St. Norbert was born around 1080 in Xanten, Germany, into a noble family. Initially living a comfortable life at court as a canon, he experienced a radical conversion after being nearly killed by lightning during a storm. Moved to repentance, Norbert gave away his wealth and began preaching a life of reform, penance, and Eucharistic […]

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 5, 2025 / 18:13 pm (CNA).

President Donald Trump’s order this week to restrict foreign nationals in 19 countries from entering into the United States will impact six countries with a majority Catholic population and four other countries with a heavy presence of Catholics or other Christians.

According to the order, some of the countries are facing restrictions based on national security concerns and a high terrorism risk. Others were chosen due to high rates of people from those countries overstaying their visas for entry into the United States and remaining in the country unlawfully.

The order includes a near-total ban on three countries with a majority Catholic population: the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Haiti. There are also partial restrictions on three others with Catholic majorities: Burundi, Venezuela, and Cuba.

The near-total ban will also affect Eritrea, where about half of the population is Christian. The largest denomination in Eritrea is the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The partial restrictions will affect Togo, as well, where about half of the population is Christian and the largest Christian segment is Catholic.

Chad, a Muslim-majority country with a large Christian minority, is also facing a near-total ban on entry. More than 40% of the population is Christian, half of whom are Catholic. The majority Muslim country Sierra Leone will be subject to partial restrictions. More than 20% of the people who live there are Christian, most of whom are Protestant.

Six other Muslim-majority countries with very small Christian populations are also subject to the near-total ban: Afghanistan, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. Burma, where most of the population is Buddhist, is also facing a near-total ban. Turkmenistan, a majority Muslim country, is facing partial restrictions, as is Laos, which is mostly Buddhist.

In a statement to CNA on Thursday, Bishop Mark Seitz, chairman of the Committee on Migration at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), criticized the new restrictions.

“Our country’s proud tradition as a land of opportunity for people from all walks of life is increasingly contradicted by a system that makes legal immigration impossible for far too many,” said Seitz, who has frequently criticized Trump’s immigration policies.

“A broad ban on nationals from these countries further erodes trust in our legal immigration system and marginalizes entire peoples,” the bishop said. “I pray that these restrictions will be lifted in due course.”

The travel restrictions imposed by Trump include several exceptions. Those exempted include people who are lawful permanent residents of the United States, those who obtain immediate family immigrant visas, and adoptions, among others. Special exemptions are also granted to those suffering religious persecution in Iran and those who have worked directly alongside American forces in Afghanistan.

“[I] hope that the stated exceptions in the proclamation, such as those for Afghans who supported our country, immediate family members, and people seeking humanitarian protections, are honored,” Seitz said.

Anna Gallagher, the executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC), also criticized the order. CLINIC works closely with the USCCB. 

“We are particularly concerned about how this policy will affect families trying to reunite in the United States,” Gallagher told CNA. 

“This was a primary concern of ours with previous travel bans implemented under the first Trump administration,” she continued. “We have already seen the devastating impact that cancellation of refugee and humanitarian immigration opportunities has had so far this year in terms of keeping families apart, and this policy will only deepen and extend that harm.”

Upon announcing the travel restrictions on Wednesday, Trump said they were motivated by “extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted as well as those who come here as temporary visitors and overstay their visas.”

The president cited the recent terrorist attack in Colorado, in which an Egyptian man who overstayed his visa admitted to throwing molotov cocktails at people attending a vigil for Israeli hostages. 

“We’ve seen one terror attack after another carried out by foreign visa overstayers from dangerous places all over the world and thanks to [former President Joe] Biden’s open door policies,” the president said. “Today, there are millions and millions of these illegals who should not be in our country.”

Trump imposed a similar travel ban during his first term in office, which was mostly focused on restricting travel from certain countries based on national security concerns.

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 5, 2025 / 18:13 pm (CNA).

President Donald Trump’s order this week to restrict foreign nationals in 19 countries from entering into the United States will impact six countries with a majority Catholic population and four other countries with a heavy presence of Catholics or other Christians.

According to the order, some of the countries are facing restrictions based on national security concerns and a high terrorism risk. Others were chosen due to high rates of people from those countries overstaying their visas for entry into the United States and remaining in the country unlawfully.

The order includes a near-total ban on three countries with a majority Catholic population: the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Haiti. There are also partial restrictions on three others with Catholic majorities: Burundi, Venezuela, and Cuba.

The near-total ban will also affect Eritrea, where about half of the population is Christian. The largest denomination in Eritrea is the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The partial restrictions will affect Togo, as well, where about half of the population is Christian and the largest Christian segment is Catholic.

Chad, a Muslim-majority country with a large Christian minority, is also facing a near-total ban on entry. More than 40% of the population is Christian, half of whom are Catholic. The majority Muslim country Sierra Leone will be subject to partial restrictions. More than 20% of the people who live there are Christian, most of whom are Protestant.

Six other Muslim-majority countries with very small Christian populations are also subject to the near-total ban: Afghanistan, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. Burma, where most of the population is Buddhist, is also facing a near-total ban. Turkmenistan, a majority Muslim country, is facing partial restrictions, as is Laos, which is mostly Buddhist.

In a statement to CNA on Thursday, Bishop Mark Seitz, chairman of the Committee on Migration at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), criticized the new restrictions.

“Our country’s proud tradition as a land of opportunity for people from all walks of life is increasingly contradicted by a system that makes legal immigration impossible for far too many,” said Seitz, who has frequently criticized Trump’s immigration policies.

“A broad ban on nationals from these countries further erodes trust in our legal immigration system and marginalizes entire peoples,” the bishop said. “I pray that these restrictions will be lifted in due course.”

The travel restrictions imposed by Trump include several exceptions. Those exempted include people who are lawful permanent residents of the United States, those who obtain immediate family immigrant visas, and adoptions, among others. Special exemptions are also granted to those suffering religious persecution in Iran and those who have worked directly alongside American forces in Afghanistan.

“[I] hope that the stated exceptions in the proclamation, such as those for Afghans who supported our country, immediate family members, and people seeking humanitarian protections, are honored,” Seitz said.

Anna Gallagher, the executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC), also criticized the order. CLINIC works closely with the USCCB. 

“We are particularly concerned about how this policy will affect families trying to reunite in the United States,” Gallagher told CNA. 

“This was a primary concern of ours with previous travel bans implemented under the first Trump administration,” she continued. “We have already seen the devastating impact that cancellation of refugee and humanitarian immigration opportunities has had so far this year in terms of keeping families apart, and this policy will only deepen and extend that harm.”

Upon announcing the travel restrictions on Wednesday, Trump said they were motivated by “extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted as well as those who come here as temporary visitors and overstay their visas.”

The president cited the recent terrorist attack in Colorado, in which an Egyptian man who overstayed his visa admitted to throwing molotov cocktails at people attending a vigil for Israeli hostages. 

“We’ve seen one terror attack after another carried out by foreign visa overstayers from dangerous places all over the world and thanks to [former President Joe] Biden’s open door policies,” the president said. “Today, there are millions and millions of these illegals who should not be in our country.”

Trump imposed a similar travel ban during his first term in office, which was mostly focused on restricting travel from certain countries based on national security concerns.

CNA Staff, Jun 5, 2025 / 17:34 pm (CNA).

Here is a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news:

Kentucky ACLU drops suit challenging state’s near-ban on abortion 

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky recently dropped a lawsuit it filed last year challenging Kentucky’s protections for unborn children.  

The ACLU filed a motion last Friday to voluntarily dismiss the lawsuit and did not give a reason.  

The organization filed the suit, Poe v. Coleman, last year in a state court in Louisville on behalf of a woman identified under the pseudonym Mary Poe for her privacy. She was seven weeks pregnant at the time.

The suit challenged Kentucky’s laws that protect unborn children from abortion: namely the state’s trigger law prohibiting most abortions after Roe v. Wade was overturned and a separate law protecting unborn children after six weeks of life. Kentucky law allows abortions only when the mother’s life or health is at stake. In 2023, the state recorded only 23 abortions. 

ACLU of Kentucky Executive Director Amber Duke said in a statement that the group “will not be providing additional details about the dismissal,” noting that “decisions about health care are and should remain private.” But Duke pledged that the group “will never stop fighting to restore abortion access” in the state.

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman celebrated the withdrawal in a post on X, saying that “Kentuckians can be proud that our pro-life values won the day today and innocent lives will continue to be saved as a result.”

Pro-life protesters file free speech lawsuit 

A young pro-life couple from Ohio recently filed a free speech lawsuit after the husband was arrested for speaking on a megaphone outside of an abortion clinic.  

Zachary and Lindsay Knotts filed the lawsuit on May 30, saying that their freedom of speech and religion was violated. 

Since December 2024, the Knotts have spent Saturday mornings participating in sidewalk advocacy to save the lives of the unborn at the Northeast Ohio Women’s Center, an abortion clinic in Cuyahoga Falls, according to the lawsuit. 

Zachary Knotts was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct. He had been using a megaphone to amplify his voice over the noise pro-abortion escorts were making to drown him out.  

The lawsuit noted that abortion escorts used whistles and kazoos to drown out the Knotts’ speech, but “only Mr. Knotts was given a citation and prosecuted for disorderly conduct.” 

The lawsuit called the arrest “retaliatory” and said it violated free speech because the ordinance was not equally applied, banning amplified speech based on the nature of the speech.

Attorneys general call for expansion of chemical abortions

The attorneys general of Massachusetts, California, New Jersey, and New York this week called on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to eliminate restrictions on the abortion drug mifepristone following the FDA’s recent announcement that it would review the drug for safety concerns. 

In a joint petition on June 5, the four states’ attorneys general called on the FDA to remove prescriber certification, patient agreement forms, and pharmacy certification requirements. 

New York Attorney General Letitia James said the drug has a “25-year safety record” and that the FDA should “lift these unnecessary barriers.”

The petition follows the recent commitment by the FDA to review the drug for safety concerns in the wake of a study that found that about 11% of women suffer at least one “serious adverse event” within 45 days of taking mifepristone for an abortion.

A chemical abortion takes place via a two-pill regimen. The first pill, mifepristone, kills the child by blocking the hormone progesterone, which cuts off the child’s supply of oxygen and nutrients. A second pill, misoprostol, is taken between 24 to 48 hours after mifepristone to induce contractions meant to expel the child’s body from the mother, essentially inducing labor.

In April, a first-of-its-kind study by the Ethics and Public Policy Center found that of 865,727 mifepristone-taking abortion patients over six years, thousands were hospitalized, more than 1,000 needed blood transfusions, and hundreds suffered from sepsis. Nearly 2,000 had a different life-threatening adverse event.

CNA Staff, Jun 5, 2025 / 17:34 pm (CNA).

Here is a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news:

Kentucky ACLU drops suit challenging state’s near-ban on abortion 

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky recently dropped a lawsuit it filed last year challenging Kentucky’s protections for unborn children.  

The ACLU filed a motion last Friday to voluntarily dismiss the lawsuit and did not give a reason.  

The organization filed the suit, Poe v. Coleman, last year in a state court in Louisville on behalf of a woman identified under the pseudonym Mary Poe for her privacy. She was seven weeks pregnant at the time.

The suit challenged Kentucky’s laws that protect unborn children from abortion: namely the state’s trigger law prohibiting most abortions after Roe v. Wade was overturned and a separate law protecting unborn children after six weeks of life. Kentucky law allows abortions only when the mother’s life or health is at stake. In 2023, the state recorded only 23 abortions. 

ACLU of Kentucky Executive Director Amber Duke said in a statement that the group “will not be providing additional details about the dismissal,” noting that “decisions about health care are and should remain private.” But Duke pledged that the group “will never stop fighting to restore abortion access” in the state.

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman celebrated the withdrawal in a post on X, saying that “Kentuckians can be proud that our pro-life values won the day today and innocent lives will continue to be saved as a result.”

Pro-life protesters file free speech lawsuit 

A young pro-life couple from Ohio recently filed a free speech lawsuit after the husband was arrested for speaking on a megaphone outside of an abortion clinic.  

Zachary and Lindsay Knotts filed the lawsuit on May 30, saying that their freedom of speech and religion was violated. 

Since December 2024, the Knotts have spent Saturday mornings participating in sidewalk advocacy to save the lives of the unborn at the Northeast Ohio Women’s Center, an abortion clinic in Cuyahoga Falls, according to the lawsuit. 

Zachary Knotts was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct. He had been using a megaphone to amplify his voice over the noise pro-abortion escorts were making to drown him out.  

The lawsuit noted that abortion escorts used whistles and kazoos to drown out the Knotts’ speech, but “only Mr. Knotts was given a citation and prosecuted for disorderly conduct.” 

The lawsuit called the arrest “retaliatory” and said it violated free speech because the ordinance was not equally applied, banning amplified speech based on the nature of the speech.

Attorneys general call for expansion of chemical abortions

The attorneys general of Massachusetts, California, New Jersey, and New York this week called on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to eliminate restrictions on the abortion drug mifepristone following the FDA’s recent announcement that it would review the drug for safety concerns. 

In a joint petition on June 5, the four states’ attorneys general called on the FDA to remove prescriber certification, patient agreement forms, and pharmacy certification requirements. 

New York Attorney General Letitia James said the drug has a “25-year safety record” and that the FDA should “lift these unnecessary barriers.”

The petition follows the recent commitment by the FDA to review the drug for safety concerns in the wake of a study that found that about 11% of women suffer at least one “serious adverse event” within 45 days of taking mifepristone for an abortion.

A chemical abortion takes place via a two-pill regimen. The first pill, mifepristone, kills the child by blocking the hormone progesterone, which cuts off the child’s supply of oxygen and nutrients. A second pill, misoprostol, is taken between 24 to 48 hours after mifepristone to induce contractions meant to expel the child’s body from the mother, essentially inducing labor.

In April, a first-of-its-kind study by the Ethics and Public Policy Center found that of 865,727 mifepristone-taking abortion patients over six years, thousands were hospitalized, more than 1,000 needed blood transfusions, and hundreds suffered from sepsis. Nearly 2,000 had a different life-threatening adverse event.

CNA Staff, Jun 5, 2025 / 16:09 pm (CNA).

A Nigerian-born priest who served in the Diocese of Fairbanks, Alaska, for more than half a decade has been captured by the terrorist group Boko Haram after returning to his home country. 

Fairbanks Bishop Steven Maekawa, OP, said in a statement this week that Father Alphonsus Afina was “captured by Boko Haram as he was serving the Church in the Diocese of Maiduguri” in the Nigerian state of Borno.

Afina served in the Alaskan diocese for six and a half years before returning to Nigeria last April, the bishop said. 

“Pray for his freedom from captivity and for his physical and spiritual strength,” he wrote. The bishop said he planned to offer a special Mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Fairbanks for Afina. 

The papal charity Aid to the Church in Need reported on Thursday that Maiduguri Auxiliary Bishop John Bagna Bakeni said the priest was taken on Sunday, June 1. 

Afina and two others were kidnapped in the Gwoza region while traveling to Maiduguri, the prelate said. The party with which they were traveling was reportedly “caught in a crossfire between Nigerian soldiers and terrorists,” with multiple fatalities resulting. 

Bakeni told the charity that the diocese was contacted by Boko Haram, which offered proof that the kidnapped priest was still alive. 

The Fairbanks Diocese did not respond to a query on Thursday regarding the incident. Father Robert Fath, the vicar general of the diocese, told local media that the diocese was “hopeful that [our] prayers, our intercessions … will soften [Boko Haram’s] hearts to release him.”

“There’s not much we can do” except pray, Fath said. 

”It’s the most powerful thing that we can do at this point; pray for his strength during this time of captivity and persecution, but also [that] he’ll hopefully, God willing, one day be freed.”

Aid to the Church in Need said Afina is the 15th religious to be kidnapped in Nigeria this year.

CNA Staff, Jun 5, 2025 / 15:21 pm (CNA).

In 1928, Father Joseph Steiger, a priest at St. Joseph’s in Earling, Iowa, was approached with an urgent concern. A 46-year-old woman named Emma Schmidt was experiencing blackouts, aversions to holy objects, and other terrible afflictions. After years of extensive psychiatric treatment provided no relief, Schmidt’s priest suggested an exorcism. 

Father Theophilus Riesinger, a Capuchin friar, was assigned to perform the exorcism while Steiger would be the stenographer. After a 23-day battle, Schmidt was freed from her affliction and able to live the rest of her life in peace.

The exorcism of Schmidt remains the most thoroughly documented and widely publicized exorcism in American history and now a new movie has been made to tell the story. “The Ritual,” starring Al Pacino, Dan Stevens, Ashley Greene, and Patricia Heaton, will be released in theaters on June 6.

Father Aaron Williams, pastor and rector of St. Mary’s Basilica in Natchez, Mississippi, served as the consultant on the film and spoke to CNA about his experience on set, what his role entailed, and why Catholics should consider watching the movie.

Williams explained that the filmmakers first approached him to ask if they could receive permission to film in St. Mary’s Basilica.

“Sometimes as a priest I get nervous about people’s particular sort of fanatic obsession with exorcisms because it can be spiritually dangerous and we don’t want to be walking down that path,” he told CNA. “But, at the same time, it is real and people need to know it’s real.” 

“So when the script was shown to me when they were proposing filming here, that’s what really opened my mind to it because what I started to see was they were taking this with the level of severity that I appreciated,” Williams said. 

After giving them permission to film in the basilica, Williams was approached by the filmmakers to serve as a consultant who could advise on the spiritual aspects of the film. Williams accepted the invitation because he “wanted to be involved with helping to convey a true story in a really accurate way.”

The priest, who has a master’s degree in liturgical studies and is currently pursuing a doctorate, said that the film’s director, David Midell, was very willing to take his advice. Williams said on multiple occasions he made suggestions to Midell that would then be immediately changed in the script.

“He [Midell] told me over and over again that he wasn’t trying to film a religious movie so to say, but he did want religious people, especially Catholics, who would view the film to feel like they had been respected,” Williams said.

He also pointed out that all of the crew “were very respectful of the spaces. The Blessed Sacrament was always removed from the church for any takes inside. There was never any vulgarity anywhere in the church. And every instruction I gave them — they never questioned anything.”

The cast and crew filmed at the basilica for three months. During this time, Williams shared that he came to see them as his parishioners and made sure to minister to them. He offered Mass weekly — with several non-Catholic cast and crew members attending — blessed the set daily, and even helped guide a crew member to find information about becoming Catholic.

One of the Catholics on set was well-known actress Patricia Heaton, who portrays Mother Superior in the film. 

In an interview with CNA, Heaton shared that she was drawn to the role because the filmmakers “treated the subject matter seriously and not really sensationally.”

Heaton spoke about the film’s portrayal of religious men and women and that while the exorcism itself is the major plotline, the film also focuses on the individuals taking part in the ritual and their own personal struggles.

“Priests and nuns are human beings and they’re often portrayed in Hollywood as sort of silly or there’s a lot of caricatures of the religious in Hollywood. And I feel like this movie makes them fleshed-out human beings,” Heaton said. 

When describing how the Church is portrayed in the movie, Williams referred to the late Pope Francis’ message of the Church being a “field hospital.” 

“You have all of these sort of broken people, and the priests and the sisters in this movie are themselves broken people, but they’re all coming together as the Church, as the body of Christ, and ministering to one of their own who’s suffering,” he said. 

Both Williams and Heaton agreed on the importance of Catholics being aware that demonic possession is real but that it’s also important not to become overly interested in it. Williams used the metaphor of a wound to describe possession. If a significant spiritual wound is left untreated it will start to get infected and can become “spiritually devastating to us.”

“How do we avoid possessions? We don’t avoid possessions by spending all our time on Google finding out what causes possessions, right? … No. The way you avoid these things, rather than filling your head with knowledge about what causes it, is you go and live a spiritually good life — you frequent the sacraments,” he said. 

Williams said he believes Catholics should watch the film in order to inform themselves as well as to see “how the Church functions — you have this lost sheep and the Church puts all her resources together to go and save this one person. And I think that’s a really great message that Catholics need to hear. It’s the love of God, it’s the love of the Church, and I think it’s worth watching if you approach it through that lens.”

“I want them [Catholics] to take away the sense that this is actually how the Church cares for us and how God cares for us and his mercy is so much more powerful than anything the enemy can do,” he said.

Heaton said she hopes Catholics will watch the movie because she believes it is “a way to reaffirm the importance of the Church here on Earth” and hopes that the film will encourage viewers “to pursue personal sanctification.” 

CNA Staff, Jun 5, 2025 / 15:21 pm (CNA).

In 1928, Father Joseph Steiger, a priest at St. Joseph’s in Earling, Iowa, was approached with an urgent concern. A 46-year-old woman named Emma Schmidt was experiencing blackouts, aversions to holy objects, and other terrible afflictions. After years of extensive psychiatric treatment provided no relief, Schmidt’s priest suggested an exorcism. 

Father Theophilus Riesinger, a Capuchin friar, was assigned to perform the exorcism while Steiger would be the stenographer. After a 23-day battle, Schmidt was freed from her affliction and able to live the rest of her life in peace.

The exorcism of Schmidt remains the most thoroughly documented and widely publicized exorcism in American history and now a new movie has been made to tell the story. “The Ritual,” starring Al Pacino, Dan Stevens, Ashley Greene, and Patricia Heaton, will be released in theaters on June 6.

Father Aaron Williams, pastor and rector of St. Mary’s Basilica in Natchez, Mississippi, served as the consultant on the film and spoke to CNA about his experience on set, what his role entailed, and why Catholics should consider watching the movie.

Williams explained that the filmmakers first approached him to ask if they could receive permission to film in St. Mary’s Basilica.

“Sometimes as a priest I get nervous about people’s particular sort of fanatic obsession with exorcisms because it can be spiritually dangerous and we don’t want to be walking down that path,” he told CNA. “But, at the same time, it is real and people need to know it’s real.” 

“So when the script was shown to me when they were proposing filming here, that’s what really opened my mind to it because what I started to see was they were taking this with the level of severity that I appreciated,” Williams said. 

After giving them permission to film in the basilica, Williams was approached by the filmmakers to serve as a consultant who could advise on the spiritual aspects of the film. Williams accepted the invitation because he “wanted to be involved with helping to convey a true story in a really accurate way.”

The priest, who has a master’s degree in liturgical studies and is currently pursuing a doctorate, said that the film’s director, David Midell, was very willing to take his advice. Williams said on multiple occasions he made suggestions to Midell that would then be immediately changed in the script.

“He [Midell] told me over and over again that he wasn’t trying to film a religious movie so to say, but he did want religious people, especially Catholics, who would view the film to feel like they had been respected,” Williams said.

He also pointed out that all of the crew “were very respectful of the spaces. The Blessed Sacrament was always removed from the church for any takes inside. There was never any vulgarity anywhere in the church. And every instruction I gave them — they never questioned anything.”

The cast and crew filmed at the basilica for three months. During this time, Williams shared that he came to see them as his parishioners and made sure to minister to them. He offered Mass weekly — with several non-Catholic cast and crew members attending — blessed the set daily, and even helped guide a crew member to find information about becoming Catholic.

One of the Catholics on set was well-known actress Patricia Heaton, who portrays Mother Superior in the film. 

In an interview with CNA, Heaton shared that she was drawn to the role because the filmmakers “treated the subject matter seriously and not really sensationally.”

Heaton spoke about the film’s portrayal of religious men and women and that while the exorcism itself is the major plotline, the film also focuses on the individuals taking part in the ritual and their own personal struggles.

“Priests and nuns are human beings and they’re often portrayed in Hollywood as sort of silly or there’s a lot of caricatures of the religious in Hollywood. And I feel like this movie makes them fleshed-out human beings,” Heaton said. 

When describing how the Church is portrayed in the movie, Williams referred to the late Pope Francis’ message of the Church being a “field hospital.” 

“You have all of these sort of broken people, and the priests and the sisters in this movie are themselves broken people, but they’re all coming together as the Church, as the body of Christ, and ministering to one of their own who’s suffering,” he said. 

Both Williams and Heaton agreed on the importance of Catholics being aware that demonic possession is real but that it’s also important not to become overly interested in it. Williams used the metaphor of a wound to describe possession. If a significant spiritual wound is left untreated it will start to get infected and can become “spiritually devastating to us.”

“How do we avoid possessions? We don’t avoid possessions by spending all our time on Google finding out what causes possessions, right? … No. The way you avoid these things, rather than filling your head with knowledge about what causes it, is you go and live a spiritually good life — you frequent the sacraments,” he said. 

Williams said he believes Catholics should watch the film in order to inform themselves as well as to see “how the Church functions — you have this lost sheep and the Church puts all her resources together to go and save this one person. And I think that’s a really great message that Catholics need to hear. It’s the love of God, it’s the love of the Church, and I think it’s worth watching if you approach it through that lens.”

“I want them [Catholics] to take away the sense that this is actually how the Church cares for us and how God cares for us and his mercy is so much more powerful than anything the enemy can do,” he said.

Heaton said she hopes Catholics will watch the movie because she believes it is “a way to reaffirm the importance of the Church here on Earth” and hopes that the film will encourage viewers “to pursue personal sanctification.” 

Vatican City, Jun 5, 2025 / 14:51 pm (CNA).

In his audience with members of the Vatican Secretariat of State on Thursday, Pope Leo XIV thanked them for their support in the first month of his pontificate.

Among those present was Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, who introduced the meeting with a brief address. Also participating was Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, substitute for general affairs of the Secretariat of State.

Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary of relations with states within the Secretariat of State, did not participate in the audience because he is in Cuba for the 90th anniversary of relations between that Caribbean country and the Holy See.

At the outset of his speech, Pope Leo thanked the Secretariat of State for assisting him in the “first steps” of his pontificate and for “carrying forward the mission” entrusted to him.

“It comforts me to know that I am not alone and that I can share the responsibility of my universal ministry with you,” he said.

Then, extemporaneously, he said that “it is evident that the pope cannot continue alone and that it is very necessary to be able to count on the collaboration of many in the Holy See” and especially with the Secretariat of State.

He also recalled the beginnings of this institution, which date back to the end of the 15th century, and its evolution over the years, highlighting that currently almost half of the Secretariat of State is made up of laypeople and more than 50 women.

For the pope, this development reflects “the face of the Church: We share together the questions, difficulties, challenges, and hopes of the people of God present throughout the world,” always expressing “two essential dimensions: incarnation and catholicity.”

“We are incarnated in time and history, because if God has chosen the path of humanity and the languages ​​of humanity, the Church is also called to follow this path, so that the joy of the Gospel may reach all and be mediated in today’s cultures and languages,” he emphasized.

He also reflected on the “Catholic” and universal perspective, which allows for the appreciation of different cultures and sensibilities, serving as “a driving force committed to forging communion between the Church of Rome and the local Churches” as well as with the international community.

For the Holy Father, these two dimensions “have become increasingly constitutive of the Curia’s work,” marking a path that has guided the reform of the Roman Curia carried out by St. Paul VI.

The pope also explained that incarnation “refers to the concreteness of reality and to the specific and particular themes addressed by the various bodies of the Curia.”

On the other hand, he emphasized the Church’s universal character, recalling that “the mystery of the Church’s multiform unity demands a work of synthesis that can assist the pope’s action.” This bond of unity, he explained, is carried out by the Secretariat of State.

Pope Leo XIV cited Praedicate Evangelium, Pope Francis’ apostolic constitution on the Roman Curia and its service to the Church in the world.

“I know that these tasks are very demanding and, at times, may not be fully understood. Therefore, I wish to express my closeness to you and, above all, my deep gratitude,” he said.

The pope also expressed his gratitude for their “hidden work” in the service of the Church and for “the evangelical spirit that inspires it” while asking them that this place “not be contaminated by ambitions or antagonisms.”

“Be, instead, a true community of faith and charity, of brothers and sisters and sons and daughters of the pope,” who give their all generously for the good of the Church, the pope urged.

After entrusting them to the intercession of the Virgin Mary, he thanked them for their prayers for their ministry and imparted his blessing.

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

Vatican City, Jun 5, 2025 / 14:51 pm (CNA).

In his audience with members of the Vatican Secretariat of State on Thursday, Pope Leo XIV thanked them for their support in the first month of his pontificate.

Among those present was Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, who introduced the meeting with a brief address. Also participating was Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, substitute for general affairs of the Secretariat of State.

Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary of relations with states within the Secretariat of State, did not participate in the audience because he is in Cuba for the 90th anniversary of relations between that Caribbean country and the Holy See.

At the outset of his speech, Pope Leo thanked the Secretariat of State for assisting him in the “first steps” of his pontificate and for “carrying forward the mission” entrusted to him.

“It comforts me to know that I am not alone and that I can share the responsibility of my universal ministry with you,” he said.

Then, extemporaneously, he said that “it is evident that the pope cannot continue alone and that it is very necessary to be able to count on the collaboration of many in the Holy See” and especially with the Secretariat of State.

He also recalled the beginnings of this institution, which date back to the end of the 15th century, and its evolution over the years, highlighting that currently almost half of the Secretariat of State is made up of laypeople and more than 50 women.

For the pope, this development reflects “the face of the Church: We share together the questions, difficulties, challenges, and hopes of the people of God present throughout the world,” always expressing “two essential dimensions: incarnation and catholicity.”

“We are incarnated in time and history, because if God has chosen the path of humanity and the languages ​​of humanity, the Church is also called to follow this path, so that the joy of the Gospel may reach all and be mediated in today’s cultures and languages,” he emphasized.

He also reflected on the “Catholic” and universal perspective, which allows for the appreciation of different cultures and sensibilities, serving as “a driving force committed to forging communion between the Church of Rome and the local Churches” as well as with the international community.

For the Holy Father, these two dimensions “have become increasingly constitutive of the Curia’s work,” marking a path that has guided the reform of the Roman Curia carried out by St. Paul VI.

The pope also explained that incarnation “refers to the concreteness of reality and to the specific and particular themes addressed by the various bodies of the Curia.”

On the other hand, he emphasized the Church’s universal character, recalling that “the mystery of the Church’s multiform unity demands a work of synthesis that can assist the pope’s action.” This bond of unity, he explained, is carried out by the Secretariat of State.

Pope Leo XIV cited Praedicate Evangelium, Pope Francis’ apostolic constitution on the Roman Curia and its service to the Church in the world.

“I know that these tasks are very demanding and, at times, may not be fully understood. Therefore, I wish to express my closeness to you and, above all, my deep gratitude,” he said.

The pope also expressed his gratitude for their “hidden work” in the service of the Church and for “the evangelical spirit that inspires it” while asking them that this place “not be contaminated by ambitions or antagonisms.”

“Be, instead, a true community of faith and charity, of brothers and sisters and sons and daughters of the pope,” who give their all generously for the good of the Church, the pope urged.

After entrusting them to the intercession of the Virgin Mary, he thanked them for their prayers for their ministry and imparted his blessing.

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