Funeral of soccer star Diogo Jota: tributes, mourning and final farewell 

Diogo Jota of the Liverpool soccer team. / Credit: Spanish-language edition of EWTN NewsACI Prensa Staff, Jul 9, 2025 / 20:19 pm (CNA).In an atmosphere of deep recollection and sadness, but also of hope, the funeral of Portuguese soccer players Diogo Jota of the Liverpool Football Club and his brother André Silva, who died last Thursday in a traffic accident in Zamora, Spain, was held on July 5. Jota's marriage to Rute Cardoso had been solemnized in the Church just 11 days prior. They have three children.At the funeral, which took place in the town of Gondomar's main church on the outskirts of Porto, Portugal, the coffins were brought in as the church bells rang. The funeral was attended by several of Jota's teammates, including Liverpool F.C. captain Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson, Argentine Alexis MacAllister, Uruguayan Darwin Nuñez and coach Arne Slot.Father Alípio Germano Barbosa, who was the pastor of the church in Gondomar for more than 18 years and who gave Diogo and An...

San Antonio Archdiocese to commemorate martyr who fought for religious freedom in Mexico

Blessed Anacleto González Flores, martyr of the religious persecution that Mexico experienced in the 1920s. / Credit: Mexican Bishops' ConferencePuebla, Mexico, Jul 10, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).The Archdiocese of San Antonio, Texas, will hold a celebration in Spanish and English on Sunday, July 13, commemorating the 137th anniversary of the birth of Blessed Anacleto González Flores, a martyr of the religious persecution Mexico experienced in the 1920s and patron saint of the Mexican laity.González was born in Tepatitlán, Jalisco state, Mexico, on July 13, 1888. He was a prominent layman, lawyer, and catechist, recognized for his profound faith and leadership during the religious persecution in Mexico in the 1920s. He founded associations for Christian formation and defended the rights of the Church, promoting peaceful resistance to the government's anti-clerical laws.For his commitment to faith and justice, he was arrested, tortured, and ultimately executed on April 1, 1927. Pope ...

Crippling priest shortage leads to restructuring of Grand Rapids Diocese

The Diocese of Grand Rapids, Michigan, announced on June 29, 2025, a restructuring plan that will merge parishes in the face of a priest shortage. / Credit: Snehit Photo/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 10, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).The Diocese of Grand Rapids, Michigan, has announced a restructuring process as it faces a shortage of priests.  The announcement of the "Rooted in Christ Pastoral Planning Process" comes a year after Bishop John Walkowiak issued an urgent diocesan-wide appeal to pray for an increase in vocations in the diocese, which has had just one ordination to the priesthood in the last two years. "In 2024, we had one priestly ordination. In 2025, seven pastors were either granted senior priest status or reassigned outside the Diocese of Grand Rapids, and there were no priestly ordinations," the diocese said in a June 29 statement. "Given this reality, the Presbyteral Council and priests of the diocese urged Bishop Walkowiak to take a hard ...

Seven Weeks Coffee hits milestone in donations given to pro-life organizations

Anton Krecic, founder of Seven Weeks Coffee. / Credit: Screen capture "EWTN Pro-Life Weekly"/Seven Weeks CoffeeCNA Staff, Jul 9, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).Seven Weeks Coffee, an American, pro-life coffee brand, announced July 7 that it has now donated $1 million to pro-life organizations.Founded in 2021 by Anton Krecic, the coffee company has combined direct-trade specialty coffee with pro-life values. Ten percent of the profit of each coffee bag sold is donated to pro-life organizations, specifically pregnancy resource centers."When my wife and I founded Seven Weeks Coffee, the skeptics doubted Americans would support a values-based company. They were wrong," Krecic said in a press release. "We are so blessed to have gone on this journey with our customers, raising money for pro-life causes."During its time in business, Seven Weeks Coffee has donated to over 1,000 pregnancy resource centers in all 50 states, paid for ultrasounds for pregnant mothers in unwanted pregnancies, and es...

Norwegian jubilee pilgrimage honors the feast day of St. Sunniva

Oslo Coadjutor Bishop Fredrik Hansen speaks to "EWTN News Nightly" on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. / Credit: "EWTN News Nightly"Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 9, 2025 / 11:07 am (CNA).In celebration of the Catholic Church's jubilee year, hundreds of pilgrims have traveled by boat to the Norwegian island of Selja to honor the feast day of St. Sunniva, Norway's only recognized female saint.On July 8, the feast day of St. Sunniva, Catholics from multiple countries arrived at Selja, an island just off the west coast of Norway. The faithful gathered to recognize the ninth-century Irish princess whose martyrdom inspired Norway's first Benedictine monastery and eventually its first diocese.Oslo Coadjutor Bishop Fredrik Hansen told "EWTN News Nightly" that the island was "where the cross of Christ first arrived in our nation and in our country. So to be here is to celebrate our history, the development of Christianity, the coming of Catholicism to our country.""We use it now as part of our b...

Historic Mass celebrated by papal nuncio at Anglican cathedral in rare event

Canterbury Anglican Cathedral. / Credit: Antony McCallum WyrdLight.com/Wikimedia, CC BY SA 4.0London, England, Jul 9, 2025 / 18:55 pm (CNA).For the first time in modern history, the apostolic nuncio to the United Kingdom has celebrated Mass in England's most celebrated Anglican cathedral.On Monday, July 7, which marked the feast of the Translation of St. Thomas Becket, Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendía celebrated the holy sacrifice of the Mass at Canterbury Cathedral with hundreds in attendance, including the Vatican's cricket team.During his homily, Maury Buendía said: "This Mass of pilgrimage takes place within the context of the jubilee year. It highlights the Christian life as a spiritual journey, moving through life's trials and joys with hope anchored in Christ. Having traveled as pilgrims today, we do more than just honor a figure from history."He continued: "The stained-glass windows all around us illustrate the many miracles attributed to St. Thomas in the medieval perio...

U.S. Catholic bishops: Church will not endorse political candidates despite IRS shift

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops headquarters in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Farragutful, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia CommonsWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 9, 2025 / 18:25 pm (CNA).The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has confirmed that the Catholic Church will not endorse political candidates for public office in any elections, despite a tax code change that has opened the door for houses of worship to make such endorsements.On July 7, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) signed a court agreement to allow churches and other houses of worship to endorse candidates without risking their tax-exempt status. This reversed a 70-year ban that was in place based on the IRS' interpretation of the "Johnson Amendment," which prohibits nonprofits in the tax bracket from engaging in political campaigns.USCCB Director of Public Affairs Chieko Noguchi, however, released a statement this week to announce that ...

How a teenage boy became a 'ninja fighting hunger'

Austin Baron at the "American Ninja Warrior"course filming for Season 17 of the show. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Austin BaronWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 8, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).At just 19 years old, Austin Baron is taking college classes, competing on sports reality television, making handmade dog toys, and raising tens of thousands of dollars to feed the hungry. How does he do it all? According to him, it's all thanks to "the gifts God's given" him.Baron is a rising sophomore at the University of Notre Dame and the founder of Knot Perfect, a nonprofit that has provided more than 100,000 meals to children and families across the globe. He is now using his participation on NBC's reality television show "American Ninja Warrior" to help expand his outreach.Discovering his missionBaron was first moved to feed the hungry when he was 12 years old and volunteered at his parish, St. Theresa Catholic Church in Ashburn, Virginia, to pack meals for Cross Catholic Outreach's food dist...

5 ways to sanctify your summer vacation and evangelize

Summertime vacations can also be very spiritually beneficial. / Credit: Egor Pasko from Moscow, Russia, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia CommonsACI Prensa Staff, Jul 8, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).With the arrival of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, many people take a vacation, a period of rest away from their routine but also a unique opportunity to reconnect with their faith.A bishop, a mother, and a priest shared some tips from their own experiences for "sanctifying vacations" and evangelizing at vacation spots.1. Take time to connect with God.Speaking with ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, the bishop of Matamoros-Reynosa in Mexico, Eugenio Lira, emphasized that summer is a time of rest to "recreate" ourselves, that is, to "completely renew ourselves."The prelate thus advised "dedicating time to prayer and contemplation" to "connect" with God and "better see the great gifts he gives us," being aware "that we are uncondit...

Judge says government must keep funding Planned Parenthood in spite of Medicaid cutoff

A Planned Parenthood facility in Minneapolis. / Credit: Ken Wolter/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 8, 2025 / 14:24 pm (CNA).A federal judge has temporarily blocked the government's effort to defund Planned Parenthood by ordering President Donald Trump's administration to continue funding to the nation's largest abortion provider for at least the next 14 days.The court order, signed by Judge Indira Talwani, partially halts a provision in the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" that would have cut off Medicaid reimbursements for certain organizations that perform abortions. Trump signed the bill on Friday, July 4, after it passed both chambers of Congress with support from most Republicans and no Democrats.Planned Parenthood Federation of America sued the administration just three days after Trump signed the bill into law and asked the court to issue a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement against the organization while its litigation continues. Talwani signed the ...