40 new priests ordained in Vietnam      

Sacred Heart Cathedral in Da Nang, Vietnam. / Credit: Andreas Bossard via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 3, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).The Catholic Church in Vietnam welcomed with great joy and hope the ordination of 40 new priests during June, the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.According to the Vatican news agency Fides, the Diocese of Da Nang welcomed six new priests, "consecrated to be each an 'alter Christus' ['another Christ'], to become pastors of the people of God, not to live for themselves but to be all things to all people," said Archbishop Joseph Dang Duc Ngan, archbishop of Hu? and apostolic administrator of Da Nang, in his homily at the ordination Mass on June 24 in the local cathedral before numerous faithful."A priest does not become perfect from the day of his ordination. The priesthood is a journey of daily growth in Christ and constant strengthening in the Holy Spirit to fulfill the mission of God and the Church with joy and true love," the prela...

Notre Dame Law School recognizes scholars for religious liberty work

Professor Michael McConnell speaks after winning the Notre Dame Prize for Religious Liberty on June 25, 2025. / Credit: Casey Patrick/Notre Dame Law SchoolWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 3, 2025 / 09:45 am (CNA).During its recently concluded fifth annual Religious Liberty Summit, Notre Dame Law School recognized two scholars for their contributions to the promotion and protection of religious liberty around the world.The Notre Dame Prize for Religious Liberty, which is awarded to one person each year for his or her achievements in preserving religious liberty, was presented at last week's summit to former federal judge and constitutional scholar Professor Michael McConnell of Stanford Law School. Meanwhile, professor and author Dr. Russell Hittinger of The Catholic University of America (CUA) received the Religious Liberty Scholarship Award, which is given annually to an individual for accomplishments in advancing the understanding of how law protects freedom of religion.&n...

Vatican downplays leaked documents on Latin Mass

The Confiteor at a Traditional Latin Mass. / Credit: James Bradley, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia CommonsVatican City, Jul 3, 2025 / 09:15 am (CNA).A Vatican spokesman has played down the significance of recently leaked Vatican documents that appear to cast doubt on Pope Francis' rationale for restricting the Latin Mass, calling the documents "partial and incomplete."The documents appear to show that bishops had a more favorable outlook on the Traditional Latin Mass than Pope Francis suggested when he issued controversial restrictions on its celebration in 2021.Vatican journalist Diane Montagna published two excerpts from an internal Vatican report on the global consultation of bishops in a Substack newsletter July 1. The publication of the texts has sparked renewed controversy over Francis' decision to restrict the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass at a time when some liturgical traditionalists are voicing hopes that Pope Leo will reverse or moderate his predecessor's ...

Pope Leo XIV speaks about war with visiting children from Ukraine

Pope Leo XIV receives a drawing from a girl participating in the "Estate Ragazzi in Vatican" summer camp on July 3, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaACI Prensa Staff, Jul 3, 2025 / 14:00 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV visited the Paul VI Hall on Thursday to meet with about 310 children and adolescents participating in the "Estate Ragazzi in Vaticano" (summer camp for kids at the Vatican).In addition, another 300 children and adolescents from Ukraine, hosted by Caritas Italy during the summer, participated in the encounter with Pope Leo XIV.Pope Leo XIV meets with children and adolescents participating in the "Estate Ragazzi in Vatican" summer camp on July 3, 2025, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican MediaThis is the sixth edition of this summer camp for the children of employees of the Holy See. The theme this year is "When the Other Person Is Everything."On July 3, shortly before noon, at the end of the audiences, the Holy Father continued with the tradition of visiting these l...

Michigan's Siena Heights University announces closure after 105 years

Sacred Heart Hall at Siena Heights University in Adrian Michigan. / Credit: Dwight Burdette, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia CommonsWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 3, 2025 / 13:32 pm (CNA).Siena Heights University will close at the conclusion of the 2025-2026 academic year following an assessment of the school's "financial situation, operational challenges, and long-term sustainability," the school said this week.The small Catholic institution of about 2,300 students located in Adrian, Michigan, reported that "despite the dedication of our board, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and supporters, continuing operations beyond the coming academic year is no longer feasible."In a June 30 announcement, the university's president, Douglas Palmer, said the school "has been a beacon of light in a world sometimes cast in darkness.""The spirit of Siena Heights will continue long after the institution itself closes its doors because it lives in every graduate, faculty member, and staff person who...

Cardinal Fernández says judges selected to hear Rupnik sexual abuse trial

Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, speaks during a press conference about a new Vatican document on human dignity on April 8, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNAVatican City, Jul 3, 2025 / 13:02 pm (CNA).Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, said Thursday that judges have been selected to hear the trial of Father Marko Rupnik, a former Jesuit accused of sexual abuse against women.The cardinal told journalists that the judges chosen are "independent and external" to the dicastery but did not indicate when the Slovenian priest's trial is set to take place in the Vatican."The idea was, if possible, to eliminate the idea that the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith or the Holy See had any interest or were subjected to pressure," he said.Rupnik, whose religious artworks can be found in shrines and churches around the world, has been accused by at least a dozen women, mostly f...

Vatican hopes new Mass prayers will renew care for God's creation

Cardinal Michael Czerny, SJ (right), leads a press conference announcing the Mass for the Care of Creation at the Vatican on Thursday, July 3, 2025. / Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/CNAVatican City, Jul 3, 2025 / 12:18 pm (CNA).The Vatican on Thursday presented new Mass prayers and biblical readings to be used to support the Church's appreciation for God's creation.The "Mass for the Care of Creation," inspired by Pope Francis' environmental encyclical Laudato Si', has prayers and Mass readings designed "to ask God for the ability to care for creation," Cardinal Michael Czerny, SJ, said at a July 3 presentation."With this Mass, the Church is offering liturgical, spiritual, and communal support for the care we all need to exercise of nature, our common home. Such service is indeed a great act of faith, hope, and charity," the cardinal added.The "Mass for the Care of Creation" is part of the Catholic Church's Masses and Prayers for Various Needs and Occasions. It can be celebrated on a ...

Appeals court revives Catholic's lawsuit against Federal Reserve over vaccine policy

Federal Reserve Bank of New York. / Credit: Velkiira, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia CommonsCNA Staff, Jul 3, 2025 / 11:48 am (CNA).A federal appeals court has revived a Catholic worker's lawsuit against the Federal Reserve Bank of New York over the bank's having fired her for refusing to take a COVID-19 vaccine on religious grounds. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in its Wednesday ruling partially reversed the findings of a district court, which had dismissed former Federal Reserve executive assistant Jeanette Diaz's lawsuit against the bank over her 2022 dismissal. Diaz had argued that the bank's policy requiring vaccination against COVID-19 would violate her Catholic faith, citing her opposition to vaccines "created using human cell lines derived from abortion." The worker had asked her pastor in the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey, to sign a letter on her behalf affirming her refusal on religious grounds, though her pastor "refused" to do so, ...

Canadian politician introduces bill to stop MAID expansion for mental illness

Canadian member of Parliament from Cloverdale-Langley City in British Columbia, Tamara Jansen, has introduced a private member's bill to stop the expansion of medical assistance in dying (MAID) for mental illness alone. / Credit: ParlVu screen imageVancouver, Canada, Jul 2, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).Canadian member of Parliament (MP) from Cloverdale-Langley City in British Columbia, Tamara Jansen, has introduced a private member's bill to stop the expansion of medical assistance in dying (MAID) for mental illness alone.Jansen's Bill C-218 would amend the criminal code to prevent mental disorders from being considered a "grievous and irremediable medical condition" for the purposes of MAID.The bill was read a first time in the House of Commons on June 20 and is scheduled for second reading at the next sitting of the House.Speaking in the House, Jansen said: "Imagine your son or daughter battling depression for some time, after losing a job or maybe a broken relationship. Imagine the...

Diocese of Fresno officially files for bankruptcy amid more than 150 abuse claims

null / Credit: Minerva Studio/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Jul 2, 2025 / 11:17 am (CNA).The Diocese of Fresno in California filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 1, seeking to address more than 150 abuse claims filed there in what Bishop Joseph Brennan said was part of a "journey of conversion through contrition."Brennan announced the filing via a video message on Tuesday. The bishop's message comes more than a year after he announced, in May 2024, that the diocese would seek the bankruptcy filing.The prelate said the filing was "the only path that will allow us to handle claims of sexual abuse with compassion that is fair and equitable while simultaneously ensuring the continuation of ministry within our diocese."As with other dioceses in California and the U.S., the Fresno Diocese is facing a large number of allegations of clergy abuse. Brennan said last year that plaintiffs had lodged 154 sex abuse complaints against the Church there.Those filings were made under a California la...