Irish team begins search for children's remains at former home for unwed mothers

View of the mass grave at the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in the town of Tuam, County Galway. / Credit: AugusteBlanqui, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsRome Newsroom, Jul 16, 2025 / 15:45 pm (CNA).A team of 18 archaeologists, anthropologists, and forensic scientists have begun excavating an old septic tank this week at the former St. Mary's Mother and Baby Home run by the Bon Secours Sisters in Tuam, County Galway, western Ireland, now the site of a housing development.Over the next two years, according to The Irish Times, an excavating machine will go through the site in search of remains for 796 children allegedly buried, in the words of the Bon Secours Sisters "in a disrespectful and unacceptable way" between 1925 and 1960. The Bon Secours Sisters have released a statement apologizing for the treatment of the deceased babies, and their mothers during that time.The goal of the excavation is to find, analyze, identify, and provide a decent burial for the children's rem...

Small business agency launches 'Center for Faith,' ends ban on relief for faith groups

U.S. Small Business Administration, Washington, D.C. / Jer123/ShutterstockCNA Newsroom, Jul 16, 2025 / 16:35 pm (CNA).The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is opening a "Center for Faith" and eliminating a regulation that banned faith-based groups from receiving disaster loans. The SBA, a branch of the federal government established to bolster the economy by supporting small businesses, announced they would remove the longstanding regulation as part of the agency's efforts to end faith-based discrimination by the government. The SBA previously prohibited any group "principally engaged in teaching, instructing, counseling, or indoctrinating religion" from applying for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL), a regulation which the SBA is now nixing under the Trump administration. The SBA argues that the regulation is unconstitutional, citing the 2017 U.S. Supreme Court decision Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer. In the ruling, the court ...

Contemplating a crucifix led to conversion of young Chinese atheist 

Shushu, with her husband Josemi and their son Emmanuel during JEMJ at the Covadonga shrine. / Credit: Almudena Martínez-Bordiú/EWTN NewsVatican City, Jul 16, 2025 / 17:15 pm (CNA).Originally from China, Shushu arrived in Spain in 2016 at just 23 years of age with the sole purpose of studying the history of the Spanish language. What she didn't imagine was that she would have a transformative encounter with Christ Crucified, which would lead her to embrace the Catholic faith."We have no merit; it's all because the Lord guides us. His mercy is immense," said Shushu in an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, at the shrine of Our Lady of Covadonga in Spain.The young Chinese mother was there with her husband Josemi and son, Emmanuel, to share the testimony of her conversion from atheism to Catholicism before thousands of young people gathered July 4 for the opening of the Marian Eucharistic Youth Day (JEMJ, by its Spanish acronym).It all began on Oct. 31, ...

Jerusalem church leaders visit Taybeh: Christians' presence in the Holy Land is at risk 

Heads of churches in Jerusalem visited the town of Taybeh in Ramallah on July 14, 2025. / Credit: Sand SahiliyaACI MENA, Jul 16, 2025 / 18:01 pm (CNA).Church leaders in Jerusalem say they hold Israeli authorities responsible for "facilitating and enabling" settler attacks, warning that police silence in the face of emergency calls constitutes a form of complicity.On Monday, the heads of churches visited the predominantly Christian town of Taybeh, east of Ramallah. The delegation was led by Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III, joined by diplomats representing more than 20 countries. U.S. representatives canceled their participation at the last minute without explanation.The visit carried a serious warning about the escalating threat to one of the oldest Christian communities in the Holy Land. Both church leaders and diplomats called for accountability for Israeli settlers and an end to the threats targeting a ...

Pope Leo XIV pays visit to Poor Clares who pray for him every day

Pope Leo XIV visits the Poor Clares of Albano on July 15, 2025. / Credit: Vatican MediaACI Prensa Staff, Jul 15, 2025 / 19:07 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV made his first "getaway" from Castel Gandolfo to visit the Monastery of the Immaculate Conception of the Poor Clares of Albano, located within the Papal Villas.After celebrating Mass on Tuesday morning in the chapel of the Carabinieri station in Castel Gandolfo, where he is staying during his vacation, Pope Leo headed to the nearby monastery, where he was warmly welcomed by the nuns.The pontiff paused in prayer in the monastery chapel, sharing a moment of silence and contemplation with the sisters, whom he later greeted one by one, emphasizing that "it is beautiful that the Church knows your life, because it is a valuable testimony."The encounter generated various images of tenderness, reflected in the joyful and grateful faces of the Sisters of St. Clare, whose mission is to pray for the pope, for the Church, and for all of Vatican...

Miami archbishop calls for administration, Congress to change course on immigration

Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski serves on the Committee on Migration of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. / Credit: "The World Over with Raymond Arroyo"/EWTN News screenshotWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 15, 2025 / 12:53 pm (CNA).With the Trump administration having "effectively achieved control of the border," Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski is now urging the president and Congress to turn to expanding legal pathways for unlawfully present migrants who have committed no other crimes to obtain citizenship.In a statement and interview with archdiocesan media, Wenski argued that the U.S. "faces labor shortages in many industries, including health care, service, and agriculture. Removing immigrant workers will only exacerbate these shortages.""Rather than spending billions to deport people who are already contributing positively to our nation's well-being, it would be more financially sensible and more morally acceptable for Congress, working with the administration,...

Tennessee priest will serve 7 years in prison after pleading guilty to sex crimes

Father Juan Carlos Garcia-Mendoza, a priest in the Diocese of Nashville, Tennessee, will serve seven years in prison after pleading guilty to multiple counts of sex abuse. / Credit: Courtesy of the Franklin Police DepartmentCNA Staff, Jul 15, 2025 / 13:23 pm (CNA).A priest in the Diocese of Nashville, Tennessee, will serve seven years in prison after pleading guilty to multiple counts of sex abuse.Father Juan Carlos Garcia-Mendoza was indicted last year on several counts of sexual battery and other crimes, some of which involved children and some adults. The priest was charged with eight crimes in February 2024 and two more in June of that year.The Diocese of Nashville said in the Nashville Catholic this week that Garcia had pleaded guilty to the February charges. Those crimes include "continuous sexual abuse of a child," aggravated sexual battery, and "sexual battery by an authority figure." In addition to the prison sentence, the priest will be listed in the state sex of...

Vatican says Diocese of Green Bay can close down historic Wisconsin parish

The exterior of St. Boniface Catholic Church in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. / Credit: John MaurerCNA Staff, Jul 15, 2025 / 14:10 pm (CNA).The Diocese of Green Bay can close down a historic parish in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, the Vatican has ruled, bringing an end to efforts by a small group of parishioners to prevent the permanent shuttering of the church.The Apostolic Signatura, the highest court at the Holy See, ruled against parishioner efforts to save St. Boniface Church from closure. The ruling affirms Bishop David Ricken's 2023 order relegating the parish building to "profane but not sordid use.""Planning for the disposition of the church, contents, and property is underway," the diocese said in a statement announcing the Vatican's decision."Please continue to pray for the parish and community," the diocese added.The interior of St. Boniface Church in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Credit: John Maurer The order brings an end to a multiyear, multimillion-dollar effort to save St. Bonifa...

Pope Leo XIV: God's love is so great that Jesus does not keep even his mother for himself

Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass in the chapel at the Carabinieri station in Castel Gandolfo on July 15, 2025. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Jul 15, 2025 / 14:58 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass on July 15 in the chapel at the Carabinieri station in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, where he is on vacation. The Carabinieri are the national gendarmerie of Italy, a form of military police. Reflecting in his homily on the day's Gospel (Matthew 11:20-24), the pontiff emphasized that there is a bond "stronger than blood" that unites every man and woman who is in Christ. In this regard, he explained that "we are truly brothers and sisters of Jesus when we do the will of God," that is, "when we live loving one another, as God has loved us.""Every relationship that God lives, in himself and for us," the pope continued, "thus becomes a gift: when his only Son becomes our brother, his Father becomes our Father, and the Holy Spirit, who unites the Father and the Son, comes to dwel...

Catholic influencer denies claims of 'grooming' underage girl: 'Complete fabrication'

Catholic apologist Alex Jurado, known as Voice of Reason on social media. / Credit: Courtesy of Alexandro JuradoCNA Staff, Jul 15, 2025 / 15:28 pm (CNA).Alex Jurado, a popular Catholic apologist known for his social media ministry Voice of Reason, is denying allegations in a bombshell report that he sexually groomed an underage teenage girl when he was 21 years old.The Protestant website Protestia on Monday published a report alleging that "whistleblowers within the Catholic community" had revealed sexually explicit texts Jurado, now 28, allegedly sent to a girl possibly as young as 14 years old.The website shared screenshots of the alleged conversations between Jurado and the young girl. The site further alleged that Jurado had sent "sexually explicit messages" to several other women. Jurado sharply denied the allegations on Tuesday. The influencer said in a statement on his Instagram page that the claims were untrue and that he is "voluntarily cooperating in an investiga...