Catholic experts say new AI 'Friend' device undermines real relationships

A commuter waits at the Westchester/Veterans Metro K Line station on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. / Credit: Carlin Stiehl/Los Angeles Times via Getty ImagesWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 21, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).A controversial ad campaign posted in the New York City subway system has sparked criticism and vandalism over the past few weeks. The print ads are selling an AI companion necklace called "Friend" that promises to be "someone who listens, responds, and supports."The device first launched in 2024, retailing at $129. It is designed to listen to conversations, process the information, and send responses to the user's phone via a connected app. While users can tap the disc's button to prompt an immediate response, the product will also send unprompted texts. The device's microphones don't offer an off switch, so it is constantly listening and sending messages based on conversations it picks up.CNA did not receive a response to a question from Friend.com about t...

Bishops denounce rising Mafia-style violence in Sicily following murder of 21-year-old

Capella di Santa Rosa, St. Rosalia's Chapel inside of the Palermo Cathedral, Basilica Cattedrale Metropolitana Primaziale della Santa Vergine Maria Assunta in Sicily, Itay, on May 5, 2022. / Credit: Frank Bienewald/LightRocket via Getty ImagesRome, Italy, Oct 21, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).The murder of a 21-year-old Italian man after trying to break up a fight has prompted two southern Italian archbishops to sound the alarm against the rise of Mafia-style killings among young people.  At a prayer service Oct. 18 for Paolo Taormina, who was killed one week ago outside the family-owned bar where he worked, Archbishop Gualtiero Isacchi of Monreale, Italy, told the faithful present that their presence was "a sign of resistance and a desire for change.""The violent, typically Mafia-like logic of oppression, which some shamefully and unconsciously praise on social media, aims to erase human conscience and dignity, to extinguish hope, and to condemn the person to the resignation...

How to convey the serenity of a martyr? The challenge of painting Peter To Rot's portrait

Artist Raúl Berzosa works on the portrait of St. Peter To Rot. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Raúl BerzosaACI Prensa Staff, Oct 21, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).Malaga, Spain-born artist Raúl Berzosa has painted portraits of popes for the Vatican, and his works have graced the covers of booklets at Vatican ceremonies and even the Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum. However, as he himself confessed on X, none had ever hung on the façade of St. Peter's Basilica.That honor came this week with the portrait of St. Peter To Rot, which Berzosa painted for the saint's canonization ceremony on Oct. 19. The Vatican commissioned the Catholic artist to paint the official portrait, which has been displayed since Oct. 17 on the façade of St. Peter's Basilica. Berzosa considers the work to be a fruit of grace and the culmination of a life dedicated to reflecting the light of faith in art.Peter To Rot, who was born in Papua New Guinea, served as a catechist and died a martyr for the faith in 1945. H...

Instagram revamps restrictions on teen accounts

null / Credit: Antonio Salaverry/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 21, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).Instagram updated restrictions on teen accounts to be guided by PG-13 movie ratings to prevent teenage users from accessing mature and inappropriate content.In 2024, Instagram introduced Teen Accounts to place teens automatically in built-in protections on the app. Last week, the social media platform announced additional updates to the accounts to only show teenagers content "similar to what they'd see in a PG-13 movie."Teens under 18 will be automatically placed into the updated setting and will not be allowed to opt out without a parent's permission. The new restrictions ban users from searching inappropriate words and from following or messaging accounts with mature content.Father Michael Baggot, LC, professor of bioethics at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome, said "any change to help empower parents, protect their children, and restrict age-inappropriate ...

Catholics across the U.S. encouraged to participate in Respect Life Novena

null / Credit: Ivon19, public domain via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA-4.0)CNA Staff, Oct 21, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).Catholics across the United States are encouraged to participate in the national Respect Life Novena beginning Oct. 22 in an effort to unite in prayer for the protection of the unborn and all those affected by abortion.The Respect Life Novena is offered annually by the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) and consists of nine days of prayers, Scripture readings, and suggested acts of reparation.Some of the prayer intentions in this year's novena include ones for the protection of life from conception to natural death, for those who have undergone an abortion to experience God's healing and mercy, for those with disabilities to be treated with dignity, and for an end to the death penalty, among others.This year, the Respect Life Novena will be available on the free version of the Hallow app and a different U.S. bishop will lead the faithful in prayer ...

Pope Leo XIV: Lives of the newly canonized saints are 'luminous signs of hope'

Seven new saints were canonized on Oct. 19, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN NewsACI Prensa Staff, Oct 20, 2025 / 14:53 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV on Monday highlighted the life testimony of the saints canonized Sunday, Oct. 19, as "luminous signs of hope" for today's Catholics."The men and women we proclaimed saints yesterday are luminous signs of hope for all of us, because they offered their lives for love of Christ and their brothers and sisters," the pontiff said in his address to the pilgrims, representatives of the clergy, and civil authorities who had traveled to Rome to participate in the canonization of the seven new saints.Leo XIV expressed his hope that the canonization of Venezuela's first two saints, Carmen Rendiles and José Gregorio Hernández, would be "a strong incentive for all Venezuelans to come together and recognize themselves as children and brothers and sisters of the same homeland, reflecting on the present and the future in the light of the virtues that th...

Vatican recognizes Australian bishop's synodal plan 

Bishops fill St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican for the Synod on Synodality closing Mass on Oct. 27, 2024. / Credit: Vatican MediaWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 20, 2025 / 15:23 pm (CNA).The Vatican has recognized an Australian bishop's synodal plan to restructure the governance of his diocese. The Vatican's General Secretariat of the Synod has officially recognized a pastoral plan laid out by Bishop Michael Kennedy of Maitland-Newcastle that will see the diocese adopting a governance structure that "will operate in synodal mode."In an Oct. 14 response to the pastoral letter on social media, the Vatican synodal office posted the letter. The social media post said the bishop invites the faithful to "embrace this vision more fully," fostering a Church that listens, learns, and acts together in the service of the Gospel.What's in the plan? According to Kennedy's missive, titled "Letter on Synodality and the New Diocesan Governance Framework for the Diocese of Maitland-N...

Pope Leo XIV condemns usury, a grave sin that speaks to the corruption of the human heart

Pope Leo XIV meets the president of the Italian Anti-Usury Council, Luciano Gualzetti, on Oct. 18, 2025. / Credit: Vatican MediaACI Prensa Staff, Oct 20, 2025 / 15:53 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV on Saturday condemned usury, a practice that is sometimes an extremely grave sin that speaks to the corruption of the heart of those who see others only as "objects of exploitation."Usury can be defined as charging too much interest on a loan, a practice that has existed since ancient times. Traditionally, the Catholic Church taught that the sin of usury was the act of demanding any benefit or profit for the sole purpose of lending. This understanding has evolved over time, and the Church no longer condemns the general practice of lending with interest, as long as it is moderate.On Oct. 18, the Holy Father received the National Anti-Usury Council of Italy in the Vatican Apostolic Palace. For 30 years, the council has been dedicated to "combating a problem that has a devastating impact on the ...

Chicago priest removed amid allegations of sexual misconduct with seminarians

The Archdiocese of Chicago says it removed Father Xamie Reyes from Little Flower Parish in Waukegan, Illinois, Oct. 19, 2025, following allegations of sexual misconduct involving seminarians. / Credit: Tudoran Andrei/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 20, 2025 / 16:57 pm (CNA).The Archdiocese of Chicago has removed Father Xamie Reyes from Little Flower Parish in Waukegan, Illinois, following allegations of sexual misconduct involving seminarians.  The archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Blase Cupich, shared "the difficult news" in an Oct. 18 letter to parishioners. Cupich wrote the archdiocese "has received allegations against Father Reyes of grooming and sexual misconduct." Cupich said the allegations against the pastor "do not involve children and youth, but they did involve seminarians.""This is a very serious matter," Cupich wrote. "Father Reyes will live away from the parish pending the outcome of an investigation into these charges."The archdiocese repo...

Most Catholics say religion has a positive influence on American life, poll shows

A pilgrim prays the rosary at a Marian vigil in St. Peter's Square, Rome, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNAWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 20, 2025 / 17:27 pm (CNA).A poll released by the Pew Research Center found that most Catholics believe religion has a positive influence on life in the United States, and an increasing number of Catholics believe religious influence on everyday life is a growing force.The data, published on Oct. 20, found that 71% of Catholics believe religion has a net positive influence on society, while 10% say it has a net negative influence on society. The other 19% said religion has a net neutral or unclear impact on society.A minority of Catholics believe that religion's impact on society is growing, but that number is much higher than it was in previous polls. The poll compared responses in February 2024 to responses in February 2025.Pew found that in 2025, 27% of Catholics believe religion is gaining influence in American life comp...