Turning Point USA CEO Charlie Kirk speaks at the Republican National Convention on July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. / Credit: Maxim Elramsisy/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Sep 19, 2025 / 12:02 pm (CNA).Slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk was reportedly strongly considering becoming Catholic just prior to his assassination, according to a bishop who spoke to him shortly before his killing. Robert Brennan, a Los Angeles-based writer and the brother of Fresno, California, Bishop Joseph Brennan, said in a Sept. 18 column in the Los Angeles archdiocesan newspaper Angelus that Kirk had a "personal exchange" with the California prelate about a week before Kirk's murder at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10. The writer Brennan, who said Bishop Brennan gave him permission to share the story, wrote that Kirk had spoken to the prelate at a prayer breakfast in Visalia. The conservative activist "told the bishop about his Catholic wife and children and how he attended Mass with them."&n...
Turning Point USA CEO Charlie Kirk speaks at the Republican National Convention on July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. / Credit: Maxim Elramsisy/Shutterstock
CNA Staff, Sep 19, 2025 / 12:02 pm (CNA).
Slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk was reportedly strongly considering becoming Catholic just prior to his assassination, according to a bishop who spoke to him shortly before his killing.
Robert Brennan, a Los Angeles-based writer and the brother of Fresno, California, Bishop Joseph Brennan, said in a Sept. 18 column in the Los Angeles archdiocesan newspaper Angelus that Kirk had a "personal exchange" with the California prelate about a week before Kirk's murder at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10.
The writer Brennan, who said Bishop Brennan gave him permission to share the story, wrote that Kirk had spoken to the prelate at a prayer breakfast in Visalia. The conservative activist "told the bishop about his Catholic wife and children and how he attended Mass with them."
Bishop Joseph Brennan of the Diocese of Fresno in California. Credit: Thank You (22 Millions+) views from Los Angeles, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Kirk acknowledged "speculation" about his possible interest in becoming Catholic, Brennan wrote in Angelus; he subsequently told Bishop Brennan: "I'm this close" to converting.
In his Angelus column Brennan pointed to a recent video Kirk made in which he acknowledged some "big disagreements" with Catholicism but claimed that Protestants "under-value" the Blessed Mother.
"We don't talk about Mary enough. We don't venerate her enough," Kirk said, arguing that Mary is "the solution" to "toxic feminism" in the U.S.
"[H]ow fitting one of Charlie Kirk's last videos was about the preeminent mediatrix of all time and space," Robert Brennan wrote in Angelus. "In his own way he was reaching out to her, and now, I am convinced, she is returning the favor."
Kirk was fatally shot while taking questions from audience members during a stop at Utah Valley University as part of his "American Comeback Tour." He is survived by his wife, Erika Frantzve, and their 3-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son.
Prominent Catholics around the world have joined in the chorus of voices mourning Kirk's death in the days since he was killed. German Catholic Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller referred to Kirk this week as "a martyr for Jesus Christ" and condemned the "satanic celebration" of his death by some of his detractors.
Kristan Hawkins, the president of Students for Life of America and Students for Life Action and a close friend of Kirk's, said on Sept. 13 that the activist's death "will be a turning point" for the country.
And Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts said Kirk's activism "restored optimism about the American future for millions of Americans."
St. Januarius and the miracle of the liquefaction of his blood contained in a relic. / Credit: Louis Finson, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Photo2023, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsACI Stampa, Sep 19, 2025 / 11:10 am (CNA).The miracle of the liquefaction of the blood of St. Januarius was announced in Naples on Sept. 19, with the centuries-old relic once again offering what Abbot Monsignor Vincenzo De Gregorio called an "invitation to stake everything" on trust in God."We are delighted to announce that the relic has been found completely liquid," said De Gregorio, the abbot of the Treasury Chapel of the Naples Cathedral.As is tradition, the announcement was accompanied by the waving of a white handkerchief by one of the members of the Treasury of St. Januarius Deputation.Cardinal Domenico Battaglia, the archbishop of Naples, presided over the morning Mass, then displayed the vial containing the patron saint's blood before all present during the celebration. From th...
null / Credit: nito/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 19, 2025 / 14:31 pm (CNA).This week the Patients Rights Action Fund, which works to "end the dangerous and discriminatory public policy of assisted suicide," provided an update on current assisted suicide legislation in the United States, revealing the deadly practice's ongoing expansion throughout the country.In a Sept. 18 webinar, group coalitions director Jessica Rodgers explained that most states that allow assisted suicide follow the "Oregon model," based on Oregan's assisted suicide criteria. The model requires "the patient to be 18 years of age or older, have a terminal illness with six months or less to live, make two or more separate requests with a 15-day waiting period in between, and have two witnesses, which can include heirs to the estate or friends of heirs," Rodgers said. "The drugs must be self-administered and all states do require the falsification of the death certificate," Rodgers said...
Pope Leo XIV receives members of various religious congregations on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaACI Prensa Staff, Sep 19, 2025 / 15:31 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV on Thursday highlighted the value of the vow of obedience in institutes of religious life as "a school of freedom in love" that lays the foundations of fidelity beyond "the 'feelings' of the moment."During a Sept. 18 meeting with participants in the general chapters and assemblies of various congregations and institutes, the pontiff reflected on "some unifying characteristics" of the legacy of the founders of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, the Society of Mary (Marists), the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate Conception, and the Ursulines of Mary Immaculate.First, he emphasized the importance of community life "as a place of sanctification and a source of inspiration, witness, and strength in your apostolate."In this regard, Leo XIV explained to those present that "it is no...
Turning Point USA CEO Charlie Kirk speaks at the Republican National Convention on July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. / Credit: Maxim Elramsisy/Shutterstock
