Christ mourns a murder victim in the statue "Thou Shalt Not Kill" by Timothy Schmalz. / Credit: Courtesy of the Archdiocese of BaltimoreWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 12, 2025 / 14:54 pm (CNA).As advocates in Baltimore work to end violent crime in the area, officials with the Archdiocese of Baltimore are bringing to the city a sculpture of Jesus mourning a homicide victim.The statue, made by Catholic artist Timothy Schmalz, is titled "Thou Shall Not Kill."On Aug. 9 the archdiocese held its third annual gun buyback program, inviting citizens to surrender their guns for cash to help lessen violence in the city. The Baltimore City Police Department, St. Joseph's Monastery Parish, and the Health by Southwest coalition helped the archdiocese sponsor the event.Following the success of the buybacks, St. Joseph's Monastery parish priest Father Mike Murphy, the archdiocese, and community leaders are working to bring Schmalz's work of Christian public art to the city.The life-sized statu...
Christ mourns a murder victim in the statue "Thou Shalt Not Kill" by Timothy Schmalz. / Credit: Courtesy of the Archdiocese of Baltimore
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 12, 2025 / 14:54 pm (CNA).
As advocates in Baltimore work to end violent crime in the area, officials with the Archdiocese of Baltimore are bringing to the city a sculpture of Jesus mourning a homicide victim.
The statue, made by Catholic artist Timothy Schmalz, is titled "Thou Shall Not Kill."
On Aug. 9 the archdiocese held its third annual gun buyback program, inviting citizens to surrender their guns for cash to help lessen violence in the city. The Baltimore City Police Department, St. Joseph's Monastery Parish, and the Health by Southwest coalition helped the archdiocese sponsor the event.
Following the success of the buybacks, St. Joseph's Monastery parish priest Father Mike Murphy, the archdiocese, and community leaders are working to bring Schmalz's work of Christian public art to the city.
The life-sized statue by Schmalz portrays Jesus weeping over a murder victim who has multiple gunshot wounds.
The original piece was created in 2024 and is at the Father Augustus Tolton Peace Center, a hub for violence prevention programs in Chicago. The statue that will be placed in Baltimore is awaiting final approval of its designated location.
The statue "Thou Shalt Not Kill" is displayed at the Father Augustus Tolton Peace Center in Chicago. Credit: Courtesy of the Archdiocese of Baltimore
Schmalz is an internationally acclaimed Canadian sculptor known for his Christian works of art, including statues of saints, angels, and his well-known depictions of Jesus portrayed as a homeless man.
More than 50 bronze works of "Homeless Jesus" are installed in locations around the world including Capernaum in Israel and Vatican City.
In April, a new Vatican-commissioned sculpture by the artist titled "Be Welcoming" was placed in St. Peter's Square to inspire people to open their hearts to the poor. The bronze statue depicts a man seated on a bench who appears to be homeless, carrying a backpack on his shoulder and a stick in one hand.
In Baltimore, the goal for this year's gun buyback program was to receive around 300 guns after buying nearly 160 in 2023 and 300 in 2024. By July the organizers had raised about $60,000 to fund the purchases of guns brought in. The 2025 buyback ultimately collected 410 firearms.
The latest buyback occurred as crime, including gun violence, has been dropping in Baltimore, though the city has long struggled with high levels of violent crime.
From 2015–2022 the city recorded more than 300 homicides annually, including 348 in 2019, which almost equaled the record of 353 in 1993.
Before the Angelus on July 13, 2025, Pope Leo XIV celebrated a Mass for local Catholics, religious leaders, and civil authorities at the 17th-century Pontifical Parish of St. Thomas of Villanova in Castel Gandolfo's main square. / Credit: Vatican MediaACI Prensa Staff, Aug 14, 2025 / 15:27 pm (CNA).Upon arriving at Castel Gandolfo on Aug. 13, Pope Leo XIV called for a peaceful resolution to the war between Russia and Ukraine ahead of the upcoming summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.The meeting, scheduled for Aug. 15 in Alaska, will address the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which the Russian army invaded three years ago.The Holy Father stated: "We must always seek a ceasefire; the violence, the many deaths must stop. Let's see how they can reach an agreement. Because after all this time, what is the purpose of war? We must always rely on dialogue, on diplomatic work, and not on violence or weapons."According to Vatican News, Pop...
null / Credit: Photo Spirit/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 14, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).A recent study has found an increase in the number of Americans Catholics leaving the Church. To combat the issue, the study's authors suggest creating stronger community ties among Catholics, especially among children. Michael Rota, philosophy professor at the University of St. Thomas, and Stephen Bullivant, theology and sociology professor at St. Mary's University, conducted the study examining the decline in religious practice among Catholic-born Americans using data from the General Social Survey (GSS). The GSS has asked a large representative sample of Americans a number of questions about religion for the past 50 years, which Rota and Bullivant analyzed to write "Religious Transmission: A Solution to the Church's Biggest Problem," published by Notre Dame's Church Life Journal.The data revealed that in 1973, 84% of the participants raised Catholic still identified as ...
null / Credit: HQuality/ShutterstockACI Prensa Staff, Aug 13, 2025 / 15:19 pm (CNA).After a lengthy session in Uruguay's Chamber of Representatives, legislators passed a bill this week that, if passed in the Senate, would legalize euthanasia in the country, making it the third in South America to permit the practice.Introduced by the Broad Front political coalition at the beginning of the year and approved in July by the lower House's Committee on Health, the bill will now move to the Senate for consideration. It passed by a margin of 64-29 in a plenary session of the Chamber of Representatives on Aug. 12.Nearly the entire ruling party bloc as well as members of the opposition voted for the bill, which states that any person over 18 years of age "who suffers from one or more chronic, incurable, and irreversible pathologies or health conditions that seriously impair their quality of life, causing unbearable suffering" may request assisted death.If approved, Uruguay would become ...
Christ mourns a murder victim in the statue "Thou Shalt Not Kill" by Timothy Schmalz. / Credit: Courtesy of the Archdiocese of Baltimore
