Halloween is here again, and with it come the costumes, the candy, and the inevitable parade of skeletons, witches, and ghouls across lawns and social media feeds. For many Catholics, the question is familiar: “Is it okay for my family to participate?” That question has been answered: yes it’s okay. Yet beneath the usual cultural ... Read more

Daylight is dwindling, and temperatures are dipping. Rains are becoming more frequent and insistent. Pumpkin-spice fever aside, this stretch of Ordinary Time can feel a little “less than” compared to the more festive, or more engaging liturgical seasons. We would be remiss, however, in letting the prophetic pair of November 1st and 2nd pass by ... Read more

In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus describes the purpose that God the Father had in sending Him to us.  What was it? Gospel: Read Jn. 6:37-40 On the Feast of All Souls, when we remember with love all those who have died, the Church gives us a reading taken from the Bread of Life discourse in ... Read more

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 30, 2025 / 17:31 pm (CNA).

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) launched an initiative to combat Christian persecution domestically and abroad, a subject at the heart of its latest summit in Washington, D.C. 

CPAC hosted a Summit on Ending Christian Persecution at the Kennedy Center on Oct. 30 as a part of its wider effort to collaborate with its coalition partners to raise awareness and identify policy solutions to religious targeting of Christians.

“As Catholics, we are all called to help those most in need, those who are facing persecution here and across the globe,” Mercedes Schlapp, CPAC senior fellow, told CNA. “CPAC and our coalition partners have made it a priority to start the CPAC Center for Faith and Liberty, committed to finding policy solutions, working with national and international leaders to bring awareness to the atrocities that we are seeing against our Christian brothers,” said Schlapp, who helped moderate the event.

“We hope to continue in this fight and really provide protection and solutions to those persecuted Christians, to those who have died as martyrs, and to bring peace to our world,” she said. 

The event included dozens of attendees and speakers such as Sean Nelson, ADF International senior counsel; Rep. Riley Moore, R-West Virginia; Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey; Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri; and conservative political commentator and practicing Catholic Jack Posobiec. 

Topics included a recent surge of political violence. Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk was killed in Utah on Sept. 10. In June, catechist Melissa Hortman, the former Minnesota Democratic House speaker, and her husband, Mark Hortman, were murdered. 

During a fireside chat with Schlapp, Posobiec said that while he is proud of the work that has been done to raise awareness of persecution abroad, “it’s coming here to the United States.” 

A Minneapolis Annunciation School shooting left two students dead on Aug. 27.

“The shooting of the children in Minneapolis at [Annunciation Catholic School], which happened just two weeks to the day before the murder of Charlie Kirk, was an anti-Christian act of persecution,” Posobiec said.

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 30, 2025 / 17:31 pm (CNA).

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) launched an initiative to combat Christian persecution domestically and abroad, a subject at the heart of its latest summit in Washington, D.C. 

CPAC hosted a Summit on Ending Christian Persecution at the Kennedy Center on Oct. 30 as a part of its wider effort to collaborate with its coalition partners to raise awareness and identify policy solutions to religious targeting of Christians.

“As Catholics, we are all called to help those most in need, those who are facing persecution here and across the globe,” Mercedes Schlapp, CPAC senior fellow, told CNA. “CPAC and our coalition partners have made it a priority to start the CPAC Center for Faith and Liberty, committed to finding policy solutions, working with national and international leaders to bring awareness to the atrocities that we are seeing against our Christian brothers,” said Schlapp, who helped moderate the event.

“We hope to continue in this fight and really provide protection and solutions to those persecuted Christians, to those who have died as martyrs, and to bring peace to our world,” she said. 

The event included dozens of attendees and speakers such as Sean Nelson, ADF International senior counsel; Rep. Riley Moore, R-West Virginia; Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey; Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri; and conservative political commentator and practicing Catholic Jack Posobiec. 

Topics included a recent surge of political violence. Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk was killed in Utah on Sept. 10. In June, catechist Melissa Hortman, the former Minnesota Democratic House speaker, and her husband, Mark Hortman, were murdered. 

During a fireside chat with Schlapp, Posobiec said that while he is proud of the work that has been done to raise awareness of persecution abroad, “it’s coming here to the United States.” 

A Minneapolis Annunciation School shooting left two students dead on Aug. 27.

“The shooting of the children in Minneapolis at [Annunciation Catholic School], which happened just two weeks to the day before the murder of Charlie Kirk, was an anti-Christian act of persecution,” Posobiec said.

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 30, 2025 / 16:50 pm (CNA).

On the occasion of the centenary of the Secular Institute of the Sisters of Mary of Schoenstatt, Germany, Pope Leo XIV has granted a plenary indulgence to anyone who visits the original Schoenstatt shrine or any shrine, church, or chapel under the care of this community.

The indulgence can be obtained throughout the community’s jubilee, which began on Oct. 1 and will conclude on Nov. 4, 2026.

“For our community, this gift of indulgence in our jubilee year is an invitation from God, through the Church, for a deeper purification of our hearts,” the Schoenstatt Movement said on its website, adding: “We trust that God’s grace will sustain us in a more perceptible way at the beginning of a new era for our family.”

The decree from the Apostolic Penitentiary of the Holy See states that the indulgence is granted “to members of the institute and to all the faithful who, moved by repentance and love, unite themselves to the spiritual goals of the Jubilee Year 2025.”

The faithful are invited to make a pilgrimage to one of the aforementioned places and spend time there in contemplation.

To obtain the indulgence, which can also be obtained on behalf of a deceased person, the following conditions must be met: sacramental confession, reception of the Eucharist, prayer for the pope’s intentions — according to the decree, the Our Father, the Creed, the invocation of Mary, Mother of God, as Queen of Peace and Mother of Mercy — and performing an act of penance and a work of charity.

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

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 30, 2025 / 16:50 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV has granted a plenary indulgence to anyone who visits the original Schoenstatt shrine or any shrine, church, or chapel under the sisters’ care.

Vatican City, Oct 30, 2025 / 16:20 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Thursday urged young people to cultivate their “interior life” and to listen to their restlessness without “fleeing from it” or “filling it” with things that don’t satisfy, lest they fall into existential emptiness.

“Having a great deal of knowledge is not enough if we do not know who we are or what the meaning of life is,” the pope told the hundreds of university students he received Oct. 30 in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican for an event held as part of the Jubilee of the World of Education.

In his message, he invited the students to rediscover the inner dimension of life and pointed out that “without silence, without listening, without prayer, even the light of the stars goes out.”

“We can know a great deal about the world and still ignore our own hearts,” he noted, while encouraging the students to constantly strive “toward the heights,” being “the beacon of hope in the dark hours of history.”

Leo XIV acknowledged that many young people experience a sense of emptiness or inner restlessness and emphasized that this disorientation is not solely due to personal reasons.

“In the most serious cases, we see episodes of distress, violence, bullying, and oppression — even young people who isolate themselves and no longer want to relate to others,” the pope observed. In his view, these deep wounds are “the reflection of “a void created by a society that has forgotten how to form the spiritual dimension of the human person, focusing only on the technical, social, or moral aspects of life.”

The pope was especially approachable and relaxed with the young people, with whom he shared several spontaneous moments. He introduced himself to them twice as a “former math and physics teacher,” recalling his teaching past, and even joked with them: “Perhaps you have a math exam soon?” he asked, going off script and eliciting laughter and applause.

The pope affirmed that a life that remains “stifled by fleeting pleasures will never satisfy us.” Instead, he asked each person to say in his or her heart: “I dream of more, Lord, I long for something greater, inspire me!”

“This desire is your strength and expresses well the commitment of young people who envision a better society and refuse to be mere spectators,” he emphasized after noting that the “desire for the infinite” is the compass they should use.

Instead of looking at your phone, ‘look to the sky, to the heights’

He urged the university students to not be satisfied “with appearances or fads” and instead of “being fixated on your smartphones, to look to the sky, to the heights.”

“How wonderful it would be if one day your generation were remembered as the ‘generation plus,’ remembered for the extra drive you brought to the Church and the world,” he exclaimed.

During his address, Pope Leo cited as role models St. Pier Giorgio Frassati, who had “the courage to live life to the fullest” and “to the heights,” and St. Carlo Acutis, “who did not become a slave to the internet but rather used it skillfully for good.” The pontiff canonized these two young saints together on Sept. 7.

The pope also cited St. Augustine as an example, describing him as “brilliant but deeply unsatisfied” because he found “neither truth nor peace until he discovered God in his own heart.”

The Holy Father focused much of his address on the challenges posed by the digital world and the development of artificial intelligence, urging that these areas not become “a cage where you lock yourselves in” nor “an addiction or an escape.”

“You live in [digital education] and that’s not a bad thing; there are enormous opportunities for study and communication. But don’t let the algorithm write your story! Be the authors: Use technology wisely, but don’t let technology use you,” he urged.

‘It is not enough to silence weapons, we must disarm hearts’

Leo XIV emphasized the urgency of a “disarmed and disarming education” that forms new generations in respect, justice, and equality.

“You can see how much our future is threatened by war and hatred, which divide people. Can this future be changed? Certainly! How? With an education for peace that is disarmed and disarming,” the pope said. Furthermore, he warned that it is not enough to “silence the weapons,” but rather “we must disarm hearts, renouncing all violence and vulgarity.”

As in his recent document on education, “Drawing New Maps of Hope,” Leo XIV called for avoiding all forms of exclusion or privilege in education, “recognizing the equal dignity of every young person, without ever dividing young people between the privileged few who have access to expensive schools and the many who do not have access to education.”

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

Vatican City, Oct 30, 2025 / 16:20 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Thursday urged young people to cultivate their “interior life” and to listen to their restlessness without “fleeing from it” or “filling it” with things that don’t satisfy, lest they fall into existential emptiness.

“Having a great deal of knowledge is not enough if we do not know who we are or what the meaning of life is,” the pope told the hundreds of university students he received Oct. 30 in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican for an event held as part of the Jubilee of the World of Education.

In his message, he invited the students to rediscover the inner dimension of life and pointed out that “without silence, without listening, without prayer, even the light of the stars goes out.”

“We can know a great deal about the world and still ignore our own hearts,” he noted, while encouraging the students to constantly strive “toward the heights,” being “the beacon of hope in the dark hours of history.”

Leo XIV acknowledged that many young people experience a sense of emptiness or inner restlessness and emphasized that this disorientation is not solely due to personal reasons.

“In the most serious cases, we see episodes of distress, violence, bullying, and oppression — even young people who isolate themselves and no longer want to relate to others,” the pope observed. In his view, these deep wounds are “the reflection of “a void created by a society that has forgotten how to form the spiritual dimension of the human person, focusing only on the technical, social, or moral aspects of life.”

The pope was especially approachable and relaxed with the young people, with whom he shared several spontaneous moments. He introduced himself to them twice as a “former math and physics teacher,” recalling his teaching past, and even joked with them: “Perhaps you have a math exam soon?” he asked, going off script and eliciting laughter and applause.

The pope affirmed that a life that remains “stifled by fleeting pleasures will never satisfy us.” Instead, he asked each person to say in his or her heart: “I dream of more, Lord, I long for something greater, inspire me!”

“This desire is your strength and expresses well the commitment of young people who envision a better society and refuse to be mere spectators,” he emphasized after noting that the “desire for the infinite” is the compass they should use.

Instead of looking at your phone, ‘look to the sky, to the heights’

He urged the university students to not be satisfied “with appearances or fads” and instead of “being fixated on your smartphones, to look to the sky, to the heights.”

“How wonderful it would be if one day your generation were remembered as the ‘generation plus,’ remembered for the extra drive you brought to the Church and the world,” he exclaimed.

During his address, Pope Leo cited as role models St. Pier Giorgio Frassati, who had “the courage to live life to the fullest” and “to the heights,” and St. Carlo Acutis, “who did not become a slave to the internet but rather used it skillfully for good.” The pontiff canonized these two young saints together on Sept. 7.

The pope also cited St. Augustine as an example, describing him as “brilliant but deeply unsatisfied” because he found “neither truth nor peace until he discovered God in his own heart.”

The Holy Father focused much of his address on the challenges posed by the digital world and the development of artificial intelligence, urging that these areas not become “a cage where you lock yourselves in” nor “an addiction or an escape.”

“You live in [digital education] and that’s not a bad thing; there are enormous opportunities for study and communication. But don’t let the algorithm write your story! Be the authors: Use technology wisely, but don’t let technology use you,” he urged.

‘It is not enough to silence weapons, we must disarm hearts’

Leo XIV emphasized the urgency of a “disarmed and disarming education” that forms new generations in respect, justice, and equality.

“You can see how much our future is threatened by war and hatred, which divide people. Can this future be changed? Certainly! How? With an education for peace that is disarmed and disarming,” the pope said. Furthermore, he warned that it is not enough to “silence the weapons,” but rather “we must disarm hearts, renouncing all violence and vulgarity.”

As in his recent document on education, “Drawing New Maps of Hope,” Leo XIV called for avoiding all forms of exclusion or privilege in education, “recognizing the equal dignity of every young person, without ever dividing young people between the privileged few who have access to expensive schools and the many who do not have access to education.”

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

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 30, 2025 / 15:40 pm (CNA).

Catholic teenagers and faithful across the country have started signing up to hear Pope Leo XIV’s first-ever digital address to American Catholic youth during the 2025 National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC).

Pope Leo will hold a 45-minute digital dialogue with young people from across the United States during the Nov. 20–22 NCYC in Indianapolis, hosted by the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry (NFCYM). The pope will speak at 10:15 a.m. ET on Nov. 21.

This marks the first time in history that a pope will directly engage with U.S. youth in a live digital encounter. The experience will connect the Holy Father at the Vatican with thousands of people gathered in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and others watching online through a partnership with EWTN, the exclusive multi-cast provider.

People with tickets for the NCYC can watch the broadcast in person, but others across the world are able to join online from homes, schools, and parishes. Registration for the online digital talk is free and open to everyone.

Those who register for the experience will receive an exclusive invitation to a digital pre-event on Nov. 11, broadcast and livestream information from EWTN, and first access to digital follow-up resource kits for teens, parents, and ministry leaders.

The NCYC predicted the Holy Father would address as many as 15,000 registered people ages 14–18 from across the nation. A select number of teenagers will be chosen to converse directly with the Holy Father during the session.

EWTN announced in August that it will serve as the media partner for the three-day event, providing news coverage, broadcast, and digital streaming.

The talk is set to take place on the second day of the NCYC, which will gather Catholic youth, ministry leaders, clergy, and volunteers from across the country for prayer, formation, community, and celebration.

Aside from the encounter with Pope Leo, conference attendees will participate in Mass and adoration, and hear music from award-winning artists. NCYC reported it added additional tickets for the conference following an abundance of registrations.