Vatican rejects 'false solutions such as abortion' while defending women's equality at UN

Archbishop Gallagher speaks at the United Nations in New York on Sept. 23, 2025. / Credit: Permanent Mission of the Holy See to the United NationsACI Prensa Staff, Sep 23, 2025 / 15:12 pm (CNA).The Vatican's secretary for relations with states, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, on Tuesday reaffirmed before the United Nations the Holy See's commitment to promoting the dignity and equality of women but warned that these goals cannot be achieved without respecting dignity "from the unborn to the elderly.""Women's equality cannot be achieved unless the dignity of all people is respected, especially the most fragile and vulnerable, from the unborn to the elderly," the archbishop, a native of Liverpool, England, said Sept. 23.Gallagher gave his address on the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, and the text was released by the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations in New York.The archbishop emphasized that the protection of the rig...

Cardinal Cupich defends decision to honor pro-abortion senator at immigration fundraiser

Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNAWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 23, 2025 / 16:52 pm (CNA).Chicago archbishop Cardinal Blase Cupich is defending his decision to honor pro-abortion Illinois Democrat Sen. Richard Durbin with an award at the archdiocese's upcoming Keep Hope Alive immigration ministry fundraiser."Recently some have criticized the decision of the Archdiocese of Chicago to recognize Sen. Dick Durbin at our annual fundraiser for our immigration ministry," Cupich wrote in a Sept. 22 statement, which came after several bishops spoke out against the move."Sen. Durbin informed me some years ago that he has taken up residence in Chicago, registered in a parish of the archdiocese, and considers me to be his bishop," Cupich stated. "Accordingly, I have remained faithful to the May 2021 instructions of the then-Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, advising bishops to 'reach out to and engage in dialogue with Catholic politicians within their juri...

Bishop cancels Latin Mass in California parish to bring about 'unity'

The Confiteor at a Traditional Latin Mass. / Credit: James Bradley, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia CommonsCNA Staff, Sep 23, 2025 / 17:22 pm (CNA).In one of his final acts as the bishop of Monterey, California, Bishop Daniel Garcia issued a letter terminating the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) in the diocese "in order to strengthen our unity with the universal Church" and "to support [Pope Francis'] goal of moving toward greater unity in the postconciliar Roman rite." Garcia issued the letter to the Latin Mass community, located at Sacred Heart Church in Hollister, California, on Sept. 14, four days before he was installed as the new bishop of Austin, Texas.In the letter, Garcia expressed his concern that the pastor at Sacred Heart, Father Stephen Akers, be "able to give his full attention to the entire parish rather than taking his limited time spent with a small group of individuals who are not worshipping according to ordinary (and one) rite of the Latin Church," as the number ...

Bishop Seitz kicks off National Migration Week's 'Cabrini Pledge'

A Mass in recognition of all immigrants is celebrated at Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Archdiocese of Los AngelesWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 23, 2025 / 17:59 pm (CNA).The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has launched the "Cabrini Pledge" intended to help Catholics in "witnessing to the God-given dignity of every person, including the migrants and refugees in our midst," as the Catholic Church in the U.S. observes National Migration Week. Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, introduced the pledge in a video message, imploring U.S. Catholics to join the effort. "With one voice, we proclaim every person, regardless of where they are born, is created in the image of God and has an inherent dignity that deserves respect," Seitz said, noting this sentiment guided the ministry of Mother Francis Xavier Cabrini, the patron saint of immigrants. "By signing this pledge, you make an intentional commitmen...

Angola's Catholic men urged to 'strengthen families, be examples of integrity'

Archbishop Zeferino Zeca Martins of Angola's Archdiocese of Huambo has urged members of the Catholic Men Organization to be involved in the fight against societal voices, strengthen faith practice in their respective families, and exemplify integrity. / Credit: Huambo ArchdioceseACI Africa, Sep 23, 2025 / 11:35 am (CNA).Archbishop Zeferino Zeca Martins of Angola's Archdiocese of Huambo has urged members of the Catholic Men Organization (CMO) in the southern African nation to be involved in the fight against societal voices, strengthen faith practice in their families, and exemplify integrity.In his homily during a Mass of thanksgiving marking the 11th anniversary of the Movimento dos Esposos da Promaica (MEP) (Movement of Promaica Husbands), Zeca said: "The battle against corruption must be seen as a moral and spiritual imperative, which begins within each family and extends to society at large.""The Church and apostolic movements have a decisive role in transforming Angolan so...

Padre Pio: 13 facts about St. Pio of Pietrelcina to know and share

St. Pio of Pietrelcina, better known as Padre Pio, at the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Rome, Italy on Feb. 3, 2016. / Credit: Alexey Gotovskiy/CNANational Catholic Register, Sep 23, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).One of the most popular Catholic saints of the 20th century, St. Pio of Pietrelcina, commonly known as Padre Pio, was a Capuchin Franciscan friar, priest, and mystic. His tomb can be found in the Sanctuary of St. Mary Our Lady of Grace in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy. Padre Pio is known for his deep wisdom about prayer and peace, his stigmata, miraculous reports of his bilocation, being physically attacked by the devil, and mastering the spiritual life.As the Church celebrates his feast day on Sept. 23, here's a look at 13 facts about St. Pio's life and faith.1. Padre Pio was only 5 years old when he expressed a strong desire to serve God.Born Francesco Forgione on May 25, 1887, in Pietrelcina, Italy, he served as an altar boy at his local parish. At the early age of 5, he co...

Priest builds church with his own hands in Chiclayo, Peru, Pope Leo XIV's former diocese 

Father Javier Cajusol Villegas is building a church with his own hands in Chiclayo, the northern Peruvian diocese where Pope Leo XIV was bishop. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Father Javier CajusolLima Newsroom, Sep 23, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).When a priest says he's building a church, a school, or some other project, he usually means he's ultimately responsible for the construction, not that he's the one who is actually building it. But that isn't the case for Father Javier Cajusol Villegas, who is building a church with his own hands in a poor area of ??the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, where Pope Leo XIV was bishop."In the seminary, there's a program in which we study Church history. I was taught by an American priest who explained things very well, Father Ricardo Mullen. He said that when the Spanish came to the Americas, they brought with them priests who were also architects and engineers and that they themselves were the ones who built the churches," Cajusol related in an interv...

Nicaraguan bishop denounces 'real problem' of region's dictatorships and cartels

Bishop Silvio Báez, auxiliary bishop of Managua, Nicaragua. / Credit: Courtesy of Archdiocese of ManaguaACI Prensa Staff, Sep 22, 2025 / 16:02 pm (CNA).From his exile in the United States, Nicaraguan Bishop Silvio Báez denounced what he considered the "real problem" of Latin American dictatorships and cartels: the idolatry of money. Although he did not mention specific countries in his homily at the Mass he celebrated Sunday, Sept. 21, at St. Agatha Church in Miami, the prelate was apparently referring to the dictatorships of presidents Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, Miguel Díaz-Canel in Cuba, and Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, the latter accused by the U.S. government of leading the drug-trafficking Cartel de los Soles.Báez noted that one day, "all of us, without exception, will leave this world, and God will ask us to account for how we have used the wealth" and gifts he has given us. As an example of how these gifts are misused, the prelate pointed to "the dictatorships in s...

Mothers urge lawmakers to ban assault weapons after Minneapolis Catholic school shooting

Police gather at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis on Aug. 27, 2025, following a mass shooting that killed two children and injured 17 others, 14 of them children. / Credit: Chad Davis, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsCNA Staff, Sep 22, 2025 / 17:17 pm (CNA).At a town hall meeting in Plymouth, Minnesota, over the weekend, three mothers whose children survived the school shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in August advocated for stricter gun laws. Two children were killed and 21 people were injured after Robin Westman, 23, a man who identified as a woman, shot through the stained-glass windows of the church during a school Mass on Aug. 27. Fletcher Merkel, 8, and Harper Moyski, 10, were killed in the attack. Carla Maldonado, who has two children at Annunciation Catholic School, said "taking action" by tightening gun laws would honor the deaths of the two children and "all lives taken by gun violence.""We cannot accept a world where civilians have a...

Cardinal Becciu's Vatican appeal hearing begins

Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu in 2019. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/EWTNNational Catholic Register, Sep 22, 2025 / 17:51 pm (CNA).The appeal hearing for Cardinal Angelo Becciu, the former deputy Vatican secretary of state who was convicted in December 2023 of embezzlement, aggravated fraud, and abuse of office, began on Monday.Heard by a six-judge Vatican Court of Appeal, the appeal is expected to revisit both factual and procedural objections from the first trial, including evidence, court transcripts, and all submissions from both Becciu's defense and the Vatican prosecution.After the so-called "Trial of the Century" lasting two and a half years, Becciu, 77, was convicted of financial malfeasance and sentenced to five years and six months in prison. He was also handed a fine of 8,000 euros (about $9,400) and permanently disqualified from holding public office.The cardinal's appeal will be heard alongside those of eight other defendants who were also tried, found guilty, and give...