Iowa man receives life in prison for 2023 stabbing of Nebraska priest
http://www.myspiritfm.com/News?blogid=Catholic-News&view=post&articleid=289936&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Father Stephen Gutgsell. / Credit: Archdiocese of OmahaCNA Staff, Nov 14, 2025 / 11:04 am (CNA).An Iowa man will spend the rest of his life behind bars after he pleaded guilty in October to stabbing a Nebraska priest to death in 2023. Kierre Williams last month pleaded guilty to the assault that claimed the life of Father Stephen Gutgsell. Williams broke into the rectory of St. John the Baptist Parish in Fort Calhoun on Dec. 10, 2023, and stabbed Gutgsell, who later died of his injuries at a hospital. Williams himself was arrested shortly thereafter. He originally argued that he was not guilty of the murder by reason of insanity before changing his plea to guilty last month. Washington County Chief Deputy Attorney Erik Petersen said in court this week that the murder "shattered the innocence" of the small town of Fort Calhoun."I'm hoping this court's sentence will bring some peace to the citizens" of the town, he said, according to local media reports.Gutgsell's ...
Father Stephen Gutgsell. / Credit: Archdiocese of Omaha
CNA Staff, Nov 14, 2025 / 11:04 am (CNA).
An Iowa man will spend the rest of his life behind bars after he pleaded guilty in October to stabbing a Nebraska priest to death in 2023.
Kierre Williams last month pleaded guilty to the assault that claimed the life of Father Stephen Gutgsell. Williams broke into the rectory of St. John the Baptist Parish in Fort Calhoun on Dec. 10, 2023, and stabbed Gutgsell, who later died of his injuries at a hospital.
Williams himself was arrested shortly thereafter. He originally argued that he was not guilty of the murder by reason of insanity before changing his plea to guilty last month.
Washington County Chief Deputy Attorney Erik Petersen said in court this week that the murder "shattered the innocence" of the small town of Fort Calhoun.
"I'm hoping this court's sentence will bring some peace to the citizens" of the town, he said, according to local media reports.
Gutgsell's sister Therese Hupf, meanwhile, said in court that his family "cannot, even today, fully grasp his absence."
"He was stolen from his family and his parish family, who are hurting beyond words," she said.
Gutgsell's funeral was held at St. Cecilia Cathedral in Omaha followed by his burial at nearby Calvary Cemetery. He was 65 years old at the time of his death.
The priest grew up in Omaha and attended the College of St. Thomas — now the University of St. Thomas — and St. Paul Seminary in Minnesota. He was ordained in 1984. In addition to his priestly ministries he taught adult education including Bible study, sacramental preparation, and Church history.
Full Article
http://www.myspiritfm.com/News?blogid=Catholic-News&url=10&view=post&articleid=289938&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Pope Leo XIV waves to those gathered at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome on Nov. 14, 2025. / Credit: Vatican MediaACI Prensa Staff, Nov 14, 2025 / 10:04 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV on Friday urged academics to "think the faith" in order to confront what he called an increasingly pervasive "cultural emptiness."The pope spoke at a ceremony inaugurating the academic year at Rome's Pontifical Lateran University, the ecclesiastical university under the direct control of the Holy See, an event that brought together more than a thousand students and professors. In his address, Pope Leo XIV highlighted what he called the Lateran University's unique and "altogether special" bond with the successor of Peter, a characteristic that he said has shaped its identity and mission from the beginning. He recalled the contributions of various pontiffs since its founding in 1773 and described the Lateran as "a privileged center where the teaching of the universal Church is elaborated, received, ...
http://www.myspiritfm.com/News?blogid=Catholic-News&url=10&view=post&articleid=289937&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle presides over the closing Mass of the National Eucharistic Congress in Lucas Oil Stadium on July 21, 2024, in Indianapolis. / Credit: Jeffrey BrunoCNA Staff, Nov 14, 2025 / 10:34 am (CNA).In a move to renew a "long-lost tradition," the U.S. bishops confirmed the next National Eucharistic Congress will take place in the summer of 2029. At the plenary of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in Baltimore on Nov. 12, the bishops voted to confirm the date for the country's second National Eucharistic Congress of the 21st century. Last year's National Eucharistic Congress, the first to take place on American soil since World War II, attracted tens of thousands of people for several massive sessions of Eucharistic adoration in Indianapolis' Lucas Oil Stadium.The event also featured numerous talks and workshops related to the Catholic faith and a 60,000-participant Eucharistic procession through downtown Indianapolis.Bishop Andrew Cozzen...
http://www.myspiritfm.com/News?blogid=Catholic-News&url=10&view=post&articleid=289935&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
French press reports on the jihadist terror attacks the night of Nov. 13, 2015. / Credit: BalkansCat/ShutterstockACI Prensa Staff, Nov 14, 2025 / 11:34 am (CNA).Ten years ago on Nov. 13, armed jihadists stormed the Bataclan concert hall in Paris and elsewhere in the city, murdering over a hundred innocent people.Suicide bombers also attacked people near France's national stadium while other jihadists opened fire on restaurants and cafe terraces packed with people, leaving 130 dead and nearly 400 wounded.On the 10th anniversary of the attack, the archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, recalled the shock people experienced on Nov. 13, 2015, "in the face of the most gratuitous, the most blind violence," and especially "in the face of the intensity of the evil."The French prelate delivered a message filled with hope to the Parisians who witnessed that "long night of anguish.""Our faith also leads us not to forget how, in the midst of this darkness, brightly shone that night, glimmers...
