Zurich, Switzerland. / Credit: Gianfranco Vivi/Shutterstock

CNA Newsroom, Jul 22, 2025 / 08:42 am (CNA).

Swiss prosecutors have filed criminal charges against a Zurich councillor and former Green Liberal Party leader after she posted images of herself firing approximately 20 shots at a Christian image depicting the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus.

According to the Swiss news outlet 20 Minuten, the Zurich public prosecutor’s office accuses Sanija Ameti of publicly disparaging religious beliefs and disturbing religious peace under Article 261 of the Swiss Penal Code. 

The code penalizes anyone “who publicly and maliciously insults or mocks the religious convictions of others, and in particular their belief in God, or maliciously desecrates objects of religious veneration.”

The incident occurred in September 2024, when Ameti used an air pistol to shoot at a reproduction of the 14th-century painting “Madonna with Child and the Archangel Michael” by the artist Tommaso del Mazza.

The politician reportedly fired from around 10 meters (about 33 feet), deliberately targeting the heads of Mary and Jesus.

Ameti, who identifies as a Muslim-born atheist, then posted photographs of the desecrated image on Instagram, captioning it with the word “abschalten” — a German term that means “switch off” but that, in the context of firing at the faces of Mary and Jesus, was understood by some as a symbolic act of erasure or elimination.

The images of the desecration, including a close-up of the bullet holes, sparked immediate and widespread outrage.

In total, 31 people filed criminal complaints. Ameti resigned from her leadership position in Zurich’s Green Liberal Party and quit the party entirely in January. She still serves as an independent member of Zurich’s municipal council, however.

At the time, Ameti reacted to the outrage on social media with a short post on X. 

“I ask for forgiveness from those hurt by my post,” she wrote, claiming that she had not initially recognized the religious significance of the imagery and then deleted the images upon realizing it.

According to the indictment, the Zurich public prosecutor’s office considers the act to have been a deliberate “public staging” that constituted a “needlessly disparaging and hurtful disregard” for the beliefs of Christians, with the potential to disturb religious peace.

Prosecutors are seeking a conditional fine of 10,000 Swiss francs (approximately $11,500) and a 2,500-franc penalty (roughly $2,900), as well as legal costs.

The Swiss civic movement Mass-Voll, which filed one of the original complaints, described the incident as “a clear incitement to violence against Christians.”

Its president, Nicolas Rimoldi, noted that in light of rising violence against Christians across Europe, such acts “lower the threshold for further attacks,” Swiss media reported.

The former Green Liberal Party politician has so far not publicly commented on the indictment.

Reaction of Swiss bishops

The Swiss Bishops’ Conference at the time condemned the act as “unacceptable,” stating that it expressed “violence and disrespect toward the human person” and caused “deep hurt among Catholic faithful.”

The bishops emphasized that “even apart from the religious depiction of the Mother of God,” the act revealed “a fundamental lack of respect for human dignity,” the bishops said, according to CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner.

Bishop Joseph Bonnemain of Chur, Switzerland, said Ameti had written to him personally to express remorse.

In response, he publicly offered his forgiveness and urged Catholics and other believers to do the same.

“How could I not forgive her?” he said, according to CNA Deutsch.

Zurich, Switzerland. / Credit: Gianfranco Vivi/Shutterstock

CNA Newsroom, Jul 22, 2025 / 08:42 am (CNA).

The Zurich public prosecutor’s office accuses Sanija Ameti of publicly disparaging religious beliefs and disturbing religious peace.

Listen on: Apple | Spotify This week on Just Politics, host Joan Neal returns to the interview chair for something that is becoming less and less common: an honest political conversation with someone who has strongly different views. Joan interviews prominent political figure and former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, who currently serves as an MSNBC political […]

The post Michael Steele and NETWORK hosts model constructive Catholic political dialogue appeared first on U.S. Catholic.

The Mississippi state capitol building. The Mississippi Access to Maternal Assistance (MAMA) program connects mothers and families with assistance from state and faith-based organizations like Catholic Charities. / Credit: Paul Brady Photography/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 22, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Mississippi is promoting family, motherhood, and pro-life policies through its Mississippi Access to Maternal Assistance (MAMA) program. 

Established under Senate Bill 2781 in 2023, the MAMA program leverages state funds to connect women and families with resources that support motherhood and family stability. Mississippi prohibits state funds from going to abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, following the Dobbs decision. 

Faith-based organizations, however, play a strong role in the network of listed services. Catholic Charities of Southern Mississippi, Catholic Charities of Jackson, and Embrace Grace Ministry at Trinity Wesleyan Church are among the organizations that provide both spiritual and material assistance.

“The most important part about the MAMA program is it is comprised of public, private, and faith-based resources,” said Attorney General Lynn Fitch in a recent interview on “EWTN Pro-Life Weekly.” Fitch oversees the program and played a prominent role in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case.

A key component of the program is its mobile-friendly platform, mama.ms.gov, which centralizes information and referrals for essential services. 

The platform allows users to search for resources in their geographical area and is organized by categories that include health care, housing, parenting, mental health providers, and employment.

“What a God thing to have this available technology,” Fitch told “EWTN Pro-Life Weekly.”

Since its launch, the site has received “over 56,000 hits” and “served 23,000 women with their particular needs.”

In addition to medical and mental health services, MAMA also connects users with providers of material support like diapers and car seats.

The Bare Needs Diaper Bank Warehouse, for instance, distributes diapers, menstrual supplies, and adult incontinence products to families in mid-south Mississippi. Employment services and job training programs are also featured on the platform.

For parents in crisis, the platform provides information about Mississippi’s Safe Haven law, including a list of Safe Haven Baby Box locations where infants under 45 days old can be safely and anonymously surrendered for adoption.

The platform continues to grow its partner list and resource categories, helping ensure that families across Mississippi can locate and receive critical support at every stage of parenthood.

The Mississippi state capitol building. The Mississippi Access to Maternal Assistance (MAMA) program connects mothers and families with assistance from state and faith-based organizations like Catholic Charities. / Credit: Paul Brady Photography/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 22, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Mississippi is promoting family, motherhood, and pro-life policies through its Mississippi Access to Maternal Assistance (MAMA) program. 

Established under Senate Bill 2781 in 2023, the MAMA program leverages state funds to connect women and families with resources that support motherhood and family stability. Mississippi prohibits state funds from going to abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, following the Dobbs decision. 

Faith-based organizations, however, play a strong role in the network of listed services. Catholic Charities of Southern Mississippi, Catholic Charities of Jackson, and Embrace Grace Ministry at Trinity Wesleyan Church are among the organizations that provide both spiritual and material assistance.

“The most important part about the MAMA program is it is comprised of public, private, and faith-based resources,” said Attorney General Lynn Fitch in a recent interview on “EWTN Pro-Life Weekly.” Fitch oversees the program and played a prominent role in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case.

A key component of the program is its mobile-friendly platform, mama.ms.gov, which centralizes information and referrals for essential services. 

The platform allows users to search for resources in their geographical area and is organized by categories that include health care, housing, parenting, mental health providers, and employment.

“What a God thing to have this available technology,” Fitch told “EWTN Pro-Life Weekly.”

Since its launch, the site has received “over 56,000 hits” and “served 23,000 women with their particular needs.”

In addition to medical and mental health services, MAMA also connects users with providers of material support like diapers and car seats.

The Bare Needs Diaper Bank Warehouse, for instance, distributes diapers, menstrual supplies, and adult incontinence products to families in mid-south Mississippi. Employment services and job training programs are also featured on the platform.

For parents in crisis, the platform provides information about Mississippi’s Safe Haven law, including a list of Safe Haven Baby Box locations where infants under 45 days old can be safely and anonymously surrendered for adoption.

The platform continues to grow its partner list and resource categories, helping ensure that families across Mississippi can locate and receive critical support at every stage of parenthood.

Sebastião Marques Panzo, director of the National Secretariat for the Apostolate of the Laity of the Bishops’ Conference of Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe (CEAST). / Credit: ACI Africa

ACI Africa, Jul 22, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The upcoming Third National Congress of Catholic Laity in Angola will be a defining moment for the people of God in the southern African nation, the director of the National Secretariat for the Apostolate of the Laity of the Bishops’ Conference of Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe (CEAST) said in a press conference July 16.

Addressing journalists, Sebastião Marques Panzo shed light on the July 24–25 congress, which marks the resumption of a four-year cycle of coordination of the laity that was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Panzo said the planned congress seeks to strengthen lay identity, promote social transformation, and renew the mission of Catholic laypeople in society.

“This congress is a decisive milestone in the history of the laity and the Catholic Church in Angola,” he said, adding: “This will be a moment for examining our conscience and planning the future. Without evaluation, there is no authentic progress.”

He noted that the congress’ four-year rhythm allows lay movements to assess their work, reaffirm their mission, and adapt to changing realities in the light of the late Pope Francis’ teachings and the Church’s social doctrine.

Panzo recalled the two previous congresses held in Luanda in 1992 and 2019, each shaped by its own historical context.

“The first congress came shortly after the transition to multiparty democracy and called laypeople to embrace citizenship and social responsibility,” he said. “By 2019, the focus had shifted to laypeople as ‘salt and light in the world,’ with emphasis on active citizenship, solidarity, and public witness of faith.”

He added: “We want to consolidate what we have learned and build a more structured and influential lay Church.”

The choice of Namibe Diocese for the 2025 event reflects the national character of the congress and the fact that laypeople in all regions are essential to the Church’s life and mission, Panzo said.

“This choice affirms that all parts of the Church can embrace this moment of reflection and action.”

The event, guided by the theme “Angola at 50 Years: The Role of Catholic Laity in the Political, Social, Economic, and Business Sectors,” will feature two main activities.

The first is a public conference open to all the baptized. The second is a session restricted to 150 delegates — three from each diocese of CEAST, including São Tomé. The delegates are to be responsible for drafting and approving strategic directions for the next four years.

According Panzo, the public session is designed to form and integrate laypeople, while the closed-door session will focus on decision-making and united forward movement.

“We expect this to be a space of networking, strategic debate, and effective use of lay resources and talents,” he said.

The program also includes prayer, biblical formation, and catechesis.

“This solid balance between faith and action is the great richness of the congress,” Panzo said, adding that it “will be a moment of deep listening, living memory, and celebration — an opportunity to learn from those who have helped shape the Church with fidelity and courage.”

To enhance participation, Panzo said a virtual parish platform is to livestream the entire congress, making it accessible to Catholics unable to travel to Namibe.

“This ensures the congress reaches even those in remote areas,” he said.

Delegates are tasked with engaging local movements, collecting testimonies, and bringing grounded insights to the discussions.

“They are not only called to listen but to carry forward the mission,” Panzo said.

After the event, he said two documents will be prepared for publication: a report with recommendations from the public conference and a strategic orientation document for the next four years, to be available on the official event website.

“Let us build a Church that is more participatory, transparent, and missionary. May each layperson embrace their vocation with courage and wisdom,” Panzo said.

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

WASHINGTON - “Despite material poverty, the Catholic Church in Africa is bursting with spiritual life, filled with converts and has abundant vocations,” said Archbishop Thomas R. Zinkula of Dubuque, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Subcommittee on the Church in Africa. “The Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa makes it possible for African Catholics to carry out vital spiritual and social ministries.” 

Across Africa, where the boundless growth of the Catholic faith can challenge the Church as much as material poverty does, the gifts of American Catholics to the USCCB’s Solidarity Fund make this a reality.

The Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa is supported by a collection that is taken up by dioceses across the country in parishes on a date scheduled by the diocese. The online platform #iGiveCatholicTogether also accepts funds for the Church in Africa program year-round.

“The African Church gives generously to the U.S. Church as thousands of African priests serve in parishes of the United States,” Archbishop Zinkula said, “We are all brothers and sisters in Christ with a shared commitment to share his love with everyone.”

Gifts to the Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa help bishops’ conferences and dioceses throughout Africa manage ever-growing numbers of Catholics, cope with global and local crises, evangelize and renew the faith of the people. The Subcommittee on the Church in Africa awarded more than $2.6 million in 2024 for 96 grants that support ministries in 32 countries or multi-national regions of Africa. 

The 2024 grant cycle included a wide variety of projects: 

• In South Sudan, the Church launched an effort to build peace and bring healing to those affected by war through Catholic social teaching, trauma intervention and conflict resolution.
• Hundreds of lay Catholics in Zambia – more than a third of them women – attended regional seminars on topics such as Scripture and social services, to prepare them for catechetical ministry.
• Priests in Togo learned church administration, including budgeting, transparency and strategic planning.
• In Malawi, younger Catholics are re-learning traditional values of respect and care for the elderly through Church teaching on human life and dignity.
• In Eastern Africa, where climate change has brought deadly cycles of alternating drought and flood, the bishops of multiple nations launched an international advocacy program, working with government leaders for policy solutions while making parishes into hubs for practical responses, such as soil conservation.

“The Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa lives up to its name. Your gifts build true solidarity. Though you may never have the opportunity to meet the recipient, you can trust that souls will be saved, and faith renewed because of the work supported by the Solidarity Fund,” Archbishop Zinkula said.

For more information see https://www.usccb.org/committees/church-africa 

###

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Of the many momentous or menial tasks women religious perform, one of the better-kept secrets has been the role of four Sisters of the Holy Child Mary who were part of a global effort to make a complete map and catalog of the starry skies.

Up until recently, the women were no more than nameless nuns whose image has long been preserved in a black and white photograph that showed them wearing impeccably ironed habits and leaning over special microscopes and a ledger.

Their identities were finally pulled out of obscurity by the late Jesuit Father Sabino Maffeo, who passed away at the age of 102 earlier this year. While serving as an assistant to the director of the Vatican Observatory, he stumbled upon their names while going through the observatory archives, "putting papers in order," he told Catholic News Service in an interview April 26, 2016.

Sisters Emilia Ponzoni, Regina Colombo, Concetta Finardi and Luigia Panceri, all born in the late 1800s and from the northern Lombardy region near Milan, helped map and catalog nearly half a million stars for the Vatican's part in an international survey of the night sky.

Top astronomers from around the world met in Paris in 1887 and again in 1889 to coordinate the creation of a photographic "Celestial Map" ("Carte du Ciel") and an "astrographic" catalog pinpointing the stars' positions. 

Italian astronomer and meteorologist, Barnabite Father Francesco Denza, easily convinced Pope Leo XIII to let the Holy See take part in the initiative, which assigned participating observatories a specific slice of the sky to photograph, map and catalog.

Father Maffeo, who was an expert in the observatory's history and its archivist, said Pope Leo XIII saw the Vatican's participation as a way to show the world that "the church supported science" and "was not just concerned with theology and religion."

The Vatican was one of about 18 observatories that spent the next several decades taking thousands of glass-plate photographs with their telescopes and cataloging data for the massive project.

But the project at the Vatican Observatory began to suffer after Father Denza died in 1894.

When Pope Pius X found out the new director wasn't up to the job, he called on Archbishop Pietro Maffi of Pisa to reorganize the observatory and search for the best replacement, Father Maffeo had said.

In 1906, the archbishop found his man at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. -- Jesuit Father John Hagen who had been heading its observatory there since 1888 and was renowned for his research on "variable" stars, which have fluctuating brightness.

Though he had extensive experience in astronomy, Father Hagen never did the kind of measurements and number crunching required for the astrographic catalog, Father Maffeo had said.

"So he went to Europe to see how they did it and saw that in some observatories there were women who read the (star) positions and wrote them in a book with precise coordinates," the Jesuit priest had said. 

The astronomers told Father Hagen that once the young women "were shown how to do it, they were very diligent," Father Maffeo said. At the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, for example, they even were referred to as "lady computers" because of the skill needed to calculate the coordinates according to set formulae.

When Father Hagen wondered where he might be able to hire young women for the Vatican, "he immediately thought -- nuns," and contacted the Sisters of the Holy Child Mary, who were located nearby, Father Maffeo had said. Coincidentally, Mary is often symbolized in Catholic Church tradition by a star.

In a letter dated July 13, 1909, to the superior general, Mother Angela Ghezzi, Archbishop Maffi said the Vatican Observatory "needs two sisters with normal vision, patience and a predisposition for methodical and mechanical work."

Father Maffeo had said the sisters' general council was not enthused "about wasting two nuns on a job that had nothing to do with charity." However, Mother Ghezzi was "used to seeing God's will in every request," he said, and she let two sisters go to the observatory.

Work for the sisters began in 1910, but soon required a third and later a fourth nun to join the team. Two would sit in front of a microscope mounted on an inclined plane with a light shining under the plate-glass photograph of one section of the night sky.

The plates were overlaid with numbered grids and the sisters would measure and read out loud each star's location on two axes and another would register the coordinates in a ledger. They would also check enlarged versions of the images on paper.

The Vatican was one of about 10 observatories to complete its assigned slice of the sky. From 1910 to 1921, the nuns surveyed the brightness and positions of 481,215 stars off of hundreds of glass plates.

Their painstaking work did not go unnoticed at the time. Pope Benedict XV received them in a private audience in 1920 and gave them a gold chalice, Father Maffeo had said. Pope Pius XI also received the "measuring nuns" eight years later, awarding them a silver medal.

The Vatican's astrographic catalog, which totaled 10 volumes, gave special mention to the sisters, noting their "alacrity and diligence," uninterrupted labors and "zeal greater than any eulogy" could express at a task "so foreign to their mission." 

The international project to catalog star positions and build a celestial map ended in 1966 and recorded nearly 5 million stars. The catalog consists of more than 200 volumes produced by 20 observatories and the unfinished map is made up of hundreds of sheets of paper -- all work culled from more than 22,000 glass photographic plates of the sky.

Father Maffeo had said, "Never before had there been a presentation of the stars as vast as this."

While huge technological developments in surveying stars quickly eclipsed the project, modern-day scientists eventually discovered that comparing the star positions recorded a century earlier with current satellite positions provided valuable information about star motions for millions of stars.

The project showed that even in a new era of satellites and software, quaint glass-plate photographs and "lady computers" weren't wholly obsolete.

- - -

This story was first published by Catholic News Service April 28, 2016.

“The Appearance of Christ to Mary Magdalene” by Alexander Ivanov, 1834-1836. / Credit: Alexander Ivanov, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Newsroom, Jul 22, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

Not much is known about the life of St. Mary Magdalene, whose feast day is celebrated in the Church on July 22. She first appears in the Gospel of Luke as a follower of Christ from whom seven demons have been cast out. In the Gospels, she is sometimes associated with two other women in Scripture: the woman who washes Jesus’ feet with oil and Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. 

Her most prominent position in Scripture occurs in the Gospel of John, where she remains with Jesus at the Crucifixion, keeps vigil at the tomb, and is the first to see him on Easter morning. Differing traditions have her evangelizing in Ephesus, while others place her in Marseille, France. 

Her body has never been found.

Apart from the Blessed Virgin Mary, perhaps no other saint alive during the time of Christ appears to have been as deeply moved by Jesus’ death as this saint.

“How beautiful to think that the first appearance of the Risen One took place in such a personal way! That there is someone who knows us, who sees our suffering and delusion, who is moved by us, and who calls us by name,” said Pope Francis of the encounter in a 2017 general audience the year after upgrading her memorial to a feast day in 2016.

After this shocking encounter, the joy of Christ’s resurrection imbued her with the courage to spread this good news joyfully. “I have seen the Lord!” she proclaimed to the apostles and the whole world. Once known as a sinful woman, Mary Magdalene becomes the Apostle to the Apostles, the first witness to the Resurrection, and the model of a personal encounter with Jesus Christ risen from the grave.

“God surprises her in the most unexpected way,” Pope Francis opined. “So that woman, who is the first to encounter Jesus ... now has become an apostle of the new and greatest hope.”

This story was first published on July 21, 2021, and has been updated.

“The Appearance of Christ to Mary Magdalene” by Alexander Ivanov, 1834-1836. / Credit: Alexander Ivanov, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Newsroom, Jul 22, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

Not much is known about the life of St. Mary Magdalene, whose feast day is celebrated in the Church on July 22. She first appears in the Gospel of Luke as a follower of Christ from whom seven demons have been cast out. In the Gospels, she is sometimes associated with two other women in Scripture: the woman who washes Jesus’ feet with oil and Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. 

Her most prominent position in Scripture occurs in the Gospel of John, where she remains with Jesus at the Crucifixion, keeps vigil at the tomb, and is the first to see him on Easter morning. Differing traditions have her evangelizing in Ephesus, while others place her in Marseille, France. 

Her body has never been found.

Apart from the Blessed Virgin Mary, perhaps no other saint alive during the time of Christ appears to have been as deeply moved by Jesus’ death as this saint.

“How beautiful to think that the first appearance of the Risen One took place in such a personal way! That there is someone who knows us, who sees our suffering and delusion, who is moved by us, and who calls us by name,” said Pope Francis of the encounter in a 2017 general audience the year after upgrading her memorial to a feast day in 2016.

After this shocking encounter, the joy of Christ’s resurrection imbued her with the courage to spread this good news joyfully. “I have seen the Lord!” she proclaimed to the apostles and the whole world. Once known as a sinful woman, Mary Magdalene becomes the Apostle to the Apostles, the first witness to the Resurrection, and the model of a personal encounter with Jesus Christ risen from the grave.

“God surprises her in the most unexpected way,” Pope Francis opined. “So that woman, who is the first to encounter Jesus ... now has become an apostle of the new and greatest hope.”

This story was first published on July 21, 2021, and has been updated.