statement than those usually issued after audiences with heads of state — repeated Pope Leo's regular public pleas for a resumption of negotiations, a permanent ceasefire, the release of Israeli hostages, respect for humanitarian law, and the safe entry of aid into Gaza.

The Vatican said the hope was also expressed that the "legitimate aspirations" of both Israeli and Palestinian people can be guaranteed.

"Reference was also made to the situation in the West Bank and the important question of the city of Jerusalem" and to issues in the relations between Israeli state authorities and the local Church, the statement added.

In addition to a two-state solution for Palestine, Vatican diplomacy has called for an international status for the city of Jerusalem, where the Latin patriarch, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, is the Catholic leader of not only Israel but also the Palestinian Territories of Gaza and the West Bank.

During a visit to the town of Taybeh in the West Bank in July, Pizzaballa and other Church leaders said they hold Israeli authorities responsible for "facilitating and enabling" attacks on Palestinian Christians by Israeli settlers.

Thursday's conversation between Leo and Herzog also touched on the importance of ensuring the continued presence of Christian communities throughout the Middle East, the Vatican said.

After the talks, a statement from Herzog said the pope's reception of Israel's president reflected "the great significance of the relationship between the Holy See and the State of Israel, and of course with the Jewish people, and the importance of the very sensitive issues and challenges we experience today."

There was some tension surrounding the meeting due to a Sept. 2 statement from Herzog's office stating that the president's one-day visit to the Vatican came at the invitation of Pope Leo. The Vatican contradicted that claim hours later with a statement that "it is the Holy See's practice to agree to requests for an audience with the pope from heads of state and government; it is not its practice to extend invitations to them."

Vatican-Israel relations were marked by tension toward the end of the last pontificate owing to Pope Francis' criticism of Israel's campaign in Gaza, which was sparked by the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of Israeli citizens and others by Hamas militants.

Pope Francis called Israel's actions in Gaza "terrorism" and on two occasions said what was happening there might qualify as genocide.

Pope Leo has taken a more restrained approach, calling for ceasefires and the release of hostages and emphasizing the need for dignified humanitarian aid and respect for law.

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CNA Staff, Sep 4, 2025 / 12:44 pm (CNA).

Here's a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news:

Pro-life group says late-term abortion clinic halted procedures after campaign against it

A pro-life group said a major Washington, D.C., late-term abortion clinic has ceased operations for the time being after a public campaign against it. 

The Washington Surgi-Clinic, which has been at the center of controversy for years due to allegations of illegal abortion services, has "halted appointments" after a "campaign to shut the facility down" was mounted by the group Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust. 

The pro-life group said in a press release on Sept. 2 that it filed a complaint with the city board of medicine presenting "numerous complaints and lawsuits" against clinic abortionist Cesare Santangelo.

The clinic subsequently said it is "not currently taking appointments" and is hoping to resume them in "late September." 

Santangelo, meanwhile, has not been seen at the clinic "in over three weeks," the press release said.

Texas passes law allowing state residents to sue abortion pill manufacturers

Texas lawmakers this week passed a bill that will allow state residents to sue providers and distributors of abortion pills who circulate the deadly drugs in the state.

State Rep. Jeff Leach, who authored the measure, announced the bill's passage on Facebook on Sept. 3, writing that the law, when signed, will ensure "that those who traffic dangerous abortion drugs into our state are held accountable."

The measure will allow plaintiffs to collect up to $100,000 in damages from those who bring abortion pills into the state or provide them to Texas residents. Pregnant women who use the pills cannot be sued under the law.

Abortion drugs are illegal in Texas, though those seeking to abort children can acquire them through the mail. State Attorney General Ken Paxton last year filed a lawsuit against an abortionist in New York, alleging she illegally provided abortion drugs to a woman in Texas.

Leach on Sept. 3 said the state will continue to be "a national leader in the fight for life." Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to sign the measure into law.

Amy Coney Barrett defends Roe v. Wade repeal in new memoir

Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett in a soon-to-be-published memoir has defended her decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022, citing what she said was public sentiment as well as long-standing legal precedent. 

Barrett's memoir, "Listening to the Law," is due to be published on Sept. 9. Multiple media outlets reported on her remarks touching on Roe ahead of the book's launch. 

"The evidence does not show that the American people have traditionally considered the right to obtain an abortion so fundamental to liberty that it 'goes without saying' in the Constitution," she writes in the book. 

"In fact, the evidence cuts in the opposite direction. Abortion not only lacked long-standing protection in American law — it had long been forbidden."

The Supreme Court's role, the justice writes in the memoir, "is to respect the choices that the people have agreed upon, not to tell them what they should agree to."

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