Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass in suffrage for deceased prelates

Pope Leo XIV leads the Church's commemoration for his papal predecessor and 142 other bishops who died in the past year on Nov. 3, 2025, in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Nov 3, 2025 / 11:04 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV on Monday presided over a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica in suffrage for the late Pope Francis and for deceased cardinals and bishops.One day after celebrating Mass for all the faithful departed at Verano Cemetery in Rome, the Holy Father led the Church's commemoration for his papal predecessor and 142 other bishops who died in the past year.In the presence of members of the Roman Curia and hundreds of Catholic faithful, the pope said his first Mass commemorating the Church's deceased cardinals and bishops had the "savor of Christian hope" because their ministry had guided many "on the path of the Gospel.""Dear friends, our beloved Pope Francis and our brother cardinals and bishops for whom we offer the Eucharistic sacrifice tod...

Diocese of Alexandria in Louisiana files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

null / Credit: ShutterstockProfessional, ShutterstockCNA Staff, Nov 3, 2025 / 11:37 am (CNA).The Catholic Diocese of Alexandria, Louisiana, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday, Oct. 31, making it the 41st U.S. diocese to seek court-supervised reorganization in the wake of clergy sexual abuse claims.Bishop Robert Marshall Jr., who has led the 50-parish diocese in central Louisiana since 2020, announced the petition in a letter and video posted to the diocese's website. "As your bishop, I apologize to abuse survivors for the harm, pain, and suffering they experienced and continue to experience in their lives," Marshall wrote. "This action is occurring because some past priest-perpetrators sexually abused minors, actions that are evil, sinful, and go against everything the Church and the priesthood represent."Eighty-five survivors have already filed claims, according to the diocese, with more expected after the court sets a bar date. More than half the allega...

7 fascinating facts about St. Martin de Porres, the first Black saint of the Americas

St. Martin de Porres. / Credit: AnonymousUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsCNA Staff, Nov 3, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).On Nov. 3, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of St. Martin de Porres, a Peruvian Dominican brother who lived a life of humble service and charity and became the first Black saint of the Americas.Here are seven fascinating facts about this inspiring saint:1. His father refused to acknowledge him. De Porres was born in Lima, Peru, in 1579. He was the son of a Spanish nobleman and former Panamanian Black slave. His father, Don Juan de Porres, refused to publicly acknowledge the boy as his own because Martin was Black, like his mother. Being biracial would prove challenging for Martin de Porres throughout his life. 2. He started practicing medicine before he was 13. De Porres served as an apprentice to a doctor, and before the age of 13 he began to learn the practice of medicine. He would eventually become a barber, which at the time perfo...

Pope Leo XIV: Death is 'a hope for the future'

Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass commemorating the faithful departed at Rome's Verano Cemetery on Nov. 2, 2025. / Daniel IbáñezRome, Italy, Nov 2, 2025 / 12:40 pm (CNA).Celebrating Mass for the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed at Rome's Verano Cemetery, Pope Leo XIV invited Catholics to contemplate death "not so much as a recollection of the past, but above all as a hope for the future."The pope said the Christian vision of death is not one of despair or nostalgia but of confident expectation rooted in the resurrection of Christ. "Our Christian faith, founded upon Christ's Paschal mystery, helps us to experience our memories as more than just a recollection of the past but also, and above all, as hope for the future," he said in his homily.He encouraged the faithful not to remain "in the sorrow for those who are no longer with us," but instead to look forward "towards the goal of our journey, towards the safe harbor that God has promised us, towards the unending feas...

Pope Leo XIV urges ceasefire in Sudan, condemns post-election violence in Tanzania

Pope Leo XIV leads the faithful in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican in reciting the Angelus on Nov. 2, 2025. / Vatican MediaVatican City, Nov 2, 2025 / 10:50 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV issued urgent appeals for peace and humanitarian access in Sudan and Tanzania on Sunday, decrying escalating violence that has left civilians dead and aid blocked in parts of Africa."With great sorrow I am following the tragic news coming from Sudan, especially from the city of El Fasher in the war-torn region of North Darfur," the pope said after leading the Angelus in St. Peter's Square on November 2. He condemned "indiscriminate violence against women and children, attacks on unarmed civilians, and serious obstacles to humanitarian aid," and called for an immediate ceasefire and the opening of humanitarian corridors."I renew my heartfelt appeal to all parties involved to agree to a ceasefire and to urgently open humanitarian corridors," he said, urging the international community "to act with...

Detainees denied communion at Illinois detention facility

Scene from Nov. 1, 2025 Mass outside the Broadview facility in Chicago where immigration advocates allege federal authorities inhumanely treat detainees. / Credit: Kathleen Murphy/CNAChicago, Illinois, Nov 1, 2025 / 17:29 pm (CNA).Bishop Jose María García-Maldonado celebrated a Mass Nov. 1 outside the Broadview facility in Chicago where immigration advocates allege federal authorities inhumanely treat detainees.Maldonado, an auxiliary bishop in Chicago, and a group of eight spiritual leaders sought to bring Holy Communion to detainees and were not admitted. Mass organizers said they followed the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's guidelines to obtain access and submitted the request weeks in advance.An estimated 2,000 Catholics attended the outdoor Mass including Sister JoAnn Persch, 91, a Sister of Mercy and longtime advocate for immigrant rights in the Chicago area. Persch said in previous years she was granted access to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility an...

Hundreds killed in Darfur hospital massacre amid Sudan's deadly civil war

Displaced Sudanese who fled El-Fasher after the city fell to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), arrive in the town of Tawila war-torn Sudan's western Darfur region on October 28, 2025. / Credit: AFP via Getty ImagesWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 1, 2025 / 12:58 pm (CNA).Graphic evidence emerged Friday of large-scale massacres of civilians in Sudan, including satellite imagery of bodies and blood-stained ground taken outside a hospital in Darfur.More than 460 patients and their family members were reported shot and killed in the Saudi Maternity Hospital in El Fasher, Tuesday, after the Sudanese army surrendered the city to paramilitary fighters on Sunday following an 18-month siege.The government's forces remain in control of the capital city of Khartoum, according to news reports.The massacre is the latest tragedy in the conflict that has consumed the western Darfur region since full-scale civil war broke out in 2023. The war between rival military factions, the Sudanes...

10,000 pro-lifers join LIFE Runners annual relay across the U.S.

Finish line of the A-Cross America Relay, hosted by Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. / Credit: Photo courtesy of LIFE Runners.CNA Staff, Nov 1, 2025 / 05:55 am (CNA).A pro-life relay with more than 10,000 participants came to a joyful conclusion in Kansas last Saturday after runners made the shape of a cross as they ran across the U.S.The 5,124 mile "A-Cross America Relay," organized by pro-life group LIFE Runners, kicked off in September in four cities around the country and ended at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas on Oct. 25.The starting points were San Francisco, California; New York City, New York; Austin, Texas; and Fargo, North Dakota, but participants around the world also joined to witness to life in their own nations. The San Francisco kickoff of the A-Cross America Relay began at Star of the Sea Church with students from Stella Maris Academy. Credit: Photo courtesy of LIFE Runners.With more than 25,000  "teammates" in nearly 4,000 cities acro...

How the recent presidential election reflects a shift from Ireland's Catholic founding fathers

An Irish soldier holds the a copy of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic outside the General Post Office, the scene of the 1916 Easter Rising, in Dublin on March 27, 2016 as part of a program of commemorative events to mark the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising. / Credit: Charles McQuillan/Getty ImagesDublin, Ireland, Nov 1, 2025 / 06:08 am (CNA).The election of left-wing Catherine Connolly last week as Ireland's 10th president was marked by low voter turnout, a narrow field of candidates, and an unprecedented number of 213,738 spoiled ballots, representing 12.9% of votes cast.Many of the spoiled ballots, which are ballots that cannot be counted due to errors in marking or deliberate defacement, were from Catholic voters protesting the government parties' interference in candidate selection, which resulted in the prominent Catholic figure, Maria Steen, not appearing on the ballot.The election outcome reflects the current secular makeup of the Republic of Ireland, a...

Archbishop Broglio urges faithful to aid victims of Hurricane Melissa

Electrical poles are down as a man bikes through the destroyed neighborhood of North Street following the passage of Hurricane Melissa, in Black River, Jamaica on Oct. 29, 2025. / Credit: Ricardo Makyn/ GettyWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 31, 2025 / 13:31 pm (CNA).Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio called this week for "prayer and action" as Hurricane Melissa devastated the Caribbean region.Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), urged Catholics in an Oct. 29 statement to pray for and support the people and communities affected by the Category 5 storm."Hurricane Melissa, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes in history, has made landfall in Jamaica, had an impact in Haiti, and prompted the evacuation of hundreds of thousands in Cuba," Broglio wrote. With sustained winds of 185 miles per hour, Hurricane Melissa has swept through the region, causing destruction and claiming up to 50 lives since making landfall on Oct. 28."The Church accompanies, ...