Full text of Pope Leo XIV's address to Catholics in Chicago

Pope Leo XIV addresses Catholic faithful on the scoreboard at Rate Field, home to the Chicago White Sox, during a celebration and mass to honor his selection as Pope on June 14, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. / Credit: Scott Olson/Getty ImagesVatican City, Jun 14, 2025 / 19:35 pm (CNA).The following is the full text of Pope Leo XIV's address to Catholics during the "Chicago Celebrates Pope Leo XIV" event at Rate Field, the home of the Chicago White Sox baseball team, on Saturday, June 14. My dear friends,It's a pleasure for me to greet all of you gathered together at White Sox Park on this great celebration as a community of faith in the Archdiocese of Chicago. A special greeting to Cardinal Cupich, to the auxiliary bishops, to all my friends who are gathered today on this: the feast of the Most Holy Trinity.And I begin with that because the Trinity is a model of God's love for us. God: Father, Son and Spirit. Three persons in one God live united in the depth of love, in community,...

He fought porn addiction for 23 years — now he helps other men find freedom

The Freedom Group was founded in 2023 and works to help men gain freedom from pornography addiction. / Credit: Courtesy of Joe MasekCNA Staff, Jun 15, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).At 8 years old, Minnesota native Joe Masek was exposed to pornography for the first time and went on to struggle with an addiction to it for 23 years. Through a series of actions he finally gained freedom and after experiencing a calling to help other men, he founded a ministry called The Freedom Group in 2023.About 100 men have gone through the ministry's program each year since then. The group uses  a 12-month training system as well as additional courses and retreats to help men break free from porn addiction.The Porn Free training system includes weekly coaching calls with a Freedom Coach, group coaching calls, performance and mindset coaching, simple daily habits to build discipline and rhythm, access to an app to connect and track progress, and more. There are also several courses that help i...

Young people present to Pope Leo XIV their spiritual renewal project for Europe

Fernando Moscardó (center) and his friend Patricia (far left) meet with Pope Leo XIV and Bishop Mikel Garciandía of Palencia (right) after the Holy Father's general audience on Wednesday, June 11, 2025. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Jun 14, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).Following the June 11 general audience, Pope Leo XIV spoke with young people who have embarked on a "spiritual revolution" to restore Europe's soul.Fernando Moscardó, 22, coordinates the initiative, titled "Rome '25-the Way of St. James '27-Jerusalem '33," which aims to tell the world that "another Europe is possible" through pilgrimages, evangelization, and healing.Shortly after meeting with the Holy Father in St. Peter's Square, the young Spanish medical student told ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, that the meeting "was awesome.""It was an overwhelming experience, filled with great joy, both for him and for us at that moment. To give [information on] this project to the vicar of Christ on earth...

Virginia teen's Catholic school journey inspires whole family's conversion

The McCoppin family (from left): Alyssa, Courteney, James, Rhys, and Kelly, poses for a photo after entering the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil on April 8, 2023, at Sacred Heart Church in Manassas. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the McCoppin familyLocust Grove, Virginia, Jun 14, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).High school can be tough, but on rare occasions it can be a place of grace. It was for the McCoppin family, and especially for eldest daughter Kelly, who just graduated from Saint John Paul the Great High School in Potomac Shores, Virginia. According to Kelly's mother, Courteney McCoppin, Kelly started out attending public school but due to a variety of social factors, coupled with the deaths of two grandparents, she sank into depression."Her freshman year in public school was just awful. She was spiraling," Courteney said. "I knew we had to get her out."A friend recommended Saint John Paul the Great Catholic High School, which is led by the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia....

Pope Leo XIV encourages young people to be 'beacons of hope' at Chicago event

Pope Leo XIV addresses Catholic faithful on the scoreboard at Rate Field, home to the Chicago White Sox, during a celebration and Mass to honor his selection as Pope on June 14, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. / Credit: Scott Olson/Getty ImagesChicago, Ill., Jun 14, 2025 / 18:30 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV delivered a video message June 14 to thousands of Catholics gathered in his hometown of Chicago, making a special appeal to young people to be "beacons" of Christ's hope for others."You are the promise of hope for so many of us," the pope told young people attending the "Chicago Celebrates Pope Leo XIV" event at Rate Field, the home of the Chicago White Sox baseball team. "The world looks to you as you look around yourselves and say: We need you, we need you to come together to share with us in this common mission, as Church and in society, of announcing a message of true hope and of promoting peace, promoting harmony, among all peoples."The pope acknowledged some of the difficulties fa...

'Senseless violence': Minnesota Catholic leaders respond to shooting, murder of lawmakers

A Brooklyn Park police officer looks on while guarding the entrance to a neighborhood on June 14, 2025 in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. / Credit: Stephen Maturen/Getty ImagesCNA Staff, Jun 14, 2025 / 15:16 pm (CNA).Catholic leaders in Minnesota responded with prayers and calls for peace following what authorities said were the politically motivated shootings of state lawmakers that left two dead.Former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark were shot and killed early on Saturday in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette were also shot early on Saturday in their home in Champlin, with both reportedly expected to survive after surgery. Authorities said they engaged the suspect at Hortman's home, but the alleged killer was able to escape on foot. Police reportedly discovered a list of possible additional targets in the suspect's car, including state Gov. Tim Walz and U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar. A manhunt for the killer was still underway ...

China recognizes Pope Leo XIV's first bishop appointment

Credit: FreshStock/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 13, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).Here's a roundup of Catholic world news from the past week that you might have missed:China recognizes Pope Leo XIV's first bishop appointment The People's Republic of China has officially recognized Pope Leo XIV's first bishop appointment, the Vatican announced, signaling what some say is an indication that the new pontiff intends to continue operating under the controversial Vatican-China deal.Chinese officials recognized Bishop Joseph Lin Yuntuan, who was installed as auxiliary bishop of Fuzhou on June 11, just six days after Leo announced the appointment. "This event constitutes a further fruit of the dialogue between the Holy See and the Chinese authorities and is an important step in the journey of communion of the diocese," Vatican Press Office Director Matteo Bruni said in a statement. Historic St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev damaged in deadly drone attack The historic Ho...

CNA explains: How do dioceses pay for bankruptcy and abuse settlements?

null / Credit: Andy via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)CNA Staff, Jun 13, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).For many years in the United States, Catholic dioceses have periodically announced major settlements involving victims of Catholic clergy abuse, with the payouts coming as part of bankruptcy proceedings related to abuse claims. Since 2004, when the Archdiocese of Portland declared bankruptcy, dioceses and archdioceses have used Chapter 11 law to navigate the complex and often financially crushing process of resolving decades of sex abuse claims. In recent years, many U.S. bishops have announced major nine-figure settlements for abuse victims. Most recently, the Archdiocese of New Orleans last month agreed to pay a massive $180 million to victims of clergy abuse there, bringing an end to years of bankruptcy proceedings in federal court.Where does the money come from? Marie Reilly, a professor of law at Penn State University and an expert in bankruptcy litigation,  including ...

BREAKING: Carlo Acutis to be canonized Sept. 7 with Pier Giorgio Frassati

Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati / EWTN NewsVatican City, Jun 13, 2025 / 04:42 am (CNA).The Vatican announced Friday that Blessed Carlo Acutis and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, two young Catholics beloved for their vibrant faith and witness to holiness, will be canonized together on Sept. 7. The date was set during the first ordinary public consistory of cardinals of Pope Leo XIV's pontificate, held June 13 at the Apostolic Palace. Acutis, who died of leukemia in 2006 at age 15, will become the first millennial to be declared a saint by the Catholic Church. Acutis' canonization had originally been scheduled for April 27 during the Vatican's Jubilee of Teenagers. That ceremony was postponed following the death of Pope Francis on April 21. Despite the change, thousands of young pilgrims from around the world who had traveled to Rome for Acutis' canonization attended the late pope's funeral and the jubilee Mass, which drew an estimated 200,000 people.In an unexpected move, ...

Hundreds of women sue over contraceptive injections linked to brain tumors

null / Credit: Oleksandr Lysenko/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 13, 2025 / 10:56 am (CNA).Women in America and the United Kingdom are taking legal action against Pfizer and other birth control producers after a study indicated that injectable contraceptives were found to cause brain tumors.A case management conference regarding the multi-district litigation was held on May 30 in Pensacola, Florida, to discuss the next steps in the lawsuits filed against New York-based Pfizer. The legal action follows a 2024 French study that found that the use of the contraceptive medication medroxyprogesterone, often known under Pfizer's brand name Depo-Provera, renders a woman five times more likely to develop a meningioma brain tumor.Meningiomas are slow-growing tumors that are usually benign but can cause severe injury or death if they become large enough to compress the brain or spinal cord.The research study conducted by the National Agency for Medicines and Health Produc...