St. Columba Catholic Church

Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch Youssef Absi of Antioch (left) and Father Chihade Abboud, rector and parish priest of the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin (center), speak with Melkite Catholic Elie Bassila. Members of the Lebanese Catholic diaspora are anticipating Pope Leo XIV’s three-day visit to Lebanon, taking place from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2, 2025. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Elie Bassila

Rome Newsroom, Nov 17, 2025 / 11:26 am (CNA).

Members of the Lebanese Catholic diaspora are anticipating Pope Leo XIV’s three-day visit to Lebanon, taking place from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2, with great hopes the new pontiff will continue his papal predecessors’ solidarity with the Middle East’s most Christian country.

While Lebanon’s current population currently stands at 5.8 million people, an estimated 14 million to 18 million people of Lebanese origin live in other countries, according to a 2024 Australian National University Migration Hub report.

Since the mid-1970s, millions of Lebanese have left the country after witnessing decades of instability and destruction brought about by the 1975–1990 Lebanese Civil War, military invasions by neighboring Israel and Syria, and, more recently, the country’s 2020 economic collapse.

Though many fled their homeland in search of peace and security abroad, many Lebanese held on to their Eastern Catholic identities and passed on their religion to their children, including the parents of U.S. vocations director for the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, Father Charbel Boustany, FFI.

Born in Sydney two years after his family left Lebanon to escape the civil war, Boustany told CNA his parents passed down their Maronite Catholic identity to their children, whom they raised in Australia.

Eastern Catholic Churches follow the pope but celebrate liturgies similar to those of Eastern Orthodoxy.

Leo’s visit will be the third formal papal journey to Lebanon. The priest told CNA he believes the visit from the bishop of Rome will be “a beautiful expression of the full communion that unites the Maronite and Roman Catholic Churches.”

“The fact that Pope Leo has chosen Lebanon for his first apostolic journey speaks volumes about the importance of this small yet deeply symbolic country — not only to the Church but to the world,” he said.

Though the majority of Lebanese Catholics belong to the Maronite rite, Melkite Catholic Elie Bassila told CNA Leo’s visit is significant for all Christians — Catholic and Orthodox — who belong to “the family of the Oriental Churches” in Lebanon.

“For us Melkites in particular, who cherish our Byzantine heritage and our long-standing commitment to communion with Rome, the pope’s visit reaffirms the value of our identity and our mission within the wider Church,” he said.

At a time when the future feels uncertain due to regional conflicts as well as sectarian divisions eroding national unity, Bassila said he believes Christians need to see and feel the support of the Holy Father. 

“This visit comes at a historically decisive moment for Lebanon,” he said. “It is more than a gesture of solidarity — it is a visit of hope.”

“We need the head of the Church to stand with our families, with our brothers and sisters of every community, and to reaffirm the importance of fraternity and dialogue among all who call Lebanon home,” he added.

Both Bassila and Boustany are praying Pope Leo’s visit will help Lebanese — living in Lebanon or abroad — to rediscover or renew their sense of faith, hope, and love in God, especially when daily life can feel like a struggle for mere survival. 

“Lebanon is a country that has endured immense suffering but continues to bear witness to faith and resilience,” Boustany said.

John Paul II’s solidarity with Lebanon throughout civil war

Recalling earlier pontificates, Boustany — who was named after the Maronite mystic St. Charbel — said St. John Paul II’s solidarity with Lebanese people has had a profound impact on generations of families living in and outside of Lebanon.

“One of his most memorable statements, made in 1989, still resonates deeply: ‘Lebanon is more than a country; it is a message of freedom and an example of pluralism for East and West,” Boustany told CNA, quoting the Polish pope’s message of peace in Lebanon.

“That vision still inspires many Lebanese today,” he said.

For Bassila, that phrase “became part of our national identity” and “remains one of the most powerful messages ever spoken to the people of Lebanon.”

Having left Lebanon as a young adult to work as an international humanitarian aid worker, Bassila has vivid childhood memories of the Polish pope’s visit to his homeland seven years after the civil war ended.        

“I was 10 years old when Pope John Paul II visited Lebanon on May 10–11, 1997, and that date is engraved in the Lebanese collective memory,” Bassila told CNA.  

“His visit — essentially the first full papal visit to Lebanon — came just after the end of the civil war, at a time when people and families were still wounded, struggling, and trying to rebuild their lives,” he continued.

Throughout the duration of the civil war approximately 150,000 people were killed, 17,000 went missing, and hundreds of thousands more people were left displaced, according to an Associated Press report.

Describing the highly-televised visit as a “true national event,” Bassila recalled how “the highway from the airport to the Melkite Basilica of St. Paul in Harissa was completely filled with crowds” waiting to greet the leader of Catholics worldwide.

“It was festive in a way Lebanon hadn’t experienced in years,” he shared with CNA. 

“I still recall our Orthodox neighbor buying a huge Vatican flag and heading out to greet the pope — something that, for me, symbolized unity and a rare moment of joy shared across communities,” he continued.

Benedict XVI’s call for unity, dialogue in the Middle East

The second papal visit to Lebanon was made by Pope Benedict XVI about a year after the Syrian civil war broke out on March 15, 2011.

During the 2012 visit, Benedict promoted interreligious dialogue and promulgated his apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in Medio Oriente in Beirut on the Sept. 14 feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross.

Boustany, who had already entered religious life in Australia by the time of Benedict’s visit to Lebanon, closely followed the three-day papal visit through Catholic media.

“I also recall how Patriarch [Bechara Boutros] Raï spoke about the Holy Father’s amazement at being welcomed with such joy not only by Christians but also by Lebanese of other faiths,” he said, reflecting on comments made by the head of the Maronite Church.

“It was a remarkable testimony to Lebanon’s spirit of coexistence,” he added.

Pope Leo XIV addresses the steering committee of the Catholic Biblical Federation at the Vatican on Nov. 17, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Nov 17, 2025 / 10:39 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV lamented that there are cultural spaces where the Gospel is “distorted by particular interests” during a meeting with the Catholic Biblical Federation at the Vatican on Monday.

“New generations inhabit new digital environments where the word of God is easily overshadowed. New communities often find themselves in cultural spaces where the Gospel is unfamiliar or distorted by particular interests,” the pope said Nov. 17.

The Catholic Biblical Federation is an international organization — led by Cardinal Luis Tagle, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization — whose main goal is to promote the knowledge, dissemination, study, and pastoral ministry of sacred Scripture around the world.

The pontiff made clear that the group’s mission and vision “should always be inspired by the conviction that the Church draws life not from herself but from the Gospel.”

He added that “ensuring easy access to sacred Scripture for all the faithful is essential so that everyone may encounter the God who speaks, shares his love, and draws us into the fullness of life” and said translations of Scripture “remain indispensable.”

Leo invited the group to reflect on what “easy access” to sacred Scripture means in our time and “how can we facilitate this encounter for those who have never heard the word of God or whose cultures remain untouched by the Gospel?”

The pope expressed the hope that these questions will inspire “new forms of biblical outreach, capable of opening pathways to the Scriptures, so that God’s word may take root in people’s hearts and lead all to live in his grace.”

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

Three women share their stories of experiences with abortion at the pro-life event at the European Parliament in Brussels, Oct. 15, 2025. / Credit: European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ)

EWTN News, Nov 17, 2025 / 10:06 am (CNA).

On Nov. 5, the European Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality voted 26-12 to back the pro-abortion initiative “My Voice, My Choice” — just weeks after pro-life advocates held the largest gathering in the Parliament in more than a decade to challenge the initiative’s push for EU-funded cross-border abortion access.

The Oct. 15 conference, hosted by the European Centre for Law and Justice and co-organized with the One of Us federation, drew 300 participants including eight members of the European Parliament, former EU Commissioner for Health Tonio Borg, and former Slovenian Prime Minister Alojz Peterle.

Six women shared testimonies about their personal experiences with abortion — stories of regret, trauma, and long-term emotional consequences they say are often overlooked in policymaking.

Funding for My Voice, My Choice from pro-abortion foundations

While the committee’s draft resolution on My Voice, My Choice carries no binding legal effect, it nonetheless sets a symbolic precedent that has drawn sharp criticism from pro-life organizations across Europe. A European Citizens Initiative (ECI) allows EU citizens to propose legislation directly to the European Commission if they gather at least 1 million verified signatures from citizens across a minimum of seven member states.

My Voice, My Choice, supported heavily in Slovenia, Croatia, Romania, and Italy, collected 1,124,513 signatures and raised 923,028 euros from private donors and pro-abortion foundations.

Along with backing the draft resolution, the committee also approved an oral question to the European Commission — a formal parliamentary procedure used to demand an on-the-record explanation. In this case, it asks the commission how it intends to respond to My Voice, My Choice, ensuring the issue moves beyond the committee level and into a public parliamentary debate.

Pro-life organizations draw comparisons with an earlier ECI, One of Us, a pro-life campaign that in 2014 secured even greater public backing, collecting 1,721,626 signatures despite operating on a far smaller budget of 159,219 euros and relying largely on volunteer mobilization. 

Yet, despite surpassing the threshold by a wide margin, the European Commission declined to act on its proposals. The outcome remains a point of contention within pro-life circles, who argue it highlights an institutional double standard and political bias in how such initiatives are ultimately treated.

EU funding for abortions outside of home countries?

The Oct. 15 pro-life event focused on the social and emotional context surrounding abortion decisions — from family pressure and economic hardship to instances where abortion followed sexual violence.

According to organizers, the six women who shared their testimonies also contacted all 40 full members of the committee, offering to share their experiences individually. 

Most members did not agree to meet them.

For Nicolas Bauer of the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ), the lack of engagement reinforces a broader concern. He questioned whether some members of the European Parliament are guided more by ideology than by listening to the diversity of women’s experiences.

The committee’s endorsement of My Voice, My Choice, he explained, reflects a belief among left-leaning groups that abortion is “inherently a right and a social good,” leaving little space for accounts of suffering, regret, or moral conflict.

Bauer explained that the proposal envisions a system in which a woman unable to obtain an abortion in her home country could “receive EU funding to have one in a country where it is available.” 

As an example, he noted that a French woman who is 22 weeks pregnant — beyond France’s legal limit — “could travel to the Netherlands for an abortion, financed by the EU.” 

Such a scheme would, in practice, “harmonize abortion law across Europe by aligning it with the most permissive countries,” regardless of national legislation or moral consensus. He attributed the campaign’s public traction not to broad ideological agreement but to “slick marketing backed by substantial financial resources.”

He further claimed that the European Commission “even helped the organizers of My Voice, My Choice to draft their petition in a way that would maximize its chances of being declared admissible,” contrasting this with the experience of One of Us, which, he noted, “gathered more signatures but did not benefit from the same institutional support.”

Examining top-down strategies

Matthieu Bruynseels, advocacy director for EU affairs at the Federation of Catholic Family Associations, stressed the importance of subsidiarity — a principle rooted in both EU treaties and Catholic social doctrine. He noted that issues such as abortion, gestational surrogacy, and euthanasia lie outside the EU’s direct competencies, yet they continue to be debated at the European level for political reasons. In the wake of My Voice, My Choice, Bruynseels said the federation is concerned about the European Parliament’s growing efforts to incorporate abortion rights into its policies.

The ECLJ plans to return to these themes at its upcoming conference on Nov. 26. The event will examine what it describes as increasingly top-down strategies within the My Voice, My Choice campaign as well as recent trends in ECI funding. It will also highlight Article 33 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, which calls on the union to support, not redefine, family and motherhood. As with the October gathering, the November conference will again feature women sharing firsthand accounts of their experiences with abortion.

As for My Voice, My Choice, the initiative will enter its formal institutional phase. A public hearing is scheduled for Dec. 2 in the European Parliament, during which the organizers will present their case to members of the European Parliament, the commission, and other stakeholders. After this hearing, the European Commission will be required to issue an official response outlining whether it intends to propose legislative action, pursue alternative measures, or decline to proceed and explain its reasoning publicly.

For advocates like Bauer, Bruynseels, and many within Europe’s pro-life movement, these unfolding developments highlight a defining question at the heart of EU politics today: Will abortion policy gradually align across the union, or will it continue to reflect the diverse ethical, legal, and cultural traditions of individual countries?

A roadside wooden crucifix in Bavaria. / Credit: AC Wimmer/EWTN News

EWTN News, Nov 17, 2025 / 09:06 am (CNA).

Church arson attacks across Europe nearly doubled in 2024, part of a broader surge in anti-Christian hate crimes that included 274 personal assaults against Christians and the killing of a 76-year-old Spanish monk, according to a new report released Monday by the Vienna-based Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe (OIDAC Europe).

The report documented 2,211 anti-Christian hate crimes across Europe in 2024, with 94 arson attacks on churches — nearly double the number recorded in 2023.

An official launch of the report will take place Tuesday, Nov. 18, at the European Parliament Intergroup on Freedom of Religion, Belief, and Conscience. OIDAC Europe compiled the report using official police figures, OSCE/ODIHR statistics, and its own case documentation.

Official numbers do not show the full scale

The spike in arson attacks is particularly prominent: A total of 94 arson incidents targeted churches and other Christian sites — one-third of which occurred in Germany.

France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, and Austria recorded the highest number of anti-Christian incidents overall. While most attacks were directed at places of worship, OIDAC Europe recorded 274 personal attacks against Christians in 2024, including assaults and threats.

Among the report’s findings are several severe cases, including the killing of a 76-year-old monk in Spain in November 2024 and the near-destruction of a historic church in Saint-Omer, France, by fire in September 2024.

Executive Director Anja Tang emphasized that the figures represent “very concrete acts of church vandalism, arson, and physical assaults that deeply affect local communities,” warning that official statistics still underestimate the scale of the problem.

New surveys from Poland and Spain reveal that nearly half of priests have encountered aggression. However, the vast majority never report these incidents to the police.

“If half of Catholic clergy experience aggression in a Catholic-majority country, hostility towards Christians can no longer be treated as a marginal issue,” Tang said.

Christians under social pressure across Europe

Beyond physical attacks, the report documents the growing legal and social pressure on Christians across Europe between 2024 and 2025.

Examples include the prosecution of individuals for silently praying in so-called “buffer zones” near abortion facilities in the United Kingdom; the ongoing “hate speech” proceedings against Finnish Member of Parliament Päivi Räsänen for quoting the Bible; and the high-profile employment case of United Kingdom teacher Kristie Higgs. The Court of Appeal in February 2025 ultimately recognized Higgs’ Christian views as legally protected beliefs.

“These patterns highlight the urgent need to strengthen the protection of freedom of religion or belief in Europe — including the right to express and discuss faith-based convictions in the public sphere without fear of reprisal or censorship,” Tang said.

In its recommendations, OIDAC Europe calls for stronger, more coordinated European Union action. This includes appointing a European Union coordinator to combat anti-Christian hatred, similar to existing mandates on antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred.

The organization also urges governments to implement the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) new guide, Understanding Anti-Christian Hate Crimes and Addressing the Security Needs of Christian Communities, and to make systematic and comparable data collection on hate crimes against Christians a key priority.

Organizers of Pope Leo XIV’s upcoming digital dialogue with young people Nov. 21 at the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis speak to the media at the site of the United States Catholic Bishops’ Conference Fall Plenary Assembly in Baltimore on Nov. 12, 2025. Left to right: Cardinal Christophe Pierre, papal nuncio to the United States; Montse Alvarado, president and COO of EWTN News; Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez, Archdiocese of Philadelphia; Christina Lamas, executive director of National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry; and Archbishop Charles Thompson, Archdiocese of Indianapolis. / Credit: Shannon Mullen/National Catholic Register

Baltimore, Maryland, Nov 17, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Bishops discussed young Catholics’ place in the Church ahead of the National Catholic Youth Conference.

At the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Fall Plenary Assembly in Baltimore, bishops spoke about the young generation as many prepare to attend NCYC. The conference will take place Nov. 20–22 in Indianapolis for prayer, community, evangelization, and service among Catholic teenagers.

During NCYC, Pope Leo XIV will hold a digital dialogue with teens from across the nation. “When the pope speaks, he speaks to the world, and this will be a wonderful, wonderful moment. This encounter will engage young people in real time,” said Archbishop Nelson Pérez of Philadelphia. 

At a Nov. 12 press conference at the USCCB fall plenary, Pérez said “there is a deep significance to this encounter.” He added: “It reflects the Holy Father’s desire to connect with young people, with our youth, whom his predecessor … Pope Francis, called ‘the now of God.’”

Pérez said during his time as a priest and bishop, he has noticed teenagers “want a place in the Church.” He said: “They want to be seen, heard, and valued, which is so beautiful ... They want to be loved by the Church.”

“Even in today’s interconnected world, the Church can seem far away from young people. The Holy Father’s choice to encounter the American youth ... is an expression of his closeness to the youth of the world.”

“This moment will mark a powerful opportunity for young people to witness the beauty of the universal Church with our Holy Father and to express their concerns, voices, experience, [and] what’s in their hearts,” Pérez said.

Bishop Joseph Espaillat, auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of New York, has attended NCYC more than a dozen times. He told CNA “the energy and the vibrancy of the young people” is why he returns each year.

“It’s not just the local parish or the local diocese, but it’s the national Church and there’s something powerful when we come together,” Espaillat said.

​This year’s event is “the first time ever the Holy Father has a live online interview like this,” at NCYC, Espaillat said. “What I love about it is that the Church in the United States is leading right now. The young people being the focus with our Holy Father is going to be great, and it’s going to produce a lot of positive energy in our Church.”

Espaillat encouraged attendees “to be open and allow yourself to be surprised by the Holy Spirit.” He added: “Don’t go in with a preconceived notion. It is a great event in which there are many, many fruits. I’ve seen young people just come to life at the event.”

Youth draw closer to the Church

As thousands of teenagers plan to gather at the national conference, U.S. bishops further explained why so many young Catholics are looking to the Church. A number of bishops highlighted the Catholic presence on social media is helping to draw them in.

Bishop William Byrne of Springfield, Massachusetts, told CNA the exponential growth of young Catholics coming to the Church is “amazing and exciting.” Byrne, who served as chair for the USCCB’s committee on communications, detailed how much its online presence has grown its outreach to the young generation and wider population. 

“Beginning with the illness of our beloved Pope Francis, through the funeral, and then the transition to Pope Leo, we’ve actually had a 226% growth in our social media on the four platforms we use — TikTok, Instagram, X, and YouTube,” he said.

“The amazing thing is, it’s still growing. It means that people are seeing it, sharing it,” Byrne said. He specifically noted it’s the “young people” spreading the message online. 

“So we see that we are reaching people,” Byrne said. “But our goal is not to get people locked on their phones. Our goal is to get people locked on Jesus Christ and have the impression be Jesus Christ and his bride, the Church.”

“This is an exciting time. It’s not without its challenges, but it’s also a wonderful opportunity,” Byrne said. “We’re reaching young people who are curious and hungry. It’s so exciting to see the Church continue to speak to the world, because the Church has never lost her relevance.”

The start of the Catholic online presence followed the movement of the new atheists, Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, said. He told CNA the movement was made up of “people who were really shaping the culture, saying: ‘There’s no purpose of life. We come from nowhere. We go nowhere. There’s no objective moral value.’”

“A lot of people, myself included, began to get on social media with a religious voice,” Barron said. “People who had not heard a religious voice or who were disaffiliated … could find people like me and many others who were actually talking about God and about religion.”

“But I think as a whole generation came of age, they realized what a desperately sad and empty message that is,” Barron said. “There’s this hunger in the heart for God, and so that just reasserts itself. I think a lot of younger people who were raised on this very vapid philosophy began to look to religion.”

As more young Catholics get involved in youth formation whether in their parishes or at larger gatherings like NCYC, Barron said he encourages them to use the opportunities to “build community and build a sense of family with other believers.”

Barron, who is the founder of the Catholic media organization Word on Fire, has gained nearly 3 million YouTube subscribers and millions of other followers across social media platforms. But, he said, “one drawback of social media is that it’s a little private world. It can be a lot of people accessing it, but privately.”

“Maybe through social media an individual finds a path to religion, but then to look around a room and see thousands of other people that are on a similar path — that’s a great thing,” Barron said.

null / Credit: Daniel Jedzura/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Nov 17, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Slightly over 10 years after it redefined marriage to include same-sex couples, the U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 10 declined to revisit that controversial decision, upholding at least for now its ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges that made “gay marriage” the law of the land.

A decade after that ruling, nearly a million same-sex couples in the U.S. are participating in what the law now defines as marriage. Yet the Catholic Church has continued to affirm the definition of marriage as being exclusively a union between a man and a woman. 

That has been the prevailing definition of marriage around the world for at least about 5,000 years of human history, though many societies have allowed polygamy, or multiple spouses, in various forms. The same-sex variant of marriage, meanwhile, only became accepted in recent decades. 

The Church has held since its beginning that marriage is strictly between one man and one woman. The Catechism of the Catholic Church directs that marriage occurs when “a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life.” It is “by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring.”

Church Fathers and theologians from the earliest days of Catholicism have consistently upheld that marriage is meant to be a lifelong, permanent union between one man and one woman, with St. Augustine explicitly naming “offspring” as one of the blessings of marriage, along with “fidelity” and “the sacramental bond.”

Gay marriage a ‘misnomer’ by Church teaching

John Grabowski, a professor of moral theology at The Catholic University of America, told CNA that marriage in the Catholic Church’s teaching is based on “unity, indissolubility, and [is ordered] toward life,” or the begetting of children.

“Those criteria can only be met in a union between a man and a woman,” he said. “They cannot be met in a union between two men and two women. ‘Gay marriage’ is thus a misnomer in the Church’s understanding.”

The Supreme Court’s redefinition of marriage, Grabowski argued, was an act of “judicial fiat” rather than a recognition of what marriage actually is. He said the high court was functioning more as a “cultural barometer” reflecting an erroneous shift in perception on what marriage is.

“It would be similar to if the court passed a rule saying we could call a square a circle,” he said. “It’s just not based on the reality of the natural world.”

The Obergefell ruling came after years of LGBT activist efforts to redefine marriage both within individual states and at the federal level. Advocates had argued that there was no meaningful reason to restrict marriage to opposite-sex couples and that to do so constituted discrimination. 

Many critics have claimed that the Church’s broader teaching on marriage actually left the door open for same-sex couples to marry — for instance, they argued, by allowing opposite-sex couples to marry even if one or both of the spouses are infertile, the Church implicitly divorces biological childbearing from marriage itself. 

Grabowski acknowledged that the Church does allow infertile couples to get married (and to stay married if infertility occurs at a later date). But he pointed out that the Church does in fact prohibit marriage for those who are impotent, or constitutionally incapable of intercourse. 

The key point for the Church, he said, is what St. John Paul II called the “spousal meaning of the body.” The late pope argued that men and women “exist in the relationship of the reciprocal gift of self,” ordered to the communion of “one flesh” of which the Bible speaks in Genesis. 

The Church’s teaching, Grabowski said, “is based on the natural law. It tells us that the way God designed us is for the good of our flourishing, both as individuals and as the good of society.”

Though marriage advocates have continued to criticize the Supreme Court’s decision over the past decade, others have at times suggested a pivot away from directly challenging it at the legal level. 

In 2017, for instance, Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, Bishop Robert Barron affirmed his opposition to gay marriage but questioned “the prudence and wisdom” of attempting to legislatively outlaw it at that time. The bishop suggested instead that “personal witness and education” were better tools for the current political climate.

Grabowski acknowledged that one “could say, realistically, the ship has sailed and the political question is dead.”

“But that’s a political judgment,” he said. Catholics should not lose sight of the goal to reestablish correct laws on marriage, he argued.

“In terms of something to hope for, pray for, and to the degree that we’re able to, work for it — that’s something Catholics should aspire to.”

“The Charity of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary,” painted by Edmund Leighton, circa 1895. / Credit: Edmund Leighton, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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

On Nov. 17, the Catholic Church celebrates the life and example of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, a medieval noblewoman who responded to personal tragedy by embracing St. Francis’ ideals of poverty and service. A patron of secular Franciscans, she is especially beloved to Germans as well as the faithful of her native Hungary.

As the daughter of the Hungarian King Andrew II, Elizabeth had the responsibilities of royalty thrust upon her almost as soon as her short life began in 1207. While she was still very young, her father arranged for her to be married to a German nobleman, Ludwig of Thuringia.

The plan forced Elizabeth to separate from her parents while still a child. Adding to this sorrow was the murder of Elizabeth’s mother, Gertrude, in 1213, which history ascribes to a conflict between her own German people and the Hungarian nobles. Elizabeth took a solemn view of life and death from that point on and found consolation in prayer. Both tendencies drew some ire from her royal peers.

For a time, beginning in 1221, she was happily married. Ludwig, who had advanced to become one of the rulers of Thuringia, supported Elizabeth’s efforts to live out the principles of the Gospel even within the royal court. She met with friars of the nascent Franciscan order during its founder’s own lifetime, resolving to use her position as queen to advance their mission of charity.

Remarkably, Ludwig agreed with his wife’s resolution, and the politically powerful couple embraced a life of remarkable generosity toward the poor. They had three children, two of whom went on to live as members of the nobility, although one of them — her only son — died relatively young. The third eventually entered religious life and became abbess of a German convent.

In 1226, while Ludwig was attending to political affairs in Italy, Elizabeth took charge of distributing aid to victims of disease and flooding that struck Thuringia. She took charge of caring for the afflicted, even when this required giving up the royal family’s own clothes and goods. Elizabeth arranged for a hospital to be built and is said to have provided for the needs of nearly a thousand desperately poor people on a daily basis.

The next year, however, would put Elizabeth’s faith to the test. Her husband had promised to assist the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sixth Crusade, but he died of illness en route to Jerusalem. Devastated by Ludwig’s death, Elizabeth vowed never to remarry. Her children were sent away, and relatives heavily pressured her to break the vow.

Undeterred, Elizabeth used her remaining money to build another hospital, where she personally attended to the sick almost constantly. Sending away her servants, she joined the Third Order of St. Francis, seeking to emulate the example of its founder as closely as her responsibilities would allow. Near the end of her life, she lived in a small hut and spun her own clothes.

Working continually with the severely ill, Elizabeth became sick herself, dying of illness in November 1231. After she died, miraculous healings soon began to occur at her grave near the hospital, and she was declared a saint just four years later.

Pope Benedict XVI praised her as a “model for those in authority,” noting the continuity between her personal love for God and her public work on behalf of the poor and sick. He also wrote in 2007, in honor of the 800th anniversary of her birth, that “[Elizabeth] also serves as an example of virtue radically applied in marriage, the family, and even in widowhood. She has also inspired political figures, who have drawn from her the motivation to work towards reconciliation between peoples.”

This story was first published on Nov. 14, 2010, and has been updated.

Pope Leo XIV shares lunch with people in need at the Vatican on Nov. 16, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Vatican City, Nov 16, 2025 / 11:15 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV had lunch on Sunday with more than 1,300 people experiencing poverty and social exclusion, gathering with them in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall for a festive meal marking the World Day of the Poor.

The hall was transformed into a vast dining room for the occasion. The event was organized by the Congregation of the Mission on behalf of Vincentian missionaries worldwide, who this year celebrate the 400th anniversary of the founding of their congregation and of the Daughters of Charity. Volunteers served lasagna, breaded chicken with potatoes, and the traditional Italian dessert babà.

As on similar occasions in past years, the Vatican, through the papal almoner Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, invited a group of transgender people from the Roman seaside town of Torvaianica. Father Andrea Conocchia, a parish priest in Torvaianica, told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, that he had accompanied about 50 transgender people from his community to the event.

In a special effort to highlight dignity and respect, the Vatican provided full table service with proper dishes, flatware, and table linens — avoiding plastic or disposable materials. Organizers said the aim was not only to offer a meal but also to create an experience of welcome and care for each guest.

After the meal, the pope thanked the Vincentian family for its service to the most vulnerable. “This lunch that we now receive is offered by Providence and by the great generosity of the Vincentian community, to whom we wish to express our gratitude,” he said.

The pope also shared his joy at spending time with the poor on a day instituted by his predecessor. “With great joy we gather this afternoon for this lunch on the World Day of the Poor, which was so desired by my beloved predecessor, Pope Francis,” he said.

He expressed gratitude for all who dedicate themselves to those in need: “So many priests, religious sisters, and lay volunteers devote their lives to helping people who experience various needs. We are filled with gratitude for them.”

Before the meal, he prayed: “May the Lord bless the gifts we are about to receive, bless the life of each one of us, our loved ones, and all those who have accompanied us on our journey.” He also remembered those suffering around the world: “Let us invoke the Lord’s blessing upon those who suffer from violence, war, and hunger, and may we celebrate this feast today in a spirit of fraternity.”

He concluded with a final blessing: “Bless our life, our fraternity. Help us always to walk united in your love. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen. Warm greetings and enjoy your meal!”

Music added to the joyful atmosphere, with performances of classical and traditional Neapolitan pieces by 100 young people from Naples’ Rione Sanità neighborhood involved in the Sanitansamble and Tornà a Cantà educational programs of the Nova Opera ETS Foundation.

At the end of the lunch, the Vincentian Family of Italy gave each participant a “St. Vincent’s Backpack” containing food and hygiene products as a sign of continued accompaniment.

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

Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on Nov. 16, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Vatican City, Nov 16, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Celebrating Mass for the Jubilee of the Poor on the ninth World Day of the Poor, Pope Leo XIV urged Christians not to retreat into a closed or “religious” world of their own but to help make human society “a space of fraternity and dignity for all, without exception.”

Presiding in St. Peter’s Basilica on Sunday, the pope reflected on the “day of the Lord” and the upheavals of history, saying that Christ’s promise remains secure even amid war, violence, and deep social wounds.

Quoting the prophet Malachi, he described the “day of the Lord” as the dawn of a new era in which “the hopes of the poor and the humble will receive a final and definitive answer from the Lord” and recalled that Jesus himself is the “sun of righteousness” who comes close to every person. In the Gospel, he said, Christ assures his disciples that “not a hair of your head will perish” (Lk 21:18), anchoring Christian hope even “when all human hope seems to be extinguished.”

“In the midst of persecution, suffering, struggles, and oppression in our personal lives and in society, God does not abandon us,” the pope said, pointing to the “golden thread” of Scripture in which God always takes the side of “the little ones, orphans, strangers, and widows.”

World Day of the Poor: ‘Dilexi te — I have loved you’

Marking his first World Day of the Poor as pope, Leo XIV addressed his homily in a special way to those experiencing poverty and exclusion.

“While the entire Church rejoices and exults, it is especially to you, dear brothers and sisters, that I want to proclaim the irrevocable words of the Lord Jesus himself: ‘Dilexi te, I have loved you,’” he said, citing the title of his recent apostolic exhortation on love for the poor. “Yes, before our smallness and poverty, God looks at us like no one else and loves us with eternal love.”

In that spirit, he said, the Church today seeks to be “mother of the poor, a place of welcome and justice,” even as it continues to be “wounded by old and new forms of poverty.”

The pope warned against living as “distracted wanderers,” withdrawn into “a life closed in on ourselves, in a religious seclusion that isolates us from others and from history.” Seeking God’s kingdom, he insisted, “implies the desire to transform human coexistence into a space of fraternity and dignity for all, without exception.”

Many forms of poverty, one wound of loneliness

Leo XIV noted that “so many forms of poverty oppress our world,” from material deprivation to moral and spiritual poverty that “often affect young people in a particular way.”

“The tragedy that cuts across them all is loneliness,” he said. This tragedy, he continued, “challenges us to look at poverty in an integral way,” not limiting ourselves to emergency aid but developing “a culture of attention, precisely in order to break down the walls of loneliness.”

“Let us, then, be attentive to others, to each person, wherever we are, wherever we live,” the pope said, inviting Christians to become “witnesses of God’s tenderness” in families, workplaces, schools, communities, and even the digital world.

‘There can be no peace without justice’

Looking to current conflicts, Leo XIV said the proliferation of war “seems especially to confirm that we are in a state of helplessness,” but he stressed that this resignation is rooted in a lie.

“The globalization of helplessness arises from a lie, from believing that history has always been this way and cannot change,” he said. “The Gospel, on the other hand, reminds us that it is precisely in the upheavals of history that the Lord comes to save us. And today, as a Christian community, together with the poor, we must become a living sign of this salvation.”

Poverty, he added, “challenges Christians, but it also challenges all those who have positions of responsibility in society.” Addressing world leaders, he said: “I urge heads of state and the leaders of nations to listen to the cry of the poorest. There can be no peace without justice, and the poor remind us of this in many ways, through migration as well as through their cries, which are often stifled by the myth of well-being and progress that does not take everyone into account, and indeed forgets many individuals, leaving them to their fate.”

He thanked charity workers and volunteers who serve those in need and encouraged them “to continue to be the critical conscience of society.”

“You know well that the question of the poor leads back to the essence of our faith, for they are the very flesh of Christ and not just a sociological category,” he said, again citing Dilexi Te. “This is why ‘the Church, like a mother, accompanies those who are walking. Where the world sees threats, she sees children; where walls are built, she builds bridges.’”

The pope also invited the faithful to take inspiration from the saints who served Christ in the poor, highlighting St. Benedict Joseph Labre, whose life as a “vagabond of God” makes him “the patron saint of the homeless.”

Poor at the center of the celebration

Several thousand people in situations of poverty or social exclusion, accompanied by Catholic organizations, were present for the Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica and in St. Peter’s Square, where others followed the liturgy on large screens.

Among them, according to organizers, were some 1,500 people from France who have experienced life on the streets, prostitution, prison, or other forms of marginalization and who traveled to Rome with volunteers and pastoral workers for the Jubilee of the Poor. Before Mass, the pope greeted those gathered in the square from the popemobile.

Angelus: Persecuted Christians as witnesses of truth, justice, and hope

Later, appearing at the window of the Apostolic Palace to pray the Angelus with pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square, Leo XIV returned to the day’s Gospel from Luke 21, which speaks of wars, uprisings, and persecutions.

“As the liturgical year draws to a close, today’s Gospel (Lk 21:5-19) invites us to reflect on the travails of history and the end times,” he said. In the face of these upheavals, Jesus’ appeal “is very timely,” the pope said: “When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified” (v. 9).

“Jesus’ words proclaim that the attack of evil cannot destroy the hope of those who trust in him. The darker the hour, the more faith shines like the sun,” he said.

Twice in the Gospel, Christ says that “because of my name” many will suffer violence and betrayal, the pope continued, “but precisely then they will have the opportunity to bear witness.” That witness, he stressed, belongs not only to those who face physical violence.

“Indeed, the persecution of Christians does not only happen through mistreatment and weapons but also with words, that is, through lies and ideological manipulation,” he said. “Especially when we are oppressed by these evils, both physical and moral, we are called to bear witness to the truth that saves the world; to the justice that redeems peoples from oppression; to the hope that shows everyone the way to peace.”

Quoting Jesus’ promise “By your endurance you will gain your souls” (Lk 21:19), the pope said this assurance “gives us the strength to resist the threatening events of history and every offense,” because Christ himself gives believers “words and a wisdom” to persevere in doing good.

He pointed to the martyrs as a sign that “God’s grace is capable of transforming even violence into a sign of redemption” and entrusted persecuted Christians throughout the world to the intercession of Mary, Help of Christians.

Appeals for persecuted Christians, Ukraine, and Peru crash victims

After praying the Angelus, Leo XIV turned to current situations of suffering, beginning with Christians who face discrimination and persecution.

“Christians today are still suffering from discrimination and persecution in various parts of the world,” he said, mentioning in particular Bangladesh, Nigeria, Mozambique, Sudan, and other countries “from which we often hear news of attacks on communities and places of worship.”

“God is a merciful Father, and he desires peace among all his children!” the pope added, praying especially for families in Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where a recent terrorist attack killed at least 20 civilians.

He said he is following “with sorrow” the reports of continuing attacks on numerous Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, which have caused deaths and injuries — “children among them” — and widespread damage to civilian infrastructure, leaving families homeless as winter approaches. “We must not become accustomed to war and destruction!” he said, urging prayer “for a just and lasting peace in war-torn Ukraine.”

The pope also prayed for the victims of a serious bus accident in southern Peru’s Arequipa region in which at least 37 people died and many others were injured after a bus plunged into a ravine in the rural district of Ocoña.

“I would also like to offer my prayers for the victims of the serious road accident that occurred last Wednesday in southern Peru,” he said. “May the Lord welcome the deceased, sustain the injured, and comfort the bereaved families."

Road safety, new blessed, the poor, and abuse survivors

In a wider appeal for road safety, Leo XIV noted that the Church was also remembering “all those who have died in road accidents, too often caused by irresponsible behavior. Let each of us examine our conscience on this matter,” he said.

The pope recalled the beatification on Saturday in Bari of Italian diocesan priest Carmelo De Palma, who died in 1961 after a life “generously spent in the ministry of confession and spiritual accompaniment,” and prayed that his example would inspire priests to give themselves “unreservedly” in service to God’s people.

Marking the World Day of the Poor once more, Leo XIV thanked dioceses and parishes that organized initiatives of solidarity with those most in need, and invited the faithful to rediscover his exhortation Dilexi Te on love for the poor, “a document that Pope Francis was preparing in the last months of his life and which I completed with great joy.”

Finally, he joined the Church in Italy in observing a day of prayer for victims and survivors of abuse, calling for “a culture of respect” that safeguards the dignity of every person, “especially minors and the most vulnerable.”

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

Neuroscientist Kathlyn Gan says research shows music can help counter the mental decline that accompanies aging. / Credit: Terry O’Neill

Toronto, Canada, Nov 16, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Sixteen hundred years ago, St. Augustine was credited with saying, “He who sings, prays twice.” Today, scientific research shows that he who sings, performs, or listens to music also enriches and strengthens his brain, according to Catholic neuroscientist Kathlyn Gan.

Not only that, but sacred music may produce even more beneficial effects.

Gan, who leads a research laboratory at the University of Toronto, delivered the uplifting news to about 50 people at an Oct. 30 talk at St. Francis de Sales in Burnaby, Ontario.

In her hourlong presentation “The Neuroscience of Sacred Music,” Gan, a former choir director and accompanist, described how research showing that music can be part of a healthy lifestyle that helps counter the mental decline that accompanies aging.

Music can also help prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, which, in up to 95% of cases, can be driven by nongenetic factors, including obesity, high blood pressure, smoking, deafness, brain injury, and social isolation.

Not only does music stimulate the brain in special ways, but it also fosters healthy social connections when performed in a group setting, said Gan, currently a liturgical musician in the Archdiocese of Toronto.

Speaking with The B.C. Catholic, she said music is encoded and integrated by multiple brain regions, stimulating neural pathways that regulate memory, movement, reward, emotion, and empathy.

“Based on those effects, music can help us keep our minds active and foster social connections, which in turn can help us mitigate the risk of Alzheimer’s disease,” she said.

Gan, who earned her doctorate at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby and did postdoctoral studies at Stanford University in California, said music therapy is widely used as part of a holistic treatment approach to improve behavioral issues and encourage social connections during mid- to late-stage Alzheimer’s.

Gan noted that the CBC recently reported that doctors in Montreal have partnered with the city’s symphony orchestra to prescribe music as medicine.

“Physicians will get prescriptions that they will give to patients,” said Mélanie La Couture, CEO of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. “The patients will call us, and we will give each patient that calls us two tickets for free.”

Even more benefits could conceivably come from listening to or singing sacred music, which Gan defines as any music — from chant and classical to jazz and gospel — that contributes to the solemnity and beauty of the Mass, promotes deeper reflection on the scriptural readings and homily, and glorifies God.

That said, it will be challenging for scientists to prove sacred music’s special benefits because of listeners’ or musicians’ subjective perceptions of music and their varying depth of spiritual formation and understanding, Gan said.

At the very least, however, listening to or performing sacred music helps a person grow in faith and to love God, she said in her presentation.

Along with the three degrees she earned at SFU, Gan also holds an associate diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music and is an accomplished classical pianist who shares her talent and faith in churches and the wider community. These outings include performances with her piano students at retirement homes and long-term care facilities, as well as playing piano in music-therapy and spiritual-care programs.

She views her music ministry as a form of prayer that challenges her not only to recognize scriptural themes and imagery but also to communicate them “in a manner that honors the historical context of the hymns and shares my own spirituality and lived experience.”

Her studies and ministry have not only deepened her appreciation for the human mind’s complexity and capacity for mirroring Christ’s humility, compassion, forgiveness, and love, but they’ve also “encouraged my spiritual growth and enriched my faith,” she said.

This story was first published by The B.C. Catholic and is reprinted here with permission.