Jan 9, 2026 / 08:00 am (CNA).

In celebration of the United States of America’s 250th anniversary, the 2026 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage’s theme is “One Nation Under God.” Pilgrims will journey on the St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Route to honor the first American citizen to be canonized.

“One Nation Under God is not a borrowed slogan; rather, it is an invitation to realign our lives, our communities, and our country under the sovereignty of Jesus Christ,” said Jason Shanks, president of the National Eucharistic Congress, in a press release.

The 2026 pilgrimage will take place 75 years after the phrase “One Nation Under God” was officially added to the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance. On June 14, 1954, Flag Day, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the law adding “under God,” completing a campaign launched in 1951 by the Knights of Columbus.

Inspired by the nation’s historic anniversary, the National Eucharistic Congress wanted “to lean into that moment in our Church and in our country to highlight how Catholics have contributed to this great American experience,” said Shanks during a Jan. 8 interview with “EWTN News Nightly.”

Cabrini Route

The 2026 pilgrimage is set to kick off on May 24 in St. Augustine, Florida, and conclude on July 5 in Philadelphia.

The pilgrimage will pass through most of the original 13 colonies. Pilgrims will travel the Eastern Seaboard along the Cabrini Route in honor of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first American citizen to be canonized.

As an Italian immigrant, Cabrini “really gave her life, her heart, her passion to serving immigrants in New York,” Shanks said during the interview. “We just thought that she was a good representation, particularly as we focused on a national moment to think about how the United States is made up of a variety of cultures and diversity. She also gives us a real sense of what it looks like to be Catholic and to be patriotic.”

“It gives us a moment to reflect on her service and her life as we process to Philadelphia,” Shanks said. “We’re asking for her blessing and her intercession as we embark on this great pilgrimage.”

Throughout the pilgrimage, 18 dioceses will host public events as pilgrims make their way up toward Pennsylvania. The procession will pass through the dioceses of St. Augustine, Florida; Savannah, Georgia; Charleston, South Carolina; Charlotte, North Carolina; Richmond and Arlington, Virginia; Washington D.C.; Baltimore; Wilmington, Delaware; Camden and Paterson, New Jersey; Manchester, New Hampshire; Portland, Maine; Boston, Springfield, and Fall River, Massachusetts; Providence, Rhode Island; and Philadelphia.

Pilgrimage highlights

Bringing Jesus’ presence to the streets is an opportunity to “pray for unity and healing in our great country,” Shanks said.

In light of the United States Conference Bishops’ (USCCB) decision to consecrate America to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the 2026 pilgrimage brings Jesus himself directly to the American people with opportunities for public participation in processions, Masses, devotionals, service projects, and more.

The journey will begin with an opening Mass at Our Lady of La Leche Shrine in Florida, the site of the first Mass celebrated on American soil. Other events include commemorations of the Georgia Martyrs and a celebration of the feast of Corpus Christi in the Archdiocese of Washington and the Diocese of Arlington.

A national prayer campaign and a digital lecture series also will be launched highlighting themes of America through a Catholic lens.

While all Catholics are invited to join for part of the journey, eight young adult perpetual pilgrims and a media missionary will travel the full route. They will partake in a private midpoint retreat at the St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Shrine in New York City.

“These are young people from all walks of life in our country. Typically, what we see post-pilgrimage is their lives are transformed,” Shanks said. “Some join seminary, others join religious life. But they’re a real inspiration to all of us. But they’re like all of us. Their lives are there to be transformed by the Lord.”

The pilgrims final stop will be in Philadelphia, the city where the Declaration of Independence was signed. The concluding weekend will feature all-day Eucharistic adoration on July 4, a closing Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul, and a final Eucharistic procession to the National Shrine of St. John Neumann.

Jan 9, 2026 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The president of the Venezuelan Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Jesús González de Zárate, experienced hours of anxious concern Jan. 3 when the United States launched a military operation in Venezuela that included bombing strategic military installations and culminated in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

Almost a week has passed, but “a comprehensive understanding of the events of last Saturday and their consequences is difficult, because new information is emerging every day and new dynamics are developing around these events, which advises us to exercise prudence and patience,” González told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

He noted that the way things were assessed on Saturday morning was not the same as in the afternoon, because “many questions arose” after Trump’s press conference, in which he asserted that his country would govern Venezuela and dismissed opposition leader María Corina Machado as a potential leader.

Many questions about the immediate future

The entire Catholic community is experiencing, like the rest of the country, “a tense calm,” the archbishop said. “Many questions are arising among the population about the immediate future,” he added.

On the day of the military intervention, in the afternoon, people took to the streets and supermarkets to stock up on supplies, but since Sunday, “vehicle traffic and work activities have been gradually resuming,” he stated.

Before Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, who has called for cooperation with Washington, was sworn in before the new National Assembly on Jan. 5 as acting president following a ruling from the Supreme Court of Justice, the Venezuelan bishops issued a statement to express their solidarity and support for the Venezuelan people.

Faith will get the country through these difficult times

In their prayers, González noted they also included “the families of those who have been injured or have lost their lives.”

“To all of them, we say that faith gives us reasons to live through these difficult times, trusting in God’s love, and with strength and hope.”

Another of his concerns is the 7.9 million Venezuelans who have left their country seeking protection and a better life, according to data from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

“The Venezuelan bishops have spoken out on many occasions about the reality of the migration of millions of our compatriots to other countries. It is an issue that worries us, especially because in recent times public policies have been implemented that significantly affect them,” he explained.

Beyond these considerations, the president of the Venezuelan bishops said he prefers not to comment officially on the political situation until a “clearer” picture emerges.

“The bishops have maintained constant monitoring and discernment of these events, in a spirit of faith and in a climate of prayer, guided by the great principles of the Church’s social doctrine. When we have a more comprehensive and accurate understanding, we will be able to comment on them,” he added.

González said that the Church’s perspective aligns with Pope Leo XIV’s call to “guarantee the national sovereignty” of the country.

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

Long Story Short Created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg (Netflix, 2025) Long Story Short—a newcomer to Netflix’s already-robust catalogue of adult animation—is a story about family and faith and how family and faith can be complicated things. From the creator of the critically acclaimed series BoJack Horseman, Long Story Short will resonate with fans of thoughtful, melancholic […]

The post ‘Long Story Short’ is a show that confronts the uncomfortable appeared first on U.S. Catholic.

Jan 9, 2026 / 06:00 am (CNA).

A diocese in England and Wales has launched a pioneering apologetics project aimed at empowering Catholics to talk more authoritatively about their faith.

The project, titled “Ambassadors for Christ,” is a fresh approach to apologetics in England and Wales and takes an evidence-based approach to the big questions surrounding the Catholic faith.

In a Jan. 5 statement, the Archdiocese of Southwark explained that it has launched the project in response to the rise in people joining the Catholic Church.

“As more people become interested in the faith, practicing Catholics are experiencing more questions from their family, friends, and colleagues but often remain unsure where to look for evidence-based answers,” the statement said.

“These can range from fundamental questions like ‘Is Jesus really God?’ or ‘How do we know God is real?’ to more practical questions about the Catholic faith, such as ‘Why do Catholics make the sign of the cross?’ or ‘What is happening during Mass?’”

In the same press statement, Archbishop John Wilson of Southwark said: “As someone who converted to Catholicism as a teenager myself, I know what it is like to search for answers, to thirst for the truth, which only the Lord Jesus offers. Every day, people are searching for the same answers I did, thirsting for the truth I found, and it is our job to guide them on the right path.”

“As Catholics, leading people to Christ has to be at the heart of everything we do, because it is the Lord Jesus who is the way, the truth, and the life,” he continued. “It is the Catholic Church, founded by Jesus, where people will find the answers to their burning questions, where their thirst for truth will be sated.”

“As the archbishop of the diocese, I am responsible for catechesis and ensuring the faithful know and understand their faith. That’s why this project goes beyond providing answers; it is about building ambassadors for Christ in our parishes and schools.”

“I want the faithful — from converts to cradle Catholics — to feel confident and assured of their faith, so that when they are asked the reason for the hope within them, they can confidently speak of the Lord Jesus and his saving work,” he said.

The course is made up of 52 videos, which will be released each Monday on YouTube throughout 2026 and each topic is presented by a Catholic priest.

According to the Jan. 5 statement from the archdiocese, each video has been thoroughly checked by theologians to ensure accuracy and fidelity to Church teaching.

Father Dermott O’Gorman, the director of youth for the Archdiocese of Southwark, said: “We are often told that young people are not interested in religion or that they don’t care about God. But this could not be further from the truth. In a world where they feel disillusioned and lost, our young people are searching for meaning.”

He added: “The Church needs to meet them where they are, and that is what we’re doing with ‘Ambassadors for Christ.’ By providing engaging content that directly answers their questions, we hope to help them discover meaning and purpose that can be found only in Jesus Christ and his Church.”

Stephen Bullivant, professor of theology and the sociology of religion, welcomed the new initiative.

In an email to CNA on Jan. 9 commenting more generally on why Catholic congregations are growing in England and Wales, he said: “It’s hard to know the full reasons for the new growth we’re seeing, but there certainly does seem to a new cultural mood around Christianity.”

“Feasibly, we’ve also hit a point, after decades of secularization, where a kind of ‘herd immunity’ to ever taking faith seriously — a resistance built up from lots of weak or dead strains of cultural Christianity — has now worn off,” he continued. “So for the youngest generations, who have not been raised even ‘nominally’ Church of England or Catholic, it’s now possible to encounter Christianity as something genuinely new, intriguing, and perhaps exciting.”

This story was updated at 9:22 a.m. ET on Jan. 9, 2026, with the comments from Stephen Bullivant.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Leo XIV warned diplomats of rising global volatility, fractured communication and a growing disregard for human life in his annual speech to representatives to the Holy See.

Speaking to representatives of the 184 countries that have full diplomatic relations with the Vatican, the pope expressed concern over a "weak" global approach and action among countries on certain issues, saying that "war is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading."

Peace is being sought through weapons, threatening the rule of law and therefore the foundation of all peaceful civil coexistence, he said in the Jan. 9 speech at the Hall of Benedictions at the Vatican.

He expressed concern about religious freedom being curtailed around the world. Aid to the Church in Need, an international Catholic aid organization, released its "Religious Freedom in the World Report" last year, concluding that 64.7% of the world's population lives in countries with "serious or very serious violations of religious freedom." 

He cited deadly attacks on Christian communities in Africa and the Middle East, while also warning of less visible discrimination in Europe and the Americas.

He briefly spoke about the importance of treating migrants with human dignity, an issue he has been vocal about for months, before focusing his final thoughts on the value of family and the unborn.

The pope said the Church strongly rejects "any practice that denies or exploits the origin of life and its development."

The pope reiterated the Church's stance on abortion, including a deep concern about projects aimed at financing cross-border mobility for the purpose of accessing the so-called "right to safe abortion."

"It also considers it deplorable that public resources are allocated to suppress life, rather than being invested to support mothers and families," he said.

He also spoke out against surrogacy.

"By transforming gestation into a negotiable service, this violates the dignity both of the child, who is reduced to a 'product,' and of the mother, exploiting her body and the generative process, and distorting the original relational calling of the family," he said.

In this speech and throughout the year, the pope has spoken out on ongoing international strife, including the war in Ukraine, the Israel-Gaza conflict and the U.S. military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. 

When looking at today's conflicts, he said, "we cannot ignore that the destruction of hospitals, energy infrastructure, homes and places essential to daily life constitutes a serious violation of international humanitarian law."

He pointed to the United Nations as a counterbalance to this trend, saying that it is the center of international cooperation that defends humanitarian rights and mediates conflict.

But, he said, one of the greatest current challenges to dialogue as a way to address conflicts is the loss of a shared understanding of language.

"Today, the meaning of words is ever more fluid and the concepts they represent are increasingly ambiguous," he said. "Language is no longer the preferred means by which human beings come to know and encounter one another."

He said that the "contortions of semantic ambiguity" are becoming "more and more a weapon with which to deceive or to strike and offend opponents." He suggested clearer, more direct language be used throughout the home, politics and the media to address these misunderstandings and to avoid conflict on a greater scale.

He went on to say that efforts to loosen or blur the meaning of words are often defended as protecting free expression, but in fact undermine it.  

"It is painful to see how, especially in the West, the space for genuine freedom of expression is rapidly shrinking," he said. "At the same time, a new Orwellian-style language is developing which, in an attempt to be increasingly inclusive, ends up excluding those who do not conform to the ideologies that are fueling it."

When moral or linguistic boundaries are weakened, he said, it doesn't stop at speech, but rather it spills over into limits on basic human rights and an individual's ability to act according to their moral and religious beliefs.

"This may be the refusal of military service in the name of non-violence or the refusal on the part of doctors and health care professionals to engage in practices such as abortion or euthanasia," he said.

The pope said if a society forces moral uniformity, it risks sliding toward authoritarianism.

Pope Leo closed by saying that despite conflict found around the world, there is no shortage of signs for courage and pointed to St. Francis of Assisi.

"His life shines brightly, for it was inspired by the courage to live in truth," he said, "and the knowledge that a peaceful world is built starting with humble hearts turned toward the heavenly city."

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Every level of Church leadership must strengthen and improve its ability to listen to everyone, especially to victims of sexual abuse and those who suffer, Pope Leo XIV said.

The problem of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church "is truly a wound in the life of the Church in many places," and "we cannot close our eyes or our hearts" to the crisis and its victims, he said at the conclusion of an extraordinary meeting with the world's cardinals at the Vatican.

"I encourage you to share this with your bishops: often the pain of the victims has been made worse by the fact that they were not welcomed and listened to," he said Jan. 8. The Vatican published the remarks Jan. 10.

"The abuse itself causes a deep wound that may last a lifetime, but often the scandal in the Church is because the door was closed and the victims were not welcomed and accompanied by authentic pastors," he said. 

And so, he said, "listening is profoundly important" in this and all areas. "Formation in listening, formation in a spirituality of listening" is needed in seminaries, "but also for bishops" and all levels of church leadership, including laypeople working for the Church.

The pope's remarks came at the conclusion of an extraordinary consistory Jan. 7-8.

The overarching aim of their encounter was to grow in communion and discern together "what the Lord is asking of us for the good of his people."

After convening the international group of cardinals in Rome, the pope decided to make the gathering an annual event, however, with an additional meeting later this year, it will be a kind of synodal journey for Pope Leo and members of his College of Cardinals.

It marked an approach that vastly expanded on what Pope Francis established after his election in 2013. Wishing for a more decentralized and listening Church, the late pope created a nine-member Council of Cardinals to help and advise him on several critical matters facing the Church, particularly the reform of the Roman Curia, by meeting at least quarterly in Rome.

Pope Leo decided he would be inviting all the world's cardinals to Rome every year for a few days, Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, told reporters at a news conference after the consistory ended Jan. 8. 

College members will meet with the pope again for at least three days sometime in June, possibly around the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, June 29, and then the gathering will be held over three to four days once a year in the following years.

The College of Cardinals is made up of 245 cardinals from all over the world. About 170 of them -- about 69% -- made it to Rome after the pope's invitation Dec. 12 that they come together again for the first time since the conclave that elected him May 8.

Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe, a Dominican theologian, offered a reflection Jan. 7 to help the cardinals understand their role not just as advisers to the pope, but as much-needed companions along life's way.

He recalled St. Mark's account of Jesus making his disciples go out ahead of him by boat, which encountered a "great storm."

Jesus does not want Peter or any of the disciples to go into the storm alone, he said. "This is our first obedience, to be in the barque of Peter, with his successor, as he faces the storms of our times."

Some of the storms shaking the Church, he said, include "sexual abuse and ideological division. The Lord commands us to sail out into these storms and face them truthfully, not timidly waiting on the beach. If we do so in this consistory, we shall see him coming to us. If we hide on the beach, we shall not encounter him."

However, Cardinal Radcliffe said, "If the boat of Peter is filled with disciples who quarrel, we shall be of no use to the Holy Father. If we are at peace with each other in love, even when we disagree, God will indeed be present even when he seems to be absent." 

Pope Leo emphasized the essential element of love in his opening remarks to the cardinals in the Vatican's Synod Hall Jan. 7.

"To the extent that we love one another as Christ has loved us, we belong to him, we are his community, and he can continue to draw others to himself through us. In fact, only love is credible; only love is trustworthy," he said.

"Therefore, in order to be a truly missionary Church, one that is capable of witnessing to the attractive power of Christ's love, we must first of all put into practice his commandment … 'Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another,'" the pope said. Jesus underlined that it will be by a Christian's love that the world will know "that you are my disciples."

The "collegial journey" that they have begun with their first consistory, he said, would be an opportunity to reflect together on two themes of their choice out of the following four themes: the mission of the Church in today's world, especially as presented in Pope Francis' "Evangelii Gaudium"; the synod and synodality as an instrument and a style of cooperation; the service of the Holy See, especially to the local Churches; and the liturgy, the source and summit of the Christian life. The cardinals voted with "a large majority" to discuss the first two themes -- mission and synodality, Bruni told reporters. 

Following a synodal structure, the cardinals were broken into 21 groups, but nine of those groups, made up of cardinals under 80 years old, who were not resident in Rome, were asked to submit reports based on their small group discussions, which followed the Synod on Synodality's "conversation in the Spirit" method.

"I am here to listen," Pope Leo told the cardinals before they began their two days of reflection and dialogue.

"We must not arrive at a text, but continue a conversation that will help me in serving the mission of the entire Church," he said. Specifically, he wanted the groups to look at the next one or two years and consider what "priorities could guide the action of the Holy Father and of the Curia regarding each theme?"

The pope further encouraged the cardinals the next day in his homily during an early morning Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.

Their task, he said, was to discern what "the Lord is asking of us for the good of his people," not "to promote personal or group 'agendas.'"

Through prayer, silence, listening and sharing, he said, "we become a voice for all those whom the Lord has entrusted to our pastoral care in many different parts of the world." 

Speaking to reporters at a news conference after the consistory, Cardinal Luis José Rueda Aparicio, archbishop of Bogotá, Colombia, said the experience "strengthened us" individually and as a group as they got to know each other better.

The pope underlined how important hope was in the life and mission of the church, he said. When Christ is at the center of one's life, proclaiming his word "fills us and the world with hope."

Cardinal Stephen Brislin, archbishop of Johannesburg, South Africa, told reporters the vast differences between cardinals -- with their different perspectives and needs -- proved to be "very enriching" and interesting, and not a source of contention. 

Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, bishop of Kalookan, Philippines, told reporters the synodal format and style of the consistory "was familiar" to those who had taken part in the synodal assemblies in Rome in 2023 and 2024.

When asked if it seemed the pope was going to use their sessions to inform or contribute to any kind of papal document, Cardinal David said, "I don't know," but the pope was "taking notes very seriously so he must be up to something."

Cardinal Brislin said there is no indication that a document was the aim of the gathering, and it was more a concrete response to the cardinals' request that they meet.

Cardinal Aparicio said by listening to all the world's cardinals, the pope "listens to the different parts of the world."
 

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Jan 8, 2026 / 19:18 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV will be hosting a second consistory of cardinals at the end of June and wants to hold such meetings annually.

The Vatican made the announcement Thursday evening at the conclusion of the Holy Father’s first extraordinary consistory of cardinals that lasted two days. The next such meeting is expected to be held on June 27–28, the vigil of Sts. Peter and Paul.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the pope would like to hold annual meetings lasting three to four days, allowing more time for discussion on various topics of importance and for free interventions by the members of the Sacred College of Cardinals.

Cardinal Stephen Brislin of Johannesburg, South Africa, told reporters at a closing Vatican briefing that he and the other cardinals found this consistory a “very enriching and very deepening experience.” He said they also appreciated that it also gave the opportunity for the cardinals to “get to know each other and to listen to each other.” The fact that the pope wishes to hold more meetings, he added, shows that the pope, too, “found it very important” and helpful. 

The cardinal said some doubts were expressed when they were told they would be split into small groups, and “certainly a concern” was that there would be insufficient opportunity for them “to express themselves and to listen to others.” Still, he said he thought the way the groups were constructed, having been split into two blocks, was “very helpful” and “gave the opportunity for every cardinal to speak,” even if it wasn’t heard by the whole assembly. 

The liturgy was briefly mentioned, Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, archbishop emeritus of Durban, South Africa, told the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner. But he said the Traditional Latin Mass and “particulars like that” were not discussed. “I think the whole thing was how do we get the whole Church onto the same level at evangelizing, I think that was the main point,” he said.” Hope was expressed by various cardinals that other topics not discussed would be covered at forthcoming consistories. 

Little information emerged both during and after the consistory as cardinals told reporters that Pope Leo had instructed them to keep the proceedings confidential. Nevertheless, Brislin, who was joined by Filippino Cardinal Pablo David and Colombian Cardinal Luis José Rueda Aparicio at Thursday’s press briefing, spoke relatively freely.