Amid federal cuts, 'Super Neighbor' program helps those in need

St. Joseph Cathedral in Columbus, Ohio. / Credit: LO Kin-hei/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 24, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).As federal budget cuts halt programs for people in need, Catholic Social Services (CSS) in Columbus, Ohio, is encouraging volunteers to step up and become community heroes. Modeling the good Samaritan, people are being invited to join the new "Super Neighbor" initiative to lend a hand to others in need, beginning with seniors who need help."You don't have to wear a cape to show up and be a super neighbor," president and CEO of CSS, Kelley Henderson, told CNA. As the program kicks off, the organization is calling on people who want to "make an impact by being present, showing up, and serving with the love of Christ."CSS is a Catholic Charities member agency for the Diocese of Columbus. It works with 168 other agencies across the country to support the needs of the local ordinary but also works on national policy issues, national funding, and advocacy ...

Bishop Conley says Nebraska immigrant detention camp must allow sacraments, pastoral care

Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska in St. Peter's Square, a day before the canonization Mass of St. John Henry Newman, Oct. 12, 2019. / Daniel Ibanez/CNACNA Staff, Aug 23, 2025 / 11:15 am (CNA).Lincoln, Nebraska Bishop James Conley this week said a proposed federal immigrant detention facility in the state must allow Catholic ministers to provide sacramental and pastoral care.The bishop made the announcement after Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen announced the repurposing of the state Work Ethic Camp in McCook to house immigrants in the country illegally. The state website says the camp presently offers "an integrated program that combines evidence-based practices with treatment and educational opportunities" for prisoners. Pillen told local media this week that the facility "would be converted and provide capacity for 300 migrants," according to the Nebraska Examiner. In his own statement this week, Conley said the Diocese of Lincoln has been allowed to administer the sacra...

New pro-life penal code comes into effect in the Dominican Republic in 2026

The Monument to Santiago de los Caballeros in the Dominican Republic. In early August 2025, President Luis Abinader promulgated the Dominican Republic's new penal code, one of the most significant aspects of which is that it maintains an absolute ban on abortion. / Credit: Soto.Creativo/ShutterstockACI Prensa Staff, Aug 22, 2025 / 15:42 pm (CNA).In early August, President Luis Abinader promulgated the Dominican Republic's new penal code, a law that replaces legislation more than a century old and will come into effect in August 2026.The approved text incorporates crimes such as "femicide," contract killings, cyberbullying, economic violence, pyramid schemes, kidnapping, crimes against humanity, and genocide. It also increases maximum prison sentences up to 60 years for serious crimes.However, one of the most significant aspects is that it maintains the absolute ban on abortion, a milestone for the Dominican pro-life movement.'A code that enshrines the inviolability of life'Fath...

Actor who portrays David in Prime Video's 'House of David' becomes Catholic

Michael Iskander as David in Prime Video's "House of David." / Credit: Jonathan Prime/PrimeCNA Staff, Aug 22, 2025 / 16:40 pm (CNA).Michael Iskander, the actor known for playing the lead role of King David in the new hit Prime Video series "House of David," announced Aug. 21 that he has become Catholic."Today is a very special day, that looking back has been a long time in the making. Today I joined the Catholic faith," he wrote in an Instagram post. "I've felt a calling to this Church for a long time, and as time went on, this calling became louder and louder."He added: "Eventually I ran into some really amazing people that helped me along the way. And rather than being the end of the road, this is the beginning of the journey. Please pray for me as I continue my walk with God, and thanks for celebrating this day with me."Iskander, 23, has shared in several interviews that he always dreamed of portraying King David but never thought it would happen. He was takin...

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...