Pope Leo XIV prays at tomb of St. Francis of Assisi

Pope Leo XIV visits the tomb of St. Francis in Assisi, Italy, on Nov. 20, 2025. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Nov 20, 2025 / 16:00 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV traveled to Assisi on Thursday to meet with Italian bishops and pay homage to St. Francis in a visit marked by silence and prayer, part of the celebrations for the eighth centenary of the death of the "saint of the poor."According to Vatican News, the pontiff traveled from the Vatican by helicopter and arrived in the Italian city shortly after 8 a.m. local time. He landed at the Bastia Umbra stadium and from there traveled by car to the heart of Assisi, where St. Francis was born in 1182.Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio adopted his name upon becoming pope, while it was St. John Paul II who named St. Francis of Assisi the patron saint of ecology in 1979. Despite the rain and cold, a number of people waited for the Holy Father and greeted him with applause and cheers of "Long live the pope!"His first stop was the Basili...

Retired Army general, Notre Dame professor to serve as president of Belmont Abbey College

Mary Help of Christians Basilica on the campus of Belmont Abbey College. / Credit: Rnrivas, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 20, 2025 / 16:30 pm (CNA).Here's a roundup of the latest Catholic education news in the United States:Retired Army general, Notre Dame professor to serve as president of Belmont Abbey CollegeBelmont Abbey College in North Carolina announced that Jeffrey Talley, a retired three-star lieutenant general in the U.S. Army and former tenured professor at the University of Notre Dame, will serve as its new president.In a Nov. 18 press release announcing the appointment, Talley said the school has a "unique opportunity" to "help young men and women get a rigorous academic experience in a faith-filled environment that's strong in its Catholic identity so they can go forth in a world that's become so challenging, so complex, so difficult."Talley will assume the position of the college's 21st president on Jan. 2, 2026. The chair of B...

European Parliament discusses harms of surrogacy after EU condemns the practice

Reem Alsalem (right), the United Nations special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, opposes surrogacy at an Oct. 9, 2025, U.N. event hosted by the Italian government. / Credit: ADF InternationalWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 20, 2025 / 17:00 pm (CNA).The European Parliament and the United Nations have officially condemned the practice of surrogacy following reports of human rights violations against women and babies. Experts gathered on Nov. 19 for a meeting at the European Parliament that included U.N. Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls Reem Alsalem and Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International's Carmen Correas, who discussed the harms of surrogacy on women and children, according to an ADF press release.The event, "Surrogacy: An Ethical and Political Challenge for Europe," followed the release of a landmark report by Alsalem that highlighted widespread human rights violations globally as a result of surrogacy. The event also came aft...

China's 'assault on religious freedom' threatens U.S., congressional commission told

This photo taken on Jan. 15, 2024, shows a Chinese flag fluttering below a cross on a Christian church in Pingtan, in China's southeast Fujian province. / Credit: Photo by GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty ImagesWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 20, 2025 / 17:30 pm (CNA).The Chinese Communist Party's "ongoing assault against religious freedom" has national security implications for the U.S., according to co-chairs of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC).Former Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, who served as ambassador at large for international religious freedom in the first Trump administration, told the commission Nov. 20 that the United States needs to treat China's religious freedom violations as a national security threat. Brownback cited a report listing 10 Catholic bishops detained by the Chinese government. "Ten Catholic bishops," he said with emphasis, adding: "Do people even know they're in prison?" Brownback called for China to be sanctioned by the Trump admin...

Belarus pardons 2 Catholic priests after talks with Vatican

The priests' release was credited in part to Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, pictured here celebrating the seventh Novendiales Mass for Pope Francis on May 2, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNACNA Staff, Nov 20, 2025 / 12:12 pm (CNA).Two Catholic priests in Belarus will be released from prison in an act of "goodwill" after national leaders engaged in talks with the Vatican.The state media organ BelTA reported on Nov. 20 that Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko "pardoned two Catholic priests convicted of serious crimes against the state."The pardons of Father Henrykh Akalatovich and Father Andzej Yukhnevich came after "intensification of contacts with the Vatican, as well as the principles of goodwill, mercy, and the jubilee year proclaimed by the Roman Catholic Church," the government media organization said. A separate press release from the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Belarus expressed "gratitude to all those who ...

World's tallest Our Lady of Fátima monument inaugurated in Brazil

The world's tallest monument of Our Lady of Fatima was inaugurated in Crato, located in Ceará state in northeastern Brazil. / Credit: Courtesy of Prefeitura do Crato/ScreenshotSao Paulo, Brazil, Nov 20, 2025 / 12:48 pm (CNA).The world's tallest monument dedicated to Our Lady of Fátima was inaugurated and blessed on Nov. 13 during the closing Mass of the Marian Jubilee in Crato, located in Ceará state in northeastern Brazil.The 177-foot-tall statue was created by the artist Ranilson Viana, inspired by the replica of the pilgrim image venerated in the cathedral of Our Lady of Penha, a work by the Portuguese sculptor Guilherme Ferreira Thedim."Our hearts overflow with joy and faith because in this blessed land of Crato, this magnificent image of Our Lady of Fátima stands thanks to the presence of the pilgrim image, coming directly from Fátima, in Portugal, a sign of our spiritual communion with that Marian shrine, a beating heart of prayer, penance, and hope for the whole w...

Pro-life groups condemn 'glorification' of Kessler twins' assisted suicide in Germany

Alice Kessler and Ellen Kessler attend the Circus Krone Christmas Premiere at Circus Krone on Dec. 25, 2022, in Munich, Germany. The twin sisters ended their lives by assisted suicide at their home in Grünwald, close to Munich, on Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. / Credit: Hannes Magerstaedt/Getty ImagesCNA Deutsch, Nov 20, 2025 / 13:18 pm (CNA).The Federal Association for the Right to Life, an umbrella organization for numerous pro-life organizations, has condemned the "glorification" of the assisted suicide of the 89-year-old Kessler twins.Alice and Ellen Kessler were German singers and performers who were famous in Europe, especially in Italy, in the 1960s. The twin sisters decided to die together by assisted suicide at their home near Munich on Monday. Alexandra Linder, the pro life association's chairwoman, said: "There is widespread media coverage of this, with many praising the 'self-determination' of choosing the time and manner of death oneself rather than waiting for death...

Scorsese's 'The Saints' spotlights extraordinary Catholic men and women

St. Patrick as depicted in Martin Scorsese's "The Saints." / Credit: Fox NationCNA Staff, Nov 20, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).The second season of Martin Scorsese's docudrama series "The Saints" premiered on Fox Nation on Nov. 16. The series highlights the extraordinary lives of men and women who embodied their faith and became saints in the Catholic Church. The new season includes episodes on St. Patrick, St. Peter, St. Thomas Becket, and St. Carlo Acutis.Created by Matti Leshem and developed by Scorsese, himself a Catholic, the show's new episodes will be released weekly from Nov. 16 to Dec. 7. The first season included episodes on St. Mary Magdalene, St. Moses the Black, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Joan of Arc, St. John the Baptist, and St. Sebastian.Leshem, who co-founded a production company focused on Jewish history and Judeo-Christian dialogue, spoke to CNA in an interview about the inspiration behind the series and how his own Jewish faith has been impact...

Pope Leo appoints Nigerian priest assessor for general affairs of the Secretariat of State

Father Anthony Onyemuche Ekpo. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Nov 19, 2025 / 14:53 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday appointed Nigerian priest Father Anthony Onyemuche Ekpo as assessor for general affairs of the Vatican Secretariat of State.Ekpo, 44, succeeds Father Roberto Campisi, who was appointed permanent observer of the Holy See to UNESCO in September. In his new role, he will be responsible for overseeing the activities of Catholic international organizations connected to the Vatican.The Nigeria-born priest first began his service with the Holy See in 2016. He worked with the Vatican's Section for General Affairs for six years between 2016 and 2023.In 2023, Pope Francis appointed him undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development to assist the work of its prefect Cardinal Michael Czerny. Epko thanked his colleagues at the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development "for their friendship and shared work over these years" and pr...

How Pope Leo XIV typically spends his day off

Pope Leo XIV. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN NewsACI Prensa Staff, Nov 19, 2025 / 15:23 pm (CNA).In reply to journalists' questions last night as he left Castel Gandolfo, which he now regularly visits, Pope Leo XIV described what his typical Tuesday day off is like.The pontiff shared that he does "a little reading, a little work. Every day there is correspondence, phone calls; there are some matters that are perhaps more important, more recent. A little tennis, a little swimming."A passionate tennis fan since childhood, the Holy Father in May received at the Vatican Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner, currently ranked second in the world (behind Carlos Alcaraz) and at that time was ranked first.When asked why he needs these moments of rest, Leo XIV emphasized on Nov. 19 that "to take good care of yourself, human beings… everyone, should do some activity for the body, the soul, all together.""I think it does me a lot of good. So it's a time, a break during the week that helps a l...