Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince denounces the 'collapse of humanity' in Haitian society

The Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince condemned the kidnapping of nine people from an orphanage on the outskirts of the capital on Sunday, Aug. 3. / Credit: Creative Photo Corner/ShutterstockACI Prensa Staff, Aug 12, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).The Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince denounced the "collapse of humanity" in Haitian society, "where the unthinkable has become commonplace," in response to the kidnapping of nine people from an orphanage on the outskirts of the capital on Aug. 3. In a statement, the archdiocese said it received the news of the kidnappings, which included an Irish lay missionary and a disabled 3-year-old boy, with "deep sadness and profound indignation" and expressed "its fraternal solidarity and spiritual closeness" with the orphanage, a "tireless sower of hope for the most vulnerable."The archdiocese also expressed its solidarity with the residents of Kenscoff, who have been affected "by the brutal violence that has taken hold in this town over the past few mo...

Colombian senator dies 2 months after being shot by assassin

Miguel Uribe Turbay. / Credit: LuigiVenegas, Original uploader (2019), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsACI Prensa Staff, Aug 11, 2025 / 14:40 pm (CNA).Colombian Sen. Miguel Uribe Turbay died Monday morning, Aug. 11, just over two months after being shot by a hitman, his wife, María Claudia Tarazona, confirmed. The politician was hospitalized at the Santa Fe Foundation Hospital in Bogotá."You will always be the love of my life. Thank you for a life full of love, thank you for being a father to the girls, the best father to Alejandro. I ask God to show me the way to learn to live without you," Tarazona wrote on Instagram early this morning.Born on Jan. 28, 1986, in Bogotá, Colombia, Uribe Turbay was the son of businessman Miguel Uribe and journalist Diana Turbay, who was murdered in 1991 after being kidnapped by the order of Pablo Escobar, the head of the Medellín Cartel. Uribe Turbay, whose family background is Maronite Catholic, held various public offices until he was ele...

Syracuse's bishop takes on extra job of parish priest for 3 churches

Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Syracuse, New York. / Credit: Mahmoud Masad/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 11, 2025 / 16:02 pm (CNA).The Diocese of Syracuse, New York, announced on Aug. 9 that Bishop Douglas J. Lucia has taken on the additional job of parish priest at three churches in Baldwinsville, New York. The diocese announced a number of changes to pastoral assignments that went into effect on Aug. 1, including Lucia serving as pastor at St. Augustine Church, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, and St. Mary of the Assumption Church. The three churches are part of the same parish and share various initiatives and resources."Certainly, a crucial component in our parishes is the priest. Without the priest, there is no Mass; and without the Mass there is no Eucharist, no food for the journey," Lucia wrote in a recent letter to the churches' parishioners.After announcing that the previous pastor, Father Joe O'Connor, received seminary work as a new assignm...

Westminster archbishop issues statement condemning Israel's plan to take over Gaza City

Cardinal Vincent Nichols (pictured celebrating a Mass in 2021) condemned in an Aug. 8, 2025, statement Israel's plans to take over Gaza City. / Credit: Mazur/cbcew.org.ukWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 11, 2025 / 16:32 pm (CNA).Archbishop of Westminster in England and Wales Cardinal Vincent Nichols has issued a statement condemning Israel's plans to take over Gaza City.The statement came after Israel's security cabinet approved a plan on Aug. 8 to take control of Gaza City and expand military operations.Israel's five-step plan includes disarming Hamas, releasing all remaining living and deceased hostages, demilitarizing the Gaza Strip, establishing temporary Israeli control over the enclave, and eventually replacing Hamas with a friendly Arab civil administration."Today, and in these days, I weep for the people of Gaza as they face not just a continuation of their immense suffering but an escalation in their hardship and desperation," Nichols said in the Aug. 8 statement."To inc...

Pope Leo XIV approves measures benefiting families of Vatican employees

The Vatican City's Governor's Palace (Palazzo del Governatorato in Vaticano), the building that is the seat of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State in the Vatican Gardens. / Credit: Some pictures here/ShutterstockACI Prensa Staff, Aug 11, 2025 / 17:20 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV has approved a series of measures that benefit Vatican employees, expanding paternity leave, the rights of parents with disabled children, and granting family subsidies.A document published Aug. 11 and signed by Maximino Caballero, prefect of the secretariat for financial affairs of the Holy See, lists the "Provisions for the Family" approved by the Holy Father following an audience on July 28.These resolutions were previously unanimously accepted by the council of the Labor Office of the Holy See (ULSA, by its Italian acronym), a body composed of representatives from various entities of the Holy See and the Vatican Governorate as well as their respective employees.Regarding paternity leave, ...

Priest injured in church attack as police investigate Northern Ireland murder

The parish priest of St. Patrick in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland, Canon John Murray, is in a "serious but stable" condition in hospital following the Aug. 10, 2025, assault in which his fingers were broken while defending himself. / Credit: PacemakerDublin, Ireland, Aug 11, 2025 / 11:27 am (CNA).A 77-year-old parish priest in Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland, sustained head and hand injuries following a violent attack as he was getting ready to say Sunday morning Mass.The parish priest of St. Patrick in Downpatrick, Canon John Murray, is in a "serious but stable" condition in the hospital following the Aug. 10 assault in which his fingers were broken while defending himself.In a separate incident that police believe to be connected to the assault on Murray, a murder inquiry is underway after a man was found dead in a house in the County Down town, RTÉ News reported.In a statement, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said inquiries are ongoing: "At this time...

'Hebrew Catholic' association launches in Israel

Bishop Yaacoub Camil Afram Antoine presides over a Mass celebrating the launch of the Association of Hebrew Catholics on Aug. 8, 2025, at St. Thomas Syriac Catholic Church in Jerusalem. / Credit: Yarden ZelivanskyWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 11, 2025 / 12:19 pm (CNA).A group dedicated to providing a welcoming space for Jewish converts to Catholicism has launched in Israel. The Association of Hebrew Catholics celebrated its official launch with a Mass on Aug. 8, the eve of the feast of its patron, St. Edith Stein, who was a Jewish convert to Catholicism.The Syriac Catholic Exarch of Jerusalem, Bishop Yaacoub Camil Afram Antoine, acted as host for the event and celebrated the Mass, which took place at St. Thomas Syriac Catholic Church in Jerusalem. Yarden Zelivansky, a Jewish convert to Catholicism and member of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) who worked to bring the Association of Hebrew Catholics to Israel, told CNA that about 30 people attended the event.Zelivansky said...

Cardinal Chomali: 21st-century Christian 'will either be a martyr or will not be a Christian'

Cardinal Fernando Chomali, archbishop of Santiago, Chile. / Credit: Courtesy of Archdioceses of Santiago, ChileACI Prensa Staff, Aug 11, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA)."The Christian of the 21st century will either be a martyr or will not be a Christian," the archbishop of Santiago and primate of Chile, Cardinal Fernando Chomali, said during a seminar about the role of faith in public life. The cardinal made the remark during his presentation at the seminar "And in Everything Charity," which took place on the occasion of the centenary of Pope Pius XI's encyclical Quas Primas.The seminar's title was inspired by a quote from St. Augustine. Organizations including the Catholic University of Chile's law department, Community and Justice, and the ConBoca Foundation collaborated to host an event highlighting charity as the central pillar uniting social, cultural, and political efforts.Chomali opened his presentation with a statement about the current reality: "We are glutted with everyth...

Mother Marie André: From CIA hopeful to cloistered Poor Clare abbess

The Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration from the Our Lady of Solitude Monastery in Tonopah, Arizona, accompanied by their local priest. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Mother Marie Andre CampbellCNA Staff, Aug 11, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).On Aug. 11 the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of St. Clare of Assisi, a woman born into a noble family who was moved by St. Francis' preaching and decided to embrace a life of poverty, founding a cloistered contemplative order of religious sisters called the Poor Clares.The order spread rapidly throughout Italy with young noblewomen selling all their possessions to take on the habit of a Poor Clare. In 1218, the order began to spread outside the Italian border. Agnes of Assisi, Clare's sister who also became a Poor Clare soon after she did, introduced their way of life to Spain. Soon monasteries in Belgium, France, and other European countries began to open.Branches within the order include the Colettine Poor Clares, Capuchin Poor Clares, and th...

First-ever RISE Awards recognizes innovative evangelization projects on college campuses

Members of The Catholic University of America Office of Campus Ministry receive their RISE Award from the Associates of St. John Bosco. / Credit: Photo courtesy of The CartiedasCNA Staff, Aug 10, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).As more efforts are placed on reaching young adults on college campuses, one organization is encouraging Catholic campus ministries to think outside the box when it comes to helping students grow in faith and reach those who are unfamiliar with the Gospel message.As part of its campaign to inspire new and creative outreach efforts on college campuses, the Associates of St. John Bosco (ASJB) recently announced its first-ever winners of the RISE Awards (Renewal of Innovative Student Evangelization) on Aug. 6. The ASJB is a nonprofit whose purpose is to help college students keep and grow in their Catholic faith.This year's winners include George Mason University, The Catholic University of America (CUA), and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virgi...