Posted on 10/11/2025 10:00 AM (CNA Daily News - US)
Jonathan Kuplack takes part in “The Mammoth,” a 214-mile race through the Eastern Sierras in California that he ran with the hope to inspire other men across the country. / Credit: Jacob Schmiedicke
CNA Staff, Oct 11, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).
Five years ago, Jonathan Kuplack was speaking with a friend about the need for men to have communities where they can be open with one another, challenge each other, and be inspired to become the men God intended them to be.
The conversation led Kuplack to launch a Catholic nonprofit called “Sebaste” — which comes from the story of the 40 Martyrs of Sebaste — that challenges men to become saints through intensive summer programs, adventure, brotherhood, physical challenge, and prayer.
Kuplack lives this mission by example. From Sept. 26–28, the 37-year-old participated in “The Mammoth” — a 214-mile race through the Eastern Sierras in California — with the hope to inspire other men across the country.
As an avid endurance runner, Kuplack told CNA that he receives a “deep joy and peace” from training for races and “there’s a unity with the divine that happens — it’s very hard to explain — when I’m running through mountains and it’s silent.”
Earlier this year, Kuplack ran across the United States — 3,500 miles in 100 days — stopping to speak at churches, schools, and on podcasts.
He said he was inspired to take part in “The Mammoth” because he believes everyone needs to get out of their comfort zone in order for growth to happen.
“We need to grow and there’s only growth on the other side of our fear and the other side of our comfort zone,” he said. “And as long as we stay in the places where we’re comfortable, we will never grow.”
Kuplack also wanted to motivate other men to “go to the other side of the fear and get uncomfortable and pay the price so that we can live in the fullness of joy and abundance that Christ came to give us.”
Kuplack went into “The Mammoth” hoping to finish the race within 48 hours. However, things did not go as planned and he finished the race after 71 and a half hours.
For the first 70 miles Kuplack was at the front of the pack, but after a 28-and-a-half-mile stretch without an aid station — a stop along the course that provides runners with nutrition and hydration — his body was left depleted and he spent 45 minutes at the next aid station in a borderline hypothermic state.
“That experience took me down and for the next 80 miles I was crawling. I was going so slow,” he recalled. “Every step was very painful and I didn’t even know if I was going to finish at that point.”
Thanks to an hour nap and refueling his body with more food, he was able to finish the last 50 miles.
There were several takeaways from his experience of that race, including “the need to let go of our ego in order for God’s plan to play out in our lives and the need for transcendent experiences.”
“Going into this race, I’m giving this race to the Lord, I’m running for God. I’m saying to God, ‘If you grant me the victory, help me to just reflect that back onto you so everyone can see you.’ But as the race unfolded, I realized it was still about me. It’s so difficult to get out of the ego,” he said.
He said the experience helped him realize that it’s “only when we find our part in God’s grand play, in his big movie, in his theodrama, do we become fully alive and fully actualized and become the great saints we’re made to be.”
Kuplack also highlighted the importance of “transcendent experiences in our lives.”
“We need to have experiences that get us outside of ourselves so that we can look down and see our life from altitude. Look down from 30,000 feet and see the big picture. And these transcendent experiences draw us out of ourselves,” he said.
“It’s like when the small group of apostles was up on the mountain and at the Transfiguration. They were drawn into something so much bigger and beautiful, but it gave a whole new perspective to their life when they went back down the mountain,” he explained. “And in these races, you’re running through incredible natural beauty, climbing mountains, descending. I saw the sun go down three times and rise three times in these incredible places where most people never get to go and I just got to be living and moving through that for 71 hours.”
“As painful as it was, it was such a gift. So it just sucks you out of yourself and you realize, wow God you are truly magnificent and great.”
Kuplack is hoping to inspire men to join in Sebaste’s “Choose the Cross” initiative, which invites men to commit to eliminating one habit or vice that may be hurting their relationship with God, engage in one physical activity daily, and do one spiritual act daily.
He said he hopes more men will feel called to making a “full commitment to holiness and being a great saint.”
Posted on 10/11/2025 08:30 AM (USCCB News)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In the presence of the original statue of Our Lady of Fatima, which has one of the bullets from the attempted assassination in 1981 of St. John Paul II embedded in its crown, Pope Leo XIV called for the warring to lay down their weapons.
"'Lay down your sword' is a message addressed to the powerful of this world, to those who guide the fate of peoples: have the courage to disarm!" the pope said Oct. 11 as he led a prayer vigil and the recitation of the rosary for peace in St. Peter's Square.
On the night he was arrested, Jesus told St. Peter, "Lay down your sword." While Jesus says the same to warmongers today, the pope said, it also is "an invitation to each one of us to recognize that no idea, faith or policy justifies killing."
Before the evening prayer service, part of the Jubilee of Marian Spirituality, the statue brought from the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal was on display in the Church of Santa Maria in Traspontina near the Vatican. Thousands of people lined up to see the statue up close and to pray in front of it.
As the statue was carried in procession into St. Peter's Square, people applauded and shouted, "Viva la Madonna" ("Long live Our Lady").
Pope Leo placed a gold rose in a small vase at the foot of the statue and prayed silently before beginning the prayer vigil.
Each of the joyful mysteries of the rosary was led in a different language -- Italian, English, Spanish, French and Portuguese -- and each decade concluded with the prayer, "Queen of Peace, pray for us."
As darkness fell, Pope Leo offered a meditation, urging everyone to "persevere tirelessly in praying for peace, a God-given gift that we must strive to receive and to which we must make a strong commitment."
With Mary as a model, both as a human being and as the first disciple of Jesus, the pope said, Christians should "ask for the gift of compassion toward every brother and sister who suffers and toward all creatures."
"Let us look to the mother of Jesus and the small group of courageous women at the foot of the cross," the pope suggested. "May we learn from them to stand beside the countless crosses of the world, where Christ is still crucified in his brothers and sisters, in order to bring them comfort, communion and help."
At the wedding feast of Cana, he said, Mary told the servants to do whatever Jesus told them.
The words of Jesus that must be obeyed today, the pope said, are those he addressed to St. Peter: "Lay down your sword."
"Disarm your hands and, even more importantly, your hearts. As I have said before, peace is unarmed and disarming," Pope Leo said. "It is not deterrence, but fraternity; it is not an ultimatum, but dialogue. Peace will not come as the result of victories over the enemy, but as the fruit of sowing justice and courageous forgiveness."
Jesus calls his followers to see the world "through the eyes of those who suffer rather than the mighty; to view history through the eyes of the little ones, rather than through the perspective of the powerful; to interpret the events of history from the viewpoint of the widow, the orphan, the stranger, the wounded child, the exile and the fugitive; to see things through the eyes of the shipwrecked and of the poor man Lazarus lying at the rich man's doorstep," the pope said,
"Otherwise, nothing will ever change," he said, "and a new era, a kingdom of justice and peace, will never dawn."
Mary, in the Magnificat, points out "the contrast between the humble and the powerful, the poor and the rich, the satiated and the hungry," the pope said. "She chooses the little ones; she stands with the least powerful in history, to teach us to imagine and to dream together with her of new heavens and a new earth."
"Take courage, continue on your journey, you who are building the conditions for a future of peace, justice and forgiveness," Pope Leo said. "Be gentle yet determined and never give up. Peace is a journey, and God walks with you."
The prayer service ended with silent Eucharistic adoration and Benediction.
Pope Leo XIV smiles as he rides in the popemobile past the original statue of Our Lady of Fatima before leading a prayer vigil and recitation of the rosary for peace in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Oct. 11, 2025. (CNS photo/Pablo Esparza)
The original statue of Our Lady of Fatima is carried in procession through St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Oct. 11, 2025, for a prayer vigil and recitation of the rosary for peace with Pope Leo XIV. Participants pause to pray at the site where St. John Paul II was shot May 13, 1981. The late pope credited Our Lady of Fatima with saving his life, and one of the bullets removed from his body was later placed in the crown of the Fatima statue. (CNS photo/Pablo Esparza)
Pope Leo XIV kneels in prayer before the original statue of Our Lady of Fatima in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Oct. 11, 2025, before a prayer vigil and the recitation of the rosary for peace. The statue was brought from Portugal to Rome for the Jubilee of Marian Spirituality. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Pope Leo XIV kneels in prayer before the original statue of Our Lady of Fatima during a prayer vigil and recitation of the rosary for peace in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Oct. 11, 2025. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)
Pope Leo XIV greets people from the popemobile as he rides around St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican before leading a prayer vigil and recitation of the rosary for peace Oct. 11, 2025. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)
The original statue of Our Lady of Fatima, with one of the bullets from the attempted assassination in 1981 of St. John Paul II embedded in its crown, is carried in procession in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican for a prayer vigil with Pope Leo XIV Oct. 11, 2025. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)
People crowd into the Rome Church of Santa Maria in Traspontina Oct. 11, 2025, to pray before the original statue of Our Lady of Fatima, brought from Portugal to Rome for the Jubilee of Marian Spirituality. (CNS photo/Pablo Esparza)
Religious sisters pray in front of the original statue of Our Lady of Fatima in the Rome Church of Santa Maria in Traspontina Oct. 11, 2025, before it is carried in procession to St. Peter's Square for a prayer vigil with Pope Leo XIV and the recitation of the rosary for peace. (CNS photo/Pablo Esparza)
Posted on 10/10/2025 21:39 PM (CNA Daily News - US)
Catholic pro-life activist Savannah Craven Antao was assaulted in New York City on Thursday, April 3, 2025, while conducting a video interview with a pro-abortion advocate. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Savannah Craven Antao
CNA Staff, Oct 10, 2025 / 17:39 pm (CNA).
Here is a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news:
After New York City dropped the case against a woman who assaulted a pro-life influencer, the legal nonprofit Thomas More Society is advocating for justice.
The pro-life influencer, Savannah Craven Antao, was punched in the face by a woman she was interviewing as part of her pro-life advocacy. The video went viral, but the city dropped the case.
Thomas More Society, on behalf of Craven Antao, asked the Manhattan district attorney to reconsider and to press felony and hate crime charges.
“The defendant made disparaging remarks about Ms. Craven Antao’s Christian beliefs and practices before brutally assaulting her,” the letter read.
Craven Antao, a friend of the late Charlie Kirk, who was violently murdered during a debate, said she takes inspiration from Kirk in her activism.
The district attorney’s office previously released an apology for dropping the case and said it is looking into it internally.
A Cole County Circuit judge approved a Missouri ballot amendment that, if passed, would repeal the 2024 amendment that created a right to abortion in the state.
The proposed ballot measure would protect unborn children throughout pregnancy, with some exceptions in cases of medical emergency, fetal anomalies, or rape and incest.
The 2026 measure would amend the Missouri Constitution to require parental consent for minors seeking abortions and to “ensure women’s safety during abortion.” The measure would also prohibit transgender medical procedures for children.
The amendment also contains language to “guarantee women’s medical care for emergencies, ectopic pregnancies, and miscarriages.”
Missouri’s current constitution, following the 2024 amendment, allows almost unfettered access to abortion as it says that “the right to reproductive freedom shall not be denied, interfered with, delayed, or otherwise restricted” by the government.
Texas arrested eight people in connection with an alleged illegal abortion operation in the Houston area.
Yaimara Hernandez Alvarez, Alina Valeron Leon, Dalia Coromoto Yanez, Yhonder Lebrun Acosta, Liunet Grandales Estrada, Gerardo Otero Aguero, Sabiel Bosch Gongora, and Jose Manuel Cendan Ley were arrested for allegedly providing illegal abortions and practicing medicine without proper licensing, according to an Oct. 8 press release from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office.
The Houston area medical clinics allegedly performing the abortions are owned by Maria Rojas, who was previously arrested for posing as a physician and operating the clinics.
Louisiana filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to prevent other states from mailing illegal abortion drugs into Louisiana.
Filed last week, Louisiana v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration challenges the loosening of safeguards around chemical abortion drugs by the Biden administration during the COVID-19 era.
Under President Joe Biden, the FDA approved abortion pills to be prescribed remotely, without any in-person interaction with a doctor or clinic.
Policy Director for Louisiana Right to Life Erica Inzina celebrated the lawsuit, saying the FDA “abandoned its duty to protect public health by allowing abortion pills to be distributed through the mail without proper medical supervision.”
Posted on 10/10/2025 21:39 PM (CNA Daily News)
Catholic pro-life activist Savannah Craven Antao was assaulted in New York City on Thursday, April 3, 2025, while conducting a video interview with a pro-abortion advocate. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Savannah Craven Antao
CNA Staff, Oct 10, 2025 / 17:39 pm (CNA).
Here is a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news:
After New York City dropped the case against a woman who assaulted a pro-life influencer, the legal nonprofit Thomas More Society is advocating for justice.
The pro-life influencer, Savannah Craven Antao, was punched in the face by a woman she was interviewing as part of her pro-life advocacy. The video went viral, but the city dropped the case.
Thomas More Society, on behalf of Craven Antao, asked the Manhattan district attorney to reconsider and to press felony and hate crime charges.
“The defendant made disparaging remarks about Ms. Craven Antao’s Christian beliefs and practices before brutally assaulting her,” the letter read.
Craven Antao, a friend of the late Charlie Kirk, who was violently murdered during a debate, said she takes inspiration from Kirk in her activism.
The district attorney’s office previously released an apology for dropping the case and said it is looking into it internally.
A Cole County Circuit judge approved a Missouri ballot amendment that, if passed, would repeal the 2024 amendment that created a right to abortion in the state.
The proposed ballot measure would protect unborn children throughout pregnancy, with some exceptions in cases of medical emergency, fetal anomalies, or rape and incest.
The 2026 measure would amend the Missouri Constitution to require parental consent for minors seeking abortions and to “ensure women’s safety during abortion.” The measure would also prohibit transgender medical procedures for children.
The amendment also contains language to “guarantee women’s medical care for emergencies, ectopic pregnancies, and miscarriages.”
Missouri’s current constitution, following the 2024 amendment, allows almost unfettered access to abortion as it says that “the right to reproductive freedom shall not be denied, interfered with, delayed, or otherwise restricted” by the government.
Texas arrested eight people in connection with an alleged illegal abortion operation in the Houston area.
Yaimara Hernandez Alvarez, Alina Valeron Leon, Dalia Coromoto Yanez, Yhonder Lebrun Acosta, Liunet Grandales Estrada, Gerardo Otero Aguero, Sabiel Bosch Gongora, and Jose Manuel Cendan Ley were arrested for allegedly providing illegal abortions and practicing medicine without proper licensing, according to an Oct. 8 press release from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office.
The Houston area medical clinics allegedly performing the abortions are owned by Maria Rojas, who was previously arrested for posing as a physician and operating the clinics.
Louisiana filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to prevent other states from mailing illegal abortion drugs into Louisiana.
Filed last week, Louisiana v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration challenges the loosening of safeguards around chemical abortion drugs by the Biden administration during the COVID-19 era.
Under President Joe Biden, the FDA approved abortion pills to be prescribed remotely, without any in-person interaction with a doctor or clinic.
Policy Director for Louisiana Right to Life Erica Inzina celebrated the lawsuit, saying the FDA “abandoned its duty to protect public health by allowing abortion pills to be distributed through the mail without proper medical supervision.”
Posted on 10/10/2025 21:07 PM (CNA Daily News)
Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt at the first round game of the NCAA Tournament in Dallas on Thursday, March 15, 2018. / Credit: Lukas Keapproth/Loyola University Chicago
CNA Staff, Oct 10, 2025 / 17:07 pm (CNA).
Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the beloved Catholic nun who became known across the country at the age of 98 as the chaplain of the Loyola University Chicago men’s basketball team, died Oct. 9 at the age of 106.
“In many roles at Loyola over the course of more than 60 years, Sister Jean was an invaluable source of wisdom and grace for generations of students, faculty, and staff,” said Mark C. Reed, Loyola president, in a statement.
“While we feel grief and a sense of loss, there is great joy in her legacy. Her presence was a profound blessing for our entire community and her spirit abides in thousands of lives. In her honor, we can aspire to share with others the love and compassion Sister Jean shared with us,” he added.
Sister Jean, as she was more commonly known, was born Dolores Bertha Schmidt on Aug. 21, 1919, to Joseph and Bertha Schmidt. She was raised in a devout Catholic home in San Francisco’s Castro District.
Since the age of 8, Sister Jean had a calling to religious life. In her memoir, published in 2023, she recalled meeting a kind and joyful teacher who belonged to the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM). Admiring this teacher, she would pray every day: “Dear God, help me understand what I should do, but please tell me I should become a BVM sister.”
In 1937, she joined the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and took the name Sister Jean Dolores. In 1991, she joined the staff at Loyola Chicago and three years later became part of the basketball team, first as an academic adviser before transitioning to chaplain.
Sister Jean burst onto the scene when her beloved Ramblers upset the University of Miami in the first round of the 2018 March Madness tournament with a down-to-the-wire three-point basket.
Following this win, Twitter (now X) featured Sister Jean in a Twitter moment, and she received shoutouts from high-profile accounts including ESPN and former President Barack Obama. The New York Times also ran a profile on her.
Sister Jean lead the team in prayer before each game — praying for her players to be safe, for the referees to be fair, and for God’s assistance during the game. She also admitted to praying for the opposing team, but “not as hard.”
In her memoir, she recalled her pregame prayers with the players where she would also get on the microphone at Gentile Arena and offer a prayer for all in attendance.
“Does God really care who wins a basketball game? Maybe he cares more than we think?” she wrote in her memoir.
“If nothing else, I imagine God must laugh sometimes when someone prays to win a game. God sees a lot of horrible stuff going on. Sometimes he needs a good laugh. I’d like to think I give him a chuckle every time I say into that microphone, ‘Amen and go Ramblers!’”
When she turned 100, Loyola Chicago announced a scholarship fund in her honor to support students, and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker proclaimed Aug. 21, 2019, “Sister Jean Day” across the state. At 103, the Chicago train station plaza at the Loyola campus was renamed in her honor, with a large sign that read “Home of the World Famous Sister Jean!”
She is survived by her sister-in-law, Jeanne Tidwell, and her niece, Jan Schmidt. Visitation and funeral arrangements will be announced soon by Loyola University.
Posted on 10/10/2025 21:07 PM (CNA Daily News - US)
Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt at the first round game of the NCAA Tournament in Dallas on Thursday, March 15, 2018. / Credit: Lukas Keapproth/Loyola University Chicago
CNA Staff, Oct 10, 2025 / 17:07 pm (CNA).
Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the beloved Catholic nun who became known across the country at the age of 98 as the chaplain of the Loyola University Chicago men’s basketball team, died Oct. 9 at the age of 106.
“In many roles at Loyola over the course of more than 60 years, Sister Jean was an invaluable source of wisdom and grace for generations of students, faculty, and staff,” said Mark C. Reed, Loyola president, in a statement.
“While we feel grief and a sense of loss, there is great joy in her legacy. Her presence was a profound blessing for our entire community and her spirit abides in thousands of lives. In her honor, we can aspire to share with others the love and compassion Sister Jean shared with us,” he added.
Sister Jean, as she was more commonly known, was born Dolores Bertha Schmidt on Aug. 21, 1919, to Joseph and Bertha Schmidt. She was raised in a devout Catholic home in San Francisco’s Castro District.
Since the age of 8, Sister Jean had a calling to religious life. In her memoir, published in 2023, she recalled meeting a kind and joyful teacher who belonged to the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM). Admiring this teacher, she would pray every day: “Dear God, help me understand what I should do, but please tell me I should become a BVM sister.”
In 1937, she joined the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and took the name Sister Jean Dolores. In 1991, she joined the staff at Loyola Chicago and three years later became part of the basketball team, first as an academic adviser before transitioning to chaplain.
Sister Jean burst onto the scene when her beloved Ramblers upset the University of Miami in the first round of the 2018 March Madness tournament with a down-to-the-wire three-point basket.
Following this win, Twitter (now X) featured Sister Jean in a Twitter moment, and she received shoutouts from high-profile accounts including ESPN and former President Barack Obama. The New York Times also ran a profile on her.
Sister Jean lead the team in prayer before each game — praying for her players to be safe, for the referees to be fair, and for God’s assistance during the game. She also admitted to praying for the opposing team, but “not as hard.”
In her memoir, she recalled her pregame prayers with the players where she would also get on the microphone at Gentile Arena and offer a prayer for all in attendance.
“Does God really care who wins a basketball game? Maybe he cares more than we think?” she wrote in her memoir.
“If nothing else, I imagine God must laugh sometimes when someone prays to win a game. God sees a lot of horrible stuff going on. Sometimes he needs a good laugh. I’d like to think I give him a chuckle every time I say into that microphone, ‘Amen and go Ramblers!’”
When she turned 100, Loyola Chicago announced a scholarship fund in her honor to support students, and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker proclaimed Aug. 21, 2019, “Sister Jean Day” across the state. At 103, the Chicago train station plaza at the Loyola campus was renamed in her honor, with a large sign that read “Home of the World Famous Sister Jean!”
She is survived by her sister-in-law, Jeanne Tidwell, and her niece, Jan Schmidt. Visitation and funeral arrangements will be announced soon by Loyola University.
Posted on 10/10/2025 20:37 PM (CNA Daily News)
null / Credit: Zolnierek / Shutterstock
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 10, 2025 / 16:37 pm (CNA).
Pro-life pregnancy centers urged an appellate court to block California’s alleged “censorship” of their speech about medication designed to thwart the effects of the abortion drug mifepristone during oral arguments on Oct. 9.
Abortion Pill Reversal (APR) is recommended or dispensed by pro-life pregnancy centers to prevent the completion of an abortion shortly after a woman takes mifepristone to achieve a chemical abortion.
Mifepristone works by blocking the hormone progesterone, which cuts off the unborn child’s supply of oxygen and nutrients, according to the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute. APR operates as a progesterone supplement that is meant to compete with mifepristone by restoring the hormone in hopes that the woman can carry her pregnancy through to birth, according to the Charlotte Lozier Institute.
Although California has not tried to prohibit use of APR or prevent medical professionals from supplying it to women, Attorney General Rob Bonta in 2023 sued five pro-life pregnancy centers for promoting the medicine, accusing them of making false and misleading claims.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) does not recommend the use of APR, citing insufficient evidence. Alternatively, the American Association of Pro-life OBGYNs (AAPLOG) states the literature “clearly shows that the blockade is reversible with natural progesterone.”
Several pro-life pregnancy centers sued by California responded with lawsuits accusing Bonta of infringing on their First Amendment rights. Two cases were heard by a three-judge panel for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Oct. 9.
“Abortion pill reversal is a lawful and life-saving treatment,” Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Caleb Dalton, who is representing the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA), told the judges.
“It occurs only after a conversation and informed consent from a licensed medical professional,” he said, and accused the attorney general of “trying to censor information about that so the conversation never happens.”
Peter Breen, Thomas More Society executive vice president, who is representing Culture of Life Family Services (COLFS), told the judges the attorney general is motivated by “animus” toward the pro-life movement following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
“There’s no evidence on the record that anyone’s been harmed, and we’re almost 20 years into this, over 10 years at COLFS, and 400 babies born,” Breen told the judges.
“There’s no consumer protection here,” he continued. “There is no consumer to be protected. Women have been choosing this. The problem is: Are they going to know that they even have the option?”
The California attorney general’s office was represented in court by Deputy Attorney General Erica Connolly, who argued that the studies backing the safety and effectiveness of APR are insufficient.
Connolly referenced an oft-cited study by George Delgado, which found that certain forms of progesterone supplements have a 64% to 68% success rate when used as an abortion pill reversal.
She accused pro-life pregnancy centers of misrepresenting the study and asserted the research is “not sufficient” in supporting its conclusions because it’s a “retrospective analysis” and “not a randomized controlled study.”
Judge Anthony Johnstone responded, asking: “As a matter of First Amendment doctrine, why does that matter if they’re reporting that a study says what the study says?” Johnstone also noted the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved drugs with lower effectiveness rates.
Connolly alternatively argued that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has restricted advertisements when studies are “insufficient.”
Johnstone followed up, noting that California has not regulated the procedure itself but only the speech surrounding it and asked: “Why would it require lower evidence to regulate speech about that process?”
Connolly responded by saying advertisements affect the “informed consent process.” She said one cannot advertise “a treatment is safe and effective and that it does something that the scientific evidence does not establish that it does.”
Both Johnstone and Judge Eric Miller also expressed concern that the attorney general’s office did not adequately demonstrate the state’s interest in regulating the speech surrounding APR. In response Connolly said the interest is in “protecting individuals from misleading commercial speech about medical treatments.”
Judge Johnnie Rawlinson raised the point that some medical associations have declined to sign off on APR as effective, but Dalton argued that disagreements within the medical community are “exactly what the First Amendment protects.”
Dalton argued Californians should be free to discuss scientific studies “without fear that the attorney general is going to silence them.” He said the First Amendment provides for “open discussion — not censorship.”
Posted on 10/10/2025 20:37 PM (CNA Daily News - US)
null / Credit: Zolnierek / Shutterstock
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 10, 2025 / 16:37 pm (CNA).
Pro-life pregnancy centers urged an appellate court to block California’s alleged “censorship” of their speech about medication designed to thwart the effects of the abortion drug mifepristone during oral arguments on Oct. 9.
Abortion Pill Reversal (APR) is recommended or dispensed by pro-life pregnancy centers to prevent the completion of an abortion shortly after a woman takes mifepristone to achieve a chemical abortion.
Mifepristone works by blocking the hormone progesterone, which cuts off the unborn child’s supply of oxygen and nutrients, according to the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute. APR operates as a progesterone supplement that is meant to compete with mifepristone by restoring the hormone in hopes that the woman can carry her pregnancy through to birth, according to the Charlotte Lozier Institute.
Although California has not tried to prohibit use of APR or prevent medical professionals from supplying it to women, Attorney General Rob Bonta in 2023 sued five pro-life pregnancy centers for promoting the medicine, accusing them of making false and misleading claims.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) does not recommend the use of APR, citing insufficient evidence. Alternatively, the American Association of Pro-life OBGYNs (AAPLOG) states the literature “clearly shows that the blockade is reversible with natural progesterone.”
Several pro-life pregnancy centers sued by California responded with lawsuits accusing Bonta of infringing on their First Amendment rights. Two cases were heard by a three-judge panel for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Oct. 9.
“Abortion pill reversal is a lawful and life-saving treatment,” Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Caleb Dalton, who is representing the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA), told the judges.
“It occurs only after a conversation and informed consent from a licensed medical professional,” he said, and accused the attorney general of “trying to censor information about that so the conversation never happens.”
Peter Breen, Thomas More Society executive vice president, who is representing Culture of Life Family Services (COLFS), told the judges the attorney general is motivated by “animus” toward the pro-life movement following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
“There’s no evidence on the record that anyone’s been harmed, and we’re almost 20 years into this, over 10 years at COLFS, and 400 babies born,” Breen told the judges.
“There’s no consumer protection here,” he continued. “There is no consumer to be protected. Women have been choosing this. The problem is: Are they going to know that they even have the option?”
The California attorney general’s office was represented in court by Deputy Attorney General Erica Connolly, who argued that the studies backing the safety and effectiveness of APR are insufficient.
Connolly referenced an oft-cited study by George Delgado, which found that certain forms of progesterone supplements have a 64% to 68% success rate when used as an abortion pill reversal.
She accused pro-life pregnancy centers of misrepresenting the study and asserted the research is “not sufficient” in supporting its conclusions because it’s a “retrospective analysis” and “not a randomized controlled study.”
Judge Anthony Johnstone responded, asking: “As a matter of First Amendment doctrine, why does that matter if they’re reporting that a study says what the study says?” Johnstone also noted the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved drugs with lower effectiveness rates.
Connolly alternatively argued that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has restricted advertisements when studies are “insufficient.”
Johnstone followed up, noting that California has not regulated the procedure itself but only the speech surrounding it and asked: “Why would it require lower evidence to regulate speech about that process?”
Connolly responded by saying advertisements affect the “informed consent process.” She said one cannot advertise “a treatment is safe and effective and that it does something that the scientific evidence does not establish that it does.”
Both Johnstone and Judge Eric Miller also expressed concern that the attorney general’s office did not adequately demonstrate the state’s interest in regulating the speech surrounding APR. In response Connolly said the interest is in “protecting individuals from misleading commercial speech about medical treatments.”
Judge Johnnie Rawlinson raised the point that some medical associations have declined to sign off on APR as effective, but Dalton argued that disagreements within the medical community are “exactly what the First Amendment protects.”
Dalton argued Californians should be free to discuss scientific studies “without fear that the attorney general is going to silence them.” He said the First Amendment provides for “open discussion — not censorship.”
Posted on 10/10/2025 20:07 PM (CNA Daily News)
2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado. / Credit: Carlos Díaz from Venezuela, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Caracas, Venezuela, Oct 10, 2025 / 16:07 pm (CNA).
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in recognition of “her tireless work in promoting the democratic rights of the Venezuelan people and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy,” according to the Nobel Committee.
This year’s prize is awarded to a “courageous and committed advocate for peace,” a woman who has kept “the flame of democracy burning amid growing darkness,” according to the announcement posted on the Nobel Prize website.
With a political career spanning more than 20 years, Machado is the founder and national coordinator of the Vente Venezuela political party. Since October 2023, she has been the undisputed leader of the opposition after obtaining an overwhelming majority of votes in primary elections.
Machado toured the country during the campaign for the presidential elections of July 28, 2024, and was welcomed by thousands of people at her rallies.
President Nicolás Maduro’s government disqualified her from holding public office, so the opposition coalition ended up registering Edmundo González Urrutia as a candidate to challenge Chavismo in the electoral contest.
Maduro claimed a much-disputed victory that allowed him to begin a new six-year presidential term.
Meanwhile, the opposition to Maduro, led by Machado, called for a series of protests and activities across the country to confront the alleged fraud. These protests resulted in dozens of deaths by government security agencies, hundreds of arrests — according to the organization Foro Penal — and Machado herself remaining in hiding to this day.
“Ms. Machado has been a key and unifying figure in a once deeply divided political opposition, an opposition that found common ground in demanding free elections and representative government,” the Nobel Committee explained in its press release.
According to the committee, the “violent machinery” of the Venezuelan state “is directed against its own citizens,” and the opposition “has been systematically suppressed through electoral fraud, legal prosecution, and imprisonment.”
Amid this reality, Machado “has never wavered in her resistance to the militarization of Venezuelan society. She has remained steadfast in her support for a peaceful transition to democracy,” the committee stated.
“María Corina Machado has demonstrated that the tools of democracy are also the tools of peace. She embodies the hope for a different future, one in which citizens’ fundamental rights are protected and their voices are heard. In that future, people will finally be free to live in peace,” it added.
In an interview with the Nobel Institute, Machado reacted emotionally to being awarded the prize. “I’m just part of a great movement. I feel honored, grateful, and privileged, not only for this recognition but also to be part of what’s happening in Venezuela today,” she stated.
The opposition leader also explained what she hopes to achieve with the Nobel Peace Prize, noting that her work within the country “has been a long road and at a very high cost to Venezuelan society.”
“I believe we are very close to finally achieving freedom for our country and peace for the region. I believe that although we face the most brutal violence, our society has persisted, resisted, and fought through civil and peaceful means. I believe the world will now understand how urgent it is to finally succeed, given the implications not only for Venezuela and Latin America, but also because this will have an enormous impact on the hemisphere and the world,” she stated.
María Corina Machado Parisca is a 58-year-old political leader from Caracas. She earned her undergraduate degree in industrial engineering from the Andrés Bello Catholic University, followed by a postgraduate degree in finance from the Institute of Higher Studies in Administration (IESA, by its Spanish acronym).
She also graduated from Yale University’s Global Leaders in Public Policy Program.
She was elected to the Venezuelan National Assembly in September 2010 with the highest number and margin of votes of any representative in that electoral contest.
In 2012, she founded Vente Venezuela, a political organization in which she serves as National Coordinator.
In March 2014, the opposition leader was removed from her position as a representative after being accused of “treason.”
She has received various international recognitions and awards for her work in support of freedom and democracy in Venezuela.
The Nobel prize winner has three children and has affirmed her Catholic faith on numerous occasions, although on several issues she holds positions that are contrary to Church teaching.
For example, she has stated that she supports euthanasia in specific cases, along with the recognition of same-sex unions. On abortion, she has stated that, although she has her own religious convictions, she would never impose them on society.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Posted on 10/10/2025 19:37 PM (CNA Daily News - US)
Nicola Tanzi. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Deacon Anthony Mammoliti
CNA Staff, Oct 10, 2025 / 15:37 pm (CNA).
A Catholic man who served as an usher at his Brooklyn parish before he was killed in a brutal attack in a city subway is being remembered as a “good soul” with a “tremendous” faith in Christ.
Sixty-four-year-old Nicola Tanzi was killed on Oct. 7, when police say 25-year-old David Mazariegos beat him to death in the Jay Street-MetroTech station in Brooklyn.
He later died at New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital. New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch described the attack as “horrific.” Police were able to apprehend the suspect using photos and a physical description transmitted through their phones, Tisch said.
Mazariegos has reportedly been arrested multiple times before. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on X that state Gov. Kathy Hochul “has blood on her hands” over the death.
“Nicola Tanzi’s life was taken by another repeat offender roaming New York’s streets freely,” Duffy wrote. ”New York needs leaders who will back the blue and make America’s transit system safe again.”
Those who knew Tanzi have mourned his death in the days following his murder.
Deacon Anthony Mammoliti told CNA in an interview on Oct. 10 that Tanzi was “probably the most Christ-like parishioner I’ve encountered.”
Mammoliti serves at St. Dominic’s Parish in Bensonhurst where Tanzi attended. Tanzi served as an usher there at the Italian Mass for at least 10 years, the deacon said.
“He was a man who would give of himself,” Mammoliti said. “In his civilian job, he would often, without hesitation, switch shifts to allow married colleagues to have family time. When I engaged with him in the parish, it was always with a congenial smile.”
Tanzi would regularly greet elderly parishioners with a “Buon Giorni!” and “Come Stai!” while holding the door for them, Mammoliti said.
The deacon said the parish is in shock over the news.
“We’re all in a state of disbelief. The old expression, ‘Bad things happen to good people,’ that’s the first thought that came to mind,” he said.
Deacon John Heyer of Sacred Hearts and St. Stephen Catholic Church in the city’s Carroll Gardens neighborhood told CBS News that Tanzi was “definitely a good person. Like, a simple, good person.”
“[He was the] type of guy who went to work and came home and was part of different community organizations,” Heyer said. “Especially those related to his family’s heritage and roots in Mola di Bari, Italy.”
Mazariegos, the suspect in the killing, reportedly has multiple criminal cases open against him throughout the city. He allegedly admitted to the killing afterward.
Mammoliti said Tanzi, a “tremendous man of faith” with a “good soul,” had he survived the assault, would have forgiven his assailant. “He would have done what he normally did, which was to be a good Christian,” he said.
“Your first initial reaction [upon hearing the news] is, you know, eye for eye, tooth for tooth,” the deacon admitted. “But we’re called to be people of faith. We’re called to emulate the teachings of the Gospel.”
“We would honor Mr. Tanzi if we would live up to what Jesus teaches us, which is to forgive our enemies.”