Catholic News

The Austrian Bishops' Conference has adopted its first rules on the use of artificial intelligence in the Church, declaring that AI may never take the place of human relationships, pastoral conversations, or the rites of the Church.

"The use of AI in the celebration of the sacraments, preaching, liturgy, or pastoral care may only be supportive," a core provision of the new framework states. "Replacing human relationships, pastoral conversations, community, or rituals with AI is inadmissible and is expressly rejected."

The bishops published the provision in their press statement on Thursday, explaining: "Particularly in preaching, liturgy, and pastoral care, the irreplaceability of personal encounter and human relationship must be preserved."

The full document section is titled "Framework Regulation on the Use of AI Systems in the Catholic Church in Austria and Its Institutions." It takes effect once it is published in the next official gazette of the bishops' conference. The bishops met in Salzburg from Monday to Thursday.

"Artificial intelligence is reaching ever more areas of life. The opportunities it brings are matched by high risks," the statement said. "AI also opens up new possibilities for the work and mission of the Church. Its use brings new ethical, legal, and social challenges and calls for responsible handling."

"The rules are grounded in the Christian image of man, the inviolable dignity of every person, and respect for their freedom," the bishops said. "AI should serve the human person and strengthen him in his responsibility, not replace him. Its use therefore requires critical review, human oversight, and orientation toward truth, justice, and the common good."

The framework also sets organizational requirements. "Among other things, the rules provide that every diocese must appoint a person responsible for AI," the bishops' conference said. "For cooperation across Austria, a new working group is being set up that includes all diocesan AI officers." Experts in data protection, information technology, and theological ethics will also take part, as will the Austrian Conference of Religious Orders.

In November 2025 the bishops' conference set up a working group on the use of artificial intelligence in the Church. Led by Bishop Hermann Glettler of Innsbruck, it was tasked with examining legal and ethical questions as well as practical applications for the Church.

At their summer plenary in Mariazell in June, the bishops explicitly endorsed Pope Leo XIV's social encyclical Magnifica Humanitas.

"Pope Leo calls on us, even in the face of the promises of AI, to preserve the greatness of the human person, indeed the 'beauty of being human,' as a corrective and a standard," they wrote at the time.

They quoted the encyclical: "It is not enough for artificial intelligence to make us more efficient or connected; it must also serve to build a universal human family, with shared rights and duties, where digital proximity becomes a real opportunity for encounter and mutual care."

In the era of artificial intelligence, the encyclical says, "ours is the pressing duty to remain profoundly human." The bishops added in June: "Precisely because it is the rich and powerful who develop AI systems and use them to their advantage, we need the perspective of the poor, the weak, and the disadvantaged that the pope has called for."

"The future will not be decided by the performance of our systems but by whether we take responsibility — for the human person and for a culture of encounter, love, and peace," they wrote.

This story was first published by CNA Deutsch, the German-language sister service of EWTN News, and has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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On Nov. 13, the Catholic Church celebrates the life of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, an Italian-born missionary who served poor Italian immigrants in Chicago. The city plans to erect a statue of Cabrini in Arrigo Park, in Chicago's Little Italy, replacing a Christopher Columbus statue.

Here are 10 things to know about St. Frances Xavier Cabrini:

1. She was the first American citizen to be canonized.

Though born in Italy, Frances Xavier Cabrini became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1909. In 1946, she was canonized by Pope Pius XII, becoming the first American citizen to be declared a saint.

2. She originally wanted to be a missionary to China.

Inspired by St. Francis Xavier, Cabrini hoped to evangelize in China. Instead, Pope Leo XIII directed her westward, telling her to serve immigrants in the United States, "not to the East, but to the West."

3. She arrived in New York with almost nothing.

In 1889, Cabrini landed in New York City with six fellow sisters and limited resources. What awaited her was not a warm welcome but housing instability and overwhelming poverty among Italian immigrants.

4. She founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart.

In 1880, she established the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a religious order dedicated to education, healthcare, and missionary work. The order continues its work worldwide today.

5. She built an empire of schools and hospitals.

By the time of her death, Cabrini had founded nearly 70 institutions, including orphanages, schools, and hospitals across the United States, Europe, and Latin America.

6. She served Italian immigrants during a time of intense prejudice.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Italian immigrants faced widespread discrimination in America. Cabrini advocated fiercely for their dignity, education, and healthcare.

7. She became a U.S. citizen in 1909.

Cabrini's naturalization reflected her long-term commitment to serving American communities, particularly in cities like New York and Chicago.

8. She died in Chicago in 1917.

Cabrini passed away on Dec. 22, 1917, in Chicago after years of tireless travel and work. The doctor attributed her death to chronic endocarditis, or heart disease. Her body is preserved for veneration at the National Shrine of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini.

9. She is the patron saint of immigrants.

In 1950, Pope Pius XII officially named her the patron saint of immigrants, recognizing her lifelong dedication to displaced and marginalized communities.

10. Her legacy remains visible across the U.S.

Hospitals, schools, and institutions bearing her name continue her mission of faith-driven service and education.

This story was first published on Feb. 28, 2026, and was updated on Nov. 11, 2026.

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Alvernia University in Reading, Pennsylvania, will acquire Marian University in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, the schools announced this week.

Pending institutional, canonical, and accrediting approvals from Church authorities and the U.S. Department of Education, the Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes, which owns Marian University, said it plans to "gift" the school to Alvernia's founders, the Bernardine Franciscan Sisters.

Marian will be renamed Alvernia University Marian Campus and will retain its mascot and most of its branding.

According to Alvernia president Glynis Fitzgerald, "the future of Catholic higher education will be shaped by institutions willing to work together, and steward their resources wisely."

Notre Dame adds bioengineering department

The College of Engineering at the University of Notre Dame announced the opening of a bioengineering department on the heels of the recent establishment of the Bioengineering & Life Sciences Initiative and a $275 million investment into biomedical research at the university.

Research priorities will center on using tissue engineering and engineered disease models to lessen reliance on animal testing; the development of new medical devices and diagnostic tools to expand access to better healthcare; and biocomputing and research conducted in the microgravity environment of space.

"This new department is an exciting step in advancing Notre Dame as the leading global Catholic research university," provost John McGreevy said. "It will enable us to do even more and better research and to train students in an area where many of the most important questions facing both engineering and science are going to be addressed."

Catholic school students in 3 NYC boroughs outpace public school counterparts on 2026 state tests

Students in Catholic schools across the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island scored higher than their New York City public school counterparts on 2026 state assessments, according to the Archdiocese of New York's 2025-26 Impact Report, "Renewed for Growth," released Nov. 10.

Compared with 48% of public school students, 66% of Catholic school students reached proficiency in English. In math, the Catholic school proficiency rate stood at 69%, compared with the 53% public school rate, the report states.

The findings, based on an Oct. 1, 2025, census, included 46,958 students enrolled in 146 schools across the three boroughs and seven surrounding counties.

Across the archdiocese, 65.3% of students in grades three through eight were proficient in English language arts and 67.4% were proficient in math on tests administered by the New York State Education Department.

The Catholic University of America one of 5 schools in nation awarded federal grant

The Center of Excellence for Veteran Student Services (CEVSS) has awarded a three-year, $627,000 grant to The Catholic University of America.

The university will use the award to develop a model program that serves the academic, financial, and social needs of military affiliated students and veterans, promoting their retention, enrollment, and graduation rates, and preparing them for life post-graduation. The CEVSS is a U.S. Department of Education program administered by the Labor Department.

Diocese of Pittsburgh reports growth, perfect graduation rate

In 2026, 100% of high school seniors graduated at the Diocese of Pittsburgh's 10 high schools, according to a new report. In addition, 100 new families enrolled in diocesan schools last year.

Of the 2026 graduates, 94.5% went on to college, and 5.5% went straight into the workforce, joined the military, or entered trades. The graduates received more than $100 million in scholarships, the diocese said.

"Our schools provide students with a strong academic foundation while helping them develop a relationship with Jesus Christ and discover how their faith can guide them throughout their lives," Bishop Mark Eckman said.

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On Oct. 28, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun told a delegation of French lawmakers who belong to a study group on Eastern Christians that "there is no danger to the Christian presence in Lebanon." He pointed to the country's tradition of Christian-Muslim coexistence and argued that what had happened in neighboring countries could not happen in Lebanon.

Aoun's remarks come amid concerns about the security and future of Lebanon's Christian communities, as families face violence, displacement, and pressure to emigrate.

Lebanon's political system formally recognizes the partnership between its Christian and Muslim communities. Under its long-standing power-sharing arrangement, the president is a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of Parliament a Shiite Muslim. Parliamentary seats are divided equally between Christians and Muslims. Christian participation is therefore part of the country's founding political understanding. Aoun's assurance is weighed against the experiences of Christian communities across the country.

Security concerns 

Security is the most immediate and tangible test.

On Oct. 29, Maronite Father Samir Daou was found murdered by a Syrian worker. Months earlier, Father Pierre al-Rahi was killed by Israeli shelling. In February 2025, Armenian Apostolic Archimandrite Anania Kojanian was killed at his home.

The losses extend beyond the clergy. In the past few months, Israeli strikes killed dentist James Karam and his children, Tony and Theodosia, as well as Pierre Moawad; his wife, Flavia Mourad; and Roula Matar.

In the past years, the killings of Pascal Sleiman and Elias Hasrouni, both associated with the Lebanese Forces, a Christian political party opposed to Hezbollah, have also deepened fears. Fadi Bejjani, a former bodyguard to a Christian politician, died in a separate incident: a 2023 shootout involving local residents and Hezbollah gunmen after a truck carrying the group's ammunition overturned.

The circumstances of these deaths differ, but they highlight the most basic condition for remaining in Lebanon: personal security.

In the south, the danger also takes the form of uprooting entire communities. Christian villages near the Israeli border have been caught in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shiite political and armed movement designated by the United States as a terrorist organization.

In Qawzah, Father Antonios Hanna, pastor of St. Joseph Parish, recently told EWTN News that residents had been displaced as their village became a battleground. Homes and the parish church have sustained damage.

Christians who have stayed in Rmeish, Ain Ebel, and Debel, three villages near Lebanon's border with Israel known as the "delta of resilience" face a different ordeal. Residents are cut off from jobs, universities, and hospitals, and are dependent on coordinated convoys to leave or return to their home. Despite their attachment to their land, insecurity makes staying difficult, while displaced families need safety and reconstruction to return.

Hezbollah has dragged Christian communities into a war they did not choose and cannot afford. Its disarmament is on the government's agenda, and Lebanese authorities have intercepted explosives shipments and tightened financial restrictions. Yet these measures have so far had limited impact on the group's ability to defy state authority and exert political and military influence.

The politics of land

Land is another part of the same question. Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rai, the Maronite patriarch, has warned of increasing land sales and urged Christian owners not to surrender the roots and future those properties represent.

Various politicians, media outlets, and research centers have alleged that Hezbollah and affiliated financiers are behind large land purchases in Christian areas. Buying and selling property is normal in any country. But reports of coordinated purchases, unclear funding, and offers above market prices have raised fears that these transactions serve a strategy to expand the group's territorial and political control.

For minorities, land ownership is closely tied to survival.

Representation, employment, and emigration

Meaningful participation in national life is equally important. A Christian president does not answer every question about Christians' access to public employment and responsibility within state institutions.

For example, as reported by the Lebanese newspaper Nidaa al-Watan, only three of 54 trainee accountants covered by a decree on transfers and appointments in public administrations were Christians. Lebanon's constitution reserves Christian-Muslim parity for the highest civil-service positions while making qualifications and competence the standard for other public employment. However, certain figures warrant transparent answers about recruitment and access.

Then there is the future of the young. A 2024 Arab Barometer survey found that 58% of Lebanese people ages 18 to 29 wanted to emigrate. That figure concerns Lebanese youth generally, rather than Christians alone. Lack of opportunities, instability, and the difficult financial crisis are making it hard for youth to stay in their homeland. 

Nonetheless, when young Christians leave in search of work and stability, their villages and parishes lose the families they might have formed and the skills they might have contributed. A parish's future depends on whether the next generation can afford to build a life around it.

Like all Lebanese, Christians have the right to live in peace on their own land, free from war and the coercive power of Islamist militias. The guarantee they need is a state capable of making those rights part of everyday life.

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.

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Pope Leo XIV spent his first full day in Peru on Nov. 12 meeting with Church leaders and Peruvian citizens, marking an emotional return to the country he called home for years prior to his papacy.

The Holy Father first began serving in Peru in 1985 as Father Robert Prevost. He would remain in the country for years in various roles, eventually being named as the bishop of Chiclayo in 2015.

Leo will spend several days in Peru, concluding his historic South American papal trip there before returning to Rome. He previously visited Uruguay and Argentina as part of the journey.

Here are photos of Pope Leo's activities in Peru:

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LIMA, Peru — Pope Leo XIV drew an exuberant crowd of young people to Peru's national stadium on Thursday and told them that friendship with Christ was the key to discovering their path in life.

"Learning to recognize the Lord's voice is essential," Leo said Nov. 12 at a youth prayer vigil, his third such event during his tour of South America. "… Speak to him about your plans and allow his word to question you. Do not be afraid to ask him what he expects of you. He will call some to the priesthood or the consecrated life, others to marriage and to forming a family. All are called to put their abilities at the service of others."

According to local authorities, some 60,000 people attended the event in the stadium, and another 300,000 followed the proceedings in the surrounding area.

The pope spoke after hearing the testimonies of three young adults who had experienced bullying, depression or the loss of loved ones before finding roles in the Church.

Leo noted the ambiguity of the word "passion," which young people are commonly encouraged to discover and pursue.

"We use it to speak of what we love deeply, what awakens our enthusiasm and moves us to give the best of ourselves. But the word also reminds us of suffering, of experiences that seem to extinguish our desire to keep going," he said.

The pope pointed to Christ's Passion as the model for distinguishing between the distinct but linked senses of the word.

"He did not desire the cross; he desired our salvation. Out of love for us, he accepted it and bore it to the end. Thus, through his self-giving, that instrument of death became the place where his passionate love was revealed, a love capable of conquering death."

Leo acknowledged that the Christian path can be a forbidding one.

"At times, we wonder whether following God's will means giving up our dreams. This fear can give rise to an even more dangerous suspicion: thinking that God is depriving us of something and that, in order to enjoy life fully, we also need to experience sin," the pope said.

"Do not be deceived. How could something that harms us make us happy? God knows our deepest desires, even better than we know them ourselves. He has placed within us the desire to love and to be happy, and he wants to bring that desire to fulfillment," he said.

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"For a priest, being able to hear confessions gives meaning to his ministry. It is restoring peace; it is making God's love present," said Father Rodolfo, a Pallottine priest who heard young people's confessions during the Nov. 10 vigil with Pope Leo XIV at the Monument of the Spaniards in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Speaking with EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, the priest noted that "the confessor is a mediator; it is Jesus who forgives, it is Jesus who welcomes the sinner, but being able to serve as that mediator fills me with joy and gives meaning to my life."

When asked what he would say to young people who do not go to confession, the priest emphasized that he would remind them that "they would always experience themselves as loved by God. God's gaze is a gaze of love, and the sacrament is a sign of that love and so I would encourage them to come forward."

Regarding his experience with Pope Leo in Argentina, Father Rodolfo shared that he is experiencing "immense joy. In my Sunday homily, I said: 'The pope's arrival, the mere fact of his coming, will not change anything; what will change us is listening to him, because his message comes in the name of God.'"

"These young people," he emphasized, "can hear the pope's message, a pope who is truly focused on Jesus. He is a man of God, but one with his eyes open to reality. I believe he has much to say to young people, as well as to us priests, religious, and adults; he conveys a message rooted in our own reality and places Jesus at the center."

The priest expressed his hope that by the end of the vigil, the young people would "take with them the knowledge that Jesus loves them with an eternal love. He loves us where we're at, not in spite of our limitations, but right along with them. God's love forgives and transforms."

Catalina Albrecht, Marcos Fratantoni, and Belén Lisdero, students at the Universidad Austral in Buenos Aires, contributed to this report.

This story was first published by EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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LIMA, Peru — Pope Leo XIV called on Peru to support the traditional family, respect cultural diversity, and defend the rights of women — all in fidelity to the social doctrine of the Church.

"At the center of every social, economic, and political organization must be the human person, created in the image and likeness of God, endowed with infinite dignity and called to live in relationship with others. On this basis, the personal, familial, and social good come together as one reality," Leo said on Nov. 12 to an estimated 40,000 people gathered in Lima's main square.

The topic of the event was "the challenges and hopes for the future of the Peruvian people."

Leo's remarks underscored how Catholic social teaching cuts across positions that secular politics typically categorize as right- or left-wing.

The pope said that human dignity requires that every child be conceived through natural means and that recent changes in sex roles require the Church "to assert with even greater conviction that God created the human person male and female."

"It is in this union alone that reciprocity and complementarity are expressed, giving rise to fatherhood and motherhood, filiation and fraternity, and everyone's commitment to a better society," he said.

Leo also mentioned other threats to the family including economic problems, emigration, unfettered use of digital technology, and "addictions, such as gambling and betting, alcoholism and drug addiction, abuse or domestic violence."

Paying tribute to Peru's "cultural, linguistic, historical, and regional plurality," the pope called for sensitivity in speaking about other groups.

"We cannot accept expressions or behaviors that classify, offend, or judge people on the basis of their appearance, origin, or social condition, under the pretext of certain jokes or popular slang," he said.

Leo also said that human dignity "requires that we effectively promote the presence, respect, and participation of women. Their contribution to every sphere of society and the Church is indispensable. It is sad to see that machismo persists, manifested in the absence of fathers from family life, in abuse and violence against women."

"Women living in poverty or belonging to Indigenous and Afro-American communities are liable to suffer a double marginalization. For this reason, it pains us to see that violence against women — who could be our grandmothers, mothers, sisters, or daughters — continues to be a reality that wounds all of humanity," the pope said.

Earlier in the day, Leo met with Peru's Catholic bishops, first at the residence of Lima's archbishop and later in the morning at the city's cathedral, where they were joined by clergy, religious, seminarians, synodal teams, and pastoral councils.

The pope praised the Church in Peru for pursuing synodality, a signature initiative of the late Pope Francis that Leo has pledged to continue, which seeks to involve the whole Church, including the laity, more fully in discernment and mission.

Leo also mentioned the problem of clerical sexual abuse, to which he said bishops should respond "as Jesus would, with truth, justice, forgiveness, making amends, and an ever more resolute commitment to fostering a culture of prevention and proaction for the weakness in light of such crimes."

The pope met privately with six abuse abuse victims in Lima on Thursday, after meeting with five others in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Nov. 9, a gesture that popes have occasionally made on their international travels since Pope Benedict XVI.

Encouraging the bishops to promote communion within the Church and oppose polarization in Peruvian society, the pope coupled values and commitments that are sometimes the subject of division or disparate emphasis among Catholics.

He said the bishops' mission required them "to combine doctrinal fidelity with pastoral closeness; the celebration of the sacraments with a commitment to our neighbor; and the formation of consciences with a concrete witness of charity."

To the congregation in the cathedral, gathered for mid-morning prayer, Leo said that the key Christian mission of peacemaking begins at home.

"Peace always begins 'here and now' and depends on how we behave, how we look at one another, how we respect one another and how we listen to one another. If we wish to spread peace, we must first safeguard and nurture it before God, within ourselves and among those dear to us, and then spread it in our communities and in the various spheres of social and political life," the pope said.

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