Maria Valtorta (1897?1961) was an Italian Catholic mystic who was bedridden for more than 30 years and claimed to have received visions and revelations from Jesus and the Virgin Mary, which she related in extensive writing. The Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith said in a Feb. 22, 2025, press release that the messages contained in her writing ?cannot be considered to be of supernatural origin.? / Credit: Public domain

ACI Prensa Staff, Mar 6, 2025 / 14:35 pm (CNA).

The Vatican?s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith said that messages contained in the writings of Maria Valtorta (1897?1961), an Italian Catholic mystic, ?cannot be considered to be of supernatural origin.?

In a press release dated Feb. 22, the Vatican dicastery noted that the Holy See ?frequently receives requests from both clergy and laypeople for clarification on the Church?s position? regarding Valtorta?s writings.

The author, who remained bedridden for more than 30 years following an incident, claimed to have received visions and revelations from Jesus and the Virgin Mary, which she related in extensive writings about the life of Christ, including details that do not appear in the canonical Gospels.

Among her works, the most notable is ?Il Poema dell?Uomo Dio? (?The Poem of the Man-God?), today known as ?L?Evangelo Come Mi è Stato Rivelato? (?The Gospel as Revealed to Me?), which is 13,000 pages long.

Despite its international success and the support of Pope Pius XII, the work was included in the Index of Prohibited Books in 1959 along with other publications classified by the Catholic Church as heretical, immoral, or harmful to the faith. The index was abolished in 1966.

In this context, the Vatican reiterated that the alleged ?visions,? ?revelations,? and ?messages? contained in Valtorta?s writings, or attributed to her, are simply ?literary forms that the author used to narrate the life of Jesus Christ in her own way.?

To justify its position, the dicastery clarified that ?in its long tradition, the Church does not accept as normative the Apocryphal Gospels and other similar texts since it does not recognize them as divinely inspired. Instead, the Church refers back to the sure reading of the inspired Gospels.?

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Ana Redondo, Spain?s minister of equality, is seen at the Spanish Congress of Deputies on Feb. 12, 2025. / Credit: Alberto Gardin/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Madrid, Spain, Mar 5, 2025 / 16:40 pm (CNA).

Spain?s minister of equality, Ana Redondo, said at a press conference Wednesday that she is in favor of studying the inclusion of abortion as a right in the Spanish Constitution, as France did last year in its own constitution.

According to Infosalus, the health information portal of Europa Press, Redondo considered that such an inclusion would be ?a good way to protect sexual and reproductive rights and, above all, the freedom of women.?

?It seems to me that this is a question that needs to be studied,? she said before adding that doing this involves an ?enormously complex? procedure that would require sufficient consensus, and she doesn?t know if it exists ?at this time.?

When asked about the law that considers abortion a right and classifies it as part of the services offered by the public health system, Redondo was open to ?thinking about a constitutional reform when the appropriate and necessary conditions are met to be able to do so.?

March 4 marked one year since the French National Assembly by a vote of 780-72 made abortion a constitutional right.

On that occasion, the Pontifical Academy for Life issued a statement pointing out that ?in the era of universal human rights, there can be no ?right? to eliminate a human life.?

The remarks by the minister for equality came shortly after the organizations that put on the March for Life in Spain, which takes place every year around the feast of the Annunciation, announced on their website that the next march will take place on Sunday, March 23.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

José Antonio Satué, bishop of Teruel and Albarracín in Spain. / Credit: Diocese of Teruel and Albarracín

Madrid, Spain, Mar 5, 2025 / 15:10 pm (CNA).

A former teacher at an Opus Dei school in Spain has been asked to leave the personal prelature after being found guilty following a second Vatican investigation of alleged sexual abuse that occurred at the school more than 15 years ago.

In what is know as the ?Gaztelueta case? or the ?Cuatrecasas case,? a complaint was filed against José María Martínez, a teacher at Gaztelueta School (an Opus Dei institution located in Lejona, Spain) for the alleged sexual abuse of student Juan Cuatrecasas between 2008 and 2010.

There was a canonical investigation into the case and Martínez was exonerated in October 2015. A Spanish court sentenced him to two years in prison after a long process that lasted from June 2015 to November 2020.

In June 2022, Cuatrecasas met Pope Francis at the recording of the Disney documentary ?The Pope Answers,? which aired in April 2023. The pontiff then decided to reopen the case and appointed Bishop José Antonio Satué of the Diocese of Teruel and Albarracín in Spain as delegate (judge).

Satué informed Martínez, who maintains his innocence, on Monday, March 3, of his conviction in the sexual abuse case that calls for his departure from Opus Dei. 

As Martínez recounted on his blog, he was notified on March 3 of the sentence ? which was signed Dec. 17, 2024 ? with a note stating that he could not have been informed earlier because the bishop could not ?free himself from other non-delegable and non-postponable obligations.?

Martínez also emphasized the fact that Satué announced the sentence on the day the prelate was summoned to appear before a judge in Pamplona to defend himself against a suit filed by Martínez for violating his right to a good reputation.

According to Martínez, the court appearance was postponed because the bishop ?has not provided the documentation that was requested and other requested material is missing that the Church has never made public.?

According to a document dated Feb. 25 submitted to the court in charge of the case to which ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner, has had access, the postponement of the hearing was made at the request of Martínez?s defense.

The request for postponement was made because the notary José Luis Perucha, who had in his possession the documentation provided by Satué, claimed ?to not have the requested documents as documentary evidence.?

In addition, it is alleged that ?the documentation requested from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has not been received? and that, at the time of submitting the document requesting postponement, Martínez had not been notified of the ?conclusive decree of the administrative criminal process,? i.e., the sentence communicated on Monday.

Possible appeal to the Apostolic Signatura

Martínez announced that he is considering appealing the decision to the Apostolic Signatura, the only Vatican judicial body that, in his opinion, ?can stop this nonsense.?

According to sources familiar with the case consulted by ACI Prensa, when the Vatican rejected Martínez?s defense?s request that Satué recuse himself from the case, they were told that when the sentence is eventually issued, if they contest it, they could turn to the Apostolic Signatura.

The same sources specified that the deadline to appeal to this court is 60 days from March 3, when the decree with the sentence was communicated.

Martínez reiterated his innocence and insisted on denouncing what he considers ?irregularities of the canonical process?: being tried twice for the same crime ?because the initial acquittal did not please the person who put together the ecclesiastical court?; that ?legislation approved after the alleged events? was applied; that Satué would urge him to plead guilty in his first communication to him; or that ?legislation that has not been applied to any layperson? was used.

?The whole process has been a shameful farce. There has never been the slightest possibility of defending myself,? Martínez said, having already written a letter expressing ?great regret? in which he requested his departure from the institution founded by St. Josemaría Escrivá.

?I prefer to leave rather than be a problem,? he explained, while thanking the support received ?from many people in Opus Dei, who know perfectly well that I am innocent? and emphasizing his adherence to the apostolate?s prelature: ?In my conscience, [Opus Dei] will always be my spiritual family.?

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

The flag of the European Union. / Credit: U. J. Alexander/Shutterstock

ACI Prensa Staff, Mar 4, 2025 / 16:30 pm (CNA).

In the context of the growing geopolitical complexity and uncertainty surrounding peace in Ukraine, the presidency of the Commission of the Episcopal Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) issued a statement on Tuesday, March 4, expressing strong support for Ukraine.

The European Catholic bishops stated that ?Ukraine?s struggle for peace will also be decisive for the fate of Europe and the world.? 

They also emphasized that ?Ukraine?s struggle for peace and the defense of its territorial integrity is not only a fight for its own future. Its outcome will also be decisive for the fate of the entire European continent and of a free and democratic world.? 

In a geopolitical landscape that the bishops of the European Union described as ?complex? and marked by ?the unpredictability of the actions taken by some members of the international community,? the COMECE presidency urged the European Union and its member states ?to remain united in their commitment to support Ukraine and its people.?

Ukraine must be included in the negotiations, bishops say

?Russia?s invasion of Ukraine is a blatant violation of international law. The use of force to alter national borders and the atrocious acts committed against the civilian population are not only unjustifiable but demand a consequent pursuit of justice and accountability,? the bishops said.

The prelates also pointed out in their press release that a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in Ukraine can only be achieved through negotiations, which must be supported by strong transatlantic and global solidarity, and include Ukraine.

They noted that ?in order to be sustainable and just, a future peace accord must fully respect international law and be underpinned by effective security guarantees to prevent the conflict from re-erupting.?

In addition, COMECE urged the international community to ?continue to assist Ukraine in the reconstruction of the destroyed infrastructure? and specified that Russia ?must adequately participate in this effort.?

The European bishops also emphasized that Ukraine is ?the victim in this war and Russia the aggressor,? stressing that any attempt to distort the reality of this aggression must be ?firmly rejected.?

Regarding Ukraine?s application to join the European Union and the internal reforms undertaken to achieve this goal, the European bishops urged the EU to ?advance with the enlargement process in a timely and fair manner alongside other candidate countries.?

The statement concluded by expressing the hope that the European Union ?will remain faithful to its vocation to be a promise of peace and an anchor of stability to its neighborhood and to the world,? particularly at a time when the contours of a new global security architecture are being redrawn.

The president of COMECE, Bishop Mariano Crociata of Italy, insisted on the need for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and warned against ?a shameful spectacle? that falsely portrays the victim as the aggressor.

The response of the European bishops comes in the wake of the tense meeting on Feb. 28 between U.S. President Donald Trump and the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in the Oval Office. During the televised meeting, Trump and Vice President JD Vance reproached Zelenskyy for his alleged refusal to cooperate in the efforts for peace and for even ?playing with World War III.? Trump warned Zelenskyy that he would withdraw U.S. military support for Ukraine and on Tuesday the Trump administration put a temporary pause on the aid.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Alcide De Gasperi delivers a speech in Bologna, Italy, in 1951. / Credit: Democrazia Cristiana, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Madrid, Spain, Feb 28, 2025 / 15:30 pm (CNA).

The closing ceremony of the diocesan phase of the beatification process of Servant of God Alcide De Gasperi (1881?1954), an Italian politician recognized as one of the ?fathers of Europe,? was held Friday at the Lateran Palace in Rome.

Along with the former French minister of foreign affairs, Robert Schuman, already declared venerable by Pope Francis, and German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, after the Second World War De Gasperi was one of the promoters of the project for a united Europe, inspired by the values ??of Christian humanism. He was a leading figure in the Christian Democratic Party in Italy.

The Christian roots of the European project

In an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner, Father Manuel Barrios Prieto, secretary-general of the Commission of the Episcopal Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), shared his enthusiasm by highlighting that two of the founders are in the process of canonization.

?De Gasperi was always a man of dialogue who also went through difficult times. I believe that this progress in his beatification process confirms that the roots of the European project are Christian roots,? he said.

The Spanish priest, who holds a doctorate in theology and a degree in clinical psychology, emphasized that ?providence? allowed these three politicians to lay the foundations of a Europe ?that respects human rights, promotes the dignity of the person and the sense of community, which was a fundamental theme for De Gasperi.?

For Barrios, the spiritual legacy of the Italian politician, who served as Italy?s prime minister from 1945 to 1953 ? as already highlighted by Pope Pius XII and St. Paul VI ? is based on the conviction that ?politics is a high form of charity when it is carried out as a service,? a message that, according to the priest, ?remains fundamental in today?s world.?

For the priest, who took office as COMECE?s secretary-general in 2019 and was reelected by the plenary assembly in 2023 for another four-year term, what makes a person holy is ?living charity in a full sense.?

De Gasperi ?worked to achieve the idea of ??community and was truly an example of dialogue, even with his political adversaries, something for which he had to suffer,? he noted. In his opinion, the founders of the European project were inspired by the social doctrine of the Church, which influenced the first steps of a project that has now become the European Union.

The Italian politician ?sought the common good of all: the dignity of the human being, the dignity of the family, and the dignity of the community but above all, the dignity of the human being as a fundamental principle of political action,? he said.

Although the Christian values ??of the Europe that De Gasperi defended are sometimes not acknowledged or are not wanted, the priest said they continue to be the foundations of Europe. ?What we as Christians must do is to promote them, especially in a difficult time like the present, when there are conflicts, a war in Europe, and geopolitical tensions,? he pointed out.

A common army for Europe

In the current European context, De Gasperi ?would seek dialogue with everyone and the common good of Europe as well as unity in diversity,? Barrios said, emphasizing that ?he was very committed to seeking a community of defense as well.?

?He wanted to promote a common defense, a common army for Europe, so that it could defend itself. The project ultimately failed, above all because France was not in favor, but it was something important to him. So, in the current context in which we live, with so many tensions, if he were alive, he would take it up again in some form.?

According to the priest, De Gasperi?s roots and culture, both Austrian and Italian, shaped his personality traits. He also stressed that the Italian politician was a family man ?and truly a Christian with freedom of conscience.?

In 1932, when he was leader of the Italian Popular Party, he was arrested by the regime of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. Although he was sentenced to four years in prison, thanks to the mediation of the Vatican he served 16 months. Barrios noted that the letters Gasperi wrote in prison, which in his opinion are ?very inspiring,? will constitute a fundamental element for his beatification process.

Diocesan investigation

The closing rite took place the morning of Feb. 28 in the Lateran Apostolic Palace in Rome and was presided over by the vicar of Pope Francis for the Diocese of Rome, Cardinal Baldassare Reina, who noted that for De Gasperi ?Christian charity was a concrete virtue that should be embodied in political life.?

The diocesan inquiry was initiated by the ecclesiastical tribunal of the Archdiocese of Trento, Italy. The prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, after having obtained the consent of both the archbishop of Trento and Reina, has transmitted the rescript, granting the transfer of competence to the Diocese of Rome.

The tribunal that conducted the diocesan inquiry in Rome is composed of Monsignor Giuseppe D? Alonzo, episcopal delegate; Andrea de Matteis, promoter of justice; and Marcelo Terramani, notary. The postulator of the cause of beatification and canonization is Dr. Paolo Vilotta.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Deir Mar Musa, also known as the Monastery of St. Moses the Abyssinian, is a centuries-old Christian monastery in al-Nabk north of Damascus, Syria. / Credit: LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images

Madrid, Spain, Feb 28, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The Trinitarian Order was established in the Middle Ages to free Christian captives held by Muslims during the Crusades. Today, in a context of ?modern crusades,? where Islamic fundamentalism continues to persecute Christians for their faith, the Trinitarians remain a beacon of hope for those who remain firm in their commitment to Christ.

?Ocho Siglos Después? (?Eight Centuries Later?) is a documentary that gives a voice to this suffering and puts a face on forgotten Christians in places like Syria, Nigeria, or northern India but who are not losing hope thanks to the ?silent? help offered by Trinitarian International Solidarity (SIT, by its Spanish acronym), a nongovernmental organization founded by the Trinitarian family 25 years ago.

The documentary by Fascina Producciones was screened Feb. 25 at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid by the vicar general of the order, Father Antonio Aurelio, and the film?s director, Alfredo Torrescalles. The event was moderated by Spanish television host Ana Rosa Quintana and was also attended by the apostolic nuncio to Spain, Archbishop Bernardito Auza.

Persecuted Christians in Syria, Nigeria, and India

The documentary captures the apocalyptic atmosphere that looms over the Syrian city of Aleppo, where a small group of Christians abandoned to their fate, most of them elderly, have been struggling every day to survive since the war broke out in 2011.

The support of the Trinitarians reaches every corner of these humble homes, located in desolate neighborhoods destroyed by bombs, thanks to the help of other ?angels? who are on the ground, such as Father Hugo Alaniz of the Institute of the Incarnate Word.

A woman who has been bedridden for 13 years or a man who must raise his son with Down syndrome and who, clutching his little rosary, thanks God for his life, are some of those featured in the film, which first focuses on Syria.

In Nigeria, the devastating testimonies of the women who were able to escape the clutches of the terrorists of the jihadist group Boko Haram show how terror has been perpetuated in their communities and their hearts. These Christians find refuge and help in the midst of desperation thanks to the Catholic Church and the work of SIT.

From Africa, the documentary turns to northeastern India, where many young people are being forced to leave their homes as a result of clashes between the Hindu Meitei people and the Christian Kuki tribal people.

Trinitarians say the ethnic conflict has become a religious one and that the Christian community has no support from the government, which is determined to limit religious freedom and prohibit evangelization.

Aurelio emphasized that the documentary is not about the Trinitarians but about showing the reality faced by the people they help. ?We are not altruists, we are Christians,? he said, noting that the Trinitarians are discreet and ?work quietly.?

For Aurelio, ?the help that can be given to persecuted Christians is very complex, because the problem these people have is not a matter of needing material aid but of their very existence. We want to inform people about their situation and their suffering, because what is not made known does not exist,? he emphasized.

?The message of this documentary is not for them, it is for us. They are Christians like us, why are they abandoned? Why aren?t we paying any attention to them? Why aren?t we helping them? Why aren?t we speaking publicly about this persecution? Why don?t we feel close to them? Our concrete objective as Trinitarians is for these people to not feel alone,? the vicar general of the Trinitarian Order underscored.

The documentary?s director, Alfredo Torrescalles, shared how much he was impacted by filming this documentary, especially in places like Syria. ?I think the work that the Trinitarians do is essential, really shines, and is very necessary, but I fear that people will end up becoming desensitized to these tragedies. We have to make an effort to find a way to reach the population and touch their hearts,? he said.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Pope Francis meets with the Spanish bishops at the Vatican on Nov. 28, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media

Madrid, Spain, Feb 27, 2025 / 17:50 pm (CNA).

The secretary-general and spokesman for the Spanish Bishops? Conference (CEE, by its Spanish acronym), Bishop Francisco César García Magán, expressed his conviction that the conditions for the resignation of Pope Francis, who has been hospitalized for 14 days due to health problems, have not been met.

Asked at the end of the meeting of the conference?s standing committee, García explained that the resignation of the pontiff is provided for in Canon 332.2 of the Code of Canon Law, with the only requirement that ?it be free and be formally expressed.?

García also pointed out that it is public knowledge that in 2013, the year he became pope, Francis gave the then-Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, ?a signed letter with his formal resignation in case of impediment.?

?I signed it and told him: ?In case of impediment due to medical reasons or whatever, here is my resignation. You already have it.? I don't know who Cardinal Bertone gave it to, but I gave it to him when he was secretary of state,? the pontiff revealed to the Spanish newspaper ABC in 2022.

The CEE spokesman pointed out in this regard that ?these conditions are not being met because the impediment to which the pope was referring was when it is linked to a mental limitation, a mental impediment. What the pope has now are illnesses typical of age.?

?As he has said on occasion, the Church is not governed with the knees but with the head, with the help of the Holy Spirit,? added the prelate, who, after the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, considered that, if Pope Francis made the same decision, ?it would not be new.?

The bishops? spokesman also stressed that ?we are not in a pre-conclave period; far from it? and made an appeal to the people of God to ?intensify prayer for the healing of this pope? and to do so ?with affection and communion.?

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

null / Credit: Declausura Foundation

Madrid, Spain, Feb 26, 2025 / 18:07 pm (CNA).

The Poor Clare abbess of the Monastery of Santo Cristo de Balaguer in Lérida province in northeast Spain is criticizing a 2018 rule established by Pope Francis that dissolves communities of women religious with fewer than five nuns, a rule that does not apply to male communities.

Sister María Victoria Triviño, OSC, made her critique in an article published by the magazine Catalunya Cristiana regarding the recent closure of the Monastery of Santa María de Pedralbes in Barcelona that had been in existence for 700 years.

Asked about the reason for the closure, ?which people, hurt and perplexed, address to some of the Poor Clares every day,? the nun explained that the Holy Father published the apostolic constitution Vultum Dei Quaerere in 2016 but emphasized that the document ?did not affect monks.?

Similarly, regarding the Cor Orans instruction, published in 2018 to implement Vultum Dei Quaerere, the Poor Clare nun pointed out that ?it affects women?s monasteries around the world, not men?s.?

This instruction establishes that ?if a monastery has only five nuns, it loses its autonomy and must be affiliated with another monastery.? Furthermore, if it falls below that number, it must be abolished, according to Triviño.

In such a case, an apostolic visitor is appointed who, if he issues a negative report to the Roman Curia, ?the transfer of the sisters is ordered? and the building is closed.

In the opinion of the abbess, this rule ?which in normal circumstances may be opportune, in a difficult time of a vocations crisis, a crisis of values, economic crisis, etc., has had an effect of the confiscation of Church property by the Church itself.?

In her dissertation, the abbess noted that, just as the habit of the Poor Clares can be adapted ?according to the cold regions? as stated in their rule, ?each monastery acquires peculiarities ?according to the region? in which it lives.?

?If the closure of a monastery always means the loss of its production of liturgical items, of the intercessory influence on the city, the loss of a presence that bears witness [in an environment], so often secular, to the fact that ?God exists and makes us happy,? to all this we must add distinctive characteristics such as the artistic legacy, the cultural, musical, artisanal influence, etc. After all this, there will always be regret for desacralizing a sacred place,? she noted.

In this regard, the abbess also lamented the closure of other monasteries such as that of the Holy Trinity in Valencia (founded in 1242), the Monastery of St. Clare la Real in Toledo (founded in 1254), or the Monastery of St. Clare in Salamanca, founded by St. Clare of Assisi in 1238.

The abbess concluded that ?much has already been lost. And only [by the intervention of] the Roman Dicastery for [Institutes of] Consecrated Life [and Societies of Apostolic Life] can we avoid further loss. How? By attenuating the instructions given for all women?s monasteries.?

In her opinion, it should be the nuns who ?when the time comes, can take the options of continuing or closing according to their real situation, like men?s monasteries, for which no limits are set.?

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Window at the top of the south façade of the Cathedral in Seville, Spain,. / Credit: o_andras/Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International via Wikimedia Commons

Madrid, Spain, Feb 26, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The Observatory for Religious Freedom and Conscience (OLRC, by its Spanish acronym) is calling on Spain?s Ministry of the Interior to strengthen security at the country?s cathedrals after a threat against the sacred structures was issued by the Islamic terrorist group Daesh (ISIS).

According to a recent report by Memri, a publication specializing in Islamist terrorism, a poster with the label ?Let?s slaughter? is being disseminated online in which a terrorist armed with a knife and an image of a Spanish cathedral can be seen.

According to the Spanish newspaper La Razón, the poster is accompanied by the incitement to ?make the next news yourself and show your anger at what is happening to Muslims. Follow in the footsteps of your brothers who preceded you and sowed fear in the hearts of unbelievers.?

These threats come as major events are being held in some Spanish cathedrals, for example in Madrid and Seville, to pray for the health of Pope Francis, where a large number of faithful are expected to attend.

In response to the threats, the OLRC has launched a petition to ask the minister of the interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, to increase security in the nation?s cathedrals.

The petition states that ?jihadism is asking its ?lone wolves? to attack our churches. The security of Catholics is in danger. Have we forgotten that two years ago a jihadist murdered sacristan Diego Valencia in Algeciras and injured a priest??

The organization, which advises the Spanish government?s Monitoring Commission for the Action Plan to Combat Hate Crimes, recalled that last New Year?s Eve ?two jihadist minors planned to attack the basilica in Elche? and that in January threats were made against the Palencia cathedral via Telegram.

The president of the OLRC, María García, pointed out in a statement that ?the safety of believers is in danger. We cannot ignore the threats of Daesh. We know what they are capable of, and we are seeing it these days in Europe.?

García also recalled that last year ?a record number of arrests were made for jihadism in Spain.?

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime during his homily at the Mass of St. James the Apostle in the Spanish church in Rome. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/ EWTN News

ACI Prensa Staff, Feb 24, 2025 / 10:40 am (CNA).

The Salesian Congregation is in the midst of its 29th General Chapter, during which it will elect the successor of Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime as rector major. The cardinal has had to resign in order to take up his new duties in the Vatican Curia at the request of Pope Francis.

The proceedings began Feb. 16 in Turin, Italy, and are scheduled to conclude on April 12. Participating in the chapter are 227 representatives of the more than 14,000 Salesians present in 136 countries.

The assembly is usually held every six years, but on this occasion the time frame was shortened by one year due to the appointment of Fernández Artime, their superior general, as cardinal in September 2023 and his episcopal ordination in April 2024.

On Aug. 16, 2024, the Spanish cardinal resigned from his position as superior of the Salesians, who were placed under the authority of his vicar, Don Stefano Martoglio.

The theme of the Salesians? general chapter is ?Passionate About Jesus Christ, Dedicated to Young People? and aims to develop its work around three areas of reflection: caring for vocational life, the joint work of the Salesians with young people, and the reorganization of the government of the congregation.

The person chosen as rector major will become the 11th successor of St. John Bosco and will have a new general council.

The meeting is taking place in Valdocco, the Turin district where the mother house of the congregation is located and where Don Bosco first began his ministry to youth. Cardinal Roberto Repole, archbishop of Turin, offered the opening Mass held in Mary Help of Christians Basilica in the Piedmontese capital.

In his homily, the prelate invited participants to have ?God?s way of looking at the world, at society,? pointing out that there are ?great challenges, but they must be faced in an evangelical way, trusting in Christ, in his strength, in his presence.?

In the opening ceremony, the vicar of the rector major emphasized that the mission of the chapter assembly is to ?rethink the governance of the congregation at all levels? with an attitude of ?allowing ourselves to be challenged, not being passive, and offering responses both personally and institutionally. This is the path of the whole Church, guided by Pope Francis.?

Sister Simona Brambilla, prefect of the Vatican Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, also spoke. Referring to the Gospel passage on the road to Emmaus, she said: ?The journey takes us far from Jerusalem, from the painful experience of the cross. But after the encounter with Jesus, [the disciples] start heading back, even in the night, but without fear, toward the community and life.?

The superior general of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, Sister Chiara Cazzuola, said that ?this is an event of grace and synodality. It can radiate its strength into the daily life of the new generations and assure them a better future.?

Antonio Boccia, world coordinator of the Salesian cooperators, invited participants to ?strengthen their interior life and discover reasons for improvement. Your duty is to keep alive the flame of Don Bosco?s charism, which is rooted in the spiritual community formed by the entire Salesian family.?

The process of discernment and election of the new rector major and the general council will take place March 23?29, and the chapter members will travel to Rome April 11?12 to conclude their work and make a pilgrimage to St. Peter?s in this jubilee year.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

The Reichstag building in Berlin, where the Bundestag meets. / Credit: jan zeschky via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)

CNA Newsroom, Feb 21, 2025 / 14:10 pm (CNA).

As German voters prepare for federal elections on Feb. 23, the country?s Catholics find themselves navigating unprecedented divisions on issues that cut to the heart of Church teaching, from migration policy to gender ideology and the protection of life.

The elections come at a time when traditional party allegiances are being questioned and multiple Catholic voices are speaking with markedly different emphasis on key moral and social issues.

What do the current polls show?

Recent polls place the Christian Democratic Union (CDU/CSU) at around 30%, followed by the Alternative for Germany (AfD) at approximately 20%. The Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens are polling around 15% each, with the SPD holding a slight advantage. Other parties, including the FDP, the Left Party, and BSW face uncertainty about clearing the 5% threshold required for parliamentary representation.

How have Catholic organizations responded to party positions?

The Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) ? the country?s most prominent lay Catholic organization ? has strongly criticized the CDU?s recent ?paradigm shift? on migration policy.

According to an analysis by the Catholic newspaper Die Tagespost using artificial intelligence tools, the ZdK?s political expectations show the strongest alignment with Green Party positions, particularly on ?climate protection? and ?social justice.?

While taking a more nuanced view, the ZdK?s positioning has drawn sharp criticism from prominent Catholic politician and former defense minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU), who left the ZdK over its approach to migration policy and its tone in debates about the CDU?s proposed changes.

?One holds one?s own position as the only correct one,? Kramp-Karrenbauer told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, criticizing what she called an ?apodictic and condemnatory? tone taken by the ZdK.

?When our society becomes increasingly polarized until people face each other irreconcilably, extremist forces have an easy game,? she warned.

What is the bishops? position?

In an ecumenical statement released this month, Bishop Georg Bätzing, chairman of the German Bishops? Conference, along with Protestant and Orthodox leaders called on voters to support parties ?committed to our democracy.? The statement explicitly warned that ?extremism and especially ethnic nationalism are incompatible with Christianity,? reported CNA Deutsch, CNA?s German-language news partner.

The German bishops? conference has previously declared the AfD ?unelectable? for Christians, citing the party?s ?ethnic nationalism? ideology ? a finding the party has categorically rejected, according to CNA Deutsch.

What are the key issues for Catholic voters?

Three major areas have emerged as particularly contentious:

Migration: CDU leader Friedrich Merz advocates for stronger border controls, while the bishops? conference warns against compromising humanitarian obligations. A motion Merz introduced with AfD support has been called an ?unforgivable mistake? by Chancellor Olaf Scholz of SPD. Meanwhile, the AfD calls for mass deportation of migrants.

Life issues: The CDU maintains support for Germany?s current abortion regulations as a ?hard-won societal compromise,? while the SPD and Greens advocate for legalization. Germany currently permits abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, with mandatory counseling at a state-approved center. The AfD calls for a ?welcoming culture for children? while criticizing current policies.

Gender policy: Addressing a conference in Germany this week, just before the election, the Vatican?s doctrine chief delivered a pointed critique of gender ideology at a theological conference in Germany. The SPD and Greens support ?gender mainstreaming? and changing family law to give various living arrangements and partnerships equal status. The CDU states it supports ?diversity of sexual orientations? but rejects ?gender as an ideological concept.?

The AfD says it wants to stop all subsidies for ?research based on gender ideology.?

María Dolores Rosique, known as ?Lola? by her family members and friends, is pictured here when she was hospitalized. A second-class relic of Blessed Carlo Acutis accompanied her at her bedside. / Credit: Courtesy of Lola Rosique

ACI Prensa Staff, Feb 19, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

With a radiant smile, pediatric physician María Dolores Rosique, who goes by ?Lola? among family and friends, recounted with renewed faith her testimony of healing after overcoming aggressive abdominal cancer. She testifies that her recovery began after visiting the tomb of Blessed Carlo Acutis in Assisi, Italy, and placing herself completely under his care.

?I always say that the illness I had has given me many more good things than bad. One of them is having reaffirmed my faith. Today I know that without the Lord I am nothing and can?t achieve anything,? she said in an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner.

In 2022 Rosique, a 44-year-old Spaniard and pediatrician by profession, was enjoying one of the best times of her life with her husband, Pablo, her three teenage daughters aged 17, 15, and 12, and her 7-year-old son. However, it was then, in the midst of a family trip to the Italian region of Tuscany, that her life took an unexpected turn, having to undergo a trial that would challenge her faith.

The physician confessed that earlier that year she had been feeling somewhat unwell: ?I had digestive discomfort in my abdomen. I went to the doctor and had ultrasounds, they even asked me to have an endoscopy. I had those tests done and everything came out fine,? she related.

However, months later, one night during her family trip to Tuscany, Rome, and the Vatican, she felt pain in her abdomen and when she felt that area, she was immediately certain that she had cancer. ?I knew it for sure from the first minute, because I have the sixth sense of my profession. I didn?t know if the cancer was in the liver, in the pancreas, but at that moment life took a sudden turn for us.?

?We went from being in paradise to feeling like we were falling into hell,? she said.

Rosique said that from that moment on, while it hasn?t been an easy road, it has been ?a wonderful journey,? since they have felt ?supported by the love and prayers of so many people, by our family and, of course, by the Lord himself.?

?It?s been a tough process: two very aggressive surgeries, intraperitoneal chemotherapy, many difficulties ... but it?s been two years since then, and thank God, I am now free of illness,? she said with a smile.

According to Rosique, she didn?t ask Blessed Carlo Acutis to grant her a miraculous healing but rather that her illness not be so serious so that she could see her daughters grow up.

?The real miracle is not just that I am alive ? which of course is a blessing ? but the spiritual impact that this has had on me, on my family, and on many of my women friends who were far from the Lord. As a result of this experience, many people have come back to God. And, of course, I couldn?t be happier, because that is the real miracle,? she explained.

Carlo Acutis and Rosique: the first meeting

When the disease appeared, Rosique remembered that they were experiencing ?a super happy time? in their lives. Her daughters were growing up and ?no longer required so much physical effort? to take care of their needs. ?My job was stable and everything was working well, without any major setbacks,? she said.

When she told her husband about the cancer, Pablo remained calm and offered her two options: return to Spain immediately or wait for the boat to leave in three days. However, she made it clear that if they decided to stay, they should face it calmly, without letting themselves be overcome by sadness.

?The sensible thing was to wait. Three days were not going to change anything and, at least, we could enjoy ourselves together. So we tried to do the best we could. I swallowed hard more than once, but I asked the Lord to give us strength, to unite us even more, in case a difficult time awaited us, as we later found out it would be,? she recounted.

As they headed to the boat they were going to take from Tuscany to Rome, still with several hours to spare before setting sail, Pablo suggested stopping in Assisi, even though it was not part of their initial plans.

?Now I know it was not just a coincidence. Everything has a meaning. The providence of the Holy Spirit enlightens you when you least expect it. So, when visiting Assisi and the Church of St. Francis, I felt the presence of Our Lord, I knew that he was there, that he would not leave us,? Rosique recalled.

At that point her greatest concern was that her daughters would be left so young without their mother. Faced with that possibility, she prayed to God: ?Lord, do it for them. Really I don?t want anything for myself.?

?It wasn?t healing that I sought for myself. I felt complete, with God, with everything he had given me. But I thought about my daughters, that they needed their mother. That was when an unexpected turning point came,? she said. 

While Rosique was thinking these thoughts, Pablo suddenly noticed that the shops in Assisi were full of photos, rosaries, and holy cards with the image of Blessed Carlo Acutis, a young man they had barely heard of at his daughters? school. Intrigued, he did a little more research and searching on Google, discovered with astonishment that the body of the Blessed Carlo was only 300 meters away. 

Rosique felt exhausted, both physically and emotionally, and at that moment all she could think about was getting something to eat and going back to the car. At first, she didn?t want to go view the blessed?s remains, but her daughters insisted. ?In the end, I think it was the Holy Spirit, or even Carlo, who through my daughters dragged me there, because on my own I would never have gone up? to see him, she confessed.

?We went to the Church of St. Mary Major, where Carlo?s body lies. We got there and found a side nave where his body rests. Right in front there is a bench to sit on and pray. I flopped down there exhausted, in the most difficult moment of our lives. I asked him for so many things? But above all for my four children. I told him: ?Carlo, I don?t know what I?m doing here at this moment, I don?t know what I?m doing here, but God knows more and here I am.? And then I made him two requests,? she said in the interview.

Rosique had the opportunity to write her intention on a little note and put it in the box provided for intentions. First, she asked Carlo that her children and the young people in her family would always be close to the Eucharist as he was, because she knew that this was his great love and his ?highway to heaven.?

Then, she begged him that her situation not be ?too serious.?

?I didn?t ask him to have nothing [wrong] but that it not be too serious, so that I could see my daughters grow up and accompany them during those years. I surrendered myself completely and told him: ?Carlo, I am here in your hands. I have to ask for intercession through you, because you brought me here,?? Rosique said. 

Rosique and her family then prayed together. Her children lifted up their prayers and her husband also stood for a moment in front of Carlo?s body. Shortly after, they left the church.

As she walked through the door, something changed. On the one hand, she felt an immense spiritual peace. ?When you say: ?This is no longer up to me, Carlo, I?m leaving it here with you,? you feel a profound sense of relief,? she recalled. But she also experienced something physical.

Suddenly, Rosique felt better, like she hadn?t in months. She was pain-free, her body strong. ?It was an amazing feeling of well-being,? she explained. And in that instant, she understood. ?I think it was a caress from the Lord, telling me: ?Be calm, you are not alone. Whatever happens, you are not alone.??

At that moment, Rosique knew with certainty that she was going to be cured.

Return to Spain, diagnosis, and healing

Returning to Spain, Rosique and her family prepared for the medical tests and everything that would come next. The first test indicated that she had a tumor in her ovary. ?It was very widespread throughout the abdomen,? she explained. It affected the peritoneum, the membrane that covers the inside of the abdomen, and there were tumorous growths everywhere. Although the doctors confirmed that it had not reached the lung or the brain, in the abdomen, it was practically everywhere.

The diagnosis was clear: a malignant and very advanced tumor. Lola had to face the difficult task of breaking the news to her family, since she had been given between six months and a year to live. However, after an initial surgery, they discovered that the tumor was not in the ovary but in the appendix.

This new diagnosis changed everything, since appendix cancer, although aggressive within the abdomen, has a much better prognosis, Lola explained. It does not spread to vital organs such as the brain or lungs and its malignancy is less lethal. Despite the extent of the tumor, the news turned out to be much more hopeful.

?When we told them about it, my sisters asked us if they could spread the news so that people would pray,? she recalled. Without hesitation, she said yes, and thus began an amazing prayer chain.

?That is the communion of saints: When one person cannot do it alone, suddenly the whole Church ? in earth and in heaven ? unites in prayer. It was incredible to see the power of prayer and how it reached different places in the world. I know that there were people praying for me in many countries, people who did not even know me,? Rosique related.

That same afternoon, Rosique?s parents went to the church next to their house, where they attend daily Mass. They asked the pastor, Father Leandro, to pray for their daughter. He, in addition to committing to do so, suggested that Rosique receive the anointing of the sick the next day.

?I am quite docile, so I decided to go,? Rosique said. For her, this sacrament has a deep meaning when it is received with an open heart.

In the sacristy, in a private moment with her husband and the priest, Father Leandro began with some readings and then asked her to kneel. ?He placed his hands on my head and, while I was praying, I felt the Lord himself anointing me. It was a moment of indescribable grace,? she recalled. At that moment, completely surrendered, she prayed within herself: ?Lord, if you have been able to cure paralytics, lepers, have converted prostitutes and sinners? well, if you want, you can cure me, right??

When they finished, as they were saying goodbye, her husband mentioned that they had been in Italy. Suddenly, Father Leandro seemed to remember something and asked them to wait. He returned with an object in his hand and asked them: ?Do you know who Carlo Acutis is??

Rosique and her husband were in shock. Then the priest showed them a second-class relic: a piece of cloth from Carlo Acutis? clothes. ?I?ll leave this with you until you are cured,? he told them. 

At that moment, Rosique felt that Carlo would accompany her on her journey. ?I thought, ?Carlo, you and I are going to make a great team,?? she recalled. Since then, she has asked for everyone?s intercession in prayer for her healing.

?Before people began to pray, my husband and I felt like we were holding hands in a completely dark place, not knowing where to go. But when they began to pray for us, it was as if a carpet of light was rolled out in front of us, showing us the way. At that moment, I knew without a doubt that I was not alone, that I was not lost, that we were with him,? Rosique said.

On this difficult journey, Rosique had to undergo two aggressive surgeries, receive chemotherapy, and deal with difficulties. However, two years later, her reality is very different. Now, with gratitude, she can say that she is in remission.

?Carlo is like another member of the family?

Blessed Carlo Acutis occupies a special place in Rosique?s life today. ?Carlo is one more [person] in my house. We talk about him as if he were here, like another member of the family.? 

Thanks to her testimony, many people have learned the story of this young blessed. ?The Lord has used me as an instrument so that his story reaches many people.?

Rosique also keeps the second-degree relic of Carlo Acutis, although she doesn?t keep it only for herself: ?On several occasions, in prayer, Carlo has made me feel that I should share it and not keep it for myself.? For this reason, she has shared it with those she believes he himself has arranged.

?I?m like, I don?t know how to tell you, an apostle of Carlo. I?m going to spread his message, his devotion,? she emphasized.

She also highlighted the testimony of love that this young man gave to the world: ?You don?t have to be 40 years old to go to Mass every day. Carlo always had an unconditional love for the Eucharist and even today he teaches us how to live love and charity toward the poor, whom he helped so much.?

A new perspective on faith

One of the great changes in Rosique?s life, she said, is that her ?love for the Eucharist? has intensified. ?Now my life, Pablo?s life and mine, begins with Mass at 7:15 in the Murcia cathedral, asking for the grace to get through the day.?

?I?ve gone back to work, thank God, and I believe that, through my work, I can reach many people,? she said. Her mission is not only professional but also spiritual: ?I can communicate the joy of the Gospel, even if in small doses, to patients and their families.?

From her experience, she has learned a key lesson: ?The Lord has taught me that we don?t have the means to control everything.? She admits that she used to be a ?quite controlling? person, but God showed her that ?the most important things don?t depend on me. It?s a matter of letting him guide me.?

?I have learned to trust and to unload my worries on him. ?Lord, You will know if it?s the right thing to do, if it?s not appropriate, if it should be done, if it should not be done? I trust in you,?? she continued.

In addition to her personal testimony, Rosique has begun evangelizing her women friends who were far from the faith. ?For a few months now, I have been doing something we call ?mini-catechesis.? Once a month I give them a short catechism based on the catechism,? she explained.

Her mission in life is clear for her: ?I know that, for the moment, the Lord is calling me to this: to share my testimony, which is helping some people. Wherever he may call me, I?m going.?

Since her physical healing, Rosique has also encouraged others to open their eyes to the presence of God in the midst of suffering: ?Pay attention to the small details. See Our Lady and the Lord in the people who care for you: in those who accompany you, in the priest who brings you Communion. Behind all of them, there is the Lord. He does not leave us alone.?

?In the end, we are made for something much greater, and there are times when heaven cannot wait,? she concluded.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

The Frauenkirche, the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising. / Credit: Diliff via Wikimedia (CC BY 2.5)

CNA Newsroom, Feb 18, 2025 / 11:05 am (CNA).

Bishops in Germany and Austria have reacted to separate, deadly attacks that have shaken both countries, with Archbishop Franz Lackner of Salzburg describing the violence as ?bloodthirsty, godless terror.?

In Villach, Austria, a 14-year-old Austrian boy was killed Saturday, Feb. 15, by a 23-year-old Syrian asylum seeker in what authorities have classified as an Islamist attack. Five others were injured in the incident.

In a separate incident on Thursday, Feb. 13, in Munich, Germany, a 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker drove a vehicle into a crowd attending a labor union demonstration. Thirty-seven people were injured, including children. A 37-year-old mother and her 2-year-old child later succumbed to their injuries.

Urging solidarity over division, the president of the Austrian Bishops? Conference wrote on social media that the brutality witnessed in both Villach and Munich ?has no nationality, no face, and no skin color,? reported CNA Deutsch, CNA?s German-language partner agency.

Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising led an interfaith memorial service Monday evening at Munich?s Cathedral of Our Lady. ?We stand here today speechless in the face of this terrible act of violence,? the cardinal said during the service, which drew together representatives from multiple faiths.

The German prelate emphasized that the Cathedral of Our Lady should serve as ?a house for all Munich citizens, especially for the frightened, the threatened, the injured, the doubting, and those seeking comfort.? 

The cardinal noted that the memory of the victims ?will never fade, their light continues to shine among us? as candles were lit for the deceased mother and child, CNA Deutsch reported. 

Bavarian Minister President Markus Söder and Munich?s Mayor Dieter Reiter also addressed the gathering at the conclusion of the service.

The attacks have intensified debates over immigration and security in Austria and Germany. The politically contentious issues have also highlighted divisions within the Church in Germany, where voters will head to the polls for federal elections on Feb. 23.

Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, presides over a press conference on Friday, May 17, 2024, on the Vatican?s new document on Marian apparitions. / Credit: Rudolf Gehrig/EWTN News

CNA Newsroom, Feb 18, 2025 / 09:50 am (CNA).

The Vatican?s doctrine chief delivered a pointed critique of gender ideology at a theological conference in Germany on Monday.

Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Vatican?s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, addressed scholars at the Cologne School of Catholic Theology (KHKT) about gender ideology?s ?claim to omnipotence.?

Speaking via video link in German, the cardinal rejected the notion that gender and bodily identity could be subject to radical change based on individual wishes and claims to freedom. 

Transgender surgery, he argued, goes beyond mere external changes like cosmetic surgery, as it involves ?the claim to a change of identity, to the desire to be a different person.?

Fernández criticized using technical means to ?create an alternative reality at will.? While acknowledging the existence of severe cases of dysphoria that could lead to ?an unbearable life,? he emphasized that such exceptional situations require careful evaluation.

?No anthropology regarding the human person equals that of the Church,? Fernández stated during the KHKT conference.

The Argentine cardinal referenced the dicastery?s recent document Dignitas Infinita on human dignity, explaining the concept inspired by Pope John Paul II?s words in 1980 in Osnabrück, Germany.

?God has shown us in an insurmountable way in Jesus Christ how much he loves each man and how immense is the dignity that he has conferred on him through him. Precisely those who must suffer from some physical or spiritual impediment must recognize themselves as friends of Jesus, as loved especially by him,? Fernández said, quoting St. John Paul II.

The conference, titled ?The Catholic Foundation of Human Dignity,? aims to engage Catholic theology with other sciences and worldviews, KHKT Rector Christoph Ohly told Vatican News.

?With the topic of human dignity and human rights, we have a theme that concerns not just Christians but every human being,? Ohly said.

The multi-day gathering examines the nature of human dignity, its relationship to human rights, and current discussions about their expansion.

Concert at the Santa Maria dell'Olivo convent in Maciano, Italy, in July 2024. / Credit: Courtesy of Amici della Nave Association

Rome Newsroom, Feb 17, 2025 / 11:05 am (CNA).

Pope Francis received heartfelt letters from inmates at Milan?s San Vittore prison after his hospitalization forced the cancellation of a planned meeting where the prisoners were to perform in a special concert.

The Holy Father knows well that judicial sentences are served behind bars and, above all, in the heart. That?s where he intended to enter this Monday, Feb. 17, when he was scheduled to meet with a group of inmates from San Vittore prison at Rome?s historic Cinecittà studios.

However, the event was canceled following his hospitalization at Rome?s Gemelli hospital.

?It was difficult for them to accept because it also represented an opportunity to get out into the fresh air, see sunlight, and breathe freedom for a few hours,? explained Eliana Onofrio, president of the Amici della Nave association.

Since 2018, the organization has worked with the La Nave project, which assists Italian inmates dealing with drug and alcohol addiction. In collaboration with the Santi Paolo e Carlo health care association, they run a rehabilitation program where music is a fundamental therapeutic tool.

?Music helps them relax and connect with themselves; it?s an essential part of the reeducation process that accompanies rehabilitation to help them overcome addictions,? Onofrio said.

Upon receiving official confirmation of the cancellation from the Vatican, some inmates decided to write letters to the pontiff. ?It was a spontaneous gesture through which they wanted to express their affection,? Onofrio noted.

In one of the letters, an inmate expressed his sadness, saying that ?everything had been organized in great detail? to offer Pope Francis a concert into which they had poured all their effort and affection. The inmate considers the pope a central figure, expressing his closeness and assuring his prayers.

Another detained person laments being unable to meet the pope but understands this is ?a necessary pause due to his constant dedication and efforts.? Nevertheless, he emphasizes that the pope?s health is paramount and promises prayers for a swift recovery. He also asks Francis not to feel ?distressed about the event?s cancellation? and wishes him a speedy return to strength.

The power of music and reintegration

For more than two decades, the Amici della Nave association has accompanied these inmates in various events outside prison. A notable highlight was their concert on April 9, 2019, at Milan?s prestigious La Scala theater.

?I still remember the journey and their faces of emotion as they got off the bus and stepped onto such an important stage,? Onofrio recalled.

Currently, 70 Italian prisoners form part of the choir, alongside volunteers and former inmates who have achieved complete reintegration after lives marked by crime.

The cells of San Vittore, small and cold, are filled with stories of stumbles and suffering. There, inmates await their final sentence. Once they reach the third grade, they are transferred to other prisons.

Some have committed serious crimes, but they have a right to a second chance. Sometimes, they just need ?a shoulder to cry on to glimpse a new life,? Onofrio affirmed. Even in prison, goodness exists. Indeed, the light of hope and kindness can emerge after years of criminality when all seems lost, she said.

Thanks to the mediation of the Vatican?s Department of Culture and Education, the letters will be delivered to the pontiff, who remains hospitalized.

This story was first publishedby ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Crowds at a town hall meeting on immigration in Los Angeles, January 2014. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Victor Aleman/vida-nueva.com

London, England, Feb 17, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The U.K. government is ?choosing criminalization over compassion and protection? with its new asylum and immigration bill, according to the Catholic Bishops? Conference of England and Wales.

The Border Security, Asylum, and Immigration Bill is currently making its way through the U.K. Parliament and passed its second reading on Feb. 10. It comes as asylum and immigration have been highlighted as key priorities by both the current Labor government, elected in July 2024, and the previous Conservative government. 

Government statistics showed that, in 2024, 36,816 migrants arrived in the U.K. on 695 small boats, compared with 2018 when 300 people arrived on boats. Both Labor and Conservative administrations have advocated stringent measures to counter immigration. 

The new bill stipulates automatic refusal of U.K. citizenship to illegal immigrants to the U.K., no matter how much time has elapsed.

The new law would make it illegal to enter the U.K. without approval, even though the U.K. signed on to the 1951 U.N. Refugee Convention, which states that neither asylum seekers nor refugees can be penalized for entering illegally.

Bishop Paul McAleenan, lead bishop for Migrants and Refugees, criticized the government for imposing ?harsher measures? on those seeking asylum and for failing to provide safe and legal routes for those who need them.

?This bill seems to favor criminalization over compassion and protection,? McAleenan told CNA. ?The new government has done little to address the lack of safe and legal routes ? genuine alternatives remain unavailable. Instead, the government has proposed even harsher measures, such as expansion of detention powers and reduced protection for survivors of trafficking and modern slavery.?

Introducing the bill, the government said it was ?inspired by the approach taken to counter terrorism,? adding: ?The Border Security, Asylum, and Immigration Bill will strengthen the U.K.?s response to border security threats.?

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said that people are smuggling gangs into the U.K. and this bill will give police more power to deal with the problem. Cooper told the BBC: ?The gangs have been allowed to take hold for six years.? However, McAleenan commented that many coming to the U.K. have legitimate reasons for seeking asylum.

?It is difficult to see how measures that criminalize asylum seekers will achieve these aims,? he said. ?A distinction must be made between victims and those who profit from their vulnerability.?

He added that ?afflicted and persecuted? people affected by ?wars, conflicts, and other factors? have no choice but ?to risk dangerous journeys.? 

Referring to the words of Pope Francis regarding migrants, McAleenan called on the government to adopt a ?new approach.? 

?I urge the government to reconsider its approach and instead focus on addressing the real drivers of forced migration, ensuring access to safe routes and upholding the fundamental principles of compassion,? he said, adding: ?The words of Pope Francis are perpetual: ?Every migrant has a name, a face, and a story.??

U.K. Catholic social justice charity Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS UK) was also critical of the government bill for what it says is ?punishing? refugees. 

JRS UK senior policy officer Sophie Cartwright told CNA: ?For too long, our asylum system has treated people seeking sanctuary with hostility. Recent governments have doubled down on making it difficult for refugees to reach the U.K. and punishing them for traveling in the only way available.?

Cartwright added: ?We need to build bridges for people seeking sanctuary and an asylum system that treats them with dignity ? This government must have the courage to build a fair and humane alternative.?

Liam Allmark, acting deputy director of JRS UK, said the bill ?misses a vital opportunity,? adding: ?We should be focused on making it safer and easier for refugees to find protection rather than building a fortress.?

He also pointed out that ?this jubilee year, Pope Francis has called us to offer welcome and hope for refugees and other displaced people.? 

?With the help of our supporters, JRS UK will continue advocating for just policies that protect the lives and dignity of all those who are forced to flee,? he said.

After passing its second reading, the next stage for the bill will be a public bill committee, which will meet on Feb. 27 and will hear written evidence submissions. 

Bishop Kevin Doran. / Credit: Catholic Communications Office

Rome Newsroom, Feb 16, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Kevin Doran as new bishop of the Diocese of Achonry in addition to being bishop of the Diocese of Elphin in Ireland.

The announcement, published Feb. 16, means that the two dioceses of Achonry and Elphin are joined ?in persona episcopi? or ?in the person of the bishop.? 

On Sunday morning, the bishop of Achonry and Elphin addressed Catholics, expressing his gratitude for the support he has received from people in both dioceses. 

?I gladly accept my responsibility as bishop of the two dioceses to work with you as we grow together into that unity to which we are called and as we discover the gifts that God has given us to share,? he told the congregation at the Cathedral of the Annunciation and St. Nathy.  

Doran has served as bishop of the Elphin Diocese since 2014. He was appointed apostolic administrator of Achonry Diocese in April 2024, after the then-serving Bishop Paul Dempsy was appointed as auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Dublin.

In a 2024 letter, Doran acknowledged that some Catholics may be ?shocked? or ?disappointed? by developments but that lower levels of religious practice and inadequate human and financial resources necessitated change.

?Both Achonry and Elphin are small by the standards of the Church around the world,? he wrote. ?The hope is that, with our combined resources, we will be able to exercise our mission more effectively.?  

Doran, 71, was ordained a priest in 1977 for the Archdiocese of Dublin after completing his studies at Mater Dei College in Dublin. He also obtained a master of arts in philosophy from the National University of Ireland. 

Following his priestly ordination, Doran taught at Dublin?s Ringsend Vocational School from 1977?1983. He was also a member of the diocesan secretariat for education from 1980 to 1983.

In 1990, Doran continued his studies in Rome and was awarded a doctorate in philosophy at the Angelicum while serving as spiritual director at the Pontifical Irish College.

In addition to his pastoral ministry in Dublin parishes, Doran also served as a vocations and formation director at a diocesan and national level between 1998 and 2006 and was general secretary for the preparatory committee for the 50th International Eucharistic Congress from 2008?2012. 

Before his episcopal ordination in 2014, Doran was secretary of the Commission of the Episcopal Conference for Bioethics from 1996?2014. From 2013?2014, he was a member of the management committee of the Mater Misericordiae Hospital in Dublin and a consultant to the Congregation for Catholic Education.

An altar display of items associated with 17th-century English martyr St. Edmund Arrowsmith at the Church of St. Edmund and St. Oswald in Ashton-in-Makerfield, a former mining town midway between Liverpool and Manchester. / Credit: Joseph Kellaway Burnell

CNA Staff, Feb 12, 2025 / 16:30 pm (CNA).

Though not yet near pre-pandemic levels, Mass attendance numbers are on the rise in England and Wales, according to figures from the national bishops? conference. 

In 2023, an estimated nearly 555,000 people attended Sunday Mass in England and Wales, a roughly 50,000-person increase over 2022, a spokesman for the Catholic Bishops? Conference of England and Wales told CNA via email. 

The spokesman described the figure as ?not a full return to pre-COVID levels, but it is an improvement on recent years.? He also noted that the figure may be a ?slight underestimation as some parishes may not have given their figures when their diocese requested them.?

Stephen Bullivant, director of the Benedict XVI Centre for Religion and Society at St. Mary?s University in Twickenham, London, told CNA he is ?tentatively hopeful that this trend for modest (re)growth will continue in subsequent years.?

He pointed to a 2024 article he wrote for the Tablet in which he noted that while Mass attendance in the U.K. has significantly decreased over the past several decades ? leading to projections of a near-extinction of Catholicism ? such dire projections seem unlikely due to signs of growth in some areas of U.K. Catholic life. 

That said, Mass attendance stood at roughly 829,000 across England, Wales, and Scotland on a ?typical Sunday? in 2019, Bullivant wrote, meaning attendance still has a long way to climb before it reaches pre-pandemic levels, if ever. 

In addition, a late 2024 study showed that the sexual abuse crisis deeply affected Catholics in Britain, with a third of Mass-goers saying they have reduced their Mass attendance because of concerns about the child sexual abuse crisis.

In his article, however, Bullivant pointed to signs of renewed vigor and new growth in some areas in the Church in the U.K., such as anecdotal reports of increased attendance at Easter services and relatively large numbers of adult converts, thriving university chaplaincies, and vibrant diasporic and immigrant communities, suggesting that while secularization has deeply impacted the Church, it is unlikely to result in complete disappearance. 

?To put it frankly, rumors of the Church?s death ? albeit four decades hence ? have been very greatly exaggerated. There?s a big difference between ?not dying out? and ?bursting with new life,? however,? Bullivant wrote. ?British Catholicism might be the former, but that needn?t mean it?s anything close to the latter.?

The news from the U.K. comes following recent estimates suggesting that Mass attendance numbers in the United States have recovered fully following the pandemic?s disruptions ? though U.S. weekly attendance still stands at only 24%. 

The new analysis by the U.S.-based Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) used national surveys and Google Trends data to estimate attendance, which also revealed that attendance for important holy days like Easter and Christmas has recovered from the COVID crisis.

Thousands of people walk prayerfully together through the streets during a Eucharistic procession in Derry, Ireland, on the feast of St. Brigid, Feb. 1, 2025. / Credit: EWTN Ireland

Derry, Northern Ireland, Feb 12, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

On the recent feast day of St. Brigid in Ireland, thousands of people walked the streets together in a joyful celebration of prayer that has attracted global interest. The Come Follow Me Procession on the feast of one of Ireland?s patron saints was organized by the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal (CFR) and a group of lay Catholics.

?We want to bring Our Lord Jesus to people who no longer go to church, those who are lost or those who have no hope. There is a lot of darkness here, and when we lift Jesus high, we know that hearts are changed,? said Father Antonio Maria Diez de Medina, CFR, who has encouraged an active interest in Eucharistic processions in Ireland. 

Holding the procession on the feast of St. Brigid was no accident, Diez de Medina explained to CNA. ?There is a tendency to make her into a New Age saint or a goddess and part of it was to correct that,? he said.

?We need to carry Our Lord Jesus in our hearts, and I really believe there is a new fire, a new hope, and a new song,? he said.

Roisin Doherty, another organizer, said: ?We are looking today to see Jesus come alive on the streets in public witness so that people will come to know Jesus Christ the King and his Eucharistic heart beating on the streets. This today is a breakthrough; Jesus is here, and Ireland is coming back to God.?

Worshippers of all ages took part in the Eucharistic procession, singing and bearing religious statues, banners, and flags with images of Jesus, St. Brigid, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and Derry?s own Sister Clare Crockett.

The procession halted for adoration in Guildhall Square, a moving and powerful setting that was the scene of many past Catholic civil rights protests.

Prayer intentions included an end to abortion, euthanasia, and war; the healing of families from sin, division, addictions, and suicide; and the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. 

?There can be a fear of expressing your faith, of hiding your Catholic identity, so we bring him to those who are lost, those who have given up on the Church, those who no longer go to church,? Diez de Medina said. ?Really, we become his hands and feet when we bring him out onto the streets and venerate him.?

The Eucharistic procession was featured in a segment on ?EWTN News Nightly,? which can be viewed below.

Pope Francis waves to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter?s Square for his Wednesday general audience on Dec. 4, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Newsroom, Feb 11, 2025 / 21:20 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis made a surprise appearance via video message at Italy?s premier musical event on Tuesday, telling participants at the 75th Sanremo Music Festival that music represents a message of peace capable of uniting diverse peoples.

Speaking from his residence at Casa Santa Marta in an unscheduled appearance, the pontiff praised music?s unique ability to transcend barriers.

?Music is beauty, music is an instrument of peace. It is a language that all peoples speak in different ways, reaching everyone?s heart,? the pope said in his message broadcast at the Teatro Ariston.

The Holy Father specifically addressed the plight of children affected by global conflicts.

?Many children cannot sing life ? they weep and suffer because of the many injustices in the world, because of many wars, because of conflict situations,? Francis said. ?Wars destroy children. Let us never forget that war is always a defeat.?

Francis concluded his message by meditating on music?s power to promote harmony among peoples.

?Music can help people live together, opening hearts to harmony and the joy of being together, with a common language of understanding that commits us to building a more just and fraternal world,? the pope said.

The Sanremo Music Festival, Italy?s most prominent song competition, has been held annually in the Ligurian coastal city since 1951. This year?s edition marks its 75th anniversary.

The festival traditionally serves as Italy?s selection platform for the Eurovision Song Contest and has launched the careers of numerous Italian music stars.

Father Zvonimir Pavicic, OFM, is pastor of the parish church at the Marian shrine of Medjugorje. / Credit: Nicolás de Cárdenas/ACI Prensa

Madrid, Spain, Feb 11, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Father Zvonimir Pavicic, OFM, the pastor of the parish church at the Marian shrine of Medjugorje, welcomed the recent Vatican recognition of the spiritual phenomenon there as a call to make this recognition more widely known. To skeptics, he says: ?We never argue about Medjugorje, but I tell everyone: Come and see.?

The Franciscan was in Spain last week for the 15th Ibero-American Congress on the Queen of Peace organized by the Medjugorje Center Foundation with the theme ?Pilgrims of Hope Guided by the Queen of Peace.? 

During a brief break from the event?s busy schedule, the priest took some time to speak to ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner.

ACI Prensa: What does it mean to be a priest and pastor of Medjugorje and what is the particular grace that you have found there?

Pavicic: Being a parish priest at Medjugorje is very demanding, because you are at the same time the pastor, the rector, and the guardian. Because the three duties are not yet separated and the pastor is the one who does everything.

As a pastor, I take care of the parishioners and everything that parish life entails. But the pastor is also responsible for all the pilgrims who come. Although it is a very difficult and demanding task, at the same time it is very beautiful, because you meet people who come to encounter God and who want to live with Mary, and that makes your work easier. And I have to emphasize that I am not alone there, but the Franciscan brothers are there and they make all my work easier.

The grace that I discovered in Medjugorje is precisely the grace of the priestly vocation. What the priest means to the Church, how much people need priests, how much they seek him and, in reality through him, they seek the grace of God. And I discover this more and more in Medjugorje every day.

What has Rome?s recognition of Medjugorje as a place of extraordinary grace meant and what does it bring to the Church?

Before the recognition of the ?nihil obstat? (?nothing stands in the way?), Medjugorje brought a lot to the Church. It brought people to conversion, the faithful to conversion. And these people, in turn, prayed for others, converted others, moved people to prayer in their cities. So Medjugorje is a gift to the Church. And the Church has recognized this.

And the ?nihil obstat? has opened the doors to Medjugorje and also to all those who want to go to Medjugorje. It has recognized the spirituality of Medjugorje as sound and that it can help the Church in today?s world. And that is why the declaration states that this spirituality must be proclaimed in the Church, so that the greatest number of people will hear about this spirituality and that, by the grace of God, the greatest possible number of people will be converted. And I would conclude that Medjugorje was, is, and will be a gift for the Church.

You are a Franciscan. St. Francis was commissioned by the Lord to restore the Church in Porziuncola. What fruits has Medjugorje been bearing in these 44 years for the restoration and edification of the Church?

It?s the same task. How did St. Francis renew the Church? With a holy life. With prayer. Living in the Church. Not criticizing the pope, the bishops, or the priests. And at that time he had reason to criticize them!

But he loved the Church and lived in it. And that is the true reform of the Church. And that is what Medjugorje does today. We have always been within the Church and for the Church. We have been waiting for the ?nihil obstat? and we continue to serve the Church humbly, because we have not created ourselves. We say that God has granted us this grace and we only collaborate with it: for the Church and in the Church.

Many priests experience a profound renewal of their ministry when they go to Medjugorje. What do you think the experience brings to priests?

It?s the grace of God. It can?t be described simply. It can?t be described, because it would not be divine if it could be described. But God acts in Medjugorje. And this is very visible in every priest and in every member of the faithful who goes to Medjugorje. I think it?s not necessary to describe it but to live it.

And not only in Medjugorje but in any other parish. Medjugorje is only an image and a model of what any other parish should be like. Any parish should offer God to men. And the opportunity to go to confession, to pray the rosary, the Eucharist, adoration, and many other devotions. Everything is very simple and God acts in all of this. And this is what priests discover in Medjugorje. In reality, they discover that God is hidden in simplicity.

What do you say to those who are hesitant, who even look with suspicion at the phenomenon of Medjugorje, who do not feel called to that place?

I wouldn?t say anything to them. I never argue with people about Medjugorje. Those who believe, should continue to believe. Those who do not believe, should live with it. God reaches out to each person in different ways. He has touched millions through Medjugorje through the Blessed Virgin Mary. Others have been touched through something else.

The Spirit blows where he wants and how he wants. We never argue about Medjugorje. But I tell everyone: Come and see. Only those who come to Medjugorje and participate in the evening program in the parish will reach a conclusion and make a judgment about Medjugorje.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Our Lady of Lourdes grotto, Lourdes, France. / Credit: Elise Harris/CNA

CNA Staff, Feb 11, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

On Feb. 11, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. In Lourdes, France, in 1858, 13-year-old Bernadette Soubirous was collecting pieces of wood as part of her daily chores when she noticed a startling wind and rustling sound. The noise came from a nearby grotto. When Bernadette looked toward it, she saw it filled with a golden light and a beautiful lady.

It was at this grotto that the Blessed Mother appeared to Bernadette 18 times and where millions of Catholic pilgrims visit the healing waters at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes.

Records have been kept from the exchanges between Bernadette and our Blessed Mother. Here are five of the most fascinating facts about the apparitions that took place at the grotto:

1. Paralysis 

When Bernadette first saw the beautiful lady in the grotto during the first apparition, on Feb. 11, 1858, it is said that she immediately smiled at Bernadette and signaled to her to come closer, in the same way a mother motions to her child. Bernadette took out her rosary and knelt before the Lady, who also had a rosary on her right arm. When Bernadette tried to begin saying the rosary by making the sign of the cross, her arm was paralyzed. It was only after the Lady made the sign of the cross herself that Bernadette was able to do the same. The Lady remained silent as Bernadette prayed the rosary, but the beads of her rosary passed between her fingers. 

2. The secret prayer

During the fifth apparition, which took place on Feb. 20, 1858, the Lady taught Bernadette a prayer, which she recited every day for the rest of her life. She never revealed the prayer to anyone, but she did say she was told to always bring a blessed candle with her. This is why candles perpetually burn at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes. 

3. The Lady shares her name

At the 16th apparition, on March 25, 1858, the feast of the Annunciation, the Lady revealed her identity to Bernadette, calling herself the ?Immaculate Conception.?

4. The burn of fire

Bernadette never forgot to bring a lighted candle to the grotto since she was told to do so by the Lady. During the 17th apparition, on April 7, 1858, Bernadette unconsciously placed one of her hands over the burning flame. Witnesses saw the flame burning through her fingers, and yet she was able to pray for 15 minutes with the flame burning her hand. As she emerged from her prayer, she was unscathed and didn?t even notice cries of horror from the people in the crowd. Dr. Pierre Romaine Dozous, a well-known physician from Lourdes, took another lit candle and, without warning, placed the flame to her hand. Bernadette immediately cried out in pain.

5. The miracle of Bernadette?s body

After the apparitions ended, Bernadette went on to become a Sister of Charity. She died at age 34 on April 16, 1879. She was buried on the convent grounds in Nevers, France. Thirty years later, on Sept. 22, 1909, her body was exhumed and found completely intact. A second exhumation took place on April 3, 1919. The body was found in the exact same state as it had been 10 years earlier. Bernadette was canonized a saint on Dec. 8, 1933, by Pope Pius XI.

This story was first published on Feb. 11, 2022, and has been updated.

Cardinal Kurt Koch speaks to journalists at the Synod on Synodality press briefing held at the Vatican?s Holy See Press Office on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Madrid, Spain, Feb 9, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

In his acceptance speech for the honorary doctorate awarded him by the Catholic University of Valencia, Cardinal Kurt Koch rejected the extreme positions of progressives and traditionalists regarding the Second Vatican Council.

The prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity reflected in his address on the tension between the two essential parts of the Second Vatican Council: fidelity to the sources and fidelity to the signs of the times.

For the cardinal, ?the relationship between these two dimensions has always characterized the Church, but the tension has become more acute in a new way after Vatican II.?

Faced with this dichotomy, Koch argued that ?beyond secularist conformism and separatist fundamentalism, it is necessary to seek a third path in the Catholic faith, which has already been shown to us by the council.?

According to the prefect, both the so-called progressives and the traditionalists ?conceive of Vatican II as a rupture, although in opposite ways.? For the former, the rupture occurred after the council, while the latter understand that it occurred during it.

In light of this, the cardinal considered that ?the two extreme positions are so close, precisely because they do not interpret Vatican II within the general tradition of the Church.?

In his address, Koch recalled, with regard to the traditionalist view that focuses solely on the sources, that Pope Benedict XVI stated that ?the magisterial authority of the Church cannot be frozen in 1962.?

The risk of worldliness in the Church

On the other hand, ?if the emphasis is placed solely on ?aggiornamento?[updating], there is a danger that the opening of the Church to the world, desired and achieved by the council, will become a hasty adaptation of the foundations of faith to the spirit of the modern age,? the cardinal noted.

?Many currents in the postconciliar period were so oriented toward the world that they did not notice the tentacles of the modern spirit or underestimated its impact,? the cardinal observed, ?so that the so-called conversion to the world did not cause the leaven of the Gospel to permeate modern society more but rather led to a broad conformism of the Church with the world.?

Koch?s proposal in the face of both positions, which he considers equally disruptive, is ?the restoration of a healthy balance in the relationship between the faith and the Church on the one hand and the world on the other.?

In his view, if the Church cannot be confused with the world, ?the original identity of faith and the Church must not be defined in such a way that it separates itself from the world in a fundamentalist way.?

In this sense, he added that the dialogue between the Church and the contemporary world ?must not make faith and the Church adapt to the world in a secularist way, dangerously renouncing her identity.?

What does the reform of the Church mean?

For the prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, the reform of the Church cannot imply ?a change of essence? but consists in ?the elimination of what is inauthentic? through a process of purification of the Church ?based on its origins,? so that ?the form of the one Church willed by Christ can become visible again.?

?For the council, fidelity to its origins and conformity to the times were not opposed to each other. Rather, the council wanted to proclaim the Catholic faith in a way that was both faithful to its origins and appropriate to the times, in order to be able to transmit the truth and beauty of the faith to the people of today, so that they can understand it and accept it as an aid to their lives,? he emphasized.

For the cardinal, ?the council did not create a new Church in rupture with tradition, nor did it conceive a different faith, but rather it aimed at a renewal of faith and a Church renewed on the basis of the spirit of the Christian message that has been revealed once and for all and transmitted in the living tradition of the Church.?

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

The Paris public prosecutor?s office announced that, despite serious allegations of abuse, it will not investigate Abbé Pierre, known as a poor priest, because he is no longer alive. / Credit: Studio Harcourt Paris/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

CNA Deutsch, Feb 7, 2025 / 14:30 pm (CNA).

The Paris public prosecutor?s office has announced that, despite serious allegations of abuse, it will not investigate Abbé Pierre because he is no longer alive. No investigations are possible against other people who may have covered up abuse due to the statute of limitations.

?The Paris public prosecutor?s office announced that the priest could no longer be investigated even after his death in 2007,? ORF reported. ?The crime of ?failure to report? is time-barred, so no investigations are possible here either.?

Previously, the French bishops formally requested that prosecutors open a criminal investigation into allegations of sexual abuse against Abbé Pierre.

The move followed nine new allegations in a new report released Jan. 13. Archbishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, the head of the French bishops? conference, announced the formal request in a radio interview on Jan. 17, stressing the need to uncover more victims.

Abbé Pierre founded the Emmaus Movement in Paris in 1949. Before the allegations that he sexually abused a number of people, he was considered one of the most popular and well-known figures in the Catholic Church of France. He was best known for advocating for the homeless in France and for introducing the Trève Hivernale (Winter Rest) law in the 1950s, which still protects tenants from evictions during the winter months.

The allegations against the priest first came to light in 2023, when Emmaus France received the testimony of a woman who accused Abbé Pierre of sexual abuse. Further testimony was published in an independent report commissioned by Emmaus in July 2024. The documented allegations span several decades, from the 1950s to the 2000s, and the victims include Emmaus employees, volunteers, and young women close to Abbé Pierre.

The French bishops released the files on Abbé Pierre in September 2023. These documents would normally have remained sealed in the National Archives Center of the Church of France until 2082. But it is now acknowledged that from a legal point of view, the French state cannot do anything about the matter.

This story was first published by CNA Deutsch, CNA?s German-language news partner, and has been translated and adapted by CNA.

St. Marie?s Roman Catholic Cathedral in Sheffield, England, was open for prayer on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, after a student at All Saints Catholic High School there was stabbed to death on Monday, Feb. 3. / Credit: alvarobueno/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Feb 5, 2025 / 14:55 pm (CNA).

A teenager has been arrested and charged with murder after police say he stabbed a fellow student to death at a Catholic high school in England on Monday. 

The alleged attacker, whom police have not named because of his age, reportedly stabbed 15-year-old Harvey Willgoose to death Feb. 3 at All Saints Catholic High School in the South Yorkshire city of Sheffield. The school has about 1,300 pupils, aged between 11 and 18, the Guardian reported. 

The local Diocese of Hallam, which encompasses all of Sheffield, released a statement Feb. 4 paying tribute to ?our much-loved student, Harvey Willgoose.?

Bishop Ralph Heskett of Hallam said he will be asking all priests of the diocese to offer Mass for Willgoose. In addition, the bishop said, St. Marie?s Cathedral is open for those wanting a place for private prayer.

A Mass at St. Joseph?s Parish in Handsworth at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 8, will be celebrated for Willgoose?s intention, he continued. Willgoose was a former pupil at the elementary school there. 

?Our prayers, and those of every parish and school, are with Harvey, his parents, family, and friends for a young life lost and all those affected by this tragedy,? the bishop said. 

?My thoughts are also with the students, staff, and community of All Saints Catholic High School at this time. In God?s peace, and in God?s presence, we must come together as a community of faith to comfort each other.?

Steve Davies, the CEO of the trust that runs the school, expressed his ?heartfelt condolences.?

?Harvey was an invaluable part of our school community. An immensely popular young man with his fellow students and teachers alike, he had a smile that would light up the room. Harvey was young. He was precious. He was loved,? Davies said. 

?A tragic and shocking incident such as this shakes us to our core and is the opposite of the ethos of what All Saints stands for ? a loving, caring school community.?

?We are assisting the police in their ongoing investigation and echo their call to refrain from engaging in speculation and misinformation whilst they establish the facts behind this tragic incident,? he concluded. 

Members of the community continue to contribute to a makeshift shrine honoring Willgoose with flowers, balloons, and tributes at a spot outside the gates of the school. 

Prior to the Feb. 3 incident, the school went into lockdown Jan. 29 after staff and students were informed of ?threats of violence? between a ?small number of students,? the Yorkshire Post reported. Local police have not announced if the two incidents are linked. 

France?s Prime Minister Francois Bayrou attends a session of questions to the government at the National Assembly, France?s lower house of Parliament, in Paris on Feb. 4, 2025. / Credit: ALAIN JOCARD/AFP via Getty Images

Paris, France, Feb 5, 2025 / 12:40 pm (CNA).

French Prime Minister François Bayrou?s decision to split the controversial ?end of life? bill in two ? to separate the issue of ?active assistance in dying? from that of palliative, which was announced Jan. 21 ? has earned him the wrath of his own party officials, who have suggested his judgment has been clouded by his Catholic convictions.

Opponents of the original bill, whose debates were interrupted by the dissolution of the National Assembly last June, saw it, on the contrary, as a courageous choice that endeavors to respect the plurality of parliamentary opinions on these two centrally important social issues.

For President Emmanuel Macron, this bill was intended to be one of the flagship societal measures of his second term in office ? along with the inclusion of the right to abortion in the French Constitution, formalized in March 2024 ? to satisfy his progressive electoral base, largely in favor of euthanasia. 

The bill on ?accompanying the sick and the end of life,? initially presented to the Council of Ministers on April 10, 2024, and then to the National Assembly on May 27, encompassed two aspects: palliative care and support for the sick, and active assistance in dying ? i.e., euthanasia and assisted suicide ? for incurable illnesses and/or pain that cannot be relieved. 

In particular, the text provided for the authorization of the provision to ?a person who so requests a lethal substance, for self-administration or, if unable to do so, to be administered by a doctor, a nurse, a relative, or a voluntary person of his or her choice.? 

?The bill debated before the dissolution would have made France one of the most extreme legislations in the world, by providing for the lethal act to be carried out by a close relative, exerting strong coercion on medical staff and providing for a procedure conducive to abuses and drifts,? Laurent Frémont, lecturer at Sciences Po Paris and co-founder of the Démocratie, éthique et solidarités association, told CNA. 

Indeed, while the bill provided for a conscience clause for health care professionals, it did not apply to pharmacists, nor did it include any collective dimension for a health care service or establishment.? 

While the governmental instability that followed the June 9 European elections and the dissolution of the National Assembly bought time for opponents of active aid in dying, its promoters are seeking to make up for lost time by making it a political priority. Thus, since early November 2024, National Assembly President Yaël Braun-Pivet has been urging the government to resume discussions on the bill no later than early February. 

In taking up this request, Bayrou, prime minister since Dec. 13, 2024, nevertheless surprised his own political allies by announcing, at the end of January, that the original end-of-life text would finally be split into two. Parliamentary debates will therefore revolve around two separate bills, the first on palliative care, the second on active assistance in dying.? 

?We need to be able to vote on each of these two texts in a different way,? the centrist leader explained at the time of his announcement, highlighting that he had no intention of delaying the examination of the bill in Parliament.? 

This decision was welcomed by critics of the initial project, who saw a blatant antinomy between the two parts of the bill.

?Since the beginning of debates on the subject, Emmanuel Macron has attempted a particularly audacious ?en même temps? [?at the same time? ? an expression often used by the French president] by announcing the advent of a ?French end-of-life model? based on both palliative care and induced death,? Frémont said.

?There can be no continuum between these two radically opposed practices. Induced death cannot be care, because it interrupts care by eliminating the person being cared for. Despite strong opposition from caregivers, this confusion was maintained during the debates that took place before the dissolution.?

The announcement also triggered an outcry among proponents of active aid in dying, who saw it as an attempt to postpone the debate indefinitely.?They also pointed to the religious convictions of Bayrou, who has never made a secret of his Catholic faith.

?The prime minister is in the midst of a mystical enlightenment,? wrote the French Association for the Right to Die with Dignity in a press release, comparing him to ?the preacher of a religious congregation? and inviting him to ?set aside his religious beliefs and finally take an interest in the general interest of the French people.? 

More nuanced, political figures in the presidential camp nonetheless considered that the politician?s judgment was clouded by his personal convictions, despite the fact that both he and his entourage insisted to the contrary. 

For columnist Guillaume Tabard, Bayrou has above all shown political astuteness by evading pressure from the president of the National Assembly and by aiming ?to de-mine a heated subject without burying it.?? 

?By promising to separate the two subjects,? Frémont said, ?François Bayrou is showing that he has grasped what is at stake in this debate. This will ensure that palliative care is not used as an excuse to legalize administered death in France.? 

Bishop Santiago Gómez Sierra visits St. Paul Parish in the Diocese of Huelva, Spain, in 2022. / Credit: Diocese of Huelva, Spain

Madrid, Spain, Feb 5, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The Diocese of Huelva in Spain has ?prohibited and disavowed? a planned preparation course for the ?blessing of same-sex couples or couples in an irregular situation? that was to be held at one of its parishes. The diocese said it learned about the course through the media.

In a brief statement, the diocese explained that ?this way of accompanying Christian faithful who are in such situations does not correspond with the teaching of Pope Francis nor with the pastoral practice of the Church.?

The text concludes by stating that ?the Diocese of Huelva provides pastoral accompaniment for all people, offering opportunities for listening, formation, and growth in faith and always in accordance with the teachings of the Church.?

St. Paul Parish, the planned venue for the course, has canceled the event. On its website, the original information was replaced with a message stating: ?For reasons beyond our control, we have to cancel this accompaniment.?

The message is illustrated with a drawing of a lamb with the rainbow colors of the LGBT flag next to a shepherd and the message: ?I was not lost, they told me I was not welcome.?

A local newspaper, Huelva24, shared a promotional poster for the course that inaccurately quotes the December 2023 Vatican declaration Fiducia Supplicans. The poster features a line that is not in the declaration itself, stating that ?the blessing of couples in irregular situations and of same-sex couples is possible ... so that human relationships can mature and grow in fidelity to the Gospel message.?

The sentence ?it is possible to bless couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples? does not appear in the text of Fiducia Supplicans published by the Vatican. It does appear, however, with this formulation: ?Within the horizon outlined here appears the possibility of blessings for couples in irregular situations and for couples of the same sex.?

Regarding the second part, the original Vatican document states that the blessings are for such couples ?that they may be freed from their imperfections and frailties, and that they may express themselves in the ever-increasing dimension of the divine love.? 

The declaration Fiducia Supplicans sparked controversy in the Catholic Church by allowing pastoral blessings for couples in irregular situations, including same-sex couples, without altering the doctrine on sacramental marriage.

The controversy arose from divergent interpretations: While some sectors of the Church saw it as a gesture of mercy to address complex realities, other bishops and faithful warned of the risk of doctrinal confusion, fearing that it would be perceived as an implicit validation of unions contrary to traditional teaching.

In May 2024, the bishop of Plasencia in Spain, Ernesto Jesús Brotons, admonished a priest for blessing a homosexual couple in such a way that it caused ?scandal? and ?confusion.? He had situated the pair in front of the altar similar to a bride and groom and was wearing an alb and red stole.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

This painting of St. Peter visiting St. Agatha was created by Federico Zuccari between 1597 and 1599 for the altar of Sant?Agata in the Milan Cathedral. It was directly commissioned by Milan native Federico Borromeo, a cousin of St. Charles Borromeo. / Credit: Rachel Thomas

ACI Prensa Staff, Feb 5, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

Every Feb. 5, the Church remembers St. Agatha of Catania, a young woman who consecrated her virginity to God and died a martyr?s death during the persecution of the Roman Emperor Decius in the third century.

Agatha was born in Catania, Sicily, in southern Italy, around the year 230. Like many women of her time, she decided to consecrate her life to Jesus Christ by remaining a virgin.

In the days of the persecution of Decius, the proconsul Quintianus, the governor of Sicily, fell in love with Agatha and sought her in marriage. However, the young woman rejected each of his proposals. 

The constant refusals greatly annoyed the proconsul, who ordered her to be taken to a brothel as punishment. Contrary to what Quintianus expected, in that sad place, Agatha managed to avoid any occasion that could jeopardize the promise she had made to the Lord. And, as if this were not enough, many women subjected to that world that treated them as merchandise converted to Christ. 

Quintianus then ordered Agatha to be subjected to a series of taunts and insults, and then ordered her to be tortured. Her executioners, in a fit of insanity, cut off her breasts. A certain hagiography preserves her words in the face of such wickedness: ?Cruel tyrant, are you not ashamed to torture in a woman the same breast which fed you as a child??

Tradition has it that Agatha miraculously survived the horrors and cruelties committed against her, and during the night while she was bleeding to death, St. Peter the Apostle appeared to her to heal her wounds and encourage her to remain steadfast.

At dawn, when the guards realized that the woman had recovered, the executioners resumed the tortures and Agatha gave up her life. It was the fifth day of the second month of the year 251.

One year after the martyrdom of St. Agatha, the volcano Etna erupted. The lava that spread along the slopes of the volcano threatened to destroy Catania. Then, some of its inhabitants who remembered the young martyr asked for her intercession to stop the fury of nature. 

Miraculously, the sea of burning rock and ash that began to move never reached the city. In gratitude, Catania and other surrounding towns chose Agatha as their patron saint.

Today, devotees of St. Agatha ask her to intercede for women who have complicated childbirths or problems with lactation. She is also invoked by those who suffer from breast ailments. She is considered the protector of women and patron saint of nurses.

In traditional iconography, St. Agatha is usually shown with the palm of martyrdom, the palm of victory, in her hand; or she is holding the tray on which her breasts were placed.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner, and has been translated and adapted by CNA.

?To affirm that Jesus? wisdom comes from his stay in India or Tibet before beginning his public life at 30 years of age is a lack of respect for the Gospels and also hides other errors, for example an erroneous conception of Christology,? Spanish Bishop José Ignacio Munilla said. / Credit: ACI Prensa

Madrid, Spain, Feb 4, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

The bishop of Orihuela-Alicante in Spain, José Ignacio Munilla, warned about the theories spread by Father Pablo d?Ors that suppose a ?syncretistic conception of Christianity and Buddhism? and a ?crazy interpretation of the Gospel.?

At the request of a group of religion teachers, the Spanish prelate refuted the approach that the priest, founder of the Friends of the Desert association, presented at the first Ibero-American meeting for religion teachers held in Madrid in May 2022 titled  ?Jesus of Nazareth, Teacher of Consciousness.?

Munilla began by explaining the central idea of ??d?Ors? presentation: ?We know Jesus through the Scriptures and from the tradition of the Church, but his thesis is that we have to forget all that, because this knowledge we have of Jesus confuses us more than it enlightens us: We have to deconstruct, like start from scratch, to know Jesus.?

The prelate specifically noted that d?Ors advocates that ?in the 30 years of hidden life, Jesus most likely did not remain in Nazareth but went to India or other countries where he learned Eastern wisdom? in such a way that he can be described as ?a yogi.?

For Munilla, this position constitutes ?an assumption that arises from the projection of an ideology onto Jesus, or a syncretistic theory between Christianity and Buddhism, which, as it has no basis in the Gospels, has to force a crazy interpretation of the Gospel.?

?To affirm that Jesus? wisdom comes from his stay in India or Tibet before beginning his public life at 30 years of age is a lack of respect for the Gospels and also hides other errors, for example an erroneous conception of Christology,? he added.

In this regard, he pointed out that to affirm that ?it doesn?t seem reasonable to maintain that Jesus learned this wisdom directly from God his father? as d?Ors claimed, clashes head-on with the Scriptures, as in the Gospel according to St. John (5:19-20; 7:16-17, or 12:49).

For the prelate, the priest ?projects onto Jesus his claim to fuse Christianity and Buddhism, and for that he needs it to be true that Jesus? wisdom does not come from the Father but from India or Tibet.?

?In no way is there room to extract from the Gospels the nonsense that Jesus was a yogi. Because, in addition to being false, it represents a great Christological error,? Munilla emphasized.

Secondly, with regard to d?Ors? statements, the prelate addressed the idea expressed by the priest in his bestseller ?Biography of Silence? that ?Jesus is a wise man who helps us to know ourselves and to discover that within us is all the truth, goodness, and beauty to which man aspires.?

Munilla explained that ?the Gospel does not record a word from Jesus that says ?whoever has seen me has seen himself.? The Gospel says: ?Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.? Jesus is the one who reveals the Father. Knowing God intimately is a supernatural knowledge that God reveals.?

This error about revelation leads to a third affirmation that, according to the bishop, is contrary to Catholic doctrine.

D?Ors said that ?we call this metaphor of the kingdom of God unitary consciousness. We are one. Let all be one as you in me and I in you, says Jesus. A non-dual unitary consciousness.?

In response to this, Munilla recalled that ?the Christian faith proclaims that our encounter with God is a personal encounter, one on one,? which implies a duality.

?If it were unitary, we would be [entering into] Buddhism because there is no concept of a personal God with whom you speak, but rather everything is reduced to reaching a state of nirvana in which you encounter yourself and the entire universe,? he explained.

For the prelate, the proposal to get beyond the biblical paradigm of the personal God, also defended by authors such as Jesuit Father Xavier Melloni, is equivalent to ?denying the most specific aspect of the Judeo-Christian revelation,? which involves the covenant of love with a personal God and tries to reinterpret Christianity in an effort ?to fuse Christianity and Zen in the parameters of the New Age.?

This claim, he added, ?cannot be carried out without seriously betraying the uniqueness of Christianity, without emptying it of content, without turning one?s back on the very ontology of Jesus Christ.?

The bishop of Orihuela-Alicante encouraged people to delve deeper into these issues by reading the document from the Spanish Bishops? Conference ?Theology and Secularization in Spain? as well as ?Jesus Christ, Bearer of the Water of Life: A Christian Reflection on the New Age,? prepared by the Pontifical Council for Culture and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Father Arturo Sosa, superior general of the Society of Jesus, prepares to celebrate Mass at the Gesu in Rome on Oct. 15, 2016. / Credit: GC36 via Flickr

ACI Prensa Staff, Feb 3, 2025 / 16:10 pm (CNA).

The superior general of the Society of Jesus, Venezuelan priest Arturo Sosa, has convoked a meeting of all the Jesuit major superiors to be held this October in Rome to discuss various topics such as their life and mission, the vow of poverty, sexual abuse in their communities, and the role of women in their apostolate, among others.

This will be the third time that the Jesuit major superiors meet, after the meetings held in 2000 and 2005. This time, the event will be held Oct. 17?26 in the context of the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope.

In a letter dated Jan. 16, Sosa noted that the October meeting ?represents an important step in the process of discernment of the life-mission of the Society of Jesus inspired by the 36th General Congregation,? which urged the Jesuits to ?respond courageously to the signs through which the Holy Spirit is leading us in the best way to serve the mission entrusted by the Lord Jesus to the Church.?

The superior general also highlighted that ?the examination of the meaning and challenge of the vow of poverty, together with the revision of the Statutes on Religious Poverty of the Society of Jesus and the Instruction on Administration and Finance, are other areas the Holy Spirit has called to the attention of the Jesuits.?

Sosa also noted in the letter that in recent years ?it has been difficult to become aware of the presence of all kinds of abuse in all the social contexts in which we live and work. It has been difficult to recognize its presence within our communities and apostolic works.?

In this regard the superior general emphasized that ?important steps have been taken: acknowledging each case, taking the pertinent measures, facilitating processes of justice and reconciliation. At the same time, programs have been developed to prevent possible cases and strengthen ?safe environments? in apostolic works.?

Perhaps one of the most difficult cases of abuse that the Jesuits have faced in recent years is that of the Slovenian artist and priest Marko Rupnik, who faces multiple accusations of spiritual, psychological, and sexual abuse against more than 40 nuns under his care and who was expelled from the Society of Jesus in June 2023.

Other cases that have received wide media coverage are those of Father Alfonso Pedrajas, ?Padre Pica,? a Spanish priest who died in 2009 and who abused at least 80 minors in Bolivia; and that of the Chilean priest Felipe Berríos, who was expelled from the Society of Jesus after being found guilty of abusing ?seven women who were between 14 and 23 years old when the abuse occurred.?

In April 2024, Father Julio Fernández Techera, a Jesuit priest and rector of the Catholic University of Uruguay, wrote a critical essay on the Society of Jesus, warning that the order is in ?profound decline.?

Similar criticisms were expressed in 2022 by the late Cardinal George Pell, who suggested that an apostolic visit or investigation of the Society of Jesus be carried out because ?the order is highly centralized, susceptible to being reformed or ruined from above.?

In his Jan. 16  letter, Sosa wrote that ?in the apostolic life of the society there are processes underway? such as ?the reflection on the role of women in the apostolate of the society,? the Jesuit brothers, education, commitment to integral ecology, and the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius and the constitutions.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.