null / Credit: New Africa/Shutterstock CNA Staff, Dec 19, 2025 / 12:54 pm (CNA). Massachusetts will no longer require prospective foster parents to affirm gender ideology in order to qualify for fostering children, with the move coming after a federal lawsuit from a religious liberty group. Alliance Defending Freedom said Dec. 17 that the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families “will no longer exclude Christian and other religious families from foster care” because of their “commonly held beliefs that boys are boys and girls are girls.”The legal group announced in September that it had filed a lawsuit in U.S. district court over the state policy, which required prospective parents to agree to affirm a child’s “sexual orientation and gender identity” before being permitted to foster. Attorney Johannes Widmalm-Delphonse said at the time that the state’s foster system was “in crisis” with more than 1,400 children awaiting placement in foster homes. Yet […]

A group set fire to the office of the country’s top Bangla newspaper, Prothom Alo, late on Dec. 19, 2025, to protest the killing of Sharif Osman Hadi, a front-line leader of a 2024 uprising in Bangladesh. / Credit: Dipu Malaker Dhaka, Bangladesh, Dec 19, 2025 / 13:24 pm (CNA). Catholic leaders in Bangladesh have condemned arson attacks on the offices of two of the country’s top newspapers and the homes of ousted Awami League leaders in protests of the killing of a frontline leader in a 2024 uprising.Sharif Osman Hadi, 32, was shot in broad daylight on Dec. 12 and died in Singapore on Dec. 18. “We condemn this attack and we are very concerned about the upcoming elections,” said Father Liton Hubert Gomes, secretary of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference in Bangladesh.The announcement of Hadi’s death prompted thousands of people, especially young, to take to the streets of Dhaka to protest and demand justice for Hadi’s killers. Some […]

Pope Leo XIV addresses employment consultants on Dec. 18, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 19, 2025 / 14:30 pm (CNA). Pope Leo XIV advocated for a labor system that serves individuals and families so that the dignity of each employee is recognized and his or her real needs are met.During a Dec. 18 audience at the Vatican with members of the Order of Employment Consultants, the Holy Father highlighted three aspects that he considers particularly important in the business world: the dignity of the person, mediation, and the promotion of safety.At the beginning of his address in the Apostolic Palace, the pontiff emphasized that at the heart of any work dynamic “should neither be capital, nor the laws of the market, nor profit, but the person, the family, and their well-being, to which everything else is secondary.”Consequently, he stated that workers must “be recognized in their dignity” and receive concrete responses to their real needs, such […]

Bishop of San Diego Michael Pham dedicates “Angels Unawares,” a new sculpture on the campus of the University of San Diego (USD), on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. / Credit: Photo courtesy of University of San Diego San Diego, California, Dec 19, 2025 / 15:22 pm (CNA). Bishop of San Diego Michael Pham dedicated “Angels Unawares,” a new sculpture on the campus of the University of San Diego (USD), on Thursday. The 8-foot-tall bronze sculpture by artist Timothy Schmalz is a scaled version of one in St. Peter’s Square in Rome commissioned by Pope Francis in 2019 and depicts 140 migrants of varying backgrounds on board a boat with a pair of angel wings in their midst.According to USD President Jim Harris, the sculpture is intended to remind the viewer “of how biblical teachings encourage us to care for our most poor and vulnerable communities, including those who flee their countries in search of a better life.”Located in front of the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies on the […]

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during an end-of-year press conference in the State Department Press Briefing Room in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 19, 2025. / Credit: Mandel NGAN/AFP via Getty Images Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 19, 2025 / 15:52 pm (CNA). U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there will be a plan “early next month” for religious worker visas that would avoid giving preference to one denomination over another.Rubio said at a Dec. 19 press conference in Washington, D.C., that the administration has “worked closely with a lot of the religious authorities” to reach a plan. In July, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services released a report alleging widespread fraud in its permanent residence program for unaccompanied minors and said it caused a backlog in issuance of visas to migrant priests and religious.Visas for religious workers allow foreign nationals to work for a U.S. religious organization, through the temporary R-1 visa or a Green Card […]

A new Vatican labor regulations decree was issued after an audience granted to Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, pictured here with Pope Leo XIV. / Credit: Vatican Media Vatican City, Dec 19, 2025 / 16:22 pm (CNA). Pope Leo XIV approved new labor regulations at the Office of Labor of the Apostolic See (ULSA, by its Italian acronym), the Holy See’s body responsible for managing labor relations for personnel working in the Roman Curia, the Governorate of Vatican City State, and other entities directly administered by the Apostolic See.The reform, established through a pontifical rescript signed on Nov. 25, introduces significant changes that strengthen institutional representation, improve internal coordination, and underscore the pontiff’s care for employees and the application of the Church’s social doctrine.The document that has been released — corresponding to the ULSA’s new statute — details, in precise legal language, how labor disputes should be […]

Children greet the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, during his visit to Gaza’s Holy Family Parish on Dec. 19, 2025. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem CNA Staff, Dec 19, 2025 / 18:35 pm (CNA). Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, arrived in Gaza City on Dec. 19 for a pastoral visit to Holy Family Parish, the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip, just days before Christmas.Accompanied by Auxiliary Bishop William Shomali, the Latin patriarchal vicar, and a small delegation, the cardinal’s visit comes as a sign of solidarity with the small Catholic community that has endured over two years of conflict and severe hardship, including what Israel Defense Forces said was an accidental deadly attack on the parish compound last June.Upon his arrival at the parish, Pizzaballa was greeted by children, some wearing Santa hats, amid festive decorations including twinkling lights, Christmas trees, and […]

Iskali, a ministry that serves young Hispanic Catholics in the United States, seeks to form active missionary disciples. / Credit: Iskali CNA Staff, Dec 20, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA). Fifteen years ago, Vicente Del Real felt called to create a way to reach out to young Hispanic Catholics in the U.S. and provide them with a space to encounter God and use their gifts and talents for the Church. He went on to found Iskali, a nonprofit based in Chicago that promotes the leadership and holistic development of Latino youth, helping them flourish spiritually, personally, academically, and socially. Inspired by Our Lady of Guadalupe’s role in the Americas as “the star of the new evangelization,” Iskali works to form, empower, and equip young Latinos to become transformative leaders and to invigorate the Catholic Church.The name “Iskali” comes from the Nahuatl, or Aztec, language symbolizing growth, resurgence, and new beginnings. This was also the language Our Lady of Guadalupe spoke […]

null / Credit: Chinnapong/Shutterstock CNA Staff, Dec 20, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA). In an era when artificial contraception often dominates public discussions on family planning, the Catholic Church continues to champion natural family planning (NFP). Far from merely another birth control technique, NFP invites couples to cooperate with God’s plan for married love, which “is a ‘great mystery,’ a sign of the love between Christ and his Church (Eph 5:32),” according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).  NFP — also known as a fertility awareness-based method (FABM) — relies on observing and measuring a woman’s natural signs of fertility, such as basal body temperature, cervical mucus, and hormone levels, in order to identify fertile and infertile phases of her menstrual cycle. Unlike chemical or mechanical contraceptives, which suppress or block fertility, NFP respects the woman’s body and its natural rhythms and allows spouses to achieve or postpone […]

The pope with boys and girls from Italian Catholic Action on Dec. 18, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 20, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA). Pope Leo XIV told the young people of Italian Catholic Action that they can perform a simple gesture that would be the best gift this Christmas: make peace.“Before the holy night of Christmas, think of someone with whom you can make peace,” the pontiff urged members of the organization, founded in 1868, which has established itself as one of the main lay organizations of the Church in Italy.‘A gift more valuable than those you can buy in stores’“It will be a gift more valuable than those you can buy in stores, because peace is a gift that is truly found only in the heart,” he added.He said peace is the “Catholic action par excellence,” because it is “the gesture that transforms us as witnesses of Jesus, the redeemer of the world.”In this way, Leo made it clear that peace “is not only the absence of war” but above […]

Downtown Kansas City, Kansas. / Credit: Jamie Squire/Getty CNA Staff, Dec 20, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA). Multiple Catholic schools in Kansas were targeted by what were apparently hoax bomb threats this week, according to authorities. Law enforcement agencies in the Kansas City area reported investigating threats at numerous Catholic schools on Dec. 19. The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas confirmed in a press statement that “several” Catholic schools in the archdiocese had “received bomb threats” on both Dec. 18 and Dec. 19. “At this time, students and staff are safe,” Archdiocesan Superintendent Vince Cascone said in the statement. “Law enforcement continues to investigate, and we are following their guidance closely.”The archdiocese did not post a list of the schools affected by the bomb threats, though local media reported at least 13 schools targeted, 12 of which were Catholic. The Olathe, Kansas, Police Department posted on Facebook that it had investigated a […]

Giotto’s Nativity fresco projected on the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. / Credit: Buffy1982/Shutterstock Rome Newsroom, Dec 21, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA). It’s a well-known origin story: how the young and wealthy Francis of Assisi freely abandoned his noble patrimony to serve Christ’s Church as a poor, itinerant preacher.One of the world’s most beloved saints, the founder of the Franciscan order cared deeply for God’s creation. He also loved Christmas, the solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord.St. Francis’ meditations on the life of Christ led him to create the first-ever Nativity scene in Greccio, Italy, in 1223.From the Holy Land to ItalyIt is believed Francis’ inspiration to do a live representation of the birth of Jesus came from his time in the Holy Land in the years 1219 and 1220.Seeing the holy sites of Christ’s birth, life, death, and resurrection made them feel all the more real — and he wanted to recreate that experience.In November 1223, three years […]

The ancient Aqaba Church witnesses to early Christianity in Jordan. / Credit: Sanad Sahliyeh/ACI MENA ACI MENA, Dec 21, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA). In Aqaba, a port city on the Red Sea in Jordan, an archaeological church site dating to the late third or early fourth century is being highlighted as one of the world’s oldest purpose-built Christian worship spaces, constructed before Christianity received official recognition in the Roman Empire.Discovered in 1998 during excavations led by a team under American archaeologist Thomas Parker, the structure is being considered a significant milestone in early Christian history.The ancient church of Aqaba is a silent relic bearing witness to early Christianity in Jordan. Credit: Sanad Sahliyeh/ACI MENAThe team of researchers described a basilica-style layout, central nave, side aisles, and an eastern apse, suggesting an already organized local Christian community.Artifacts reported at the site include preserved walls, glass lamps, pottery, and […]

null / Credit: Zyabich/Shutterstock London, England, Dec 21, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA). The Catholic Church must be bolder in sharing its vision of human anthropology, expert voices in the Church have warned in response to reports about poor mental health among teenagers in England and Wales.On Dec. 9 the Guardian U.K. reported that 40% of 13- to 17-year-olds in England and Wales affected by violence are turning to AI companions for support because the waiting lists for counseling are so long, with youth leaders emphasizing that vulnerable young people need human connection.Edwin Fawcett, a Catholic psychotherapist based in England and Wales, told CNA in an interview: “Young people would benefit from more readily available resources which boldly and clearly share the beautiful truth of the Church’s anthropology, so lacking in secular mental health care.” “And yet it could be tempting to simply fuel the machinery of our strong structures (e.g. dioceses, parishes, faith schools) […]

Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican for the recitation of the Angelus on Dec. 21, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 21, 2025 / 09:15 am (CNA). Pope Leo XIV on Sunday highlighted four virtues of St. Joseph — “piety and charity, mercy and trust” — as guides for Catholics in the final days of Advent leading up to Christmas.Speaking during his Angelus address from the window of the Apostolic Palace on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, the pope said the day’s liturgy invited the faithful to reflect on St. Joseph, especially “at the moment when God reveals his mission to him in a dream.”Calling the Gospel episode “a very beautiful page in salvation history,” Leo described Joseph as a man who is “fragile and fallible — like us — and at the same time courageous and strong in faith.”Referring to the Gospel of Matthew, the pontiff recalled that Joseph of Nazareth was a “just man,” a devout Israelite who […]

Pope Leo XIV prays during his Wednesday general audience on Aug. 13, 2025, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media CNA Staff, Dec 22, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA). The pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network has released Pope Leo XIV’s list of prayer intentions for the year 2026.Every month, Pope Leo asks Catholics around the world to pray for a particular intention. This initiative is accompanied by a video in which the pontiff expresses the reasons why he has chosen that particular intention.Below is the complete list of Pope Leo’s prayer intentions for 2026.January: For prayer with the word of GodLet us pray that praying with the word of God be nourishment for our lives and a source of hope in our communities, helping us to build a more fraternal and missionary Church.February: For children with incurable diseasesLet us pray that children suffering from incurable diseases and their families receive the necessary medical care and support, never losing strength […]

Pope Leo XIV addresses officials of the Roman Curia at the Vatican on Dec. 22, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media Vatican City, Dec 22, 2025 / 06:25 am (CNA). Pope Leo XIV on Monday called on officials of the Roman Curia to deepen both mission and communion, urging Vatican offices to be “more mission-oriented” and cautioning against the “forces of division” that can take root even “beneath an apparent calm.”Speaking during his annual Christmas greetings with personnel of the Church’s central administration, the pope also paid tribute to Pope Francis, whom he described as his “beloved predecessor” who “this year concluded his earthly life.”Leo said Francis’ “prophetic voice, pastoral style, and rich magisterium” encouraged the Church “to place God’s mercy at the center, to give renewed impetus to evangelization, and to be a joyful Church, welcoming to all and attentive to the poorest.”Drawing on Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, Leo […]

Pope Leo XIV appointed Monsignor James A. Misko, a priest of the Diocese of Austin, Texas, as the next bishop of Tucson, Arizona, on Dec. 22, 2025. / Credit: Diocese of Austin Vatican City, Dec 22, 2025 / 09:58 am (CNA). Pope Leo XIV has appointed Monsignor James A. Misko, a priest of the Diocese of Austin, Texas, as the next bishop of Tucson, Arizona.The Holy See Press Office publicized the appointment at the Vatican, and it was also publicized in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 22 by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States. Misko has been serving as vicar general and moderator of the curia for the Diocese of Austin.Misko, 55, was born June 18, 1970, in Los Angeles. He earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from St. Edward’s University in Austin and later completed priestly formation and graduate theological studies in Houston, including a master of divinity degree at St. Mary’s Seminary. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Austin on June 9, […]

Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Dec. 20, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 22, 2025 / 12:07 pm (CNA). Pope Leo XIV calls for renewed priestly formation, stronger priestly fraternity, and a more missionary focus in pastoral ministry in an apostolic letter released by the Vatican on Monday.The document, “A Fidelity That Generates the Future,” reflects on two decrees of the Second Vatican Council: Optatam Totius — on priestly formation — and Presbyterorum Ordinis — on the ministry and life of priests — both promulgated in 1965. Leo urges Catholics to keep reading the two conciliar texts in Christian communities and to study them “particularly in seminaries and in all places of preparation and formation for ordained ministry.”An apostolic letter is a formal papal document, typically addressed to the Church, meant to teach, encourage, or direct pastoral priorities on a specific […]

Pope Leo XIV addresses employees of the Vatican on Dec. 22, 2025, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media Vatican City, Dec 22, 2025 / 12:37 pm (CNA). Pope Leo XIV told Vatican and Holy See employees to see their daily work as part of the Church’s mission, saying that doing one’s job well “gives glory to the Lord.”Meeting the workers for a Christmas greeting on Dec. 22, the pope said he is still getting to know the Vatican and experiences it as “a great mosaic” made up of many offices and services. He said he hopes, with God’s help, to meet employees as he visits different workplaces.Reflecting on the Nativity scene, Pope Leo pointed to the many figures shown at work — each carrying out a task — as a reminder that everyday activities find their full meaning in God’s plan centered on Jesus Christ. He said it is as if the Christ Child blesses everyone from the manger, giving purpose and unity to the work of each person.Even when […]

Archbishop Paul S. Coakley preaches during a Mass in the Oklahoma City cathedral in 2021. / Credit: Archdiocese of Oklahoma City Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 22, 2025 / 13:07 pm (CNA). Archbishop Paul Coakley said this week he is looking forward to speaking with President Donald Trump in “the near future.”Coakley, who was elected president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in November, said he has “not had any personal conversations” with Trump or Vice President JD Vance but anticipates “engaging with them over matters of mutual concern.”When Coakley meets with the administration, “undoubtedly, the question of immigration is going to come up,” he said in an interview on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Dec. 21. “I think we have opportunities to work together. We have opportunities to speak frankly with one another.”In regard to immigration, Coakley said there is a lot of “anxiety” among migrants, but the situation “varies from […]

Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski serves on the Committee on Migration of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. / Credit: “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo”/EWTN News screenshot Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 22, 2025 / 16:52 pm (CNA). The bishops of the Catholic Church in Florida have asked President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis “to pause immigration enforcement activities during the Christmas holidays.”“We request that the government pause apprehension and roundup activities during the Christmas season. Such a pause would show a decent regard for the humanity of these families,” the bishops said in a Dec. 22 statement.“Don’t be the Grinch that stole Christmas,” Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami said in a news conference. “Give people these two weeks to be with their families without fear of being arrested or taken into custody and ending up at Alligator Alcatraz or at Krome or other places to await deportation.”Abigail Jackson, a White House […]

Father Manuel Chouciño. / Credit: ACI Prensa Madrid, Spain, Dec 23, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA). Father Manuel Chouciño, an expert in new evangelization who has surprised many by organizing an escape room in a Spanish monastery, is convinced that Catholics “are in vogue” because people “are tired of feeling so empty.”Having arrived just three months ago at the parish-monastery of the Divine Savior of Lérez, which belongs to the Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela, Chouciño saw in the place, an old Benedictine monastery, great possibilities for evangelization.The monastery had been empty since 1835 due to the forced expropriation of Catholic Church property known as “the ecclesiastical confiscations,” but in the eyes of a priest with more than 40 years of experience in youth ministry and recreational activities it was full of possibilities. And the parishioners were ready to follow him.Chouciño, on the left, in white, with some of the actors in the "escape room." Credit: […]

A protester holds up a St. George’s cross flag with the slogan “Get Off My Land” outside the High Court in London on Aug. 29, 2025, as the government seeks to challenge a High Court ruling that will stop asylum seekers from being housed at the Bell Hotel in Epping beyond Sept. 12. / Credit: CARLOS JASSO/AFP via Getty Images London, England, Dec 23, 2025 / 09:37 am (CNA). The domestic agency of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has strongly criticized recent announcements by the U.K. government concerning asylum seekers’ rights to remain in the country.Following the publication of the government’s new proposals last month, Caritas Social Action Network (CSAN) released a statement on Dec. 17 saying that new rules surrounding those seeking asylum were “incompatible with the Gospel and the teaching of the Catholic Church.”Under current U.K. law, people who are facing persecution in their own country are entitled to five years of refugee status. At the […]

null / Credit: sergign/Shutterstock CNA Staff, Dec 23, 2025 / 10:07 am (CNA). A federal judge in California this week issued a permanent block against the state’s “gender secrecy policies” that have allowed schools to hide children’s so-called “gender transitions” from their parents.U.S. District Court Judge Roger Benitez issued the ruling in the class action lawsuit on Dec. 22, holding that parents “have a right” to the “gender information” of their children, while teachers themselves also possess the right to provide parents with that information. The order strikes down secretive policies in school districts across California that allowed schools to conceal when a child began identifying as the opposite sex or another LGBT-related identity. Benitez had allowed the legal dispute to proceed as a class action lawsuit in October. School districts in California “are ultimately state agents under state control,” the judge said at the time, and the issue of […]

Sister Tiziana Merletti meets with nuns and aspirants at Mary House in Tejgaon, Dhaka, Bangladesh, in December 2025. / Credit: Father Apu Rozario, CSC EWTN News, Dec 23, 2025 / 10:52 am (CNA). Sister Tiziana Merletti, SFP, secretary of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, visited Bangladesh Dec. 16–21, meeting with religious men and women across the country during a five-day program on consecrated life.Merletti told CNA she was impressed by the vitality of Bangladesh’s small Catholic community but also heard concerns about the security situation, including reports of three recent explosions near Catholic facilities.“We feel a sense of concern in the air for the future of society,” she said, adding that upcoming national elections will be important for the Church’s ability to continue its work freely and peacefully.Sister Tiziana Merletti, SFP, secretary of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of […]

The secretary-general of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), Father Michael Banjo. / Credit: Ijebu-Ode Catholic Diocese ACI Africa, Dec 23, 2025 / 11:37 am (CNA). The secretary-general of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) has urged Nigerians to safeguard their future by making informed choices especially during elections and amid the country’s security crisis.In his message for Christmas delivered during the festival of Lessons and Carols at the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Father Michael Banjo highlighted vices such as dishonesty, corruption, and exploitation as major obstacles to peace, warning of the dangers of ungodliness.“If we want peace in Nigeria, we must stop trading our future for crumbs and begin to give glory to God by voting for leaders of integrity, compassion, and proven character, leaders who fear God and truly serve the common good,” Banjo said during the Dec. 14 event.He added: “When leaders govern without fear of […]

U.S. Vice President JD Vance. / Credit: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons CNA Staff, Dec 23, 2025 / 14:27 pm (CNA). U.S. Vice President JD Vance, America’s second Catholic vice president, laid out a distinctly Christian vision for American politics in a speech this week, declaring that “the only thing that has truly served as an anchor of the United States of America is that we have been and, by the grace of God, we always will be a Christian nation.”Speaking to more than 30,000 young conservatives at Turning Point USA’s AmFest 2025 some three months after the death of its founder Charlie Kirk, Vance called for a politics rooted in a Christian faith that honors the family, protects the weak, and rejects what he described as a decades-long “war” on Christianity in public life.The Christian faith has provided a “shared moral language” since the nation’s founding, the Yale-trained lawyer argued, which led to “our understanding of natural law and […]

Pope Leo meets with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker in November 2025. / Credit: Courtesy of the Office of Gov. JB Pritzker Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Dec 23, 2025 / 14:55 pm (CNA). Pope Leo XIV appealed to Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker to veto a bill legalizing assisted suicide during a Vatican meeting last month, the pope told reporters Tuesday.The pope, responding to a question from Rudolf Gehrig of EWTN News, said he made his opposition to the bill clear in the November conversation with the governor. Leo told Pritzker it was important to defend the value of life and that every life is sacred, the pope told reporters outside the papal villa of Castel Gandolfo before his return to Rome.The Vatican had not earlier provided details of the meeting.Pritzker signed the assisted suicide measure, ardently opposed by Catholic leaders, into law Dec. 12.“I spoke very explicitly with Gov. Pritzker about that,” the pope said, and he said Cardinal Blase Cupich also expressed his views. “But we were […]

null / Credit: hyotographics/Shutterstock ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 23, 2025 / 15:25 pm (CNA). Nigerian authorities have confirmed that 130 students and teachers kidnapped in November from a Catholic school in Nigeria have been released.According to the Associated Press (AP), Wasiu Abiodun, a police spokesperson for Nigeria’s Niger state, said “the remaining batch of the abducted students” were released, in addition to the first 50 who managed to escape shortly after the abduction and another 100 who were freed in early December.At least 303 students and 12 teachers were kidnapped on Nov. 21 at St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools.Sunday Dare, spokesperson for Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, stated on X that with the 130 released, there are “none left in captivity.”However, Abiodun said there are still 35 students and teachers unaccounted for and “further details will be communicated” concerning them.According to Bayo Onanuga, another figure close to […]