Pope Leo XIV views a display of headlines on his election to the pontificate during a meeting with the MINDS Conference in Rome, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 9, 2025 / 10:44 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Thursday said news agencies have the responsibility to uphold principles that protect a person’s right to access “accurate and balanced” information while avoiding “degrading” practices such as manipulation and “clickbait.”   

In a private meeting at the Vatican with participants of the Oct. 9–10 MINDS Conference in Rome, the Holy Father expressed his desire for greater collaboration between producers and consumers of news content to create a “virtuous circle” that benefits society as a whole. 

“Information is a public good that we should all protect,” Leo said. “For this reason, what is truly productive is a partnership between citizens and journalists in the service of ethical and civic responsibility.”

“Communication must be freed from the misguided thinking that corrupts it, from unfair competition, and from the degrading practice of so-called clickbait,” he added. 

While encouraging people to “value and support professionals and agencies that demonstrate seriousness and true freedom in their work,” the Holy Father said media professionals should uphold the values of transparency, accountability, quality, and objectivity, to earn the trust of citizens.  

During the meeting, the Holy Father also spoke of his high regard for countless journalists, particularly front-line reporters in conflict zones, who work to ensure information is not “manipulated for ends that are contrary to truth and human dignity.”

“In times such as ours, marked by widespread and violent conflicts, many have died while carrying out their duties,” he said. “They are victims of war and of the ideology of war, which seeks to prevent journalists from being there at all.”

“We must not forget them! If today we know what is happening in Gaza, Ukraine, and every other land bloodied by bombs, we largely owe it to them,” he continued.  

Addressing concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence on communications media, the Holy Father said people are not destined to live in a world where “truth is no longer distinguishable from fiction” and called for vigilance to guarantee technology and algorithms do not “replace human beings” or remain “in the hands of a few.”

“The world needs free, rigorous, and objective information,” he insisted. 

“In this context, it is worth remembering Hannah Arendt’s warning that ‘the ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced communist but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction and the distinction between true and false no longer exist,’” he said, citing the German American philosopher’s book “The Origins of Totalitarianism.”

Urging news journalists to “never sell out your authority,” Leo XIV told those present at the morning audience that their “patient and rigorous work” can be a pillar to bring “civility” back into society.  

“You can act as a barrier against those who, through the ancient art of lying, seek to create divisions in order to rule by dividing,” he said. 

“The communications sector cannot and must not separate its work from the sharing of truth,” he added.

Pope Leo XIV waves from the popemobile during an audience in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 4, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 9, 2025 / 09:12 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV sent a letter this week commending Catholic Charities USA for being “agents of hope” to vulnerable people, especially migrants and refugees. 

As migrants and refugees “are not able to rely on their own resources and have to depend on God and the goodness of others, in many ways your ministry makes the Lord’s providence concrete for them,” the pontiff wrote, addressing the 115th annual meeting of the Catholic Charities USA Network, taking place in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Oct. 6–9. 

“Through providing food, shelter, medical care, legal assistance, and many other gestures of kindness, Catholic Charities affiliates across the United States show what Pope Francis often referred to as God’s ‘style’ of closeness, compassion, and tenderness,” he added. 

Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA), founded in 1910, is a network of 168 independent Catholic Charities agencies across all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories. 

CCUSA President and CEO Kerry Alys Robinson said the network is “profoundly grateful to Pope Leo XIV for the apostolic blessing he has imparted upon the Catholic Charities network, and we are inspired and invigorated by the solidarity and encouragement he offered in his letter.”  

In his letter, the pontiff said while those affected by poverty and forced migration face many challenges, “they can also be witnesses to hope not only through their trust in divine assistance but also by their resilience in often having to overcome many obstacles on their journeys.” 

He also pointed out the positive influence many Catholic migrants and refugees have had on different nations, including the U.S., through their vibrant faith and popular devotions. 

“It might be said that through assisting displaced persons to find their new homes in your country, you also act as bridge builders between nations, cultures, and peoples,” Leo wrote. “I encourage you, then, to continue helping the communities who receive these newly arrived brothers and sisters to be living witnesses of hope, recognizing that they have an intrinsic human dignity and are invited to participate fully in community life.”

A voter casts a ballot in the parliamentary election at a polling station in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on May 15, 2022. / Credit: IBRAHIM CHALHOUB/AFP via Getty Images

ACI MENA, Oct 9, 2025 / 08:12 am (CNA).

Lebanon’s diaspora has long been celebrated as the country’s greatest strength, yet when it comes to voting rights their role remains a source of division and unease. 

The most recent cabinet sessions have brought the matter back into sharp focus, underscoring both the fragility of political consensus and the mistrust that continues to paralyze reform. For many Christians, the matter carries a particular weight. Behind the technical arguments lies a deeper fear: that limiting the diaspora’s voice is less about electoral procedure and more about gradually eroding their influence in Lebanon’s fragile balance of power.

Flying home, voting overseas

The right for Lebanese to vote abroad in national elections was first introduced in the 2017 electoral law. Before then, anyone living outside Lebanon had to fly home if they wanted to cast a ballot.

The new law allowed expats to vote from abroad through embassies and consulates. It also created a plan to set aside six seats in Parliament specifically for expat voters: one for each of Lebanon’s major religious communities (Maronite, Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholic, Sunni, Shiite, and Druze). 

Under that plan, expats would not vote for all 128 members of Parliament (MPs) like residents do but only for six deputies chosen in newly created overseas districts divided by continent.

However, no such constituency was established. The law itself left the mechanism vague, with no clear way to implement it.

As a result, in both the 2018 and 2022 elections, Lebanese abroad voted for the full 128 members of Parliament, just like citizens inside the country. Their votes counted in their original home districts, not in a separate “expat-only” bloc.

Hezbollah pushes to limit diaspora vote

With the next elections set for 2026, there is growing pressure — led mainly by Hezbollah and its allies — to finally activate the six-seat plan and confine diaspora voters to it. 

On the other side, 68 members of Parliament (MPs), representing more than half the chamber — from parties including the Lebanese Forces, Kataeb, the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), independents, and others — are pushing to amend the law and make the district-based system permanent. 

Yet Speaker Nabih Berri has so far refused to put their proposal on Parliament’s agenda, leaving the issue unresolved.

Two recent sessions highlighted the deadlock. On Monday, Berri refused to put the amendment on the agenda, prompting Lebanese Forces and Kataeb MPs — the country’s two main Christian parties — to walk out and break quorum. The next day’s session collapsed for the same reason, as boycotts continued.

Hezbollah and its allies have the most to lose from an empowered diaspora, and the numbers from 2022 explain why. Nearly 130,000 Lebanese abroad turned out to vote, triple the figure from 2018, and many of their ballots went to independents and reformists openly critical of Hezbollah’s role in the country. 

Amal-Hezbollah’s share of the expatriate vote slid from 20% to 13%, while the Free Patriotic Movement — Hezbollah’s main Christian partner — sank from 16% to 7%. 

What unsettles the establishment even more is that these voters are not detached migrants but recent emigrants who fled the financial collapse in 2019 and the Beirut port blast in 2020 — a younger electorate with little patience for the old order. With projections that up to 300,000 expats could register in 2026, Hezbollah sees the diaspora not as a distant constituency but as a looming electoral threat, one it hopes to contain through the six-seat plan.

Logistical excuses or political pretexts?

Hezbollah, for its part, does not openly admit that the push for six seats is about limiting the diaspora’s influence. Instead, its leaders frame the issue around “logistical difficulties,” challenges in monitoring voting abroad, and the risk that expatriates could face pressure.

But in an interview with ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, MP Pierre Bou Assi rejected those claims outright. “These arguments are entirely unfounded,” he said. “It is impossible to exert pressure on voters casting their ballots in privacy behind the curtain. From a logistical perspective, the process of voting for 128 MPs has already proven successful, while the feasibility of voting for only six MPs abroad is untested.”

He added that the diaspora itself has been vocal in demanding the right to vote for the full 128 seats and that support for this demand cuts across Lebanon’s political and sectarian lines.

“Undoubtedly, restricting the Christian vote to six MPs is a deliberate marginalization of Christian voices and a reduction of their political impact,” he said. “It is a weakening of true representation and a reduction of Christian participation in real political partnership and in national decision-making.”

According to the Interior Ministry’s latest voter rolls published in 2022, Christians make up about one-third of Lebanon’s electorate overall, similar to their share among residents inside the country. But among registered expatriates, Christians form a clear majority: 53.2%, compared with 20% Sunni, 20% Shiite, and 6.4% Druze.

Assi, who previously headed the Foreign Relations Department of the Lebanese Forces, stressed to ACI MENA that Lebanese abroad are not detached from their homeland. On the contrary, he said, they remain deeply attached to Lebanon and aspire to return or invest in it. 

“The Lebanese abroad possess enormous resources — scientific, intellectual, financial — and their expertise spans many fields. What they ask for above all is stability. This is why, as the Lebanese Forces, we place stability as our highest priority, and the only path to that is by strengthening the state and ensuring that the monopoly over arms and the decision of war and peace rests solely in its hands.” 

Assi underlined that the Christian presence and role in Lebanon is the community’s “very reason for being.” Once stability is secured, he argued, the diaspora will play a decisive role in Lebanon’s prosperity.

Young Christians abroad voice frustration

Lebanese abroad, especially Christians, are increasingly angry at the prospect of losing their full voting rights. Charbel Abi Younes, a 27-year-old political scientist who left for Australia in 2022, said he feels “excluded from the politics of my own country.” If the law confines diaspora voters to six seats, he added, he will not cast a ballot: “It would feel like my own country telling me that I am not a part of it.”

Younes described the push for restrictions as “an attempt by specific sides at consolidating power because they are aware that the immigrant vote would topple them.” 

Reflecting on the wider role of the diaspora for Lebanon’s Christians, he noted: “The Christians of Lebanon have had to rely heavily on the diaspora over the past few years, be it economically through money from overseas or politically through lobbying. I hope one day the Christian community in Lebanon will be strong enough to not need anyone’s help but its own.”

This story was first published by ACI MENA, CNA's Arabic-language news partner, and has been translated for and adapted by CNA.

Daniël Hussem and Emily Wilson-Hussem are the creators of the new Catholic dating app, SacredSpark. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Daniël Hussem and Emily Wilson-Hussem

CNA Staff, Oct 9, 2025 / 07:10 am (CNA).

When Emily Wilson-Hussem began sharing “matchmaking” posts on Instagram, inviting Catholic singles to share their names and locations to connect with others, she wasn’t expecting that her lighthearted experiment would lead to 12 marriages, 20 engagements, hundreds of dating couples, and even a baby.

The Catholic speaker and digital content creator realized that young Catholics are in search of holy marriages but need help finding one another. This led her and her husband, Daniël Hussem, to create a new Catholic dating app — SacredSpark.

The new matchmaking app blends technology and tradition to foster meaningful online connections with the goal of creating lasting offline relationships.

“Over these years I have seen the difficulty singles [have] to connect with one another, especially of the same age, and a lot of the young single Catholics I met were having a really hard time, and so I felt like a nudge from the Lord,” Wilson-Hussem told CNA.

After seeing the immense response from young people on her matchmaking posts, yet realizing the downfalls of trying to help connect people on Instagram, the Hussems decided to create an app that was intentional and focused on the fact that each user was made in the image and likeness of God.

One of the main features of SacredSpark is its commitment to more meaningful connections between people. To foster that, all profile pictures are blurred. Photos become unblurred once both individuals match with one another. So instead of simply swiping through images of a person, users can record audio messages introducing themselves and other users can listen and determine if they believe there could be a connection.

Hussem explained that this feature was created “because we want to start meaningful connections beyond just the appearance.”

The couple also pointed out that unlike other dating apps that allow users to place filters on things like physical traits, including eye color, hair color, or even height, SacredSpark does not allow for any filters to be placed on physical qualities.

“For us, we want it to be extremely intentional about the person as a whole, not just their physical appearance,” Hussem shared. “If you’re looking at the general scope of a sacramental marriage, are those things — someone’s color of their eyes or the color of their hair or their height — I think those are more superficial things that people can get sidetracked by versus just these intentional things.”

“Our focus is on the image and likeness of God in each person you will connect with on the app. That’s a huge part of the core of what we’re doing,” Wilson-Hussem added.

The app also includes a matchmaking feature, which allows the user to invite a friend or family member to act as a matchmaker on their behalf on the app. Wilson-Hussem explained that this feature was added into the app because of the great success matchmakers had on her Instagram posts. 

“A huge part of the success was a girl saying, ‘I have a brother, Jeff. He’s 31 and he lives in Wisconsin. If there are any great gals out there, I would love to connect you,’” she shared. “I would say at least half of the marriages have been from one person who put one person out there and was linking two other people and we thought, ‘Wow. A, that’s amazing because a lot of people know single Catholics, they have fun with it, but B, our singles need support. They need to feel like people are in their corner.’”

She added: “You can hire a matchmaker for thousands of dollars — a person who has to get to know you, a person who has to look at who you are on paper. The people who have known you your whole life know you best. They know what you’re looking for. So, why don’t we find a way to activate those people and support our singles?”

SacredSpark will be launched and open to the public in mid-October, but interested singles can already sign up to join the waitlist. 

The Hussems said they hope the new app will “relight the hope of Catholic dating.”

“The overall mission is actually to help build up the Church one relationship at a time,” Daniël Hussem said.

“I think a big part of the cultural breakdown is the breakdown of the family, and we want SacredSpark to really be a place, down the road, where we can connect people who will build up the Church because they’ve entered into a sacramental marriage and will build up the family,” Wilson-Hussem added. “The restoration of the family is going to be a huge part of the next many years and we think SacredSpark, hopefully, will play a part in that.”

Pope Leo XIV blesses pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square during an audience for the Jubilee of Hope on Oct. 4, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 9, 2025 / 06:01 am (CNA).

In the first major document of his pontificate, Pope Leo XIV writes that the poor are not only objects of charity but also evangelists who can prompt us to conversion through their example of weakness and reliance on God.

“The poor can act as silent teachers for us, making us conscious of our presumption and instilling within us a rightful spirit of humility,” Leo writes in Dilexi Te (“I Have Loved You”), released by the Vatican on Thursday. “The elderly, for example, by their physical frailty, remind us of our own fragility, even as we attempt to conceal it behind our apparent prosperity and outward appearance. The poor ... remind us how uncertain and empty our seemingly safe and secure lives may be.”

The pontiff quotes his predecessor throughout the document, which was first drafted during the previous pontificate and draws heavily on Pope Francis’ first apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, on the joy of the Gospel. An apostolic exhortation is one of the most authoritative genres of papal teaching, typically focused on the pastoral application of doctrine. 

Christ’s whole life is an example of poverty, Leo writes, and the Church, if it wants to belong to Christ, must give the poor a privileged place. 

“For Christians, the poor are not a sociological category but the very ‘flesh’ of Christ,” he writes. “The Lord took on a flesh that hungers and thirsts, and experiences infirmity and imprisonment.” 

Inherited from Pope Francis 

Leo signed the exhortation on Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, who is traditionally known as “Il Poverello” (“the Little Poor Man”). 

The pontiff explains at the beginning of the document that he received it as an inheritance from Pope Francis, who was working on it during the final months of his life.

“How much of this [document] is Francis, and how much of this is Leo? It’s both,” Cardinal Michael Czerny, head of the Vatican Dicastery for Integral Human Development, said at an Oct. 9 presentation of the document, emphasizing that the document is now part of papal magisterium. 

Czerny pushed back on repeated attempts by reporters to draw political connections between the document and the United States and elsewhere. 

The world is “in big trouble and part of the troubles are referred to in [Dilexi Te],” he continued. “That doesn’t mean that I can go to so-and-so and say that ‘Dilexi Te went after you.’” 

The document traces the Church’s perennial teaching on the poor, drawing on the Old and New Testaments, the practice of the early Christian community, the writings of Church Fathers and doctors, the lives of the saints, the documents of the Second Vatican Council, and the magisterium of the popes since St. John XXIII.

Leo also commends the example of contemplative and active religious orders throughout history that have helped the poor with health care, food, shelter, and education.

“Every movement of renewal within the Church has always been a preferential concern for the poor. In this sense, her work with the poor differs in its inspiration and method from the work carried out by any other humanitarian organization,” he writes.

Technological progress has not eradicated poverty, which only continues to appear in diverse forms, the pope writes. He defines the poor to include the incarcerated, victims of sexual exploitation, those affected by the degradation of the environment, and immigrants. 

“The Church, like a mother, accompanies those who are walking. Where the world sees threats, she sees children; where walls are built, she builds bridges,” he says. “And she knows that in every rejected migrant, it is Christ himself who knocks at the door of the community.” 

Lack of material and spiritual care 

Leo denounces prejudices that he says can lead Christians to neglect their duty to the poor. 

“There are those who say: ‘Our task is to pray and teach sound doctrine’ [and argue] that it is the government’s job to care for [the poor], or that it would be better not to lift them out of their poverty but simply to teach them to work,” he writes.

Sometimes “pseudo-scientific data are invoked to support the claim that a free-market economy will automatically solve the problem of poverty” or that the rich can enact more effective solutions, the pope writes. 

Leo condemns such views as worldly and superficial, and “devoid of any supernatural light.” 

Dilexi Te also emphasizes the spiritual needs of the poor, arguing that those are more important than the material, yet often ignored by the Church.

It is not a question of “providing for welfare assistance and working to ensure social justice. Christians should also be aware of another form of inconsistency in the way they treat the poor. In reality, “the worst discrimination which the poor suffer is the lack of spiritual care,’” the pope writes, quoting Pope Francis.

Leo ends his exhortation by emphasizing the duty of almsgiving, which he claims has fallen out of fashion, even among believers.

“Almsgiving, however modest, brings a touch of ‘pietas’ [‘piety’] into a society otherwise marked by the frenetic pursuit of personal gain,” he says, adding that, though it will not be the solution to poverty in the world, it will touch our hearts.

“Our love and our deepest convictions need to be continually cultivated, and we do so through our concrete actions,” he continues. “Remaining in the realm of ideas and theories, while failing to give them expression through frequent and practical acts of charity, will eventually cause even our most cherished hopes and aspirations to weaken and fade away. For this very reason, we Christians must not abandon almsgiving. It can be done in different ways, and surely more effectively, but it must continue to be done. It is always better at least to do something rather than nothing.”

This story was updated at 9:44 a.m. ET.

Pope Leo XIV receives a video from the Hope Border Institute from Auxiliary Bishop Anthony Celino on Oct. 8, 2025. / Credit: Fernie Ceniceros/El Paso Diocese

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 8, 2025 / 17:13 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV became “visibly emotional” upon receiving messages on Oct. 8 from immigrants fearing deportation in the United States, a member of a U.S. delegation said.

Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, Auxiliary Bishop Anthony Celino, and Dylan Corbett of Hope Border Institute gave the pope a collection of handwritten letters from migrant families expressing fear and faith. They showed the pope a video with immigrants’ voices saying mass deportations in the United States are breaking family bonds and stripping children of safety.

“We live in a state of constant anxiety, never knowing if tomorrow will bring separation,” an immigrant says in the video.

Corbett posted on X that Leo told the delegation, which included immigrants: “The Church cannot stay silent before injustice. You stand with me, and I stand with you.” 

One letter writer expressed fear of leaving the house, even to see a doctor, and asked for prayers for President Donald Trump that his heart may be filled with love, compassion, and empathy. The Trump administration is undertaking a massive expansion of enforcement, detention, and border control efforts.

‘You could see tears in his eyes’

Corbett, founding executive director of Hope Border Institute, described the 25-minute encounter with Pope Leo to CNA.

“Bishop Seitz spoke about the Church in the United States’ commitment to walking alongside immigrants and refugees in our country,” Corbett recalled, noting Seitz’s remarks had been unscripted. “And the Holy Father quickly said he wanted the Church in the United States to be more united and forceful on this issue, and that what’s happening right now is an injustice.” 

“We were then able to share from our perspective some of what we’re seeing across the United States right now in terms of the campaign of mass deportations,” he continued, adding: “The Holy Father grew visibly emotional about that.”

The group presented Leo with “over 100 letters from immigrants across the country who are at risk of deportation or who are in mixed families.” The delegation also presented the Holy Father with a video featuring “voices drawn from those letters that tell the story of the anxieties and fears, and also the hopes, right now of the immigrant community.” 

At this point, Corbett said Leo “became emotional and you could see tears in his eyes.” 

“He was very supportive and encouraging,” Corbett said, noting several representatives from the immigrant community were also present for the meeting and offered their testimonies. 

Fernie Ceniceros, a spokesperson for the El Paso Diocese, told CNA: “The Diocese of El Paso is thrilled to know that the Holy Father was able to meet with Bishop Mark Seitz and our Auxiliary Bishop Anthony Celino and a small delegation of local immigration advocates that included clergy from with the diocese.”

“We are blessed to know that the Holy Father expressed his support of migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border along with migrants all over the world,” he added. 

Ceniceros shared several images of the letters given to Leo, including one in English and one in Spanish. 

One of the letters sent by an El Paso priest on loan from the Srikakulam Diocese in Andhra Pradesh, India, described “feeling a sort of insecurity … due to the immigration situation” and noted that many are “scared to move comfortably even with legal documentation.” 

The letter further appealed to the Holy Father for papal support in being “a voice for the voiceless” while also “uphold[ing]  the right of nations to regulate borders and the right of people to seek a better life.”

Another letter from an anonymous immigrant lacking legal status in California told Leo: “These days we are living with a lot of fear, confusion, and sadness.” The letter appealed to the Holy Father to “continue petitioning our God and to continue listening to the voice of the needy immigrant community, raising his voice alongside our brothers and sisters from separated families.” 

“Thank you for listening to us,” it concluded. 

Messages from migrants

One letter said:

“Dear Pope Leo, there are two members of my family without documents. I feel afraid to go out to work and that I could be separated from my family. I think that there should be demand for the immigration agents not to be allowed to get close to parishes, and the raids should stop, because they only create pain and fear. I think the pope should be openly against the raids, and the unjust treatment that’s affecting the community. Speaking clearly and concisely about the situation that we are in and condemning the way in which so-called Christians in power are acting.”

Another letter said:

“We are a mixed family. I am very sad, with a lot of pain and fear. I have not gone out for two weeks and when I do go out, I’m afraid, even when I have to go to the doctor. I think that the Church could help us in getting immigration lawyers to support us and all of those who have been detained. The Church could also give protection to families that remain here. Pope Leo, you know the whole situation that the world is living in, that there is a lot of pain and that we don’t have peace. We ask for your prayers and that you would speak to those who you should speak to. I also ask for prayers for Donald Trump for his heart to be filled with love, compassion, and empathy.”

The flag of the European Union. / Credit: U. J. Alexander/Shutterstock

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 8, 2025 / 16:43 pm (CNA).

The representatives of the Catholic bishops to the European Union reiterated their call for the bloc to act firmly against anti-Christian persecution around the world by reinstating the position of the special envoy for religious freedom.

At the conclusion of its autumn assembly, the Commission of Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE, by its acronym) noted that “freedom of thought, conscience, and religion is an inalienable human right enshrined in Article 10 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights” that continues to be “seriously threatened in many regions of the world.”

In a statement, the bishops expressed their “growing dismay” at “the discrimination and persecution suffered by individuals, religious minorities, and faith communities — mostly Christian — who are “targeted for their beliefs.”

At the same time, COMECE recognized that the EU “has consistently affirmed its commitment to human rights as a central pillar of its external action.” However, it noted that “existing mechanisms are in themselves very valuable but lack the authority and visibility necessary to address this crisis with the necessary vigor and coherence.”

“The gravity of the situation demands a more firm, dedicated, and institutionalized response,” the bishops continued, maintaining that the EU “has a particular responsibility to defend these values ​​beyond its borders.”

In this regard, they emphasized that “the position of EU special envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion or belief outside the EU was created in 2016 and has been instrumental in promoting this cause on the world stage.” They also emphasized that “having someone in this position improves the EU’s ability to monitor, report on, and respond effectively to violations of religious freedom around the world.”

Therefore, they warn: “We are deeply concerned that this important position has remained vacant for a prolonged period, which sends a worrying signal to persecuted communities around the world and to those who violate religious freedom with impunity.”

The prelates representing the Catholic Church in the countries of the European Union denounced that keeping the position vacant “suggests a diminishing priority of this fundamental right within EU foreign policy precisely at a time when its defense has become more urgent than ever.”

Consequently, the COMECE bishops urged the European Commission “to appoint a new EU special envoy without further delay, strengthening their mandate and allocating adequate human and financial resources to fulfill their mission.”

This is not the first time the position has become vacant since its creation in 2016. The first to fill the post was Slovakian Ján Figel, who served until 2019.

The position remained vacant for a year and a half until May 2021, when Cypriot Christos Stylianides was appointed. However, Stylianides left the post just six months later. Italian Mario Mauro was then proposed but did not receive sufficient support.

It wasn’t until December 2022 that the European Commission appointed Belgian Frans van Daele, whose term has now expired without the European Commission having proposed a replacement to date.

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

St. Matthew's Cathedral, Washington, D.C. / Credit: Marcos Carvalho/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 8, 2025 / 15:45 pm (CNA).

Police said the man arrested outside of a Washington, D.C., cathedral Oct. 5 had hundreds of explosives and papers suggesting he planned to target Catholics and Supreme Court justices. 

Louis Geri was arrested outside of the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle before the annual “Red Mass” that welcomes Supreme Court justices and lawmakers. Police reported Geri had potential explosives on his person and in his tent set up near the church’s entrance.

When police approached him in the tent, he told police: “You might want to stay back and call the federales, I have explosives/bombs,” court documents show.

Police officers and the bomb squad conducted a further search and said they found Geri had paperwork that “revealed his significant animosity towards the Catholic Church, members of the Jewish faith, members of SCOTUS, and ICE/ICE facilities.” The search also “revealed a large cache of handmade destructive devices recovered from [his] tent,” police said. 

Geri also threatened to throw an explosive into the street and said he had “a hundred plus of them,” police said.

Papers found in Geri’s tent were titled: “Written Negotiations for the Avoidance of Destruction of Property via Detonation of Explosives,” police said. The suspect confirmed to police they were his papers. 

A business manager for St. Matthew’s provided police with paperwork showing the Metropolitan Police Department barred him from the location and that Geri had earlier been at the cathedral Sept. 26 when he had set up his tent on the steps and refused to leave.

Police said Geri told them: “Several of your people are gonna die from one of these,” referring to the explosives. 

Geri was charged with unlawful entry; manufacture, transfer, use, possession, or transportation of molotov cocktails or other explosives for unlawful purposes; threats to kidnap or injure a person; assault on police officer; possession of destructive device; manufacture or possession of weapon of mass destruction (hate crime); and resisting arrest. He is being held in jail without bond.

Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims at his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025 / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Vatican City, Oct 8, 2025 / 15:00 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday warned against the claim that true joy “must be without wounds” or “trials,” saying pain is not the denial of God’s promise of love for his people.

During his Oct. 8 general audience at the Vatican, the Holy Father said “there is an obstacle that often prevents us from recognizing Christ’s presence in our daily lives: the assumption that joy must be free from suffering.”

Continuing his catechesis on the resurrection of Christ, the pope emphasized that God does not “impose himself loudly” but “waits patiently for the moment when our eyes will open to see his friendly face” in order to “transform disappointment into confident expectation.”

Before hundreds of faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square, he asked for the grace to be able to notice the “humble and discreet presence” of Christ and to discover that “very pain, if inhabited by love, can become a place of communion.”

The Holy Father began his catechesis on the Resurrection with the image of the disciples of Emmaus, who walked “sadly because they hoped for a different ending” and “for a Messiah who did not know the cross.”

Despite having heard that the tomb is empty, the pope said the two disciples were “unable to smile” because they were unable to recognize God’s close presence. 

“But Jesus walks alongside them and patiently helps them understand that pain is not the denial of the promise, but the way through which God has manifested the measure of his love,” Leo said in his Wednesday catechesis. 

“Brothers and sisters, Christ’s resurrection teaches us that no history is so marked by disappointment or sin that it cannot be visited by hope,” he added. “No fall is definitive, no night is eternal, no wound is destined to remain open forever.” 

“However distant, lost, or unworthy we may feel, there is no distance that can extinguish the unfailing power of God’s love,” he continued.

In times of disappointment, Leo XIV invited people to not give into despair but “to discover that beneath the ashes of disenchantment and weariness there is always a living ember, waiting only to be rekindled.”

“Instead, the Risen One is close to us precisely in the darkest places: in our failures, in our frayed relationships, in the daily struggles that weigh on our shoulders, in the doubts that discourage us. Nothing that we are, no fragment of our existence, is foreign to him,” he said.

“Today, the risen Lord walks alongside each of us as we travel our paths — those of work and commitment, but also those of suffering and loneliness — and with infinite delicacy asks us to let him warm our hearts,” he added. 

Toward the conclusion of his address, the Holy Father asked people to pray for the grace to recognize Christ “as our companion on the road” in daily life. 

“And so, like the disciples of Emmaus, we too return to our homes with hearts burning with joy. A simple joy that does not erase wounds but illuminates them,” he said. “A joy that comes from the certainty that the Lord is alive, walks with us, and gives us the possibility to start again at every moment.”

St. Patrick’s Pontifical University confers a theology doctorate on Sister Orla Treacy. / Credit: St. Patrick’s Pontifical University, Maynooth

ACI Africa, Oct 8, 2025 / 13:00 pm (CNA).

St. Patrick’s Pontifical University in Maynooth, Ireland, has conferred an honorary doctorate to Sister Orla Treacy, whose work spanning 19 years in South Sudan has transformed the lives of hundreds of girls in the war-torn east African nation.

In attendance at the Sept. 27 ceremony was Archbishop Eamon Martin of the Archdiocese of Armagh; Archbishop Séamus Patrick Horgan, the pioneer resident apostolic nuncio to South Sudan; and representatives of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (IBVM), popularly known as Loreto Sisters, where Treacy is a member. 

Conferring the doctorate was director of education programs at St. Patrick’s Pontifical University, Father John-Paul Sheridan, who lauded Treacy’s dedication at the Loreto boarding school in South Sudan’s Diocese of Rumbek, where girls are provided with a nurturing environment to learn, away from the dangers of the country’s decades of war and famine.

“It is a profound joy to stand before you today as we recognize and honor a person whose life, vocation, and work embodies the highest ideals of Catholic education and the tireless pursuit of human rights and the advancement of the students under her charge,” Sheridan told guests at the event, which included Treacy’s family members and friends.

He added: “In conferring upon Sister Orla Treacy the degree of doctor of theology, honoris causa, this university affirms not only the remarkable achievements of an individual but also the enduring values of faith, justice, and human dignity to which our university and the wider Church aspire.”

Sheridan observed that Catholic education, at its heart, “is not merely about the transmission of knowledge” but is about the formation of persons who can think critically, act compassionately, and “live with a conscience attuned to the voice of God.”

‘She has never buried her talents’

He observed that Treacy has embodied the vision of the founder of her institute, Mary Ward, who once said: “Do not bury your talents lent to you by God to be expended in service.”

“Sister Orla has lived in South Sudan for 17 years embodying this sacred vision of education and has never buried her talents,” he said, adding that Treacy’s work has been a beacon of hope to countless students, teachers, and communities, “illuminating a path of justice, mercy, and intellectual rigor.”

“It is a well-known and often-quoted fact that the Catholic Church is the largest provider of education for women in Sub-Saharan Africa, and Sister Orla has been a tireless campaigner for girls in the pursuit of education,” the priest said.

Sheridan noted that Treacy’s vision for the school and her pupils does not stop at the boundaries of education. For Treacy, he said, the classroom is always connected to the wider world, “a world too often scarred by poverty, exclusion, and oppression.”

“With courage and conviction, Sister Orla extends her advocacy to the arena of human rights,” he said, adding that through her work the Loreto sister upholds the great Catholic witnesses to justice like Dorothy Day, who proclaimed that “our problems stem from our acceptance of this filthy, rotten system.”

Sheridan described Treacy, who serves as director of the Loreto mission, as an inspiration, especially to the Irish university’s community. “Sister Orla … you are the best of us. You are an inspiration to our students, an encouragement to our graduates, and an affirmation to the university of its mission in the Church and the world,” he said. 

It is the first honorary doctorate for Treacy, who was also one of 10 recipients of the 2019 U.S. Department of State’s International Women of Courage Award — an annual honor recognizing women who have “demonstrated exceptional courage and leadership in advocating for peace, justice, human rights, gender equality, and women’s empowerment.”

In announcing the awards, then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Treacy’s work had become “a beacon of hope for girls who might otherwise be denied education and forced to enter early marriages.”

Treacy first traveled to South Sudan at the invitation of the late Bishop Caesar Mazzolari, who asked her to begin a girls’ boarding school. She has made the war-torn country her home ever since.

In his address at the Sept. 27 event, Archbishop Martin lauded Treacy’s commitment to bring faith, hope, and love into a world that “too often appears faithless, hopeless, and love-less.”

He noted that in the midst of “so much violence, destruction, suspicion, and recrimination,” Treacy and those who work with her seek to highlight the dignity and the vocation of every person, especially that of girls and women, “in the midst of a culture that often thinks differently.”

Describing the Loreto Sisters’ school in the Rumbek Diocese as “a beacon of hope,” the archbishop told Treacy: “You go where others have been reluctant to go before, and you are leaving a path behind for others to follow. To that end, Sister Orla, your work is prophetic. You plant seeds of hope that one day will flourish.”

He also lauded Treacy’s resilience, saying: “Despite being surrounded by suffering, you inspire your students to believe in themselves, to dream, to heal divisions, and to give back to their communities knowing that ‘Cruci dum spiro fido’— ‘In the cross, while I breathe, I trust.’”

Martin acknowledged the contribution of the Loreto Sisters to the lives and hopes of many girls and women in Ireland and beyond, especially in the work of education, social justice, and inspiring faith, hope, and love.

Following ‘a great visionary, missionary, and courageous leader’

In her remarks, Treacy joked about the honor conferred upon her, saying: “I was never a great student in school, so thanks for this doctorate.” She said that her award ceremony was an opportunity to celebrate the “legacy of Loreto education.”

Treacy spoke at length about the legacy of her institute, describing its founders, Mary Ward and Teresa Ball, as “women of exceptional faith” who “trusted all to God.”

She recalled that Ball opened 37 communities in seven countries. She was, Treacy said, “a great visionary, missionary, and courageous leader” who, though never having traveled beyond Ireland and England, followed the dream of Mary Ward that “women in time to come would do much.”   

Treacy recalled her arrival in 2006 into a region that had just come out of 20 years of civil war. “People were hungry, sick, traumatized from the war, and there were few services for the people.”  

“And here we were coming to open a girls’ boarding secondary school in a region where boys and girls weren’t even going to primary school. And where girls are forced to marry as young as 15, for their cow value,” she said.

She said her first years in South Sudan were challenging. “Over the years our mission has experienced insecurity, aggression, financial problems, health issues, but still we continue to trust, to endure, and to accompany our young women in South Sudan.”

Treacy said South Sudan is currently “on the verge of another civil war,” adding: “This doesn’t stop our young women dreaming of a better world, a more just society where women can be educated.”

The Loreto Sisters’ initiative in South Sudan had grown “from strength to strength,” she said, explaining that “our secondary school gave way to a primary school for boys and girls, a health clinic followed to support the local community, and then looking to the future and sustainability we added an education center, internship program, and university scholarship program.” 

The Loreto Sisters’ dedication to education in Rumbek has molded young people who are determined to restore peace in their country, Treacy said.

“Our youth are religious and spiritual, they love the Church, and over the past few years we have facilitated youth retreats and nine-day walking pilgrimages throughout our diocese, reaching hard-to-reach places, bringing a message of unity and hope,” she said. 

There are now over 600 young women “working, studying, marrying, becoming mothers,” Treacy said.

“All over the country, they are influencing change in their culture,” she said of the graduates, who have invited Loreto Sisters to establish a new mission in the town of Awei, located in the north of the country.

Awei has a population of 1 million people — over 90% of whom are Catholic, with no religious or missionary presence. “These graduates have called us to come and offer quality, Catholic education to the next generation,” she said. 

In her address, Treacy also highlighted the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year, saying that young people all over the world are “beacons of hope, those who challenge us to step forward.”

“This is our Jubilee Year of Hope,” she said. “In the midst of the negativity that we hear it can be hard to hold on to hope. We do face diminishment in our Churches in Europe, but the message of Jesus continues to touch our young people, who call us to keep the vision, mission, and courage of our early foundress and to trust,” she said.

Treacy implored: “We pray for our fragile world that we can continue to discern new paths, keep the passion alive, and share the light of Christ in darkened places.”

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