Opponents urge Supreme Court to hear case as transgender plaintiff backs out

null / Credit: NMKStudio/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Sep 4, 2025 / 11:32 am (CNA).A transgender-identifying plaintiff in a major lawsuit being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court has requested that the court drop the case and reverse lower court rulings favorable to him, with opponents meanwhile urging the Supreme Court to hear the case as scheduled. Lindsay Hecox originally sued Idaho over its Fairness in Women's Sports Act, which was passed to block males from gaining access to women's sporting leagues. A district court and an appeals court both blocked the law. The high court in July had agreed to consider Hecox's challenge to Idaho's ban on men in women's sports. Two lower courts had ruled in the male athlete's favor, with Idaho ultimately appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court to settle the dispute. The Supreme Court at the time said it would also consider a similar case out of West Virginia. Both lawsuits have the potential to significantly affect U.S. case law re...

Pope Leo XIV discusses Gaza, 2-state solution with Israeli president

Pope Leo XIV meets with Israel President Isaac Herzog in a private audience at the Vatican on Sept. 4, 2025. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Sep 4, 2025 / 12:14 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV discussed the conflict in Gaza, including a two-state solution, with Israel President Isaac Herzog in a private audience at the Vatican on Thursday morning. According to a Vatican statement after the meeting, the talks focused on the political and social situation in the Middle East and the need to guarantee "a future for the Palestinian people and peace and stability in the region, with the Holy See reiterating the two-state solution as the only way out of the ongoing war."The Israeli president also met with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Vatican Secretary for Relations with States Archbishop Paul Gallagher.The Sept. 4 Vatican audience was the first closed-door meeting between Leo and Herzog, 64, who has been Israel's president since 2021.Pope Leo XIV meets with I...

Pro-life group says late-term abortion clinic halted procedures after campaign against it

A late-term abortion clinic in Washington, D.C., has stopped taking appointments after a pro-life group campaigned against it. / Credit: SibRapid/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Sep 4, 2025 / 12:44 pm (CNA).Here's a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news:Pro-life group says late-term abortion clinic halted procedures after campaign against itA pro-life group said a major Washington, D.C., late-term abortion clinic has ceased operations for the time being after a public campaign against it. The Washington Surgi-Clinic, which has been at the center of controversy for years due to allegations of illegal abortion services, has "halted appointments" after a "campaign to shut the facility down" was mounted by the group Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust. The pro-life group said in a press release on Sept. 2 that it filed a complaint with the city board of medicine presenting "numerous complaints and lawsuits" against clinic abortionist Cesare Santangelo.The clinic sub...

Carlo Acutis' teachers share their memories of him at school

Sister Miranda Moltedo was the principal of Carlo's elementary school when he was a student. / Credit: EWTN NewsRome Newsroom, Sep 4, 2025 / 13:57 pm (CNA).Before he was known as a soon-to-be-saint, Carlo Acutis was simply a boy in a school uniform, lugging his backpack through the hallways of the Tommaseo Institute in Milan. His teachers remember him as joyful, a bit of a prankster, and passionate about his Catholic faith."He was certainly not a perfect student," Sister Monica Ceroni, Acutis' middle school religion teacher, recalled. He sometimes forgot his homework or showed up late. But he had a "healthy curiosity" and "and wanted to get to the bottom of things.""When he became passionate about something, he didn't give up," she told EWTN News.Exterior shot of Carlo Acutis' elementary and middle school the Tommaseo Institute. Credit: Courtney Mares/EWTNAcutis spent nearly eight years at the Tommaseo Institute, a Catholic elementary and middle school run by the Marcelline Sis...

Patriarch of Lisbon, Portugal, prays for those killed and injured in cable car accident

The Ascensor da Glória funicular in Lisbon, Portugal, crashed on Sept. 3, 2025, killing 17 people and injuring at least 23. / Credit: Maragato1976 (CC BY-SA 3.0)ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 4, 2025 / 15:03 pm (CNA).The patriarch of Lisbon, Rui Valério, offered his prayers for the dead and injured in an accident involving the Elevador da Glória, an iconic funicular train that crashed at high speed into a building on Sept. 3.A statement posted on the patriarchate's website said the patriarch received "with profound sorrow and sadness" the news of the accident, which left 17 dead and at least 23 injured in the Portuguese city. The crash of the funicular, a type of railway operated by cables and designed for steep slopes, occurred around 6:05 p.m. local time."At this difficult time Bishop Rui Valério lifts up his prayers to God for the victims and expresses his closeness to their families during this time of separation and profound grief," read the statement in which the patriarch also wi...

Man who brought weapons to California abbey described self as 'angel of death,' police say

Mass at St. Michael's Abbey in California. / Credit: "EWTN News In Depth"/ScreenshotCNA Staff, Sep 4, 2025 / 10:19 am (CNA).A man arrested with a car full of weapons after threatening a California Catholic church told the parish he was an angel of death meant to "do the Lord's reaping," according to authorities. Police arrested Joshua Michael Richardson on Aug. 28 after he allegedly made criminal threats against St. Michael's Abbey, located in Silverado, about 40 miles southeast of Los Angeles in the Santa Ana Mountains. Richardson, an Alabama resident, had a cache of weapons in his car, including knives, brass knuckles, and a sword, police said. He was also reportedly in possession of several gun magazines. On Sept. 3 the Orange County District Attorney's office said in a press release that prior to driving from Alabama to the California abbey, Richardson sent an email "threatening to 'do the Lord's reaping'" at the church. The suspect also reportedly claim...

Vice President JD Vance meets with victims of Minneapolis church shooting

"I have never had a day that will stay with me like this day did," said U.S. Vice President JD Vance following his visit with parents and victims of the shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vances are shown here outside the church during their Sept. 3, 2025 visit. / Credit: Alex Wroblewski-Pool/Getty ImagesWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 3, 2025 / 18:39 pm (CNA).U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance visited Minneapolis, Minnesota on Wednesday to meet with victims and families of the Annunciation Catholic Church shooting that occurred last week. The Vances visited the church sanctuary, which is the site of the shooting that claimed the lives of two children and left more than 20 wounded. The pair stopped outside the church to observe the memorial and leave bouquets of flowers.A spokesperson for the vice president said Vance held a private meeting with the parents of the two children who were killed, Harper Moyski...

The pope who was first called 'servant of the servants of God'

A statue of Pope Gregory I, also known as Saint Gregory the Great, with his famous Catholic iconography of a dove sitting on his shoulder, sits outside of St. Stephen's Basilica in Budapest, Monday, Dec. 30, 2024 / Credit: Alexander Ruszczynski/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Sep 3, 2025 / 07:15 am (CNA).St. Gregory the Great, a central figure of the medieval western Church and one of the most admired popes in history, is commemorated in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Catholic liturgy. He was the first of the bishops of Rome to popularize the now-traditional papal title "servant of the servants of God," which referred to Christ's command that those in the highest position of leadership should be "the last of all and the servant of all." Born near the middle of the sixth century into a noble Roman family, the future St. Gregory the Great received a classical education in liberal arts and the law. He also had strong religious formation from his devout family, particularly from his mo...

Pope Leo XIV pleads for help for 'humanitarian catastrophe' in Sudan

Pope Leo XIV appealed for help for Sudan during his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter's Square on Sept. 3, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media.Vatican City, Sep 3, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday pleaded for international assistance for the North African country of Sudan, which is experiencing violence, famine, natural disasters, and disease."I am closer than ever to the Sudanese population, in particular families, children and the displaced," Leo said at the end of his general audience at the Vatican Sept. 3."I pray for all the victims," the pontiff added. "I make a heartfelt appeal to leaders and to the international community to guarantee humanitarian corridors and implement a coordinated response to stop this humanitarian catastrophe."The dramatic situation in Sudan, marked by months of armed clashes, mass displacement, and the threat of cholera, has prompted multiple warnings from humanitarian organizations.In his appeal, Leo drew attention to the civi...

Minneapolis archbishop: Community 'turning to the Lord' 1 week after church shooting

Archbishop Hebda told EWTN News that Annunciation Church will have to be reconsecrated after the shooting, an act he described as "reclaim[ing] that territory for the Lord." / Credit: "EWTN News Nightly"/ScreenshotCNA Staff, Sep 3, 2025 / 08:55 am (CNA).Saint Paul and Minneapolis Archbishop Bernard Hebda said this week that Catholics and others in the Twin Cities are revealing "signs of God's great love" in the week following the deadly shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church. "I get the idea that people are very much turning to the Lord at this time and there's just been a real outpouring of love," the archbishop said on "EWTN News Nightly" on Sept. 2. Hebda told EWTN News President Montse Alvarado that there has been "no shortage of volunteers" in the days since the shooting, which claimed the lives of eight-year-old Fletcher Merkel and 10-year-old Harper Moyski while injuring approximately 20 others.  "Counselors are coming forward," the archbi...