“I’ve come to understand how important stories are,” says Jeff Chu. “Stories help us understand the world and point us to what we value.” Chu brings that insight to his new book, Good Soil: The Education of an Accidental Farmhand (Penguin Random House). After years in magazine journalism, he entered seminary, where he took a […]

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null / Credit: Stock-Asso/Shutterstock

London, England, Sep 9, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

A priest and bioethics professor has urged the Catholic Church to offer “real connection” amid the rise of AI companions.

Readings (Year C): Numbers 21:4b – 9Psalm 78:1bc – 2, 34 – 35, 36 – 37, 38Philippians 2:6 – 11John 3:13 – 17 Reflection: The cross compels us toward justice and compassion The cross used to be nothing more than an instrument of torture and death. The Romans used it to punish those they considered […]

The post A reflection for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross appeared first on U.S. Catholic.

The National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg, Maryland, began a year of celebration on the saint’s canonization in 2025.  / Credit: Seton Shrine

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 9, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

This week the National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton will welcome hundreds of people to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the canonization of the first American-born saint and to recognize the 87 American Catholics on the path to sainthood now. 

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, a mother, convert to the Catholic faith, and founder of the Sisters of Charity, was canonized by Pope Paul VI on Sept. 14, 1975. 

The Seton Shrine will commemorate the milestone of her canonization with a weekend-long event on its grounds in Emmitsburg, Maryland, honoring her legacy and her work of planting the seeds for Catholic education in the United States.

The weekend will also highlight other American saints and those who are blessed, venerable, or servants of God “who reveal that people from the U.S. can obtain holiness,” Rob Judge, executive director of the Seton Shrine, told CNA.

“We wanted to make the celebration about that possibility for all of us,” he said. “That God loves us, he’s destined all of us for heaven, and we can all obtain that through his grace.” 

The event is expected to be one of the biggest events in the history of the shrine.

The celebration will kick off Friday, Sept. 12, with a concert by classically trained musicians from the Peabody Institute in Baltimore and The Juilliard School who will perform in the evening as the historic grounds are lit up with tea lights and candles. They will play hits from the 1970s to take attendees back the year Seton became a saint.

On Saturday, Sept. 13, the general superior of the Vincentian order, Father Tomaž Mavrič, will celebrate Mass; adoration and confession will also be available as well as the chance to learn more about Seton’s story through tours and exhibits.

Sunday, Sept. 14, marks the 50th anniversary and will include a Mass celebrated by Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore and Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Attendees will also hear “a message and an apostolic blessing from Pope Leo that will be read at the Mass by representatives of the nuncio’s office,” Judge said.

Since Seton’s canonization, 11 Americans have been canonized and 87 more have the potential to join them. The weekend’s special event called “Saints on Their Way Village” will welcome representatives from nearly two dozen guilds dedicated to advancing the cause of an American for canonization. Each guild will host a table to share information and answer questions. 

Attendees can also explore the “Who’s Next?” exhibit in the shrine’s museum. The display features photos of potential saints including Dorothy Day, Blessed Solanus Casey, and Venerable Fulton Sheen.

Attendees might even catch a glimpse of themselves in the mirrors that hang alongside the pictures to show “we can all be saints, even if not declared saints,” Judge said.

St. Carlo Acutis (left) and St. Pier Giorgio Frassati. / Credit: Diocese of Assisi/Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Vatican City, Sep 9, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The Catholic Church will commemorate the liturgical memorial of St. Carlo Acutis on Oct. 12 and of St. Pier Giorgio Frassati on July 4. The two young men were canonized Sept. 7 by Pope Leo XIV in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.

In the case of St. Carlo Acutis, the Italian teenager who died in 2006 and was beatified in Assisi in October 2020, his feast day was set for Oct. 12, coinciding with the anniversary of his death from fulminant leukemia at the age of 15.

The decree of the then-Congregation — now Dicastery — for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, promulgated after the beatification, set the date for the calendars of the dioceses of Assisi and Milan in addition to authorizing its celebration in other communities that requested it.

Pier Giorgio Frassati, a young man from Turin who died in 1925 and was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1990, will be commemorated every year on July 4, also coinciding with the day of his death. His memorial Mass is celebrated especially in Italy and in youth communities that consider him a patron and spiritual role model.

Both saints, commemorated on the date they passed into eternal life, have become role models of faith and commitment for young people. Acutis is known for his witness of faith in the digital world and his love for the Eucharist, and Frassati was described by St. John Paul II as a “man of the Beatitudes.” Their intense spiritual life and commitment to charitable works continue to inspire new generations of Catholics around the world.

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

U.S. President Donald Trump bows his head in prayer with Attorney General Pam Bondi at the Museum of the Bible on Sept. 8, 2025, in Washington, D.C. Trump addressed the White House Religious Liberty Commission during the event. / Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 9, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

President Donald Trump launched an initiative that urges Americans to pray for the country and its citizens in preparation for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 2026.

The initiative, called “America Prays,” urges Americans to dedicate one hour of prayer every week for the United States and its people. The White House is encouraging the faithful to create prayer groups of 10 or more people to pray together for the nation.

“America’s always been a nation that believes in the power of prayer and we will never apologize for our faith,” Trump said during a speech announcing the initiative at the second hearing of the Religious Liberty Commission, which took place at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 8.

“We will never surrender our God-given rights; we will defend our liberties, our values, our sovereignty, and we will defend our freedom,” said Trump, who is a Protestant Christian. “And with the help of amazing faith communities across the land … we will truly make this the golden age of America.”

The White House suggested that prayer groups organize their meetings by different subjects, such as prayer for government leaders, cultural renewal, protection of freedom, and families. It also encouraged every member to commit to praying daily for a specific issue or person.

In addition to forming groups, the White House encouraged people to join online prayer communities, such as Hallow and Pray.com, both of which are participating in the initiative.

To date, more than 70 organizations and well-known personalities are participating in the initiative. This includes Catholic groups, such as Catholics for Catholics and CatholicVote, and Protestant groups, such as the Southern Baptist Convention and WallBuilders.

On the “America Prays” website, the White House has posted a 22-page document titled “Prayers and Proclamation Throughout American History” that contains historic prayers, sermons, and presidential proclamations. This includes the prayer for George Washington’s army, Benjamin Franklin’s prayer at the Constitutional Convention, and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s D-Day prayer from the day the United States formally started fighting in World War II.

During the speech, Trump invited Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner to the stage to speak about the initiative. Turner is also a Baptist pastor.

“What if 1 million people pray for our country every single week between now and next July Fourth?” Turner asked. “More specifically, what if believers all across this great nation got together with 10 people — friends, family members, colleagues, work associates — 10 people each week to pray for our country and for our fellow citizens?”

“Think about the miracles that would take place over the next year,” he said. “Think about the transformation that you and I could witness in communities all across the land.”

Turner urged Americans “to pray with unwavering faith for the renewal of our nation and our fellow citizens.”

The HUD secretary also said a prayer to “rededicate America to ‘one nation under God’” during his speech, referencing the Pledge of Allegiance.

“As we call our nation to pray, Lord God, as we rededicate our nation to ‘one nation under God,’ Father, we pray for your forgiveness, we pray, Lord Jesus, that you would give us great favor and understanding, Father God, as we bow our knee before you, as we humble ourselves before you,” Turner prayed.

Turner also prayed for “healing and revitalization” and “new life” to come to the country.

null / Credit: Freedom Studio/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 8, 2025 / 18:26 pm (CNA).

President Donald Trump announced the U.S. Department of Education will issue new federal guidelines to protect prayer at public schools.

In a Sept. 8 speech to the Religious Liberty Commission, Trump said the new guidelines will “protect the right to prayer in our public schools and [provide for] its total protection.”

“For most of our country’s history, the Bible was found in every classroom in the nation, yet in many schools today, students are instead indoctrinated with anti-religious propaganda,” Trump said.

“Some are even punished for their religious beliefs, and very, very strongly punished — it’s ridiculous,” he added.

The president said he was inspired to authorize the new guidance after hearing about instances of public school students and staff being censored or facing disciplinary action for engaging in prayer, reading the Bible, or publicly expressing their faith in other ways.

Trump specifically referenced Hannah Allen, who was censored by a Texas school for leading a prayer with other students for a peer who had been injured in an accident. According to the First Liberty Institute, which provided her legal representation, the principal ordered the students to be out of the public view if they were praying.

“A few years ago, Hannah organized a group of her classmates to pray for an injured peer,” Trump said. “The school principal declared that Hannah’s generous act of love was prohibited from taking place in front of the other students.”

After correspondence with First Liberty, the school changed its policies and stopped prohibiting students from prayer in the public view as long as the prayer does not disrupt normal school activities, according to the legal group.

Trump noted in his speech that “Hannah very strongly stood her ground and she won.” He said the federal Department of Education is issuing the new guidance “to support students like Hannah.”

“Hannah, I just want to thank you for letting the light of your faith shine for all of those to see,” the president said. “We really appreciate it.”

The commission heard stories from other students who faced similar censorship of their faith, such as an elementary school student who was forced to remove a face mask because it had the words “Jesus loves me” written on it. 

Another student spoke about how he was initially told he could not reference God in his valedictorian speech and another elementary school student told the commission about her school initially preventing her from singing a Christian song at a talent show.

In all of these cases, the schools ultimately relented and the students were permitted to practice their faith publicly.

U.S. Department of Justice headquarters building in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Bjoertvedt, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia

CNA Staff, Sep 8, 2025 / 18:06 pm (CNA).

A new report from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has found that the Biden administration engaged in a “consistent and systematic pattern of discrimination” against Christians, including Catholics.

The 48-page document, titled “Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias Within the Federal Government,” is the first issued by the Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias established by President Donald Trump in February and chaired by Attorney General Pam Bondi.

The task force is charged with ensuring that “any unlawful and improper conduct, policies, or practices that target Christians are identified, terminated, and rectified.”

“The federal government will never again be permitted to turn its power against people of faith,” the report states. “The days of anti-Christian bias in the federal government are over.”

The report fulfills the first mandate the task force received from Trump to provide “an initial assessment of the harm caused when religious liberty is denied.”

It begins by saying that even though Christianity “has not only inspired individuals and transformed the nation … the political, social, and humanitarian contributions of Christians have been devalued, their beliefs marginalized, and their communities unlawfully targeted by their own government.”

“Where there should have been ‘equal justice under law’ there was unequal treatment — policies and practices that singled out Christian people, Christian houses of worship, and Christian convictions for disfavored treatment,” the report continues.

It goes on to highlight instances of alleged bias across federal agencies during the Biden years.

At the DOJ during the Biden administration, the report found a lack of effort to prosecute anti-Christian bias, instead pursuing “novel theories of prosecution” against individuals demonstrating their faith. 

A notable example involves the imprisonment of about two dozen Christians, many of them Catholic pro-life activists, under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act for protests outside abortion facilities. 

Trump pardoned these individuals upon taking office. In contrast, the report asserts that the Biden DOJ failed to apply the FACE Act to protect places of worship and crisis pregnancy centers from similar disruptions. 

In addition, the report flags the FBI’s 2023 memo labeling “radical-traditionalist” Catholics as “domestic terrorism threats” as a particularly egregious instance of bias.

Multiple federal agencies faulted for discriminatory practices

The report also found that the U.S. State Department favored hiring individuals of other religions while discriminating against Christian employees, particularly noting that leave for Christian holidays was less likely to be granted compared with non-Christian ones. 

The report criticizes the State Department for seeking to impose “radical LGBTQ gender ideology” on foreign governments and staff, including mandatory use of preferred pronouns and rainbow flags, which it says violated the sincerely held beliefs of many Christian employees.

The task force also accuses the Biden-era State Department of “limited humanitarian relief to Christians relative to other populations” and the administration’s “muted” response to attacks on Christians globally. 

The U.S. Department of Defense, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and Department of Labor are also cited for “deprioritizing, mishandling, or denying requests for religious exemptions” to the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, affecting Catholic and other Christian personnel who sought accommodations based on faith-based objections.

Under the Biden administration, the task force found that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development discriminated against Christians by “treating social media posts celebrating Christian holidays, such as Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter, differently than posts celebrating other religious or interest group holidays, including Pride Month, Ramadan, and Diwali by taking down the Christian posts and leaving up the rest.” 

The report says the Biden-era Department of Labor closed its Office of Faith-Based Initiatives and replaced it with a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Office.

The report concludes that “the evidence uncovered is unmistakable: During the Biden administration, people of faith, particularly Christians, were repeatedly subjected to anti-religious bias at the hands of their own government.”

The Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias is comprised of representatives from various federal agencies and plans “to investigate the full scope of anti-Christian bias that pervaded the federal government during the Biden administration,” producing a comprehensive follow-up with its findings and recommendations by February 2026.

Credit: ArtOlympic/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Sep 8, 2025 / 17:46 pm (CNA).

The Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin, denied accusations of a cover-up following the recent arrest of a Madison priest for alleged sex crimes.

Father Andrew Showers, 37, was arrested last month after an undercover operation by local police found that he allegedly attempted to meet with a 14-year-old girl for sex.

Showers has since been charged with attempted child enticement, attempted use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, and attempted second-degree sexual assault of a child under 16 years of age. 

In a separate case only recently made public, 23-year-old Patricia Moriarty had filed a police report alleging that Showers sexually assaulted her in January 2024. Moriarty’s father, John Moriarty, reported the incident to the diocese shortly after but did not provide the name of the priest or a copy of the police report, according to the diocese.

The victims advocacy group Nate’s Mission blamed the diocese for mishandling the incident, saying the diocese “failed to act.” 

In response, the Madison Diocese provided a timeline of the report, saying its staff had asked for details such as the name of the priest, a copy of the police report, and the investigating police department but had not received a response from the father of the victim.

“Had we known that Father Showers was the priest in question behind the 2024 allegation, immediate action could and would have been taken,” the diocese stated.  

In response, Nate’s Mission called the diocese’s statement “a textbook example of victim-blaming.” 

“To suggest that Ms. Moriarty and her father are responsible for the Church’s failure to act because they did not feel comfortable with diocesan reporting procedures is deeply offensive,” the Sept. 6 statement read. 

In the statement, Nate’s Mission also brought up a previous incident with Showers in 2021, which the diocese had omitted in its first response to the revelations about Showers. 

Showers reportedly had “questioned a middle-school child about masturbation and pornography,” according to the advocacy organization. The boy’s parents reported the incident, which happened during confession, to both the diocese and the police, who determined that no criminal activity had occurred. 

In regards to his daughter’s assault, John Moriarty said the diocese “had more than enough to act if they wanted to.”

“My daughter deserved protection, and so did every other person Father Showers came into contact with after my call,” the victim’s father said in a Sept. 6 statement. “The diocese failed us — and they failed the public.”

In a recent letter to the diocese, Bishop Donald Hying of Madison praised the victim for coming forward and said he was “heartbroken by the harm and distress that has been caused by the alleged actions of one of our priests.”

But Hying also said that Nate’s Mission “painted a scandalous version of events that is simply not true.”

“Regarding this latest allegation, had we known the identity of the priest being accused of this abusive misconduct, he would have been removed from active public ministry immediately,” Hying said in the Sept. 6 letter.

The diocese will not be funding Showers’ legal expenses nor will it be providing him legal representation, according to the letter. 

“Be assured that I have not and will not excuse or defend any member of the clergy who commits sexual abuse of any kind,” Hying said. 

Showers was released from custody after posting a cash bond. His initial court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 30. If he is found guilty, he faces up to 50 years in prison. 

Students from the University of Dallas’ Rome semester (left to right: Thomas DeReuil, Eugene Keating, and Jonathan Tindall) attended the canonization of Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati in St. Peter’s Square on Sept. 7, 2025. / Credit: Victoria Cardiel/EWTN News

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 8, 2025 / 16:46 pm (CNA).

On Sunday, St. Peter’s Square was filled with singing and prayers in many languages accompanying the first canonizations of Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate.