Pope urges immediate ceasefire after deadly attack on Catholic parish in Gaza

A view of the damage to the Holy Family church in Gaza City following an Israeli strike on the church, in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on July 17, 2025. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said an Israeli strike on Gaza's only Catholic church killed two and injured several people on July 17, including the parish priest, as well as causing damage to the building. / Credit: OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty ImagesACI Prensa Staff, Jul 17, 2025 / 11:40 am (CNA).Following an airstrike against the Holy Family Church, the only Catholic Church in Gaza, which left at least two dead on Thursday, Pope Leo XIV issued an urgent call for an immediate ceasefire.In a telegram signed on the pope's behalf by the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the pontiff expressed his "deep sadness" over the military attack and offered his prayers for "the consolation of those who are mourning and for the healing of the wounded.""Pope Leo renews his profound hope for dialogue, rec...

Pope Leo XIV meets with U.S. Orthodox-Catholic pilgrim group at Castel Gandolfo

Pope Leo XIV on Thursday met with a U.S. ecumenical group, led by Cardinal Joseph Tobin and Greek Orthodox Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, encouraging them to "return to the roots of our faith" in their pilgrimage to Italy and Turkey. July 17, 2024. / Credit: Vatican MediaRome Newsroom, Jul 17, 2025 / 12:31 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV on Thursday met with a U.S. ecumenical group, led by Cardinal Joseph Tobin and Greek Orthodox Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, encouraging them to "return to the roots of our faith" in their pilgrimage to Italy and Turkey.    Welcoming the group from his "native country" to his papal residence in Castel Gandolfo, located 15 miles southeast of Rome, the Holy Father said their visits to various holy sites in both countries are a "concrete way" of renewing their faith in the "Gospel handed down to us by the apostles."He said: "Your pilgrimage is one of the abundant fruits of the ecumenical movement aimed at restoring full unity a...

Bishop says U.S. aid cuts, not migrants, crippling South Africa's health system

Bishop Joseph Mary Kizito, the Liaison Bishop for the SACBC Migrants and Refugees Office. / Credit: SACBCACI Africa, Jul 17, 2025 / 14:28 pm (CNA).Bishop Joseph Mary Kizito of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference (SACBC) said on July 15 that South Africa's health sector has been brought to its knees not by foreign nationals, but by the recent suspension of most U.S. foreign aid. In an interview with ACI Africa, CNA's news partner in Africa, the bishop said that many locals protesting against migrants "do not understand world politics" and are unaware of the effects of directives from the U.S. government. That is the reason they have turned against migrants and refugees, he said.Kizito, the liaison for the SACBC's Migrants and Refugees Department, denounced ongoing xenophobic attacks against foreign nationals in some parts of the country, noting that they are not to blame for the shortage of medication in the country's health facilities. "It is true that there is a ...

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...