Bishop Zaidan calls for 'lasting peace' in Holy Land following resumed attacks in Gaza

Bishop Abdallah Elias Zaidan of the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles serves as chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on International Justice and Peace. / Credit: Joe Bukuras/CNAWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 26, 2025 / 17:15 pm (CNA).Bishop Abdallah Elias Zaidan, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on International Justice and Peace, is encouraging prayers and solidarity for the Holy Land as what he called the "devastation of Gaza" continues. Zaidan, who leads the Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon, said in a USCCB statement that the resumed conflict "will have dire implications for any future civil society development in the region and will likely exacerbate existing tensions for another generation."On March 18, about two months after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was announced, Israel Defense Forces launched new attacks to pressure Hamas to release more hostages. "I am deeply saddened th...

Pro-life groups praise Trump plan to cut taxpayer funds for Planned Parenthood

null / Orhan Cam/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 26, 2025 / 17:45 pm (CNA).Several pro-life organizations are praising President Donald Trump's administration for plans to freeze tens of millions of dollars in federal taxpayer money that was intended in part for the country's largest abortion supplier, Planned Parenthood.Officials are mulling an immediate freeze of $27.5 million from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Title X Family Planning Services Program for Planned Parenthood and other organizations that are yet to be named.Congress allocated more than $286 million for funding of the Title X program for the current fiscal year. The expected freeze would block about $20 million that was expected to support Planned Parenthood affiliates, according to a Tuesday report from the Wall Street Journal.Federal law prohibits direct federal taxpayer funding for most abortions but allows funds for abortion clinics if the money is spent on other services.This ...

Jesuits extend reparations offer to victims of alleged Rupnik abuse

The General House of the Society of Jesus in Rome. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN NewsCNA Staff, Mar 26, 2025 / 19:05 pm (CNA).The Society of Jesus is offering reparations to about 20 women who say they were sexually, psychologically, and spiritually abused by the disgraced ex-Jesuit artist Father Marko Rupnik.Rupnik is accused of having committed serious sexual, psychological, and spiritual abuse of dozens of religious sisters under his spiritual care over decades. His case is currently under investigation by the Vatican.Father Johan Versuchen, Rupnik's former superior and current general counsellor and delegate for the Interprovincial Houses and Works of the Society of Jesus in Rome, said he sent a letter to the women who have come forward with accusations against Rupnik, offering an open invitation to reparations, according to The Associated Press.While the letters were not made public out of respect to the alleged victims, some excerpts were shared by Laura Sgrò, a lawyer for...

Salesians elect Maltese priest Fabio Attard as Don Bosco's 11th successor

Maltese priest Fabio Attard was elected rector major of the Salesians for the next six years. / Credit: Courtesy of Salesian FamilyACI Prensa Staff, Mar 26, 2025 / 13:05 pm (CNA).Maltese priest Fabio Attard was elected as the new rector major of the Salesian congregation during its general chapter in Turin, Italy, becoming the 11th successor of St. John Bosco.The new superior general of the order founded in 1859 succeeds Spanish Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, who became prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life in January.According to the Salesians, the new rector major did not participate in the Salesian chapter meeting, so he was informed of his election by telephone, at which point he was asked for his required acceptance."His words were heard in the hall and, moved to tears, he thanked the brothers for their trust and especially for their trust in God in taking on this new task," the Salesians said in a statement. This is ...

Pope Francis: God desires to offer his love and mercy to those at the 'crossroads' of life

Pope Francis waves from a balcony at Gemelli Hospital in Rome on Sunday, March 23, 2025, following weeks of hospitalization for bilateral pneumonia. / Credit: Vatican Media/ScreenshotVatican City, Mar 26, 2025 / 14:00 pm (CNA).Pope Francis on Wednesday highlighted the transformative power of God's merciful love for those who encounter him at the crossroads of life.Since being discharged from Rome's Gemelli Hospital on Sunday, the Holy Father's weekly general audiences are suspended for the duration of his at-least-two-month convalescence in his Casa Santa Marta home in the Vatican. In his written March 26 catechesis, titled "Jesus Christ Our Hope" and released by the Vatican, the pope said: "Jesus waits for us and lets himself be found precisely when we think that there is no hope left for us."Reflecting on the Gospel of St. John, the Holy Father noted that Jesus had the desire to start a conversation with the Samaritan woman "who has had five husbands and is now with...

Commission urges Trump to take action against governments that violate religious liberty

"It has been disappointing to see how seldom a CPC designation has resulted in real consequences for those responsible for religious freedom violations," U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Chairman Stephen Schneck told CNA. / Credit: U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Public Hearing/ScreenshotWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 26, 2025 / 09:30 am (CNA).The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is urging President Donald Trump to ensure that religious freedom violations by foreign governments result in severe consequences, such as sanctions, for the aggressors.The USCIRF, which is a federal commission tasked with providing policy recommendations on advancing religious liberty abroad, conveyed those recommendations in its 2025 Annual Report published on March 25."Make appropriate policy changes to demonstrate meaningful consequences and encourage positive change," the report recommends.The report urges the Trump administ...

Chicago Archdiocese sues over 'racketeering scheme' involving false sex abuse claims

Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago. / Credit: Edlane De Mattos/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Mar 26, 2025 / 11:20 am (CNA).The Archdiocese of Chicago this week filed a lawsuit alleging a "racketeering enterprise" among a group of individuals who reportedly filed false abuse claims against a former priest to receive compensation from the Church there. The archdiocese said in a Monday statement that it had filed a lawsuit in Cook County circuit court "seeking injunctive relief and damages from participants of a wide-ranging racketeering scheme" that reportedly involved "more than a dozen" fraudulent abuse claims against disgraced former priest Daniel McCormack, who spent more than a decade in prison after pleading guilty to abusing young children.Lawyers for the diocese did not respond to requests for comment and for a copy of the lawsuit on Wednesday morning. The diocese said in its press release that some of the participants in the alleged scheme are "convicted felons and known gang ...

Napa Institute fosters Catholic-Protestant collaboration on common efforts

Thousands particpate in a Eucharistic procession sponsored by the Napa Institute through the streets of Manhattan in New York City on Oct. 15, 2024. / Credit: Jeffrey BrunoWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 26, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).The Catholic nonprofit organization Napa Institute is pushing for more collaboration among Catholic and Protestant leaders to promote cultural values and aims that are common to both communities.Earlier this month, Napa Institute Board Chairman Tim Busch hosted a meeting among 15 Catholic and Protestant faith leaders for the organization's first Ecumenical Forum in New York City, according to a news release.The Napa Institute works to promote the re-evangelization of the United States and the defense of Catholicism in the public square.While recognizing the differences between Catholicism and Protestantism, Busch emphasized that there is shared agreement on many central tenets of the faith, such as in the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed. Certain go...

Pope Francis' doctor: 'We really thought we wouldn't make it'

Dr. Sergio Alfieri answers questions from the media at a press conference regarding Pope Francis' health on Friday, Feb. 21, 2025, at Gemelli Hospital in Rome. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNAVatican City, Mar 25, 2025 / 15:45 pm (CNA).The head of the medical team that treated Pope Francis during the 38 days he spent at Rome's Gemelli Polyclinic Hospital, Dr. Sergio Alfieri, revealed that one of the most critical moments of his hospitalization was when they had to choose between continuing the therapy or letting the pope die."We had to choose whether to stop and let him go, or push it and try every drug and therapy possible, running the extremely high risk of damaging other organs," he said in an interview with the Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera.In the interview, Alfieri described in detail the doctors' response to the respiratory crisis suffered by the pope on Feb. 28.According to the medical report published that day, Pope Francis suffered an isolated attack of bronchosp...

General audience, Angelus remain suspended despite Pope Francis' return to Vatican

Pope Francis waves to the gathered faithful from the balcony at Gemelli Hospital in Rome on Sunday, March 23, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media/ScreenshotVatican City, Mar 25, 2025 / 16:15 pm (CNA).The Vatican Press Office reported that Pope Francis' convalescence at St. Martha's House, his Vatican residence where he returned after being discharged from the hospital on Sunday, continues "under the terms prescribed by the doctors at the time of his discharge from the Gemelli Hospital."Thus for the time being, both the general audience scheduled for this Wednesday and the Angelus on Sunday will remain suspended, and the Vatican will release the text prepared by the pontiff, as it has done during the nearly six weeks he was hospitalized in Gemelli Hospital in Rome.Furthermore, he is not expected to meet with large groups of faithful until at least the end of May. In fact, the greatest fear of the medical team treating him for double pneumonia is that he could become infected with anot...