Pope Leo XIV visits home for elderly in Castel Gandolfo: 'Age doesn't matter'

Pope Leo XIV greets residents of St. Martha Home for the Elderly in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, during a visit on July 21, 2025. / Credit: Vatican MediaACI Prensa Staff, Jul 21, 2025 / 15:12 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV on Monday morning visited St. Martha Home for the Elderly in Castel Gandolfo, the Italian town where he is spending his vacation.According to the Holy See Press Office, the pontiff arrived at the residence on July 20 at 10:30 a.m. local time and was welcomed by the community of nuns who run the facility.The Sisters of St. Martha religious order was founded in 1946 by Blessed Tommaso Reggio. The sisters aim to be "humble presences of peace and hope" for those most in need and to pay "the utmost attention to the quality of relationships and the well-being" of the nursing home's residents, according to the order's website.After spending time praying in the chapel, the Holy Father personally greeted approximately 20 elderly people, all between the ages of 80 and 101.Pope Leo X...

Tattoo shop in Times Square is a 'ministry for the Miraculous Medal'

Catholic images and crucifixes fill the walls in Times Square Tattoo. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Tommy HoulihanCNA Staff, Jul 21, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).In the heart of New York City, nestled among the tall buildings of Times Square, sits a small tattoo shop with two 17-inch signs of the Miraculous Medal hanging outside the front door. Inside, walls of rosaries, crucifixes, and religious images greet visitors, while an old church pew serves as a place to sit and wait. A glass jar filled with blessed Miraculous Medals sits on the front desk. The tattoo parlor, Times Square Tattoo, is more than a tattoo parlor, according to owner Tommy Houlihan, who has a deep devotion to the Miraculous Medal and the Blessed Virgin Mary. The 55-year-old told CNA that he views his shop as a "ministry for the Miraculous Medal."Houlihan has been a tattoo artist since 1990. He grew up in a Catholic household in Hell's Kitchen, a neighborhood on the west side of midtown Manhattan, and by the age ...

Pope Leo XIV marks moon landing anniversary with call to U.S. astronaut Buzz Aldrin

Pope Leo XIV speaks by video call with Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, and his wife Anca Faur, from Castel Gandolfo, Italy, on July 20, 2025. / Credit: Holy See Press OfficeRome Newsroom, Jul 21, 2025 / 06:30 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV marked the 56th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing with a video call to U.S. astronaut Buzz Aldrin and a visit to the Vatican Observatory, located on the papal estate of Castel Gandolfo, where he has been staying for two weeks.According to the Vatican, the pontiff's July 20 call with the 95-year-old Buzz Aldrin, the last surviving Apollo 11 crew member, included reminiscing on the historic 1969 landing and meditating together on the "mystery, greatness, and fragility" of God's creation as described in Psalm 8.Earlier in the day, Leo visited the Vatican's internationally-recognized observatory, called the Specola Vaticana, where he was able to look through the astronomical center's historic telescopes.The Vatican Observatory has been located on...

Church dedicated to Mary in popular Canadian resort town 'mirrors area's natural beauty'

A rendering of the interior of Whistler's Our Lady of the Mountain's newest church, as designed by Oberto Oberti Architecture and Urban Design Inc. The grand opening of the new parish design is slated for later in the fall 2025. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Oberto Oberti Architecture and Urban Design Inc.Vancouver, Canada, Jul 21, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).Nestled within Whistler's many snow-covered peaks, Our Lady of the Mountains Parish finds itself just months away from the grand opening of its newly renovated church, a multimillion-dollar restoration project five years in the making, which is set to embrace the town's historic alpine atmosphere.As the only Catholic church in the popular British Columbia resort town in the Coastal Mountains north of Vancouver, Our Lady of the Mountains' transformation will see what was once no more than a quaint multipurpose hall become a fully functional sacred space for prayer, service, and evangelization as well as a visual testament to the co...

New short documentary highlights the life of Servant of God Julia Greeley

An image of Servant of God Julia Greeley in a parish. / Credit: Screenshot/Colorado Capuchin FranciscansCNA Staff, Jul 20, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).A new, short documentary tells the story of Servant of God Julia Greeley, also known as Denver's Angel of Charity, who was born into slavery near Hannibal, Missouri. "Julia Greeley: Servant of the Sacred Heart" features interviews with Father Blaine Burkey, OFM Cap, who wrote a book on Greeley's life; Mary Leisring, president of the Julia Greeley Guild; Father Eric Zegeer, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Denver, Greeley's parish; and Jean Torkelson, executive director of the Julia Greeley Home, a Denver nonprofit that serves women in need.In the 13-minute documentary, interviewees discuss Greeley's deep faith, her acts of charity, and her courageous response to the challenges presented throughout her life. When she was a child, while her master was beating her mother, his whip caught Greeley's right eye and destroyed it. Aft...

Catholic bishops in Ethiopia call for 'unified voice' in confronting violent conflicts

Members of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Ethiopia say the situation currently in Ethiopia "calls more than ever" for a unified voice. / Courtesy of CBCEACI Africa, Jul 20, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).In a statement shared on July 13 following its 58th plenary assembly, members of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Ethiopia (CBCE) said the current situation in Ethiopia calls "more than ever" for a unified voice."The Church, as a mother, always longs and grieves for her children to enter into peace," the bishops said, encouraging the people of God in the country to continue praying, fasting, and working earnestly for peace.In March, Bishop Tesfasellassie Medhin of the Catholic Eparch of Adigrat, which covers the Tigray region in Ethiopia's northernmost territory, warned of "a very bloody confrontation" that could involve Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea.He confirmed at the time that tensions were continuing to escalate in the region following an internal split within the Ti...

Pope Leo XIV: Summer is a time to savor prayerful moments with God

Pope Leo XIV greets a young woman along the streets of Albano, Italy before offering Mass in the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Pancras near Castel Gandolfo on July 20, 2025. / Vatican MediaRome Newsroom, Jul 20, 2025 / 07:05 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV encouraged people on Sunday to embrace the summer season as a time to deepen their relationship with God through silence, reflection, and time spent with others."Summer can be a providential time to experience the beauty and importance of our relationship with God, and how much it can help us to be more open and welcoming to others," Pope Leo said during a homily at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Pancras in Albano, a town about 16 miles south of Rome.The pope, who is spending two weeks on summer holiday at the papal estate in nearby Castel Gandolfo, reflected on the example of Martha and Mary in the Gospel of Luke of how service and listening can be "twin dimensions of hospitality." "We should set aside moments of silence, moments ...

Jerusalem bishop shares distress over conditions in Gaza after accidental Israeli strike

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa (L) and a members of a Christian visit the Saint Porphyrius Church in Gaza City on July 18, 2025. / Credit: OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty ImagesWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 19, 2025 / 11:30 am (CNA).Bishop William Shomali, the auxiliary bishop for the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, said this week the community has been "very distressed" following the bombing of Holy Family Church in Gaza, with the prelate calling for the protection of nearby Chirstian villages. On July 17, the Israeli military bombed the only Catholic parish in Gaza. The strike killed three and injured nine, including the parish priest Father Gabriel Romanelli. The Israel Defense Forces subsequently apologized for the strike, stating that "fragments from a shell fired during operational activity in the area hit the church mistakenly." Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa later seemed to imply that the strike was intentional, telling an Italian newspa...

St. Thomas More's skull may be exhumed from Canterbury vault for saint's 500th anniversary

St. Thomas More. / Credit: Public domainCanterbury, England, Jul 19, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).The skull of St. Thomas More may be exhumed and preserved to coincide with the 500th anniversary of his historic martyrdom, according to a spokesperson for St. Dunstan's Church in Canterbury, England, the Anglican church in which the relic reportedly currently rests.As the church begins the initial steps in a "permissions process," Sue Palmer, churchwarden at St. Dunstan Parochial Church Council (PCC), told CNA the council welcomes input from everyone interested in the saint and "would very much welcome communication with the Vatican.""It is unusual to have any relics in an Anglican church, especially those of a Catholic saint, and the PCC see this as an opportunity for ecumenical outreach and cooperation," she said.After More was beheaded in 1535 on the orders of King Henry VIII, his head was initially placed on a spike and displayed on London Bridge as a warning to those who dared to ch...

9 people sentenced to 20 years in prison for murder of Myanmar priest

The funeral of Father Donald Martin Ye Naing Win (left), who was martyred in Myanmar on Feb. 14, 2025. / Credit: Archdiocese of MandalayACI Prensa Staff, Jul 18, 2025 / 15:30 pm (CNA).The Vatican news agency Fides reported that nine people were sentenced to 20 years in prison for the murder of a 44-year-old priest in Myanmar, a crime that shocked a country that has been enveloped in civil war since 2021.According to the article published July 17, a court affiliated with the Ministry of Justice of the National Unity Government (NUG), the government in exile that leads the opposition, sentenced the nine defendants for the murder of Father Donald Martin Ye Naing Win, a priest of the Archdiocese of Mandalay, who was killed on Feb. 14 on the grounds of Our Lady of Lourdes Church in the Shwe Bo district in the Sagaing region.According to investigations, those convicted were part of local armed groups linked to the People's Defense Force (PDF), the resistance force that controls the "...