Seton Shrine to celebrate 50 years of America's first native-born saint

The National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg, Maryland, began a year of celebration on the saint's canonization in 2025.  / Credit: Seton ShrineWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 9, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).This week the National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton will welcome hundreds of people to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the canonization of the first American-born saint and to recognize the 87 American Catholics on the path to sainthood now. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, a mother, convert to the Catholic faith, and founder of the Sisters of Charity, was canonized by Pope Paul VI on Sept. 14, 1975. The Seton Shrine will commemorate the milestone of her canonization with a weekend-long event on its grounds in Emmitsburg, Maryland, honoring her legacy and her work of planting the seeds for Catholic education in the United States.The weekend will also highlight other American saints and those who are blessed, venerable, or servants of God "who reveal th...

AI companions pose risks of isolation, psychosis, priest warns

null / Credit: Stock-Asso/ShutterstockLondon, England, Sep 9, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).A priest and professor of bioethics has issued a grave warning about the implications of artificial intelligence (AI) companionship, highlighting the threats the new technology poses to mental health and calling on the Church to redouble its efforts to cultivate meaningful human connection.Father Michael Baggot outlined his concerns at a conference on the ethics of AI organized by St. Mary's University, Twickenham, which took place on Sept. 2-3 at the Gillis Centre in Edinburgh, Scotland. Baggot delivered the keynote address, focusing on "an ethical evaluation of the design and use of artificial intimacy technologies," and while he acknowledged the many benefits of AI, he also warned that with "these opportunities come a new set of challenges. Chief among them is the rise of artificial companionship."He continued: "AI systems designed not just to assist or inform, but to simulate intimate h...

Federal court approves settlement between sex abuse survivors and Diocese of Rochester

Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Rochester, New York. / Credit: DanielPenfield via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)CNA Staff, Sep 8, 2025 / 12:37 pm (CNA).One of the nation's largest sexual abuse settlements unfolded in a federal bankruptcy court in Rochester, New York, on Friday, bringing about resolution for the nearly 500 survivors of child sex abuse by clergy within the Diocese of Rochester.After a six-year legal battle, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of New York approved a $246 million settlement, which will average approximately $500,000 per survivor.The settlement concludes a process that began when the diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2019 following the passage of the New York Child Victims Act, which allows abuse victims to file civil lawsuits until they are 55 years old. The law temporarily lifted the statute of limitations, enabling survivors to pursue claims against their abusers.Bankruptcy attorney Ilan Scharf described the day as a "milestone f...

King Charles III becomes first monarch to visit Newman's Birmingham Oratory

Britain's King Charles III (right); Oratorian Father Ignatius Harrison (left); Daniel Joyce (back left), Newman archivist and librarian, Birmingham Oratory; and Father Anton Guziel (back right) walk during a tour of The Oratory of St. Philip Neri on Sept. 3, 2025. / Credit: CHRIS JACKSON/POOL/AFP via Getty ImagesNational Catholic Register, Sep 8, 2025 / 13:06 pm (CNA).King Charles III was "very engaged, very interested" and "exceedingly kind" when on Sept. 3 he toured the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in Birmingham, England, becoming the first English monarch to visit the priestly community St. John Henry Newman established there in 1848.The provost of the Birmingham Oratory, Oratorian Father Ignatius Harrison, said it was a very brief but joyful visit that was on "His Majesty's own initiative." His first engagement after the summer holidays, King Charles was also on a visit to England's second-largest city to open a new hospital.After welcoming the king and introducing him to the...

Pope Leo XIV highlights importance of witness of families in today's world

Pope Leo XIV greets the families of the Vatican / Credit: Vatican MediaACI Prensa Staff, Sep 8, 2025 / 14:13 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV on Sept. 6 participated in the Vatican's Festival of Families, where he highlighted the importance of the witness of families in today's world.The event took place in the plaza of the Governorate of Vatican City, a beautiful esplanade located behind St. Peter's Basilica.Although originally scheduled for May, the festival had to be postponed due to the death of Pope Francis.In a brief impromptu address, reported by Vatican News, the Holy Father asked for applause for all the families and their children, expressing his joy at being able to gather with them in a festive atmosphere.The Sept. 6, 2025, Festival of Families was also attended by Sister Rafaella Petrini, president of the Governorate of Vatican City State. Credit: Vatican MediaHe also invited those present to live "this beautiful moment" with an open heart, to celebrate "the joy of being...

Mary's birthday: The Church celebrates the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

A painting of St. Joachim, the little Virgin Mary, and St. Anne in the Church of San Francesco in Reggio Emilia, Italy. / Credit: Renata Sedmakova/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Sep 8, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).The Catholic Church celebrates the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary on its traditional fixed date of Sept. 8, nine months after the Dec. 8 celebration of her immaculate conception as the child of Sts. Joachim and Anne.The circumstances of the Virgin Mary's infancy and early life are not directly recorded in the Bible, but other documents and traditions describing the circumstances of her birth are cited by some of the earliest Christian writers from the first centuries of the Church.These accounts, although not considered authoritative in the same manner as the Bible, outline some of the Church's traditional beliefs about the birth of Mary.The "Protoevangelium of James," which was probably put into its final written form in the early second century, describes Mary's father, Joachim,...

Chicago chefs to open eco-friendly restaurant at Vatican's papal retreat

Visiting pilgrims to the Vatican Gardens at Castel Gandolfo during the 2025 Jubilee Year will have the opportunity to taste the produce of Borgo Laudato Si's organic farm, where olive oil will be pressed from the estate's 1,000 olive trees and a vineyard will produce wine using advanced, pesticide-free techniques. / Credit: Courtney Mares/CNACNA Staff, Sep 7, 2025 / 14:56 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV announced a historic partnership between the Vatican and two famous Chicago restaurateurs, Art Smith and Phil Stefani, to open a restaurant at , a 135-acre "zero environmental impact" complex in Castel Gandolfo, Italy. Pope Leo XIV inaugurated the project during a live-streamed ceremony on Sept. 5, viewed at a Chicago watch party attended by Stefani, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, and other prominent figures.The new restaurant will be located within the historic Papal Villas, a 17th-century summer residence for popes. The site promotes Pope Francis' teachings on environmental steward...

Maronite bishops call for full restoration of Lebanese sovereignty

The Maronite bishops gather for their monthly meeting at the Patriarchal Summer Residence in Dimane, Lebanon, where they issued a statement that Lebanon must seize available regional and international opportunities to restore full sovereignty over its territory and unite around constitutional institutions. / Credit: Maronite PatriarchateACI MENA, Sep 7, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).Lebanon must seize available regional and international opportunities to restore full sovereignty over its territory and unite around constitutional institutions, the Maronite bishops stressed in a recent statement. They emphasized that full sovereignty is essential for achieving the state's reform agenda and for leading Lebanon out of its ongoing crisis.The bishops' statement came during their monthly gathering on Sept. 3, held at the patriarchal summer residence in Dimane, a mountainous village in the North Governorate of Lebanon, under the leadership of Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi and with...

LIVE UPDATES: Canonization of Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati, the first saints of Pope Leo XIV

Blessed Carlo Acutis (left) and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. / Credit: Diocese of Assisi/Public domain via Wikimedia CommonsVatican City, Sep 7, 2025 / 06:49 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV proclaimed the Italians Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis as saints of the Church on Sunday.Follow here for live updates and continuing coverage:

Pope Proclaims Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati Saints

Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati / EWTN NewsVatican City, Sep 7, 2025 / 04:25 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV proclaimed the Italians Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis as saints of the Church on Sunday, decreeing their veneration among the Catholic faithful. The canonizations of the new saints, promulgated before a crowd of thousands in St. Peter's Square, were the first of Leo's pontificate.This story is developing.