The two women had reportedly stayed at Holy Family Catholic Church before moving into the apartment where the strike was carried out.
Two Christian women were killed early on Oct. 3 in an Israeli strike on a residential apartment in western Gaza City, according to Palestinian and Church sources. The women had recently moved into the apartment after spending a prolonged period sheltering at Holy Family Catholic Church during the ongoing war.
The victims were identified as Maysaa Khader Ibrahim Abu Dawoud and Mary Hafez Michel al-Najjar. They had been living in an apartment in the Institutions area of western Gaza City.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strike.
In a statement to ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News, George Anton, the director of operations for the Latin Patriarchate in Gaza, said the two women had stayed at Holy Family Catholic Church throughout the war before recently moving into a rented apartment in an effort to resume a more stable life after months of displacement and sheltering at the church.
Anton said the apartment was struck early on Oct. 3, killing both women. He said their deaths had "left deep sorrow among Christian families in the Gaza Strip."
In a statement of mourning issued by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa expressed his "profound sorrow and grief" over the deaths of the two women in the strike on Gaza City.
Pizzaballa in the statement offered his condolences to their families and to Gaza's Christian community, praying that God would grant their loved ones consolation and strength during the painful time.
Holy Family Catholic Parish and the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Porphyrius in Gaza also mourned the two women and offered condolences to the Abu Dawoud, Ayyad, and al-Najjar families.
Anton pointed to figures recently cited by Pizzaballa showing a sharp decline in Gaza's Christian population since the outbreak of the war, as members of the community have either died or left the Gaza Strip.
In September, Pizzaballa said the number of Christians remaining in Gaza — Catholics and Orthodox combined — had fallen to 541, down from 1,017 before the war.
Churches in Gaza have sheltered hundreds of displaced people during the conflict, Anton said, including people who lost their homes or were forced to flee them.
Holy Family Catholic Church and St. Porphyrius Greek Orthodox Church have provided shelter to Christian and non-Christian families, while some families later moved into alternative housing as the war and widespread destruction continued.
The deaths of the two women underscore the precarious situation facing Christians who have remained in the Gaza Strip. Like other Palestinians in Gaza, they continue to endure displacement, the loss of relatives and homes, and deteriorating humanitarian conditions while seeking to preserve their Christian presence and religious life under extremely difficult circumstances.
This story was first published by ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
"Adore Him: He Is Here" will be in theaters Oct. 4–8.
A new movie is bringing the transformative power of Eucharistic adoration to the big screen. "Adore Him: He Is Here" uses firsthand accounts of real encounters and transformation and depictions of salvation history to portray the powerful love of God that is found in the Blessed Sacrament.
The docudrama features several prominent Catholic figures including Archbishop Paul Coakley of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City; Archbishop José Gómez of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles; Father Chris Alar of the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception; Curtis Martin, the founder of FOCUS; evangelist Chris Stefanick; and many more.
The film will be in theaters across the United States Oct. 4–8.
The inspiration for the film came as a response to the docudrama "Jesus Thirsts: The Miracle of the Eucharist," which was released in theaters in 2024. Created by the same filmmakers as "Adore Him," "Jesus Thirsts" was made in response to a poll that showed that roughly 70% of Catholics don't believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
"We wanted to demonstrate that Jesus is real in the Eucharist," Deacon Steve Greco, the filmmaker behind both films, told EWTN News in an interview. "So the people who saw that movie, many of them were inspired to say, 'OK, now that Jesus is real, I have to do something different. My life has to be different.' And in changing your life and your world, it really comes down to 'I need to really be connected with him.'"
He added: "So "Adore Him: He Is Here" is really meant to be a continuation, almost like a sequel, to the very first movie in which in order to activate Jesus, to activate the Holy Spirit in our hearts, we need to understand how to worship him. And Eucharistic adoration changes our entire life."
Greco also believes this film is necessary for today because "the Church is really being led back to Eucharist in a way like never before."
Deacon Steve Greco in the new film "Adore Him: He Is Here." | Credit: Spirit Filled Hearts
"We have this great activation going on in which people are really desiring the Blessed Sacrament and the Eucharist and going before the Blessed Sacrament in a way like never before," he said. "We see more and more churches going to 24/7 adoration. They're expanding their hours of adoration. More and more people are going before the Blessed Sacrament to really be energized and to receive graces."
For those who are feeling called to go to Eucharistic adoration, potentially for the first time, Greco would advise them to "start with 10 minutes and just talk to the Lord. Just have a conversation like with your best friend and just be quiet."
Then those 10 minutes can turn into 20, then half an hour, and finally a full hour. But, the most important thing you need to do, he said, is to "open up your heart to his love."
"You will find that when you go before the Blessed Sacrament, if you open your heart and you're silent before the Lord and you're listening before the Lord, … God will come to you in a powerful way and show you that you are his beloved," Greco added.
With this in mind, he said he hopes viewers of the film will take away "that first of all, Jesus is real; the Blessed Sacrament, the Eucharist is real. The Blessed Sacrament is there for us to allow us to get to really experience his love in a way like never before. We hope that people go to the Blessed Sacrament, to the chapel."
"When they see this movie [we hope] they just start going and believing and get into the habit of going a few times a week if not every day and just let God love you and that will transform their life. That will give them hope and joy."
Pope Leo XIV blessed Olivia Hamelin, a 3-year-old with a rare genetic condition, during his visit to Lourdes, France.
LOURDES, France — One of the most moving moments of Pope Leo XIV's visit to France was his meeting Sept. 27 with 5,000 sick people and their caregivers at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes.
There, after defending the inalienable dignity of those who are suffering from illness or infirmity, he strongly criticized a trend toward the legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide under the guise of "false compassion."
Immediately following his speech, Leo broke from his schedule to go into the crowd and greet the sick and disabled, many of whom had waited hours in the hot sun to take part in the meeting.
He also took time to bless a few people as he approached the Accueil Notre-Dame (Notre-Dame Home), a residential accommodation classified as a healthcare facility that hosts sick, disabled, and frail pilgrims to Lourdes.
Olivia Hamelin, a girl with the rare genetic neurological condition CDKL5 deficiency disorder, was among those Leo blessed.
"Seeing the pope bless Olivia was truly a moment of grace," Olivia's father, Alexandre Hamelin, told EWTN News afterward.
After Leo blessed Olivia, her father embraced her with a look of pure joy and happiness.
"The fact that he blessed Olivia, in a special way gives us so much strength and hope for her future. This pope radiates kindness and grace. I am certain he will leave a lasting mark on the history of the Church," Hamelin said.
The Hamelin family. From left to right, Alexandre, 3-year-old Olivia, 5-year-old Alba, Bérénice, and 6-month-old Raphaël. | Credit: Photo courtesy of the Hamelin family
It was 3-year-old Olivia's first time in Lourdes, alongside her parents, Alexandre and Bérénice, and her siblings, 5-year-old Alba and 6-month-old Raphaël.
Raphaël was also blessed by Pope Leo in Lourdes.
The family traveled almost four hours by car from their home in Périgueux, a town in southwestern France, to Lourdes for Leo's visit.
"For us, it was important to come to Lourdes to see the pope and hear his message of peace. It is a true sign of hope for our children," Hamelin said.
CDKL5 deficiency disorder affects brain development and causes severe epilepsy. Those with this condition can have difficulty with movement and speech, alongside other challenges.
Hamelin said when they learned Olivia's condition is not degenerative, it brought him and his family "enormous relief."
"Since then, our sole goal has been for Olivia to have the most beautiful and happiest life possible. Of course, we live with her disability, but we try not to let it limit us, especially in everything we do as a family," he said.
While his family had faith before the trial of Olivia's illness, now, he said, it has "an even more important place in our lives."
"It helps us keep moving forward, maintain trust, and not lose hope, even in the more difficult moments," he said. "Above all, we are convinced that Olivia is a blessing in our lives. We believe that the Lord entrusted her to us and that, through her, he also brings us an abundance of beautiful gifts."
The father noted how Olivia is teaching many people around her, even beyond their family.
For their oldest daughter, Alba, growing up with Olivia teaches her consideration for others, patience, kindness, and acceptance of differences, he said.
"These are beautiful values that Olivia passes on to her simply through her presence," Hamelin noted.
"Olivia profoundly touches the people around her. She creates deep connections and brings a very special joy wherever she goes," he said. "In the end, where some might see only the difficulties associated with her disability, we also see all the beauty she brings into our lives and into the lives of others. That, too, is what nourishes our hope and our faith."
"The universe is certainly not full of worlds like Earth," said Christopher Graney, a scholar at the Vatican Observatory.
A Vatican Observatory scholar said modern astronomy suggests Earth may be far less ordinary than scientists once believed, saying decades of research have revealed a universe filled with diverse world rather than countless Earth-life planets capable of supporting intelligent life.
Christopher Graney, an adjunct scholar at the Vatican Observatory, told "EWTN News Nightly" anchor Veronica Dudo on Oct. 2: "From a modern astronomy perspective, Earth is not an ordinary place. Doesn't mean that there's no other planets like Earth elsewhere in the universe, but the universe is certainly not full of worlds like Earth."
Graney asks readers to look at Earth in the context of the vast universe in his new book "A Universe of Earths: Our Planet and Other Worlds, Copernicus to NASA"(Oxford University Press, 2026).
For much of modern history, astronomers believed Earth was unremarkable and that many Earth-like worlds populated the universe, Graney said. However, Graney debunks this theory and argues for a more realistic approach to our solar system.
"Not long ago, at least in terms of Church history, astronomers thought Earth was very ordinary," he said. "They thought that there were lots of places like Earth. You will find this in historical writings from the 19th century especially."
For example, Jesuit Father Angelo Secchi, a pioneering Italian astronomer in the 19th century considered one of the founders of astrophysics, favored the idea that the universe contained many inhabited worlds. He wrote that stars were suns distributing "life and goodness" to "innumerable beings blessed by the hand of the Omnipotent," reflecting a common 19th-century belief that life existed throughout the cosmos.
In modern astronomy, "we know that Mars is completely lifeless, or at least there's so little life on there if it has any that we haven't found it yet … we've observed planets orbiting other stars. The universe is so diverse. Those star systems, those planets seem very different from Earth," he said.
At the Vatican Observatory, Graney focuses his research on the history of science by studying asteroids, galaxies, and cosmology.
When asked whether the Vatican was aware of any extraterrestrial sightings or signs elsewhere in the solar system, Graney dismissed theories that the Vatican is concealing evidence of alien life, saying such stories are "a lot more dull" in reality and that any life elsewhere in the universe is likely too far away to have reached Earth.
"It's more boring, I guess, than the Vatican hiding space aliens. But that's the way it is," Graney said.
The Italian prelate has served as archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica since 2021.
Pope Leo XIV has appointed Italian Cardinal Mauro Gambetti to serve as the archbishop of Chieti-Vasto, the Vatican announced on Oct. 3.
Gambetti will leave his post as the archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica, where he has served for the past five years after being appointed by Pope Francis in 2021.
He will take over the position in Chieti-Vasto from current Archbishop Bruno Forte, who has served there since 2004. Forte turned 77 in August, making him two years past the customary retirement age for prelates.
In a statement after the announcement, Forte described Gambetti's appointment as "a special sign of the Lord's benevolence."
"I am certain that [Gambetti] — rich in both academic background and pastoral experience — will give new impetus to the care of the faithful and the work of evangelization, efforts that have been sustained in recent years through the collaboration of so many," Forte said.
The outgoing archbishop said he would retire to Naples, his hometown, where he would pray for both Gambetti and the Church.
Born in Castel San Pietro Terme, Italy, Gambetti took his final vows with the Order of Friars Minor Conventual in 1998 and was ordained to the priesthood on Jan. 8, 2000.
He has served various leadership roles in his order in Italy and also served as the episcopal vicar of the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi in Umbria.
Pope Francis named him a cardinal in 2020; he was consecrated a bishop the same year. The late Holy Father also named him a member of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State in 2021.
Led by San Jose Bishop Oscar Cantú and program director Jose Soto, the "Radiate Love" initiative accompanies dozens of couples home to the sacraments.
For many Catholic couples who were married civilly, the desire to fully participate in the sacramental life of the Church and receive the Eucharist remains a deep longing.
In response, the Diocese of San Jose, California, led by Bishop Oscar Cantú, has launched a landmark convalidation initiative under the California bishops' "Radiate Love" campaign, witnessing dozens of couples enter into the sacrament of matrimony over the past few months.
Originally planned as a small pilot program, the initiative received a massive swell in interest from local families seeking to place Christ at the center of their marriages. Because of the high volume of registrants, celebrations took place across multiple communal Masses presided over by diocesan bishops on July 25, Aug. 1, and Sept. 26, alongside separate private ceremonies for couples who requested them.
Members of the Radiate Love Task Force pose with Jose Soto, center-left, and Bishop Oscar Cantú, center, with task force mentors Richard and Veronica Wildanger pictured on the far right. | Credit: Oliver Tapia/Diocese of San Jose
The initiative began after the director for Adult Spirituality and Family Life for the Diocese of San Jose, Jose Soto, noticed how many couples attending weekly Mass with their children refrained from Communion due to their marital status.
"We adapted the title 'Radiate Love' because it was used by the California bishops as a way to promote marriage and family in 2024-2025," Soto said. "So, as that initiative was drawing to a close, I created a Radiate Love task force, which was about four or five marriages that I put out an invitation to, and they were passionate about marriage and family, and they helped me put on events throughout the year. One of them said, 'Jose, my heart breaks when I see couples ... come to church, they bring their kids to Mass on Sunday, and they don't take Communion, and I wonder if there's anything we can do to help those couples.' And that's how it started."
While organizers initially planned for a small cohort of 12 to 15 couples to establish a framework, news of the program spread through parishes. After the time to sign up was over, there were a total of 102 couples ready to begin.
"We were just so excited and overwhelmed at the same time, but it was so joyful," Soto said. "It just said to me that there's a need out there, and that couples are willing to come forward when they are welcomed, and when they are, when they see that there's an initiative from the Church to walk with them, to journey with them."
Volunteer mentors Veronica and Richard Wildanger, who had their own civil marriage convalidated 22 years ago, joined the task force after being approached by Soto to support the "wonderfully successful" surge of applicants.
To ensure couples received thorough pastoral care, the diocese implemented the Witness to Love program for marriage preparation by pairing up civilly married couples with experienced mentor couples to walk them through the process. The Wildangers believed this was the next step in turning their marriage toward God.
"And the fact that the diocese offered it up, all of a sudden it was like someone stretching a hand out and saying, here, just hold my hand and we'll guide you through every step," Veronica said.
Participating couples pose for photos in the sanctuary during a Radiate Love communal convalidation liturgy presided over by San Jose Bishop Oscar Cantú and clergy. | Credit: Oliver Tapia/Diocese of San Jose
For candidates like Mireya Aristizábal and Juan David Díaz, who were married civilly three years after moving from Colombia, the program provided both spiritual clarity and personal connection as a couple.
"But in my heart, there was always that little itch," Aristizábal said in Spanish. "Because I said, 'Well, I want to be with my partner, but I want to be with him before God.' That is, the sacrament of matrimony. It's that, the desire to have and to live the sacrament to its fullest."
Her husband saw the decision as a way to support his wife's spiritual life while growing in his own faith.
"She was invited to the party, but they weren't giving her dinner," he said in Spanish. "So it's very difficult … to block her from her beliefs. I said, 'No, I also believe in God, I like the Catholic Church, so let's go.'"
According to Aristizábal, the preparation process helped ground their relationship in shared spiritual formation, finding their community in their new home to join them for the celebration on Sept. 26.
"The impact has been drawing us closer to God, knowing that we are seeking him, and that we want to put him in first place in our lives," Aristizábal said in Spanish.
Throughout the program, organizers and mentors emphasized the theology of sacramental marriage as an unbreakable covenant rather than a mere social agreement, Soto explained.
"When you bring God into it, this is now a covenantal marriage, not sort of a contractual marriage, but a sacramental marriage," Wildanger told EWTN News. "Our Lord is now present, and you owe a responsibility to God to really try to help your spouse get to heaven. It's not solely at this level; it's more of an also at this level. And God is now watching and present in you and can bring graces from that."
Soto noted that elevating civil unions into sacramental covenants provides families with a deeper sense of purpose, stating that couples can "mirror that when they give themselves to each other in holy matrimony."
Newly convalidated couples gather around San Jose Bishop OScar Cantú in the sanctuary, marking their entry into the sacrament of matrimony. | Credit: Oliver Tapia/Diocese of San Jose
For many couples, receiving the Eucharist after years of abstaining was an emotional milestone. Some even had exceeded 30 years of only civil marriage, causing many tears of joy, according to Veronica Wildanger.
Rather than detracting from the intimacy of the sacrament, participating in a group ceremony highlighted the universal nature of the Church.
"That makes me see that the Church is unity, and that sharing this sacrament with other people demonstrates that the Church is still very much alive, that it believes in marriage, and that it wants to keep fighting for it," Aristizábal said.
For couples who did not reach the program in time, or were limited due to missing documentation, time constraints, or anxieties — all of which Soto claimed were obstacles experienced by couples during the last year, the message of encouragement is clear: Do not be afraid.
"I would just say that the Church welcomes you, and the Church is here with open arms, and that whenever you are ready, we are here to walk with you every step of the way," Soto said. "So my advice would just be to, if you have it in your heart, if there's been a tug in your heart that says, maybe I should get married in the Church, to listen to it, to respond to it."
Bishop Vicente Carlos Kiaziku has decried the reported abduction of children in Zaire Province, warning they could become vulnerable to exploitation, including trafficking.
LUANDA, Angola — Bishop Vicente Carlos Kiaziku of the Diocese of Mbanza Congo in Angola has decried the reported abduction of children in Zaire province, warning that minors taken away from their families could become vulnerable to exploitation, including organ trafficking, prostitution, and modern slavery.
In his homily during Mass at Our Lady of the Conception Cathedral of Mbanza Congo Diocese on Sept. 27, Kiaziku reflected on the vulnerability of children living in situations of abandonment and called on families, authorities, and society to take greater responsibility for their protection.
"The abduction of children to be taken to the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo [DRC] is a horrible thing," the bishop said.
He warned that children who are abducted could become victims of "organ trafficking, modern slavery, and prostitution."
The bishop described such forms of exploitation as a serious threat to the dignity and safety of minors and urged the local community to remain vigilant.
"Children who are taken away do not go to paradise — no, they go to hell. We must do everything to ensure that this does not happen among us," he added, calling on "families, authorities, and society as a whole" to remain attentive and vigilant."
Kiaziku said the protection of children should not be left solely to individual families or government institutions but should be regarded as a responsibility shared by the entire community.
"Preventing child abduction and trafficking must be assumed as a collective responsibility, especially in a region bordering the DRC," he said.
Movement of people has been reported between Angola and the DRC Zaire province, where the Diocese of Mbanza Kongo is located, and has important crossing points such as Luvo.
Angola and the DRC share a land border of approximately 2,511 kilometers (about 1,560 miles), including about 225 kilometers (approximately 140 miles) in Cabinda province. The remainder is in mainland Angola, including Zaire province.
Kiaziku also drew attention to children who have been abandoned in the province, saying that some of them are particularly vulnerable to exploitation. He appealed for solidarity with children living without adequate family protection, making a particular appeal to families who have the means to welcome children into their homes.
"How good it would be, for example, if families who can do so adopted one of those children," Kiaziku said.
The bishop said such solidarity could help protect children from situations of abandonment and reduce their exposure to exploitation and other dangers.
This story was first published by ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, and has been adapted by EWTN News.
All crimes against minors to be pursued says Lithuanian bishops, Filipino bishops call for ban on political dynasties, patriarch calls for synods in Syria, and more in this week's world news roundup.
The Lithuanian Bishops' Conference will pursue an investigation into all crimes committed against minors and vulnerable adults within the Church since March 11, 1990, when the country became independent from the Soviet Union.
"The priority is the victim, not institutional reputation. To achieve this, it is necessary to establish how many such crimes have occurred in the past, since 11 March 1990," the bishops said in a statement, according to a Sept. 28 Delfi report.
The investigation follows a case involving Father Tadas Švedavicius, a Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Vilnius who was charged in connection with 34 criminal counts of child sexual abuse, possession of child pornography, and distributing alcohol to minors over the course of 20 years, the report said. The conference will consult the Holy See and Lithuanian law enforcement during the investigation.
Filipino bishops back calls to ban political dynasties
Catholic bishops in the Philippines have voiced their support for a nationwide signature campaign calling for the end of political dynasties in the country.
"Public office must never become a family inheritance. It is a public trust entrusted to the people," Bishop Elias Ayuban Jr. of Cubao said at a launch event for the anti-dynasty initiative known as "Dapat Isa Lang" at the Obispado de Cubao in Quezon City, according to a Sept. 30 press release from the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
The conference at large backed the initiative in a pastoral statement on Sept. 25, declaring: "As pastors of God's people, we cannot remain indifferent to matters that touch the moral foundations of our society, the dignity of our people, justice, equality, and the common good. For these reasons, we support the call to enact a genuine, meaningful, and effective Anti-Political Dynasty Law that will faithfully give effect to the mandate of our Constitution."
2 synod calls expose tensions in Syriac Catholic Church
A dispute over two proposed meetings of Syriac Catholic bishops has brought internal tensions in the Church into public view. Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III Younan called a synod for Nov. 17–20, while another invitation called bishops to meet Sept. 29–30.
The patriarchate said Church law gives Younan the first right to convene the synod and considers the separate September invitation unlawful. It has also rejected claims that the patriarch failed to call a synod in recent years, ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News, reported Sept. 30.
An unnamed source cited by ACI MENA disputed that account and questioned the timing of Younan's invitation. The disagreement comes amid wider tensions involving the patriarch and Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Vatican's Dicastery for the Eastern Churches. Younan has publicly accused the cardinal of encouraging bishops to seek his removal, placing the synod dispute within a broader debate over leadership and authority in the Syriac Catholic Church.
Angolan bishop: Religious zeal must not come at expense of family responsibilities
Bishop Maurício Agostinho Camuto of Angola's Diocese of Caxito has cautioned Catholics against religious practices that could lead them to neglect their family responsibilities.
"Jesus does not ask for spending more time in the Church than caring for the family," Camuto said in his homily during Mass at St. Anne's Cathedral on Sept. 27, ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, reported. "Religious involvement should not result in the abandonment of family responsibilities," he said, citing situations in which "there are even wives whose husbands almost want to separate from them because they spend more time in the Church than at home, taking care of the family, taking care of the husband."
The bishop further called for stronger formation and accompaniment of members of apostolic groups and movements, particularly through catechesis and participation in the sacramental life of the Church.
Japanese cardinal calls faithful to act on behalf of migrants and refugees
Cardinal Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi of Tokyo is encouraging Catholics to go beyond words and take action on behalf of migrants and refugees.
Kikuchi echoed calls from Pope Leo XIV to move from "merely managing migration" to "full and immediate protection of human rights" in a Sept. 27 reflection, according to UCA News.
The reflection came on World Day of Refugees, Migrants, and Displaced Persons on Sept. 27. Kikuchi further urged Catholics to reflect especially on the pope's appeal for children and to ask themselves, "What can we ourselves do for 'these little ones'?"
Protestant march in Catholic Northern Ireland town permitted; archbishops respond
The Northern Ireland Parades Commission has reversed a ruling previously prohibiting the Protestant Orange Order from marching through the Catholic majority town of Portadown for the first time in nearly three decades, according to a Sept. 30 America Magazine report.
The Sept. 27 march resulted in a clash between Protestant members of the Orange Order and protesters blocking their path from Drumcree Church, according to the report.
Addressing the tension, Archbishop Eamon Martin of the Archdiocese of Armagh and Archbishop John McDowell of the Church of Ireland in Armagh issued a joint statement following the Sept. 27 march.
"As our community faces the crisis in Drumcree today, in which so many sincere views, painful histories and important issues are at stake, we cannot think of any time in the last 30 years when this simple message needs to be more urgently heard. How can we be good neighbors to each other?" the archbishops said. "We call for the urgent creation of a constructive, inclusive and reconciling initiative to patiently find a way through this current crisis. Too much is at stake."
Christian parliamentarian raises security concerns as coalition mission ends in Iraq
The end of the international coalition's mission in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region has renewed security concerns among Christians, according to Ramy Noori Syawish, an elected Christian member of the Kurdistan Regional Parliament.
Syawish told ACI MENA Sept. 30 that the continuing threat from ISIS, armed groups outside state control, and uncontrolled weapons raises questions about the ability of Iraqi and Kurdish forces to respond to another major security crisis. He said smaller communities could be particularly vulnerable because of their declining numbers and dependence on the state for protection. He also pointed to economic hardship and irregular public-sector salaries as factors driving emigration. Syawish said the next Kurdistan Regional Government should prioritize services in Christian areas and address long-running disputes over land and property.
Religion in public life sparks debate over Syria's direction
A series of incidents during the summer has fueled debate over the growing presence of religion in Syria's public life.
The controversies have touched women's dress, education, employment, entertainment, and the way public institutions are being run, according to a Sept. 29 report from ACI MENA. Other disputes followed a dress code directive for female government employees, the separation of male and female students at a Damascus school, and religious questions reportedly included on an employment form.
The debate has also reached the arts, while questions over some public appointments have raised concerns about whether professional qualifications or other considerations are shaping hiring decisions. Some allegations surrounding these cases remain disputed or unverified.
Days before Brazil's presidential election, social media posts made or insinuated false claims about candidate Flávio Bolsonaro.
Brazil's Superior Electoral Court ruled on Sept. 30 to uphold the removal of false social media posts linking conservative Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, a Liberal Party candidate for president, to an alleged initiative to strip Our Lady of Aparecida of her title as the patroness of Brazil.
Under the decision reached in the virtual plenary session, content clearly linking Bolsonaro to the initiative must be removed. However, posts where there is reasonable doubt regarding the link to the candidate are to be preserved. This applies to a post by comedian Antonio Tabet, which was permitted to remain online by the reporting justice, André Mendonça.
The case began on Sept. 24 when Tabet posted an image of the dark-skinned Our Lady of Aparecida on X with the caption: "The militia family hates black women so much that they decided to attack Our Lady of Aparecida." The post did not mention Bolsonaro by name. The senator is the son of Jair Bolsonaro, who was president of Brazil from 2019-2023.
The following day, Mendonça, the vice president of the Superior Electoral Court and the rapporteur for the case, ordered the removal of content that claimed Bolsonaro or his family intended to strip Our Lady of Aparecida of her title as the patroness of Brazil.
Upon reconsidering his vote, the judge concluded there was doubt regarding the link between Tabet's post and Bolsonaro and decided to allow the post to stay online.
"As it is reasonable to take the content to be ambiguous, I believe the solution most consistent with the criteria of minimal intervention [by the courts] and heightened protection of freedom of expression is to keep the post online," Mendonça said.
According to the judge, the decisions ordering the removal of the content specifically naming Flávio Bolsonaro "do not amount to prior restraint" nor did they violate religious freedom.
"Confusing a 'fake news' report with a restriction on faith represents a distortion of the decision's actual substance. Faith was not on trial," Mendonça said. He further noted that "the insinuation that the decisions issued in these proceedings sought to prevent Catholics from expressing support for or devotion to Our Lady of Aparecida is particularly baffling" and emphasized: "Nothing, absolutely nothing, in the decisions warrants such a conclusion."
He also stated that this change does not alter the other points of his decision and emphasized that he considers "objectively false" the claims that Bolsonaro "had authored, presented, proposed, supported, or concretely orchestrated an initiative aimed at removing Our Lady of Aparecida from her status as the patroness of Brazil."
The president of the Supreme Electoral Court, Justice Nunes Marques, concurred with Mendonça and stated that the decision "protects religious freedom in its collective and democratic dimension."
"In my view, the relief granted protects religious freedom in its collective and democratic dimension, as it prevents the faith of millions of Brazilians from being instrumentalized within days of the election [Oct. 4] through a claim without a factual basis designed to artificially stir up emotional reactions among the electorate," Marques said.
He also highlighted that "the contested post did not need to name the candidate to attribute the claim to him; because it was disseminated at the height of the false narrative's circulation — accompanied by the image of the patroness. Its message was only fully realized and achieved its intended effect due to the context of current news stories in which it was embedded." Nevertheless, Marques' difference of opinion regarding Tabet does not alter the effect of the ruling.
This story was first published by ACI Digital, the Portuguese-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
On the feast of the Guardian Angels in 1928, the saint received "general enlightenment" about his mission, which later coalesced into a specific form.
On Oct. 2, 1928, "the Lord founded His Work; brought Opus Dei (The Work of God) into being," wrote St. Josemaría Escrivá in his personal notes, as recorded by Andrés Vázquez de Prada in the Spanish-language volume of "The Founder of Opus Dei," a definitive text on the Spanish saint's life.
"The Work of God was not imagined by a man," he would later say. "For many years, the Lord had been inspiring it in an inept and deaf instrument, who saw it for the first time on the Feast of the Guardian Angels."
It was, the saint understood, the answer to the prayers he repeatedly addressed to God: "Domine, ut videam!" and "Domine, ut sit!" ("Lord, that I may see!" and "Lord, that it may come to be!")
On that October day, the founder of Opus Dei was making a spiritual retreat at the Central House of the Vincentian missionaries in Madrid. "I received enlightenment regarding the whole Work ... Deeply moved, I knelt down, I was alone in my room in the interval between talks, and thanked the Lord; I recall with emotion the ringing of the bells of the parish church of Our Lady of the Angels."
On that occasion, Vázquez de Prada notes, St. Josemaría's mind "was illuminated with a clear, general idea of ??his mission."
"The scattered notes the retreatant had brought with him to meditate upon during the retreat consisted of ideas that were, it seems, unsystematized. In the days that followed, he compiled them in an orderly fashion, in accordance with the general enlightenment he had just received regarding the whole work," the author explains.
Building on that foundation, over the years St. Josemaría "drafted documents that he would later hand to his children in Opus Dei," Vázquez de Prada continues.
In 1930, he wrote in a letter: "We have come to say with the humility of one who knows himself to be a sinner and of little account ("homo peccator sum" — I am a sinful man [Luke 5:8], we say with Peter), yet with the faith of one who allows himself to be guided by the hand of God, that holiness is not reserved for a privileged few: that the Lord calls all of us, that he expects love from everyone, from everyone, wherever they may be; from everyone, whatever their state in life, their profession, or their trade."
"For that ordinary, everyday life without pretense can be a means of holiness; there is no need to abandon one's state in life to seek God — if the Lord has not given a soul a religious vocation — since every way of life on this earth can be an occasion for an encounter with Christ," the founder of Opus Dei said.
What is Opus Dei?
Its official Spanish-language website defines Opus Dei as "a hierarchical institution of the Catholic Church, a personal prelature, whose purpose is to contribute to the Church's evangelizing mission."
"Specifically, the aim is to spread a deep awareness of the universal call to holiness and the sanctifying value of ordinary work," the website adds.
Among the faithful who discover a "vocation to Opus Dei" and request to join, a distinction is made between numeraries, who live apostolic celibacy and are fully available for the work of the prelature; associates, who also live apostolic celibacy but whose personal, family, or professional circumstances limit that availability; and supernumeraries, whether married or single, who do not commit to celibacy. Priests incardinated in the prelature are drawn from the ranks of numeraries or associates.
According to the most recent data released by Opus Dei, around 94,450 people are part of the institution, which is present in 68 countries across five continents.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
