First African bishop ordained to lead U.S. diocese in Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana

Bishop Simon Peter Engurait was installed on Sept. 5, 2025, as the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux in Louisiana during a ceremony at Nicholls State University.  / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Diocese of Houma-ThibodauxWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 9, 2025 / 14:14 pm (CNA).Bishop Simon Peter Engurait was ordained last week, making him the first African bishop in the mainland United States. On Sept. 5, Engurait was installed as the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux in Louisiana during a ceremony at Nicholls State University. Engurait was appointed in June by Pope Leo XIV after working as administrator of the diocese since January 2024. He had also previously served as the vicar general and as the pastor of St. Bridget Parish since 2017. "I am humbled beyond words that the Holy Father has chosen me, not from outside, but from among the ranks of the priests of this beloved diocese," Enguarit said after being appointed.The diocese reported tha...

Archdiocese of New Orleans offers $230 million to settle abuse claims

St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans. / Credit: travelview/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Sep 9, 2025 / 14:53 pm (CNA).After the Archdiocese of New Orleans increased its settlement offer to clergy sexual abuse claimants from $180 million to $230 million on Sept. 8, attorneys of the victims urged their clients to accept the deal.The archdiocese was able to increase its initial offer, announced in May, after securing a buyer for the $50 million sale of Christopher Homes, a property that has provided affordable housing and assisted living to low-income and senior citizens in the Gulf Coast area for the last 50 years."We knew we could do better, and we have," said attorneys Richard Trahant, Soren Gisleson, John Denenea, and several other attorneys who represent about 200 of the 660 claimants.The attorneys, who said the initial settlement was "dead on arrival," urged their clients to hold out for a better offer, saying that they deserved closer to $300 million, a figure similar to the $323 mi...

Cardinal Pizzaballa says violence in Gaza is the result of hateful language

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa. / Credit: Latin Patriarchate of JerusalemACI Prensa Staff, Sep 9, 2025 / 15:23 pm (CNA).The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, said violence in the Gaza Strip is the result of years of dehumanizing rhetoric and called for the replacement of hateful language with speech that opens horizons and new paths.Pizzaballa issued this call in a video message released during the Venice Film Festival, where the Silver Lion prize was awarded to Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania's film "The Voice of Hind Rajab," which recounts the last moments of a 5-year-old girl killed in 2024 in Gaza."You've already heard the news, so there's no need to delve into the dramatic daily story of what we're experiencing. The images are also very significant; unfortunately, they speak of destruction, of death, of so much pain. One of the problems we're experiencing is precisely this: We're so overwhelmed by pain that there seems to be no room for...

Father Joseph Farrell elected as Augustinians' new prior general 

Father Joseph Lawrence Farrell, OSA. / Credit: Courtesy of the Order of St. AugustineACI Prensa Staff, Sep 9, 2025 / 15:53 pm (CNA).The Order of St. Augustine announced that Father Joseph Lawrence Farrell, OSA, was elected as its new prior general, becoming the 98th in the more than 750-year history of the Augustinian family to which Pope Leo XIV belongs.The election took place Tuesday afternoon in Rome during the 188th general chapter at the Pontifical Patristic Institute Augustinianum, with the participation of 73 voting capitular friars.Until today, Farrell served as the order's vicar general and assistant general for North America. He received the seal of approval from Father Alejandro Moral Antón, OSA, who concluded his second term as prior general.Father Robert P. Hagan, OSA, prior provincial of the Province of St. Thomas of Villanova, commented that this decision was made "after much prayer and reflection, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.""We are grateful for our b...

Students detail faith-based discrimination at Religious Liberty Commission hearing

Shane Encinas, 12, shown here with President Donald Trump, was among the students who recounted their experiences facing religious discrimination in American public schools at a Religious Liberty Commission hearing on Sept. 8, 2025, in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Courtesy of U.S. Department of Justice/ScreenshotWashington D.C., Sep 9, 2025 / 18:25 pm (CNA).More than half a dozen American public school students testified about anti-Christian and other faith-based forms of discrimination in an education-focused hearing conducted by President Donald Trump's Religious Liberty Commission.The Sept. 8 hearing was the commission's second meeting since the president created it earlier this year. The commission's inaugural meeting in June focused on broader threats to religious liberty stemming from federal, state, and local government actors and questions about the proper role of faith in public life.The archbishop of New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, a member of the commission, made his...

More than half a million pilgrims have visited St. Carlo Acutis' tomb so far this year

Crowds of people come to pray at Carlo Acutis' tomb at the church of St. Mary Major in Assisi, Itlay, during the weekend of his Sept. 7, 2025, canonization. / Credit: Diocese of AssisiRome Newsroom, Sep 9, 2025 / 11:42 am (CNA).More than 620,000 people have visited the tomb of St. Carlo Acutis in the first eight months of 2025, according to the Diocese of Assisi, Italy.The diocese reported a surge of more than 121,000 visitors in August alone, a figure boosted by the Jubilee of Youth and Acutis' canonization by Pope Leo XIV on Sept. 7 in St. Peter's Square.Acutis, who died of leukemia in 2006 at age 15, is entombed in the Church of St. Mary Major in Assisi, where pilgrims can venerate his relics and view his body dressed in jeans, a track jacket, and Nike sneakers.St. Carlo Acutis is entombed in the Church of St. Mary Major in Assisi, Italy. Credit: Diocese of Assisi-Nocera-GualdoOn the day of his canonization, locals packed into the church in Assisi to watch a livestream of th...

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...