Sacred music is good for the brain as well as the soul, neuroscientist says

Neuroscientist Kathlyn Gan says research shows music can help counter the mental decline that accompanies aging. / Credit: Terry O'NeillToronto, Canada, Nov 16, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).Sixteen hundred years ago, St. Augustine was credited with saying, "He who sings, prays twice." Today, scientific research shows that he who sings, performs, or listens to music also enriches and strengthens his brain, according to Catholic neuroscientist Kathlyn Gan.Not only that, but sacred music may produce even more beneficial effects.Gan, who leads a research laboratory at the University of Toronto, delivered the uplifting news to about 50 people at an Oct. 30 talk at St. Francis de Sales in Burnaby, Ontario.In her hourlong presentation "The Neuroscience of Sacred Music," Gan, a former choir director and accompanist, described how research showing that music can be part of a healthy lifestyle that helps counter the mental decline that accompanies aging.Music can also help prevent the onset of ...

Pope Leo XIV: Where the world sees threats, the Church sees children

Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on November 16, 2025. / Daniel IbáñezVatican City, Nov 16, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).Celebrating Mass for the Jubilee of the Poor on the Ninth World Day of the Poor, Pope Leo XIV urged Christians not to retreat into a closed or "religious" world of their own, but to help make human society "a space of fraternity and dignity for all, without exception."Presiding in St. Peter's Basilica on Sunday, the pope reflected on the "day of the Lord" and the upheavals of history, saying that Christ's promise remains secure even amid war, violence, and deep social wounds.Quoting the prophet Malachi, he described the "day of the Lord" as the dawn of a new era in which "the hopes of the poor and the humble will receive a final and definitive answer from the Lord," and recalled that Jesus himself is the "sun of righteousness" who comes close to every person. In the Gospel, he said, Christ assures his disciples that "Not a hai...

Pope Leo XIV presents 62 indigenous artifacts to Canadian bishops

Pope Leo XIV greets Vancouver Archbishop Richard Smith at the Vatican, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 / Credit: Vatican MediaACI Prensa Staff, Nov 15, 2025 / 13:00 pm (CNA).In a Saturday meeting, Pope Leo XIV received Monsignor Pierre Goudreault, Bishop of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière and president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, at which the Holy Father gifted dozens of artifacts that originated with Indigenous peoples of the North American country. Leo at the meeting donated 62 pieces from the ethnological collections of the Vatican Museums to the Canadian bishops. Bishop Goudreault was accompanied by Archbishop Richard Smith of Vancouver and Father Jean Vézina, secretary general of the Canadian bishops."It is an act of ecclesial sharing, through which the Successor of Peter entrusts to the Church in Canada these objects, which bear witness to the history of the encounter between the faith and cultures of indigenous peoples," the Vatican said. The 62 donated objects c...

Nearly 70 Planned Parenthood centers have closed this year, according to abortion giant

null / Credit: Jonathan Weiss/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Nov 15, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).Here is a roundup of recent pro-life- and abortion-related news:Nearly 70 Planned Parenthood centers have closed nationwide in 2025Nearly 70 Planned Parenthood centers have closed this year due to Medicaid and Title X funding cuts, according to a recent Planned Parenthood report.  Planned Parenthood has closed 20 facilities since federal defunding earlier this year following a round of nearly 50 other closures. President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act prevented federal taxpayer dollars from being used to subsidize abortion providers for one year, meaning abortion providers don't currently qualify for federal Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements.Rather than giving up abortion offerings, abortion providers like Planned Parenthood are closing clinics across the country. Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, called the def...

Vatican-set thriller based on true story set to begin filming in 2026

St. John Paul II. / Credit: Adrian Tusar/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Nov 15, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).A new Vatican-set thriller based on a true story is currently in the works, according to Variety."Santo Subito!" will follow Father Joseph Murolo, an American priest asked by the Vatican to serve as the "devil's advocate" in the investigation of Pope John Paul II's life and his path to sainthood.The film will take place after the pontiff's death and follows Murolo, who "must make sure that nothing undermines the sanctification of Karol Wojtyla, the first non-Italian pope in 450 years," the synopsis reads, as he interviews candidates and witnesses. The description goes on to say that the priest will navigate a "moral labyrinth" that will "put his own faith to the test."Murolo will be played by actor Mark Ruffalo, known for his role as Bruce Banner, or the Hulk, in "The Avengers" movies.Filming is expected to begin on March 9, 2026, on location in Italy and Poland."The film offers a genu...

Pope Leo XIV praises the 'silent and hidden love' of cloistered nuns

Pope Leo XIV receives cloistered Augustinian nuns at the Vatican on Nov. 13, 2025. / Credit: Vatican MediaACI Prensa Staff, Nov 14, 2025 / 15:43 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV praised the "silent and hidden love" of cloistered nuns who, he said, are free from the slavery of society's focus on outward appearances.Focusing on the contemplative dimension of the Augustinian nuns, Pope Leo recalled that their founder, St. Augustine, reflected in his book "Confessions" on the joy granted "to those who serve the Lord out of pure love."In his address, delivered from the Paul VI Audience Hall on Nov. 13, the pope offered his reflection during an audience at the Vatican with participants in the Ordinary Federal Assembly of the Federation of Augustinian Monasteries of Italy.The pope highlighted the joy of those who serve the Lord "out of pure love" in a meeting with Augustinian nuns on Nov. 13, 2025, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican MediaHe invited the nuns to embrace "the cloistered life with...

Philippines aid worker details proactive emergency response to Typhoon Kalmaegi

Residents carrying their belongings, wade through a flooded street in Mandaue City, Cebu province on Nov. 4, 2025, after Typhoon Kalmaegi hit overnight. / Credit: Alan Tangcawan/AFP via Getty ImagesWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 14, 2025 / 16:13 pm (CNA).Catholic Relief Services (CRS) revealed emergency relief efforts in the Philippines began before Typhoon Kalmaegi made landfall, thanks to a new law the humanitarian workers championed. "Together with the Tagbilaran City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office and other local leaders, we worked on getting families evacuated and helped organize some community briefings," said Jonas Tetangco, CRS Philippines country representative. "All of the work we were able to do before Typhoon Kalmaegi hit is in part due to recently-passed legislation," he said. "RA 12287 is the world's first national legislation that enables work to be done prior to a dangerous natural disaster. We are proud to have contributed to the legisl...

Pope Leo XIV visits new health clinic for the poor under St. Peter's colonnade

New outpatient clinic for people in need in St. Peter's Square. / Credit: Vatican MediaACI Prensa Staff, Nov 14, 2025 / 16:50 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV on Nov. 14 visited a new outpatient clinic in the Vatican, built beneath the colonnade of St. Peter's Square, in the lead-up to the ninth World Day of the Poor, which will be celebrated on Sunday, Nov. 16.The new health center aims to strengthen assistance and increase health care services for those in need, according to a statement from the Office of the Papal Almoner, also known as the Dicastery for the Service of Charity. The center was made possible through the collaboration of the Health and Hygiene Directorate of the Governorate of Vatican City State and features two new medical consultation rooms equipped with state-of-the-art instruments and a new radiology service.This equipment, including a cutting-edge X-ray machine, will allow for the rapid and accurate diagnosis of pneumonia, bone fractures, tumors, degenerative di...

Pope Leo XIV urges 'thinking the faith' amid risk of cultural emptiness

Pope Leo XIV waves to those gathered at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome on Nov. 14, 2025. / Credit: Vatican MediaACI Prensa Staff, Nov 14, 2025 / 10:04 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV on Friday urged academics to "think the faith" in order to confront what he called an increasingly pervasive "cultural emptiness."The pope spoke at a ceremony inaugurating the academic year at Rome's Pontifical Lateran University, the ecclesiastical university under the direct control of the Holy See, an event that brought together more than a thousand students and professors. In his address, Pope Leo XIV highlighted what he called the Lateran University's unique and "altogether special" bond with the successor of Peter, a characteristic that he said has shaped its identity and mission from the beginning. He recalled the contributions of various pontiffs since its founding in 1773 and described the Lateran as "a privileged center where the teaching of the universal Church is elaborated, received, ...

Bishops approve 2029 Eucharistic Congress in bid to revive 'long-lost tradition'

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle presides over the closing Mass of the National Eucharistic Congress in Lucas Oil Stadium on July 21, 2024, in Indianapolis. / Credit: Jeffrey BrunoCNA Staff, Nov 14, 2025 / 10:34 am (CNA).In a move to renew a "long-lost tradition," the U.S. bishops confirmed the next National Eucharistic Congress will take place in the summer of 2029. At the plenary of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in Baltimore on Nov. 12, the bishops voted to confirm the date for the country's second National Eucharistic Congress of the 21st century. Last year's National Eucharistic Congress, the first to take place on American soil since World War II, attracted tens of thousands of people for several massive sessions of Eucharistic adoration in Indianapolis' Lucas Oil Stadium.The event also featured numerous talks and workshops related to the Catholic faith and a 60,000-participant Eucharistic procession through downtown Indianapolis.Bishop Andrew Cozzen...