U.S. Vice President JD Vance attends Mass at Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre 

U.S. Vice President JD Vance tours the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. / Credit: Nathan HOWARD / POOL / AFP / Getty ImagesWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 23, 2025 / 13:20 pm (CNA).U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, attended a private Mass celebrated by Franciscan monks at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on Thursday during a three-day diplomatic trip to Israel.Vance, the nation's second Catholic vice president, met with a group of bishops and went to confession prior to Mass, according to the White House Pool Report.The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was constructed in the early fourth century during the reign of Constantine the Great, the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. It is jointly operated by the Catholic Church, the Greek Orthodox Church, and four Oriental Orthodox churches.According to tradition, the church is built on the site of Jesus Christ's crucifixion, burial, and resurrect...

Pope Leo XIV criticizes pharmaceutical industry's role in scourge of opioid addiction

Pope Leo XIV meets with participants of the fifth World Meeting of Popular Movements on Oct. 23, 2025, in the Vatican's Paul VI Audience Hall. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Oct 23, 2025 / 15:26 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV on Thursday decried the devastating impact of opioid addiction in the U.S., criticizing the pharmaceutical industry for its lack of "a global ethic" for the sake of profits.In an Oct. 23 meeting with participants of the fifth World Meeting of Popular Movements held inside the Vatican's Paul VI Audience Hall, the pope directly spoke out against "unbridled consumerism" and its negative impacts on people living in both poor and wealthy nations."In the current culture, with the help of advertising and publicity, a cult of physical well-being is being promoted, almost an idolatry of the body and, in this vision, the mystery of pain is reduced to something totally inhuman," he said."This can lead also to dependence on pain medications, the sale of which obviously g...

Pope Leo XIV and King Charles III make history with first joint prayer since Reformation

Pope Leo XIV and King Charles III walk together in the Sistine Chapel during a historic meeting that included a prayer service at the Vatican, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Oct 23, 2025 / 09:34 am (CNA).History was made in the Sistine Chapel on Thursday as Pope Leo XIV and King Charles III prayed side by side, marking the first time since the Protestant Reformation that a reigning British monarch and a pope have prayed together during a royal state visit to the Vatican.Pope Leo XIV led the midday prayer of the Divine Office, standing beneath Michelangelo's fresco of "The Last Judgment" and flanked by Anglican Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, King Charles, and Queen Camilla.Pope Leo XIV and King Charles III pray together in the Sistine Chapel during a historic meeting at the Vatican, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaThe ecumenical prayer service featured the Sistine Chapel Choir along with the choirs from St. George's Chapel at Wi...

Cleveland Diocese extends Latin Mass

Bishop Edward Malesic addresses the First Friday Club of Cleveland on Feb. 10, 2022. / Credit: Diocese of ClevelandCNA Staff, Oct 22, 2025 / 17:04 pm (CNA).The Diocese of Cleveland has confirmed that the Vatican granted permission for the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) at two diocesan churches for an additional two years. The extension applies to St. Mary's Church in Akron and St. Stephen's in Cleveland, both of which, according to the Catholic Herald, had previously been granted limited approval to continue celebrating the extraordinary form of the Roman rite. At both parishes, diocesan priests say the Masses, rather than priests from the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter or the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, as sometimes occurs in other dioceses.In an email to CNA, Nancy Fishburn, executive director of communications for the Diocese of Cleveland, said: "The Holy See granted a two-year extension of permission for the two remaining dioc...

Venezuelan president accuses cardinal of plotting against saint's canonization

Nicolás Maduro, president of Venezuela. / Credit: Venezuelan Presidential PressCaracas, Venezuela, Oct 22, 2025 / 17:34 pm (CNA).Nicolás Maduro, president of Venezuela, accused Cardinal Baltazar Porras of conspiring to prevent the canonization of Venezuela's first male saint, José Gregorio Hernández."There were many people who conspired from the highest [levels of the] Curia against José Gregorio," Maduro said on an Oct. 20 television program."Some priests, like Baltazar Porras, dedicated their lives to conspiring against José Gregorio Hernández. I say this by name: Baltazar Porras dedicated his entire life to ensuring that José Gregorio would not [be declared a saint], but Baltazar Porras has been defeated by God, by the people, and today José Gregorio is a saint despite you [Porras] and your people," said the president, who did not attend the canonization ceremony at the Vatican.On Oct. 19, along with Venezuelan nun Carmen Rendiles and five others, Hernández, known as the "do...

Military archdiocese: Army's response to canceled religious contracts 'inadequate'

Archbishop Timothy Broglio speaks at Mass on Dec. 3, 2023. / Credit: The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate ConceptionWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 22, 2025 / 18:04 pm (CNA).The Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, expressed concern that the U.S. Army is not adequately addressing its discontent with canceled religious contracts, which the archdiocese said is straining its ability to minister to Catholics in the armed forces.This month, the Army canceled all contracts for three roles: coordinators of religious education (CRE), Catholic pastoral life coordinators (CPLC), and musicians. The contract terminations affected Catholics and those of other faiths.CREs served as catechists trained by the archdiocese to assist the priests in religious education in the military chapels. The archdiocese also trained CPLCs who offered administrative support such as liturgy coordination, assistance with sacramental record documentation, and weekly bulletin preparation. C...

Bishop Bullock, local Jesuits criticize Hegseth's honor of Wounded Knee soldiers

Crosses stand in a row at the Wounded Knee Memorial in South Dakota. / Credit: Von Roenn/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 22, 2025 / 15:24 pm (CNA).Rapid City, South Dakota, Bishop Scott E. Bullock and South Dakota Jesuit leaders criticized U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for honoring U.S. soldiers who carried out an 1890 assault on a Lakota reservation near the Wounded Knee Creek."Those who died at Wounded Knee are sacred," the joint statement read."Jesus stands with all who suffer and die at the hands of others," the statement added. "Those who committed the violence are also sacred; for this reason, Jesus offers them mercy and healing. Yet the acts themselves were grave evils and cannot be honored."On Dec. 29, 1890, U.S. soldiers killed nearly 300 Lakota people in an assault now known as the "Wounded Knee Massacre" or the "Battle of Wounded Knee" in South Dakota. Most of the Lakota killed were civilians, including unarmed women and children, and 31 American sol...

CNA explains: How should we approach AI companionship?

null / Credit: Shutterstock AI/ShutterstockRome, Italy, Oct 22, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).As world leaders raise concerns about widespread loneliness and declining social skills, tech companies are offering increasingly realistic and immersive forms of AI-based life coaching, friendship, and romance through AI companions.  Meta's Mark Zuckerberg suggests that AI companions could supplement the lack of human friends; X's Elon Musk thinks romantic and sexually-charged AI companions could mitigate demographic decline; and OpenAI's Sam Altman promises that ChatGPT will provide erotica by the end of 2025. AI-simulated emotional connections are already embedded into children's toys, wearable pendants, and elderly care bots. Further advances in humanoid robots are on the horizon. Simulating emotional intimacyCurrently, most forms of AI companionship come through chatbots that simulate intimacy with users through text, voice, and video conversations for hundreds of millions ...

New bishop announced for Plymouth, England, after long vacancy

Bishop Nicholas Hudson was named the next bishop of Plymouth, England, by Pope Leo XIV on Oct. 21, 2025. / Credit: @mikedaviesPlymouth, England, Oct 22, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV has named Bishop Nicholas Hudson, an auxiliary bishop of Westminster, as the next bishop of Plymouth, England.The news comes after the installation of a bishop in the Diocese of Plymouth was twice deferred last year. Canon Christopher Whitehead was due to be installed as the bishop of Plymouth on Feb. 22, 2024, but a diocesan statement suddenly announced on Feb. 1 that it was canceled, explaining that "a canonical process" had been started and that Whitehead had stepped back from active ministry. In September 2024, Pope Francis appointed Philip Moger as Plymouth's new bishop, but a "delay" to his installation was suddenly announced just days before it was due to take place on Nov. 9.Now Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday announced that Hudson, who was named by Pope Francis as a papal nominee to...

Report warns revoking churches' charitable status in Canada could devastate faith sector

The "halo effect" of churches' programs and facilities outweighs tax revenue roughly tenfold, says a new report on the risk to Canadian society if faith groups lose their charitable status, as recommended in a finance committee report. / Credit: Photo courtesy of The B.C. CatholicVancouver, Canada, Oct 22, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).A new report from the Frontier Centre for Public Policy warns that removing the "advancement of religion" from Canada's list of recognized charitable purposes could have far-reaching social and financial consequences for churches and other faith-based organizations.The 38-page report, "Revoking the Charitable Status for the Advancement of Religion: A Critical Assessment," by senior fellow Pierre Gilbert, responds to a December 2024 recommendation from the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance to amend the Income Tax Act and eliminate the long-standing charitable category.If adopted, the recommendation in the committee's pre-budget report could s...