Catholic News

http://www.myspiritfm.com/News?blogid=Catholic-News&url=10&view=post&articleid=290608&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0

FOCUS Founder Curtis Martin announces his retirement from the role of FOCUS CEO, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025 / Credit: FOCUSCNA Staff, Dec 13, 2025 / 14:25 pm (CNA).Curtis Martin, who founded the Catholic student ministry group FOCUS nearly 30 years ago, announced this week that he will step down from his management role there while continuing to serve in the long-running campus ministry organization.In a Dec. 12 letter announcing his retirement from the role of CEO, Martin said that after nearly three decades, the organization now numbers "more than 1,000 FOCUS missionaries … in over 250 locations," reaching "nearly 60,000 students and parishioners" in 2025 alone. Since 2008, meanwhile, missionaries with the group have led "over 1,200 mission trips" that have sent more than 20,000 people to more than 50 countries. Martin said the "ever-increasing time demands" of his multiple roles at the company, coupled with several years of prayer with the organization's board of direct...

http://www.myspiritfm.com/News?blogid=Catholic-News&url=10&view=post&articleid=290600&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0

Former EWTN president Doug Keck was presented with the Mother Angelica Award on Dec. 12, 2025. / Credit: EWTN NewsWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 12, 2025 / 20:02 pm (CNA).The EWTN Global Catholic Network presented the 2025 Mother Angelica Award to its longtime former president, Doug Keck, in recognition of his decades of service, faithful leadership, and tireless commitment to the mission of evangelization.Following a 29-year career at EWTN, Keck retired from his duties as EWTN president and chief operating officer in June. He subsequently assumed the honorary title of president emeritus and continues to host his signature series "EWTN Bookmark" as well as serve as co-host of "Father Spitzer's Universe."The Mother Angelica Award, which was presented to Keck during a special ceremony broadcast globally, is the highest honor bestowed by the network to recognize individuals whose lives reflect the spirit of faith, courage, and evangelistic zeal embodied by EWTN's foundress, Mother...

http://www.myspiritfm.com/News?blogid=Catholic-News&url=10&view=post&articleid=290597&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0

Detail of the commemorative painting of the 124 martyrs of Jaén, Spain, beatified in 2025. / Credit: Diocese of JaénACI Prensa Staff, Dec 12, 2025 / 16:03 pm (CNA).The Diocese of Jaén in Spain will celebrate on Dec. 13 the beatification of 109 priests, 14 laypeople, and one Poor Clare nun martyred during the Spanish Civil War.With the addition of these 124 new blesseds, the number of 20th-century martyrs in Spain recognized by the Catholic Church rises to 2,254, 11 of whom have been canonized.The beatification ceremony will be presided over by Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, and will take place in Assumption Cathedral in Jaén, where some of the new blesseds spent their last days before being murdered out of hatred for the faith. Bishop Sebastián Chico of Jaén in the pastoral letter published on the occasion of the beatification stated that "their blood, far from being sterile, has become a fertile seed that today nourishes the...