Pope Leo XIV greets a young pilgrim in Rome during a meeting with group of teachers and young people from Denmark, England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, Saturday, July 5, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Jul 5, 2025 / 11:30 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Saturday said pilgrimages play an essential role in the life of faith as they help a Christian to be better united to Jesus Christ and discern God’s purpose for us in life.

The Holy Father invited a large group of teachers and young people from Denmark, England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales to the Vatican on Saturday and encouraged them to come closer to God during their summer pilgrimage in Rome for the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope.

During the meeting, the pope said: “A pilgrimage has a vital part to play in our life of faith for it removes us from our homes and our daily routines and gives us time and space to encounter God more deeply.”  

“Such moments always help us to grow, for through them the Holy Spirit gently fashions us to be ever more closely conformed to the mind and the heart of Jesus Christ,” he continued.

Continuing the theme of his July prayer intention “for formation in discernment,” the pope told the group of teachers and students that God “has created each one of you with a purpose and a mission in this life.” He encouraged them to visit the many holy sites in the Eternal City during their jubilee pilgrimage.

“Use this opportunity for listening, for prayer, so that you may hear more clearly God’s voice calling you deep within your hearts,” he said. “Today, so often, we lose the ability to listen, to really listen.”

“We listen to music, we have our ears flooded constantly with all kinds of digital input, but sometimes we forget to listen to our own hearts and it’s in our hearts that God speaks to us,” he continued. 

By fostering a personal relationship with Jesus, the pope said God “calls us and invites us to know him better and to live in his love” and to share that gift of faith with others, just like the countless saints and martyrs had over the centuries.

Addressing the teachers of the group, Leo said they have an “important role in the formation of today’s youth” and are role models for them. 

“I hope that, each day, you will nurture your relationship with Christ, who gives us the pattern of all authentic teaching, so that, in turn, you may guide and encourage those entrusted to your care to follow Christ in their own lives,” he said.

The Holy Father challenged his listeners on Saturday to continue their “pilgrimage of discipleship” when they return to their home countries, relying always on God’s mercy and the intercession of the saints.

“Dear friends, with these few words, and entrusting you to the intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church, I gladly impart to each of you my heartfelt blessing,” he said at the meeting’s conclusion.    

According to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization, more than 10 million pilgrims have come to Rome for the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope since Pope Francis opened the Church’s holy year on Christmas Eve 2024.

Speaking to over 400 bishops from 38 countries on June 25, 2025, in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV emphasized the importance of pastoral prudence, poverty, and synodality in the ministry of a bishop. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Jul 5, 2025 / 10:35 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Archbishop Thibault Verny of Chambéry in France as the new president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

The prelate succeeds U.S.-born Cardinal Seán O’Malley, 81, the founding president of the safeguarding commission established by Pope Francis in 2014.  

“I thank the Holy Father for my appointment as president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors,” Verny said in a statement released July 5. 

“I am honored by the trust he has placed in me, fully aware of the grave and sacred task entrusted to the commission: to help the Church become ever more vigilant, accountable, and compassionate in her mission to protect the most vulnerable among us.”

The new president praised his predecessor, saying O’Malley has been “a moral compass” for the faithful and for people of goodwill: “His legacy is one of courageous fidelity to the Gospel and to the dignity of every human person.”

Under O’Malley’s leadership, the Vatican released its first report on the Church’s safeguarding efforts worldwide in October 2024. 

Verny was made a member of the pontifical commission by Pope Francis in 2022 and has since been active in the Vatican’s international safeguarding efforts in different countries, including the Central African Republic and the Ivory Coast.

In his first statement as president of the pontifical commission, the French archbishop said the Church cannot “impose” safeguarding models nor “avoid hard conversations” about taboo topics in local traditions.

“Our work must begin by listening — with humility, with respect, and with cultural intelligence,” the archbishop said on Saturday.

Since 2022, Verny has also chaired the French Bishops’ Conference’s council for preventing and combating child abuse while being a member of the Vatican commission.

Between 2016 and 2023, he served as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Paris, where he was tasked with upholding the agreement between the archdiocese and local authorities to facilitate the reporting of abuse allegations to the civil courts.

In 2023, Verny was appointed archbishop of Chambéry in southeast France.

An aerial view of the papal palace of Castel Gandolfo near Rome. The apostolic palace is a complex of buildings served for centuries as a summer residence for the pope and overlooks Lake Albano. / Credit: Stefano Tammaro/Shutterstock

Vatican City, Jul 5, 2025 / 08:30 am (CNA).

Two months into his pontificate, Pope Leo XIV will leave Rome to spend two weeks on a pontifical estate in the lakeside town of Castel Gandolfo, 18 miles south of the city and sometimes known as the “second Vatican City.”

The pontiff will stay on the hilltop Vatican property “for a period of rest” from the afternoon of July 6 to the afternoon of July 20, the Vatican announced last month. Leo is scheduled to make public appearances from Castel Gandolfo on two Sundays, but otherwise, his public audiences and private audiences will be suspended during that time.

Leo will also spend three days in Castel Gandolfo over the holiday weekend for the solemnity of the Assumption of Mary Aug. 15–17.

Pope Leo’s stay on the 135-acre pontifical estate, which includes multiple properties, extensive gardens, and a working farm, marks the continuation of a centuries-old papal tradition of summer rest.

While Leo’s immediate predecessor, Pope Francis, opted not to use the triangle-shaped territory as a summer retreat, Popes Benedict XVI and John Paul II famously escaped Rome’s intense heat by spending several months in recreation, study, and work in the hilltop town.

According to Vatican News, Pope Leo made a quick visit to Castel Gandolfo on the afternoon of July 3 to check up on the renovations to Villa Barberini, where he will be staying.

A tennis court has also been newly installed on the property for the tennis-loving pope, the New York Times reported. The pool is also reportedly receiving a refresh in anticipation of Leo’s arrival.

Previous popes lived during their retreats in the pontifical palace of the estate, which is situated on the border of the town of Castel Gandolfo and the gardens, opening up onto Liberty Square.

But in 2016, Pope Francis converted the papal palace of Castel Gandolfo into a museum. Two years prior he had opened the gardens to visitors.

The palace and gardens will remain open to the public during Leo’s stay, since he will be living in a different palazzo on the grounds — the Villa Barberini.

The ‘second Vatican City’

The papal ties to Castel Gandolfo date back to 1596; it became an official papal residence 30 years later. The Baroque architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini later added on to the property’s historic villa, first built by Emperor Domitian in the first century.

The territory was conceded to the Holy See as an extraterritorial possession under the Lateran Pact of 1929. 

Since that time, Popes Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI all spent at least part of the summers there, where they would pray the Sunday Angelus and mingle with the townspeople.

The popes would also occasionally receive important visitors. And the quiet atmosphere and scenic gardens provided a restorative space for reading, writing, and taking walks — or in John Paul II’s case, a lap in the property’s swimming pool.

For Benedict XVI, the villa was a favorite summer getaway during his pontificate. He also chose to spend some time there after resigning the papacy.

“Since 1628, the popes have lived in Castel Gandolfo. Some more, some less, but their presence has been constant. This is a city accustomed to the daily life of the pope,” Mayor Alberto de Angelis told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, last month.

Pray with Pope Leo XIV

Part of the papal presence in Castel Gandolfo is the opportunity to pray the Sunday Angelus with Leo. The public can see Pope Leo in Castel Gandolfo during the Angelus messages on July 13 and on July 20, which he will deliver from Liberty Square (Piazza della Libertà) in front of the pontifical palace.

After nearly four weeks back at the Vatican, the pontiff will then return for three days to Castel Gandolfo, where he will recite the Angelus on Aug. 15 and Aug. 17.

Visit Castel Gandolfo

Tickets to visit the Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo or its gardens (Borgo Laudato Si’) can be booked on the official website of the Vatican Museums for a weekend or weekday.

The town of Castel Gandolfo, which sits above the volcanic Lake Albano, is also a pleasant spot for a stroll. The town is part of the area south of Rome known as the Castelli Romani.

Pope Francis “did a lot for the city, opening the doors of the papal residence and the gardens... But now, Leo XIV will give back to the city its daily connection with the pope: the Angelus, the visits, the contact with the people. We want to experience all of that again,” de Angelis said.

From Rome, Castel Gandolfo can be reached by train or car.

null / Credit: A and I Kruk/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Jul 5, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

As more Catholic parishes and notable Catholic figures become the targets of scammers, a new initiative has been launched to help Catholics spot a scam and avoid becoming victims.

Theresa Payton, CEO of Fortalice Solutions and former White House chief information officer, is spearheading the initiative, called “Protecting the Faithful.” The campaign is being actively rolled out in parishes across the country through bulletin announcements and the distribution of infographics, videos, and guides highlighting the red flags of a scam.

Many of these scams come in the form of emails sent to parishioners that look to be from their pastor asking them to donate to parish charities or ministries. Scammers are also targeting the fans of notable Catholic figures.

For instance, there have been several incidents where scammers impersonated Catholic actor Jonathan Roumie. The scammers have messaged Roumie’s followers on social media, pretending they are Roumie and promising a visit to the set of “The Chosen” or being the president of his fan club if they send a certain amount of money.

The Protecting the Faithful initiative is also being distributed on social media through official fan accounts of notable Catholic names in order to warn other fans as well as through podcasts and other Catholic news media outlets.

Payton told CNA that she was inspired to do something about the problem because of “how the faithful are being taken advantage of by criminals and fraudsters.”

“I’ve had victims on the other end of the phone, ashamed that they were a victim, crying, sending their hard-earned money to bad people, and I just had such a broken heart over this that I was like, something must be done,” she said.

“I’ve spent a whole career profiling criminals, and what people need to know is they play to our heart, they play to our human nature,” she added. “They know how to get us to act fast, they know how to get to our sympathies, to the best things about us, and they exploit the best things about us.”

Payton pointed out that with the recent technological advancements, specifically artificial intelligence, it is even easier for scammers to create voice clones, fake videos, and fake images, such as fake driver’s licenses and passports, which can be created “at speed and at scale.”

There are several red flags Payton warns individuals to be aware of in order to be able to spot a scammer, specifically when it comes to impersonators on social media. 

The first is receiving a message from an impersonator saying that the account the person is messaging from is his or her personal or backup account, not the person’s official account. Second is if the person asks to move the conversation over to WhatsApp or Telegram, which are encrypted apps used for communicating. The third red flag is when a scammer invites the individual to become the president of a fan club for a certain amount of money. Lastly, any kind of link that is sent should never be clicked on. 

Payton emphasized that those who’ve been a victim of a scam need to know that “you’ve done nothing wrong, you’re not dumb, you are a good person and because you’re a good person, somebody took advantage of you and you should not feel ashamed of that.”

She also urged individuals to report scams to their local police and IC3.gov, which is monitored by the FBI, and when a large trend is seen, an investigation is conducted and a public service announcement is released warning people nationwide of the scam that is taking place.

Another resource Payton mentioned for those who’ve been a victim is the Identity Theft Resource Center, a nonprofit that offers free resources and guidance to help individuals take the proper steps to recover their identities and other information that may have been stolen.

Returning to the goal of the campaign, Payton said it is to “make sure that everybody around me in the Catholic faith, and even outside the Catholic faith, is as safe and secure as possible.”

She added: “I love being Catholic, and part of what we’re called to do is to take the talents God gave us and invest those in a way that is pleasing to him.”

“If my team and I can do something to avoid another victim, then every moment we spend on this initiative and on this campaign is worth it,” she said.

Bishop Mark Maigida Nzukwein of Nigeria’s Catholic Diocese of Wukari. / Credit: Courtesy of Diocese of Wukari, Nigeria

Vatican City, Jul 5, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Bishop Mark Maigida Nzukwein says displaced families and communities who daily face threats of violence in Nigeria are in great need of spiritual and material support.

Since being appointed the first bishop of the Diocese of Wukari, located in Nigeria’s Taraba state, by Pope Francis in 2022, Nzukwein has seen the destruction of at least 325 Catholic places of worship by Islamic extremists.

“Christians here are really suffering,” the bishop told CNA in an interview. “The first thing we need from people is their prayerful support.”

“Secondly, definitely we need material support to help rehabilitate some of our people who are traumatized from the violence that has been very recurrent,” he added.

Reports released this year by the organizations Aid to the Church in Need and Open Doors have shown that violent attacks against unarmed victims, many of whom are Christians, are on the rise in the African nation.

According to the bishop of Wukari, the sense of fear and helplessness is a great suffering that impacts the physical and spiritual well-being of those to whom he ministers. 

“Over 300,000 people are displaced,” Nzukwein told CNA. “I go around to celebrate Mass for some of these communities who are staying in schools.”

“But on the other hand, we’re still happy that we are experiencing growth even in those IDP [internally displaced people] camps,” he said. 

“People are experiencing the joy of their faith,” he continued. “They know they are suffering but they know that God is also present and they know this will not last forever.”

In light of the ongoing multilayered crisis in Nigeria, Father George Ehusani from Kogi state collaborated with the country’s National Universities Commission to establish a new Psycho-Spiritual Institute campus in Abuja to educate Christian leaders and laypeople in trauma counseling.

“These things are very much needed, but we find it very difficult to raise funds to run those workshops and training,” he told CNA. 

Across the country’s Middle Belt region, an area often described as the “food basket” of the nation, several Christian families have witnessed their homes and farms being taken by force.   

Elizabeth, a member of the Church of Christ in Nations whose family is living in Jos, Taraba state, told CNA in a phone interview that international organizations should focus efforts to assist farmers whose “sources of livelihood” have been destroyed.

“A lot of Nigeria’s food comes from the north — from places like Plateau and Benue — and, due to the rising frequency of attacks, people are not able to go to the farms as usual,” she said. “Food is becoming really expensive [and] so this trickles down to everyone.”

Elizabeth told CNA many people have now become “accustomed” to violent attacks targeting Christian communities. 

Recalling when St. Finbarr’s Catholic Church in Jos was bombed in 2012, she said she was attending a Sunday service nearby at the time when she suddenly felt a “vibration in the ground” beneath her.

“You hear the sound of the blast, you know what is going on, and you just stay in church — I mean we are Christians, right?” she said. “You’re just thinking, ‘Well if my church is next it just means that I get to be with the Lord.’”

“This is the reality of Christians every day in the north [of Nigeria].”

    
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Just as "The Chosen" wrapped up the release of Season 5 in the U.S., the hit series about Jesus and those who knew him was set to stream internationally in select countries, including Italy, starting in July.

The Vatican hosted a news conference and a premiere of one of the new season's episodes in its film theater June 23 before select cast and crew members hit the red carpet at a Rome theater for a special screening of the episode, "The Last Supper," with members of the public, including numerous seminarians, priests and nuns living in the Italian capital.

The goal of the series is "for people to get a deeper connection to Christ and to have a more intimate relationship with him," Jonathan Roumie, who portrays Christ in the series, told Catholic News Service at the red-carpet event.

"I think that is the goal for all of us, for people to go directly to the source and to understand what it is that Jesus actually said, what he meant, what his example was, and how we can incorporate that into our own lives and be better people to each other and better servants of the Lord," said Roumie.

Elizabeth Tabish, who portrays Mary Magdalene in the series, told CNS that the historical drama resonates with its audience because "we start this entire series with all of these saints before they're saints. And they're really messy. They have their own vices and challenges."

"When we meet Mary Magdalene, she is struggling with demon possession and oppression and PTSD from an assault and suicidal thoughts and an addiction. This is meeting someone in their own personal hell," she said, but "it's been so beautiful to witness her story of redemption."

Mary Magdalene's faith journey is depicted as a "continued story of constant redemption and of constant growth, where she is learning to stop thinking about her past and really let go of her past and her shame and her anxieties," to focus on Jesus and "to see how that transforms her," Tabish said.

In Season 5, her character is "so focused on trying to help Jesus and protect him, and it's just such a beautiful place to see her in," she said. "She becomes quite gutsy and outspoken and determined, and I love that, to see a female character go from a real victim to someone so empowered."

"The Chosen" debuted at the end of 2017 as an online series, which has since expanded to theatrical releases, grossing nearly $140 million globally at the box office.

With more than 900 million episode views and a global audience exceeding 280 million, the series' creator and director, Dallas Jenkins, said its "secret sauce" is portraying Jesus and those who knew him in a way that is less formal or stiff.

When meeting fans, he said at the news conference, they typically say that what they love about the series is "it just feels so real. It feels so human."

"Those human moments do not detract from the divinity (of Christ) and do not detract from the spirituality" of the events and teachings they depict, he said.

"In many ways, they make them even more beautiful that the God of the universe came to Earth, Emmanuel, God with us, and laughed with his friends at a wedding," he said. Seeing the young mother, Mary, wash her child's hair or tend to him are "the moments that people have responded to so significantly."

Many of the theological disagreements about Mary and Jesus, said Jenkins, who is an evangelical Christian, "took place after he was here. They take place after the Gospels."

"I think that by focusing on the humanity of these people while not ignoring the divinity and not ignoring the supernatural, but focusing on the humanity -- that has seemed to be what has connected people of multiple faiths, that we can all appreciate that and identify with it and then be drawn closer to Jesus because of that," he said.

Dominican Father Patrick Briscoe, editor of Our Sunday Visitor, who moderated the press conference, told CNS the series is a "great gift" for Catholics because it offers an opportunity for engagement and genuine conversation.

"As a priest in ministry, what's been so beautiful is that people have come to me with questions, very specific questions about Scripture that maybe they would have never had before because they've realized that a decision was made in the way that a scene was portrayed in the show and they wanted clarity about it," he said.

"It's actually raised important questions about how to interpret the Scriptures, about the meaning of particular biblical scenes, and those conversations wouldn't have happened otherwise. So I found it a great source of engagement and light," he said.

According to the series' producers, about 30% of viewers belong to no faith tradition at all.

Jenkins said the "endgame" of the show is not popularity or profit, but "to remind people that these events were real" and that biblical figures are more than literary characters or subjects depicted in art.

"The show is to point you towards the real person of Jesus and to point people towards people like yourself. To get disciples and to worship and to pray," he said.

Rome’s red carpet welcome for "The Chosen"

Catholic News Service interviewed several cast members and the series' creator while they were in Rome June 23.

Bishop Robert Barron is the founder of Word on Fire, a media apostolate focused on evangelization. / Credit: Word on Fire

CNA Staff, Jul 4, 2025 / 15:29 pm (CNA).

Bishop Robert Barron on July 4 urged a federal court to strike down a Washington state law that would force priests to violate the seal of confession, telling the court that the law is “manifestly” disrespectful of the ancient and vital Church practice.

Barron, the bishop of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, and a member of the White House Religious Liberty Commission, made the argument in a proposed amicus brief filed in U.S. district court in Washington state.

The filing comes on behalf of the bishops of Washington state, who in May sued the state government over its new mandatory reporting law that requires priests to report child abuse learned during the sacrament of confession or face jail time and fines.

The law has drawn criticism from religious liberty advocates who say it unjustly targets Catholics. The Department of Justice and a coalition of Orthodox churches have also sued the state government over the rule.

The Confraternity of Catholic Clergy, representing over 500 Roman Catholic priests and deacons from the U.S., Australia, and the United Kingdom, last month issued a statement defending the inviolability of the seal of confession, arguing against laws like Washington state’s and pointing out that child protection “can be lawfully and morally done without violating religious liberty.”

Barron’s brief stressed to the court what it described as the “oft-misunderstood theological underpinnings of the seal of confession.”

“Few religious practices are more misunderstood than the sacred seal of confession in the Catholic Church,” the bishop wrote in the document.

Since Catholics believe that penitents who seek the sacrament of confession are “speaking to and hearing from the Lord himself” via the priest, then “absolutely nothing ought to stand in the way of a sinner who seeks this font of grace,” Barron wrote.

“If a penitent is aware the priest might (let alone must) share with others what was given in the most sacred confidence, he or she would be reluctant indeed to ever approach confession,” he said.

The bishop argued that the state law is “manifestly premised on a disrespect for the confessional seal,” in part because it explicitly exempts clergy from an otherwise broad exception for privileged communications.

The law violates long-standing precedent on religious freedom, the bishop wrote, as well as established legal rules regarding religious neutrality.

Barron urged the court to grant an injunction against the law barring it from being enforced. The law is scheduled to take effect July 27.

A hearing for the lawsuit is scheduled for July 14.

Attorney and columnist Andrea Picciotti-Bayer was named the winner of the Religious Freedom Impact Award by the Religious Freedom Institute on July 2, 2025. / Credit: Courtesy of Andrea Picciotti-Bayer

CNA Staff, Jul 4, 2025 / 12:00 pm (CNA).

Andrea Picciotti-Bayer is the 2025 recipient of the Religious Freedom Impact Award, the Religious Freedom Institute (RFI) announced July 2.

The Religious Freedom Impact Award honors leaders who demonstrate “consistent, effective, and innovative leadership in advancing religious freedom” through law, policy, or culture. It will be presented at the RFI Annual Dinner on Nov. 6 in Washington, D.C. 

Picciotti-Bayer is an accomplished attorney, policy expert, political commentator, and mother who has spent her career defending the conscience rights and religious liberty of individuals and institutions, particularly in the areas of education, parental rights, and health care.

A Catholic mother of 10, Picciotti-Bayer told CNA that she sees God’s hand in her life and credits him with her success, saying Christians, especially young women navigating careers and motherhood, should trust that “we can never outdo God in generosity.” 

She said motherhood has played a vital role in informing her work. 

“Having children made me a better lawyer,” she told CNA. “It allowed me to understand firsthand the concerns of parents fighting for their ability to raise their children according to their consciences.” 

After more than a decade focused on raising her children, she returned to the legal world “ready to roll up my sleeves.” 

Picciotti-Bayer is the director of the Conscience Project, where she works with intellectuals and legal scholars to craft public arguments and file amicus briefs in significant religious freedom cases at the appellate level as well as at the U.S. Supreme Court. 

She fights against government overreach, helping individuals and institutions to exercise their faith without unjust interference.

“Andrea Picciotti-Bayer is a tenacious advocate for religious Americans threatened by government intrusion into their public and private lives,” said Religious Freedom Institute President David Trimble. “Her voice brings clarity to the confusion that so often surrounds some of the most charged religious freedom conflicts in American law and culture today.”

Picciotti-Bayer began her career in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where she served as a trial and appellate attorney. 

She later advised the Catholic Association and worked as a strategic consultant for the Institute for Human Ecology at The Catholic University of America, authoring amicus briefs in pivotal religious freedom and free speech cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and federal appellate courts.

Beyond the courtroom, Picciotti-Bayer is a prominent voice in the media, serving as a legal analyst for EWTN News and a weekly guest on “Ave Maria in the Afternoon.” She also writes a column for the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, and has been published in multiple other news outlets. 

Her impactful journalism recently earned her the 2025 Catholic Media Association Award for Best Coverage of Religious Liberty Issues.

Cardinal Dominique Mathieu, archbishop of Tehran, Iran (left), and Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 4, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Here’s a roundup of Catholic world news from the past week that you might have missed:

Pope appoints Pizzaballa and Mathieu to Vatican’s interreligious dialogue office

Pope Leo XIV on July 3 appointed two prominent cardinals, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, and Dominique Mathieu, archbishop of Tehran, Iran, to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, according to ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner.

Their appointment comes amid a broad reshuffle that also brought in cardinals from Japan and Canada as well as bishops and experts with experience in fostering relations among faiths. The two newly named members are already active in Vatican circles: Pizzaballa also serves in the Eastern Churches and Christian unity offices, while Mathieu is part of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.

Pope Leo turns attention to St. Augustine’s Algerian roots

In a personal reflection on his Augustinian roots, Pope Leo XIV this week expressed his heartfelt desire to visit Algeria, homeland of St. Augustine of Hippo, whose writings profoundly shaped Christian thought, ACI MENA reported.

Speaking of Augustine as a spiritual father, the pope shone a spotlight on the saint’s birthplace in Tagaste (modern-day Souk Ahras) and the historic church that bears his name in the coastal city of Annaba.

The Church of St. Augustine, completed in the early 20th century on a hill overlooking the ruins of ancient Hippo, remains a symbol of North Africa’s rich Christian heritage. Recently restored with the help of the Algerian government and international partners, the church combines diverse architectural styles and houses a monastery, school, and library.

Palestinian churches urge global action against Israeli violations

Christian leaders in Palestine issued a strong call this week for churches worldwide to speak out against what they described as systematic violations by Israeli authorities against Palestinians, particularly Christians, ACI MENA reported.

They lamented in a statement the increasing attacks on Christian clergy and property, citing incidents such as vandalism, harassment, and denial of worship permits during Easter. The statement also drew attention to recent strikes on sacred sites in Gaza and threats to church assets in Jerusalem over disputed tax claims. “What Christians here are facing is no longer an exception but a growing pattern of targeted oppression,” the committee warned, calling on global churches to exercise moral leadership and uphold human dignity.

Parish in DRC closed after tabernacle desecrated, hosts burned 

St. Francis of Assisi Luano Parish in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been closed down after a June 30 incident in which vandals broke into the building, desecrated the altar, and set all of the consecrated hosts on fire, according to a report by ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa.

The vandals also “emptied the cupboard, taking liturgical vestments, the altar cross, the processional cross, the altar cloth, the mixer, drums, microphones, [and] liturgical books,” according to Father Emmanuel Mumba, vicar general of the Congolese Metropolitan See. “Prayer can no longer be organized in an environment or in a church that has been desecrated. It is the archbishop, who must come to celebrate the Mass here, in order to open the church for worship,” he added.

Togo bishops condemn police brutality after 7 killed in protest against government 

The Episcopal Conference of Togo (CET) issued a condemnation of police brutality after seven people were killed during a protest against the country’s President Faure Gnassingbé following constitutional changes that could extend his rule indefinitely. 

“Having followed with deep concern, distress, and sadness the painful events that marked the days of June 26, 27, and 28, in light of acts of unprecedented gravity, we strongly condemn these unacceptable and intolerable acts of violence, regardless of their origin, perpetrators, or justification,” they said in the statement shared with ACI Africa on July 2.

Head of Swiss abbey resigns in connection with abuse report

Abbot Jean César Scarcella, CRA, has resigned as abbot of the territorial abbey of Saint-Maurice in Switzerland in connection with an abuse report, according to CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner. The Holy See confirmed that Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation.

Scarcella’s resignation came after the publication of a sexual abuse report that documented at least 67 cases of sexualized violence in the period from 1960 to 2024. Scarcella had previously resigned temporarily in November 2023 after sexual harassment allegations were made against him, but the Vatican never found any proof of misconduct.

German Catholics protest against ‘child protection congress’ 

Approximately 900 people demonstrated in Hanover, Germany, against a “child protection congress” of the AfD (Alternative for Germany) party in the Lower Saxony state Parliament — including representatives of the Catholic Church, according to CNA Deutsch. At the event, the right-wing AfD party called for the protection of children from “early sexualization” and from unilateral “gender propaganda.”

“Hanover is colorful, diverse, democratic, and open. We want to preserve this for our children. We do not allow so-called ‘concerned citizens’ to pursue their right-wing extremist goals under the guise of the alleged care for our children,” the Catholic Church in Hanover said in a statement.

The National Catholic Bioethics Center’s Edward J. Furton speaks at the Catholic Information Center in Washington, D.C., on June 25, 2025. / Credit: Tessa Gervasini/CNA

Washington D.C., Jul 4, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Ahead of the celebration of Independence Day, Edward Furton, publications director for The National Catholic Bioethics Center, spoke in a lecture in the nation’s capital about the country’s founders and their desire for a republic open to all faiths but one in which no citizen would be compelled to profess any particular religious doctrine.

In a presentation titled “Natural Religion and the American Founding” at the Catholic Information Center, Furton referenced James J. Walsh’s book “Scholasticism in the Colonial Colleges” to discuss church and state separation and how the Declaration of Independence is “the founding truth of the United States” and should be “at the center of American public life.”

Furton, who received his doctoral degree in philosophy from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., highlighted the founders’ general, important distinction between two paths to religious truth: faith and reason.

“The truths of faith were indeed meant to be separated from public life,” Furton said in reference to the consensus position of America’s Founding Fathers, as “they were a cause of deep divisions,” Furton said, referencing the religious establishment differences among and clashes within the 13 colonies.

On the other hand, Furton affirmed, “the truths of reason were not to be separated. They were to be the source of our national unity.”

Among the colonial colleges, Furton said, the problem of sectarianism was largely solved by emphasizing “natural religion, a conviction that certain theological and moral truths can be known independently of supernatural revelation.”

Ultimately, Furton said, each college-educated founder ended up adding “his own faith to what they had learned in the college without any contradiction to his own beliefs.”

“Faith is added to reason just as grace is added to nature,” Furton said. “So this distinction between faith and reason is the key to understanding the proper place of religion within American public life.”

Furton continued: “Supernatural religion begins with faith … every proposition in Christian doctrine carries with it this note of belief in supernatural revealing, supernatural truth. Also, what is believed transcends rational understanding. So the various doctrines of the Trinity, for example, are taken on faith, and they transcend human reason.”

In contrast, Furton said, “natural religion … begins with the world around us, as it’s experienced by the senses, and seeks to understand nature on its own terms, independently of faith. Historically … the two approaches have been considered compatible and complementary.”

The founders aimed to develop “a republic that would be open to all religious faiths, but one in which no citizen would be compelled to profess any particular religious doctrine.”

“There would be complete freedom of religious expression among all sects, but unity would be forged under the rationally known truths of natural religion.” People were free to “profess their doctrines in private lives, in their private life, in their homes, in their churches, but none was allowed to join these supernatural beliefs to the federal government.”

“The Declaration of Independence was the first test of this approach, and it was successful. So the American founding rests on a commitment to religious truth that can be known by reason.”

Concluding his presentation, Furton said “religious truths that are agreeable to reason cannot be ruled out preemptively. The argument that the First Amendment obliges to privatize these truths is based on a misunderstanding between the distinction of faith and reason.”

“The same distinction between faith and reason tells us that the true line of separation today between church and state is: All religious claims that transcend reason must be separated from public life, but all those that are within the range of reason may remain,” Furton asserted.