Pope Leo XIV calls for fasting and prayer for peace on Friday, Aug. 22

Pope Leo XIV prays during his Wednesday general audience on Aug. 13, 2025, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaACI Prensa Staff, Aug 21, 2025 / 12:42 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV has called for a day of fasting and prayer for peace on Friday, Aug. 22, coinciding with the liturgical feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary.The Holy Father made the announcement Aug. 20 during his greeting to Italian-speaking pilgrims at the conclusion of the catechesis for the general audience, recalling that Our Lady, in addition to being queen, is "also invoked as Queen of Peace.""While our earth continues to be wounded by wars in the Holy Land, in Ukraine, and in many other regions of the world, I invite all the faithful to devote the day of Aug. 22 to fasting and prayer, imploring the Lord to grant us peace and justice and to dry the tears of those who suffer as a result of the ongoing armed conflicts," the pontiff said."Mary, Queen of Peace, intercede so tha...

Knock Shrine in Ireland draws pilgrims with confessions, healings, and message of hope

Flowers stand before Knock Shrine in Knock, Ireland, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025 / Credit: Courtney Mares/CNAKnock, Ireland, Aug 21, 2025 / 13:20 pm (CNA).At Ireland's Knock Shrine, the confessionals are "the engine room," its rector says, powering this rural Marian apparition site as a place of hope and healing during the jubilee year."We have a very, very big outreach here in terms of confessions," Father Richard Gibbons, who has led the shrine for more than a decade, told CNA on the eve of the 146th anniversary of the only documented apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary together with St. Joseph and St. John.In a country where Mass attendance has sharply declined in recent decades, Irish Catholic leaders point to Knock as a place of welcome for those who have fallen away from practicing the faith.  Father Richard Gibbons stands before Knock Shrine in Knock, Ireland, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA"Sometimes people who are in difficulty with their faith ...

Bishop Barron warns about fake AI videos impersonating him

Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, speaks with "EWTN News Nightly" on March 4, 2025. / Credit: "EWTN News Nightly"/ScreenshotACI Prensa Staff, Aug 21, 2025 / 14:15 pm (CNA).Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester in Minnesota and founder of the Catholic ministry Word on Fire recently warned about the proliferation of fake videos created with artificial intelligence (AI) circulating on social media impersonating him."The presence online of these videos generated by artificial intelligence that purport to be from me and that are not from me" is a problem that is becoming "increasingly difficult," the prelate warned in a message posted Aug. 20 on his official social media.Barron recounted that a few months ago, a woman told him that she felt so bad about an altercation he supposedly got into in a restaurant in Chicago, which was actually a fake video. "I said I've not been in a restaurant in Chicago for about five years. Well, it was one of these AI-generat...

James Dobson, promoter of family values in the public square, dies at 89

James Dobson during an event marking the National Day of Prayer in the East Room of the White House on May 1, 2008, in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Win McNamee/Getty ImagesCNA Staff, Aug 21, 2025 / 15:19 pm (CNA).James Dobson, the evangelical Christian psychologist, author, and founder of Focus on the Family, an influential family counseling ministry, passed away on Aug. 21. He was 89 years old.Dobson advised five U.S. presidents on family policy, most recently as a member of President Donald Trump's Evangelical Executive Advisory board. He was considered a leading light in the American conservative movement's fight for traditional family values, including a focus on defending the institution of marriage as between one man and one woman for life, biblical sexual ethics and gender roles, and innocent life through opposition to abortion."James Dobson was the indispensable man," Peter Wolfgang, president of Family Institute of Connecticut Action, an affiliate of the Family Policy Co...

No justice 2 years after 'the worst episode of violence against Christians' in Pakistan

Some of the damage caused to Christian homes by Muslim extremists in 2023. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Aid to the Church in NeedACI Prensa Staff, Aug 21, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).Two years after "the worst episode of violence against Christians" in Pakistan's history, according to the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the bishop of Faisalabad said the community of the faithful is outraged by the apparent failure of justice.Beginning Aug. 16, 2023, and in the days following, Muslims in the village of Jaranwala in the Diocese of Faisalabad looted and burned more than 25 churches and at least 80 Christian homes.According to ACN, two months ago, local courts "acquitted 10 people accused of setting fire to one of the churches." Another 5,213 people were accused of participating in the violence, of whom more than 380 were arrested. However, many were released on bail. To date, no convictions have been handed down.Bishop Indrias Rehmat spoke to the pontifical foundat...

Nigeria, Iran, China top priority countries for new religious freedom commission chair

Burned vehicles after Good Friday raid on April 7, 2023, in Ngban, Benue state, Nigeria. / Courtesy of Justice, Development, and Peace CommissionWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 21, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).Nigeria is the deadliest country in the world for Christians, according to the new chair of the U.S. Commission on International Freedom (USCIRF).Vicky Hartzler, a Republican who represented Missouri in the U.S. House of Representatives for 12 years, became chair of the commission in June. In an interview with CNA, she said of her new mission: "We want to make a difference. We want to save lives."United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Chair Vicky Hartzler. Credit: U.S. Commission on International Religious FreedomHartzler's top priority is Nigeria. Citing statistics from Open Doors, an international organization dedicated to helping persecuted Christians, Hartzler said 69% of Christians killed worldwide in 2023 died in Nigeria, with more than 50,000 killed si...

Frank Caprio, famed judge known for showing mercy, dies at 88

Judge Frank Caprio served for decades as chief municipal judge in Providence, Rhode Island. / Credit: StephanieRPereira, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsCNA Staff, Aug 20, 2025 / 19:14 pm (CNA).Frank Caprio, who served as a Providence, Rhode Island, municipal court judge for nearly 40 years and came to be known as "America's nicest judge," passed away on Aug. 20 from pancreatic cancer."Beloved for his compassion, humility, and unwavering belief in the goodness of people, Judge Caprio touched the lives of millions through his work in the courtroom and beyond. His warmth, humor, and kindness left an indelible mark on all who knew him," read a statement posted on his official Facebook page.Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee ordered flags in the state to be flown at half staff at all state agencies and buildings until the day of Caprio's internment, and he also asked Rhode Island residents to lower their flags out of respect.Caprio gained worldwide fame for a lenient judicial style tha...

Federal court awards pro-lifers $1 over unconstitutional abortion clinic rule

null / Credit: Brian A Jackson/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Aug 20, 2025 / 13:26 pm (CNA).Pro-life activists in New York state were awarded $1 this month after a court found that a county abortion clinic rule violated their constitutional free speech rights. The Thomas More Society brought suit in federal district court in 2022 against New York's Westchester County over its rule forbidding "interference" with abortion access there. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York found in favor of pro-life sidewalk counselors Oksana Hulinsky and Regina Molinelli, with District Judge Philip Halpern ruling on Aug. 12 that the county ordinance violated the activists' free speech and due process rights. The plaintiffs were only seeking "nominal damages" in the suit, the court noted, leading Halpern to order the $1 award. The county had already repealed the ordinance in question prior to the ruling.Thomas More Society attorney Christopher Ferrara said in a pres...

'Being a young Catholic is difficult': The challenges facing young Cubans today

Young people walk the streets of Camagüey, Cuba. / Credit: Camagüey Youth MinistryACI Prensa Staff, Aug 20, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).During the Jubilee of Youth in Rome, young people from around the world gathered to celebrate a mosaic of universal faith. In the midst of this gathering, an inevitable question arose for young Cubans: How can they live their faith in a country fraught with challenges?ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, spoke with Fernando Mario Díaz Hernández and Cynthia Izaguirre Roldán, both 19 and university students whose lives bear witness to a Catholic faith that steadfastly perseveres in everyday life despite the precarious conditions.They live in Camagüey, a province located in the heart of Cuba, between the Atlantic and the Caribbean. According to the website Catholic Hierarchy, the Archdiocese of Camagüey has 15 parishes and 26 priests for approximately 800,000 inhabitants. Nationally, Aid to the Church in Need estimates that there are only 37...

Pope Leo XIV visits favorite Marian shrine of John Paul II outside Rome

Pope Leo XIV prays at the Marian shrine at Mentorella on Aug. 19, 2025. / Credit: Vatican MediaNational Catholic Register, Aug 19, 2025 / 18:43 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV made a private visit Tuesday to the Shrine of Our Lady of Mentorella, Mother of Graces, near Rome, underscoring his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.A favorite pilgrimage site of St. John Paul II and close to the picturesque mountain town of Capranica Prenestina, it is the fourth Marian shrine the Holy Father has visited since his election on May 8.The Vatican said in a short statement that after visiting and praying at the shrine, Leo XIV spent some time with members of the Polish Resurrectionist congregation who run the shrine before returning to Castel Gandolfo.Perched on the top of a small mountain overlooking a vast valley below with breathtaking views, the Shrine of Our Lady of Grace at Mentorella is said to have been founded in the fourth century by Constantine, who wanted to commemorate the site of St. E...