A view of the damage to the Holy Family church in Gaza City following an Israeli strike on the church, in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on July 17, 2025. / Credit: OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty Images

ACI MENA, Jul 17, 2025 / 09:12 am (CNA).

The Holy Family Church in Gaza was struck by an Israeli attack on Thursday, with the strike resulting in casualties and injuries among civilians present at the historic church. The pastor of the parish, Father Gabriel Romanelli, was also injured.

The direct strike killed three people — Saad Issa Kostandi Salameh and Foumia Issa Latif Ayyad, confirmed by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem a few hours after the attack. A third person, Najwa Abu Daoud, succombed to her injuries a few hours later.

The patriarchate stressed that it was praying for the repose of the souls of the dead and for an end to what it called this “barbaric war.” 

According to press reports, several other civilians sustained moderate to severe injuries, while the parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli, was wounded by shrapnel in his leg.  

His condition was described as mild, and he later returned to check on the wounded. According to church sources in Gaza, 14 people were injured in the attack.

In its initial statement earlier in the day, the patriarchate said: “The church was attacked this morning, causing injuries among those inside, including the parish priest.” 

In Rome, the Vatican issued a statement signed by Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin expressing Pope Leo XIV’s profound sorrow upon learning that lives were lost and others injured.  

The Holy Father conveyed his spiritual closeness to Romanelli and the parish community, renewing his call for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and expressing his desire for dialogue, reconciliation, and lasting peace in the region. 

While the Israel Defense Forces said they were investigating the incident, the spokesperson for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Oren Marmorstein, expressed his country’s “deep regret over the damage to the Holy Family Church in Gaza City and over any civilian casualties.”  

He added that the circumstances of the incident remain unclear and that the results of the investigation would be published transparently. 

The Holy Family Church is considered the last Christian refuge in Gaza, where dozens of families have been sheltering since the outbreak of the war in October 2023. The church also suffered partial damage in July 2024, when its surroundings were shelled, an incident that at the time drew condemnation from church leaders in the Holy Land. 

This story was updated at 2:20 p.m. July 17 to reflect the latest reports of deaths from the attack.

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

Library in Starfield Shopping Mall, Suwon, South Korea. / Credit: Jpbarrass, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 17, 2025 / 07:30 am (CNA).

“I believe that artificial intelligence will become an essential technology for preaching or pastoral care of the faithful,” said Fr. Ignazio Son Chang-hyun, one of the priests who participated in a recent innovative training organized by the Diocese of Suwon, South Korea.

According to Asia News, earlier this month the South Korean diocese brought together priests from the cities of Suwon, Daegu, and Masan to learn about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in parish life.

Unlike other meetings focused on ethics, this training sought to explore the practical opportunities that AI offers for evangelization and care of the faithful.

“Since it is a hot topic at the moment and its areas of application are expanding, we have prepared training for priests to learn skills that can be used in the pastoral field,” explained Father Lee Cheol-gu, director of the Office of Social Communications of the Diocese of Suwon, the event's sponsor.

During the event, held in collaboration with a company specializing in AI literacy, priests learned how to use tools such as ChatGPT and other generative platforms to create images, presentations, videos, and even background music for their parish activities. They also experimented with a chatbot that can automatically take meeting minutes.

For Father Son Chang-hyun, this technology can not only assist with administrative tasks, but could go further in its application. “I think that if we could better understand the trends and moods of the faithful, which change from place to place, through data analysis, we could get closer to them in pastoral terms,” he said.

Father Bartolomeo Choi Jae-yong, another participant, emphasized the importance of integrating faith and science: “I believe that religion and science must be well harmonized in order for God's new work to be accomplished.”

Speaking with Asia News, he added that religion "must actively learn and understand science and technology in order to prevent abuses related to their use.”

Another goal of this initiative is to build bridges between the Church and technology companies, in order to improve the content of tools that use AI.

“I have noticed that Catholic and Protestant terminology are often confused and that there is a lot of misinformation about the saints. I therefore thought it necessary for the Church to collaborate with companies to improve these aspects,” said Father Leone Lee Jae-geun, deputy director of the Office of Social Communications.

In a country like South Korea, a world leader in technology, the local Church has taken this significant step to evangelize in the digital world as well. According to the participating priests, this experience could become a model for other dioceses around the world seeking to integrate technological innovation in the service of the Gospel.

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

The world is facing record-breaking temperatures year after year, and an increase in climate-related catastrophes. Since scientists have made it abundantly clear that this crisis is the result of human actions, denial is not a morally responsible option. We must accept that how we live, consume, and govern has everything to do with the state […]

The post Korean spirituality gives new insights into environmental justice appeared first on U.S. Catholic.

Bishop Kevin Doran of Elphin, chairman of the Irish bishops’ Council for Life (far left), and Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, primate of all Ireland (second from left), stand with young pro-life activists at the 2024 Ireland March for Life in Dublin on May 6, 2024. / Credit: Courtesy of Pro Life Campaign

Dublin, Ireland, Jul 17, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

One in 6 unborn children’s lives now end in abortion in the Republic of Ireland.

Bishop Kevin Doran of Elphin, chairman of the Irish bishops’ Council for Life (far left), and Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, primate of all Ireland (second from left), stand with young pro-life activists at the 2024 Ireland March for Life in Dublin on May 6, 2024. / Credit: Courtesy of Pro Life Campaign

Dublin, Ireland, Jul 17, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

One in 6 unborn children’s lives now end in abortion in the Republic of Ireland, according to the Irish Department of Health statistics, which reports 10,852 abortions in 2024 — the highest number on record since the law changed in 2019 following the 2018 referendum.

Pro Life Campaign spokesperson Eilís Mulroy speaking to CNA said: “That’s a truly horrifying figure, and it’s the opposite of what senior politicians promised the public would happen if they voted for repeal in 2018,” she added.

During the 2018 referendum, pro-life voices warned that abortion numbers would increase dramatically if access to abortion were widened. Mulroy pointed out that 10,852 abortions in 2024 represent a 280% increase from the 2,879 Irish abortions that happened in 2018, the year before the law changed.

Mulroy said the Pro Life Campaign and other groups have asked for a meeting with the minister for health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, to discuss the shocking new figures.

“I personally know politicians, TDs [a Teachta Dálaa is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish Parliament, the Oireachtas], and senators who would have been people who campaigned back in 2018 for a yes vote, who would have been encouraging other people to vote yes at that time for different reasons, who now feel it’s gone too far and are appalled at the figures,” Mulroy said.

During the lead-up to the 2018 referendum vote to widen access to abortion, pro-life campaigners pointed out that in Britain at that time, 1 in 5 pregnancies ended in abortion. 

“Members of the media in Ireland were accusing the pro-life side of scaremongering, and were trying to disprove those figures, and saying that that was never going to happen in Ireland,” Mulroy said. 

“We have nearly caught up with that figure — we’re now at 1 in 6 babies’ lives ending in abortion,” she said. “And Britain, just this last week, released its latest figures, and they’re nearly at 1 in 3 pregnancies ending in abortion. So once you introduce abortion, once you change the law, over time, abortion rates grow, and if there was any doubt about that, there’s no doubt anymore.”

She added: “Even if one accepts at face value the highly debatable claim by abortion advocates that an additional 1,000 illegal abortion pills were purchased annually before the law was repealed, the post-2018 surge in abortions is still staggering. Over 98% of all abortions in Ireland in 2024 were during early pregnancy up to 12 weeks.” 

Speaking to CNA, David Quinn of the Iona Institute highlighted the messaging used by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and the Irish government at the time of the 2018 referendum. In announcing the referendum, Varadkar had said he was speaking “as Taoiseach, as a medical doctor, and as a former minister for health.”

“Leo Varadkar, when he announced the referendum in early 2018, said abortion would be ‘safe, legal, and rare,’ which clearly is not the case,” Quinn said. “... So would Leo Varadkar consider 11,000 rare? They were spinning a line about it being rare that was convenient to them, and it was convenient to those who voted yes to believe it as well.”

At the time of the 2018 abortion referendum in Ireland, Quinn said many people were led to believe that the subsequent legislation introduced would limit access to abortion. He wondered if the electorate realized the implications of voting yes.

“If they had looked into a crystal ball and seen that it would go above 11,000 or 1 in 6 pregnancies ending this way, would that have given them pause? Would they have realized the law is not half as restrictive as we were led to believe?”

He added: “It was sold to the voters on the hard cases — like the baby is going to die soon after birth. And there was very little focus on the fact that the vast majority of babies aborted will be the healthy children of healthy women. That was barely spoken about. I mean, our pro-life side tried to raise it, but the pro-choice circles and the government very successfully kept the conversation about the hard cases and weren’t telling people that 90% of abortions would take place before 12 weeks.”

Mulroy is pressing for intervention by the minister for health and shared concerns about what people’s expectations were in 2018. 

“We spend a lot of time talking to politicians — even [those] who might not necessarily be coming from a pro-life perspective, but who might share common ground on some of the issues associated with the abortion question. For example the need for more positive alternatives for women in unplanned pregnancy.”

Mulroy said that it is politicians who have “responsibility in the area of public policy.” 

“We’re talking about human lives here,” she said. “It’s not just like any other area of health care, where we’re trying to reduce waiting lists or other things. This is not health care. This is the ending of human lives, and that’s why we are really pushing for a meeting with the minister for health to discuss these figures and really allow us to discuss what’s happened under the abortion law, rather than this polarized situation where the pro-life voice is not allowed at all be at the decision-making table, which has happened in the Irish government in recent years.”

Mulroy does see some small signs of hope in the current Irish government.

“I would see a lot of positives there — the makeup of the current government. This government is supported by a number of independents, and some of those independents are very pro-life.”

She said she thinks Ireland will “hopefully see in the lifetime of this government” some incremental changes, “even if the only focus is to ensure that women in unplanned pregnancy have all of the information they need to parent.”

“Right now, when you ring the government-funded helpline to say that you are in an unplanned pregnancy, you really are only getting one piece of information, and that’s about where the nearest abortion-performing doctor is,” she said.

She added: “No matter what side of the fence you’re on… everyone should be united in and agree that women who are in unplanned pregnancy should get all of that information, and I think that would have an impact on the abortion numbers.”

Quinn is concerned that the issue of abortion numbers is simply not getting enough attention in the mainstream media. 

“It’s not getting enough publicity; it’s not being discussed. Actually, very few people know about it outside pro-life circles. Nobody … on air has been asked, ‘Well, do you think 11,000 is rare? You said it would be rare. So what’s going on?’ Mainly, there’s a conspiracy of silence. It is quite hard to break through the conspiracy of silence. But we’ve just got to keep trying.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- After an early morning attack on the Holy Family Church in Gaza, Pope Leo XIV called for an immediate ceasefire, dialogue and peace in the region.

With Israeli tanks shelling multiple targets in Gaza, witnesses claimed the strike July 17 came from Israeli artillery shells. The Israeli military said in a statement it was aware of the reports of damage and casualties at the church, and that "the circumstances of the incident are under review."

More than 500 men, women and children had been sheltering at the church, including about 50 people with disabilities and ill children cared for by the Missionaries of Charity. It is the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip.

The early morning raid on the church left three people dead and nine injured, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem told ANSA, the Italian news agency.

Among the wounded were those who were seriously injured, those in stable condition and some with light injuries, the patriarchate said.

Among those hurt was the parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli, an Argentine of Italian descent whom Pope Francis would call regularly. News photos show the priest sitting with a white bandage wrapped around his right calf at the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City.

A telegram sent by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, on behalf of the pope, stated, "His Holiness Pope Leo XIV was deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and injury caused by the military attack on the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza, and he assures the parish priest, Father Gabriele Romanelli, and the whole parish community of his spiritual closeness."

"In commending the souls of the deceased to the loving mercy of Almighty God, the Holy Father prays for the consolation of those who grieve and for the recovery of the injured," the cardinal wrote.

"His Holiness renews his call for an immediate ceasefire, and he expresses his profound hope for dialogue, reconciliation and enduring peace in the region," he wrote. 

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, told Vatican News, "We still have partial information, because communication with Gaza is not very easy, especially today."

He confirmed that several were wounded, some seriously. "They say it was a mistake by an Israeli tank, but we don't know. It hit the church, directly at the church," he said.

Speaking to Vatican News July 12, Father Romanelli said almost everyone in the area beyond the church compound had left. "All around us, there is only death and destruction."

"Day and night, we are accompanied by the sound of bombs falling even a few hundred meters from the parish. It is absurd, but now, after 21 months, these horrendous sounds of explosions have become an ordinary part of daily life," he had said.

The Israeli Defense Forces' offensive in the Gaza Strip came after the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks by Hamas and other jihadist groups operating from the territory.

Speaking to Aid to the Church in Need in mid-July, Father Romanelli underlined that the situation in Gaza was "very, very serious."

"Another day of war -- another hour of war -- continues to complicate the lives of tens and hundreds of thousands of people," he said, urging the world's faithful to pray and support those affected.

"We ask you to continue helping us -- to pray a lot, and to encourage others to pray," he said. "To seek peace and justice by all means, and also to lend a hand to these poor people."

Father Romanelli told Vatican News July 12 that there had been a little more than 1,000 Christians in Gaza before the Oct. 7 attack. About 300 managed to get out of the strip when the Rafah crossing with Egypt was still open, he said.

At least 16 Christians were killed in a raid that hit the Orthodox Patriarchate's St. Porphyry Church in October 2023, Aid to the Church in Need said. An elderly Christian was killed in November 2023, and a month later, a mother and daughter were killed just outside the church when an IDF sniper fired on the grounds of the Holy Family Church.

WASHINGTON – Reacting to the military strike of Holy Family Church in Gaza this morning, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops joined the prayers of Pope Leo XIV for those killed and to those injured and emphasized the need for immediate ceasefire and dialogue for peace.

“With the Holy Father, the Catholic bishops of the United States are deeply saddened to learn about the deaths and injuries at Holy Family Church in Gaza caused by a military strike. Our first concern, naturally, goes out to Father Gabriele Romanelli and all his parishioners, most especially to the families of those killed. Our prayers are for them during these tragic times. With the Holy Father, we also continue to pray and advocate for dialogue and an immediate ceasefire. Yesterday was the memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, through her intercession, may there be peace in Gaza.”

### 

Heads of churches in Jerusalem visited the town of Taybeh in Ramallah on July 14, 2025. / Credit: Sand Sahiliya

ACI MENA, Jul 16, 2025 / 18:01 pm (CNA).

Church leaders in Jerusalem say they hold Israeli authorities responsible for “facilitating and enabling” settler attacks, warning that police silence in the face of emergency calls constitutes a form of complicity.

On Monday, the heads of churches visited the predominantly Christian town of Taybeh, east of Ramallah. The delegation was led by Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III, joined by diplomats representing more than 20 countries. U.S. representatives canceled their participation at the last minute without explanation.

The visit carried a serious warning about the escalating threat to one of the oldest Christian communities in the Holy Land. Both church leaders and diplomats called for accountability for Israeli settlers and an end to the threats targeting a deeply rooted Christian community in the region.

Speaking on behalf of the church leaders, Theophilos III said: “We appeal to the conscience of the entire world, imploring its prayers, attention, and action, especially from our fellow Christians around the globe. The Church has maintained its faithful presence in this land for nearly 2,000 years, and we categorically reject these exclusionary messages.”

For his part, Cardinal Pizzaballa remarked: “Sadly, the temptation to emigrate remains because of the current situation.” He described the West Bank as an area “outside the rule of law,” adding: “The only law that applies here is the law of force,  the law of whoever holds power, not true law. We must work to restore the presence of law to this part of the country, so that everyone can rely on it to guarantee and enforce their rights.”

The churches demanded a transparent investigation, accountability for the perpetrators, and the dismantling of settlement outposts threatening local lands. They also called for international action to ensure Christians can remain on their land.

Among other incidents, on July 7, settlers set fire near the historic St. George (al-Khader) cemetery. Locals managed to contain the blaze before it reached the church, but the message was clear: “You have no future here” was written on a sign later placed near the site.  

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

Shushu, with her husband Josemi and their son Emmanuel during JEMJ at the Covadonga shrine. / Credit: Almudena Martínez-Bordiú/EWTN News

Vatican City, Jul 16, 2025 / 17:15 pm (CNA).

Originally from China, Shushu arrived in Spain in 2016 at just 23 years of age with the sole purpose of studying the history of the Spanish language. What she didn't imagine was that she would have a transformative encounter with Christ Crucified, which would lead her to embrace the Catholic faith.

"We have no merit; it's all because the Lord guides us. His mercy is immense," said Shushu in an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, at the shrine of Our Lady of Covadonga in Spain.

The young Chinese mother was there with her husband Josemi and son, Emmanuel, to share the testimony of her conversion from atheism to Catholicism before thousands of young people gathered July 4 for the opening of the Marian Eucharistic Youth Day (JEMJ, by its Spanish acronym).

It all began on Oct. 31, in the city of Alcalá de Henares. Shushu had only been in Spain for a month and had attended a Halloween party, drawn by curiosity and the festive atmosphere. However, the grotesque zombie costumes, the clatter of chains dragging along the floor, and the shrill, mournful music disturbed her.

Restless and overwhelmed in her heart, she decided to leave and walk in no particular direction until she came upon the imposing Sts. Justus and Pastor Cathedral, where she began to hear almost heavenly music that contrasted drastically with the uneasiness she had just experienced.

Drawn by that melody, she decided to enter the church, and it was then that her eyes fell upon an image of Christ Crucified. She stood there transfixed, and the encounter marked a turning point in her life. "There was a very large cross, and I saw Jesus there, and it had a great impact on me," she told ACI Prensa.

She related that her childhood was spent in a profoundly atheistic environment, typical of communist China, where neither her family nor her closest friends believed in or spoke of God.

Despite this, when she looked at the cross, she thought: "There is a person on the cross. And by supernatural intuition, I thought it was God, that God himself was on the cross, and it couldn't be anyone else," she said.

The priest looked at her like a father

Overwhelmed by a sense of peace, she decided to approach a confessional to speak with a priest, unsure of what the Sacrament of Reconciliation consisted of.

When she finished speaking, she thanked the priest for listening to her, and as she was about to leave, the priest opened the screen in the confessional: “And he looked at me with a very special look,” Shushu recounted during the testimony she shared at the JEMJ.

She said the priest looked at her like a father would and that gave her “a lot of confidence.” She had the feeling that he had been waiting for her for a long time, and he was the one who introduced her to the Servants of the Home of the Mother, who would become her new “Spanish family.”

“I didn't know anything; I'd never seen a nun in my life,” Shushu recalled with humor and a certain aplomb. She commented that the nun’s  “angelic” happiness caught her attention: “I'd never seen someone so happy, so joyful, so young. I decided to convert after meeting the nuns,” she recounted.

‘I wanted to be a daughter of God’

At one point one of the nuns took her hand and asked, “Do you want to be baptized?” To which she replied, “What does it mean to be baptized?”

“She told me that being baptized means ‘being a daughter of God, like us.’ At that moment, I didn't understand anything, nor did I know why a Chinese woman could be a daughter of God or why God is my Father,” she explained.

However, the happiness emanating from the faces of the nuns at the Home of the Mother convinced her. “It was as if I felt this calling in my heart: I wanted to be baptized too, I wanted to be like them, a daughter of God.” Finally, she was baptized with the name Shushu María.

Her path to conversion was not easy, marked by the difficulties inherent in growing up in a deeply atheistic environment.

However, she managed to move forward thanks to the close guidance and witness of the sisters, whose support was key in her being able to open her heart to the faith.

"I was baptized in the same church where I first entered, and I was also married there," she said, in front of the crucifix where she had first encountered Jesus Christ.

Today, at 32, she stated with conviction that Spain is her “spiritual homeland” and the place where she was baptized and began “a new life.”

She also felt extremely grateful to be able to share her testimony at the shrine in Covadonga, “the heart of Spain and a very important place in its history.”

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

Shushu, with her husband Josemi and their son Emmanuel during JEMJ at the Covadonga shrine. / Credit: Almudena Martínez-Bordiú/EWTN News

Vatican City, Jul 16, 2025 / 17:15 pm (CNA).

A young Chinese mother shares the testimony of her conversion from atheism to Catholicism.