St. Hildegard of Bingen's gifts served the whole Church, Pope Benedict said

St. Hildegard of Bingen. / Credit: Lettera43.it, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsCNA Staff, Sep 17, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).Every gift from the Holy Spirit is meant for the edification of the community of believers, Pope Benedict XVI said in a general audience back in 2010 when he focused his catechesis on the life of St. Hildegard of Bingen, whose feast is celebrated Sept. 17 in the universal Church. Benedict praised her as a model for modern women religious and noted that she benefited the faithful by her willingness to submit her supernatural visions to the interpretation of the Church.Referring first to St. John Paul II's apostolic letter Mulieris Dignitatem on the role of women in the life of the Church, Benedict XVI noted that the letter "gives thanks for all the manifestations of the feminine 'genius' which have appeared in the course of history." He then highlighted the figure of St. Hildegard of Bingen as one of the saintly women who stood out nearly a millennium ago...

4 Carmelite religious sisters, driver killed in crash in Tanzania

Four members of the Missionary Sisters of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus (MCST) in Tanzania lost their lives in a road accident in the country's Archdiocese of Mwanza on Sept. 15, 2025. / Credit: Suore Carmelitane Missionarie Italia Malta RomaniaACI Africa, Sep 17, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).Four members of the Missionary Sisters of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus (MCST) in Tanzania are among five people who lost their lives in a tragic road accident in the country's Archdiocese of Mwanza on Monday. The Sept. 15 accident in which the MCST superior general and secretary died alongside two other sisters and a driver happened in the Kaluluma-Bukumbi area. One sister survived the tragic accident and was admitted to Bugando Hospital, where she remains in critical condition.In a statement obtained on Tuesday by ACI Africa, CNA's news partner in Africa, Archbishop Renatus Leonard Nkwande of the Mwanza Archdiocese announced the passing of the four Carmelites, "who were serving...

New study shows just over half of Americans support a right to assisted suicide

null / Credit: HQuality/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Sep 17, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).A new Lifeway Research study reveals that a slim majority of Americans, 51%, believe terminally ill individuals should have the right to request physician-assisted suicide.The study, titled "American Views on Assisted Suicide," found that 51% of respondents consider it morally acceptable for someone with a painful terminal disease to seek a physician's assistance in ending his or her life. However, the support is not robust, according to the study: Only 1 in 5 Americans said they "strongly agree" with this stance, while 30% said they "somewhat agree." The study also found 34% opposed to physician-assisted suicide, with the remainder undecided.Regionally, support varies, with urban and coastal areas showing higher approval (up to 60% in some places) compared with rural or Southern states, where opposition often aligns with faith-based values, according to Lifeway. The Lifeway study, conducted via o...

U.S. bishops launch 'Healing and Hope' initiative to promote, strengthen mental health

null / Credit: Prostock-studio/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 16, 2025 / 14:07 pm (CNA).Ahead of World Mental Health Day on Oct. 10, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has announced an addition to its ongoing National Catholic Mental Health Campaign to amplify local engagement on mental health. The title for the initiative, "Healing and Hope," was taken from the National Catholic Mental Health Campaign's introductory statement, written by Archbishop Borys Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia and Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, Bishop Robert Barron."As pastors, we want to emphasize this point to anyone who is suffering from mental illness or facing mental health challenges: Nobody and nothing can alter or diminish your God-given dignity. You are a beloved child of God, a God of healing and hope," the U.S. bishops said this week. The initiative "builds upon the goal of promoting healing and hope for all who struggle with me...

British royal family holds first Catholic funeral in centuries for Duchess of Kent

Pallbearers from The Royal Dragoon Guards carry Katharine, Duchess of Kent's coffin, draped in the Royal Standard, into Westminster Cathedral for a Vigil for the Deceased with Rite of Reception and Vespers for the Dead ahead of her funeral on Sept. 15, 2025, in London. / Credit: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty ImagesWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 16, 2025 / 15:07 pm (CNA).The British Royal family held its first Catholic funeral in modern history on Tuesday for the duchess of Kent, the first senior British royal to be received into the Church since the 17th century. The duchess died on Sept. 4 at the age of 92 and asked that her funeral be held at Westminster Cathedral in London. She was raised Anglican but joined the Catholic Church in 1994. She described her conversion as a "long-pondered personal decision" but said she was attracted to the solace and clarity of the faith. Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent holds a koala during a 1988 visit to Brisbane, Australia. Credit:...

Jubilee of Consolation: Mother who lost her only son never reproached God for anything

Silvia Toma before participating in the vigil with Pope Leo XIV on Sept. 15, 2025. / Credit: Victoria Cardiel/EWTN NewsVatican City, Sep 16, 2025 / 15:50 pm (CNA).Silvia Toma has a scar on her soul: Four years ago she buried her 34-year-old only son, who had two little daughters. "It was sudden leukemia. He was admitted on May 25, 2021, and died on June 3," she said, still choked up by the pain.At that time, the COVID-19 pandemic regulations allowed no visitors. Safety measures prevented her from caressing his hand in his slow agony."They never let us visit him. He was hospitalized in the coronary care unit completely alone," she recalled. They could only communicate minimally through WhatsApp messages.Praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet at his sideThe day before he died, they let her in to see him. "His wife spent 15 minutes with him and I for another 15. I took the opportunity to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet with him." The doctors then asked them to leave the room and a fe...

Parents of Annunciation shooting victim say daughter's progress is a 'miracle'

Flowers are seen on Sept. 3, 2025, outside the Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, where a shooter killed two children and injured 21 other people on Aug. 27, 2025. / Credit: Alex Wroblewski/GettyCNA Staff, Sep 16, 2025 / 16:14 pm (CNA).Less than three weeks after the Annunciation Catholic School shooting in Minnesota that killed two children and injured 21 during Mass, the parents of a 12-year-old girl who was shot in the head say her progress has been "miraculous."When Sophia Forchas arrived at the hospital with a critical gunshot wound in her head, the doctors warned her parents that her life was in the balance."Doctors warned us she was on the brink of death," Forchas' parents, Tom and Amy Forchas, said in a statement. "In that darkest hour, the world responded with faithful devotion and fervent prayer." As news of the shooting spread, people around the world offered prayers for the victims and the community in prayer services, online, and in the quiet of thei...

UN expert joins detransitioner in urging governments to protect parental rights

Reem Alsalem is the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls. / Credit: ADF InternationalWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 16, 2025 / 16:44 pm (CNA).The United Nations (U.N.) Expert on Violence Against Women and Girls Reem Alsalem was joined by detransitioner and activist Chloe Cole last week in urging governments to support parents in protecting their children from "gender transition" medical interventions."Parents and legal guardians must be part of these processes from the very beginning," Alsalem said during a Sept. 8 panel coordinated by the Alliance Defending Freedom International at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva."Yet, in many countries, parents who do not want to endorse a 'gender-affirmative' approach to their children's distress have too often been left unsupported at best, or vilified, ostracized, or even separated from their children," said Alsalem, who opposes the "dangerous narrative" that children can make fully-informed adult-l...

Catholic father murdered while on pilgrimage to Marian shrine in Pakistan

Marian shrine in Mariamabad, Pakistan. / Credit: Agenzia Fides, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsACI Prensa Staff, Sep 16, 2025 / 17:42 pm (CNA).Men on motorcycles murdered a father and injured a 16-year-old boy while they were taking part in a pilgrimage to the national Marian shrine of the Virgin Mary in Mariamabad in Pakistan, an incident that has shocked Christians in the Muslim-majority country.According to the Vatican news agency Fides on Sept. 12, Afzal Masih, a married father of four, was murdered on Sept. 7 while he was on a pilgrimage to the shrine located in the Archdiocese of Lahore."We are deeply saddened by the murder of Afzal Masih. He was a devout Catholic who was participating in a Marian pilgrimage to venerate and pray to the Virgin Mary. Today, we express our deepest condolences to his family," Father Tariq George, rector of the shrine, told Fides.The murder occurred while Afzal Masih was traveling with 15 other members of the faithful and several young men on...

Homilies across U.S. take stock of Charlie Kirk assassination

Priests throughout the country have mentioned assassinated conservative Christian activisit Charlie Kirk in their homilies this week. / Credit: ChoeWatt/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 16, 2025 / 18:24 pm (CNA).Catholic priests around the country have discussed the assassination of Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk during their homilies in the last week.Kirk, 31, was shot during a campus event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10. The alleged shooter has since been apprehended and identified as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson. Kirk is survived by his wife, Erika, and their two young children."So many times it seems almost surreal how the Gospel passage for the day fits … a situation that we face as Christians in our daily lives," Father Chris Alar at the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, said during his homily on Sept. 11, referencing the day's reading from the Gospel of Luke, when Jesus instructs his disciples to love their enemies....