Jimmy Lai's godfather weighs in on 'phony' guilty verdict

Bill McGurn, Wall Street Journal columnist and godfather of Jimmy Lai, speaks with "EWTN News Nightly" anchor Veronica Dudo on Dec. 15, 2025. / Credit: "EWTN News Nightly"/ScreenshotWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 16, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).Catholic human rights and pro-democracy advocate Jimmy Lai was found guilty following his lengthy national security trial. Lai, 78, will be sentenced at a later date but faces up to life in prison.The Dec. 15 verdict "is important, and it's not important," Bill McGurn, Wall Street Journal columnist and godfather of Lai, told "EWTN News Nightly.""It's important because it's part of the Hong Kong process, and everyone knew he would always be convicted. So it's important because we have to get it out of the way," McGurn said. "Jimmy cannot be released until he was convicted, and that's why we had to wait all these years for the trial and then his conviction.""On the other hand, it was always this charade … the world sees it for what it is. And so...

Tourism operators celebrate religious dimension of work at jubilee pilgrimage in Rome

Italian Bishop Antonio Staglianò celebrates a Mass for the Jubilee of Tourism at Rome's Church of San Salvatore in Lauro on Dec. 15, 2025. / Credit: Kristina Millare/EWTNRome, Italy, Dec 16, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).About 400 people participated in a Jubilee of Tourism pilgrimage in Rome on Monday evening, celebrating the unique role the industry plays in supporting the faith and religious experience of millions of pilgrims and tourists.Isabella Ruggiero, president of the Associazioni Guide Turistiche Abilitate (Associations of Qualified Tourist Guides), who helped organize the jubilee dedicated to tourism workers, said the Dec. 15 pilgrimage was a way to bring together the professional community that daily supports visitors to Italy and the Vatican."This special jubilee is dedicated not only to tourist guides but to all those who work in the world of tourism: guides, tour leaders, travel agencies, tour operators, hotels, accommodation providers," Ruggiero told CNA."Every pilgrima...

50 young French martyrs murdered by Nazis beatified in Notre Dame Cathedral

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, archbishop of Luxembourg, presided over the beatification Mass of the 50 martyrs of the Catholic apostolate, held Dec. 13, 2025, at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN NewsACI Prensa Staff, Dec 16, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, archbishop of Luxembourg, celebrated in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on Dec. 13 the Mass of beatification for 50 young martyrs who were murdered by the Nazis out of hatred for the Catholic faith during World War II.In an apostolic letter he sent to the French capital, Pope Leo XIV established that the feast day of the 50 new blessed martyrs, belonging to about 30 French dioceses, will be May 5, 2026."Raymond Cayré, priest; Gérard-Martin Cendrier, of the Order of Friars Minor; Roger Vallé, seminarian; Jean Mestre, layman; and 46 companions were beatified in Paris. They were killed in hatred of the faith in 1944-45 during the Nazi occupation," Pope Leo XIV said after the Angel...

'Seeking Beauty' travel show with David Henrie premieres at Vatican

Catholic actor and director David Henrie speaks with EWTN News after the first episode of his new travel show, "Seeking Beauty," premiered at the Vatican's movie theater on Dec. 15, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNAVatican City, Dec 16, 2025 / 10:45 am (CNA).The first episode of a new travel show, hosted by Catholic actor and director David Henrie, premiered at the Vatican's movie theater on Monday evening."Seeking Beauty," which will debut on EWTN's free streaming platform EWTN+ on Jan. 19, 2026, is a series documenting Henrie's exploration of the beauty of art and culture in six Italian cities.Henrie and executive producer Edmundo Reyes, with other crew members, were present for the airing of Episode 1 inside Vatican City on Dec. 15. The premiere was followed by a Q-and-A with Henrie, Reyes, and Peter Gagnon, president of EWTN Studios, moderated by Andreas Thonhauser, chief global officer of EWTN."It's a blessing to be able to play the show at the Vatican, which is where we [...

EU funding freeze causes financial problems for Catholic family association

The Berlaymont building in Brussels, seat of the European Commission. / Credit: EmDee/Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)EWTN News, Dec 16, 2025 / 11:30 am (CNA).A drastic cut in EU funding has plunged the Federation of Catholic Family Associations in Europe (FAFCE) into financial crisis, according to the association, sparking accusations of "ideological discrimination" against the Brussels-based group.FAFCE announced that the European Commission excluded all six of its recent project applications from funding, reportedly penalizing the Catholic group's proposals for lacking sufficient "gender diversity" and "safeguards against discrimination," according to documents reviewed by CNA.Responding on social media, Hungarian Member of the European Parliament Kinga Gál, vice president of the Patriots for Europe group, condemned the European Commission's decision as "the highest form of discrimination."She argued that the move targets the Catholic association "simply for defending family as the ...

Michigan's fifth diocesan abuse report details dozens of allegations against priests

The Michigan government released another report on diocesan abuse in December 2025, detailing dozens of allegations against more than 50 priests in the Diocese of Grand Rapids. / Credit: Snehit Photo/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Dec 16, 2025 / 12:15 pm (CNA).The Michigan government this week released its fifth report on diocesan abuse in the state, detailing dozens of allegations against more than 50 priests in the Diocese of Grand Rapids. The report from the attorney general's office, released on Dec. 15, comes after four other reports detailing abuse allegations in the dioceses of Lansing, Kalamazoo, Gaylord, and Marquette.  As with the other reports, the allegations detailed in the Grand Rapids investigation go back decades. The Dec. 15 report encompasses abuse allegations against "priests or deacons who are current or former clergy for the Diocese of Grand Rapids, that occurred in the diocese from Jan. 1, 1950, to the present," the review says. The alleged abu...

'Our Lady of Guadalupe is the mother of all': DC pilgrimage highlights value of migrants

Bishop Evelio Menjivar speaks with "EWTN News in Depth" on Friday, March 14, 2025. / Credit: "EWTN News in Depth"Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 15, 2025 / 16:36 pm (CNA).The Virgin Mary's role as comforter to all was specially highlighted during a pilgrimage through the streets of Washington, D.C., Saturday morning. "Our Lady of Guadalupe is the mother of all. She envelops each one of us with the same tenderness and the same love, no matter our country of origin or language," Auxiliary Bishop Evelio Menjívar said during his homily at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The words from the bishop, who was born in El Salvador, came after the Archdiocese of Washington's annual "Walk with Mary" procession that began at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart, a Hispanic Catholic parish. Participants also prayed a rosary upon arriving at the basilica, which holds 2,500 people and was filled to capacity, according to the archdiocese. The archdiocese...

Pope thankful for pro-life Nativity scene that 'represents a life preserved from abortion'

Pope Leo admires the Nativity scene that was made in Costa Rica. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Dec 15, 2025 / 17:06 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV on Monday thanked Costa Rican artist Paula Sáenz Soto for donating a pro-life Nativity scene to the Vatican, named "Gaudium" ("Joy"), which features a pregnant Virgin Mary."I thank the Costa Rican artist who, along with the message of peace of Christmas, also wanted to make an appeal for protecting life from conception," the pope said during the audience he granted Dec. 15 to the delegations that prepared this year's Christmas tree and Nativity scenes that will adorn the Vatican during the Christmas season.The artwork from the Central American country has been on display since Dec. 15 in the Pope Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican, the large hall where the pope is now holding his Wednesday general audiences so pilgrims don't have to endure the cold temperatures of the Roman winter in St. Peter's Square.In his address, the Holy Father...

United Airlines settles suit over flight attendant's expression of Catholic beliefs

null / Credit: Shai Barzilay via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 15, 2025 / 17:36 pm (CNA).United Airlines reached a settlement with a flight attendant who alleged that the airline fired him for endorsing Catholic teachings on marriage and gender identity.The former employee, Ruben Sanchez, of Anchorage, Alaska, alleged that United Airlines investigated his social media history after someone reported a private in-flight conversation he had with another Catholic flight attendant."Sanchez and his colleague discussed their working conditions and everyday life. As they were both Catholic, their discussion turned to Catholic theology and then, with United's 'Pride Month' activities set to start on June 1, Catholic teachings on marriage and sexuality," Sanchez's complaint states.The Catholic Church makes a distinction between homosexual orientation and homosexual activity. Same-sex attraction itself is not considered morally wrong, and homosexuals "must be accepte...

Little Sisters of the Poor file another appeal over contraception mandate

Religious sisters show their support for the Little Sisters of the Poor outside the Supreme Court, where oral arguments were heard on March 23, 2016, in the Zubik v. Burwell case against the HHS mandate. / Credit: CNAWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 15, 2025 / 18:06 pm (CNA).The 14-year legal battle against federal contraceptive mandates will continue, with Little Sisters of the Poor and the federal government seeking to reinstate moral and religious exemptions that were established in 2017.Little Sisters of the Poor have already won religious freedom cases on this subject twice at the Supreme Court level. The high court ruled in 2016 that the federal government must protect religious freedoms for those who oppose the contraceptives and in 2020 ruled that the federal government had the legal authority to adopt the broad exemptions established in 2017.Those exemptions fully covered employers that had religious or moral objections to providing the contraceptives, some of which can ...