New U.S. ambassador to the Vatican presents credentials to pope

Brian Burch, the new U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, presents his credentials to Pope Leo XIV in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace on September 13, 2025. / Vatican MediaVatican City, Sep 13, 2025 / 07:35 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV on Saturday morning received Brian Burch, the new U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace for the formal presentation of his letters of credence.Burch, 50, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Aug. 2 in a 49-44 vote. He was nominated by President Donald Trump in December 2024 and succeeds former ambassador Joe Donnelly, who served under the Biden administration.In a statement following his confirmation, Burch said he was "profoundly grateful" to the president and Senate for the opportunity to serve, and asked for the prayers of Catholics across the United States "that I may serve honorably and faithfully in the noble adventure ahead."A native of Phoenix, Arizona, Burch is married and the father of nine children. He graduated wi...

The spiritual testament of Cardinal Karlic, one of the authors of the catechism

The late Cardinal Estanislao Karlic. / Credit: Courtesy of Archdiocese of ParanáACI Prensa Staff, Sep 13, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).The Archdiocese of Paraná in Argentina has published the spiritual testament of Cardinal Estanislao Karlic one month after his death. The prelate was one of the authors of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and died on Aug. 8 at the age of 99.The archdiocese noted that the testament was written by Karlic at the House of Mary of the Benedictine monastery Our Lady of Paraná ??in Aldea María Luisa during the solemnity of the Nativity of Jesus in 2024. Karlic served as archbishop of the archdiocese from 1983 to 2003.In his opening lines, the Argentine cardinal wrote: "The truth of the Catholic faith is what I confess as light, the light with which I ask the Lord to illuminate me in making this testament. I place myself before divine mercy, praying that it may envelop me with its redeeming love in the final moment of my earthly life. I thank God for the l...

Students for Life's Kristan Hawkins: Charlie Kirk 'died a martyr'

Students for Life of America President Kristan Hawkins. / Credit: "EWTN News in Depth"/ScreenshotWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 13, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).In the wake of the assassination of Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10 at a Utah college campus, Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America and Students for Life Action and a close friend of Kirk's, said: "His death will be a turning point."In an interview with "EWTN News In Depth," Hawkins called Kirk "a joyful warrior." She pointed out: "He was a man of God and just moments before he was assassinated, he had proclaimed that Jesus Christ is his Lord and Savior. And he never shirked away from that, just like he never shirked away from any of the other political debates … I believe with my whole heart, he died a martyr."Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA and campus activist, "truly enjoyed having conversations with those who disagreed with him and having the opportunity to change their minds," Hawkins said. "He was a huge...

'Kendrick was joyful all the time,' reflects father of Kendrick Castillo

Kendrick Castillo, who died in a school shooting in 2019 and whose cause for canonization has been opened in the Diocese of Colorado Springs. / Credit: Photo courtesy of John and Maria CastilloWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 13, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).The Diocese of Colorado Springs announced it received a petition to open a cause for canonization for Kendrick Castillo, the lone fatal casualty after a shooting at a Colorado school in 2019, when the 18-year-old died after jumping into the line of fire to stop one of the shooters. "Knowing Kendrick, we knew that that was something that he would do," said his parents, Maria and John Castillo, in an interview with "EWTN News In Depth" this week."We're so humbled and grateful," John said about the opening of Kendrick's cause for canonization. "It's one of the greatest gifts that can ever be bestowed upon anybody. It's just the sheer mention of sainthood. We always have felt … that since Kendrick was born, he's been our saint. He'...

Faith, family and God's mercy: Highlights from Erika Kirk's TV address

Vice President JD Vance (R) second lady Usha Vance (C) and Erika Kirk deplane Air Force Two while escorting the body of Charlie Kirk on Sept. 11, 2025 in Phoenix, Arizona. / Credit: Kirk, Eric Thayer/Getty ImagesCNA Newsroom, Sep 13, 2025 / 10:05 am (CNA).Erika Kirk, the widow of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk, vowed to continue her husband's work Friday night during an impassioned and deeply personal televised address that focused on the importance of faith and family life.Appearing on Fox News just two days after her husband was shot and killed by an assassin's bullet, fired from a rooftop on the campus of Utah Valley University where he was holding an outdoor event, she spoke for more than 16 minutes, maintaining her composure as she stood at a podium in her husband's podcast studio, beside his empty chair."I will never, ever have the words to describe the loss that I feel in my heart," said Erika Kirk, the mother of two young children, ages 1 and 3."I honestly hav...

World Health Organization promotes abortion drugs on essential medicines list

The World Health Organization's Model List of Essential Medicines 2025 no longer has the caveat that abortion drugs should only be used where "legally permitted or culturally acceptable." / Credit: KadirKARA/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Sep 12, 2025 / 17:34 pm (CNA).Here is a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news.WHO promotes abortion drugs on essential medicines listPro-life leaders are expressing concern after the inclusion of abortion drugs in the World Health Organization (WHO)'s latest annual list of essential medicines, noting that the drugs can be "dangerous." The Model List of Essential Medicines 2025, released on "International Safe Abortion Day," had a section dedicated to abortion drugs, which for the first time did not include the caveat that these medicines are not legal or culturally acceptable everywhere. According to WHO, "the list no longer carries the boxed caveat, in place since 2005, that singled out these medicines as only to be used wher...

Alveda King responds to Charlie Kirk's assassination: 'We've got to care again'

Alveda King has suffered three assassinations in her family: that of her father, Rev. Alfred Daniel Williams King; her grandmother, Alberta King; and her renowned uncle, Martin Luther King Jr. / Credit: "The World Over with Raymond Arroyo"/ScreenshotCNA Staff, Sep 12, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).After the assassination of Charlie Kirk at a college campus on Wednesday, Alveda King, the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., encouraged people to pray."It broke my heart," King said when asked about her reaction to learning of the assassination."I was so very startled when I got the news that Charlie had been shot, and my heart immediately went to him and his family, his beautiful wife, his little children," she told Raymond Arroyo on EWTN's "The World Over with Raymond Arroyo.""Having experienced those kinds of occurrences in my own family, I immediately went into prayer," she said.King shared about her own experience with political assassinations in her family. Not only was her uncle, Dr...

Pope Leo XIV tells World Meeting on Human Fraternity to welcome migrants, care for poor

Pope Leo XIV greets participants in the third edition of the World Meeting on Human Fraternity at the Vatican on Sept. 12, 2025. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Sep 12, 2025 / 11:51 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV spoke out on Friday against what he called the business of wars, while condemning attitudes of rejection and indifference toward migrants and the poor, as he received some of the participants in the third edition of the World Meeting on Human Fraternity at the Vatican.Among those present were several Nobel Peace Prize laureates, including Iraqi activist Nadia Murad, American Jody Williams, Liberian Leymah Gbowee, Yemeni Tawakkol Karman, Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov, Ukrainian lawyer Oleksandra Matviichuk, Filipino journalist Maria Ressa, and Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege.In his remarks, the pontiff reflected on the need for fraternity and reconciliation in a world where wars "shatter the lives of young people forced to take up arms; target defenseless civilians, chil...

New film on St. Maximilian Kolbe's final days highlights hope amid darkness

The premiere of "Triumph of the Heart" in Dallas on Sept. 8, 2025. / Credit: Nicole Marie RichardsCNA Staff, Sep 12, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).A new film called "Triumph of the Heart" depicts St. Maximilian Kolbe's last days on earth in a starvation bunker in the German death camp of Auschwitz. The film will be released in theaters on Sept. 12.St. Maximilian Kolbe was a Polish Franciscan friar and priest who volunteered to die in place of another man in Auschwitz. He spent the last 14 days of his life in a starvation bunker alongside nine other men.The red carpet at the premiere of "Triumph of the Heart" in Dallas on Sept. 8, 2025. Credit: Nicole Marie RichardsAt the film's Sept. 8 premiere in Dallas, where over 1,000 people gathered at the Edith O'Donnell Arts and Technology Building on the University of Texas at Dallas campus to show their support and watch the film, writer and director Anthony D'Ambrosio told CNA on the red carpet that it was "surreal" to see the magnitude of th...

Brazilian court denies mother's right to home-school her child

Regiane Cichelero. / Credit: Courtesy of Alliance Defending Freedom InternationalSao Paulo, Brazil, Sep 12, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).The Santa Catarina State Court of Justice in Brazil has denied Regiane Cichelero's request to home-school her son. In its Sept. 2 ruling, the court upheld the previous decision requiring the child to be enrolled in a regular school in addition to a fine of 100,000 reais (more than $18,000).In 2020, with the closure of public schools in Santa Catarina state due to fears surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, Cichelero decided to home-school her son. After schools reopened in March 2021, the lawyer decided to continue home-schooling him, believing it would guarantee a quality education in line with the family's religious beliefs.At that time, the school began an "active search" for Cichelero's son. The Child Protection Council went to the lawyer's home and warned her about the mandatory school enrollment requirement, according to the Child and Adolescent S...