St. Columba Catholic Church

Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass in St. Peter's Square on September 28, 2025. / Vatican Media screenshot

CNA Newsroom, Oct 17, 2025 / 13:38 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV has responded to a letter from a grieving father with the encouragement that “death never has the last word.”

In the October issue of Piazza San Pietro magazine, the pontiff penned a letter to Francesco, a father of four, who wrote to the Holy Father about the death of his 12-year-old son, Domenico Maria, from a sudden illness 18 years ago.

Despite the time that has passed, the father said he still felt like his son’s premature death happened only yesterday. 

“Holiness, this letter of mine is intended only as a thought, as well as a remembrance for our son, so that God, in his infinite goodness and mercy as a Father, may welcome him into the kingdom of heaven…” Francesco wrote.

In his response, Leo reminded the father that “the important thing is to always remain connected to the Lord, going through the greatest pain with the help of His Grace, which always comes — be sure of that — even in the darkest moments.”

The pope also recalled the light of the love of God, who walks with us throughout our life, starting at our Baptism. 

“All this begins with our Baptism and will never end,” he said. “Baptism introduces us into communion with Christ and gives us true life, committing us to renounce a culture of death that is very present in our society.”

“But death never has the last word! The last word, which opens the doors to eternity and joy that lasts forever, is the resurrection, which knows no discouragement or pain that imprisons us in the extreme difficulty of not finding meaning in our existence,” the pontiff added.

In his letter, Francesco described his son’s love of soccer and the community of friends he found through playing the sport.

Pope Leo said “authentic prayer, like authentic sport, practiced together, creates bonds and unites forever, as it united Domenico Maria with all those on his ‘team’ of true friendship, with bonds that go far beyond death.”

null / Credit: NMKStudio@Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Oct 17, 2025 / 13:19 pm (CNA).

A federal judge in California will allow a class action lawsuit to proceed for potentially millions of parents and teachers regarding school district rules that hide child “gender transitions” from parents. 

U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez ruled Oct. 15 that the lawsuit Mirabelli v. Olson will proceed as a class action, becoming what the Thomas More Society said is potentially “one of the largest civil rights class actions” in California history. 

Peter Breen, the head of litigation at the Thomas More Society, a public interest law firm, said in the group’s Oct. 16 press release that parents have a “fundamental right” to direct their children’s education and moral upbringing, and that California school officials “cannot override that right by keeping parents in the dark about major issues and developments in their child’s life.” 

In his ruling, Benitez said the lawsuit satisfies the criteria for class action status. School districts in California, he said, “are ultimately state agents under state control,” and thus the issue of settling “statewide policy” means the class action structure is “superior to numerous individual actions by individual parents and teachers.”

The class action ruling comes ahead of a Nov. 17 hearing in the same court, one that the Thomas More Society says may “potentially deliver a final ruling” on the dispute, including whether secretive school transgender policies violate parents’ constitutional rights. 

“Parents should never be treated as strangers in their own children’s lives,” Breen said. 

The legal group said the suit will now represent “all California parents and teachers affected by school district policies that conceal children’s gender transitions from their families.” 

Those policies have been at the center of ongoing debate over transgenderism and gender ideology in recent years. LGBT advocates and school leaders around the country have argued that teachers and school administrators should be permitted to exclude parents from knowing if their children begin “identifying” as the opposite sex. 

Activists have also argued that school officials should be allowed to facilitate child “gender transitions” without informing parents. 

Rules allowing teachers to hide such sensitive information from parents have come under fire from advocates in recent years, including the Trump administration. 

In February the White House launched an investigation into five school districts in northern Virginia to determine whether their transgender policies violated executive orders forbidding schools from facilitating “gender transitions.”

In 2023, meanwhile, Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued directives affirming that parents in the state would enjoy broad oversight of their children while they are enrolled in public schools, reversing earlier rules that allowed teachers to keep children’s transgender “identities” secret from parents.

Pope Leo XIV greets Catholic pilgrims from Russia during an audience in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace on Oct. 17, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media.

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 17, 2025 / 12:42 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Friday asked a group of Catholic pilgrims from Russia, in Rome on a Jubilee pilgrimage, to be an example of love and brotherhood upon their return home.

In his Oct. 17 address at the Vatican, the Holy Father emphasized that the presence of the Russian pilgrims “is part of the journey of so many generations” who have traveled to Rome. 

For the Holy Father, “this city can be a symbol of human existence, in which the ’ruins’ of past experiences, anguish, uncertainty, and anxiety are intertwined with the faith that grows every day and becomes active in charity.”

“And with the hope that does not disappoint and encourages us, because even on the ruins, despite sin and enmity, the Lord can build a new world and renewed life,” he added.

Bishop Joseph Werth of the Diocese of the Transfiguration in Novosibirsk, Russia, told EWTN News after the meeting that Pope Leo took the time to greet the entire group of around 100 pilgrims, despite being scheduled to only greet the people in the front rows. 

“It’s a sign that the pope wanted to dedicate time to us,” Werth said.

Leo encouraged the Catholics from Russia to continue the path of Christian life upon returning home, appealing to their responsibility in their local Church.

“From your families, from your parish and diocesan communities, may an example of love, fraternity, solidarity, and mutual respect emerge for all the people among whom you live, work, and study,” he urged them. 

In this way, he affirmed that “the fire of Christian love can be kindled, capable of warming the coldness of hearts, even the most hardened.”

In Rome, the pontiff specified, “the heart of the Christian soul beats” and it is where “the events of the faith — received and transmitted since apostolic times, from which so many peoples and nations have drunk abundantly and from which they still live today — are intertwined with the concerns and commitments of daily life.”

Leo XIV also pointed out the monuments scattered throughout the Eternal City, “tangible signs of living faith, rooted in the hearts of people, capable of transforming consciences and motivating them to do good.” 

He emphasized that every Catholic “is a living stone in the building of the Church” who, even if small, placed by the Lord in the right place, “plays an important role in the stability of the entire structure.”

Alexey Gotovskiy of EWTN News contributed to this report.

U.S. Catholic bishops urged Congress to end the federal government shutdown, but only if lawmakers ensure that tax credits are not used for abortions. / Credit: Traci L. Clever/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C., Oct 17, 2025 / 12:10 pm (CNA).

America’s Catholic bishops are urging Congress to end the nearly three-week federal government shutdown by extending taxpayer subsidies that lower health insurance costs under the Affordable Care Act — but only if lawmakers ensure that the so-called Obamacare tax credits are not used for abortions or other procedures that violate Catholic teaching on the sanctity of life.

"The premium tax credits established by the ACA are an important tool for ensuring affordable access to health care for millions of Americans by lowering their premiums on the ACA marketplaces; but they also fund health insurance plans that cover elective abortion," the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops wrote in an Oct. 10 letter to members of Congress. The enhanced premium tax credits "should be extended but must not continue to fund plans that cover the destruction of human life, which is antithetical to authentic health care."  

The letter marked the strongest indication yet that while the bishops’ conference largely agrees with congressional Democrats that Obamacare subsidies should be extended beyond their year-end expiration, it will oppose any deal that allows the premium tax credits to fund insurance plans that pay for abortions.

The bishops said U.S. health care policy should ensure that “all vulnerable people — born and preborn” — have access to affordable, comprehensive, and high-quality health care. Church leaders said such a policy would both extend the enhanced premium tax credits sought by Democrats and “apply full Hyde Amendment protections.”

The Hyde Amendment, passed by Congress in 1977, prohibits the use of federal funds for abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or when the mother’s life is at risk.

With its letter, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops entered the nearly three-week-long political battle between Capitol Hill Democrats and Republicans over how to resolve the standoff over reopening the federal government, which has been shuttered since Oct. 1. 

The critical divide between Democrats and Republicans centers on enhanced premium tax credits that, Democrats argue, help Americans pay their premiums purchased through the Obamacare insurance marketplaces. Democrats say that without a deal to extend the premium subsidies, Americans will see their insurance costs skyrocket over the next several weeks.

The Affordable Care Act, since it was enacted in 2010, has provided premium subsidies for people below certain income levels. In 2021, however, during the COVID-19 pandemic, President Joe Biden and a Democratic-controlled Congress said they were temporarily expanding ACA premium subsidies to increase the amount of government assistance to cover more people during the coronavirus emergency. Later, in August 2022, Biden and congressional Democrats again extended the enhanced subsidies for a period of three years, with the heightened tax benefits expiring at the end of 2025. Congressional Democrats now say they want again to extend enhanced health care premiums before open enrollment for Obamacare insurance plans starts on Nov. 1. 

Republicans counter, however, saying the enhanced premium credits were intended only to be a temporary emergency measure during the pandemic. They say more debate and discussion of details is needed to negotiate a long-term solution to the question of how best to enact enhanced ACA premium subsidies.

Republican leaders say Democrats are not interested in a bipartisan agreement. Instead, GOP leaders suggest Democrats are exploiting the issue to justify continuing the government shutdown to hurt President Donald Trump’s approval ratings ahead of the 2026 congressional midterm elections.

Republicans instead are calling on Democrats to help GOP lawmakers pass a “clean" continuing resolution that would immediately fund and reopen the government until at least Nov. 21. Only then, Republicans say they will sit down with congressional Democrats to negotiate proposals to improve and extend the enhanced federal premiums.

Democrats, however, have repeatedly rejected that approach, providing little hope the stalemate will end soon. On Thursday, Senate Democrats for the10th time since the onset of the shutdown used the so-called 60-vote rule — which allows a minority of senators to block legislation through a filibuster — to refuse to back a continuing resolution passed largely along party lines by the GOP-led House on Sept. 19. The vote to reopen the government with a short-term, GOP-backed stopgap measure was 51-45, well short of the 60 votes needed to advance the bill. 

Three non-Republican senators — Democrats John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, along with Sen. Angus S. King Jr. of Maine, who caucuses with the Democrats — voted to end the shutdown. One Republican – Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky – voted with Democrats in rejecting the GOP-backed funding bill to reopen the government. Four senators did not vote.

With both sides seemingly unwilling to budge, some Catholic health ministries and neighborhood relief organizations say the true victims of the impasse are vulnerable communities across the country.

Catholic Health Association also applying pressure

“The shutdown and standoff are just causing pain across the country, and both sides need to come together and do their jobs to fund and run the government,” said Lisa A. Smith, vice president for advocacy and public policy for the Catholic Health Association of the United States. “The longer this drags on, the more difficult it is for our Catholic facilities to care for everyone.” She said it is “critical” that Congress act to extend the ACA premium tax credits before open enrollment begins on Nov. 1.

In a break with the U.S. bishops’ stance, Smith said there are already “adequate protections in the current law to ensure taxpayers are not paying for abortions.” She said the laws already on the books prohibit the use of federal funds, “including premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions, to pay for abortion services except in cases of rape, incest, or life endangerment—as defined by the Hyde Amendment.”

Pope Francis with Cardinal Arthur Roche, Prefect of the Vatican's Dicastery of Divine Worship and Discipline of Sacraments, at the consistory in St. Peter's Basilica, Aug. 27, 2022 / Daniel Ibáñez / CNA

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 17, 2025 / 11:15 am (CNA).

Cardinal Arthur Roche, who leads the Vatican’s administrative body on the liturgy, encouraged American parishes to better familiarize themselves with Pope Francis’ guidelines on the Mass and ensure the former pontiff’s writings inform the liturgical formation of clergy and parishioners.

Roche, who has served as prefect for the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments since 2021, offered the recommendations at a three-day meeting of the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions (FDLC).

“Pope Francis did not set out to give a systematic treatment of liturgical formation,” Roche told the more-than 230 participants in the meeting, according to an Oct. 15 FDLC news release.

“What he was wishing to do was to take the Church by the hand and lead her toward the center of the mystery we celebrate, towards the heart of Christ which burns with his ardent desire that we should draw nigh, take his Body and drink his Blood, to worship the Father with hearts and minds made new through having been washed in the blood of the Lamb,” he said.

Roche said the celebration of the Mass must be “grounded in the Paschal Mystery of Christ” and he reaffirmed Francis’ 2017 comments that “the liturgical reform [of the Second Vatican Council] is irreversible.” He quoted Francis’s 2017 apostolic letter Desiderio Desideravi and said the document should be “more widely available to parishes” and there should be more help to “organize guided readings of it.”

In that document, the Holy Father wrote that “every aspect of the celebration must be carefully tended to,” including the space, time, gestures, words, objects, vestments, song, and music. He wrote: “Such attention would be enough to prevent robbing from the assembly what is owed to it; namely, the paschal mystery celebrated according to the ritual that the Church sets down.”

Roche said: “The depth and breadth of his liturgical vision offers us countless opportunities to pause for reflection in order to appreciate the great gift that has been handed onto us in the liturgical books.”

“I do not hesitate to encourage you to be bold, but always charitable in promoting the unique lex orandi [law of prayer] of the Roman Rite,” he said. “Discourses on the liturgy that lack a spirit of charity come from a spirit other than that of Christ.”

The FDLC was established by the American bishops in 1969 to assist in implementing liturgical reforms that stemmed from the Second Vatican Council and continues to train clergy and laity. The 56th annual national meeting was held from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 in Baltimore, Maryland.

FDLC Executive Director Rita Thiron told CNA the document is a “beautiful, beautiful text” and that the FDLC offers a study guide for parishes that offers discussion questions and reflections on the document. She noted that the document explains how modern man has lost the ability to associate with symbols and that it “encouraged us to use symbols more ritually,” such as more abundant water at baptisms.

She pointed out that the liturgy offers spiritual formation for all those gathered, and that when clergy celebrates Mass properly, “people will be in tune better to the rich text and rich theology contained in the liturgy.”

Father Anthony Ruff, a theology professor at Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary who focuses on liturgical music, told CNA that Roche “has made an excellent suggestion” and called Desiderio Desideravi “a beautifully written and inspirational document.” 

“It helps all of us understand the Church’s vision of liturgy based on the Second Vatican Council — especially how the reformed liturgy can be the living source for our entire prayer life and our Christian discipleship,” he said. 

Traditional Latin Mass not discussed at length

Roche did not discuss Francis’ restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass at length, but he did promote the documents that speak to those restrictions.

Francis penned Desiderio Desideravi a year after issuing the 2016 motu proprio Traditionis custodes, which restricted the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass.

Ruff said the second letter “follows naturally upon” those restrictions “for those who still struggle to accept the Church’s official liturgy as it was reformed after Vatican II.”

In Desiderio Desideravi, Francis said non-acceptance of the Second Vatican Council’s liturgical reforms “distracts us from the obligation of finding responses to the question that I come back to repeating: how can we grow in our capacity to live in full the liturgical action? How do we continue to let ourselves be amazed at what happens in the celebration under our very eyes?”

Francis wrote that it would be “trivial” to see the tensions about the Traditional Latin Mass “as a simple divergence between different tastes concerning a particular ritual form.” He wrote that he does not understand how one can recognize the validity of the council “and at the same time not accept the liturgical reform.”

When asked whether Roche commented about whether Pope Leo XIV will follow Francis in the restrictions or make any adjustments, Thiron said: “He did not speak to that at all.”

Thiron said Roche alluded to “the role of the council that would not be reversed” and that Roche “noted that Desiderio Desideravi was a follow-up to Traditionis custodes to encourage people to better understand the liturgy better as it is and as the council intended it to be.”

Britain’s King Charles III stands with Britain’s Princess Michael of Kent (left); Britain’s Prince Michael of Kent (second left); Britain’s Lord Frederick Windsor; Britain’s Prince William, Prince of Wales; Britain’s Catherine, Princess of Wales; Britain’s Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh; and Britain’s Princess Anne, Princess Royal, following a Requiem Mass for the late Katharine, Duchess of Kent, at Westminster Cathedral in London on Sept. 16, 2025. / Credit: JORDAN PETTITT/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Vatican City, Oct 17, 2025 / 09:58 am (CNA).

For the first time since the Protestant Reformation, a reigning British monarch and a pope will pray together publicly during a royal state visit to the Vatican.

King Charles III will join in ecumenical prayer presided over by Pope Leo XIV for the care of creation inside the Sistine Chapel on Oct. 23, beneath Michelangelo’s frescoed ceiling, during the king’s first state visit to the Vatican with Queen Camila. 

The Sistine Chapel Choir will sing together with England’s Choir of St. George's Chapel and the Choir of His Majesty's Chapel Royal for the historic ecumenical prayer which will focus on praising God the Creator, Vatican officials said. 

Stephen Cottrell, the Anglican Archbishop of York, will also participate.

The visit will mark the first meeting between King Charles and Pope Leo XIV. The two will first meet privately in the Apostolic Palace in the morning and will later be joined by business leaders in the palace’s Sala Regia for a discussion on care for creation and environmental sustainability. 

During the state visit, Cardinal James Michael Harvey, the archpriest of the basilica, will confer upon King Charles the title of “Royal Confrater” of the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls during an ecumenical service at the tomb of St. Paul in the basilica on the same day. The pope is not expected to attend. 

The title, granted with the approval of Pope Leo XIV, is a gesture of “hospitality and ecumenical welcome,” Archbishop Flavio Pace, the secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, said at a Vatican press briefing on Oct. 17. 

The Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls has a historic connection to England’s monarchy. After the arrival in England of Roman monk-missionaries such as St. Augustine of Canterbury and St. Paulinus of York in the 6th and 7th centuries, Saxon rulers including Kings Offa and Æthelwulf contributed to the upkeep of the apostles’ tombs in Rome. 

By the late Middle Ages, the kings of England were recognized as “protectors” of the Basilica of St. Paul and abbey, and its heraldic shield came to include the insignia of the Order of the Garter. That tradition was interrupted by the Reformation and the ensuing centuries of estrangement. 

It was King Charles’s mother, Queen Elizabeth II, who was the first British monarch since the Reformation to make an official visit to the Holy See, meeting with John XXIII in 1961. A few years later, Pope Paul VI met with Archbishop Michael Ramsey of Canterbury in 1966 in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, launching formal dialogue between Catholics and Anglicans for the first time since the 16th century.

“Without establishing a formal role for King Charles and his successors, the title of ‘Royal Confrater’ is to be understood as a gesture of hospitality and ecumenical welcome that bears witness to these historical ties and the progress that has been made since 1966,” Pace said. 

The basilica will also install a specially commissioned chair for the monarch, decorated with his coat of arms and a verse from the Gospel of John in Latin,  “Ut unum sint” (“That they may be one”). The chair will remain in the basilica for Charles and his heirs to use during future visits.

The ecumenical service in the Basilica of St. Paul on Oct. 23 will be presided over by Father Donato Ogliari, the abbot of the basilica, with the participation of Anglican Archbishop Stephen Cottrell of York and the Rev. Rosie Frew, moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. 

​​The service will conclude with a hymn composed to a text by St. John Henry Newman — the English cardinal and convert from Anglicanism whom Pope Leo XIV will declare a Doctor of the Church on Nov. 1. King Charles attended Newman’s canonization in 2019 and recently became the first monarch to visit the Birmingham Oratory, the priestly community founded by Newman in 1848.

The president of the Pontifical International Marian Academy (PAMI), Franciscan friar Stefano Cecchin, OFM. / Credit: Victoria Cardiel/EWTN News

Vatican City, Oct 17, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Father Stefano Cecchin, OFM, president of the Pontifical International Marian Academy, (PAMI by its Italian acronym), which reports directly to the Roman Curia, said in a recent interview that the Church faces persistent challenges regarding truths about the Virgin Mary. 

Cecchin told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, that PAMI encounters challenges every day from Protestants as well as certain groups within the Catholic Church, both openly and indirectly, who deny the dogma of the virginity of Mary established at the Council of Ephesus in A.D. 431 and the Lateran Council of 649.

“There are theologians and biblical scholars who are saying that the virginity of Mary is a myth, and this is very dangerous because the … Fathers of the Church, and even the Quran, defend the virginity of Mary,” the priest stated.

Devil is behind attacks on Immaculate Conception

Cecchin is an expert in Mariology and the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, which refers to Mary’s preservation from original sin from the moment of her conception in her mother’s womb and was officially defined by Pope Pius IX on Dec. 8, 1854.

Mary has always been the target of attacks from the devil, Cecchin explained, especially because of her role in the economy of salvation.

“The devil works hard; I’ve seen it a great deal, especially against the Immaculate Conception,” he said. “I see how he continues to attack the figure of Mary, and right now he’s attacking her within the Church with those who, for example, say that Mary is not a virgin.” 

“The first attack against Christ was an attack on the virginity of Mary, who [supposedly] had slept with a Roman soldier, so Jesus was not the true son of God. If we question Mary’s virginity, we put into doubt all of Christianity,” he pointed out.

Cecchin recalled that, from a biblical and theological perspective, Mary occupies a unique place in the history of salvation as the mother of God and a figure of the Church. He explained that her role is not limited to the Incarnation in the past, but she continues to be active in the spiritual life of believers.

“The point is that it is not we who seek God, but he who seeks us. And that is why, after Jesus ascended to heaven, the angels said [the apostles] would not see him again until he returned on the glorious day. But Jesus entrusts the Church to Mary: ‘Behold, your mother.’ That is why Mary continues to care for us and tries to bring us back to him,” he explained.

‘God doesn’t want anyone to go to hell’

The director of PAMI, which is charged with coordinating all Mariological scholars and societies around the world, emphasized that Marian apparitions and calls to conversion must be understood as expressions of divine mercy, not as manifestations of fear or punishment.

“All the apparitions, the calls she makes regarding hell, are not to frighten us, but to convert us, because God doesn’t want to punish us; he wants to convert us. This is a fundamental point taught by the Catechism of the Catholic Church. God doesn’t want anyone to go to hell, but if you don’t behave well, you will go to hell, because hell exists and is not empty,” he explained.

Cecchin also emphasized that the defense of Marian dogmas is not a secondary or devotional issue but a pillar of the Christian message. He recalled that, according to St. Ignatius of Antioch, a disciple of St. Peter and one of the earliest Fathers of the Church, denying the virginity of Mary means jeopardizing the truth about the incarnation of the Son of God.

“St. Ignatius of Antioch speaks of Mary and of Mary’s virginity. That is why it is important to educate oneself,” Cecchin said, “and to see that our Franciscan vision, according to which God desires the salvation of all, compels us to evangelize. The evangelization we propose today is a Marian evangelization.”

The friar noted that throughout the history of the Church, controversies and heresies have also been opportunities to delve deeper into the truth.

“In the struggle for the Immaculate Conception, for example, there were those who thought one thing and those who thought another. The Church is always alive, and we normally see that, in history, heretics help us delve deeper into the truth. They are an incentive to delve deeper, but we must defend the truth,” he maintained.

Shrines as a place of healing

In 2023, the Vatican established, within PAMI, the International Observatory on Apparitions and Mystical Phenomena, whose mission is to study and discern without issuing judgments.

“Its only task is to study, not to give opinions,” emphasized the Italian Franciscan, who noted that apparitions have always existed throughout history. “All shrines have a story behind them, an experience of encounter with the divine.”

“We want shrines to be not only a place of prayer but also of healing,” he added.

Currently, the International Observatory on Apparitions and Mystical Phenomena is conducting a theological and historical analysis of Marian shrines.

“We are conducting a study of the sanctuaries from Nazareth, which is the shrine that housed the relics of the Virgin, which were then taken to Constantinople, to Blacherne ... We have seen that in the Middle Ages there are always minor apparitions that are at the origin of the shrines we have around the world,” he explained.

With Guadalupe, the great apparitions begin

Over time, these manifestations of faith took on an increasingly universal dimension. The great apparition of the Virgin Mary to the Indian St. Juan Diego in 1531 begins a long series of great apparitions, according to Cecchin.

“The first ones were a little more local, but with Guadalupe, the apparitions that interest nations, that interest continents, begin. Then come Lourdes, Fátima, Medjugorje, Kibeho… all these great apparitions that attract people because the shrine is always a special place where the Mother asks to see, as in all apparitions, the construction of a shrine,” he explained.

Cecchin pointed out that shrines, from a biblical perspective, are always a place of encounter.

“In the Old Testament, in the apparitions of God, there was always a place, a shrine. Therefore, the shrine becomes a moment of encounter with God through Mary, what Paul VI called the clinics of the spirit. That’s why we truly want shrines to be not only places of prayer but also of healing, of well-being, because Jesus told us: ‘Preach and heal,’” he emphasized.

PAMI’s work extends to the creation of study centers and the promotion of interreligious and ecumenical dialogue.

“Our task is to create centers and societies to study the figure of Mary in diverse cultures and also in dialogue with other Christian churches and other religions, because Mary plays this fundamental role in the history of the Church,” he explained.

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

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn (left) shakes hands with now Archbishop-elect of Vienna Josef Grünwidl at the time of his appointment as apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Vienna on Jan. 22, 2025, and on Oct. 17, 2025. / Credit: Archdiocese of Vienna / Stephan Schönlaub

Rome Newsroom, Oct 17, 2025 / 06:02 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Friday appointed Father Josef Grünwidl to succeed Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, OP, as head of the Archdiocese of Vienna, Austria’s most populous archdiocese.

Grünwidl has overseen the Vienna archdiocese on an interim basis since January, when the 80-year-old Schönborn concluded three decades at its helm following the acceptance of his resignation by Pope Francis.

The 62-year-old Grünwidl, born in lower Austria, was chairman of the Vienna Priests’ Council and episcopal vicar of the Vienna archdiocese’s southern vicariate before being named apostolic administrator.

A former concert organist, the archbishop-elect has served in numerous roles in the archdiocese since his ordination in 1988, including as a pastor and parish moderator. The priest was also secretary to Cardinal Schönborn from 1995 to 1998, at the beginning of Schönborn’s term as archbishop of Vienna.

According to Austria’s public broadcasting service, ORF, Grünwidl is a former member of the controversial “Pastor’s Initiative,” a dissident Catholic group founded in Austria in 2006 on a call to “disobedience” on certain Church issues. The group advocates for the ordination of women, optional priestly celibacy, and Communion for the divorced-and-remarried and members of other Christian faiths.

ORF reports that Grünwidl, who is not listed among current members of the “Pastor’s Initiative,” has “recently emphasized that celibacy is a consciously chosen way of life for him personally, but ‘not a matter of faith’ and should therefore not be a mandatory requirement for priests.”

“On the subject of women in the Church, he identified an ‘urgent need for clarification,’” ORF continued. “The diaconate for women should be discussed further, and Grünwidl also considers the admission of women to the College of Cardinals to be conceivable.”

Speaking on the broadcaster’s program “Orientation” early this year, Grünwidl said he left the “Pastor’s Initiative” because he felt that Pope Francis’ ideas had “overtaken” the group’s proposals, and he could no longer support a motto of “disobedience.” He emphasized “critical obedience,” and said he “can’t imagine an open opposition to the bishop in the Church.”

The Catholic news agency Kathpress describes the archbishop-elect as a “pastorally grounded leader, valued preacher, and insightful conversationalist.”

Archbishop emeritus Cardinal Schönborn

Schönborn, a theologian who led the Archdiocese of Vienna for 30 years, helped write the Catechism of the Catholic Church and chaired the Austrian bishops’ conference for 22 years.

The Church leader was born to a titled family in 1945 in Bohemia in what was then Nazi Germany and is now part of the Czech Republic.

He grew up in western Austria, close to the border with Switzerland, and joined the Order of Preachers, also known as the Dominicans, in 1963. 

He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Vienna in 1970. He went on to study sacred theology in Paris and in Regensburg, Germany, under the then-Father Joseph Ratzinger — the future Pope Benedict XVI.

Schönborn was awarded a doctorate in sacred theology in the 1970s and was later made a member of the prestigious International Theological Commission of the Vatican.

He was editorial secretary of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and in 1991, Pope John Paul II named the theologian an auxiliary bishop of Vienna.

After being appointed coadjutor archbishop of Vienna in April 1995, he succeeded Cardinal Hans Hermann Groër, OSB, as archbishop of Vienna on Sept. 14, 1995.

Schönborn was made a cardinal by St. Pope John Paul II in 1998.

Churches in Jerusalem. / Credit: Amizor via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 17, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Here is a roundup of Catholic world news from the past week that you might have missed:

Jerusalem church leaders welcome Gaza ceasefire

The Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem has hailed the announcement of a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange, describing it as a “first real step toward ending the war,” CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, ACI MENA, reported Oct. 16. 

The statement thanked the international community, particularly mediators at the Sharm el-Sheikh summit, for helping secure the deal and called for rapid humanitarian access to food, clean water, fuel, and medicine.

The church leaders also voiced alarm over growing violence and settlement expansion in the West Bank, insisting that peace talks must lead to an independent Palestinian state living in safety beside Israel. They praised Christians in Gaza for their steadfast faith, calling the communities of St. Porphyrius Orthodox and Holy Family Catholic churches “a living witness of hope amid suffering.”

Tokyo archbishop calls for end to death penalty

Cardinal Isao Kikuchi, archbishop of Tokyo, is calling on Japan to abolish the death penalty and grant clemency to two men charged with murder, according to a report by Crux. 

“The Catholic Church in Japan opposes capital punishment, calling for the protection of all life as a gift from the Creator. The Church urges the government to abolish the death penalty and reform the Japanese criminal justice system,” the cardinal said, adding: “I fundamentally believe that if we uphold the value of human life and dignity, we must not employ the same method as the criminals by taking a life away.” 

Protests in Cameroon overshadow presidential election despite bishops’ call for peace

Despite repeated appeals by Catholic bishops for peace and transparency ahead of Cameroon’s presidential elections, protests reportedly erupted in some cities in the country, ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, reported Oct. 16.

In the country’s capital of Douala, angry demonstrators accused authorities of electoral fraud in the Oct. 12 vote. This comes after members of the Cameroon bishops’ conference called on authorities to address any electoral insecurities they said could possibly mar the country’s presidential elections. 

“Every human life is sacred and must be protected. It is everyone’s duty to ensure that the sanctity of human life is preserved before, during, and after the upcoming elections,” they said, adding: “We call on the competent authorities of the Republic to use their powers to prevent electoral insecurity and ensure a favorable environment, free from fear and intimidation.” 

Results for the election are expected by Oct. 26. 

Pope Leo XIV meets Jordan’s King Abdullah II: a renewed friendship

Pope Leo XIV welcomed King Abdullah II of Jordan and Queen Rania to the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City this week, their first meeting since the pope’s election earlier this year, ACI MENA reported Oct. 14. 

The encounter reaffirmed the long-standing friendship between the Holy See and the Hashemite Kingdom, centered on interfaith dialogue and shared concern for peace in the Middle East. The visit comes as King Abdullah tours Europe, including Italy, Hungary, and Slovenia, for talks on regional stability. 

Observers note that the strong personal rapport once shared between Pope Francis and the Jordanian monarch is likely to continue under Pope Leo, whose pontificate has already signaled continuity in humanitarian outreach and mutual respect.

Korean Catholics call on government to protect workers under new law

Catholic officials are welcoming a change to Korea’s labor laws that will help protect workers by strengthening unions and adding protections for workers in Korea’s segmented labor market, according to an Oct. 15 report from UCA News. 

“Nothing is more important than the happiness, well-being, and protection of the lives of workers and their families, so it is natural for the Church to stand on the side of workers,” said Father Alexander Lee Young-hoon, the Bishops’ Conference of Korea’s secretary of labor.

“When the Church speaks out on labor and social issues, many believers perceive it as a political stance,” said John Park Young-ki, attorney and member of the Seoul Archdiocese Labor Ministry Committee. “The path of a Church that stands with the poor and the vulnerable, as Pope Francis has said, is not to follow secular logic but to show concern for the vulnerable.”

Germany names its head of foreign intelligence service as ambassador to Holy See

Pope Leo XIV received Bruno Kahl, Germany’s new ambassador to the Holy See, on Oct. 11, according to a Vatican press bulletin. 

Kahl presented Leo with his credential letters during the meeting, marking the official start of his post. The new ambassador has been in Rome for several weeks, according to reports, and previously met with Leo during a private audience with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. During his stint as head of German intelligence, Kahl was in Ukraine when Russia invaded at the start of the war and had to be evacuated by special forces from the country via car, according to several reports.

St. Ignatius of Antioch with the child Jesus. / Credit: Lorenzo Lotto, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, Oct 17, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

On Oct. 17, the Roman Catholic Church remembers the early Church Father, bishop, and martyr St. Ignatius of Antioch, whose writings attest to the sacramental and hierarchical nature of the Church from its earliest days.

Eastern Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians celebrate his memory on Dec. 20.

In a 2007 general audience on St. Ignatius of Antioch, Pope Benedict XVI observed that “no Church Father has expressed the longing for union with Christ and for life in him with the intensity of Ignatius.”

In his letters, the pope said, “one feels the freshness of the faith of the generation which had still known the apostles. In these letters, the ardent love of a saint can also be felt.”

Born in Syria in the middle of the first century A.D., Ignatius is said to have been personally instructed — along with another future martyr, St. Polycarp — by the apostle John. When Ignatius became the bishop of Antioch around the year 70, he assumed leadership of a local Church that, according to tradition, was first led by St. Peter before his move to Rome.

Although St. Peter transmitted his papal primacy to the bishops of Rome rather than Antioch, the city played an important role in the life of the early Church. Located in present-day Turkey, it was a chief city of the Roman Empire and was also the location where the believers in Jesus’ teachings and his resurrection were first called “Christians.”

Ignatius led the Christians of Antioch during the reign of the Roman Emperor Domitian, the first emperor to proclaim his divinity by adopting the title “Lord and God.” Subjects who would not give worship to the emperor under this title could be punished with death. As the leader of a major Catholic diocese during this period, Ignatius showed courage and worked to inspire it in others.

After Domitian’s murder in the year 96, his successor, Nerva, reigned briefly and was soon followed by the emperor Trajan. Under his rule, Christians were once again liable to death for denying the pagan state religion and refusing to participate in its rites. It was during his reign that Ignatius was convicted for his Christian testimony and sent from Syria to Rome to be put to death.

Escorted by a team of military guards, Ignatius nonetheless managed to compose seven letters: six to various local Churches throughout the empire (including the Church of Rome) and one to his fellow bishop Polycarp, who would give his own life for Christ several decades later.

Ignatius’ letters passionately stressed the importance of Church unity, the dangers of heresy, and the surpassing importance of the Eucharist as the “medicine of immortality.” These writings contain the first surviving written description of the Church as “Catholic,” from the Greek word indicating both universality and fullness.

One of the most striking features of Ignatius’ letters is his enthusiastic embrace of martyrdom as a means to union with God and eternal life.

“All the pleasures of the world, and all the kingdoms of this earth, shall profit me nothing,” he wrote to the Church of Rome. “It is better for me to die on behalf of Jesus Christ than to reign over all the ends of the earth.”

“Now I begin to be a disciple,” the bishop declared. “Let fire and the cross; let the crowds of wild beasts; let tearings, breakings, and dislocations of bones; let cutting off of members; let shatterings of the whole body; and let all the dreadful torments of the devil come upon me: Only let me attain to Jesus Christ.”

St. Ignatius of Antioch bore witness to Christ publicly for the last time in Rome’s Flavian Amphitheater, where he was mauled to death by lions.

“I am the wheat of the Lord,” he declared before facing them. “I must be ground by the teeth of these beasts to be made the pure bread of Christ.”

His memory was honored, and his bones venerated, soon after his death around the year 107.

This story was first published on Oct. 14, 2012, and has been updated.