Doug Burton of Truth Nigeria speaks to “EWTN News Nightly” anchor Erik Rosales on May 27, 2025, about the brutal massacre in Nigeria that occurred May 25. / Credit: “EWTN News Nightly” screenshot Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 28, 2025 / 10:37 am (CNA). A brutal attack by extremist Muslim herdsmen in Nigeria on Sunday left dozens dead and resulted in the kidnapping of a Catholic priest and several nuns.Hundreds of Jihadist Fulani herdsmen gunned down nearly 40 people, more than half of them Christians, across several villages on Sunday, according to a report by Truth Nigeria, a humanitarian-aid nonprofit that seeks to document Nigeria’s struggles with corruption and crime.The attack occurred three days after the shooting of Father Solomon Atongo, a priest of St. John Quasi Parish in Jimba, and the kidnapping of two of his companions. Atongo is currently receiving treatment for his wounds.Some of Sunday’s attacks took place in Aondona, the hometown of Bishop Wilfred Anagbe […]

Cardinal Wilfrid Napier speaks to EWTN News in Rome on Monday, May 26, 2025. / Credit: EWTN News CNA Staff, May 28, 2025 / 13:21 pm (CNA). South African Cardinal Wilfrid Napier this week said the Catholic Church can lead in helping overcome decades of apartheid and racial divide that continue to dominate life in his country. Speaking to EWTN News’ Colm Flynn in Rome on Monday, the prelate acknowledged the lingering effects of apartheid, which for decades imposed a rigid racial segregation in South Africa in favor of the nation’s white minority.Although the racial segregation system was largely abolished by the early 1990s, “the structures of apartheid that were put into place cannot be reversed,” Napier said. The ongoing effects of the racist policies, Napier said, are manifested in the reality of “township churches, township parishes, and [then] your more middle-class and sometimes upper-class parishes” in the country. “That’s the reality the Church has to work […]

Pope Leo XIV meets employees of the Holy See and their families in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican on Saturday, May 24, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media Vatican City, May 28, 2025 / 14:51 pm (CNA). Pope Leo XIV has reinstated the “conclave bonus” given to Vatican employees for their service during the sede vacante period. Approximately 5,000 staff working for the Roman Curia and state institutions — such as the Vatican Museums, the Vatican Pharmacy, the Vatican Library, and Vatican Media — will receive an extra 500 euros (about $566) in their June paychecks.The custom of distributing conclave bonuses by newly-elected popes is seen as a gesture of gratitude toward Vatican employees who had worked, often overtime, in the weeks following the death of a pope until the election of a new one. Though Pope Leo did not speak about the monetary gift in his audience with several Holy See and state workers earlier this month, he expressed his high regard for the men and women who form the […]

Pope Leo XIV addresses pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican for his general audience on Wednesday, May 28, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA Vatican City, May 28, 2025 / 15:21 pm (CNA). Pope Leo XIV held the second general audience of his pontificate today in which he reflected on the parable of the good Samaritan.At the beginning of his catechesis, addressed to the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square, the Holy Father recalled that the parables of the Gospel offer an opportunity “to change perspective and open ourselves up to hope.”The lack of hope, the pontiff explained, is sometimes due “to the fact that we fixate on a certain rigid and closed way of seeing things,” and the parables “help us to look at them from another point of view.”Pope Leo XIV blesses a baby during his general audience on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNAHe then recalled that Jesus proposes this parable to “a […]

Pope Leo XIV prays with pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican for his general audience on Wednesday, May 28, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA Vatican City, May 28, 2025 / 15:41 pm (CNA). At the end of Wednesday’s general audience, Pope Leo XIV turned his attention to the people suffering the devastating consequences of war, especially in Ukraine and Gaza.During his greeting to the Italian-speaking faithful, the Holy Father lamented that the Ukrainian people are being hit by “serious new attacks” against civilians and infrastructure.He also assured them of his closeness and prayers for all the victims, particularly the children and families of that nation, which has lived under the constant threat of bombs since the Russian army invaded in February 2022.“I strongly reiterate my appeal to stop the war and to support every initiative of dialogue and peace,” he continued.He also urged the faithful to join “in prayer for peace in Ukraine and wherever there […]

Portland Archbishop Emeritus John Vlazny. / Credit: Courtesy of Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon CNA Staff, May 28, 2025 / 16:11 pm (CNA). Portland, Oregon, Archbishop Emeritus John Vlazny, who led the northwestern U.S. archdiocese from 1997 to 2013, died this month at his home near the city. He was 88 years old. The archdiocese announced the prelate’s passing on Sunday. The retired archbishop passed away at his home in Beaverton, just a few miles from St. Mary’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in downtown Portland. A funeral is scheduled for Friday, June 6. In a statement, Portland Archbishop Alexander Sample described Vlazny as a “great spiritual father” who led the archdiocese “through some of its most challenging days.”“He was a man who always fully exhibited the joy of the Gospel,” Sample said. “He was truly one of the kindest and most thoughtful men I have ever known.”Ordained in Chicago on Dec. 20, 1961, he was appointed an auxiliary bishop of […]

Downtown Wilmington, Delaware. / Credit: Real Window Creative/Shutterstock Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 28, 2025 / 16:41 pm (CNA). The Diocese of Wilmington’s Catholic Business Network launches next month, connecting Delaware’s Catholic business leaders for networking and collaboration.The Catholic Business Network (CBN) “will unite professionals who are not only driven in their industries but also guided by their faith, offering a space where success is measured not just by profit but by impact, service, and witness to the Gospel in the workplace,” Sheila McGirl, CBN founder and development director for the diocese’s newspaper, The Dialog, told CNA. McGirl and Joseph P. Owens, The Dialog’s editor and general manager, are spearheading the effort. McGirl previously launched a similar campaign in New Jersey when she worked for the Diocese of Camden.“After founding the Catholic Business Network in South Jersey, I witnessed firsthand the power of connecting faith and […]

Pope Leo XIV smiles during his general audience on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA CNA Staff, May 28, 2025 / 17:11 pm (CNA). Those attending the June 14 celebration honoring Pope Leo XIV at Rate Field in Chicago will hear directly from the new pontiff.The Archdiocese of Chicago announced that recently installed Pope Leo will deliver a “special video message” to the world’s youth at the event at the Chicago White Sox’s home stadium.The celebration will also include a Mass, music, a film, and in-person testimonials about Pope Leo XIV, a South Side native and lifelong White Sox fan. The public is invited to attend the upcoming “celebration of the election of Pope Leo XIV, the first pope born and raised in the Chicago area.”The event is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. on June 14 with Mass at 4 p.m. Gates open at 12:30 p.m., according to the archdiocese. Ticket details are forthcoming. Last week, the White Sox […]

The Catholic bishops backed a suit by a coalition of Apache Stronghold, a coalition of Native Americans and their supporters, in their lawsuit against the federal government. The lawsuit argued that their freedom of religion was violated when the federal government announced its intention to sell formerly protected land in Arizona to a mining company. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Becket CNA Staff, May 28, 2025 / 17:41 pm (CNA). A Native American group whose attempt to halt the transfer of a sacred land site received backing from the U.S. bishops was dealt a blow to that effort when the U.S. Supreme Court this week refused to stop the sale from taking place. The high court denied the request from the coalition group Apache Stronghold to consider halting the sale of the Oak Flat site to a copper mining corporation. The religious liberty law group Becket represented the group in the case.The federal government several years ago moved to transfer Oak Flat to Resolution Copper — a […]

The case containing the body of St.Teresa of Ávila after an extraordinary public exposition in 2025. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Discalced Carmelites Iberian Province Madrid, Spain, May 28, 2025 / 18:11 pm (CNA). Approximately 93,000 faithful venerated the body of St. Teresa of Jesus (Ávila), which was publicly exhibited May 11–25 for the third time in four centuries in the small town of Alba de Tormes, Spain.The saint’s remains were returned to the silver case placed at the center of the altarpiece of the Basilica of the Annunciation in the Castilian city where the Carmelite reformer died.Eight Discalced Carmelite friars from different convents carried the case, preceded by others holding the 10 keys required to open it, to the accompaniment of the municipal band.Pilgrims of different nationalities streamed in for this rare occasion to venerate the saint following Pope Francis’ canonical recognition of the body, which took place in its first phase in August 2024.In February, […]

Pope Leo XIV waves to pilgrims during his general audience on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 29, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA). When the newly elected pontiff stepped onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to address the Catholic faithful on May 8, his first decision as pope — to take the papal name Leo — signaled the direction he intends to take his papacy in handling certain social questions that need moral guidance, including artificial intelligence (AI).In his first meeting with the College of Cardinals on May 10, the pope confirmed he took the name to honor Pope Leo XIII, who he said “addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution” with the encyclical Rerum Novarum at the tail end of the 1800s.The encyclical, which set the foundations for Catholic social teaching, can help guide the Church as it seeks to offer moral insight on “developments […]

Springs of Love ministry founder Kimberly Henkel (right) speaks with “EWTN Pro-life Weekly” host Abi Galvan on May 28, 2025. / Credit: “EWTN Pro-life Weekly” Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 29, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA). A Catholic foster care ministry leader is calling for Catholic families to support vulnerable children and families by becoming foster parents. Springs of Love ministry founder Kimberly Henkel said many Catholics are unaware of the “huge crisis in our country” surrounding foster care, and people of faith are in a unique position to bring love to children in need of foster care. Henkel, who is a foster and adoptive mother herself, launched Springs of Love as a ministry to help other Catholic couples navigate the process of fostering. Henkel described the foster system as “very cyclical” and “difficult to break out of,” with children often passing from home to home. In the end, she said, children who age out of foster care with no family connections […]

The Sisters of Bon Secours along with seven local Catholic congregations are launching a citywide advertisement campaign against gun violence in Baltimore. The ad features the message “Put the Guns Down, Let Peace Begin with Us” and a QR code linking to the campaign webpage. / Credit: Liz O’Neill CNA Staff, May 29, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA). The Sisters of Bon Secours are launching a citywide campaign against gun violence with seven other Catholic congregations in Baltimore.The advertisement campaign announced this week features ads inside and outside of city buses and in subway transit stations throughout the city that say “Put the Guns Down. Let Peace Begin With Us.”The Bon Secours sisters are part of a coalition of religious sisters and others advocating for gun violence prevention called “Nuns Against Gun Violence.” Taking inspiration from a similar campaign by other sisters in Ohio, the Sisters of Bon Secours ultimately landed on an advertising campaign.“The Sisters […]

Cyclists during an earlier edition of the Giro d’Italia. / Credit: filip bossuyt, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Vatican City, May 29, 2025 / 10:09 am (CNA). World-class cyclists will greet Pope Leo XIV and circle Vatican City on Sunday before embarking on the final lap of the Giro d’Italia, a multistage bicycle race that concludes in Rome.The professional race, which started in Albania on May 9, is among the top three most important international multistage races in the world, together with the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana. It includes 21 stages, mostly in Italy.The last stage of the 108th edition of the race will take place on June 1, starting from the Caracalla Baths, just south of the Coliseum, and proceeding toward the Vatican.The 1.8-mile noncompetitive ride through the Vatican will start from the Petriano Square, just south of St. Peter’s Basilica inside the city state, where Pope Leo XIV will greet the athletes at the starting line.  The path of the race […]

The Paderborn Cathedral in Germany / Credit: By A.Savin / Wikimedia Free Art License CNA Deutsch, May 29, 2025 / 10:48 am (CNA). A German archdiocese has distanced itself from the controversial performance “Westfalen Side Story” in Paderborn Cathedral and told CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner, that it had no prior knowledge of the specific content of the performance. The Archdiocese of Paderborn in Western Germany expressed regret that the staging had “hurt religious feelings,” and has since initiated internal reviews.The controversial performance by the ensemble Bodytalk on May 15 triggered a wave of outrage and led to a petition with more than 20,000 signatories. Under the title “Against the Desecration of Paderborn Cathedral: For the Protection of Our Sacred Sites,” the faithful call for a clear response from the Church.The high-profile event was attended by Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and North Rhine-Westphalia’s Minister […]

Harvard University. / Credit: Jon Bilous/Shutterstock Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 29, 2025 / 11:42 am (CNA). This week a national education nonprofit group revealed the results of a survey conducted with parents across the country about issues in higher education in the United States. Defending Education polled parents of teen and young adult children ages 15–21, asking them their views on hot-button topics related to colleges and universities today. “This new poll shows that parents believe colleges and universities have lost focus,” Paul Runko, the director of strategic initiatives at Defending Education, told CNA. “They are expressing concern about campus climates and calling for environments free from political extremism and ideological agendas.”The survey, conducted from May 9–15, queried 1,000 randomly selected participants from across the country. Of the participants, 34% reported they are located in the South, 20% in the Northeast, 23% in the Midwest, and […]

null / Credit: Caritas Poland Vatican City, May 29, 2025 / 12:12 pm (CNA). The Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and Caritas Internationalis joined forces this week to address the impact of an “unjust global system” that makes rich nations wealthier at the expense of poorer nations.The two Catholic organizations hosted an online “town hall” event on Wednesday titled “Pilgrims of Hope: Jubilee Inspiration for Action on Debt, Climate, and Development” to raise awareness of Pope Francis’ and Pope Leo XIV’s visions for dismantling economic structures impoverishing both people and the planet.  Guest panelist Sister Alessandra Smerilli, an economist and secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, insisted that the “commercial imbalance” between global north and global south nations is a two-pronged issue that should not be ignored by the Church and wider society.“The poorest countries are paying twice,” […]

null / Credit: PIGAMA/Shutterstock CNA Staff, May 29, 2025 / 12:42 pm (CNA). A leaked draft from Charlotte, North Carolina, Bishop Michael Martin, OFM Conv, shows the prelate’s far-reaching and highly detailed intent to crack down on what he describes as “older liturgical practices” in order to bring about “a more uniform celebration of the Mass” in the diocese. The lengthy letter was first published by the blog Rorate Caeli; officials with the diocese subsequently confirmed the authenticity of the letter to the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner.The letter, which references Pope Francis in the present tense, appears to have been written prior to the late pontiff’s death last month. Its leak, meanwhile, comes after the Charlotte Diocese announced that it would significantly restrict the practice of the Traditional Latin Mass, limiting it to a single chapel in what Martin said was a bid to “promote the concord and unity of the Church.”Regulations […]

null / Credit: janews/Shutterstock CNA Staff, May 29, 2025 / 13:12 pm (CNA). A California consulting firm that handles data of some clergy abuse cases says it paid hackers a ransom to delete data involving abuse survivors after a security breach earlier this year. The Emeryville, California-based Berkeley Research Group (BRG) offers corporate finance and economic consulting, including to Catholic dioceses in bankruptcy proceedings. In March the company suffered an incursion that exposed data of Catholic clergy abuse survivors in nearly a dozen bankruptcy lawsuits. Regulators were only informed of the breach at the end of April. The U.S. government earlier this month demanded the company provide information on each affected case as well as clarify why the company “delayed two months” before notifying trustees and whether or not the company has contacted federal law enforcement over the breach. In a letter last week, attorneys representing the Berkeley group responded to the […]

null / Credit: asiandelight/Shutterstock CNA Staff, May 29, 2025 / 13:42 pm (CNA). The Catholic bishops of Washington state filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging a new law that requires priests to report child abuse learned during the sacrament of confession or face jail time and fines. The suit, filed by the Archdiocese of Seattle and the dioceses of Spokane and Yakima, argues that the law violates the free exercise of religion protected by the First Amendment by infringing on the sacred seal of confession. The suit also claims the law violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment as well as the Washington Constitution.Signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson on May 2, the law goes into effect July 27 and adds clergy to Washington’s list of mandatory reporters for child abuse but explicitly denies them the “privileged communication” exemption granted to other professionals, such as nurses and therapists. Priests who fail to report abuse learned in confession could face up to […]

Father Mike Schmitz and Kansas City Chiefs placekicker Harrison Butker at the Courage Under Fire Gala held in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 23, 2025. / Credit: EWTN Screenshot/Francesca Fenton/CNA Nashville, Tenn., May 29, 2025 / 14:12 pm (CNA). Catholic home schooling families from across the country joined popular Catholic speakers in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 23 for an evening of camaraderie supporting Regina Caeli Academy, an accredited pre-K–12 classical home school hybrid academy founded in 2003. The Courage Under Fire Gala featured popular priest and podcaster Father Mike Schmitz, Kansas City Chiefs placekicker Harrison Butker, political commentators and media hosts Matt Walsh and Michael Knowles, actor Kirk Cameron, and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee.  Regina Caeli Academy now has 28 centers in 17 states and offers home-schooled students the ability to attend in-person classes two days a week. The academy prides itself on its classical curriculum.Butker joined the academy’s […]

null / Credit: New Africa/Shutterstock CNA Staff, May 29, 2025 / 14:42 pm (CNA). A lawsuit filed in Wisconsin alleges that an employee of a Catholic Charities affiliate there stole millions of dollars as part of a yearslong scheme involving credit card fraud and fake invoices. Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee said in the lawsuit, filed earlier this month in Wisconsin circuit court, that former employee Brandi Ellis “abused her authority and misappropriated millions of dollars” when serving in a variety of financial roles within the organization. Ellis allegedly worked as an accountant, an accounting manager, and eventually as a finance manager at the charity, with her employment taking place from February 2014 to May 2024. The suit alleges that Ellis paid “false invoices ostensibly reflecting work and/or services completed or provided by vendors” but which actually funneled money to vendors with “personal or professional connections” to Ellis. The […]

Cardinal Robert Sarah and Pope Leo XIV. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Lima Newsroom, May 29, 2025 / 15:12 pm (CNA). Pope Leo XIV has appointed Cardinal Robert Sarah as his special envoy for the celebrations taking place in France commemorating the 400th anniversary of the apparitions of St. Anne to the Breton peasant Yvon Nicolazic.The Vatican stated that, as the papal special envoy, the prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments will preside over “the liturgical celebrations to be held July 25-26 at the Shrine of Sainte-Anne-d’Auray, Diocese of Vannes (France), on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the apparitions of St. Anne to the Breton peasant Yvon Nicolazic.”In the early 1620s, Nicolazic experienced a vision of a radiant lady, later identified as St. Anne, the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She reportedly instructed him to rebuild a long-lost chapel dedicated to her on his land.On its website, the […]

President Trump’s administration sent a letter probing hospitals that provide transgender treatments to minors, seeking information on HHS rule compliance on May 28, 2025. / Credit: JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 29, 2025 / 16:59 pm (CNA). President Donald Trump’s administration launched an inquiry into hospitals that have provided transgender drugs and performed transgender surgeries on minors, seeking information on the processes and outcomes — particularly “adverse events” — that result from the controversial medical interventions.Mehmet Oz, the director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), sent a letter this week to the select hospitals inquiring about whether and how the hospitals have changed their protocols and procedures in response to new rules and guidelines issued by Trump and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 29 that instructed HHS to end Medicare and Medicaid […]

null / Credit: Evgeny Atamanenko|Shutterstock Vatican City, May 29, 2025 / 17:29 pm (CNA). More than 60,000 pilgrims from 120 countries will be in Rome this weekend to participate in the Jubilee of Families, Children, Grandparents, and the Elderly taking place from Friday, May 30, to Sunday, June 1.The event, which is part of the celebrations for the Jubilee 2025, will bring together three generations — parents, children, and grandparents — in one of the major events of the holy year. It will include pilgrimages and moments of prayer in a fun atmosphere under the theme of family unity.According to the organizers, the largest delegations will come from Italy, Spain, the United States, Poland, and Portugal. Numerous participants are also expected from Latin America, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Philippines, and several African countries. The presence of ecclesial movements will also loom large, and among them will be the Catholic Grandparents Association, an […]

null / Credit: pim pic/Shutterstock CNA Staff, May 30, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA). Here is a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news.Peer-reviewed study debunks ‘baseless claim’ that abortion pills are safer than TylenolA recent peer-reviewed study challenges the abortion industry’s claim that medication abortion is “safer than Tylenol.”The Charlotte Lozier Institute last week published its peer-reviewed article in the journal BioTech challenging the “heavily relied upon talking point” for the abortion industry that abortion drugs are safer than Tylenol.Abortion giant Planned Parenthood on its website claims that medication abortion is safer than Tylenol — the brand name for acetaminophen, which is used for pain relief and to reduce fevers — and other common medicines. But this study found that the claim is not only unsupported and unprovable but also that it ignores “serious adverse events of abortion drugs, such as sepsis and hemorrhage.”The study […]

St. Catherine’s Monastery in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt. / Credit: Joonas Plaan via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0) ACI MENA, May 30, 2025 / 12:02 pm (CNA). An appeals court in the Egyptian city of Ismailia has ruled that the monks of St. Catherine’s Monastery in the Sinai Peninsula have the right to use the monastery and surrounding religious heritage sites. However, the court also reaffirmed that these sites remain the property of the state as part of Egypt’s public domain.The ruling has sparked grave concern within the Greek Orthodox Church, which denounced what it described as “an attempt to alter a system that has been in place for 15 centuries.” In contrast, the Egyptian state issued reassurances regarding the monastery’s status. His Beatitude Ieronymos II, archbishop of Athens and All Greece, condemned the verdict as a grave violation of human — especially religious — freedoms, stating that the monastery is “undergoing a great trial reminiscent of darker […]

Cardinal Willem Eijk. / Credit: Bohumil Petrik/CNA Vatican City, May 30, 2025 / 13:38 pm (CNA). Cardinal Willem Eijk on Friday said the Pontifical Academy for Life should give more attention to the bioethical issues linked to “gender affirming” therapies and “transgender” treatments.The Dutch cardinal, a physician and member of the Pontifical Academy for Life, opened the third annual conference organized by the platform International Chair of Bioethics Jérôme Lejeune, taking place in Rome from May 30–31. The theme of this year’s conference is “The Splendor of Truth in Science and Bioethics.”In an exclusive interview with EWTN Vatican News Director Andreas Thonhauser, the cardinal archbishop of Utrecht, Netherlands, said that in addition to artificial intelligence, the Church needs to come together to discuss the impact of gender-affirming treatments.    “They are now very popular and they are now well accepted in many countries,” he said in the […]

2025 Bradley Prize recipient Jimmy Lai. / Credit: Courtesy of the Bradley Foundation CNA Staff, May 30, 2025 / 14:40 pm (CNA). Jimmy Lai, the imprisoned pro-democracy advocate and Hong Kong entrepreneur, is the honorary recipient of the 2025 Bradley Prize for his unwavering commitment to free speech, democracy, and journalistic integrity. His son, Sebastien Lai, accepted the award on his father’s behalf at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. The Bradley Prize recognizes Lai’s role as a Catholic human rights activist standing against one of the world’s most oppressive regimes.Imprisoned for over four years and currently in solitary confinement, Lai, 77, faces potential life imprisonment under Beijing’s 2020 national security law, which has stifled dissent and suppressed free speech in Hong Kong. “Jimmy’s extraordinary courage and deeply held beliefs in journalistic integrity, human dignity, and democracy are an inspiration to all who value freedom,” said Rick […]

Pope Leo XIV welcomes representatives of various peace movements to the Vatican on May 30, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media Vatican City, May 30, 2025 / 15:44 pm (CNA). Pope Leo XIV on Friday stated that authentic peace “takes shape from the ground up” when the differences and conflicts they entail “are not set aside but acknowledged, understood, and surmounted.”Pope Leo began his address to members of various peace movements, whom he received May 30 at the Vatican, with the same words he greeted the faithful when he was elected on May 8: “Dear brothers and sisters, peace be with you!”The pontiff thanked them for launching the “Arena of Peace” meeting in Verona in May 2024. The event was chaired by Pope Francis and attended by some 300 delegates representing associations and movements that participated in the event.Among the groups and movements present in the Clementine Hall on Friday were Mediterranea Saving Humans, Libera, the Italian Network for Peace and […]