St. Columba Catholic Church

Pope Leo XIV greets Vancouver Archbishop Richard Smith at the Vatican, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 15, 2025 / 13:00 pm (CNA).

In a Saturday meeting, Pope Leo XIV received Monsignor Pierre Goudreault, Bishop of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière and president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, at which the Holy Father gifted dozens of artifacts that originated with Indigenous peoples of the North American country.

Leo at the meeting donated 62 pieces from the ethnological collections of the Vatican Museums to the Canadian bishops. Bishop Goudreault was accompanied by Archbishop Richard Smith of Vancouver and Father Jean Vézina, secretary general of the Canadian bishops.

“It is an act of ecclesial sharing, through which the Successor of Peter entrusts to the Church in Canada these objects, which bear witness to the history of the encounter between the faith and cultures of indigenous peoples,” the Vatican said.

The 62 donated objects come from various indigenous communities and are part of the collection received during the 1925 Vatican Missionary Exhibition, promoted by Pope Pius XI during the Holy Year to bear witness to the faith and cultural richness of the peoples.

“The Holy Father Leo XIV wanted this gift to represent a concrete sign of dialogue, respect, and fraternity," the Holy See said.

“Sent to Rome by Catholic missionaries between 1923 and 1925, these objects became part of the Lateran Missionary Ethnological Museum, which later became the Anima Mundi Ethnological Museum of the Vatican Museums,” the Vatican added.

Pope Leo's gift is part of the observance of the Jubilee Year 2025. All the pieces are accompanied by information from the Vatican Museums “certifying their provenance and the circumstances of their transfer to Rome for the 1925 Exhibition.”

“They were handed over to the Canadian Episcopal Conference, which, in a spirit of loyal cooperation and dialogue with the Directorate of Cultural Heritage of the Vatican City State, has committed to ensuring their proper care, promotion, and conservation,” the Vatican said.

During a July 2022 visit to Canada, Pope Francis left a message of reconciliation and emphasized the need to “start afresh” by looking together at Christ crucified.

Throughout his trip, the pope had expressed his shame and regret for the role played by the Catholic Church in the management of many of the government-sponsored residential schools for Indigenous children.

These residential schools, which operated until the late 1990s, aimed to eradicate aspects of Indigenous culture, language, and religious practices. Former students have described mistreatment and even abuse at the residential schools.

According to the Holy See, the meeting on Nov. 15 concludes “the path begun by Pope Francis through his Apostolic Journey to Canada in 2022, the various audiences with indigenous communities, and the publication of the Declaration on the Doctrine of Discovery in 2023."

That year, the Vatican's Dicastery for Culture and Education and the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development stated that the so-called “Doctrine of Discovery,” which European colonizers allegedly used to justify their actions against indigenous peoples, is not part of Catholic teaching.

The Vatican agencies then specified that “many Christians have committed acts of evil against indigenous populations, for which recent popes have asked forgiveness on numerous occasions.”

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

null / Credit: Wolfgang Schaller|Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Nov 15, 2025 / 11:00 am (CNA).

The Archdiocese of Denver and a coalition of Catholic preschools are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to allow them to access a Colorado universal preschool program.

The petition to the high court comes after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit ruled in September that Colorado may continue to exclude Catholic preschools from its Universal Preschool Program because of their religious beliefs.

Catholic preschools in Denver ask teachers and families to sign a pledge promising to uphold their religious mission, including teachings on sexuality and gender identity. The Colorado preschool program’s nondiscrimination clause, however, requires schools to uphold provisions on sexual orientation and “gender identity.”

Two Catholic parish preschools and the Denver Archdiocese first filed suit in August 2023 against the requirement.

In a Nov. 14 press release, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty — which has represented the schools and the archdiocese in the lawsuit — said the Catholic schools “are asking the Supreme Court to ensure that Colorado makes good on its promise of universal preschool.”

“Colorado is picking winners and losers based on the content of their religious beliefs,” Nick Reaves, a senior lawyer at Becket, said in the release. 

“That sort of religious discrimination flies in the face of our nation’s traditions and decades of Supreme Court rulings,” he said. “We’re asking the court to step in and make sure ‘universal’ preschool really is universal.” 

Scott Elmer, who serves as chief mission officer for the Denver Archdiocese, said the schools are seeking “the ability to offer families who choose a Catholic education the same access to free preschool services that’s available at thousands of other preschools across Colorado.”

Becket in its press release said the Colorado rules have had a “predictable effect” in which “enrollment at Catholic preschools has swiftly declined, while two Catholic preschools have shuttered their doors.”

The law group said the lower court rulings go against recent Supreme Court decisions on religious freedom, including Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, which held that the Montana Constitution’s bar on public funding of religious institutions violated the First Amendment.

In May the Supreme Court declined to rule in a contentious case involving what was proposed to be the nation’s first religious charter school, leaving untouched a lower court ruling that forbade the Oklahoma Catholic institution from accessing state funds.

President Donald Trump signs an executive order related to foster care and foster parents on Nov. 13, 2025. / Credit: Alliance Defending Freedom

CNA Staff, Nov 15, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that aims to improve the nation’s foster care system, including the modernization of the current child welfare system, the development of partnerships with private sector organizations, and prioritizing the participation of those with sincerely held religious beliefs.

The executive order issued Nov. 13 states that the Trump administration is “dedicated to empowering mothers and fathers to raise their children in safe and loving homes.”

The order says current problems with the foster care system include overworked caseworkers, antiquated information systems, and policies that “prohibit qualified families from serving children in need as foster and adoptive parents because of their sincerely-held religious beliefs or adherence to basic biological truths.”

The legal group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has represented Christian families who were barred from serving as foster parents because of their faith, suing on behalf of Brian and Katy Wuoti and Bryan and Rebecca Gantt after the Vermont Department for Children and Families informed the two families that their belief that persons cannot change biological sex and that marriage is only between a man and a woman precluded them from serving as foster parents in the state.

Despite describing the Wuotis and the Gantts as “amazing,” “wonderful,” and “welcoming,” state officials revoked the couples’ foster care licenses after they expressed those beliefs. The state said these beliefs made them “unqualified” to parent any child, regardless of the child’s age, beliefs, or identity. 

ADF Senior Counsel Johannes Widmalm-Delphonse, who represents the Wuotis, Gantts, and other Christian families who are prohibited from fostering in lawsuits in Massachusetts, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington, told CNA that he hopes the executive order will lead to the states “prioritizing the best interests of children rather than ideological agendas.”

In the face of shortages of foster families, he said the states should be “pursuing a big tent, welcoming as many loving families as possible. But they’re doing the opposite while children who need foster care are sleeping in unlicensed  group homes, police stations, and hospitals.” 

Trump’s executive order directs the department of Health and Human Services, the White House Faith Office, and the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs to “take appropriate action to address state and local policies and practices that inappropriately prohibit participation in federally-funded child-welfare programs by qualified individuals or organizations based upon their sincerely-held religious beliefs or moral convictions.” 

It also directs those agencies to “increase partnerships between agencies and faith-based organizations and houses of worship to serve families” involved with the foster care system. 

Widmalm-Delphonse told CNA it is “difficult to say how the states will respond” to the executive order, indicating that he hopes either the order or the pending lawsuits will lead to changes in their “discriminatory” policies against families of faith.  

“The path the states should take is obvious: It’s a win-win when you open up foster care to people of faith and put the interests of children first,” he said.

Following the example of the 20th-century martyrs of the Cristero Resistance, the Mexican bishops called for an “examination of conscience and a renewed commitment”: “Are we willing to defend our faith with the same radicalism?” / Credit: Photo courtesy of Mexican Episcopal Conference

Puebla, Mexico, Nov 15, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

As the centenary of the Calles Law, which precipitated the bloodiest wave of religious persecution against Mexican Catholics, approaches in 2026, the Mexican Bishops’ Conference (CEM, by its Spanish acronym) paid tribute to the more than 200,000 martyrs of the Cristero Resistance, recalling that they said “with their lives what they proclaimed with their lips: Christ is King, not the oppressive state; Christ is King, not the dictator of the day who is wrapped up in his pride.”

The Mexican bishops expressed this sentiment in their message to “the people of God,” titled “Church in Mexico: Memory and Prophecy — Pilgrims of Hope Toward the Centenary of Our Martyrs,” released Nov. 13.

The message is a fruit of the 119th plenary assembly of the Mexican Bishops’ Conference held Nov. 10–14, which brought together 121 bishops at Casa Lago in Mexico state.

The bishops recalled that “just a few months after the proclamation of the solemnity of Christ the King, in July 1926, the so-called ‘Calles Law’ came into effect in our country, unleashing the most brutal religious persecution in our history. This is why, in January 1927, the repressed Catholic population began the armed uprising known as the Cristero Resistance.”

“A coincidence? No, brothers: a providential event,” the bishops affirmed.

Persecution of Catholics in Mexico

The CEM referred to the legislation officially known as the “Law on Crimes and Offenses Related to Religious Worship and External Discipline,” enacted by then-President Plutarco Elías Calles. This law, which brought to a critical point the severe restrictions imposed on the Church by the 1917 Constitution, established strict control over believers and ministers of religion under penalty of fines and imprisonment.

Among other provisions, the Calles Law, which came into effect on July 31, 1926, dissolved “monastic orders or convents,” severely restricted the pastoral work of priests, prohibited foreign priests from ministering in the country, forbade public worship “outside the church premises” and expropriated any building “constructed or intended for the administration, promotion, or teaching of a religion,” which was to pass “into the direct ownership of the nation.”

The Cristero War, as the conflict between Catholics and the secularist government of Calles became known, officially ended in June 1929, although the persecution and murdering of believers continued. Relations between Church and state would not be reestablished until 1992, when an amendment to the 1917 Constitution and the Law on Religious Associations and Public Worship recognized the legal existence of the Catholic Church.

Are we accustomed to ‘relegating faith to the private sphere’?

The Mexican bishops noted that “when the totalitarian state attempted to impose its absolute dominion over consciences, our martyrs understood with crystal clarity the centrality of Jesus Christ: To die shouting ‘Long live Christ the King!’ was to affirm that no human power can claim absolute sovereignty over a person and his conscience.”

“Today we wish to honor the memory of the more than 200,000 martyrs who gave their lives defending their faith: children, young people, the elderly; farmers, laborers, professionals; priests, religious, and laypeople; the heroic Mexico of the Cristeros who gave their lives for a sacred cause, for the freedom to believe and to live according to their faith — all of them wrote a luminous page in the history of the universal Church and of our homeland.”

For the CEM, “the centenary of 2026 cannot be a mere nostalgic commemoration. It must be an examination of conscience and a renewed commitment. Our martyrs ask us today: Are we willing to defend our faith with the same radicalism? Have we lost our sense of the sacred? Have we accommodated ourselves to a culture that seeks to relegate faith to the private sphere?”

Pope Leo XIV’s call to unity

The Mexican bishops also noted Pope Leo XIV’s repeated call for unity in the Church, emphasizing that his words “challenge us because we know that unity among us is not a guaranteed fact but a grace that we must receive and cultivate each day with humility and fraternal charity.”

“And we want you to know, brothers and sisters, that this unity among us is to better serve the unity of all the people of God,” they stated.

“We live in a country that longs for peace and needs credible witnesses of reconciliation. And we want you to know, brothers and sisters, that we want to give this witness together: pastors and people, walking together in Christ,” they added.

500th anniversary of Guadalupe event 

The CEM also referred to the upcoming celebration in 2031 of the 500th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico, emphasizing that “Guadalupe is a remembrance of reconciliation.”

“In the 16th century, when two such different worlds met in these lands, Mary appeared at Tepeyac as a bridge between cultures and races, as a mother who welcomed all her children without distinction. Guadalupe teaches us that unity is not built by erasing differences but by recognizing the image of God in every face,” the conference stated.

“Guadalupe has, at another point in history, inspired our people’s yearning for freedom. Today, it must also be a sign of strength to liberate ourselves from violence, poverty, and injustice,” they stated.

Migration and violence, ‘realities we cannot remain silent about’

The bishops then clarified that their words were not “political or partisan,” explaining that they could not “be indifferent to the suffering of our people. We cannot remain neutral when human dignity is at stake.”

“Our nation remains under the control of the violent,” they decried. “We are living through difficult times; violence has become commonplace. This cancer of organized crime, which we have suffered for years, has spread its tentacles to many corners of the country. None of the leaders who have governed this country have managed to eradicate this evil.”

However, they emphasized, “we must not be afraid to speak about what we all know but some prefer to keep silent about.”

At the same time, they noted that “forced migration continues. Thousands of Mexicans are forced to leave their homeland, not only in search of better opportunities, but also to flee violence. And those who migrate encounter new forms of violence along the way.”

“Thousands of our Central American brothers and sisters, and those from other continents, cross through our territory, victims of extortion, kidnapping, trafficking, and death,” they charged.

Defending the family

The Mexican bishops also warned that “this whole worrying reality begins in the family: a society that does not protect the family leaves itself unprotected.” The prelates lamented the “alarming” data that show a scenario of “disintegrated families, domestic violence and violence in school environments, and addictions that destroy the lives of young people.

The bishops then criticized public policies implemented “without genuine dialogue with parents and other stakeholders in education,” while “a subtle, and sometimes explicit, anthropological vision alien to the integral dignity of the human person is promoted.”

Recalling the witness of the martyrs, within the context of the Jubilee Year of Hope that is now ending, the bishops affirmed that “Christian hope does not consist in closing our eyes to evil, but in keeping them open, recognizing that Christ has conquered evil with good. Only by acknowledging our errors can we correct them.”

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

Bishop Michael F. Burbidge leads the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Diocese of Arlington

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 15, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, said the country can simultaneously protect its borders and treat immigrants with respect.

In a Nov. 14 interview with “EWTN News Nightly,” Burbidge said the U.S. bishops’ special message on immigration in the United States is a call for respect of the human dignity that belongs to every person as a child of God.

The bishops voted to approve the statement on Nov. 12 at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ 2025 Fall Plenary Assembly in Baltimore. The message said bishops oppose “the indiscriminate mass deportation of people.” It is rooted in Jesus’ teachings, Burbidge said.

The bishops have called for a meaningful immigration law “that will provide safe pathways” to citizenship, Burbidge said. “There’s not an easy solution, but there has to be a solution.”

“The bishops understand that a country, of course, has a right to protect its borders for the sake of the common good, but at all times must treat persons with respect,” Burbidge said. He also said the country must do everything possible so people don’t live in distress.

‘Fear and anxiety’

Pastors in the bishops’ dioceses have said the execution of immigration laws is “causing a lot of fear and anxiety,” Burbidge said. The bishops are continuing to minister to immigrants who are “contributing to the good of the Church” and “the good of our communities,” he said.

“We’re representing those who seek no harm to our country, who only want to do good, and we want them to be treated with the respect that is necessary,” Burbidge said. “Again, we also say this does not have to be in conflict with a country protecting itself.” 

“We express gratitude to our elected officials for the dialogue that we have had in the past and hopefully that we will continue to have. We love our country. We love the immigrants who have contributed to our country, and we would like our country to be freed from this violence, from rhetoric, from fear,” Burbidge said. 

“There has to be a way that we can live together in harmony, and we want to work together,” Burbidge said.

St. John Paul II. / Credit: Adrian Tusar/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Nov 15, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

A new Vatican-set thriller based on a true story is currently in the works, according to Variety.

“Santo Subito!” will follow Father Joseph Murolo, an American priest asked by the Vatican to serve as the “devil’s advocate” in the investigation of Pope John Paul II’s life and his path to sainthood.

The film will take place after the pontiff’s death and follows Murolo, who “must make sure that nothing undermines the sanctification of Karol Wojtyla, the first non-Italian pope in 450 years,” the synopsis reads, as he interviews candidates and witnesses. The description goes on to say that the priest will navigate a “moral labyrinth” that will “put his own faith to the test.”

Murolo will be played by actor Mark Ruffalo, known for his role as Bruce Banner, or the Hulk, in “The Avengers” movies.

Filming is expected to begin on March 9, 2026, on location in Italy and Poland.

“The film offers a genuine behind-the-scenes investigation of the Vatican world, while also taking us into the deeper realm of faith and values,” a co-producer of the film, Nicolas Brigaud-Robert, said. “The script itself is a page-turner, and I can’t imagine any audience remaining indifferent to Father Murolo’s journey.” 

In the canonization process of the Catholic Church, the “advocatus diaboli,” or the devil’s advocate, was established to ensure rigorous scrutiny of a candidate’s life, virtues, and reported miracles. The role’s purpose was to consider all possible doubts and inconsistencies, and to present evidence that might challenge claims of holiness, so that only those truly worthy would be declared saints.

However, in 1983, Pope John Paul II reformed the process through the apostolic constitution Divinus Perfectionis Magister, changing the role of the devil’s advocate, also known as the “promoter of faith.” The emphasis shifted from an adversarial model to one more focused on collecting and verifying evidence, with the Congregation for the Causes of Saints overseeing the process.

null / Credit: Jonathan Weiss/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Nov 15, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Here is a roundup of recent pro-life- and abortion-related news:

Nearly 70 Planned Parenthood centers have closed nationwide in 2025

Nearly 70 Planned Parenthood centers have closed this year due to Medicaid and Title X funding cuts, according to a recent Planned Parenthood report.  

Planned Parenthood has closed 20 facilities since federal defunding earlier this year following a round of nearly 50 other closures. 

President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act prevented federal taxpayer dollars from being used to subsidize abortion providers for one year, meaning abortion providers don’t currently qualify for federal Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements.

Rather than giving up abortion offerings, abortion providers like Planned Parenthood are closing clinics across the country. 

Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, called the defunding “cruel.” 

“They are intentionally dismantling health care for patients most in need and pushing Planned Parenthood health centers further to the financial brink,” Johnson said in a Nov. 12 statement.

Community health centers, meanwhile, vastly outnumbered Planned Parenthood locations in the U.S., according to a report by the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute.

There are “more than 8,800 community health centers that provide comprehensive care to vulnerable populations and offer women’s health services, in comparison to just 579 Planned Parenthood centers as of spring 2025,” a Charlotte Lozier Institute report reads.

Group to fund ultrasound machines in states where abortion is legal 

A leading Christian group is launching a program to place ultrasound machines in states where abortion is legal.

The Across State Lines program, launched by the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), is meant to be “lifesaving” and “missional,” according to organizers.  

Across State Lines will work with Baptist state conventions to place the machines. 

Gary Hollingsworth, ERLC interim president, said Southern Baptists “stand firmly on the truth that God has created all people, from the moment of conception, in his image and endowed them with the right to life.”  

He said he hopes the ultrasounds will help mothers “see this truth.”

The Psalm 139 Project will fund the cost of ultrasound machines and training. 

Rachel Wiles, who directs the Psalm 139 Project, said the project is about “serving vulnerable women” with a “missional” attitude. 

“Southern Baptists are strongly pro-life and are missional people — whether ministering to others across an ocean or across the street,” Wiles said. 

“In the same way, we are asking those who live in more conservative states with pro-life laws to consider reaching across state lines with a missional mindset, ultimately saving preborn lives and supporting mothers who face unplanned pregnancies,” Wiles said.

Pro-life group to invest $80 million in midterms 

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America (SBA) is investing $80 million in the 2026 midterm elections to preserve a pro-life majority in the U.S. House and Senate in battleground states.

SBA, along with Women Speak Out PAC, plans to reach 10.5 million voters through canvassing, advertising, mail, and early vote campaigns, prioritizing pro-life voters who do not vote consistently in midterm elections.

According to an SBA press release, campaigners will make 4.5 million home visits to voters in battleground states such as Iowa, Georgia, Michigan, and North Carolina. 

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA, said pro-life voters “are the heart and soul of the Republican Party,” referring to a CNN poll that found that President Donald Trump would not have won the election if 1% to 2% of pro-life voters had stayed home.

“The party that once claimed the position of ‘safe, legal, and rare’ is now the party of abortion anytime, anywhere, paid for by the taxpayer,” Dannenfelser said in a statement. 

Ernest Board (1877-1934), “Albertus Magnus Teaches in the Streets of Paris.” / Credit: Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 4.0

National Catholic Register, Nov 15, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

St. Albert the Great was considered the “wonder and the miracle of his age” by his contemporaries. He was an assiduous Dominican whose accomplishments and gifts to the Church are difficult to exaggerate.

Born around 1206 and joining the Order of Preachers in 1223, Albert quickly became a master of almost every academic subject. Notwithstanding the standards of his own time, he became a pioneer of the natural sciences — both empirical and philosophical. His teachings on nature and theology were revolutionary, and he captured the attention of a young and taciturn Dominican — St. Thomas Aquinas.

While surpassing all his contemporaries in intellect and cogency, it was his own student who managed to shine brighter than he. If Albert blazed the path, then it was Aquinas who reached and held the summit. Then, tragically, when the quick flash of Aquinas’ life was over, it was Albert who defended him and held him up as a beacon of light for the whole Church. St. Albert the Great was a teacher, a bishop, and a forerunner to some of the greatest theological gifts the Church has received.

After joining the Dominicans, Albert went to Paris in 1245 and successfully received his doctorate. He then began teaching in Paris and then in Cologne, Germany. It was during his time in Cologne that he noticed a young man named Thomas. The quiet student was nicknamed “Dumb Ox” by his peers, because of his weight and the mistaken notion that his silence was due to an obtuse mind. In time, Albert realized the great acumen of the young man, and Albert took him on as a disciple.

God and nature

What drew Aquinas — and the praise and condemnation of others — to Albert was his exhaustive study of nature and God. Though it was over a millennium since the birth of Christ, the Church still struggled to define nature and its role in creation. In essence, different theological camps disagreed on how to communicate a supposedly autonomous nature — with its own laws and movements — and an omnipotent God.

If it snows, is God making it snow or are there self-moving natural causes for the snow? Though a simplistic example, the relationship between God and nature is a deciding point between theology and science or even faith and reason. Oftentimes, certain groups worried that granting nature independent causes would detract from God’s glory or resurrect pagan ideals.

At the center of many related controversies was the pagan philosopher Aristotle. The writings of Aristotle had come originally to Catholicism through Jewish and Islamic scholars, which detrimentally imported a good deal of erroneous commentary. The errors — which ranged from a misunderstanding of Aristotle to thinking Aristotle was infallible — colored the Catholic mind against the Greek philosopher on many counts. 

Albert’s indefatigable spirit strove to show that Aristotle’s account of nature could import a great service to the Church and her theology. Though he wrote an entire chapter titled “The Errors of Aristotle,” Albert showed that the principles articulated in Aristotle’s natural philosophy could be harmoniously placed within the cosmos described by Scripture.

The Church and science

The first major gift Catholicism has inherited from the riches of St. Albert’s pursuit is the idea that the Church and science are not at war with one another. Though nature moves by its own laws, the Author of those laws is the same Author of holy Scripture — this stance is a great affirmation of the belief in a harmony between faith and reason. 

The philosophical foundations for the Church discussing issues like evolution, the age of the earth, psychology, the origins of the universe, etc., all point back to the early erudition of St. Albert the Great. The concept of nature having its own causes, and that those causes could be studied via experiments, was so revolutionary that many could not decipher between scientific experiments and magic; thus, St. Albert was once accused of being a magician.

Scholasticism

The second achievement of St. Albert was Scholasticism and his pupil St. Thomas Aquinas. The Scholastic approach was unique in the sense that it centered itself on a true belief in the harmony of faith and reason, and in a well-ordered cosmos with one Divine Author. It was precisely this holistic gathering of all the sciences under one divine science that earned the scholastic St. Albert the title of “universal doctor.”

It would be difficult to exaggerate the importance Scholasticism still holds within Holy Mother Church. Pope Leo XIII declared that “it is the proper and singular gift of Scholastic theologians to bind together human knowledge and divine knowledge in the very closest bonds.” 

Pope Sixtus V confirmed that Scholasticism “has an apt coherence of facts and causes, connected with one another; an order and arrangement, like soldiers drawn up in battle array … by these the light is divided from darkness, and truth from falsehood. The lies of heretics, wrapped up in many wiles and fallacies, being stripped of their coverings, are bared and laid open.”

And while St. Albert must be remembered in his own right, we must acknowledge the magnificence of his student — St. Thomas Aquinas. 

After Thomas’ sudden death on the way to the Council of Lyons, St. Albert declared that the “light of the Church” had gone out. Later, the Church bestowed upon St. Thomas the title of “angelic doctor.” 

The Church only continued to esteem the scholar and his scholasticism: The “chief and special glory” was having his “Summa Theologiae” laid upon the altar as a source of inspiration at the Council of Trent. He was then declared the patron of all Catholic schools and universities by Pope Leo XIII.

Behind all the appropriate adulation for St. Thomas, his “Summa” and all it represents is the genius and perseverance of St. Albert.

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, on Nov. 15, 2011, and has been adapted and updated by CNA.

New outpatient clinic for people in need in St. Peter’s Square. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 14, 2025 / 16:50 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Nov. 14 visited a new outpatient clinic in the Vatican, built beneath the colonnade of St. Peter’s Square, in the lead-up to the ninth World Day of the Poor, which will be celebrated on Sunday, Nov. 16.

The new health center aims to strengthen assistance and increase health care services for those in need, according to a statement from the Office of the Papal Almoner, also known as the Dicastery for the Service of Charity. 

The center was made possible through the collaboration of the Health and Hygiene Directorate of the Governorate of Vatican City State and features two new medical consultation rooms equipped with state-of-the-art instruments and a new radiology service.

This equipment, including a cutting-edge X-ray machine, will allow for the rapid and accurate diagnosis of pneumonia, bone fractures, tumors, degenerative diseases, kidney stones, and intestinal obstructions — conditions often overlooked by those living in poverty.

“Early diagnosis of these conditions will make it possible to start appropriate treatments in a timely manner, contributing to improving the quality of life of those who have nothing,” the statement reads.

At the Office of the Papal Almoner’s other outpatient clinic, more than 2,000 health care services are offered completely free of charge each month thanks to the work of 120 volunteers, including doctors, nurses, and health care technicians.

Thanks to the two clinics located beneath Bernini’s colonnade, general and specialized medical consultations, dental visits, blood tests, and X-rays will continue to be available to the poor. In addition, removable dentures, eyeglasses, and hearing aids will be donated.

Finally, the necessary medications will be delivered directly to the poor person, always completely free of charge. Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity and papal almoner, emphasized that in these places dignity is restored to the poor, “in whom we see not a homeless person or a poor person, but the face of Jesus.”

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

Residents carrying their belongings, wade through a flooded street in Mandaue City, Cebu province on Nov. 4, 2025, after Typhoon Kalmaegi hit overnight. / Credit: Alan Tangcawan/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 14, 2025 / 16:13 pm (CNA).

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) revealed emergency relief efforts in the Philippines began before Typhoon Kalmaegi made landfall, thanks to a new law the humanitarian workers championed. 

“Together with the Tagbilaran City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office and other local leaders, we worked on getting families evacuated and helped organize some community briefings,” said Jonas Tetangco, CRS Philippines country representative. 

“All of the work we were able to do before Typhoon Kalmaegi hit is in part due to recently-passed legislation,” he said. “RA 12287 is the world’s first national legislation that enables work to be done prior to a dangerous natural disaster. We are proud to have contributed to the legislation and thankful for the work it allows us to do, including help communities prepare for these kinds of events and minimize their impact.”

CRS also distributed shelter vouchers worth about $100 to nearly 500 families in Tagbilaran City. “These vouchers allowed families to buy materials to protect and reinforce their homes from the rain and strong winds,” he said.

After the typhoon swept through the Philippines earlier this week, CRS teams “traveled to the hardest-hit areas” and began working in tandem with Caritas Philippines “to evaluate the most urgent needs,” according to Tetangco.

Regarding conditions on the ground, Tetangco told CNA: “We’ve received several reports of roads and bridges that are still damaged and impassable. Local governments are managing evacuation centers, passing out food and water to families, trying to restore roadways, and working on getting power and phone lines back up and running.”

“Families here still need food, clean drinking water, hygiene kits, and emergency shelter materials like tarps and blankets,” he said, adding: “Families across the Philippines need prayers right now. The country has experienced several typhoons and destructive earthquakes.”