Bishop Carlos Enrique Herrera Gutiérrez is president of Nicaragua’s bishops’ conference. / Credit: Alonso3215 (CC0 1.0)

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 25, 2025 / 15:09 pm (CNA).

Over the weekend, Pope Leo XIV received the exiled president of the Nicaraguan bishops’ conference, Bishop Carlos Enrique Herrera Gutiérrez, who was expelled from the Central American country by the Daniel Ortega dictatorship in November 2024.

On Aug. 23, the Vatican press office said that “this morning the Holy Father received in audience His Eminence Carlos Enrique Herrera Gutiérrez, OFM, bishop of Jinotega (Nicaragua)."

As is customary with these types of audiences, the Vatican did not offer further details about the meeting.

Herrera has been president of the Nicaraguan Bishops’ Conference since 2022. In 2024, under intense persecution by the dictatorship of Ortega and his wife and co-president, Rosario Murillo, Herrera was expelled from the country after criticizing a pro-Ortega mayor who interfered with a Mass by blasting loud music in front of the cathedral.

ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, confirmed that after the bishop’s expulsion, he was taken in by a Franciscan community in Guatemala.

Nicaragua has nine bishops, four of whom live in exile. In addition to Herrera, those forced to leave the country are Silvio Báez, auxiliary bishop of Managua; Rolando Álvarez, bishop of Matagalpa and apostolic administrator of Estelí; and Isidoro Mora, bishop of Siuna.

Before being deported, Álvarez spent 17 months in detention, first under house arrest and then in prison, and was stripped of his Nicaraguan citizenship.

Among the many attacks on the Church perpetrated by the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship, the then-apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag, was expelled from Nicaragua in March 2022. This led to the severance of diplomatic relations with the Holy See.

In March 2023, Pope Francis harshly criticized Ortega, stating that he must be suffering from some personal “imbalance” and comparing his regime to the “crude dictatorships” of the early 20th century.

“I believe that Pope Leo XIV will be a true lion, a defender and champion of the faith of the Nicaraguan people, with the strength of a lion and the humility of a lamb,” Arturo McFields Yescas, Nicaragua’s former ambassador to the Organization of American States, who is in exile for denouncing the dictatorship’s excesses, told ACI Prensa in May.

Although Pope Leo XIV has not yet spoken publicly about Nicaragua, McFields Yescas commented that currently “there is much hope” because despite the dictatorship’s relentless attacks, “the faith remains free and remains strengthened in the midst of persecution.”

One of the regime’s latest attacks has been the confiscation of the iconic St. Joseph School in Jinotepe, an event described by Martha Molina, a Nicaraguan lawyer and researcher in exile, as “an outrage against religious freedom.”

Molina is the author of the report “Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church,” which in its latest edition reports nearly 1,000 attacks by the dictatorship against the Church.

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

null / Credit: Lighthunter/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Aug 25, 2025 / 14:36 pm (CNA).

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and the Catholic Health Association have voiced their “strong support” for the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act, a bipartisan bill reintroduced in the Senate last month by Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin, and Shelley Moore Capito, R-West Virginia.

In a letter to Senate committee leaders, Archbishop Borys Gudziak, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development; Bishop Daniel Thomas, chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities; and Catholic Health Association President and CEO Sister Mary Haddad emphasized the legislation’s potential to address critical gaps in palliative care access while aligning with the Catholic Church’s moral teachings.

The bill aims to expand access to palliative care, a medical approach focused on improving quality of life for seriously ill patients near the end of life through pain and symptom management, emotional support, and care coordination.

The letter cited the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s (CDF) Samaritanus Bonus (On the Care of Persons in the Critical and Terminal Phases of Life): “Palliative care is an authentic expression of the human and Christian activity of providing care, the tangible symbol of the compassionate ‘remaining’ at the side of the suffering person.”

In their letter, the Catholic leaders highlighted three major barriers to broader access to such care: a shortage of trained palliative care professionals, limited research funding for advancing best practices, and low awareness among both the public and health care providers about the role and timing of palliative care.

The Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act seeks to address these challenges by funding training programs for health care professionals, supporting research to improve palliative care practices, and promoting public education campaigns. If passed, the legislation would allocate resources to expand the workforce of palliative care specialists and enhance care delivery for patients with chronic or terminal illnesses.

Gudziak, the archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Arechparchy of Philadelphia; Thomas, the Bishop of Toldeo, Ohio; and Haddad praised the bill’s inclusion of language ensuring compliance with the Assisted Suicide Funding Restriction Act of 1997, which prohibits federal funds from being used for assisted suicide or euthanasia.

“Importantly, the bill includes essential language affirming that all supported programs must comply with the Assisted Suicide Funding Restriction Act of 1997 and may not be used to cause or assist in causing a patient’s death under any circumstance,” they wrote.

The bill’s endorsement comes amid growing national attention to end-of-life care, with Catholic leaders advocating for approaches that prioritize the compassion and dignity of palliative care without the moral offenses of euthanasia or assisted suicide.

The Church teaches that “human life is a sacred gift from God that must be protected and respected at every stage,” the letter said. The USCCB’s Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services and the CDF’s 1980 Declaration on Euthanasia teach that euthanasia is “an action or an omission” on the part of health care providers “which of itself or by intention causes death, in order that all suffering may in this way be eliminated.” Assisted suicide occurs when a health care provider assists a patient to end his or her own life. 

Oregon was the first state to legalize assisted suicide in 1997. The practice is now legal in 10 states and in Washington, D.C.

In another two states — Montana and New York — legislation that could legalize the practice is still pending. New York’s legislation awaits the signature of that state’s governor, while pro-life voices such as New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan are outspoken against the bill.

Originally introduced in 2022, when more than 50 groups endorsed it, the legislation is currently under review by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.

On July 16, Reps. Earl “Buddy” Carter, R-Georgia, and Ami Bera, D-California, introduced an identical, companion bill in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The campus of Crown College in Minnesota. / Credit: Clappert, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 25, 2025 / 14:06 pm (CNA).

A federal judge has ruled that Christian colleges that require students to sign a statement of faith cannot be excluded from a Minnesota program that lets high school students take college courses for credit.

On Friday, Aug. 22, United States District Judge Nancy Brasel ruled that the law banning religious institutions from the Minnesota Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program is an unconstitutional violation of religious freedom. 

The 40-year-old PSEO program has long served high schoolers in the state by promoting academic pursuits at both secular and religious colleges. It allows sophomore, junior, and senior high school students to take college courses at the school of their choosing and covers the cost of tuition and required classroom materials.

Religious colleges, including Crown College in St. Bonifacius and the University of Northwestern in Roseville, were banned because they require their students to pledge to follow school religious values and rules. They also do not allow students who are not Christian or who identify as LGBT.

Since 2019, the state’s Department of Education had sought to apply such a ban and eventually succeeded in 2023, when Democrats gained control of both houses of the Legislature. The ban on participation in the program by religious schools with faith statement requirements was enacted through a broader education funding bill signed by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Subsequently, the two colleges and parents of high school students who wished to partake in the program at the Christian schools sued to overturn the law. The group was represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which argued the law violated religious freedom under the First Amendment.

After Becket filed the lawsuit, Minnesota promised not to enforce the law while the case was ongoing. More than two years after filing the suit, Brasel ruled in favor of the colleges and parents. 

Brasel said the court had to “venture into the delicate constitutional interplay of religion and publicly‐funded education.” She said the First Amendment “gives special solicitude to the rights of religious organizations,” and states can’t disqualify private schools “solely because they’re religious.”

Brasel also threw out a related nondiscrimination requirement that prohibited participating schools from basing admission to the program on gender, sexual orientation, or religious beliefs.

The statue of Our Lady, sculpted in 1430 by Nicolò da Venezia, in the sanctuary of the Basilica of St. Mary of Mount Berico. / Credit: Kristina Millare/CNA

Rome Newsroom, Aug 25, 2025 / 13:36 pm (CNA).

The first stone of the Sanctuary of St. Mary of Mount Berico in Italy was laid on Aug. 25 almost 600 years ago but continues to attract pilgrims searching for the protection of the Mother of God.

Since 1435, the Servants of Mary — also known as the Servites — have been the official custodians of the shrine after the then-Veneto Bishop Bartolomeo della Pasina entrusted the care of the Marian site and its pilgrims to the mendicant religious order.

In times of great upheaval, including the devastating aftermath of medieval plagues and plunders led by Napoleon Bonaparte in the late 18th century, the Servites have offered Masses and prayers on behalf of those who have turned to them and the Blessed Virgin Mary in their time of need.

According to Servants of Mary Veneto provincial Father Giuseppe Corradi, OSM, the story of Our Lady of Mount Berico is simple but has stood the test of time.

“The message of the Mother of God of Mount Berico was first to build a church in my honor,” Corradi told CNA. “But also that everyone who visits my church on the first Sunday of the month or on feasts dedicated to me will receive special graces.”

“People believe this and they receive special graces,” he said with a smile. “I have personally had this experience too.”

Written records in the shrine’s archives report the Mother of God appeared to an elderly woman named Vincenza Pasini on Mount Berico on March 7, 1426, and again on Aug. 1, 1428. 

On both occasions, Our Lady appeared to Pasini on the hill, asking her to tell the local bishop, Pietro Emiliani, to encourage the city’s people to pray to her and to build a new church dedicated in her honor.

The bishop did not initially believe Pasini until she returned to him a second time with the same request two years later in 1428. 

Though fearful of being turned away again, Our Lady assured Pasini that the bishop will, this time, believe her and will build a church on Mount Berico.

Within three months, a small Gothic chapel was built and streams of Catholic faithful started to come and implore Mary’s intercession and protection at the new place of pilgrimage.

“The Mother of God said to her that you have to trust me,” Corradi told CNA. “Therefore we, too, have to trust the Mother of God.”

The growth of the Sanctuary of St. Mary of Mount Berico

Next year, the sixth centenary of the first apparition of Our Lady of Mount Berico will be celebrated on March 7.

With preparations underway for big celebrations, Corradi said he and his religious brothers are grateful for the many spiritual gifts and miracles of faith they have witnessed in connection with the centuries-old shrine.

Now an impressive basilica overlooking the northern Italian city of Vicenza, the original shrine grew from a small chapel to a Marian sanctuary that continues to welcome pilgrims all year round.

“When a great Marian feast, like the Assumption, is celebrated, you will see that every part of the church and outside the church are full of people,” Corradi said.

“Today, people say that we have to visit the Basilica of Mount Berico nine times a year on the first Sunday of the month,” he said. “After their visits they receive the graces.”

“Believe me, it really works, but only for people who trust and believe,” he added.

A young pro-lifer holds a sign that says “No human is a mistake” at the Colorado March for Life in Denver on Friday, April 11, 2025. / Credit: Kate Quiñones/CNA

CNA Staff, Aug 25, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

When it comes to unborn life, only 19 states in the U.S. protect unborn children from abortion during the first trimester of their lives. As far as assisted suicide goes, in 10 states as well as the District of Columbia, it is legal. And in about half of U.S. states, the death penalty is legal.

CNA is unveiling three new interactive maps to show where each state in the U.S. stands on life issues. The maps will be updated as new information on each issue becomes available.

Here’s an analysis of the maps and of the laws around life issues across the United States as of August 2025.

Abortion

After the overturn of Roe v. Wade, abortion legislation returned to the states. But in 2024, Americans had more than 1 million abortions, according to the latest data.

Twelve states now protect life throughout pregnancy with some exceptions. Soon after Roe was overturned in 2022, Texas prohibited almost all abortions, leading the charge alongside a few other states whose pro-life trigger laws went into effect.

Seven states protect unborn children within the first trimester, usually at the times when the child’s heartbeat can be detected, which is about five to six weeks. Ohio led the charge for heartbeat legislation — laws that protect unborn children once a heartbeat can be detected. Florida also passed a heartbeat law in 2023 under Gov. Ron DeSantis. Nebraska passed a pro-life constitutional amendment protecting life after 12 weeks.

In 18 states, laws protect life after 18-24 weeks. Most of these states protect life only after “fetal viability,” the time when a baby can survive outside the womb with medical support. Viability is usually estimated to be between 22 and 23 weeks by most doctors, but it continues to advance thanks to improving technology. For instance, a baby born last year celebrated his first birthday after being born at 21 weeks.

Abortion is legal up to birth in nine states and Washington, D.C. Alaska, Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, and Vermont have no protections for unborn children at any stage of development. In most of these states, taxpayer dollars fund abortion.

Several states have passed ballot measures in recent years declaring a “right to abortion” or “reproductive freedom” under the state constitution. These states include Arizona, California, Colorado, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, and New York. In states with a right to abortion, the constitutional amendments leave room to expand already existing laws. While California currently allows abortion up to viability and up to birth in cases of the mother’s life or health, pro-life advocates warn that the constitutional right to abortion could lead to an expansion of abortion in the state.

Four states have ongoing litigation over abortion laws, including in Missouri, where courts are determining how the state’s constitutional right to abortion will be enforced. In 2024, Montana also approved a constitutional right to abortion in 2024 that is currently being challenged in court. Abortion laws in North Dakota and Wyoming are also in flux.

Assisted suicide

Assisted suicide — sometimes also called physician-assisted suicide — is when a doctor or medical professional provides a patient with drugs to end his or her own life. It is to be differentiated from euthanasia, which is the direct killing of a patient by a medical professional.

The term euthanasia includes voluntary euthanasia, a practice legal in some parts of the world when the patient requests to die; involuntary euthanasia is when a person is murdered against his or her wishes, and “nonvoluntary” euthanasia is when the person is not capable of giving consent. 

Assisted suicide is legal in some U.S. states and around the world, while voluntary euthanasia is legal in a limited number of countries including Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, and Portugal. In Belgium and the Netherlands, minors can be euthanized if they request it.

In Canada, patients with any serious illness, disease, or disability may be eligible for what is known as medical aid in dying (MAID), even when their condition is not terminal or fatal. In 2027 Canada plans to allow MAID for those with mental health conditions; Belgium, Luxembourg, and Colombia already allow for this.

While most U.S. states have laws against assisted suicide, a growing number of state legislatures have attempted to legalize it.

Thirty-eight states in the U.S. have laws against assisted suicide. Some states specify that assisted suicide is illegal, while other state codes say they do not “authorize” assisted suicide.

Other states maintain laws that were enacted before assisted suicide was popularized in the late 1990s. Often, these states ban the practice of “assisting suicide.”

Some states have established newer legislation against the practice in recent decades including Maryland, Michigan, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, and Virginia.

The state of West Virginia has taken the lead in opposing assisted suicide. In 2024, the state became the first to approve a constitutional amendment banning assisted suicide.

In 10 states and in Washington, D.C., assisted suicide is legal. Oregon was the first state to legalize assisted suicide in 1997.

In another two states — Montana and New York — legislation that could legalize the practice is still pending. New York’s legislation awaits the signature of the state governor, while pro-life voices such as Catholic Cardinal Timothy Dolan are outspoken against the bill.

Death penalty

The United States is split on the death penalty, which is also known as capital punishment. Twenty-three states have the death penalty, while 23 states have abolished it. In the remaining four states, executions have been temporarily paused via executive action, but the death penalty has not been abolished.

Of the states that have abolished the death penalty, Michigan took the lead, becoming the first state to abolish the death penalty in 1847. Alaska and Hawaii — both newer states — have never had the death penalty.

Five states (Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah) allow the death penalty via firing squad as an alternative to lethal injection.

The federal death penalty can be used for certain federal crimes in all 50 states as well as U.S. territories.

A total of 16 federal executions have occurred since the modern federal death penalty was instituted in 1988. The federal death penalty was found unconstitutional in the Supreme Court’s decision Furman v. Georgia in 1972 but was later reinstated for certain offenses and then expanded by the Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994. In 2024, President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of 37 men, leaving three men on death row.

Where does the Catholic Church stand on life issues?

On abortion: The Catholic Church opposes direct abortions in all cases, teaching that human life must be protected at all stages. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception” (CCC, 2270).

“Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion,” the catechism says. “This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable” (CCC, 2271).

Notably, the Church does not teach that the life of the child must be preferred to the life of the mother but rather instructs doctors “to make every effort to save the lives of both, of the mother and the child.”

On assisted suicide: The Catholic Church condemns both assisted suicide and euthanasia, instead encouraging palliative care. 

The Church advocates for a “special respect” for anyone with a disability or serious condition (CCC, 2276). Any action or lack of action that intentionally “causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator,” the catechism reads (CCC, 2277).

On the death penalty: In 2018, the Vatican developed the Church’s teaching on the death penalty, with Pope Francis updating the Catechism of the Catholic Church to reflect that the death penalty is “inadmissible” in the contemporary landscape. 

St. John Paul II’s previous teaching in the catechism permitted the death penalty in “very rare” cases, saying that “cases of absolute necessity for suppression of the offender ‘today ... are very rare, if not practically nonexistent” (CCC, 2267, pre-2018). 

2025 Bradley Prize recipient Jimmy Lai. / Credit: Courtesy of the Bradley Foundation

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 25, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Catholic self-made entrepreneur and media tycoon Jimmy Lai built an empire on free speech and truthful journalism — but today he sits behind bars as one of China’s most high-profile political prisoners.

Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, known as Jimmy Lai, was born in Guangzhou, China, in 1947 during the Chinese Civil War. After the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) took over, Lai’s mother was sent to a labor camp, leaving him and his siblings on their own during his early life.

When he was 12, Lai stowed away on a boat to Hong Kong, escaping mainland China with hopes of a better life. Arriving penniless, he found work in a garment factory, where he eventually rose to a managerial position.

In Hong Kong, Lai saw a need for quality and affordable clothing. He built a chain of clothing stores called Giordano that were very profitable, bringing wealth that funded the launch of Lai’s media conglomerate Next Digital. The company became Hong Kong’s largest listed media company, which released a popular weekly publication, Next Magazine.

Following the magazine’s success, Lai founded Apple Daily in 1995. The tabloid paper was known for its pro-democracy stance and critical reporting on China and the Hong Kong government.

Between his success in the fashion industry and the popularity of his media company, Lai’s story became one of rags to riches. In 2008, he was titled a “Forbes billionaire,” valued at an estimated $1.2 billion. Despite his wealth, the husband and father prioritized family, faith, and the principles of democracy and a free society.

Becoming a pro-democracy activist

Through his media outlets and other advocacy work, Lai became an outspoken critic of the CCP. His free-speech activism led to his first arrest on Aug. 10, 2020, during a raid of his newspaper’s offices under a then-new national security law. 

The law, passed by the communist-controlled government, sharply restricted free speech in Hong Kong to end what the CCP considered subversion. It took effect July 1, 2020, when it was imposed after bypassing the Hong Kong Legislature. 

After his arrest, Lai was originally released on bail while awaiting trial. He had the opportunity to leave Hong Kong with his family since he is a British citizen, but he decided to stay, committed to his mission and faith.

Lai converted to the Catholic faith in 1997. He had attended church alongside his Catholic wife, Teresa, for years prior to his conversion. Eventually he was called to the faith and was baptized by Cardinal Joseph Zen, bishop emeritus of Hong Kong. 

After deciding to stay in Hong Kong, Lai said: “If I go away, I not only give up my destiny, I give up God, I give up my religion, I give up what I believe in.”

“I am what I am. I am what I believe. I cannot change it. And if I can’t change it, I have to accept my fate with praise.”

Lai was arrested again in December 2020 on fraud charges and was denied bail. Over the next few years, Lai continued to receive extended sentences for charges including unauthorized assemblies, protesting, other fraud charges, and participating in the 2020 Tiananmen Square vigil, a service commemorating those who died in the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.

Lai’s ongoing trial

Initially set to begin in 2022, the national security trial was delayed until Dec. 18, 2023. The trial continued to be postponed and Lai was denied bail despite a number of appeals. When the trial finally began, Lai pleaded “not guilty” to charges of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and conspiracy to publish seditious material.

The prosecution was estimated to last 80 days but ran until June 11, 2024, when it was further pushed to Nov. 20, 2024. The case has had interruptions that the government has claimed were due to “health concerns” and “inclement weather.”

As he waits in prison, Lai has committed himself to religious reading and prayer, even creating religious drawings, mostly pictures of the crucifixion of Christ. The 77-year-old has been in solitary confinement for more than four years where he is denied the Eucharist and is subject to inhumane conditions. 

A Hong Kong court heard final arguments Aug. 18, but it is unclear when a verdict will be delivered. Lai’s legal team has previously said it anticipates a guilty charge as he’s being tried under a law that “essentially criminalizes dissent.” Therefore, the hope is that enough international support will help prompt a release. 

Catholic bishops across the globe have been outspoken calling for Lai’s freedom, along with a number of political leaders. This August, President Donald Trump vowed to do “everything” he can to save Lai from unjust imprisonment. Lai’s family has been dedicated to spreading Lai’s story and fighting for his release.

Pope Leo XIV gives his Sunday Angelus address from the Apostolic Palace overlooking St. Peter’s Square on Aug. 24, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Aug 24, 2025 / 10:10 am (CNA).

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy marked his country’s Independence Day on Sunday by posting a letter from Pope Leo XIV in which the pope assured him of prayers for Ukrainians suffering in the war and urged that “the clamor of arms may fall silent and give way to dialogue.”

“With a heart wounded by the violence that ravages your land, I address you on this day of your national feast,” the pope wrote in the letter, which Zelenskyy shared on the social media platform X on Aug. 24. The Vatican’s official media outlet, Vatican News, published an article attributing the message to Pope Leo XIV.

“I wish to assure you of my prayer for the people of Ukraine who suffer from war — especially for all those wounded in body, for those bereaved by the death of a loved one, and for those deprived of their homes,” the pope said. “May God himself console them; may he strengthen the injured and grant eternal rest to the departed.”

The pope said he was entrusting Ukraine “to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Peace,” and prayed that “the path to peace for the good of all” would be opened.

Zelenskyy, in his X post, thanked the pope: “I am sincerely grateful to His Holiness for his thoughtful words, prayer, and attention to the people of Ukraine amid devastating war. All of our hopes and efforts are for our nation to achieve the long-awaited peace. For good, trust, and justice to prevail. We appreciate @pontifex’s moral leadership and apostolic support.”

The papal message was one of a flurry of Independence Day letters Zelenskyy posted online from world leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, King Charles III of Britain, Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter, French President Emmanuel Macron, and King Felipe VI of Spain.

Ukraine’s Independence Day, celebrated annually on Aug. 24, commemorates the country’s 1991 declaration of independence from the Soviet Union.

The pope’s message came two days after he called for a worldwide day of fasting and prayer for peace, coinciding with the Aug. 22 feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In July, Zelenskyy met Pope Leo at Castel Gandolfo, the pope’s summer residence, in their second encounter since the pope’s inauguration Mass in May. According to the Vatican, they discussed “the urgency of pursuing just and lasting paths of peace,” and Pope Leo reaffirmed his willingness to host representatives of Russia and Ukraine for possible negotiations.

null / Credit: Srdjan Randjelovic/Shutterstock

Philadelphia, Pa., Aug 24, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Nina Marie Corona thought she was just checking the box like any good cradle Catholic when she sat down in a pew over a decade ago. From her perspective at the time, she wasn’t there for anything dramatic — just the usual holy day of obligation Christmas Mass. Her heart wasn’t in it though. Addiction had crept into her family’s life, and her entire world felt like it was falling apart. So, while others sang and smiled and shook hands at the sign of peace, she wept quietly.

Alone. A stranger. In a church filled with people.

“I remember looking and thinking, you know, why does nobody know that I’m going through this?” she said. “Like, I need you people, you know? Where else do I turn?”

Already immersed in theology classes triggered by a retreat she had attended, Corona — who once ran a successful food manufacturing business — turned to an educational pursuit that sought to weave her spirituality with her social conscience.

In the years that followed, that moment of personal desperation developed into a multipronged outreach titled Afire and launched an international multimedia ministry called “We Thirst: Christian Reflections on Addiction,” which is now in university and seminary libraries, including Trinity College Dublin, and has been shown in churches across the United States and beyond.

The five-part parish-based series is part catechesis, part communal healing, blending Catholic spirituality with the biological, psychological, and social realities of addiction. People have watched it in living rooms, church halls, and classrooms. It’s been used by priests, parents, social workers, and people recovering from addiction. It has freed people to talk about addiction, to open up, to stop hiding.

“They drop the armor,” she said. “They receive the gift of courage to face reality. That’s when healing can begin.”

The way it works is simple. You watch the series as a group — maybe over five weeks, maybe as a weekend retreat, and then you talk — not about solutions or strategies at first, but about what’s real: fear, guilt, grief, love, hope. Each session incorporates comprehensive educational presentations with prayer, music for reflection, and imagery to enlighten and inspire.” On the final night of each series, attendees are encouraged to discern next steps in their own communities.

“I initially didn’t know what they should do, but over time I realized those things that were helpful to me and my family,” she explained. “So, we eventually created kits with leader and member manuals to help guide groups through a discernment process. The leader’s manual has been granted an imprimatur.”

Each parish group is given space to listen to one another, assess the specific needs in their community, and create a plan — whether that’s hosting prayer gatherings, offering support to families affected by addiction, starting recovery ministries, or assembling care packages for local recovery homes. The work is deeply local and highly personal, but its spiritual and emotional resonance is what fuels a broader growth.

Among the programs now offered by Afire Ministries are weekly Vespers via Zoom, an online Advent Prayer Calendar, and Set Hearts AFIRE — an evangelization resource designed to equip both experienced ministers and everyday Catholics to share the Gospel. The program provides everything needed to present the material, including fully developed scripts, music, media, and opportunities for personal witness.

Also forthcoming is Graced Collaboration, an innovative faith-based recovery program developed by Corona during her doctoral studies. It integrates evidence-based scientific approaches with the spiritual wisdom of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

“I can’t do this alone,” Corona said. “We need more people stepping up.”

One of the newest groups has formed at St. Isidore in Quakertown, where Sharon Butler is a parishioner. “My daughter has been battling addiction for a very long time,” she said. “My husband and I… we’ve always had each other, but I never went to anything. People would suggest Al-Anon or different groups, but I just didn’t go.”

This was different, she said. Right from the start. “It was very inspiring,” Butler said. “I couldn’t wait for the next week. Each session gave me something to think about. It all just spoke to me.”

The formula is repeated throughout Afire’s various programs, Corona said. And, she believes, God’s fingerprints are all over it.

“I didn’t know how to listen for God’s voice at first, but once I did, he didn’t stop,” she said. “I know the resistance. The shame. You think you’ve heard it all — another addiction talk, more statistics, more blame. But this is different. This is about healing hearts, not just solving problems. It’s about rediscovering our humanity and God’s love for us in the middle of pain.”

She continued: “I believe strongly that God wants to work this way through every person. So many of us are asleep. We’re distracted, numb. But if we just pause — listen — we’ll hear him. And he’ll move. That’s what happened to me. I just finally stopped long enough to listen.”

This story was first published by Catholic Philly and has been reprinted with permission. It is part of the Face of Hope, a series of stories and videos “highlighting the work of those who make the Catholic Church in Philadelphia the greatest force for good in the region.” 

Pope Leo XIV waves to the crowd during his Angelus address on Aug. 24, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Aug 24, 2025 / 08:20 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV said Sunday that Jesus calls Christians to enter through the narrow gate and challenges the presumption of those who assume they are already saved.

Speaking from the window of the Apostolic Palace to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Aug. 24, the pope reflected on the day’s Gospel reading in which Jesus says: “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able” (Lk 13:22-30).

Jesus, the pope said, “did not choose the easy path of success or power; instead, in order to save us, he loved us to the point of walking through the ‘narrow gate’ of the cross.”

There are times when following the Lord, he added, will require “making difficult and unpopular decisions, resisting our selfish inclinations, placing ourselves at the service of others, and persevering in doing what is right when the logic of evil seems to prevail.”

In his Angelus address, Pope Leo said that Jesus calls into question what he described as “the security of believers” and added that the Lord’s words about the “narrow gate” are “meant primarily to challenge the presumption of those people who think they are already saved, who perform religious acts and feel that is all that is needed.”

“Our faith is authentic when it embraces our whole life, when it becomes a criterion for our decisions, when it makes us women and men committed to doing what is right and who take risks out of love, even as Jesus did,” he said.

“Jesus is the true measure of our faith; he is the gate through which we must pass in order to be saved (cf. Jn 10:9) by experiencing his love and by working, in our daily lives, to promote justice and peace,” Leo added.

“Let us ask the Virgin Mary to help us find the courage to pass through the ‘narrow gate’ of the Gospel, so that we may open ourselves with joy to the wide embrace of God our loving Father.”

After leading the crowd in the Angelus prayer in Latin, the pope turned his thoughts to Christians suffering violence in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province.

“I express my closeness to the people of Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, who have become victims of an unsecure and violent situation that continues to cause death and displacement. In asking you not to forget these brothers and sisters of ours, I invite you to pray for them, and I express my hope that the efforts of the country’s leaders will succeed in restoring security and peace in that territory,” he said.

He also renewed prayers for Ukraine, days after calling for a worldwide day of prayer and fasting for peace. “Today, we join our Ukrainian brothers and sisters who, with the spiritual initiative ‘World Prayer for Ukraine,’ are asking the Lord to grant peace to their tormented country,” he said.

Earlier Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted on X a letter from the pope in which Leo assured him of his prayer for the people suffering in Ukraine and that a path to peace for the good of all will be opened. 

Father Solomon Zaku, pictured on the right, is the national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Nigeria and has called on the country’s government to ensure justice is applied in the trial of the suspects linked to the 2022 Pentecost Sunday attack on St. Francis Xavier Owo Catholic Parish in the Ondo Diocese, which claimed at least 50 lives. / Credit: ACI Africa

ACI Africa, Aug 24, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

The national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Nigeria, Father Solomon Zaku, has called on the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led government to ensure justice is applied in the trial of the suspects linked to the 2022 Pentecost Sunday attack on St. Francis Xavier Owo Catholic Parish in the Ondo Diocese, which claimed at least 50 lives.

Speaking to ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, on Aug. 21 after the arraignment of five suspects by the Federal High Court in Abuja, Zaku cautioned against granting bail to the accused, warning that such a move would “deepen the pain of victims’ families” and weaken confidence in Nigeria’s justice system.

The five men suspected of carrying out the deadly Islamist militant attack on the Catholic parish in southwestern Nigeria were remanded in custody on Aug. 19 until a court ruling on Sept. 10 on their application for bail, Reuters reported.

The report further indicated that the suspects, who pleaded not guilty when arraigned last week, appeared in court at the start of their trial on Tuesday, seeking bail three years after their arrest.

“I thought the other time the court was saying that they found out that they are linked with ISIS and other foreign terrorist groups? Now that the law has caught up with them three years after the incident, since they are found guilty, they shouldn’t be given bail,” Zaku told ACI Africa.

The Nigerian Catholic priest emphasized that releasing the suspects would send the wrong message to grieving families and the wider Christian community.

“The families that lost their children are still grieving. To see that those who killed them are just given bail without any serious punishment will not be a good thing,” he said.

Zaku noted that investigations by the Department of State Security Service revealed links between the perpetrators and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), describing it as “a serious revelation that must not be handled with levity.” 

He added: “The persecution has been going on in Nigeria and it has not stopped people from practicing the faith. People will keep practicing the faith, but with this recent attack and the information that it is linked to ISIS, there is an indication that there is a calculated plan to eliminate Christians in this country.”

Zaku described the Owo attack as a shocking extension of terrorism to southern Nigeria. 

“Ordinarily, one would never expect that that kind of attack will even take place in Owo because Owo is in the southern part of the country where no history of insurgency can be traced,” he said. “Now the terrorism moving to the south is really telling the Christians in Nigeria that they are sitting on a time bomb.”

While underscoring the importance of prayer, he urged Christians not to limit their response to spiritual practices alone. 

“Christians must always pray, but not only pray. We also need to be very security conscious and not take things for granted,” he said.

Zaku encouraged victims’ families to draw strength from the ongoing prosecution of the suspects, reminding them that “the state has not abandoned their plight.” 

“The conviction of these people should be a source of strength to them, to tell them that they are not alone, that the government has not left them,” he said.

Zaku, who is a priest in the Maiduguri Diocese, commended security agencies for arraigning the suspects.

“I want to thank the security agencies for the work that they are doing, for arraigning these suspects, and also taking them to court. They have done well by doing that, because if they had not taken them to court, we would not have known that they are linked to ISIS,” he said.

The priest however challenged the system to go beyond arraignment, saying: “It shouldn’t just end there. The government must fight this cause to the end. Justice must be done. These people must … serve the punishment for their crimes.”

For Zaku, the Owo massacre represents not only an act of violence but also “a test of Nigeria’s commitment to justice, national security, and religious freedom.” 

He urged authorities to “find the real funders and then the international community that is supporting them,” insisting: “Justice must be served and the victims must know that their lives and sacrifices are not in vain.”

This story was first published by ACI Africa, CNA's news partner in Africa, and has been adapted by CNA.