First-ever RISE Awards recognizes innovative evangelization projects on college campuses

Members of The Catholic University of America Office of Campus Ministry receive their RISE Award from the Associates of St. John Bosco. / Credit: Photo courtesy of The CartiedasCNA Staff, Aug 10, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).As more efforts are placed on reaching young adults on college campuses, one organization is encouraging Catholic campus ministries to think outside the box when it comes to helping students grow in faith and reach those who are unfamiliar with the Gospel message.As part of its campaign to inspire new and creative outreach efforts on college campuses, the Associates of St. John Bosco (ASJB) recently announced its first-ever winners of the RISE Awards (Renewal of Innovative Student Evangelization) on Aug. 6. The ASJB is a nonprofit whose purpose is to help college students keep and grow in their Catholic faith.This year's winners include George Mason University, The Catholic University of America (CUA), and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virgi...

Pope Leo XIV urges mercy and vigilance in Angelus at St. Peter's

Pope Leo XIV in his Sunday Angelus on Aug. 10, 2025, urged the faithful to reflect on how they invest the "treasure" that is their life. / Credit: Vatican MediaCNA Newsroom, Aug 10, 2025 / 08:20 am (CNA).In his Angelus address on Sunday, Pope Leo XIV urged the faithful to reflect on how they invest the "treasure" that is their life, challenging Catholics to share not only material possessions but also their skills, time, and compassion for the good of others. Drawing on the Gospel reading from Luke 12:32-48, the pope emphasized that generosity and love are the keys to fulfillment, reminding the crowd that these gifts must be cultivated and put at the service of others, rather than hoarded or misused."Sell your possessions and give alms," Jesus exhorts in the passage. Pope Leo made clear that this invitation extends beyond charitable donations, pressing his audience to offer their presence, love, and talents to those most in need. "Everything in God's plan that makes each of us ...

Father Mike Schmitz: Campus ministry is 'best of both worlds'

Father Mike Schmitz before his show in Vail, Colorado, as part of his Parables Tour. / Credit: Daniel MilchevCNA Staff, Aug 10, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).While many know him best for his popular "Bible in a Year" podcast, Ascension videos, and inspiring talks he gives across the country, Father Mike Schmitz is first and foremost the chaplain at the Newman Center at the University of Minnesota, Duluth (UMD). This fall Schmitz will mark his 21st year working in campus ministry, which he called "the best of both worlds" in a recent sit-down interview with CNA in Vail, Colorado, during his Parables Tour. The tour is part of Schmitz's Seeds of Faith Campaign, which is raising funds for a new Newman Center to be built on the UMD campus.The 50-year-old priest explained that while he has loved working in both parish and campus settings, each is unique. While college kids can tend to be "fickle" in their faith, he said, they also have a beautiful openness to change that he didn't ...

Armenian and Azerbaijan presidents sign historic peace deal at White House

President Donald Trump answers questions during a signing ceremony with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev (left) and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (right) in the State Dining Room of the White House on Aug. 8, 2025, in Washington, D.C. The agreement signed during the ceremony is intended to bring an end to the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijani that has lasted for decades. / Credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty ImagesWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 8, 2025 / 18:23 pm (CNA).Here is a roundup of Catholic world news from the past week that you might have missed:Armenian and Azerbaijan presidents sign historic peace deal at White HouseAfter decades of conflict over the ethnically Armenian-Christian Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a peace deal on Friday, Aug. 8. Pashinyan hailed the moment as "opening a chapter of peace" and "laying foundations to a better story than the one we had in the pas...

University of Nebraska apologizes for 'drag Mass,' investigates controversial performance

Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska (pictured in St. Peter's Square in 2019) criticized the University of Nebraska for allowing a student to mock the Mass in a drag show. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNACNA Staff, Aug 8, 2025 / 13:08 pm (CNA).The University of Nebraska has officially apologized for sanctioning a profane "drag" performance that mocked the Catholic Mass earlier this year, with the school undertaking an investigation into the incident after Catholic outcry against it. Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska, publicly criticized the so-called "drag Mass" in June, calling it "a blatant public display of faith-based discrimination."  The event was put on in April by music doctoral student Joseph Willette, who claimed the performance was meant to "bridge the gap between queerness and spirituality."The demonstration "imitated various parts of the Mass, including the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei."On Aug. 8 the bishop said in a public stat...

St. John Henry Newman: From being considered an 'infiltrator' to doctor of the Church

St. John Henry Newman near the end of his life, in 1887. / Credit: Babouba, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsACI Prensa Staff, Aug 8, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).According to Father Francisco Javier Calvo, Pope Leo XIV's recent announcement that St. John Henry Newman will be declared a doctor of the Church represents "enormous hope," because his figure is called to "illuminate the paths of the Church in the 21st century."Calvo is a member of the research committee of the John Henry Newman Chair at the Catholic University of Ávila in Spain.The expert told ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, that it is no coincidence that Pope Leo XIV decided to name him a doctor of the Church, since St. Augustine was the prime source of the English saint's theology."It is very significant that he is the first doctor of the Church proclaimed during his pontificate. As an Augustinian, Leo XIV recognized in Newman one of his own. Both share a spirituality centered on an interior enco...

Massachusetts mayor defends saint statues on public building, says critics are anti-Catholic

Statues of St. Michael and St. Florian. / Credit: Office of Mayor Thomas KochNational Catholic Register, Aug 8, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).A Massachusetts mayor is going to bat for including statues of two Catholic saints on the city's new public safety building, saying he picked them because of their importance to police and firefighters and accusing opponents of harboring "'negative attitudes' toward Catholicism."But lawyers for local residents who object to the planned 10-foot-high bronze statues of St. Michael and St. Florian say the mayor is making non-Catholics "feel like second-class citizens" because of the statues, which they say violates the Massachusetts Constitution by favoring one religion over another.The two sides exchanged pointed arguments in court papers filed recently in a state lawsuit brought earlier this year by the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.Thomas Koch, a practicing Catholic and ...

Bishop Mark Brennan gives blistering critique of indiscriminate immigration enforcement

Bishop Mark Brennan of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia. / Credit: Archdiocese of BaltimoreWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 7, 2025 / 14:33 pm (CNA).As officials carry out mass deportations across the United States, Bishop Mark Brennan of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia, is criticizing the Trump administration's policy of deporting "as many immigrants as possible" without "distinguishing between true criminals and law-abiding persons."In a recent statement addressing Catholics in his diocese, Brennan said "some of you have told me that you were happy to support a presidential candidate who would install order at the southern border and keep out drug traffickers, terrorists, and violent criminals but that you didn't expect this wholesale assault on the majority of immigrants, who work hard, are raising their families, and live peacefully in our communities."The bishop urged the government to prioritize deporting violent criminals rather than upstanding people, highlighting th...

French scout leader steps down amid backlash over abortion support, same-sex relationship

null / Credit: H4stings, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia CommonsCNA Newsroom, Aug 7, 2025 / 09:53 am (CNA).Marine Rosset, the newly appointed president of France's largest Catholic-inspired scouting organization, resigned less than two months after her election amid intense criticism over her support for abortion rights and her homosexual relationship.After announcing her resignation on Aug. 6, the 39-year-old Socialist Party member explained her decision in an interview with the Catholic daily La Croix, saying the "situation had become untenable" and expressing her desire to "protect the movement."Rosset was elected president of the Scouts et Guides de France (SGDF) on June 14 by a decisive vote of 22 to 2, with one abstention.The SGDF is France's largest scouting association with over 100,000 members. The association was formed in 2004 through the merger of two historically Catholic organizations.Today, the group maintains Catholic chaplains and describes itself as both "a Cathol...

Appeals court says Texas attorney general can't question Catholic charity leaders

Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley Executive Director Sister Norma Pimentel speaks to reporters on May 8, 2023, in Brownsville, Texas. / Credit: Michael Gonzalez/Getty ImagesCNA Staff, Aug 6, 2025 / 14:55 pm (CNA).A state appeals court in Texas this week affirmed that Attorney General Ken Paxton will not be permitted to question the leaders of a Catholic Charities affiliate at the U.S.-Mexico border amid an inquiry into illegal immigration.The state 15th Court of Appeals said in an Aug. 4 ruling that Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley has cooperated sufficiently with the state's investigation into the charity. Paxton's office has been conducting broad inquiries into allegations that nonprofits have facilitated illegal immigration in the state.Prosecutors were not entitled to a "pre-suit deposition" from charity leaders, including its executive director, Sister Norma Pimentel, the court ruled.Rather than "an uncooperative or evasive organization," the Catholic ...