Interior of the Church of Jesus and Mary in Rome, Italy / Credit: Mentnafunangann / Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Rome, Italy, Nov 26, 2025 / 10:15 am (CNA).

At a Mass marking 25 years since the Holy See signed a foundational agreement with Slovakia, U.S. ambassador to the Holy See Brian Burch praised the “rich history” of Catholic peoples in Central Europe.

Interior of the Church of Jesus and Mary in Rome, Italy / Credit: Mentnafunangann / Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Rome, Italy, Nov 26, 2025 / 10:15 am (CNA).

Catholics in Central Europe — especially in Slovakia, Czechia, Poland, and Hungary — play a vital role in fostering reconciliation and peace on the continent, the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See told CNA following a special Mass celebrated in Rome on Monday.

The Mass on Nov. 25, presided over by Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States, marked the 25th anniversary of the Basic Agreement between the Holy See and Slovakia, which was signed on Nov. 24, 2000. The accord governs various aspects of the Catholic Church’s life and legal status in the Slovak Republic.

Faithful voices in a wounded region

“The region of Central Europe and Slovakia is of critical importance to the entire continent,” Ambassador Brian Burch told CNA after the liturgy. “In particular, the Catholic peoples in those lands have a rich history that plays a vital role in the reconciliation that is necessary to bring about peace.”

The ambassador said he joins the people of the region in prayer “that the conflict [in Ukraine, east of Slovakia] may soon end and that the voices of faith and strength will prevail.”

A saintly witness remembered

The Mass was held at the Church of Gesù e Maria (Jesus and Mary) in Rome, which houses the tomb of Alojz Chmeľ, a Slovak Discalced Augustinian declared a Servant of God. Chmeľ died in Rome as a seminarian after battling cancer and was remembered by Gallagher as a young man marked by “patient study, assiduous prayer, and docility of the spirit.”

“A nation’s history,” the archbishop said, “can become an act of faithfulness.”

He emphasized that the communion expressed in the Slovak–Vatican agreement is “not merely a juridical act.” Rather, it is rooted in a centuries-old Christian heritage stretching back to the ninth century, when Sts. Cyril and Methodius brought the Gospel, the liturgy, and a written language to the Slavic peoples of Great Moravia.

Peace through justice and dialogue

“Since then,” Gallagher said, “a spiritual spring has passed through the centuries, as faith and the Gospel establish civilization and dialogue between the Church and the nation.”

Agreements founded on justice, mutual respect, and shared responsibility, he added, are “signs of peace, instruments of dignity, seeds of future good.”

Juraj Priputen, Slovakia’s ambassador to the Holy See, also addressed the significance of the anniversary. “Even if the world around us changes,” he said, “the values we cherish must remain.”

A 3D rendering of the Living Wall: Monument to the Unborn by the architect of the Living Wall, bringing to life the painted design by Arkansas artist Lakey Goff. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Lakey Goff

CNA Staff, Nov 26, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Amid the sounds of Arkansas’ waterfalls, women who have had abortions will someday be able to find healing at a “living wall” memorial covered in flora and fauna, where the names of unborn children will be inscribed on the hexagonal stone floor thanks to local artist Lakey Goff, who submitted the living wall design, which was selected for Arkansas’ monument for the unborn.

The memorial will be on state property, but funding must come from the people. Now Goff and other Arkansians are fundraising for the living wall.

On Saturday morning, participants gathered at sunrise at Two Rivers Park in Little Rock to kick off the first annual Living Wall 5K — a race to fundraise for the memorial.

Several groups, both local and national — including LIFE Runners, Caring Hearts Pregnancy Center, and Arkansas Right to Life — showed up to kick off the first annual 5K. 

Fundraising began in May 2024 and has reached nearly $30,000; but the living wall’s proposed budget, as of 2025, is estimated to be $1 million.

November has been set aside as a month to remember the unborn in a proclamation signed by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Goff shared with CNA that her inspiration for the wall comes from her faith in Jesus. She hopes it will be a place of healing for women who have had abortions.

CNA: What inspired the design and the Bible message accompanying it? Why a living wall?

Lakey Goff: The monument itself is alive with plants, photosynthesis, and oxygen: There’ll be birds that live in it; there are the sound of seven different waterfalls that I’ve recorded from around Arkansas coming off the top of this wall in an audio loop. That is the sound of Jesus’ voice — the sound of many waters. 

Then, underneath, you’ll see on there are pavers where women have begun to name their babies that were aborted, to put dates when they were aborted and even Scriptures. It’s a way to be healed and set free and say this happened, where they’re no longer locked up in guilt and shame; and so the babies’ names will be underneath our feet in these hexagonal pavers. 

I believe this monument is from the heart of God, the heart of the Father, as he wants to heal our land from the bloodshed in our nation, starting in the state of Arkansas to lead the way. 

Why is this monument important? 

We don’t want to forget what happened during the 50 years of bloodshed, of innocent babies’ bloodshed in our state. It is an act of repentance, and it is saying, “This will not happen again.” We’re saying, “I’m sorry, God, and we want to honor you and honor life.”

This is the very first living wall monument to the unborn in our nation — and so that’s why it’s taking a little while, because it’s never been done before. 

What inspired you to send in a design after the 2023 bill passed? 

I’ve always been an artist, but I was not in any way involved, at least in my adult years, with the pro-life movement or in the political realm. 

I said, “Lord, is there anything that you want to do for this monument?” And I immediately received a blueprint from the Holy Spirit of the details about this living wall. 

I received clearly that the Lord wanted to heal women and families who had abortions and who were held captive by guilt and shame. And he gave me Isaiah 61: He wants to give us double honor for shame; he wants to set the captives free.

What do you hope people will take away from experiencing it?   

It will be an actual place for women, children, families to come and be healed. It’s a place for repentance. It’s a place of life, vitality. There’s nothing dead about Jesus — he’s the risen King.

Even in the process, women, children, families have already started to be healed. I believe what they will take away from it is an encounter with Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and his healing: He came for the lost, not the righteous.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

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A 3D rendering of the Living Wall: Monument to the Unborn by the architect of the Living Wall, bringing to life the painted design by Arkansas artist Lakey Goff. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Lakey Goff

CNA Staff, Nov 26, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Amid the sounds of Arkansas’ waterfalls, women who have had abortions will someday be able to find healing at a “living wall” memorial covered in flora and fauna, where the names of unborn children will be inscribed on the hexagonal stone floor thanks to local artist Lakey Goff, who submitted the living wall design, which was selected for Arkansas’ monument for the unborn.

The memorial will be on state property, but funding must come from the people. Now Goff and other Arkansians are fundraising for the living wall.

On Saturday morning, participants gathered at sunrise at Two Rivers Park in Little Rock to kick off the first annual Living Wall 5K — a race to fundraise for the memorial.

Several groups, both local and national — including LIFE Runners, Caring Hearts Pregnancy Center, and Arkansas Right to Life — showed up to kick off the first annual 5K. 

Fundraising began in May 2024 and has reached nearly $30,000; but the living wall’s proposed budget, as of 2025, is estimated to be $1 million.

November has been set aside as a month to remember the unborn in a proclamation signed by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Goff shared with CNA that her inspiration for the wall comes from her faith in Jesus. She hopes it will be a place of healing for women who have had abortions.

CNA: What inspired the design and the Bible message accompanying it? Why a living wall?

Lakey Goff: The monument itself is alive with plants, photosynthesis, and oxygen: There’ll be birds that live in it; there are the sound of seven different waterfalls that I’ve recorded from around Arkansas coming off the top of this wall in an audio loop. That is the sound of Jesus’ voice — the sound of many waters. 

Then, underneath, you’ll see on there are pavers where women have begun to name their babies that were aborted, to put dates when they were aborted and even Scriptures. It’s a way to be healed and set free and say this happened, where they’re no longer locked up in guilt and shame; and so the babies’ names will be underneath our feet in these hexagonal pavers. 

I believe this monument is from the heart of God, the heart of the Father, as he wants to heal our land from the bloodshed in our nation, starting in the state of Arkansas to lead the way. 

Why is this monument important? 

We don’t want to forget what happened during the 50 years of bloodshed, of innocent babies’ bloodshed in our state. It is an act of repentance, and it is saying, “This will not happen again.” We’re saying, “I’m sorry, God, and we want to honor you and honor life.”

This is the very first living wall monument to the unborn in our nation — and so that’s why it’s taking a little while, because it’s never been done before. 

What inspired you to send in a design after the 2023 bill passed? 

I’ve always been an artist, but I was not in any way involved, at least in my adult years, with the pro-life movement or in the political realm. 

I said, “Lord, is there anything that you want to do for this monument?” And I immediately received a blueprint from the Holy Spirit of the details about this living wall. 

I received clearly that the Lord wanted to heal women and families who had abortions and who were held captive by guilt and shame. And he gave me Isaiah 61: He wants to give us double honor for shame; he wants to set the captives free.

What do you hope people will take away from experiencing it?   

It will be an actual place for women, children, families to come and be healed. It’s a place for repentance. It’s a place of life, vitality. There’s nothing dead about Jesus — he’s the risen King.

Even in the process, women, children, families have already started to be healed. I believe what they will take away from it is an encounter with Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and his healing: He came for the lost, not the righteous.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

The main altar of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. / Credit: Jorge Royan (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Vatican City, Nov 26, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV has issued a new decree revising the financial and administrative norms governing the basilicas of St. Peter and St. Mary Major, bringing both institutions under the ordinary oversight of the Vatican’s Council for the Economy, in the latest act of fine-tuning of economic reforms undertaken by his predecessor Pope Francis.

The pope writes that the Holy See’s economic and financial reform requires “periodic reevaluation and redefinition” of the applicable regulatory framework. 

The letter motu proprio, dated Sept. 29, 2025, was promulgated this month when it was posted in the San Damaso Courtyard of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace. It has not previously been reported by the media.

The decree abrogates two earlier such decrees concerning the Fabric of St. Peter’s and the Chapter of St. Mary Major. Under the updated provisions, both the Fabbrica — which oversees the care, maintenance, and artistic patrimony of St. Peter’s Basilica — and the Chapter of St. Mary Major are now subject to the same forms of oversight established for other entities listed under the statutes of the Council for the Economy and in Praedicate Evangelium, the 2022 apostolic constitution that reorganized the Roman Curia.

To ensure what Pope Leo calls an “immediate and structured transition,” the Secretariat for the Economy will coordinate implementation along with a consultative group to help resolve questions or issues that might arise. The law will eventually be published in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, the official gazette of the Holy See.

In October, Pope Leo XIV issued the decree Coniuncta Cura, a major financial reform that ended the Vatican Bank’s exclusive role in managing Holy See investments and allowed APSA and other accredited intermediaries to handle funds when advantageous. The change, which reverses a 2022 centralization under Pope Francis, aims to diversify management, improve returns, and strengthen the Holy See’s long-term financial sustainability amid rising operational costs.

The main altar of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. / Credit: Jorge Royan (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Vatican City, Nov 26, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV has issued a new decree revising the financial and administrative norms governing the basilicas of St. Peter and St. Mary Major, bringing both institutions under the ordinary oversight of the Vatican’s Council for the Economy, in the latest act of fine-tuning of economic reforms undertaken by his predecessor Pope Francis.

The pope writes that the Holy See’s economic and financial reform requires “periodic reevaluation and redefinition” of the applicable regulatory framework. 

The letter motu proprio, dated Sept. 29, 2025, was promulgated this month when it was posted in the San Damaso Courtyard of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace. It has not previously been reported by the media.

The decree abrogates two earlier such decrees concerning the Fabric of St. Peter’s and the Chapter of St. Mary Major. Under the updated provisions, both the Fabbrica — which oversees the care, maintenance, and artistic patrimony of St. Peter’s Basilica — and the Chapter of St. Mary Major are now subject to the same forms of oversight established for other entities listed under the statutes of the Council for the Economy and in Praedicate Evangelium, the 2022 apostolic constitution that reorganized the Roman Curia.

To ensure what Pope Leo calls an “immediate and structured transition,” the Secretariat for the Economy will coordinate implementation along with a consultative group to help resolve questions or issues that might arise. The law will eventually be published in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, the official gazette of the Holy See.

In October, Pope Leo XIV issued the decree Coniuncta Cura, a major financial reform that ended the Vatican Bank’s exclusive role in managing Holy See investments and allowed APSA and other accredited intermediaries to handle funds when advantageous. The change, which reverses a 2022 centralization under Pope Francis, aims to diversify management, improve returns, and strengthen the Holy See’s long-term financial sustainability amid rising operational costs.

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Statue of St. John XXIII in the courtyard of St. Anthony of Padua Church, Istanbul. / Credit: Souhail Lawand/ACI MENA

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.