The Muñoz family gives Pope Leo XIV a T-shirt that reads “Da Pope” after Mass in Albano, Italy, on Sunday, July 20, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Jul 21, 2025 / 14:06 pm (CNA).

A Chicago family vacationing in Rome is making headlines after a video of their encounter with Pope Leo XIV on Sunday went viral.

Marcel and Ann Muñoz, along with their three children, met the pope after Mass on July 20 at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Pancras in Albano, a town about 16 miles south of Rome, and gifted him a T-shirt that reads “Da Pope,” — in reference to “Da Bears,” which stems from the old “Superfans” sketches on “Saturday Night Live.”

The Muñoz family were also wearing the custom T-shirts, which were, of course, in Bears colors — navy blue with white text and orange lines.

“He turned left, and he just kind of beelined towards us, so whatever it is, it’s like everyone else is, you know, very nicely dressed for a summer Mass except us — so we did kind of stick out,” Marcel Muñoz said, according to CBS News. “But you know, it’s one of those things where it’s like: ‘Hey, you’re going to be here once. Hopefully, you can catch his attention.’”

“How many people get this opportunity to be in front of the pope, to have his attention, to hold his hand? I kissed his ring, and you know, it’s such — you feel blessed,” Ann Muñoz said.

The family drove 45 minutes to Albano where the Holy Father was celebrating Mass at the cathedral near his vacation home at Castel Gandolfo. 

On Ann’s facebook page, she wrote: “We were late and just stood at the edge before a barricade was up. Then we planted ourselves in the hot sun until Mass was over. We watched it on a screen outside and even received Communion.”

“We were just hoping to catch a glimpse,” she added.

The Muñoz family are Chicago Bears season-ticket holders and said they hope the event kick-starts a winning season for the professional football team.

The Muñoz family gives Pope Leo XIV a T-shirt that reads “Da Pope” after Mass in Albano, Italy, on Sunday, July 20, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Jul 21, 2025 / 14:06 pm (CNA).

Marcel and Ann Muñoz, along with their three children, met Pope Leo XIV after Mass on July 20 at the Cathedral of Albano and gifted him a shirt that reads “Da Pope.”

Over 200 Christians were murdered by Islamist militants in Nigeria on June, 13, 2025. / Credit: Red Confidential/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Jul 21, 2025 / 13:14 pm (CNA).

A joint resolution introduced last week by Rep. Riley Moore, R-West Virginia, and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, condemns the persecution of Christians in Muslim-majority countries worldwide.

Introduced on July 17, the resolution follows a speech delivered by Moore in April on the House floor, where he addressed the “rampant violence and martyrdom” endured by Christians worldwide for “proclaiming their faith in Jesus Christ.”

“Around the world, our brothers and sisters in Christ face rampant persecution for simply acknowledging the name of Jesus. That is unacceptable,” he said.

The measure calls on the Trump administration to leverage diplomatic tools, including trade and security negotiations, to advocate for religious freedom.

The resolution cites data from the 2025 World Watch List by Open Doors, which estimates that over 380 million Christians worldwide face significant persecution and discrimination, including targeted killings, church closures, forced conversions, denial of worship rights, kidnappings, and displacement in Muslim-majority countries like Egypt, Nigeria, Iran, Pakistan, and Syria, among others.

In Nigeria, more Christians are killed each year than in all other countries combined, according to Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International. Islamist militants killed nearly 200 Christians in an attack in Nigeria’s Benue state in June.

“In Nigeria alone, more than 50,000 Christians have been martyred and more than 5 million have been displaced simply for professing their faith,” Moore said. “During a Divine Liturgy in Damascus last month, an Islamic jihadist opened fire on worshippers and detonated an explosive device — killing at least 30 and wounding dozens more. These examples illustrate the violence and death Christians face on a daily basis.”

“No one from any religious background should face persecution for their faith,” said Kelsey Zorzi, the director of global religious freedom at ADF International, which supports the resolution. “Yet year after year, Christians remain the most persecuted religious group worldwide, especially in many Muslim-majority countries. We applaud the resolution for recognizing this grave reality and urging U.S. action. When Christians are being killed, silenced, or driven underground, we cannot look the other way.” 

Moore also criticized past U.S. foreign policy. He cited the religiously-motivated violence in Iraq after America’s failure to stabilize the country after the 2003 invasion, stating: “Unfortunately, decades of U.S. foreign policy blunders have exacerbated this crisis.”

He then urged action, adding: “We as lawmakers cannot continue to sit idly by. I urge my colleagues to join me in condemning the persecution of Christians across the globe.”

Hawley, who introduced the same resolution in the U.S. Senate, echoed Moore’s call, emphasizing the foundational importance of religious liberty.

“Our country was founded on religious liberty. We cannot sit on the sidelines as Christians around the world are being persecuted for declaring Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior,” Hawley said, urging colleagues to join him in condemning the persecution of Christians around the world.

The resolution has garnered support from several lawmakers, with original cosponsors including Reps. Greg Steube, Michael Guest, Glenn Grothman, Addison McDowell, Brandon Gill, Pat Harrigan, and Anna Paulina Luna.

It is also endorsed by prominent organizations including Heritage Action for America, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, In Defense of Christians, Global Christian Relief, CatholicVote, Advancing American Freedom, Center for Urban Renewal and Education (CURE), Family Policy Alliance, Christians Engaged, and Save the Persecuted Christians.

Over 200 Christians were murdered by Islamist militants in Nigeria on June, 13, 2025. / Credit: Red Confidential/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Jul 21, 2025 / 13:14 pm (CNA).

A joint resolution introduced last week by Rep. Riley Moore, R-West Virginia, and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, condemns the persecution of Christians in Muslim-majority countries worldwide.

Introduced on July 17, the resolution follows a speech delivered by Moore in April on the House floor, where he addressed the “rampant violence and martyrdom” endured by Christians worldwide for “proclaiming their faith in Jesus Christ.”

“Around the world, our brothers and sisters in Christ face rampant persecution for simply acknowledging the name of Jesus. That is unacceptable,” he said.

The measure calls on the Trump administration to leverage diplomatic tools, including trade and security negotiations, to advocate for religious freedom.

The resolution cites data from the 2025 World Watch List by Open Doors, which estimates that over 380 million Christians worldwide face significant persecution and discrimination, including targeted killings, church closures, forced conversions, denial of worship rights, kidnappings, and displacement in Muslim-majority countries like Egypt, Nigeria, Iran, Pakistan, and Syria, among others.

In Nigeria, more Christians are killed each year than in all other countries combined, according to Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International. Islamist militants killed nearly 200 Christians in an attack in Nigeria’s Benue state in June.

“In Nigeria alone, more than 50,000 Christians have been martyred and more than 5 million have been displaced simply for professing their faith,” Moore said. “During a Divine Liturgy in Damascus last month, an Islamic jihadist opened fire on worshippers and detonated an explosive device — killing at least 30 and wounding dozens more. These examples illustrate the violence and death Christians face on a daily basis.”

“No one from any religious background should face persecution for their faith,” said Kelsey Zorzi, the director of global religious freedom at ADF International, which supports the resolution. “Yet year after year, Christians remain the most persecuted religious group worldwide, especially in many Muslim-majority countries. We applaud the resolution for recognizing this grave reality and urging U.S. action. When Christians are being killed, silenced, or driven underground, we cannot look the other way.” 

Moore also criticized past U.S. foreign policy. He cited the religiously-motivated violence in Iraq after America’s failure to stabilize the country after the 2003 invasion, stating: “Unfortunately, decades of U.S. foreign policy blunders have exacerbated this crisis.”

He then urged action, adding: “We as lawmakers cannot continue to sit idly by. I urge my colleagues to join me in condemning the persecution of Christians across the globe.”

Hawley, who introduced the same resolution in the U.S. Senate, echoed Moore’s call, emphasizing the foundational importance of religious liberty.

“Our country was founded on religious liberty. We cannot sit on the sidelines as Christians around the world are being persecuted for declaring Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior,” Hawley said, urging colleagues to join him in condemning the persecution of Christians around the world.

The resolution has garnered support from several lawmakers, with original cosponsors including Reps. Greg Steube, Michael Guest, Glenn Grothman, Addison McDowell, Brandon Gill, Pat Harrigan, and Anna Paulina Luna.

It is also endorsed by prominent organizations including Heritage Action for America, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, In Defense of Christians, Global Christian Relief, CatholicVote, Advancing American Freedom, Center for Urban Renewal and Education (CURE), Family Policy Alliance, Christians Engaged, and Save the Persecuted Christians.

Bishop Robert Barron speaks to tens of thousands of young people at a World Youth Day gathering in Lisbon, Portugal, Aug. 2, 2023. The event, hosted by the U.S. bishops’ conference, culminated in a Eucharistic procession and Holy Hour. / Credit: Nuria Chiccon/EWTN News

Vatican City, Jul 21, 2025 / 12:44 pm (CNA).

Bishop Robert Barron will deliver a keynote address to more than 3,500 young American pilgrims at a special event in Rome on July 30, part of the global Jubilee of Youth celebrations expected to draw more than 100,000 young people to the Eternal City.

The U.S. National Pilgrim Gathering at the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls is being organized by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and will include Eucharistic adoration, catechesis, and a procession with relics of 12 saints and blesseds significant to the American Church and Catholic youth.

Barron, the bishop of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, and chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth, will speak on what it means to be a missionary witness in today’s world.

Pilgrims will have the opportunity to walk through the basilica’s Holy Door, opened as part of the Catholic Church’s jubilee year observances, and to pray before the tomb of St. Paul.

Bishop Edward Burns of Dallas, who is the committee’s chairman-elect, will lead a Eucharistic Holy Hour during the three-hour evening event, which begins at 7 p.m. local time (1 p.m. ET). EWTN will broadcast the event and a livestream will also be available on the USCCB’s YouTube channel. U.S. dioceses are encouraging parishes to tune in with youth groups back home.

Barron, known for digital evangelization efforts through his Word on Fire media ministry, rose to prominence by leveraging online platforms like YouTube and Reddit to reach young Catholics and the religiously unaffiliated.

His keynote comes just one day after the close of the Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and Catholic Influencers, a parallel event in Rome featuring Jesuit Fathers David McCallum and Antonio Spadaro as speakers. Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle will also offer a Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica on July 29 for the young digital missionaries.

The Jubilee of Youth, running from July 28 to Aug. 3, includes a slate of spiritual and cultural events. Among them: a penitential day at Circus Maximus on Aug. 1, a massive prayer vigil at Tor Vergata on Aug. 2 led by Pope Leo XIV, and a closing Mass celebrated by the pope on Aug. 3.

Pilgrims will also be invited to participate in walking pilgrimages to sites linked to young saints, aided by digital maps on the EWTN Travel App. Stops include the tombs of St. Agnes, St. Cecilia, and St. Philip Neri, as well as relics that have been brought to the Eternal City for the jubilee, including the relics of Blessed Carlo Acutis, Blessed Ivan Merz, and the tomb of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati.

Other national groups are also marking the week with their own events. More than 1,000 South Korean pilgrims will gather for Mass at the Basilica of San Crisogono in Trastevere on July 31, celebrated by Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung, the archbishop emeritus of Seoul, with Auxiliary Bishop Paul Kyung-sang Lee of Seoul preaching the homily. The Archdiocese of Seoul will host the next World Youth Day with the pope in 2027.

The Canadian National Pilgrim Gathering will take place on July 29 at the Basilica of Sant’Andrea della Valle.

The Poong Jesus Nazareno Filipino Catholic Center in Anaheim, California, is a first-of-its-kind Filipino Catholic center set to open in Anaheim, California, on July 21, 2025, offering a new spiritual and cultural landmark for Filipino Catholics in America’s most populous state. / Credit: Ian Tran/Diocese of Orange

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 21, 2025 / 11:00 am (CNA).

A first-of-its-kind Filipino Catholic center is set to open in Anaheim, California, offering a new spiritual and cultural landmark for Filipino Catholics in America’s most populous state.

Bishop Kevin Vann of the Diocese of Orange is scheduled to bless the opening of the Poong Jesus Nazareno Filipino Catholic Center Monday evening, marking the launch of what the diocese says is the only such dedicated Filipino Catholic center operating in the United States.

“I feel blessed and excited that so many people are taking part in our mission to bring the people closer to Our Lord with Mary at the foot of the cross,” said Father Peter Lavin, a priest affiliated with the Philippines-based Alagad ni Maria (Disciples of Mary) institute who will serve as director of the center.

Alagad ni Maria currently has eight priests ministering in the Diocese of Orange, where they have been present since 2005 at the invitation of then-Bishop Tod Brown.

The center occupies a 1.4-acre site previously used by a Vietnamese-language congregation of the Southern Baptist Convention. It includes a 180-seat chapel where Mass will be offered in English and Tagalog as well as classrooms, offices, a music room, a fellowship hall, and a kitchen. Plans are also underway to build a rectory for priests on site.

According to a statement from the diocese, the center will provide the Filipino Catholic community in Southern California with a dedicated space for faith formation and cultural education. 

“Having the center will grant the local Filipino Catholic community dedicated spaces to engage in promoting education on their cultural heritage and traditions, including dance and song,” the diocese said in a press release.

While part of the Diocese of Orange, the Poong Jesus Nazareno Filipino Catholic Center will be owned and operated by Alagad ni Maria. Its primary mission will be to serve as a cultural and spiritual hub for the estimated 90,000 Filipino Catholics in the region.

Alagad ni Maria acquired the property for $5.2 million, raising $2.1 million from about 500 donors. Two individuals each contributed $500,000, and the Diocese of Orange assisted in securing the loan.

“For many years, it has been a heartfelt dream of the Filipino community here in the Diocese of Orange to have a center of their own — a sacred space where they can gather in faith, grow in spiritual fellowship, and pass on the richness of their heritage, language, and customs to future generations,” said Father Angelos Sebastian, vicar general and moderator of the curia for the Diocese of Orange. “The recent decision to guarantee the loan for the purchase of their property in Anaheim was a tangible expression of the diocese’s deep gratitude and esteem for their ongoing ministry and presence.”

“Bishop Kevin Vann, together with the entire Diocese of Orange, joins in celebrating this historic milestone: the opening of the only Filipino Catholic center in the country,” he continued. “With heartfelt joy, we offer our warmest congratulations, our prayers, and our full support as this long-cherished vision becomes a reality.”

The Poong Jesus Nazareno Filipino Catholic Center will be the sixth cultural center within the Diocese of Orange. The other five are a Polish center in Yorba Linda, a Vietnamese center in Santa Ana, and Korean centers in Irvine, Westminster, and Anaheim. 

The center will house an official replica of the Poong Jesus Nazareno statue. The original statue, brought from Mexico to Manila in 1606, has millions of devotees worldwide. 

The center will also serve as the U.S. headquarters for Alagad ni Maria, which has maintained a presence in the Diocese of Orange since 2005.

On July 18, a federal court blocked a law passed in Washington state that would have required clergy to report child abuse when shared in the confessional. Washington bishops had filed a lawsuit earlier this summer in Etienne v. Ferguson, claiming the law was “anti-Catholic” and violated religious liberty. “For centuries, Catholic faithful around the […]

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Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki. / Credit: Archdiocese of Cologne

CNA Newsroom, Jul 21, 2025 / 09:32 am (CNA).

The Archdiocese of Cologne has dismissed a canonical complaint filed against Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki by German abuse survivors to Pope Leo XIV.

Readings (Year C): Genesis 18:20 – 32Psalm 138:1 – 2, 2 – 3, 6 – 7, 7 – 8Colossians 2:12 – 14Luke 11:1 – 13 Reflection: God is not behind a locked door There’s a song I learned in kindergarten that has stayed with me through the years:“Determination is my motto, determination…” Back then, we […]

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Pope Leo XIV speaks by video call with Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin from Castel Gandolfo, Italy, on July 20, 2025. / Credit: Holy See Press Office

Rome Newsroom, Jul 21, 2025 / 06:30 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV marked the 56th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing with a video call to U.S. astronaut Buzz Aldrin and a visit to the Vatican Observatory, located on the papal estate of Castel Gandolfo, where he has been staying for two weeks.

According to the Vatican, the pontiff’s July 20 call with the 95-year-old Aldrin, the last surviving Apollo 11 crew member, included reminiscing on the historic 1969 landing and meditating together on the “mystery, greatness, and fragility” of God’s creation as described in Psalm 8.

Earlier in the day, Leo visited the Vatican’s internationally-recognized observatory, called the Specola Vaticana, where he was able to look through the astronomical center’s historic telescopes.

The Vatican Observatory has been located on the papal estate of Castel Gandolfo, around 18 miles southeast of Rome, since the 1930s, but the history of the institution dates to the 18th century. After several years of closure in the late 1800s, Leo’s predecessor, Pope Leo XIII, re-founded the observatory in 1891.

In 1993, the Vatican Observatory Research Group, which opened a second research center at the University of Arizona in Tucson in 1981, completed construction of the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope in Mount Graham, Arizona.

Pope Leo has been taking a break from the heat of Rome with a sojourn at the lakeside town of Castel Gandolfo, a revival of a tradition last observed by Pope Benedict XVI. The pontiff’s stay was originally expected to end July 20, but the Vatican announced Sunday that Leo had extended the two-week stay an additional two days, through July 22.

A pope close to science

On June 16, Pope Leo XIV, who holds a degree in mathematics from Villanova University, expressed his appreciation for astronomy when he received the participants of this year’s Vatican Observatory Summer School.

On that occasion, he asked the young scientists to never forget “that what they do is meant to benefit everyone.”

“Be generous in sharing what you learn and what you experience, to the best of your ability and in any way possible,” he added.

The pope also urged them not to hesitate to share “the joy and wonder born of your contemplation of the ‘seeds’ which, in the words of St. Augustine, God has sown in the harmony of the universe.”

The summer program, held every two years, brings together young astronomers from different countries. The most recent edition hosted 24 students from 22 nations under the theme “Exploring the Universe with the James Webb Space Telescope,” an instrument that has revolutionized astronomical observation since 2022.

During his meeting with astronomy students, Pope Leo highlighted the importance of the advances made by the telescope: “For the first time we can deeply observe the atmosphere of exoplanets where life may be developing and study the nebulae where the planetary systems themselves are forming” as well as trace “the ancient light of distant galaxies, which speaks of the very beginning of our universe.”