Panelists reflect on American pope, conclave coverage at EWTN Family Celebration

Pontifical Missions Society USA National Director Monsignor Roger Landry speaks during a panel at the 2025 EWTN Family Celebration. / Credit: EWTN/ScreenshotWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 2, 2025 / 19:30 pm (CNA).The team that led the Eternal Word Television Network's (EWTN) coverage of this year's conclave reflected on the significance of having a pope from the United States, along with the intense preparation and excitement that surrounded the network's historic coverage during a roundtable discussion at the 2025 EWTN Family Celebration.The 1,600-seat capacity Capital One Hall in Tysons, Virginia was the venue for this year's celebration. The Aug. 30 event featured talks from various EWTN personalities and a closing Mass celebrated by Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington,Virginia and the Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word.During an afternoon panel discussion, the Pontifical Missions Society USA's National Director, Monsignor Roger Landry, recalled announcing Leo...

Iraqi prime minister reopens two historic Catholic churches in Mosul

Iraqi Prime Minister reopens the Church of the Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of the Hour in Mosul. / Credit: Ismail Adnan/ACI MENAACI MENA, Sep 2, 2025 / 14:15 pm (CNA).In the city of Mosul, Iraq, an official celebration was held on Monday, Sept. 1 to mark the reopening of the churches of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception known as Al-Tahera Church (for Syriac Catholics) and Our Lady of the Hour ((within the Dominican Monastery), after their full restoration. The event was attended by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani, several government officials, and representatives of the organizations that supported the reconstruction.The city of Mosul, Iraq, witnessed an official celebration on Monday, Sept. 1, 2025, marking the reopening of the churches of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception known as Al-Tahera Church (for the Syriac Catholics) and Our Lady of the Hour for (Dominicans), after their full restoration. Credit: Ismail Adnan/ACI MENASpeaking inside the Chur...

New Jersey bishop mourns for priest who committed suicide

Father Rafael Ciro, pictured above, served in the Diocese of Paterson New Jersey. / Credit: Courtesy of Diocese of PatersonACI Prensa Staff, Sep 2, 2025 / 14:53 pm (CNA).The bishop of Paterson, New Jersey, Kevin Sweeney, mourned the suicide of Father Rafael Ciro, a Colombian-born priest who served as pastor of St. Stephen's Church. The prelate said he is praying for him and asked for prayers, entrusting him to God's mercy.In a statement Sweeney noted that the priest, born in 1979 in Colombia, had been "faithful, joyful, and dedicated" since his ordination on May 25, 2013.The deceased priest served at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Paterson, St. Mary's in Passaic, St. Nicholas in Passaic, and Sacred Heart and Holy Rosary in Dover before being appointed pastor of St. Stephen's in Paterson.Speaking to Univision, María Rodríguez said that Ciro "was a very good priest. He was very well-loved; he had many people who loved him, even though he is no longer with us. ...

Update: Legionaries of Christ comment on HBO series exposing sordid life of founder

Father Marcial Maciel. / Credit: DominikHoffmann, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia CommonsACI Prensa Staff, Sep 2, 2025 / 17:42 pm (CNA).A new HBO series on Marcial Maciel has once again placed the spotlight on the founder of the Legionaries of Christ and the complaints of sexual abuse against him.The congregation in Rome confirmed to ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, that it had known about the production for years and agreed to be interviewed to address their past and show the changes the order has undertaken since the scandal."Yes, we are aware of the production," the congregation told ACI Prensa. "At the end of 2022, we received an interview request from the documentary's producers. The project, according to what they said, would address events that were mostly already publicly known thanks to complaints from victims, former members, and specialists, as well as investigations conducted by the congregation and the Holy See," the congregation noted.They specified that ...

This is Pope Leo XIV's prayer intention for the month of September

Pope Leo XIV greets the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square from the popemobile during his Wednesday general audience on Aug. 6, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNACNA Staff, Sep 2, 2025 / 12:32 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV's prayer intention for the month of September is for our relationship with all of creation. In a video released Sept. 2, the Holy Father asked the faithful to pray "that inspired by Saint Francis, we might experience our interdependence with all creatures who are loved by God and worthy of love and respect."According to a press release, this month's video was made in collaboration with the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.In the video, Pope Leo recites an original prayer written specifically for this month's prayer intention.Here is Pope Leo's full prayer:Lord, You love everything You have created,and nothing exists outside the mystery of Your tenderness.Every creature, no matter how small,is the fruit of Your love and has a place in this w...

Priest in Sierra Leone murdered while preparing for new mission

Father Augustine Amadu of Sierra Leone's Catholic Diocese of Kenema was murdered on Aug. 30 while he was preparing to take on a new mission in the diocese. / Courtesy of the Catholic Diocese of KenemaACI Africa, Sep 2, 2025 / 13:05 pm (CNA).A Catholic priest in Sierra Leone's Diocese of Kenema was murdered Aug. 30 as he was preparing to take on a new assignment in the diocese.According to the communication department of the Archdiocese of Freetown in Sierra Leone, Father Augustine Amadu, who served at Kenema's Immaculate Conception Parish, was preparing for his Sunday, Aug. 31 farewell Mass when suspected robbers ended his life.His next pastoral assignment would have been at St. John Kailahun Parish in the Kenema Diocese."We are saddened by the shocking news reaching us this morning (Sunday, Aug. 31) about the demise of Reverend Father Augustine Amadu who was stabbed to death by armed robbers at his parish house in Kenema Diocese," the message said."Father Amadu was wrapping up...

Pope Leo XIV meets Fr. James Martin at the Vatican

Father James Martin, SJ. / Credit: Flickr by Shawn (CC BY-NC 2.0)Vatican City, Sep 1, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV met in a private audience with Father James Martin, S.J., at the Vatican on Monday.Martin, who is in Rome to lead a Jubilee pilgrimage for his LGBTQ ministry, Outreach, also had one-on-one audiences with Pope Francis on at least two occasions.The Vatican does not customarily comment on papal audiences with individuals and the Holy See Press Office did not immediately respond to a request for information about the meeting.Responding to a request for comment from CNA, Martin wrote: "I was honored and grateful to meet with the Holy Father this morning in an audience in the Apostolic Palace, and heard the same message I heard from Pope Francis on LGBTQ people, which is one of openness and welcome: 'Todos, todos, todos.' I found the Pope serene, joyful and encouraging."The Jesuit priest, an author and editor at large at America Media, is the founder of Outreach, w...

Study: Mental health-related hospitalizations rates doubled for women who had abortions

null / Credit: GBALLGIGGSPHOTO/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Sep 1, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).A recent study found that the rate of mental-health-related hospitalizations doubled for women who had abortions compared with women who gave birth. The study, published this summer in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, compared abortions with other pregnancies in hospitals in Quebec, Canada, between 2006 and 2022, tracking data on women for up to 17 years.The study, which compared more than 1.2 million women who gave birth in Quebec hospitals with more than 28,000 women who had abortions, found that "rates of mental-health-related hospitalization were higher following induced abortions than other pregnancies." Abortion was associated with a number of mental-health-related difficulties including hospitalization for psychiatric disorders, substance use disorders, and suicide attempts, the study found.This association was especially high for women who were younger than 25 years at the t...

Pope Leo XIV praises Italian society for works done in spirit of St. Francis of Assisi

Members of St. Francis' Work for the Poor, wearing t-shirts with the phrase "a helping hand to man every day," with the Holy Father in the Vatican's Clementine Hall. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Sep 1, 2025 / 09:47 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV on Monday welcomed members of the Opera San Francesco per i Poveri ("St. Francis' Work for the Poor") to the Vatican, thanking the society for their witness of charity according to the Franciscan tradition.  "When you see a poor person," the Holy Father said, recalling the words of St. Francis of Assisi, "you are placed before the mirror of the Lord and his poor Mother.""Likewise, in the sick, know how to see the infirmities with which Jesus took on himself," he added. Each year, the Opera San Francesco per i Poveri provides a wide variety of services to more than 30,000 people. Their charitable works include managing cafeterias and health clinics, as well as providing job counseling and psychological support for thos...

Pope Leo XIV expresses condolences for 800 dead left by earthquake in Afghanistan

Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass for more than 1 million young pilgrims at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, in Rome's outskirts, on Aug. 3, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNAVatican City, Sep 1, 2025 / 11:05 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV expressed his condolences for the more than 800 dead left by the earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan on Sunday night, with a magnitude of 6 on the Richter scale, also causing widespread destruction.According to local authorities, more than 800 people died and 1,500 were injured, especially in the districts of Nurgal, Sawkay, Watapur, Dara Pech, and Chapi Dara."Deeply saddened by the significant loss of life caused by the earthquake in eastern Afghanistan, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV offers fervent prayers for the souls of the deceased, the wounded, and those still missing," reads the telegram sent on behalf of the Pontiff.The telegram, signed by the Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, states that the Pontiff entrusts "all affected by t...