How the 'baseball priest' uses the sport to spread the Gospel

Father Burke Masters speaks to Veronica Dudo on "EWTN News Nightly" on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025 / Credit: EWTN NewsWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 25, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).Father Burke Masters' first dream was to be a major league baseball player, but after feeling a call from God to the priesthood he now uses the sport "to speak about Jesus and the Church.""I played college baseball at Mississippi State University, and then played briefly in the minor leagues," Masters said. "That was my dream to be a major league baseball player, but that didn't work out.""God eventually called me to be a priest," Masters said in an Oct. 24 interview with "EWTN News Nightly." He added: "It really wasn't what I wanted, but it was this persistent and gentle call from the Lord.""I went to seminary fully thinking I would go … not like it, and then go back to my plans," Masters said. "Yet when I got to seminary I just felt this overwhelming peace, and that's one of the fruits of the Ho...

Catholic priest appeals for prayers for evangelical missionary kidnapped in Niger

null / Credit: Blue Mist Film Studios/ShutterstockACI Africa, Oct 24, 2025 / 12:32 pm (CNA).A Catholic priest in Burkina Faso has appealed for prayers for the safe release of an evangelical Christian missionary abducted in Niger on Tuesday, Oct. 21.Kevin Rideout, an American missionary, was abducted from his home in the country's capital, Niamey, by three unidentified armed men suspected to be jihadists, said a note shared with ACI Africa, CNA's news partner in Africa.The note further said the American missionary is "dedicated to training missionary aviation pilots serving evangelical, medical, and church-planting ministries as well as providing emergency humanitarian air transport.""Preliminary findings from the investigation indicate that the kidnappers headed toward the Tillabéri region," the note said.In an interview with ACI Africa on Oct. 23, Father Etienne Tandamba, a member of the clergy of Burkina Faso's Fada N'Gourma Diocese, appealed for prayers for the release of Ri...

Pope Leo XIV to John Paul II Institute: Your mission is to speak and live the truth

Pope Leo XIV greets a baby during an audience with the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family at the Vatican on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Oct 24, 2025 / 13:44 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV during a Friday audience at the Vatican reminded teachers and students from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family of their mission to both speak and live the "common witness to the truth.""Your specific mission concerns the search for and common witness to the truth: in carrying out this task, theology is called to engage with the various disciplines that study marriage and the family, without being content merely to speak the truth about them but living it in the grace of the Holy Spirit and following the example of Christ, who revealed the Father to us through his actions and words," he said in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace on Oct. 24.Pope Leo XIV speaks to visitors during an aud...

Advocates call on Trump, Congress to permanently defund Planned Parenthood

The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Andrea Izzotti/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Oct 24, 2025 / 14:22 pm (CNA).Life-affirming organizations are calling on the Trump administration and Congress to permanently block funding to Planned Parenthood.In an Oct. 22 letter, Students for Life Action President Kristan Hawkins and more than 50 signers asked President Donald Trump to debar Planned Parenthood from federal funding because of reports of the trafficking of baby body parts as well as possible fraud and failure to report sex crimes, among other complaints.In another letter sent the same day, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and more than 100 signers asked Congress to remove the loophole created by the Affordable Care Act that enables government money to go to Planned Parenthood.While the Trump administration cut funding to the abortion giant for one year in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, pro-life advocates say Planned Parenthood should go through debarment, a significant le...

Torture intersects with religious freedom violations worldwide, commission says

Torture intersects with religious freedom violations worldwide, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom says in an October 2025 report. / Credit: Sahana M S/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 24, 2025 / 15:37 pm (CNA).Governments around the world continue to violate religious freedom and breach international law by engaging in torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, according to a report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). In an October USCIRF fact sheet, "Religious Freedom and the Prohibition of Torture and Ill Treatment," the commission highlighted incidents of torture in Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam, and recommended the United States designate each of them as countries of particular concern (CPCs) as they "engage in or tolerate 'particularly severe violations' of religious freedom."These designations are based on information from the USCIR...

Federal judge strikes down Biden-era health care rule

null / Credit: Brian A Jackson/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 24, 2025 / 17:31 pm (CNA).A federal judge struck down a regulation imposed by President Joe Biden's administration, saying the administration was "redefining sex discrimination." The Biden administration adopted the rule through the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare. The ACA authorized the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to implement rules that prohibit "sex" discrimination as understood through the 1972 Title IX Education Amendments.Biden's administration interpreted the ban on "sex" discrimination to also imply a prohibition on discriminating against a person on the basis of sex characteristics, including "sexual orientation; gender identity; and sex stereotypes." Neither Title IX nor the ACA define "sex" in this way.U.S. District Court Judge Louis Guirola Jr. of the Southern District of Mississippi ruled HHS "exceeded its authority" because when Title IX was adopted ...

Alabama executes man by nitrogen gas after Supreme Court denies request for firing squad

The state of Alabama on Oct. 23, 2025, executed convicted murderer Anthony Boyd by nitrogen gas just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider requiring the state to execute him by firing squad instead. / Credit: Alabama Department of Corrections via AP, FileCNA Staff, Oct 24, 2025 / 11:32 am (CNA).The state of Alabama on Thursday executed convicted murderer Anthony Boyd by nitrogen gas just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider requiring the state to execute him by firing squad instead.Boyd reportedly took around 20 minutes to die from the execution method, according to the Associated Press. The news wire said he "clenched his fist, raised his head off the gurney slightly, and began shaking," after which he became still but continued with a series of "heaving breaths" for "at least 15 minutes."The Alabama man was convicted of capital murder in the 1993 killing of Gregory Huguley in Talladega County. Huguley was taped up, doused with gasoline, and ...

Prayers answered: Annunciation shooting survivor Sophia Forchas finally comes home

Annunciation School shooting survivor Sophia Forchas in a photo before the incident and then posing with neurosurgeon Dr. Walt Galicich at Gillette Children's Hospital in Minneapolis on a very happy day as she goes home to be with her family on Oct. 23, 2025. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Forchas familyNational Catholic Register, Oct 24, 2025 / 12:02 pm (CNA).Twelve-year-old Sophia Forchas is finally home after spending 57 days in the hospital with severe injuries sustained from the deadly shooting on Aug. 27 at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis during the first school Mass of the year that claimed the lives of two students. Sophia received a fond farewell outside the hospital on Oct. 23. In a statement posted to the family's GoFundMe page, Sophia's parents, Tom and Amy Forchas, wrote: "Today marks one of the most extraordinary days of our lives! Our beloved daughter, Sophia, is coming home!!"Speaking with gratitude for the team of doctors that worked dili...

Bill proposed in Hungary could require priests to violate seal of confession

null / Credit: AS photo studio/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 24, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).Here is a roundup of Catholic world news from the past week that you might have missed:Bill proposed in Hungary could require priests to violate seal of confessionThe Permanent Council of the Hungarian Catholic Bishops' Conference has expressed shock over the proposition of a bill that would require Catholic priests to violate the seal of confession. "This is in serious conflict with the agreement between the Republic of Hungary and the Holy See of Feb. 9, 1990, which states that the Catholic Church in our county operates on the basis of [canon law]," the council stated in an Oct. 17 press release. The council expressed regret over "extremely crude" and "baseless sentiment-mongering and slander" that has occurred during the ongoing election cycle. "We emphasize to our priests, all believers, and society that we are not a political organization, we do not wish to partici...

Healing, women, and youth are priorities as Irish Church plans renewal

The faithful pray before the altar at Knock Shrine in Knock, Ireland, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. / Credit: Courtney Mares/CNADublin, Ireland, Oct 24, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).Seven pivotal priorities emerged from the Irish bishops' Pre-Synodal Assembly meetings on Oct. 18 in Kilkenny, reflecting the hopes and concerns of the Irish faithful, drawing upon a series of gatherings held throughout the country from February to May.The assembly brought together delegates from parish communities across Ireland to discern how the Holy Spirit is guiding the Church today.Father Gerry O'Hanlon, SJ, one of the delegates, welcomed the process. "Building on the trust that has been established, we need to face difficult issues and embrace conflict and difference on the way," he told CNA. "The Pre-Synodal Assembly was characterized by a constructive spirit of speaking and listening in a spirit of prayer. As we go forward, we probably need a more concrete focus, with input from theology and the other sc...