Five years later: How some parishes are thriving after weathering COVID lockdowns

An Easter Vigil procession at St. Dominic Parish in San Francisco. / Credit: St. Dominic Parish/Lorelei LowCNA Staff, Mar 15, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).Five years ago this week, public health orders issued amid the uncertainty of the novel coronavirus turned Mass schedules across the country and the world upside down. In those early days following the WHO's March 11, 2020, declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic, the bishops of every U.S. diocese issued some form of dispensation, suspending the obligation that Catholics must attend Sunday Mass in person. Thousands of parishes and ministries scrambled to develop plans to offer livestreamed Masses, deliver the sacraments in a "socially distanced" manner, and live out the Church's life as best they could under extraordinary circumstances. Public Masses at most parishes were suspended entirely for a time, and those that were able to reopen were subject, in many areas, to distancing requirements and numerical or percentage-based...

Salvadoran-born Bishop Evelio Menjivar: Migrants 'make the United States a great nation'

Bishop Evelio Menjivar speaks with "EWTN News in Depth" on Friday, March 14, 2025. / Credit: "EWTN News in Depth"Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 15, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).Evelio Menjivar came to the United States as an undocumented immigrant in 1990. Today he serves as an auxiliary bishop of Washington, D.C., and is the first Salvadoran U.S. bishop in an archdiocese that is home to over 200,000 of his former countrymen.In an interview with "EWTN News in Depth," Menjivar shared his conviction that immigrants "make the United States a great nation" and "make society better." After years of "blue-collar jobs," upon his arrival to the U.S., Menjivar felt a calling to the priesthood and was ordained in 2004. He served as a parish priest in Washington for almost two decades until Pope Francis appointed him auxiliary bishop in 2022."I came here when I was 20 with a great desire to work hard, to go to school, to contribute to the well-being of this great nation that ...

Order of Malta reaffirms commitment to Lebanon's stability and reconstruction

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun (right) welcomies Sovereign Order of Malta Grand Chancellor Riccardo Paternò di Montecupo and the delegation at Baabda's presidential palace on March 14, 2025. / Credit: The Sovereign Order of MaltaACI MENA, Mar 14, 2025 / 15:40 pm (CNA).Faithful to its ongoing commitment to supporting Lebanon, a high-level delegation from the Sovereign Order of Malta is currently touring the country. The official visit, led by the order's grand chancellor, Riccardo Paternò di Montecupo, spans three days and will conclude Saturday. The delegation's agenda includes multiple stops aimed at exploring ways to help Lebanon overcome its ongoing crises and support its path toward recovery and reconstruction, relying on the country's new leadership. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun (right) welcomes Sovereign Order of Malta Grand Chancellor Riccardo Paternò di Montecupo and the delegation at Baabda's presidential palace on March 14, 2025. Credit: Sovereign Ord...

Zelenskyy delivers list of POWs in Russia to the Vatican to mediate their release

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shakes hands with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin during a meeting at the Vatican on Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Mar 14, 2025 / 16:10 pm (CNA).Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has provided the Vatican with a list of names of Ukrainians detained by the Russian military, requesting diplomatic mediation to secure their release."The Holy See has received a list of Ukrainians being held in Russian prisons and camps. We are counting on the support for their release," Zelenskyy said in a message shared on social media.The Ukrainian president indicated that he had a telephone conversation with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See's secretary of state, in which he also wished Pope Francis, who has been hospitalized for a month in Rome's Gemelli Hospital, "a speedy recovery.""I thanked him for his prayers and moral support for our people, as well as for his efforts in facilitating the return ...

Cuba releases hundreds more prisoners under Vatican-mediated deal

Cubans in Havana protest and cry for freedom on July 11, 2021. / Credit: Domitille P/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 14, 2025 / 16:40 pm (CNA).Earlier this week, Cuba completed the release of 553 prisoners despite the collapse of a deal with the United States, Vatican News reported. In January, under the Catholic Church's mediation, former U.S. President Joe Biden agreed to remove Cuba from a U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism in exchange for the early release of hundreds of prisoners. The deal was made following years of pressure from the U.S., the European Union, the Catholic Church, and human rights organizations urging Cuba to free anti-government protesters jailed after a 2021 demonstration. The Biden administration had initially called Cuba to release "political prisoners," but Cuba less specifically agreed to gradually release "553 people sanctioned for diverse crimes." Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said: "As part of the close and...

Death camp in Mexico: Church denounces 'cruelty and human wretchedness'

Entrance to the Izaguirre ranch. / Credit: Courtesy of the Office of the Prosecutor of the State of JaliscoPuebla, Mexico, Mar 14, 2025 / 17:10 pm (CNA).The Catholic Church in Mexico expressed its "profound indignation and grief" following the discovery of an organized crime training and extermination camp on a ranch in Jalisco state where clandestine crematoriums were found.The site was located on the Izaguirre ranch in the Teuchitlán administrative district, about 40 miles from Guadalajara, the state capital, by the Guerreros Buscadores de Jalisco group (Searching Warriors of Jalisco), an organization of families of disappeared persons searching for clandestine graves in the hope of finding the remains of their loved ones.In Latin America, "disappeared" is often used as an adjective and a verb. "He was disappeared" means the person was abducted and is most likely dead. According to the Jalisco state attorney general's office, so far "six lots of bones have been discovere...

3 Christian converts in Iran sentenced to over 40 years in prison

null / Credit: Freedom Studio/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 14, 2025 / 17:40 pm (CNA).Here are some of the major stories about the Church around the world that you may have missed this week:3 Christian converts sentenced to over 40 years in prison by Islamic Republic of IranThree Christian converts in Iran have been sentenced to over 40 years in prison collectively, Article18, a London-based nonprofit dedicated to protecting and promoting religious freedom in the Islamic country, has reported. The Iranian Revolutionary Court collectively sentenced Abbas Soori, Mehran Shamloui, and Narges Nasri, a 37-year-old woman who is pregnant with her first child, to more than 40 years in prison for charges described as "propaganda activities contrary to Islamic law." Catholic nonprofits speak out against climate credit scheme targeting Indigenous Tanzanian community The International Cooperation for Development Solidarity (CIDSE) is speaking out on behalf of the Tan...

How hundreds of religious sisters contributed to 'groundbreaking' 30-year Alzheimer's study

null / Credit: Elena Ray/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Mar 14, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).The contribution of nearly 700 Catholic religious sisters to a "groundbreaking" decades-long study on Alzheimer's and dementia continues to offer important information for maintaining "cognitive health" across the lifespan, researchers say.Launched in 1986 by neurologist David Snowdon, the "Nun Study" produced "seminal findings" on "cognitive impairment and related neuropathologies," researchers said in a historical review published at Alzheimer's & Dementia journal last month.Kyra Clarke, a doctorate student at UT Health San Antonio and one of the authors of the February review, said Snowdon opted to use Catholic sisters for the monumental study after he "realized that studying nuns came with many advantages for dementia research." "Normally, it's hard to pinpoint what causes some people to develop dementia while others remain healthy because people can have very different lifestyles, enviro...

Peruvian bishop denounces 'direct attack' on Church's freedom of speech

Bishop Isaac Martínez Chuquizana leads the diocese of Cajamarca, Peru. / Credit: Peruvian Bishops Conference.Lima Newsroom, Mar 14, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).The bishop of Cajamarca, Peru, has denounced a "direct attack" on the Catholic Church's freedom of speech by the LGBTQ+ community, which accuses the Church of the "alleged crime of discrimination" for a talk warning of the consequences of "Comprehensive Sexual Education" (CSE) in Peru.In a statement signed by Bishop Isaac Martínez Chuquizana of Cajamarca, the diocese referred to the complaint filed in December 2024 by Reyna Consuelo Solís Rivera, "who claims to be part of the LGBTQ+ community," with the Specialized Prosecutor's Office for Human Rights and Interculturality of the Public Prosecutor's Office of Cajamarca.Solís' complaint targets "representatives of the Diocese of Cajamarca and Human Life International," who gave the talk titled "Comprehensive Sexual Education and Its Consequences" on Aug. 26, 2024, at the Cajamar...

LIVE UPDATES: Pope continues pneumonia treatment as Cardinal Parolin prays for his recovery

Religious sisters and faithful gather at Gemelli hospital to pray the rosary for Pope Francis on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 22, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNAVatican City, Mar 14, 2025 / 07:30 am (CNA).Pope Francis 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 his health and hospitalization: