Joy in Dublin as papal designation gives city first Catholic cathedral since Reformation

Archbishop Dermot Farrell of the Dublin Archdiocese holds up the decree on Nov. 14, 2025, that Pope Leo XIV sent him granting his request that St. Mary's Pro Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Dublin be designated as the cathedral Church of the archdiocese. / Credit: John McElroy/Dublin ArchdioceseDublin, Ireland, Nov 21, 2025 / 12:09 pm (CNA).There was immense joy among Catholics in Dublin following a decree from Pope Leo XIV formally designating St. Mary's Pro Cathedral as the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Dublin, ending 200 years of the cathedral's "temporary" status and giving the capital its first official Catholic cathedral since the Reformation.Speaking at Mass in the cathedral to mark the bicentenary on Friday, Nov. 14, Archbishop Dermot Farrell of the Dublin Archdiocese told the faithful of Dublin: "I am pleased to announce that the Holy Father, Pope Leo, has consented to my request and has approved by decree that St. Mary's be designated as the cathedral church of our ...

Sen. Klobuchar meets Pope Leo XIV to advocate for abducted Ukrainian children

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, meets Pope Leo XIV, along with a delegation of Ukrainian mothers, wives, and teenagers, at the Vatican on Nov. 21, 2025. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Nov 21, 2025 / 12:40 pm (CNA).U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, joined a delegation of Ukrainian mothers, wives, and teenagers forcibly taken to Russia during the war with Ukraine who met with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Friday. The audience highlighted ongoing humanitarian and diplomatic efforts to secure the return of abducted civilians.In a statement from her Senate office, Klobuchar said: "Pope Leo is a true moral force for peace and justice and a champion for children around the world. It was an honor to meet him as part of our mission to bring home the Ukrainian children abducted by Russia and chart a path towards peace and healing for Ukraine."The senator added: "We cannot accept a world where children are abducted during wartime and used as hostages for negotiations. The...

Pope Leo XIV to Caritas: Be artisans of peace, serve every person with dignity

Pope Leo XIV meets with the leadership and staff of Caritas Internationalis, the Church's global charitable network operating in more than 200 countries, on Nov. 21, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Nov 21, 2025 / 13:10 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV on Friday met with the leadership and staff of Caritas Internationalis, the Church's global charitable network operating in more than 200 countries, asking them to be "pilgrims of hope" and "artisans of peace" in the world.During the morning meeting held at the Vatican, the Holy Father thanked Caritas Internationalis president Cardinal Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi and approximately 70 Caritas workers for their "steadfast service" within the Church and to people throughout the world."Caritas Internationalis has long been a luminous sign of the Church's maternal love," he said to the multinational delegation on Nov. 21. "The love we receive from Christ is never a private treasure but always a mission entrusted to our h...

Nigeria 'no longer safe for children,' Catholic bishop says after abduction of 25 girls

Bishop Bulus Yohana Dauwa of Nigeria's Diocese of Kontagora. In an interview with ACI Africa on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, Dauwa described the recent kidnapping of 25 schoolgirls is a tragic reminder that the country is no longer "safe for its children." / Credit: ACI Africa/Catholic Diocese of KontagoraACI Africa, Nov 21, 2025 / 13:40 pm (CNA).Bishop Bulus Yohana Dauwa of Nigeria's Catholic Diocese of Kontagora has raised concern about the safety of children in the West African country following the Nov. 17 abduction of 25 schoolgirls from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi state.In an interview with ACI Africa, CNA's news partner in Africa, on Tuesday, Dauwa described the incident as a tragic reminder that the country is no longer "safe for its children."The bishop told ACI Africa that he had gathered eyewitness accounts of the attack from victims who endured horrific scenes for nearly five hours, from 1 a.m. until 6 a.m., on the day of the attack.An ...

Human rights advocates decry Armenian government crackdown on Christian church

Peter Flew, a lawyer and writer, says at a congressional briefing Nov. 20, 2025, that he collected evidence and witness statements regarding government persecution of the Apostolic Church in Armenia. / Credit: Photo courtesy of George Goss/Image HerderWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 21, 2025 / 14:10 pm (CNA).Human rights advocates told members of Congress that the Armenian government's crackdown on Christians has included the unlawful detentions of clergy, ahead of the country's parliamentary elections in June 2026.Tensions have escalated between Nikol Pashinyan, the sitting prime minister of Armenia, and the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Karekin II, reflecting the struggle over Armenia's national identity and future direction. Government targeting of Christians has sparked concern for the loss of the country's heritage as the oldest Christian nation in the world.Peter Flew, a lawyer and writer, said at a congressional briefing Nov. 20 that he collected evide...

Nigerian bishop calls for U.S. military intervention at congressional hearing

Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of the Nigerian Diocese of Makurdi in Benue state at a breakfast at Capitol Hill organized by Aid to the Church in Need, Jan. 30, 2024. / Credit: Peter Pinedo/CNAWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 21, 2025 / 14:40 pm (CNA).A Nigerian Catholic bishop said U.S. military intervention is warranted at a Nov. 20 hearing of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa.The hearing took place just days after an attack on a Catholic boarding school in western Nigeria in which children were abducted from the school's hostel."Nigeria is ground zero" for religious persecution, said the subcommittee's chair, Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, at the hearing. "Make no mistake, these ongoing attacks are based on religion, and diverting attention from it denies what we have seen with our own eyes."Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of the Diocese of Makurdi, Benue, Nigeria, told the panel via Zoom that the United States must follow Nigeria's addition on the watch list with concrete a...

Teens who spoke with Pope Leo XIV reflect on the conversation 

Teens Mia Smothers, Ezequiel Ponce, Micah Alcisto, Elise Wing, and Chris Pantelakis, and moderator Katie McGrady, right, take a "selfie" with Pope Leo XIV during a live digital encounter at Lucas Oil Stadium on Nov. 21, 2025. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Katie McGradyIndianapolis, Indiana, Nov 21, 2025 / 15:20 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV answered questions from five teenagers at the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis during a live digital encounter Friday morning. Mia Smothers, Micah Alcisto, Ezequiel Ponce, Christopher Pantelakis, and Elise Wing asked Pope Leo questions and held a conversation with him on Nov. 21 as thousands of teens gathered in Lucas Oil Stadium.The Holy Father discussed matters close to the teens' hearts including recovering from mistakes, giving worries to Jesus, distractions, technology, and the future of the Church. Mia Smothers answers a question by Pope Leo XIV at the National Catholic Youth Conference on Nov. 21, 2025. Credit: EWTN ...

One-third of recent Catholic priests in England are Anglican converts, report shows

The ordination of Jonathan Goodall (former Anglican bishop) to the Catholic priesthood in Westminster Cathedral, London, March 12, 2022. / Credit: Mazur/CBCEW.org.ukLondon, England, Nov 21, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).A new report reveals that significant numbers of Anglican clergy have converted to Catholicism in the United Kingdom since 1992.The report, "Convert Clergy in the Catholic Church in Britain," released Nov. 20, shows that approximately 700 clergy and religious of the Church of England, Church in Wales, and Scottish Episcopal Church have been received into the Catholic Church since 1992. The number includes 16 former Anglican bishops. This equates to approximately a third of all Catholic priests ordained in England and Wales during this period.Speaking to CNA, co-author Stephen Bullivant, professor of theology and the sociology of religion at St. Mary's Catholic University, London, said he was "really quite surprised" by the high numbers, "especially the [convert] ordinat...

'The pope is traveling to a wounded country,' Lebanese priest says

The city of Tyre, in southern Lebanon, has been bombed several times by the Israeli armed forces. / Credit: ShutterstockACI Prensa Staff, Nov 21, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).The upcoming visit of Pope Leo XIV to Lebanon, scheduled for Nov. 30 to Dec. 2, comes as a new wave of Israeli bombings have shaken several towns near the southern border."We have been experiencing continuous attacks like this for almost two and a half years. But we have never evacuated, we have never left our village," said Maronite parish priest Father Tony Elias from the border village of Rmeich, a Christian village located just a few meters from Israel.Rmeich, he explained, is one of the largest Christian villages in southern Lebanon. "We cannot leave, because if we did, there would be no one to rebuild, no one to protect our village," he said in an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner.The situation in neighboring villages confirms his fears: "The villages to the right and left are c...

Teens at NCYC 2025 excited for faith, fun, sacraments, friends

Lucy Snipes, Anne Young, and Presley Hilderbrand from Columbus, Georgia tour exhibits during the first night of NCYC 2025 on Nov. 20, 2025, at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. / Credit: Tessa Gervasini / CNAIndianapolis, Indiana, Nov 21, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).Teenagers piled into the Indiana Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium on Thursday in Indianapolis to start the 2025 National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC). Young Catholics from across the country have traveled to Indianapolis to take part in NCYC for three days of prayer, community, evangelization, catechesis, and service. The 2025 theme is "I Am," and the conference mission is for participants to encounter Christ and form discipleship. On the evening of Nov. 20 exhibits opened to help students gain a deeper understanding of the sacraments and to encourage them to interact with one another. Teens with themed hats packed into the convention center and began to exchange the caps as a way to meet...