Political tensions surface amid celebrations honoring Venezuela's 2 new saints

Venezualans celebate their country's two new saints during the canonization ceremony on Oct. 19, 2025, in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN NewsVatican City, Oct 20, 2025 / 14:23 pm (CNA).Underlying political tensions have surfaced among Venezuelans in Rome celebrating the recent canonization of the country's first two saints, José Gregorio Hernández and Mother Carmen Rendiles Martínez.A Venezuelan government delegation led by Carmen Meléndez, mayor of Caracas, and hundreds of pilgrims from the Latin American nation were among the 70,000 people who attended the Oct. 19 canonization ceremony led by Pope Leo XIV in St. Peter's Square.However, in the days prior to Venezuelans converging at the Vatican to celebrate their country's newly-proclaimed saints, reports of evident discord between government officials and citizens regarding President Nicolás Maduro's authoritarian regime have also emerged.Over the weekend, activists connected to the opposition...

Trump administration's move to end annual hunger report meets criticism

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins hosts a USDA all-staff meeting on May 23, 2025, in Washington, D.C. Rollins announced the termination of household food insecurity reports in September 2025. / Credit: USDAgov, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 20, 2025 / 05:20 am (CNA).The Trump administration's recent decision to cease publishing an annual U.S. Department of Agriculture report on household food insecurity is being met with strong criticism by the Catholic Health Association of the United States, anti-hunger activists, and academics.The last USDA food insecurity report, covering 2024 data, is set for release Oct. 22. On Sept. 20, the USDA, led by Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, announced the termination of future "Household Food Security Reports," which were first published in 1995 during the administration of then-President Bill Clinton."These redundant, costly, politicized, and ext...

New Catholic sports coaching program focuses on mind, body, and soul

Rachael Isaac speaks to student athletes at Franciscan University of Steubenville, hosted by Franciscan University Athletic's Athlete Center for Excellence (ACE), in October 2024. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Catholic CounselorsCNA Staff, Oct 20, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).As a competitive figure skater growing up, Rachael Popcak Isaac experienced firsthand the pressure that comes with competitive sports. Now as a devout Catholic and a professional counselor she has launched a new program for athletes inspired by St. John Paul II's theology of the body.The Faith-Based Success and Performance Coaching Program is offered by CatholicCounselors.com, where Isaac is chief operating officer.In an interview with CNA, Isaac shared about her Catholic approach to the sports counseling program, which will offer resources such as tele-counseling, group workshops, and performance coaching.Rachael Popcak Isaac has launched a sports counseling program inspired by St. John Paul II's theology of the b...

Pope Leo XIV appoints Boston auxiliary Mark O'Connell to lead Diocese of Albany, New York

Bishop Mark O'Connell. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Archdiocese of BostonVatican City, Oct 20, 2025 / 09:44 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV on Monday named Bishop Mark O'Connell, an auxiliary bishop of Boston, the next bishop of the Diocese of Albany, New York.O'Connell, a canon lawyer, succeeds the 77-year-old Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger, who has been bishop of Albany since 2014 and whose resignation was accepted by Pope Leo on Oct. 20.The 61-year-old O'Connell has served the Archdiocese of Boston as an auxiliary bishop since 2016. He has also been vicar general and moderator of the curia since December 2022. The Diocese of Albany serves approximately 300,000 Catholics in the capital city of New York state and the surrounding area.Scharfenberger announced earlier this year that the diocese will undergo a planning initiative in response to a "financial and maintenance crisis" that could result in the closure of up to one-third of its 126 parishes.O'Connell was born in Toronto...

Trump administration's move to end annual hunger report meets criticism

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins hosts a USDA all-staff meeting on May 23, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Rollins announced the termination of household food insecurity reports in September 2025. / Credit: USDAgov, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 20, 2025 / 05:20 am (CNA).The Trump administration's recent decision to cease publishing an annual U.S. Department of Agriculture report on household food insecurity is being met with strong criticism by the Catholic Health Association of the United States, anti-hunger activists, and academics.The last USDA food insecurity report, covering 2024 data, is set for release Oct. 22. On Sept. 20, the USDA, led by Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, announced the termination of future "Household Food Security Reports," which were first published in 1995 during the administration of then-President Bill Clinton."These redundant, costly, politicized, and extr...

Poll finds revival of interest in religion in Northern Ireland among young people

The All Ireland Rosary Rally has attracted increasingly larger crowds. This year's rally included a youth conference and a prayer vigil in the basilica to welcome the feast of Pentecost on June 8, 2025. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the All Ireland Rosary RallyDublin, Ireland, Oct 19, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).A new poll commissioned by the Iona Institute has found a marked revival of interest in religion among young people in Northern Ireland. The results are a clear reversal of the previous continuous decline by age. The youngest age group polled, 18- to 24-year-olds, now say they are more likely to have a "very positive" attitude of Christianity (30% vs. only 4% with a "very negative" view) than any other age group, even those over 65.David Quinn of the Iona Institute told CNA: "What we are seeing in both parts of the island is some kind of revival of interest in religion among a segment of the youngest adults, the 18- to 24-year-olds." He said a significant number of these y...

Children from African countries pray rosary 'for the first time' in global campaign

Children from the Diocese of Jalingo in Nigeria gathered on the feast of the Holy Rosary on Oct. 7, 2025, to join in the prayer campaign "One Million Children Praying the Rosary," which was celebrated in parishes, chaplaincies, and pastoral areas across the diocese. / Credit: Aid to the Church in NeedACI Africa, Oct 19, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).Children from across Africa, including those in countries experiencing persecution and instability, joined their peers in the "One Million Children Praying the Rosary" campaign held on Oct. 7, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.The campaign by Catholic Pontifical and charity foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International is a global prayer initiative inspired by St. Pio of Pietrelcina's vision of children changing the world through prayer.??In Mozambique, a southern African country weighed down by insurgency against Christians, some children prayed the rosary for the first time in their lives.One of the testimonies shared with AC...

Pope Leo XIV canonizes 7 new saints, including first from Venezuela and Papua New Guinea

A Venezuelan priest who concelebrated the canonization Mass with Pope Leo XIV celebrates his country's first saints in St. Peter's Square on Oct. 19, 2025. / Daniel Ibáñez/EWTNVatican City, Oct 19, 2025 / 08:15 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV proclaimed seven new saints on Sunday before an estimated 70,000 people in St. Peter's Square, including the first saints from Venezuela and Papua New Guinea and a former Satanist who underwent a dramatic conversion to become an "apostle of the rosary.""Today we have before us seven witnesses, the new saints, who with God's grace, kept the lamp of faith burning," Pope Leo XIV said in his homily on Oct. 19. "Indeed, they themselves became lamps capable of spreading the light of Christ.""May their intercession assist us in our trials and their example inspire us in our shared vocation to holiness," he said.Pope Leo XIV declares 7 new saints at the canonization Mass in St. Peter's Square on Oct. 19, 2025. Daniel Ibáñez/EWTNThe canonization Ma...

Poll finds evival of interest in religion in Northern Ireland among young people

The All Ireland Rosary Rally has attracted increasingly larger crowds. This year's rally included a youth conference and a prayer vigil in the basilica to welcome the feast of Pentecost on June 8, 2025. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the All Ireland Rosary RallyDublin, Ireland, Oct 19, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).A new poll commissioned by the Iona Institute has found a marked revival of interest in religion among young people in Northern Ireland. The results are a clear reversal of the previous continuous decline by age. The youngest age group polled, 18- to 24-year-olds, now say they are more likely to have a "very positive" attitude of Christianity (30% vs. only 4% with a "very negative" view) than any other age group, even those over 65.David Quinn of the Iona Institute told CNA: "What we are seeing in both parts of the island is some kind of revival of interest in religion among a segment of the youngest adults, the 18- to 24-year-olds." He said a significant number of these y...

Worldwide Catholic population up, vocations down

Pope Leo XIV is seen here at the Jubilee of Youth on August 3, 2025. / Credit: Vatican MediaACI Prensa Staff, Oct 18, 2025 / 11:48 am (CNA).On the occasion of the 99th World Mission Day, to be celebrated on Sunday, Oct. 19, with the theme "Missionaries of Hope among all Peoples," the Vatican news agency Fides presented some statistics that offer a general overview of the Catholic Church worldwide.The study is based on numbers from 2023, in which the world population rose to 7,914,582,000, with a positive trend on all continents, including Europe. The increase in Catholics was 15,881,000 over the previous year.The most notable growth in Catholics is in Africa, with an increase of 8,309,000; and the Americas with 5,668,000; followed by Asia with 954,000; Europe with 740,000; and Oceania with 210,000.The percentage of Catholics in the world's population increased by 0.1% compared to the previous year, reaching 17.8%.The total number of bishops worldwide increased by 77 compared to...