Protests erupt in India after nuns arrested on human trafficking allegations

Nuns in habits pray alongside novices at the Indore Bible Convention in Madhya Pradesh, October 2023. / Credit: Anto AkkaraBangalore, India, Jul 30, 2025 / 14:09 pm (CNA).Protests are spreading in India over the arrest of two nuns on conversion and human trafficking charges in Chattisgarh state in central India. The ongoing demonstrations that began with the July 25 arrests intensified after the release of the nuns was delayed by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government opposing bail for the religious, who have been in jail for nearly a week."What kind of justice is this?" Cardinal Baselios mar Cleemis, the archbishop of the Syro Malankara Church and former president of Catholic Bishops' Conference of India, said on July 30.The prelate spoke at the end of a protest march to the Kerala Legislative Assembly at Thiruvananthapuram, demanding the "immediate release" of the nuns, who are from the Christian heartland of Kerala.On July 27, the Indian Catholic ...

Catholic bishops urge government support after Bangladesh plane crash

Flowers and offerings are placed at the grave of Ukya Chhaing Marma. The seventh-grader died from his wounds after being rescued from a July 21, 2025, plane crash at his Dhaka school. / Credit: Piyas BiswasDhaka, Bangladesh, Jul 30, 2025 / 14:39 pm (CNA).As parents grieve the loss of their children, the Catholic bishops of Bangladesh have urged the government to fully support victims and families following the July 21 crash of an air force training jet into a local school that killed at least 35 and injured over 170 people, most of them children.Bishop Ponen Paul Kubi, secretary-general of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Bangladesh, told EWTN News the incident is "deeply saddening for us and a great loss for our country, as we have lost many from our future generation. We have requested prayers in our churches, because prayer is our source of strength and comfort."The parents of Ukya Chhaing Marma, a 14-year-old who died after a Bangladesh Air Force training jet crashed int...

Pope Leo XIV addresses youth at packed general audience

Pope Leo XIV signs a portrait of himself for a pilgrim at his general audience on July 30, 2025, in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaACI Prensa Staff, Jul 30, 2025 / 15:09 pm (CNA).Before a packed St. Peter's Square filled with young people who had come from all over the world for the Jubilee of Youth, Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday gave his first general audience after his vacation in Castel Gandolfo.Aboard the popemobile, the pontiff toured the colorful esplanade, warmly and enthusiastically greeting the hundreds of thousands of young pilgrims waving the flags of numerous countries.At the beginning of his July 30 catechesis, the last in a series dedicated to the public life of Jesus, the Holy Father lamented the climate of violence and hatred that marks our time, a reality that, he affirmed, "deeply wounds human dignity." Against this backdrop, he firmly emphasized: "Our world needs healing.""We live in a society," he explained, "that is becoming ill due t...

How a Catholic priest led the Church's 'significant' contribution to Deaf history

Father Charles-Michel de l'Épée founded the National Institute for Deaf Youth of Paris in 1760. / Credit: Public domainCNA Staff, Jul 30, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).Sign language is currently one of the most popular families of languages in the world, with National Geographic estimating more than 300 forms of sign language used by more than 70 million people worldwide.Yet most people, and even most users of sign language, may be unaware of the notable role that Catholics played in the earliest years of modern sign language, including the founding of the world's first free school for deaf people.That school, the National Institute for Deaf Youth of Paris, was founded in 1760 by Father Charles-Michel de l'Épée. The institute says on its website that the priest was inspired to develop a system of sign language after meeting two deaf twins. He would go on to launch a small school on the rue des Moulins in Paris that would in time become the national institution. Jordan Eickman, a p...

Leo XIV: Don't be discouraged in your faith journey, God is always there to sustain you

Pope Leo XIV greets a group of catechumens from France during an audience on July 29, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaACI Prensa Staff, Jul 29, 2025 / 14:59 pm (CNA).Speaking to a group of catechumens from France, Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday explained that baptism "gives us life" to renounce a "culture of death," which is so prevalent in today's society.During the July 29 meeting at the Vatican with the catechumens, chaplains, and catechists of France, which also included the bishop of Nice, Jean-Philippe Nault, the Holy Father emphasized that baptism "makes us full members of the great family of God."He added that this sacrament "introduces us into communion with Christ and gives us life," committing those who receive it "to renounce a culture of death," which he said includes "indifference, contempt for others, drug use, the pursuit of an easy life, sexuality turned into entertainment and the objectification of the human person, injustice, etc.""Baptism makes us...

Catholic bishops to join pilgrimage of peace to Japan on anniversary of atomic bombings

The Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima, Japan. / Credit: Oilstreet via Wikimedia (CC BY 2.5)CNA Staff, Jul 29, 2025 / 15:29 pm (CNA).Eighty years after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, several Catholic cardinals and archbishops will visit Japan for a pilgrimage of peace this August.Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago; Cardinal Robert McElroy of Washington, D.C.; Archbishop Paul Etienne of Seattle; and Archbishop John C. Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico, will be part of the pilgrimage coordinated by the Partnership for a World Without Nuclear Weapons (PWNW).Throughout the five-day visit, the clergy, along with a delegation of pilgrims, will celebrate Mass, participate in dialogue on Catholic ethics and nuclear weapons, and visit historical sites and museums. The delegation will include staff and students from several U.S. universities.The pilgrimage will begin by bringing together Catholic bishops from Japan, South Korea, and the U.S. alongside "hibakusha," or atomic bomb survivors...

Canon law expert Edward Peters is third faculty member fired by Detroit archbishop

Canon law professor Edward Peters had taught at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit since 2005. / Credit: Photo courtesy of CanonLaw.infoNational Catholic Register, Jul 29, 2025 / 15:59 pm (CNA).Canon law professor Edward Peters is the third faculty member at Detroit's seminary to announce that he has been fired by Archbishop Edward Weisenburger in recent days.Peters, 68, had taught at Sacred Heart Major Seminary since 2005."My Sacred Heart Major Seminary teaching contract was terminated by Abp. Weisenburger this week. I have retained counsel," Peters wrote in a social media post Friday night."Except to offer my prayers for those affected by this news and to ask for theirs in return, I have no further comment at this time," Peters said.A representative of the Archdiocese of Detroit declined to comment Monday, telling the National Catholic Register, CNA's sister news partner, by email on Monday that "the Archdiocese of Detroit does not comment on archdiocesan or seminary pers...

Evangelizing on social media more than just gaining followers, Leo XIV reminds influencers

Pope Leo XIV blesses Elizabeth Busby and her baby on the way at the Mass for Digital Missionaries on July 29, 2025, at St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. A family and marriage therapist, Busby hosts the "Discerning Marriage" podcast and developed the Next Step formation program for people who are discerning marriage. / Credit: Vatican MediaACI Prensa Staff, Jul 29, 2025 / 16:29 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday participated in the Mass celebrated in St. Peter's Basilica on the occasion of the Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and Catholic Influencers, encouraging them to create encounters "between hearts" regardless of the number of followers they have.The Holy Father arrived at the Vatican basilica at the end of the Mass, which was celebrated by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization.More than a thousand Catholics from different countries participated in the event, which also coincided with the Jubilee of Youth, filling the basilica with yo...

Christian groups sue over Trump administration policy allowing ICE arrests at churches

Notre Dame Catholic Church in Kerrville, Texas. / Credit: Sophie AbuzeidWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 29, 2025 / 16:59 pm (CNA).A coalition of Protestant denominations filed a lawsuit on July 28 to challenge a policy from U.S. President Donald Trump's administration that makes it easier for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to arrest suspects at churches and other sensitive locations.The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in January rescinded the previous administration's guidelines that had prevented ICE agents from conducting immigration arrests at churches and other sensitive locations unless there is approval from a supervisor or there is an urgent need to take enforcement action, such as an imminent threat.The lawsuit brought by the Protestant coalition argues that the change in policy violates the First Amendment's right to the free exercise of religion and two federal laws: the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Administrative Procedure Act...

New Jersey hospital receives largest-ever gift to a U.S.-based Catholic health center

Left to right: Cathleen Davey, president, Holy Name Foundation; Jeffrey A. Brown, acting commissioner for the New Jersey Department of Health; Joan Noble, Douglas M. Noble Family Foundation; Michael Maron, president and CEO of Holy Name Medical Center; U.S. Rep. Nellie Pou; New Jersey state Sen. Paul A. Sarlo; and New Jersey state Sen. Joseph A. Lagana. / Credit: Holy NameWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 29, 2025 / 17:29 pm (CNA).Holy Name Medical Center, the only independent Catholic health system in New Jersey, announced it has received a $75 million gift, the largest-ever donation to a U.S.-based Catholic health system. "This transformational gift is not just about its remarkable size; it's about the profound impact it will have on Holy Name's ability to tackle some of the most critical health care challenges facing our community in the decades to come," the hospital's president and CEO, Michael Maron, said in a press release on Monday in which he announced the sizable do...