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...

Iowa man receives life in prison for 2023 stabbing of Nebraska priest

Father Stephen Gutgsell. / Credit: Archdiocese of OmahaCNA Staff, Nov 14, 2025 / 11:04 am (CNA).An Iowa man will spend the rest of his life behind bars after he pleaded guilty in October to stabbing a Nebraska priest to death in 2023. Kierre Williams last month pleaded guilty to the assault that claimed the life of Father Stephen Gutgsell. Williams broke into the rectory of St. John the Baptist Parish in Fort Calhoun on Dec. 10, 2023, and stabbed Gutgsell, who later died of his injuries at a hospital. Williams himself was arrested shortly thereafter. He originally argued that he was not guilty of the murder by reason of insanity before changing his plea to guilty last month. Washington County Chief Deputy Attorney Erik Petersen said in court this week that the murder "shattered the innocence" of the small town of Fort Calhoun."I'm hoping this court's sentence will bring some peace to the citizens" of the town, he said, according to local media reports.Gutgsell's ...

Paris archbishop recalls jihadist massacre 10 years ago, offers hope

French press reports on the jihadist terror attacks the night of Nov. 13, 2015. / Credit: BalkansCat/ShutterstockACI Prensa Staff, Nov 14, 2025 / 11:34 am (CNA).Ten years ago on Nov. 13, armed jihadists stormed the Bataclan concert hall in Paris and elsewhere in the city, murdering over a hundred innocent people.Suicide bombers also attacked people near France's national stadium while other jihadists opened fire on restaurants and cafe terraces packed with people, leaving 130 dead and nearly 400 wounded.On the 10th anniversary of the attack, the archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, recalled the shock people experienced on Nov. 13, 2015, "in the face of the most gratuitous, the most blind violence," and especially "in the face of the intensity of the evil."The French prelate delivered a message filled with hope to the Parisians who witnessed that "long night of anguish.""Our faith also leads us not to forget how, in the midst of this darkness, brightly shone that night, glimmers...

Vatican guidance discouraging Marian title 'Co-Redemptrix' sparks Catholic debate

null / Credit: Srppateros via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 14, 2025 / 12:04 pm (CNA).While the Vatican issued new guidance that encourages limits on the use of certain Marian titles out of a concern that they may overstate the Blessed Mother's role in redemption and mediation, the intra-Catholic debate on the subject has continued.Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect for the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), issued a doctrinal note with the formal approval of Pope Leo XIV that reaffirms Mary's "unique cooperation" in God's plan for salvation but expresses worry about two titles sometimes employed to communicate her role: Mary as Co-Redemptrix/Co-Redeemer and Mary as Mediatrix/Mediator.According to the doctrinal note, using the title "Co-Redemptrix" to explain Mary's role "would not be appropriate." The document's language for the title "Mediatrix" was less harsh but says "if misunderstood, it could easily obscure or even contradict" M...

Tanzania bishop urges respect for life amid reports of thousands killed post-election

Bishop Stephano Lameck Musomba of the Diocese of Bagamoyo in Tanzania has denounced the killings connected to the country's disputed Oct. 29, 2025, general elections. / Credit: Radio Maria TanzaniaACI Africa, Nov 14, 2025 / 12:24 pm (CNA).The bishop of the Diocese of Bagamoyo in Tanzania has denounced the extrajudicial killings connected to the country's disputed Oct. 29 general elections, stressing that those suspected of breaking the law should be allowed to go through legal processes instead of being killed unlawfully.In his homily during a Eucharistic celebration on Tuesday that was held in honor of the victims of the election-related violence, Bishop Stephano Lameck Musomba underscored the need to uphold justice and due process when handling individuals suspected of any criminal wrongdoing."Some of those who were shot were participating in demonstrations, others were at home, on their way to work, or in their shops. They were struck by bullets and lost their lives," said t...

Priest found dead in Mexico; 2 suspects arrested

Father Ernesto Baltazar Hernández Vilchis. / Credit: Courtesy of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish/ScreenshotPuebla, Mexico, Nov 14, 2025 / 13:04 pm (CNA).The Catholic Church has confirmed the discovery of the body of Father Ernesto Baltazar Hernández Vilchis, a priest of the Diocese of Cuautitlán in Mexico who had been missing for more than two weeks.In a message, Bishop Efraín Mendoza Cruz of the Diocese of Cuautitlán expressed his gratitude "for the life and ministry of Father Ernesto, for his generous dedication to the Gospel, and for his pastoral service, which is a fruitful seed that will continue to bear fruit in the Church."He also urged the authorities to conduct investigations "that lead to the clarification of the facts of the case and to the justice that every human life deserves."The diocese also joined "the outcry of so many families suffering from violence and disappearances in our country, and we ask that this painful reality, which afflicts the lives of our communit...

New York bishops oppose 'wanton and unnecessary separation of families'

Cardinal Timothy Dolan is among the New York prelates who condemn the deportations of migrants who are seeking refugee status in the United States and criticize the government's actions to strip some asylum seekers of temporary protected status in a Nov. 14, 2025, statement. / Credit: U.S. Department of Justice/ScreenshotWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 14, 2025 / 13:58 pm (CNA).The Catholic bishops of New York issued a joint statement that condemns the deportations of migrants who are seeking refugee status in the United States and criticizes the government's actions to strip some asylum seekers of temporary protected status."We do not support the sweeping revocation of the temporary protected status that was granted to many migrants who arrived in this country to escape the horrors occurring in their own, and who have justifiably relied upon the legal protections our government offered to them," the statement said."Such persons should not be subject to the arbitrary cancellatio...

Border czar Homan says 'Catholic Church is wrong' on immigration

U.S. Border czar Tom Homan defended the morality of the Trump administration's enforcement policies. / Credit: "The World Over with Raymond Arroyo"/ScreenshotWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 14, 2025 / 15:13 pm (CNA).Border czar Tom Homan strongly opposed the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) "special message" on immigration, saying the statement would encourage people to make a dangerous trek to the United States.Homan told EWTN News on Nov. 14 that the "Catholic Church is wrong. I'm sorry. I'm a lifelong Catholic. I'm saying it as not only a border czar. I'll say it as a Catholic. I think they need to spend time fixing Catholic Church in my opinion."The bishops approved the message on immigration at the 2025 Fall Plenary Assembly in Baltimore on Nov. 12. "We oppose the indiscriminate mass deportation of people," the message said.More than 95% of the American bishops voted to support the message. The bishops said in the message they "are bound to our people b...

Pope Leo calls for 'prudent' evaluation of supernatural phenomena to avoid superstition

Pope Leo XIV gives his apostolic blessing at the end of the general audience in St. Peter's Square on Nov. 12, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNAVatican City, Nov 13, 2025 / 15:54 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV during an address at the Vatican on Thursday called for the "prudent" evaluation of supernatural phenomena to avoid falling into superstition."To avoid falling into superstitious illusion, it is necessary to evaluate such events prudently, through humble discernment and in accordance with the teachings of the Church," the Holy Father said to participants in a Nov. 13 meeting organized by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints that reflected on the relationship between mystical phenomena and holiness of life.The conference focused on the theme "Mysticism, Mystical Phenomena, and Holiness." Upon receiving the participants at the Vatican, the pope noted that, through constant commitment, the magisterium, theology, and spiritual writers have provided "criteria for distinguishing authe...