Pope Leo XIV places a crown on the Madonna of Sinti, Roma, and Walking Peoples during the audience of the Jubilee of the Roma, Sinti, and Traveling Peoples in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican on Oct. 18, 2025. / Credit: Filippo Monteforte/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 15, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Some Protestant scholars who spoke with CNA welcomed a Vatican document that clarified titles for the Blessed Virgin Mary that discouraged the use of Co-Redemptrix/Co-Redeemer and put limits on the use of Mediatrix/Mediator.

The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) issued the doctrinal note Mater Populi Fidelis on Nov. 4. It was approved by Pope Leo XIV and signed by DDF Prefect Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández on Oct. 7.

According to the document, using “Co-Redemptrix” to explain Mary’s role in salvation “would not be appropriate.” The document is less harsh about using “Mediatrix” and says “if misunderstood, it could easily obscure or even contradict” Mary’s role in mediation.

The document affirms Mary plays a role in both redemption and mediation because she freely cooperates with Jesus Christ. That role, it explains, is always “subordinate” to Christ, and it warned against using titles in a way that could be misconstrued to mitigate Christ as the sole Redeemer and sole Mediator.

Catholic reactions have been mixed, with some seeing the clarification as helpful and others defending the titles as consistent with the understanding of Mary’s role as subordinate and asking the Vatican to formally define the doctrines themselves rather than simply issue a note on the titles.

Positive reactions from Protestants

CNA spoke with three Protestant scholars, all of whom welcomed the Vatican’s doctrinal note on titles for Mary.

David Luy, theology professor at the North American Lutheran Seminary, told CNA he does not see the document as “Roman Catholics conceding anything to their tradition” but did see it as being written “with an attentiveness” toward certain concerns that Protestants raise.

Although Protestant communities vary widely on how they view Mary and what titles are proper, he said concern over the titles in question “sprouts from a desire to uphold the distinctiveness of Christ as the one mediator.”

Luy cited the second chapter of First Timothy. The translation of the text approved by the U.S. Catholic bishops states: “For there is one God. There is also one mediator between God and the human race, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself as ransom for all.”

He said Protestants often emphasize the need to “uphold the distinctive mediatorship of Christ” and saw the document as expressing a “sensibility to that central Protestant concern” while also being careful “in the way it develops Mary’s role in the economy of salvation.”

“Does it relieve potential strain between Protestants and Catholics? The short answer would be yes,” Luy said.

However, he said the concept of mediation “is probably where there’d be a need for just ongoing conversation.” He said Lutherans understand the term “mediation” as being “the means through which God acts in the world” and that “most Lutherans are going to be cautious” of language that describes Mary in terms of mediation.

Catholic teaching recognizes Christ as “the one mediator,” according to Lumen Gentium, the dogmatic constitution on the Church issued by the Second Vatican Council in 1964. It teaches that humans cooperate with Christ’s mediation in a subordinate way and “the Church does not hesitate to profess this subordinate role of Mary.”

The Rev. Cynthia Rigby, a theology professor at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and co-author of “Blessed One: Protestant Perspectives on Mary,” told CNA she thinks the document could mark “a watershed moment” for relations between Catholics and Protestants.

Rigby said Mary should be understood as a woman with “great faith,” and, under that framing, “Christians will identify her less as a secondary savior but as an exemplary Christian.” She said “the weight will shift from trying to explain how it is that Mary brokers salvation without rivaling Christ … to what we can learn about the joy of salvation through her example.”

The Vatican document, however, goes much further than Rigby on Mary’s role. It states that she freely cooperates “in the work of human salvation through faith and obedience” during the time that Christ walked the earth and throughout the ongoing life of the Church rather than simply viewing her as an example to follow.

Volker Leppin, a Lutheran pastor and theology professor at Yale Divinity School, told CNA the document is “very welcome” and called Mariology “one of the major points distinguishing Christian traditions since the Reformation.”

He said the guidance on titles and the explanation provided in the document are “extraordinarily helpful for ecumenical dialogue” because they affirm Christ as the sole redeemer and mediator and Pope Leo XIV “makes very clear that we can say so in ecumenical communality.”

Leppin said this “is a reason for Protestants to embrace the clear step forward he is making toward Christian unity."

The Vatican document did not expressly state that ecumenism was the intended goal. However, the subject of Catholic Marian devotions is a frequent point of contention. The document did not alter any doctrines in dispute but instead focused on titles the dicastery felt may cause confusion about what the Church actually teaches about Mary.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly attributed the quotes from Volker Leppin to Tom Krattenmaker. It has been corrected. (Published Dec. 16, 2025) 

Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican for the Angelus on Dec. 14, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Dec 14, 2025 / 08:05 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday voiced deep concern over renewed fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, urging an immediate end to violence and a return to dialogue in line with ongoing peace efforts.

After leading pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square in praying the Angelus on the third Sunday of Advent, the pope said he was “following with deep concern the resumption of fighting in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.”

“While expressing my closeness to the people, I urge the parties in the conflict to cease all forms of violence and to seek constructive dialogue, respecting the ongoing peace process,” he said.

The pope’s appeal came amid reports of intensified clashes involving the M23 rebel group in the mineral-rich eastern region, despite a recently signed peace agreement between Congolese and Rwandan leaders.

Pope Leo also recalled recent beatifications of martyrs in Spain and France, praising their fidelity to the faith amid persecution. “Let us praise the Lord for these martyrs, courageous witnesses to the Gospel, persecuted and killed for remaining close to their people and faithful to the Church,” he said.

Earlier, in his catechesis before leading the Angelus, Pope Leo reflected on the Gospel reading for the third Sunday of Advent, which presents John the Baptist imprisoned for his preaching yet still seeking the truth about Jesus.

From prison, John hears “about the works of Christ” and sends his disciples to ask whether Jesus is truly the one who is to come, the pope noted. Jesus’ response, he said, points not to abstract claims but to concrete signs.

“Christ announces who he is by what he does. And what he does is a sign of salvation for all of us,” Pope Leo said. Encountering Jesus, he explained, restores meaning to lives marked by darkness and suffering: “The blind see, the mute speak, the deaf hear… Even the dead, who are completely lifeless, come back to life. This is the Gospel of Jesus, the good news proclaimed to the poor.”

“The words of Jesus free us from the prison of despair and suffering,” the pope said, adding that Christ “gives voice to the oppressed and to those whose voices have been silenced by violence and hatred” and “defeats ideologies that make us deaf to the truth.”

Concluding his reflection, Pope Leo said that Advent calls Christians to unite their expectation of the Savior with attentiveness to God’s action in the world. “Then we will be able to experience the joy of freedom in encountering our Savior,” he said, echoing the Church’s celebration of Gaudete Sunday.

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

The fir tree and the Nativity scene are ready for the dedication in St. Peter’s Square on Dec. 15, 2025. / Credit: Victoria Cardiel/EWTN News

Vatican City, Dec 14, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The Governorate of Vatican City State has announced the origins of the fir tree and Nativity scenes that will adorn St. Peter’s Square and the Paul VI Audience Hall this Christmas as well as those who prepared the tree’s decorations.

The decorations in St. Peter’s Square will once again have an Italian touch.

The chosen tree, an imposing 80-foot Norway spruce, comes from the town of Val d’Ultimo in Ultental, one of the most picturesque and lesser-known valleys of South Tyrol in the Alto Adige region of Italy. Along with the large tree, 40 smaller trees destined for Vatican offices and buildings will arrive soon.

In a novel initiative to ensure environmental sustainability and respect for nature, after Christmas, the main fir tree will be used to produce essential oils — a process that will be handled by the Austrian company Wilder Naturprodukte — and the rest of the wood will be donated to a charitable organization.

The Nativity scene, which is more of a village scene and will include life-size figures, will also be monumental in size. It measures 56 feet in length and is nearly 40 feet wide with a height of 25 feet and comes from the Diocese of Nocera Inferiore-Sarno, one of the oldest in Italy whose origins date back to the third century, when Nuceria Alfaterna — the ancient Roman city in the Sarno Valley — already had an organized Christian community.

The scene recreates emblematic elements of early Christian art from this region of Italy and includes a reproduction of the sixth-century baptistery from St. Mary Major Basilica, one of the best-preserved in the country. It also features an octagonal baptismal pool and frescoes that reveal Byzantine influences.

Also represented is the Helvius Fountain (“Fons Helvii”), an ancient monumental Roman fountain built between the first and second centuries A.D. associated with a local aqueduct that supplied water to the Roman population.

Upon this symbolic architecture unfolds a narrative that fuses sacred art, cultural heritage, and local identity.

The life-size figures of the Holy Family have been created by craftsman Federico Iaccarino, and the rest of the Nativity scene will include characters inspired by saints associated with this Italian region.

For example, among those represented are St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, who in 1732 founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists), dedicated to evangelizing the most abandoned, especially in rural and marginalized areas; and a shepherd inspired by the Servant of God Don Enrico Smaldone, a priest who dedicated his life to caring for orphans, poor young people, and people with intellectual disabilities, for whom he created educational initiatives and welcoming spaces within the Church.

Around them, shepherds and animals parade across a pavement that evokes the ancient Roman roads.

In the central scene, Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus are accompanied by the ox and the donkey, the three Wise Men, and a shepherdess offering local produce — artichokes, San Marzano tomatoes, and dried fruit — as a tribute to the land that inspired the work.

The ensemble includes elements that invite spiritual reflection: a pendulum clock that alludes to the passage of time, an observer leaning over a balcony representing the human perspective on the mystery, and a fisherman holding an anchor, a symbol of faith and the spiritual journey of the jubilee.

The luminous star with a tail in the shape of an anchor that crowns the composition stands out, uniting the celestial and the earthly in a single gesture of hope.

The dedication will take place Monday, Dec. 15, at 5 p.m. local time in a ceremony presided over by Sister Raffaella Petrini, president of the Governorate of Vatican City State, accompanied by Archbishop Emilio Nappa and lawyer Giuseppe Puglisi-Alibrandi, general secretaries of the Vatican body.

The day will begin with several audiences with Pope Leo XIV, who will receive in the morning the delegations that donated the tree and those responsible for the huge Nativity scene that will adorn the square.

Among others, the afternoon ceremony will be attended by Bishop Ivo Muser of Bolzano-Bressanone; the mayor of Lagundo, Alexandra Ganner; and the mayor of Ultimo, Stefan Schwarz.

During the morning, the official presentation of a Nativity scene from Costa Rica, which will be installed this year in the Paul VI Audience Hall, will also take place.

Titled “Nacimiento Gaudium” (“Nativity of Joy”), the work by Costa Rican artist Paula Sáenz Soto, is an “affirmation of life from conception.” The piece consists of a figure of a pregnant Virgin Mary and 28,000 colored ribbons that symbolize lives preserved thanks to the support provided by Catholic organizations to pregnant women in vulnerable situations.

The Nativity scene — 16 feet long, 10 feet high, and 8 feet deep — will feature two interchangeable representations of the Virgin Mary: an image of her pregnant during Advent and another of her adoring the newborn child from Christmas Eve onward. In addition, 400 ribbons with prayers and wishes from children at the National Hospital of San José, Costa Rica, will be placed in the manger on Dec. 24.

The Costa Rican delegation that will meet with the pope will be composed of First Lady Signe Zeicate; her daughter, Isabel Chaves Zeicate; and the country’s ambassador to the Holy See, Federico Zamora.

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

The Rorate Caeli Advent Mass celebrated at The National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion. / Credit: The National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion

CNA Staff, Dec 14, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Advent is a season filled with rich Catholic traditions, but a slightly lesser-known one is growing in popularity among younger Catholics.

The ancient liturgy of the Rorate Caeli Advent Mass honors the Blessed Virgin Mary through a Mass celebrated at dawn, in complete darkness, and lit only by candles, which symbolizes Christ, the Light of the World, entering into the world with Mary as the vessel. 

Emerging in the Middle Ages, the Rorate Caeli Mass gets its name from the prophecy of Isaiah. Rorate Caeli is Latin for “drop down, ye heavens.” These are the opening words of this liturgy’s Introit, which is used as an opening psalm or entrance antiphon and comes from Isaiah 45:8.

Father Tony Stephens, rector at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion in Champion, Wisconsin, calls this Mass “a teachable moment.”

“As all of us are gathered in the church, only lit with the candles, slowly the light begins coming in through the windows and it’s like the light of Christ,” he told CNA. The process symbolizes “the light of Christ coming into our lives, slowly but surely and progressively as we go through life.”

“And just like that light begins to come in through the windows, as the physical sun rises, so in our journey as Catholics, the closer we get to Christ, the more his light shines in our life,” he said.

Stephens has been rector of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion for two years but was scheduled to celebrate the Rorate Caeli Mass there for the first time on Dec. 13. The shrine is the first and only approved Marian apparition site in the United States. It was here that the Blessed Mother is believed to have appeared to Adele Brise in 1859. 

When speaking about the Blessed Mother’s role in Advent, Stephens described it as “a season of anticipating Our Lord, but when you look at the subtext of Advent, things about Mary are everywhere — in the readings and her role in salvation history is so important. And so that’s, again, part of the reason you have these special Marian Masses honoring her during this Advent season.”

He also highlighted the fact that this ancient Mass is seeing a resurgence in popularity and credited Pope Benedict XVI, in part, for reintroducing Catholics to older, traditional practices and his “desire of the hermeneutic of continuity.” 

“He in his pontificate really emphasized a desire to have that continuity between the earlier traditions of the Church, even prior to the [Vatican II] council … looking at all of the rich liturgical heritage that we have as Catholics,” he added. 

The priest pointed out that young people are also searching for more traditional practices.

“There is a great love, especially amongst young people, for things that are traditional,” he said, adding that the Mass also “appeals to the senses in a way that technology and phones don’t.” 

“The real light of a candle is way different than the electronic light put off by a cellphone screen,” he said. “A burning, living candle, the way it flickers, and you can’t recharge a candle — it gives everything it has like Jesus did on the cross. A candle burns with all its might to put off that light. And so there is a selflessness about that light of that candle that’s different than technology, and young people desire that kind of self-gift and authenticity.”

Stephens said he hopes those who attend a Rorate Caeli Mass will leave with “an eager anticipation of Jesus coming at Christmastime.”

“A Rorate Caeli Mass is one of those times that we can have a little consolation and we’re reminded of the author of all consolation and his mother,” he said.

Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass for the Jubilee of Hope for prisoners in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on Dec. 14, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Dec 14, 2025 / 05:25 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday presided over the final major celebration of the holy year, calling for renewed commitment to justice, rehabilitation, and hope as he celebrated a jubilee Mass dedicated to prisoners in St. Peter’s Basilica.

About 6,000 pilgrims from some 90 countries took part in the Jubilee of Prisoners, including detainees and their families, prison chaplains, correctional officers, police, and prison administrators. Participants came from across Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Oceania, including Italy, Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Poland, Germany, Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, the United States, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Australia.

In his homily, the pope said that as the jubilee year drew to a close, significant challenges remained within prison systems worldwide.

“While the close of the jubilee year draws near, we must recognize that, despite the efforts of many, even in the penitentiary system there is much that still needs to be done,” he said. Quoting the prophet Isaiah — “the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing” — Leo said the passage recalled that “it is God who ransoms, who redeems and liberates.”

The pope acknowledged the harsh realities of incarceration, saying prison was “a difficult place and even the best proposals can encounter many obstacles.” For that reason, he said, people must not “tire, be discouraged, or give up” but continue “with tenacity, courage, and a spirit of collaboration.”

Leo stressed that justice should not be reduced to punishment alone. “There are many who do not yet understand that for every fall one must be able to get back up, that no human being is defined only by his or her actions and that justice is always a process of reparation and reconciliation,” he said.

Reflecting on the meaning of the jubilee, the pope said that even in difficult conditions, the preservation of compassion, respect, and mercy could bear unexpected fruit.

“When even in difficult situations we are able to maintain and preserve the beauty of feelings, sensitivity, attention to the needs of others, respect, the capacity for mercy and forgiveness, beautiful flowers spring forth from the ‘hard ground’ of sin and suffering,” Leo said, adding that “gestures, projects, and encounters, unique in their humanity, mature even within prison walls.”

The pope also recalled the hopes expressed by his predecessor, Pope Francis, for the holy year. Leo said Francis had wanted jubilee celebrations to include “forms of amnesty or pardon meant to help individuals regain confidence in themselves and in society” and to offer “real opportunities of reintegration” to all.

“I hope that many countries are following his desire,” the pope said, noting that in its biblical origins the jubilee was “a year of grace in which everyone was offered the possibility of restarting in many different ways.”

Addressing both prisoners and those who work in the penal system, Leo said the task entrusted to them was demanding. He pointed to challenges such as overcrowding, insufficient educational and rehabilitation programs, and limited job opportunities, as well as personal burdens including past wounds, disappointment, and the difficulty of forgiveness.

“The Lord, however, beyond all this, continues to repeat to us that only one thing is important: that no one be lost and that all be saved,” he said. “Let no one be lost! Let all be saved! This is what our God wants, this is his kingdom, and this is the goal of his actions in the world.”

According to organizers, delegations attending the jubilee included inmates and staff from several Italian prisons, including Rebibbia, Casal del Marmo, Brescia, Teramo, Pescara, Rieti, Varese, and Forlì, as well as international groups coordinated by prison chaplaincies in Portugal, Spain, Malta, and Chile. A group of 500 pilgrims was accompanied by the General Inspectorate of Chaplains of Italian prisons.

The hosts used for the Mass were produced by prisoners through the “Sense of Bread” project run by the Fondazione Casa dello Spirito e delle Arti. Since 2016, the initiative has involved more than 300 inmates each year in making Communion hosts for more than 15,000 dioceses, religious communities, and parishes in Italy and abroad.

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

FOCUS Founder Curtis Martin announces his retirement from the role of FOCUS CEO, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. / Credit: FOCUS

CNA Staff, Dec 13, 2025 / 14:25 pm (CNA).

Curtis Martin, who founded the Catholic student ministry group FOCUS nearly 30 years ago, announced this week that he will step down from his management role there while continuing to serve in the long-running campus ministry organization.

In a Dec. 12 letter announcing his retirement from the role of CEO, Martin said that after nearly three decades, the organization now numbers “more than 1,000 FOCUS missionaries … in over 250 locations,” reaching “nearly 60,000 students and parishioners” in 2025 alone. 

Since 2008, meanwhile, missionaries with the group have led “over 1,200 mission trips” that have sent more than 20,000 people to more than 50 countries. 

Martin said the “ever-increasing time demands” of his multiple roles at the company, coupled with several years of prayer with the organization’s board of directors, led him to step into an “expanded public-facing role” of “founder,” one that will allow him to continue to work at the organization, including serving on its board.

“My desire is to do what is best for the institution I love so dearly,” he said. 

Longtime board member Tim Thoman will serve as interim chief executive as the organization launches a search for a permanent CEO, Martin said, adding that he felt “extraordinarily blessed that [Thoman] agreed to lead FOCUS … during this time of transition.”

Describing his work at FOCUS as “one of the deepest privileges of my life,” Martin urged the organization to “be who we are meant to be, so that through us, God can set the world on fire.” 

In a video announcing the transition, meanwhile, Thoman said FOCUS is marked by “tenacity and professionalism, but mostly the love of Jesus and the trust in God.” 

“The idea of working with people who wake up and come to work with a love for Jesus and a desire to do his will and live authentically their faith and also fulfill the Great Commission — I can’t imagine better people to work with, or a more worthy cause, than FOCUS,” Thoman said.  

Commenting on the transition, Denver Archbishop Samuel Aquila noted that “Curtis and his family, as well as FOCUS, are based in Denver, where they have blessed our local Church in countless ways.”

“From the earliest days of FOCUS to its extraordinary growth into a global missionary movement, Curtis has been a faithful servant of Jesus Christ and the Church,” Aquila said. The prelate added that FOCUS is “a work that has borne fruit that only God can produce” and also expressed his confidence in Thoman, whom he said he has known for several years.

The Martins last year were awarded EWTN’s 2024 Mother Angelica Award for what EWTN Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael Warsaw called their “passion for the new evangelization” and their work at transforming “countless lives” through evangelization. 

Curtis Martin had announced FOCUS’ founding in 1997 on an episode of “Mother Angelica Live.” Michaelann Martin last year described receiving the Mother Angelica Award as “a humbling honor for both of us.” 

“We are grateful to Mother Angelica for her example of faith and courage, and to EWTN for continuing her work of evangelization,” she said. 

“But this is not about us. It is about the countless missionaries who have given their lives to this work and the students whose lives are being transformed by the Gospel,” she added.

This story was updated on Dec. 16, 2025, with comments from Denver Archbishop Samuel Aquila.

Students from Nordiska Musikgymnasiet — The Nordic Music High School — in Stockholm perform traditional Swedish “Lucia songs” during an afternoon Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 11, 2025. / Credit: Bénédicte Cedergren/EWTN News

Rome Newsroom, Dec 13, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

A Swedish youth choir marked the feast of St. Lucy by singing at a Mass at the Vatican on Thursday, Dec. 11.

Students from Nordiska Musikgymnasiet — The Nordic Music High School — in Stockholm performed traditional Swedish “Lucia songs” during an afternoon Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica ahead of the Italian saint’s Dec. 13 feast day.

“It was just really amazing” singing in St. Peter’s Basilica, choir member Alfio Tota told EWTN News after the Dec. 11 Mass. “It’s so enormous … And the acoustics are very interesting.”

The student recalled that though Sweden is a very secular country, the tradition of St. Lucia, as they call her, is quite strong.

“I think everyone feels quite a lot of joy and nostalgia in singing” the St. Lucy hymns, he said.

Choir member Fabienne Glader told EWTN News that she always spends the feast of St. Lucy with her family.

St. Lucy “shows courage and patience and just to never [give up] on yourself,” Glader said. “Even if you’re not really religious in any way, you can look up to her as just a wonderful person.”

The choir’s conductor, Casimir Käfling, said as a Christian, the tradition of St. Lucy was always part of Christmas for his family.

He called it “an incredible honor to be able to sing and conduct” her songs in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Käfling also recalled the darkness Sweden experiences during the winter, especially in the month of December, and said St. Lucy brings light into that darkness.

“The story of St. Lucy really plays with these contrasts of light and dark, and most importantly, hope and despair,” Tota said.

Simon Schwarz, head of the Caritas Vilnius Convicts Consultation Center, talks to university students in Vilnius, Lithuania. / Credit: Caritas Lithuania

Vilnius, Lithuania, Dec 13, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

The program provides counseling not only for those battling compulsive sexual behaviors but also for spouses and family members affected by them.

“The Catholic Dating Show” recently launched on CatholicMatch, a Catholic dating site, and has quickly become a fan favorite. / Credit: CatholicMatch/Tony Tibbetts

CNA Staff, Dec 13, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Secular dating shows like “The Bachelor,” “Farmer Wants a Wife,” and “Love Is Blind” are among a plethora of programs that aim to bring singles together. But what would it look like to add faith to matchmaking in a dating show? CatholicMatch, one of the first Catholic dating sites, seeks to do just that with the launch of “The Catholic Dating Show.”

Earlier this year, CatholicMatch released a new platform called “Relate.” This platform is meant to bring users together for weekly live, virtual events such as trivia nights, discussions with prominent Catholic speakers, and “The Catholic Dating Show.”

The show has quickly become a fan favorite, bringing in over 600 live viewers through the dating site and even more when it is uploaded to CatholicMatch’s YouTube channel the next day for nonmembers to watch.

Taking place two Saturdays a month, “The Catholic Dating Show” is an hourlong event that features one single woman and three single men. During the first half of the show, the woman asks her suitors questions to get to know them better. The three men also have their cameras off for this part so the woman cannot see them.

Once she is done asking questions, the live audience lets her know, via a live poll, whom they think she should continue with into the second half of the show. She can either take their advice or not. Once she picks one of the three suitors, the two go on to play compatibility games to get to know each other further. The show finishes with another live poll from the audience asking if the two should meet in person for a date. 

“It’s just been so much fun,” Tony Tibbetts, live events manager at CatholicMatch and the host of the dating show, told CNA in an interview. “We’re having a blast and people love it.”

Tibbetts pointed out that through the Relate platform, CatholicMatch is not only trying to address a singleness epidemic but “also a loneliness epidemic.” 

As someone who works with Catholic singles on a daily basis, Tibbetts shared that he is witnessing that “there’s a great sense of distrust in the world and the feeling of you’re going to get burned” and “that lack of vulnerability has become very rampant in the Catholic community when it comes to Catholic dating.”

Due to this, CatholicMatch is working to be more than just a dating app but also to “build something unique in the dating world, especially with this Relate platform — to not only be the name you think of when you think of Catholic online dating, but it will also be something that people desire to be part of.”

“So we’re helping people to be able to join in the Catholic community — because we all need community — of singles and who knows, maybe you just might find ‘the one’ while you’re there,” he explained. 

He added: “Our stated mission is to help facilitate as many holy, Catholic marriages as possible, and so we want to do that for you as quickly as possible, as quickly as we can, but while you’re on it as well, we want you to get the most out of your dating experience. Dating should be fun. Dating shouldn’t be stressful … We want to help facilitate that joy in people and that excitement for community, for possibly finding other people like you, for possibly finding ‘the one.’”

Through the live events, Tibbetts said he believes CatholicMatch is enabling users to “go beyond the profile of somebody to be able to get to know them.”

One of their newest additions to the Relate platform is the dating hotline, which allows users to call in with questions about dating or ask for advice and have their questions answered live by the male and female hosts. 

Tibbetts said the primary goal is “trying to facilitate joy among Catholic singles.”

“With that, we hope and pray that the Lord will move something within them where we can create marriages, we can create holy, Catholic relationships with it ... We’re trying to create joyful lives for Catholics and hopefully create some Catholic marriages along the way.”

Father Richard Reiser, an iconographer based in Omaha, Nebraska, writes an icon of St. Bridget of Sweden with her family for FOCCUS Marriage Ministries’ 40th anniversary. / Credit: Photo courtesy of FOCCUS

CNA Staff, Dec 13, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

When an iconographer began his work on a unique icon, he looked to the bones of the saint’s husband for help.

FOCCUS Marriage Ministries, a Catholic marriage ministry, invited the priest-iconographer Father Richard Reiser to make an icon of St. Bridget of Sweden, a mystic and the mother of eight. The ministry is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year and chose St. Bridget to be the patron saint of its work.

But there was one challenge. According to Reiser, historically there is no established iconographic prototype of an icon of St. Bridget of Sweden.

So using his imagination and every historical source available — including the bones of St. Bridget’s husband — the priest developed an entirely new icon of a saint who has gone without an icon for hundreds of years.

The domestic church 

“For me, iconography is first and foremost a form of prayer,” Reiser said. “The entire creative process is an act of listening to God and allowing the sacred story of a saint or mystery to take shape through layers of contemplation, color, and symbolism.”

The end result was an icon ripe with symbolic meaning — at its heart, marriage and family.

FOCCUS Marriage Ministries chose St. Bridget of Sweden to be its patron because of her commitment to marriage and the Church.

St. Bridget’s life “beautifully reflects the heart of marriage ministry,” Sheila Simpson, who heads the archdiocese-owned nonprofit, told CNA.

Now displayed in the hallway of the FOCCUS office in the Archdiocese of Omaha, Nebraska, the icon contains a quote from Pope Benedict XVI about the family as the domestic church as well as several symbols of the married couple’s life together. 

“The icon quietly teaches that marriage is both a covenant of grace and a living witness to the Gospel,” Reiser told CNA. 

With St. Bridget as its guiding light, FOCCUS is launching resources for couples whose marriages have unusual challenges, such as those who need their marriage convalidated by the Church, as well as those marrying later in life.

FOCCUS is most well known for its inventories — questionnaires designed to help engaged couples prepare for marriage by initiating conversations about issues like finance and values. The additional, new questionnaires will have questions tailored for couples in unusual situations, including military couples, first responders, and deacons.

Simpson said many couples say FOCCUS “became a turning point — not because it told them what to do, but because it helped them truly hear each other.”

Windows into the divine 

Reiser said that one of the most “fascinating” parts of the icon-making process was consulting the bones of Ulf Gudmarsson, the husband of St. Bridget.

“His bones indicated that he was significantly larger in stature than she was,” he said. 

“To honor historical accuracy while still emphasizing Bridget’s spiritual prominence, I placed her on a small set of steps so she would remain the central figure of the composition,” he explained. 

Icons are “created for contemplation and spiritual truth more than realism,” Reiser said. 

“They are windows into the divine — visual theology meant to open the heart and mind to God’s presence,” he continued. 

“They participate in the mystery of the Incarnation,” Reiser said. “The eternal Word of God takes visible form.”

The icon depicts an emblem of the Third Order Franciscans, which the couple joined after they got married.

In addition, Gudmarsson holds a staff with a shell, referencing the pilgrimage the couple took to northwestern Spain.

It would be the last pilgrimage the couple ever made together. On the return journey from the pilgrimage, Gudmarsson grew ill and died soon after they returned to Sweden.

As a widow, St. Bridget dedicated her life to Christ, founding the religious order now known as the Bridgettines, which still exists to this day.

An icon of family and unity

Iconographers don’t paint — they write.

“Every line, color, and gesture carries symbolic meaning,” Reiser said. “That is why we often say icons are ‘written’ rather than painted.”

For instance, the 15 florets below St. Bridget of Sweden reference her 15 meditations on Christ’s passion. The cloak she wears has a brooch styled to symbolize the five wounds of Christ. Within the brooch is a relic of St. Bridget.

“Writing the icon of St. Bridget of Sweden was a unique and grace-filled experience because, historically, there is no established iconographic prototype of her — especially not one depicting her with her family,” Reiser said. “Without a traditional image to follow, I drew from existing paintings of St. Bridget and shaped them within the contemplative, dignified structure of classical iconography.”

With “no established icon tradition for Bridget’s family,” Reiser said he “consulted other family-centered icons, especially images of Christ with children, to discern how to portray children in an authentically iconographic style.”

The paintings of the children visually form a circle, which Reiser said represents the unity of the family. One of the children, Ingeborg, holds bluebells, the national flower of St. Bridget’s homeland, Sweden.

“Each of these details helps the icon speak not just as artwork but as a theological meditation on the holiness of family life,” Reiser said.