ACI MENA, Nov 26, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV’s journey to Turkey and Lebanon carries significant historical and diplomatic symbolism. His decision to make the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk his first stop immediately recalls the legacy of his predecessor, St. John XXIII, who became a cultural and spiritual bridge between East and West, very much like Istanbul (formerly called Constantinople), the city he arrived in 90 years ago.

In January 1935, only weeks after being appointed apostolic delegate to both Turkey and Greece, Archbishop Angelo Roncalli — the future St. John XXIII — arrived at Istanbul’s Haydar Pasha train station from Bulgaria. He began his mission in a country that at the time had no formal diplomatic relations with the Vatican.

Immediately after his arrival, he began assessing the situation of the Catholic churches and communities across the country — Jesuits, Capuchins, Maronites, Melkites, Syriacs, and others. In an unprecedented gesture, he later met with the ecumenical patriarch.

Roncalli also played an important humanitarian role in relation to other minority groups, particularly helping Jewish refugees from Poland flee their homeland during World War II.

He carried out his mission in Turkey for 10 years, during which he lived through the final years of Atatürk’s life. With rare diplomatic instinct, he understood the political and social transformation underway in modern Turkey. He respected the nation’s secular laws, including the law banning religious clothing outside places of worship, and made sure to abide by them.

The future pope faced significant challenges at first, since relations between the Turkish authorities and the Catholic Church were strained prior to his arrival. Yet he quickly and skillfully built bridges of trust with the young republic, earning the respect of its officials. He developed friendly relations with many Turkish figures, among them the diplomat Numan Menemencioğlu, who later became foreign minister.

Roncalli was also the first bishop to use the Turkish language in the celebration of the Mass, reading a passage from the Gospel in Turkish during the 1935 Christmas liturgy. He believed ignoring the local language would be a sign of disrespect toward the people.

When Pope Pius XII died in 1958, Turkish newspapers highlighted Roncalli as one of the leading candidates to succeed him and followed the conclave closely. Upon his election as Pope John XXIII, Turkey was among the first countries to congratulate him, acknowledging the positive impact he had left behind.

In 1959, Turkish President Celâl Bayar visited the Vatican and met the pope, who expressed his longing for Istanbul and the Bosphorus. He praised Turkish Catholics as faithful citizens. During that visit, the two sides agreed to establish formal diplomatic relations, which officially began the following year and paved the way for future papal trips to Istanbul, with the sole exception of John Paul I, whose papacy lasted only 33 days.

When Pope Benedict XVI visited Istanbul in 2006, a statue of St. John XXIII was unveiled. Originally installed in the courtyard of the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, whose entrance today is adorned with an image of the saintly pope, the statue was later moved to the courtyard of St. Anthony of Padua Church.

Beneath the statue is an inscription reading: “Pope John XXIII, a Friend of the Turkish People.” The inscription reflects his many expressions of affection toward them, including his well-known phrase: “I love the Turkish people.” The Turkish public returned this affection, famously giving him the nickname “the Turkish Pope.”

This story was first published by ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, and has been translated for and adapted by CNA.

CNA Staff, Nov 26, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

At the forefront of the work of repatriation and recovery of Ukrainian children swept up in the country’s war with Russia is Caritas Ukraine.

CNA Staff, Nov 26, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

On Friday at the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV met with U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, and a delegation of Ukrainian mothers, wives, and teenagers forcibly taken to Russia during the war. The group discussed the ongoing efforts being made to secure the return of civilians to Ukraine, particularly children.

At the forefront of the work of repatriation and recovery of Ukrainian children swept up in the country’s war with Russia is Caritas Ukraine, which has prioritized the reintegration of these children, according to Liliia Chulitska, an information expert with Caritas Ukraine.

Caritas Ukraine is made up of cooperating organizations and operates as part of the international network Caritas Internationalis, the social ministry of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. It has been implementing humanitarian, social, and recovery programs throughout Ukraine for over 30 years, with a primary focus on humanitarian assistance in more than 15 regions of Ukraine.

Chulitska explained that when it comes to the repatriation of Ukrainian children, Caritas Ukraine cooperates with Ukraine’s Ombudsman’s Office once children are returned to Ukraine and, as a service provider, assesses the children’s needs and provides direct assistance.

Bring Kids Back UA Task Force said it has recorded more than 19,000 cases of unlawful deportations and forced transfers of Ukrainian children. The children’s welfare organization, Save the Children, reported the same number, while a report from the Yale School of Public Health in September said the number of children could be as high as 35,000.

A U.N.-backed investigation in 2023 accused Russia of war crimes for its forced transfers and deportation of Ukrainian children in areas it controlled, but Russia has denied committing these crimes.

The plight of Ukrainian children

There are various circumstances by which Ukrainian children have ended up in Russia or in Russia-controlled territory separated from their families and communities. 

The Yale report identified “more than 8,400 children who have been systematically relocated to at least 57 facilities — including 13 facilities in Belarus and 43 facilities in Russia and Russia-occupied territory.” The report further accuses Russia of targeting “vulnerable groups of children for deportation, including orphans, children with disabilities, children from low-income families, and children with parents in the military.”

A joint report by the Regional Center for Human Rights, the Ukrainian Child Rights Network, and the Voices of Children Charitable Foundation, with the support of Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine, claims that the Russian Federation “has consistently implemented a policy of eradicating the Ukrainian identity of children from the occupied territories.”

The report further states that “deportations, forcible transfer, separation from parents, transfer to Russian families, imposition of citizenship, political indoctrination, Russification, and militarization are the tools used to compel Ukrainian children to become enemies of their own nation.” 

Russia has denied these allegations and justified the transfer of children as “humanitarian evacuations for the children’s safety.” The Russian government has also denied accusations of war crimes, even as the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, in 2023.

When they arrive home

Last month, U.S. First Lady Melania Trump announced that after ongoing conversations with Putin about repatriating Ukrainian children caught up in the war, “some have been returned to their families with more to be reunited soon.” 

While locating and returning a Ukrainian child generally requires a highly coordinated effort on the part of many parties, after a child returns the main work Caritas Ukraine focuses on is the adaptation and psychological recovery of the child, according to Chulitska. “This is the task of our case managers and psychologists,” she said.

A project specialist meets the child and their accompanying person at the border and they travel together to Kyiv, where a meeting is held at the Child Protection Center with representatives of the Coordination Center for the Development of Family Education and Child Care. 

A case manager then draws up a needs assessment report, and a psychologist conducts a consultation. A plan is then developed for the entire support period to meet the child’s basic needs and resolve any legal issues through documentation. If necessary, children undergo a medical examination.

After that, the child goes to his or her place of residence and is provided with basic necessities. To catch up on the child’s education, tutors are hired if necessary. 

Chulitska said the team of specialists maintains constant contact with the family, provides guidance on social issues, and offers psychological support. Monitoring visits are conducted regularly.

This period lasts from three to six months in accordance with international standards, and after the support period ends, the local child welfare service continues to monitor the family to ensure they receive support as needed.

According to a Bring Kids Back white paper issued in October 2024: “Effective reintegration requires the close collaboration of many state institutions, child protection organizations, and international actors. A central element is coordination.” 

As of Nov. 21, according to Bring Kids Back, 1,835 сhildren have “returned from deportation, forced transfers, or temporarily occupied territories.”

Caritas Ukraine said it has provided assistance to some of these children and that it has also assisted at least 11 children since the war broke out who are victims of human trafficking. 

Caritas operates through an extensive network of more than 49 local organizations and over 300 active parish assistance centers. The network’s strategic goals are to “promote the restoration of people’s dignified lives, facilitate the integration of victims into communities, strengthen the social protection system, and contribute to the development of a peaceful and just society.”

EWTN News, Nov 26, 2025 / 05:00 am (CNA).

Slovenia rejected euthanasia legislation in a Nov. 23 referendum, with 53% voting against the law backed by Catholic bishops and civil groups.

EWTN News, Nov 26, 2025 / 05:00 am (CNA).

Slovenian voters have rejected a proposed euthanasia law in a Nov. 23 referendum, blocking legislation that would have allowed terminally ill patients to end their lives. The bill, passed by the Slovenian Parliament four months earlier, was opposed by 53.43% of voters, preventing it from taking effect.

Under Slovenian law, Sunday’s vote freezes the matter for at least 12 months, after which Parliament may consider a new version of the bill.

A year earlier, a nonbinding referendum indicated public openness to regulated euthanasia, prompting the governing coalition to draft and pass the legislation in July 2025. But opposition quickly mobilized. The Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) and other conservative groups denounced the proposal as undermining human dignity and devaluing the lives of the most vulnerable.

The Slovenian Bishops’ Conference also publicly opposed the legislation. Citing Article 17 of the Slovenian Constitution — which states that “human life is inviolable” — the bishops urged lawmakers to strengthen systemic medical, human, and spiritual support for those in need. They called for greater investment in palliative care and related services rather than pursuing policies that permit the direct termination of life.

A coalition of civil and conservative organizations, led by Aleš Primc of the Voice for the Children and the Family party, launched a citizens’ initiative that gathered more than 40,000 signatures — enough to force a binding referendum on the divisive issue.

The rejected bill would have allowed mentally competent patients with no chance of recovery — or those suffering unbearable pain — to access assisted euthanasia. It required patients to self-administer the life-ending medication, contingent on approval by two doctors and a legally mandated waiting period to ensure the decision was voluntary and sustained.

Bishops, civil society welcome result

The metropolitan archbishop of Ljubljana, Archbishop Stanislav Zore, OFM, welcomed the outcome with gratitude, saying he sees “God at work in our time.” He thanked organizers and citizens who publicly defended the value of human life and praised medical and legal professionals for voicing their concerns clearly.

The archbishop stressed, however, that this was not a moment for celebration but for gratitude and renewed resolve. He urged believers to remain guided by conscience, resist pressures to seek “easy and comfortable paths,” and remain open to discerning “good from evil.”

Debate across Europe

Across Europe, end-of-life legislation varies widely. Belgium, Spain, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands permit euthanasia performed by a physician, while Germany, Italy, and Austria allow only assisted suicide under specific legal conditions.

The Slovenian result comes amid growing debate across Europe over euthanasia and assisted suicide, with Catholic leaders frequently raising concerns about vulnerable populations, conscientious objection for medical professionals, and the erosion of care-based alternatives.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Thanksgiving is a "beautiful feast" that reminds everyone to be grateful for the gifts they have been given, Pope Leo XIV said.

"Say thank you to someone," the pope suggested two days before the U.S. holiday when he met reporters outside his residence in Castel Gandolfo before returning to the Vatican after a day off.

Pope Leo, the first U.S.-born pope, was scheduled to spend his Thanksgiving Nov. 27 in Ankara and Istanbul, Turkey, the first stops on his first foreign trip as pope.

A reporter asked the pope what he was thankful for this year.

"Many things I'm thankful for," he responded.

He described Thanksgiving as "this beautiful feast that we have in the United States, which unites all people, people of different faiths, people who perhaps do not have the gift of faith."

The holiday is an opportunity "to say thank you to someone, to recognize that we all have received so many gifts -- first and foremost, the gift of life, the gift of faith, the gift of unity, to encourage all people to try and promote peace and harmony and to give thanks to God for the many gifts we have been given." 

Pope Leo was asked about his upcoming trip, particularly about relations with Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, who will host the pope for several prayer services in addition to having a private meeting and lunch with him.

"This trip was born precisely to celebrate 1,700 years of the Creed of Nicaea, the Council of Nicaea" and what it affirmed about Jesus, the pope said.

In his apostolic letter, "In Unitate Fidei" ("In the Unity of Faith"), published Nov. 23, Pope Leo highlighted the importance of the anniversary and of the Creed that all mainline Christians still share.

"Unity in the faith," he told the reporters, "can also be a source of peace for the whole world." 

Pope Leo also was asked if he was concerned about going to Lebanon when Israel continues to strike what it says are Hezbollah and Hamas positions in Lebanon. Israel said it killed Hezbollah's top military leader Nov. 23 in a suburb of Beirut; Lebanon said the strike killed five other people as well and wounded 28 more.

"It's always a concern," the pope said. "Again, I would invite all people to look for ways to abandon the use of arms as a way of solving problems and to come together, to respect one another, to sit down together at the table, to dialogue and to work together for solutions for the problems that affect us."

"I am very happy to be able to visit Lebanon," the pope said. "The message will be a word of peace, a word of hope, especially this year of the Jubilee of hope."
 

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ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 25, 2025 / 18:01 pm (CNA).

Nils de Jesús Hernández, 56, has lived in the United States for 36 years, far from his native Nicaragua. Forced to leave the country in 1988 in the midst of the civil war, he serves a parish in Iowa where he ministers to the Hispanic community and speaks out for the Nicaraguan people.

Hernández, known as the “vandal priest” for having led a student strike and supporting the 2018 protests in Nicaragua, is now the parish priest at Queen of Peace Church in Waterloo, Iowa, in the Archdiocese of Dubuque.

“Vandal priest” was the defamatory, derisive label the dictatorship gave to him for his role in the protests, but the title has now turned into a sort of badge of honor.

The pain of leaving Nicaragua

After being declared a target of the government at the age of 19 when he was a candidate for the priesthood, Hernández said in an interview with “EWTN Noticias,” the Spanish-language broadcast edition of EWTN News, that leaving the country “meant that I was never going to return to Nicaragua. Leaving my parents, my family, everything that was familiar to me: my language, my culture, my food, everything; that is, everything that is one’s own ... that was the cruelest thing I was experiencing.”

The priest said he inherited his fighting spirit from his mother, who also helped with the student protests at the time.

“In the 1980s, I was also fighting against those [the Sandinistas] who promised us that everything was going to be fine, and everything turned into a dictatorship, a government that was repressing the Nicaraguan people,” Hernández told “EWTN Noticias.”

The priest traveled to Guatemala, then on to Tijuana, Mexico, and continuing to San Diego. He spent six years in Los Angeles before being sent to Iowa.

Having already obtained U.S. citizenship, he was ordained a priest in 2004 for the Archdiocese of Dubuque, and now in his parish he serves Mexicans, Guatemalans, Venezuelans, Chileans, Hondurans, and, of course, members of the Nicaraguan diaspora.

“I have organized marches here against laws that are very aggressive against immigrants under this administration of President Donald Trump,” the priest said. “This has also been my battleground here to continue denouncing the dictatorship of [Nicaraguan Vice President Rosario] Murillo and [President] Daniel Ortega,” he added.

The persecution against the Catholic Church in Nicaragua

“I believe that the persecution against the Church in Nicaragua is becoming much more aggressive, with confiscations [of Church property] that they have carried out and continue to carry out,” the priest lamented.

According to Hernández, the dictatorship wants to “eradicate the Church.”

“But I always say the following: They will steal all the buildings, they can close all the churches they want to close … but they cannot take away the faith from the hearts of every Nicaraguan, because wherever there is a Nicaraguan in Nicaragua, even though they are being repressed and oppressed, there is the Catholic faith, because all of us Nicaraguans are devoted to Mary and we trust in the will of God.”

“We also have great faith that the Lord will prevail and will be victorious, because the Lord triumphed on the cross and overcame death with his resurrection,” he said.

“We will be returning to Nicaragua triumphantly, because we will indeed return to Nicaragua, because this dictatorship will not last forever. They’re old and they’re not going to continue [in power] for all eternity,” he predicted.

Silence of the Church in Nicaragua and reality in Venezuela

“The silence in Nicaragua is due to the repression that exists. The people are silent,” Hernández pointed out. “But that doesn’t mean the people are content. The silence reflects the discontent of the people, because when the drums sound, Nicaragua will roar. That’s a very Nicaraguan saying,” he explained.

“The Nicaraguan people, when they muster the courage, overthrow any dictatorship. This silence is a preparatory silence for what could happen at any moment in Nicaragua,” the exiled priest continued.

“If Nicolás Maduro falls [in Venezuela], the Nicaraguan and Cuban dictatorships will also fall. So the silence on the part of the Church is out of prudence, but here in the United States there are voices that are trying to make people aware that the repression in Nicaragua is not good. We have Bishop [Silvio] Báez, who is a prophetic and very strong voice: He continues to speak very consistently about all the deception that this dictatorship is engaging in,” Hernández told EWTN.

Pope Leo XIV, Nicaragua, and the award to Bishop Silvio Báez

The priest also referred to the meetings that Pope Leo XIV has held with the bishops of Nicaragua, first with bishops Silvio Báez, Carlos Enrique Herrera, and Isidoro Mora; and later with Rolando Álvarez, all of whom are in exile.

In his opinion, these meetings “are a slap in the face to the dictatorship. That’s what grieves them the most, that the Holy Father is saying, ‘Catholic Nicaragua, persecuted Church, your mother is with you. The Holy Father loves you and you are not alone.’”

“That is a very powerful message that the Holy Father is giving to the Nicaraguan people and also to the Church, and that is the most wonderful thing that we must understand. Nicaraguan people, you’ve got to have a lot of courage, because this is not going to continue forever. Once again, these old men are going to die,” he emphasized.

Hernández also shared that it was he who nominated Báez for the 2025 Pacem in Terris Award for peace and freedom — which has also been awarded to Martin Luther King Jr. and St. Teresa of Calcutta and which was presented to him in July of this year in Davenport — to recognize “the role that the prelate has played in the struggle in Nicaragua and from exile” at St. Agatha Parish in Miami.

“My dream for the Nicaraguan Church is that we continue praying for the unity of all the opposition, so that there may be authentic and genuine unity, that they set aside all their political agendas, and that we all unite to fight to overthrow the dictatorship,” he said.

The priest finally emphasized that for him it is “a great source of pride to be the ‘vandal priest,’ because I continue to denounce this criminal dictatorship for crimes against humanity, because they will not escape God’s justice. They will escape human justice, but not God’s justice.

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