Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish

Former cardinal Theodore McCarrick arrives at Massachusetts’ Dedham District Courthouse for his arraignment, Sept. 3, 2021. / Credit: Andrew Bukuras/CNA

CNA Staff, Apr 4, 2025 / 15:47 pm (CNA).

Theodore McCarrick, the disgraced former cardinal and archbishop of Washington who spent decades moving in the highest circles in the Church and was later found guilty in a Vatican investigation of sexually abusing minors and adults, has died at age 94. 

A spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Washington on Friday shared a statement with CNA in which Cardinal Robert McElroy confirmed McCarrick’s passing. McCarrick, who was reportedly suffering with dementia, had been living in a facility in rural Missouri. 

“Today I learned of the death of Theodore McCarrick, former archbishop of Washington. At this moment I am especially mindful of those who he harmed during the course of his priestly ministry. Through their enduring pain, may we remain steadfast in our prayers for them and for all victims of sexual abuse,” McElroy said. 

Ordained a priest in 1958, the New York-born McCarrick rose through the ranks of the American Church throughout the mid- to late-20th century. During his episcopal tenure he was an auxiliary bishop of New York, then led the Diocese of Metuchen, New Jersey; the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey; and later Washington, D.C.

He was a leading participant in the development of the 2002 Dallas Charter and the USCCB Essential Norms, which established procedures for handling allegations of sexual abuse concerning priests.

In 2018, reports of McCarrick’s abuse, grooming, and harassment of seminarians burst publicly onto the scene amid a nationwide reckoning on clerical sexual abuse. 

A Vatican investigation in 2019 found McCarrick guilty of numerous instances of sexual abuse, and Pope Francis laicized him in February of that year. The year after, the Vatican published a lengthy report on McCarrick examining in detail the “institutional knowledge and decision-making” regarding the former cardinal and how he continued to be promoted despite rumors of misconduct. 

In addition to the Vatican investigations, McCarrick faced numerous criminal charges. However, a Massachusetts state district judge ruled in 2023 that McCarrick was not competent to stand trial on the criminal sexual abuse charges brought against him. 

A criminal case against McCarrick in Wisconsin was suspended in January 2024 after a psychologist hired by the court found McCarrick was not competent to stand trial.

This is a developing story.

null / Credit: nito/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Apr 4, 2025 / 14:18 pm (CNA).

New data from Oregon’s public health authority shows that the number of prescriptions for lethal drugs under the state’s assisted suicide law increased by roughly 8% last year, with assisted suicide deaths accounting for nearly 1% of all deaths in Oregon in 2024.

The data from the Oregon Health Authority, which analyzes the year 2024, shows the number of reported assisted suicide deaths decreased slightly — 376 in 2024 versus 386 in 2023. Since 1998, a total of 3,243 people have died under the state’s assisted suicide regime. 

However, nearly a third of all patients who were prescribed lethal drugs last year in Oregon are unaccounted for, as their “ingestion status” is listed by the health authority as “unknown.”

According to the report, of the 607 patients for whom prescriptions were written during 2024, 333 (55%) died from ingesting the medication, with time from ingestion until death ranging from seven minutes to 26 hours, with a median time of 53 minutes.

An additional 96 (16%) did not take the medications and later died of other causes. Forty-three people with prescriptions written in previous years ingested medication during 2024. 

At the time of reporting, “ingestion status” was unknown for 178 patients (29%), the report continues. Of these, 91 patients have died, but follow-up information was not yet available. For the remaining 87 patients, both death and ingestion status are “not yet known.”

Oregon is one of several U.S. states to have legalized assisted suicide and was the first state in the nation to do so, in 1997. Oregon’s assisted suicide law was later upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2006. The number of recipients in Oregon remained low for the first decade and a half of the program, only exceeding 100 after 2010, before climbing sharply each year after 2013. 

Last year’s report, covering 2023, showed a more significant rise in assisted suicide prescriptions and deaths compared with 2022, with prescriptions up from 433 to 560 and known deaths up from 304 to 367.

In a Thursday statement, Lois Anderson, executive director of the pro-life group Oregon Right to Life, called the report evidence of a “devastating increase in lethal prescriptions for Oregon residents and people from other states.”

“Legal assisted suicide sends a harsh message that our state believes some lives — especially the elderly, disabled, and medically complex — are less worth living. Real dignity and compassion is shown in love, care, and support — not in offering death as a solution,” Anderson stated.

She noted that according to the report, only three patients were referred for psychological or psychiatric evaluation.

“No matter their age or condition, a patient’s request for suicide should always trigger a thorough mental health analysis,” Anderson continued. “Failure to provide this basic support for vulnerable patients is unconscionable.”

Assisted suicide is not the same as euthanasia, although the two phrases are often used interchangeably. Euthanasia necessarily involves a person other than the patient, such as a doctor, being directly responsible for ending the patient’s life. Despite being legal in some other countries, such as Canada, euthanaisa remains prohibited in the U.S. 

Assisted suicide, on the other hand, involves a doctor or other authorized health care professional making the means of suicide — usually a lethal dose of medication — available to the patient, who then kills him- or herself.

The Catholic Church teaches that euthanasia and assisted suicide are sinful because they violate human dignity and represent a rejection of God’s gift of life. 

In the face of aging, illness, and pain, the Church instead advocates for palliative care, which seeks to treat symptoms, manage pain, and improve the quality of life of people suffering from severe illnesses.

Beginning in 2022, Oregon stopped enforcing its residency requirement in response to a lawsuit from the assisted suicide and euthanasia advocacy group Compassion & Choices. The Oregon Legislature removed the residency requirement entirely the next year. In 2024, 4% of all assisted suicide drug recipents were known to live outside of Oregon. 

Oregon’s law has several outwardly protective provisions, including that the person seeking a lethal prescription must be 18 or older, capable of making and communicating his or her decision, and have a diagnosed terminal illness, with six months or fewer to live. There is also a 15-day waiting period, though patients are exempt from any waiting period that exceeds their life expectancy.

The state’s 2024 report says that most assisted suicide patients were age 65 years or older (83%) and white (92%). The most common diagnosis was cancer (57%), followed by neurological disease (15%) and heart disease (11%).

Andrew Abela, founding dean of the Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America and author of “Super Habits,” gives the keynote address “From ESG to Virtue: The Business Case” at the 2025 Christian Institutional Investors conference in Lakewood, Colorado, on April 3, 2025. / Credit: Kate Quiñones/CNA

Denver, Colo., Apr 4, 2025 / 13:36 pm (CNA).

Catholic and Protestant leaders are collaborating to make ethical investing decisions for their businesses, apostolates, and universities.

The Christian Institutional Investors conference in Lakewood, Colorado, outside Denver on Thursday brought 160 attendees together to discuss how to apply virtue to business and how to make ethical investments.

Attendees made their way to the April 3 ecumenical conference, hosted by the investment consulting company Innovest and other sponsors at Colorado Christian University (CCU), from across the U.S. as well as locally. In the opening address of the conference, CCU President Eric Hogue called on attendees to “take the wealth that you’ve been given and use it for the glory of God and for the glory of Jesus Christ.”

“You have a long-term perspective because our Father has had a long-term perspective towards you,” he said. “He is invested in you, and he has given to you, and he has called you to this day, this hour, for this season, until the Lord returns.”

In the world of investing, faith organizations typically prefer to avoid investing in companies that act against their values — such as companies that pay for abortion travel or have benefits plans funding in vitro fertilization. But weeding out groups that aren’t mission-aligned takes diligence and attentiveness, and every investing board has different standards.

That’s why investment consulting companies like Innovest exist.

The U.S. bishops offer guidelines on what to avoid. But Christian organizations often hire consultants to manage their finances, meaning that if the managing company is not faith-based, things may slip through the cracks.

Ensuring good stewardship of donor-based resources is a priority for many of the Christian organizations that were in attendance.

Kyle Washut, president of Wyoming Catholic College — a liberal arts college known for its low-technology model and emphasis on nature — shared that the college is working with several investing organizations at the conference as they invest their emerging endowment.  

“We talk a lot in the nonprofit world about the fiduciary responsibility to one’s benefactors; but fundamentally, our benefactor is the Lord, who has commissioned us to work in his vineyard,” Washut told CNA. “And in that sense, our fiduciary responsibility is, first and foremost, to invest the talents, to invest the things he’s given us, to bear fruit for his kingdom.”

“In that sense, mission-based investing is a fundamental starting point for any Catholic on the planet,” Washut said.

Virtue: an alternative framework to ESG and DEI 

At the conference, Andrew Abela, founding dean of the Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America, gave the keynote address: “From ESG to Virtue: The Business Case.”

ESG (environmental, social, and governance) is shorthand for a framework used to assess a company’s values and impact, sometimes used in impact investing.

But for Abela, instead of ESG or DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion), “the moral framework is virtue.” 

Abela used a moral framework based on St. Thomas Aquinas’ explanation of the four cardinal virtues (temperance, prudence, fortitude, and justice) as connected with the three elements of decision-making: thoughts, feelings, and actions. Abela features this understanding of virtue in his book “Super Habits” and his recently launched app Grow Virtue.

In his remarks, Abela tied the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas to contemporary studies by the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania and the Center for Positive Organizations at the University of Michigan.

He noted that many companies and studies champion the value of virtues — but they call them by different names.

“My goal, my dream, is that we get all of corporate America starting to champion the life of virtue, and we do a restoration of virtue in this country,” he said.

An ecumenical conference 

The ecumenical conference brought together various leading figures at Catholic and Protestant institutions, universities, and aposolates.

Panelists at the event included Archdiocese of Denver’s COO Keith Parsons and University of Mary’s COO Jerome Richter; Notre Dame Federal Credit Union’s Chief Innovation Officer Robert Shane; and Krystal Parker, president of the U.S. Christian Chamber of Commerce.

The various panelists discussed a variety of topics including values alignment in investing, alternative investments and diversification, a Christian retirement plan, proxy voting, and faith-driven investing.

In addition to Innovest, several groups hosted the conference, including AmPhil, Colorado Christian University, Investing with Purpose, the Archdiocese of Denver, the Catholic Foundation of Northern Colorado, Catholic Benefits Association, and Christian Employers Alliance.  

Sponsors included CapinCrouse, Notre Dame Federal Credit Union, Fervor Marketing, Corporate Chaplains of America, Christ Medicus Foundation, and Husch Blackwell.

The “most striking” part of the conference for Washut was the “scope” of the ecumenical mission-based investing space.

“We are actually part of a wider ecosystem, and we’re recreating a whole ecosystem,” he said, adding: “It’s exciting to hear the scope that we can have.”

Two surprising attendees at the event were Sister Anne Catherine Burleigh and Sister Mary Thomas Hoffman, two Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia from Nashville, Tennessee.

“The value of a conference like this is it brings together a lot of great people, Catholics, Christians in the broader Christian community, doing great things to have their faith inform their business life,” Sister Anne Catherine told CNA.

“We’re in the work of education,” she said of her community. “We’re not businesspeople, but we have always benefited from great relationships and great advice with lay experts who can help us really live our mission more deeply.”

Takeaways

Sister Mary Thomas Hoffman shared that one of her biggest takeaways from the conference is that to live out Christianity, you don’t have to give up excellence.

“One of the themes of this conference is that it’s not an either/or, which I think has been the heritage of the Church’s understanding of living our faith fully: It can be coupled with strong returns and investments. It can be coupled with excellent health care. It can be coupled with the best of education,” she said.

Sister Anne Catherine added that it was “very inspiring” and “hopeful” to gather with so many people asking how they can apply their faith down “to the roots” of business operations.

“We never go to God alone. We go to God together, especially as a mystical body, the Church,” Sister Anne Catherine said. “If there are Christian people of faith who can come together, and as they said, even leverage considerable assets, to be not of the world and yet to be in the world with two feet on the ground — there are just a lot more possibilities.”

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, Apr 4, 2025 / 12:53 pm (CNA).

A Catholic pro-life activist was assaulted in New York City on Thursday while conducting a video interview with a pro-abortion advocate.

Savannah Craven Antao was taking part in an interview with a “pro-abortion individual” who “became enraged” during the discussion and punched her in the face, according to a press release from the pro-life group Live Action.

Antao was working as a “Live Action activist” when the assault occurred, according to the group. Footage shared by Live Action President Lila Rose showed Antao being struck in the face by the assailant.

An image shared by Rose further showed Antao with blood streaming down her face after the assault.  

In a post on X on Thursday night, Antao said she was recovering in the hospital after getting stitches. 

‘Absolutely no time to see that it was coming’

Antao told CNA in a Friday morning interview that she has worked for years as a pro-life advocate.

“I regularly do street interviews for my YouTube channel and various other organizations,” she said. “This isn’t something I’m not used to doing. It was just like any other day.”

The woman who assaulted her was “very passionate” about her pro-abortion stance, Antao said.

“She knew about Planned Parenthood. She totally agreed with me that abortion kills a baby. She knew how the procedure worked,” she said.

Antao said at one point the woman suggested children in foster care could be killed. When Antao brought up that claim again, she said, the woman assaulted her.

“I had absolutely no time to see that it was coming,” she said.

Antao’s husband, Henry, shielded her from further attacks from the woman, after which the assailant walked away. The couple called the police, but the woman could not be located. Antao was subsequently taken to the hospital and required two stitches. She said she is raising money for a security fund via her YouTube channel.

The activist said on Friday that she was unaware if her assailant had been arrested yet. She expressed sympathy, however, for her attacker.

“I know that that woman was hurting inside, and that’s why I still want to pray for her, and that she finds peace with herself,” she said.

Rose on Thursday said Live Action was “deeply grateful” for Antao’s work. 

“Her bravery in the face of violence is heroic. We are grateful she is safe and receiving support,” Rose said.

“No one should ever face physical assault for expressing their views in public,” she added.

Antao, meanwhile, told CNA that her Catholic faith has always informed her pro-life beliefs, though she said the huge numbers of Black and brown babies aborted in New York City motivated her to become even more involved in activism.

Asked if the assault would cause her to scale back her pro-life efforts, Antao responded: “Absolutely not.”

Livia Tossici-Bolt speaks to the media after being found guilty of two charges of breaching the Public Spaces Protection Order at Poole Magistrates’ Court on April 4, 2025, in Poole, England. / Credit: Peter Nicholls/Getty Images

London, England, Apr 4, 2025 / 12:23 pm (CNA).

A 64-year-old woman was convicted Friday of standing near an abortion clinic in southern England and holding a sign saying “Here to talk, if you want.”

The case provides further evidence of an erosion of freedom of expression in the United Kingdom, which has recently become a diplomatic issue with the United States.

During the 2024 incident that was brought before the court, Livia Tossici-Bolt was standing silently holding the sign and having “consensual conversations” with people passing by, according to her legal team. However, she was within what is called a “buffer zone,” which criminalizes the “influencing” of people within 150 meters (about 500 feet) of an abortion clinic in the U.K.

Earlier this week, an office of the U.S. State Department said it is “concerned about freedom of expression” in the U.K. and that it is monitoring Tossici-Bolt’s case. In February, U.S. Vice President JD Vance publicly expressed concern about a similar verdict, the criminal prosecution of Adam Smith-Connor for merely standing outside an abortion clinic bowing his head in silent prayer.

On April 4 the Poole Magistrates’ Court on the south coast of England found Tossici-Bolt guilty, issued a “conditional discharge,” and ordered her to pay prosecution costs of £20,000 (about $26,000).

ADF International, the advocacy group that has acted for both defendants, said in a statement: “Despite finding as a fact that ‘the sign made no reference to pregnancy, abortion, or religious matters,’ and hearing evidence from one council officer that ‘he did not witness her intimidating or harassing any individual,’ District Judge [Orla] Austin ruled that council officers had a reasonable belief that Tossici-Bolt was in violation of the Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPO).”

It added that the person issuing the fine had included in his assessment of whether Tossici-Bolt was breaching the buffer zone an awareness of her “pro-life views” and the sign she was holding. 

“This is a dark day for Great Britain,” Tossici-Bolt said. “I was not protesting and did not harass or obstruct anyone. All I did was offer consensual conversation in a public place, as is my basic right, and yet the court found me guilty. Freedom of expression is in a state of crisis in the U.K.”

She added that she will “consider all legal options” and vowed to continue “fighting for free speech.” 

While awaiting the verdict, Tossici-Bolt has continued pro-life work and participated in vigils for the 40 Days for Life campaign, which has gone ahead during Lent, although situated outside the buffer zones in order to comply with the law.

The incidents took place in localized “buffer zones” imposed using PSPOs, which were originally introduced to prevent antisocial behavior. The zones were later introduced to abortion clinics nationwide on Oct. 31, 2024.

However, the scope in U.K. law is unclear. When pro-life activist Isabel Vaughan-Spruce was arrested for standing silently in mental prayer within a buffer zone, in videoed interactions that went viral on social media, she was later given a payout for wrongful arrest.

“As many parliamentarians pointed out before the introduction of Section 9 of the Public Order Act, a prohibition on ‘influencing’ within the buffer zones is an impermissibly unclear requirement,” said Jeremiah Igunnubole, a barrister and legal counsel for ADF International, speaking before Friday’s verdict. “The rule of law requires clarity, predictability, and foreseeability so that citizens understand which activities are likely to incur criminal liability.” 

“We saw in the case of Isabel Vaughan-Spruce that silent prayer was not considered by Birmingham Magistrates’ Court to constitute an offense. Yet in Adam Smith-Connor’s case, Poole Magistrates’ Court found him guilty for precisely the same conduct — a verdict he will be appealing with our support in July,” Igunnubole continued. “Criminal law should not depend on your postcode. More importantly, it should not depend on what beliefs you hold, no matter how controversial those beliefs are considered to be by the authorities.”

Tossici-Bolt on ‘surreal situation’

In a statement Tossici-Bolt issued to CNA before the Friday verdict, she said: “The whole situation feels surreal. I have never before been prosecuted or stood trial and I would have never expected to be put before the courts for standing peacefully in a public space and offering a consensual conversation.”

“I firmly believe that in a free and democratic society, nobody should be criminalized for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression, which is protected in both domestic and international law,” she added. “The whole situation feels bizarrely Orwellian, but I am at peace and trusting God with the verdict.” 

“On the day with which my prosecution is related, I did not engage in any pro-life activity. I merely offered a consensual conversation to anyone that wanted to have a chat with me. Many did,” she continued.

“It was a lovely example of society at its best — there were many people I spoke with who felt very lonely and who needed to know there was somebody who cares for them. An offer to speak, in a free society, should never be redefined as constituting harassment or intimidation,” Tossici-Bolt concluded.

Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican secretary for relations with states. / Daniel Ibáñez/CNA.

Vatican City, Apr 4, 2025 / 11:53 am (CNA).

Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Vatican secretary for relations with states and international organizations, and Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s minister of foreign affairs, had a phone call on Friday in which the two discussed global relations, according to the Vatican. 

The Holy See Press Office said the dialogue between the two foreign ministers was dedicated to “the overall picture of world politics” with “particular attention to the situation of the war in Ukraine” and “some initiatives aimed at stopping the military actions.”

The call came after at least five Ukrainian civilians were killed and an additional 32 people injured after a Russian drone strike hit an apartment building in Kharkiv overnight, according to media reports.

While U.S. President Donald Trump continues attempts to broker a Russia-Ukraine ceasefire deal, both countries have accused each other of continued attacks on key infrastructure, including energy facilities and hospitals.

In response to accusations made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Russia not upholding the terms of the U.S.-backed deal, Lavrov on Tuesday said Russia would provide the U.S and the United Nations with a list of Russian attacks targeting energy sites, the Kyiv Independent reported.    

During the Friday call, Gallagher told Lavrov that the Vatican wants to “continue its humanitarian effort in matters regarding the exchange of prisoners.” 

Last September, Lavrov met Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin in New York while the U.N. General Assembly session was taking place. 

On Sept. 16, 2024, Parolin held a video conference with Russia’s Commissioner for Human Rights Tatyana Moskalkova and “emphasized the need to safeguard fundamental human rights as outlined in international conventions.” 

He also thanked Moskalkova for her role in securing the release of two Ukrainian Greek Catholic priests from prison.

Since 2022, the Holy See has reiterated its call for the release of all prisoners of war, access to humanitarian aid, and a permanent ceasefire between the two European countries. 

Besides geopolitical affairs, the Vatican said the April 4 conversation between Gallagher and Lavrov included “matters regarding religious life” and the “situation of the Catholic Church in the Russian Federation.”

Pilgrims walk through St. Peter’s Square in September 2024. / Credit: Dorisb.83/Shutterstock

Vatican City, Apr 4, 2025 / 11:23 am (CNA).

Pope Francis on Friday shared a message with Slovak pilgrims, including Slovakia’s President Peter Pellegrini, in Rome for the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope.

In a written message released by the Vatican, the Holy Father welcomed approximately 4,300 Slovak pilgrims who began their jubilee pilgrimage this week with the celebration of Mass at the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

“I would very much have liked to be present with you to share this moment of faith and communion, but I am still in convalescence and so I will join you through prayer and with all my affection,” the pope’s message read.

Pellegrini on Thursday posted on X that he “promised” the Holy Father that he would join his country’s national pilgrimage to Rome when he visited the Vatican in December of last year.

Archbishop Bernard Bober of Košice, chair of the Conference of Slovak Bishops, is also among the group of pilgrims made up of hundreds of lay faithful, consecrated men and women, priests, and bishops who plan to pass through the jubilee Holy Doors and visit the tombs of apostles and martyrs in Rome over the next few days.

In his message, the Holy Father encouraged participants to continue their country’s “rich Christian tradition” as witnesses of hope and joy, following in the footsteps of countless saints — including patron Sts. Cyril and Methodius — “who have irrigated [Slovakia] with the Gospel of Christ for more than a thousand years.”

“Your pilgrimage is a concrete sign of the desire to renew faith, to strengthen the bond with the successor of Peter, and to bear witness joyfully to the hope that does not disappoint (cf. Romans 5:5), because it is born of the love that sprang from the pierced heart of Christ and poured into us by the Holy Spirit,” the pope said.

Describing faith as “a treasure to be shared with joy,” the Holy Father said welcoming God’s “plan” does not mean having all the answers but rather trusting that “wherever he leads us, he precedes us also with his grace.”

“Every time brings with it challenges and hardships, but also opportunities to grow in confidence and in abandonment to God,” he said, adding: “Our ‘yes,’ simple and sincere, can become a tool in the hands of God to achieve something great.”

Entrusting the Slovak group to their patroness Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows to guide and protect them on their journey, the pope concluded his message with a special blessing for their families and country.

“Sisters and brothers, continue to walk together, pastors and faithful, keeping your eyes on Jesus, our salvation … Do not forget to pray for me,” he said.

A group of 16 high schoolers and their three chaperones from Melbourne, Australia, take part in the feet-washing rite as part of a jubilee pilgrimage to Rome, Tuesday, March 24, 2025. / Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/CNA

Vatican City, Apr 4, 2025 / 10:39 am (CNA).

Latin sung over nervous giggles and the intermittent sound of trickling water filled the small room attached to the 16th-century Church of the Most Holy Trinity of the Pilgrims on a mild March evening in Rome.

Here members of a centuries-old Catholic fraternity welcomed a group of Australian teens, in Rome for a jubilee pilgrimage, with the same gesture once performed by the great saint of charity, St. Philip Neri, and his collaborators nearly 500 years ago: washing their feet.

The practice, with its deep spiritual symbolism, is one of several ways Catholics in Rome — drawing inspiration from the medieval history of the city — are welcoming the many pilgrims taking part in the Jubilee of Hope in 2025.

Washing pilgrims’ feet 

Shortly after St. Philip Neri’s charitable lay group, the Confraternity of the Most Holy Trinity of Pilgrims and Convalescents, was officially recognized, the Catholic Church celebrated the Jubilee Year of 1550. 

Neri, called the “Third Apostle of Rome” for his evangelization of the Eternal City, saw the throngs of pilgrims arriving for the jubilee year and wanted to do something. 

“In Rome at that time, pilgrims arrived on foot or on horseback, so … many of them were arriving in desolate conditions,” Fabrizio Azzola, a guardian of Neri’s archconfraternity, which today has both laymen and laywomen members, told CNA. 

St. Philip Neri “thought of directing confreres to help pilgrims,” Azzola said. “On the one hand, [there was] the practical necessity of washing them, housing them, feeding them, and so on, but there was also the symbolic need: that is, to welcome the pilgrim and repeat the gesture of Jesus with the apostles.” 

In the saint’s time, the confraternity (now archconfraternity) had many members and access to hundreds of buildings in Rome to host pilgrims, but today, at just a little over 100 members, the group is still trying to do all it can, including leaning on its pillars of prayer and feeding the poor. 

“Today, we cannot do anymore all of the things the old confraternity did — it was very powerful and had buildings in all of Rome where it could welcome hundreds of thousands of pilgrims,” Azzola explained. “However, this symbolic act [of washing the feet of pilgrims] we can do, and so, bit by bit we are reintroducing the customs of the archconfraternity.” 

Open to any individual jubilee pilgrim or pilgrims’ groups who request it, the foot washing follows the same Latin rite used by Neri in the 1500s. The short and simple ritual, which follows a brief explanation of its history and significance, includes a reading from the Gospel of John: the account of when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. At the end, everyone prays the Our Father together. 

An aspect particularly significant to the archconfraternity members who volunteer to wash pilgrims’ feet is that they use the same white aprons used during St. Philip Neri’s time. 

Azzola said hundreds of people, hailing from different parts of the world, have participated in the rite thus far, including the group of 16 high schoolers from Melbourne, Australia, who entered a small room off the sacristy of the Church of the Most Holy Trinity of Pilgrims on the Roman spring evening of March 24. 

Duly warned not to lean against a massive painting awaiting restoration on one side of the room, the teens and their chaperones sat down to have their feet washed: first the boys by two male confraternity members, then the girls by two female confraternity members.  

Heaven-like chants mixed with the human sounds of uncomfortable murmurs that evening, as the high schoolers took off their shoes, preparing to let strangers wash a vulnerable part of their bodies. 

Father Vilmar Pavesi, of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter and an assistant priest at the parish, led the prayers and sang the Latin chants, as Minnie, the dog of one of the archconfraternity members, looked on.

The feet washing, which symbolizes the spiritual cleansing of a jubilee pilgrimage, is recommended as one of the first stops on a pilgrimage itinerary and can be booked by sending an email to the archconfraternity. 

History of welcoming pilgrims 

The Church of the Most Holy Trinity of the Pilgrims is one of many churches and areas in Rome’s historic center with a tradition of welcoming pilgrims. 

Less than a quarter-mile down the street, the Venerable English College — now a seminary for future priests of England — offered lodging to English pilgrims for almost two centuries beginning around the mid-1300s. 

Buildings connected with the Santo Spirito Hospital, conveniently located on the same side of the Tiber River as the Vatican, was also originally a place to welcome and house Anglophone pilgrims, while Portuguese-speaking pilgrims were once welcomed near Piazza Navona in Via dei Portogesi (Portuguese Street). 

Tapping into the city’s long history of sheltering Catholic pilgrims, the Diocese of Rome will also be opening its parishes and homes to travelers during the Jubilee of Hope — especially during two events expected to draw the biggest crowds of the year. 

During the Jubilee of Teenagers, which will be the last weekend of April and culminate in the canonization of the Italian teenager Blessed Carlo Acutis on April 27, “the Diocese of Rome is really experimenting with the ministry of welcoming,” Father Alfredo Tedesco, the head of the diocesan youth office, told CNA. 

Some parishes and religious congregations, he said, will be offering sleeping arrangements for teenage pilgrims in parish halls and convents. Families, too, are opening their homes.

“The parish communities are getting themselves organized, both through accommodation facilities, but also through the people, the communities, who are organizing volunteer services to welcome teenagers in our communities,” Tedesco said. 

“Through showing hospitality, we remember what holy Scripture says: We have ‘entertained angels,’” the priest said, “and we hope that these youth will truly become witnesses of this encounter.” 

null / Credit: Photo Spirit/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 4, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

According to data from the 2024 Cooperative Election Study (CES), the number of Americans who do not identify with any religion has largely stopped rising and has even slightly decreased among certain generations.

The Harvard-run CES is conducted before and after U.S. presidential and midterm elections and is then uploaded for analysis to Harvard’s “Dataverse” online repository. The study includes 60,000 American adults interviewed to survey how they vote.

Ryan Burge, the research director for the religious outreach initiative Faith Counts, said on X on Wednesday that the 2024 data reveals a plateau in the country’s population of “nonreligious” or “nones.”

The data indicated that baby boomers experienced the greatest decrease in the number of “nones” from 2023 to 2024, falling from 28% to 24%. 

The 28% figure represented the highest number of nonreligious boomers since the survey began. This is the first year that the percentage of nonreligious boomers has decreased. 

The data similarly found that 31% of Generation X participants said they have no religious affiliation, a drop of 3 percentage points from 2023 and the lowest it has been since 2012. 

The Silent Generation — consisting of those born between 1928 and 1945 — has always had the lowest number of “nones” compared with the other cohorts. In 2024, the number of nonreligious people in this group dropped by 2 points to 19% overall.

The number of millennial nones has not changed from 2023. A full 42% of American millennials do not identify with a religion.

Generation Z, born between 1997 and 2012, was the only generation that was found to have increased in its number of nonreligious individuals. In 2023, 42% of Gen Z Americans considered themselves nones. This number has increased to 46%.

Overall findings

The data also examines the specific way these individuals identify — whether as atheist, agnostic, or nothing in particular.

As of 2024, 21% of Americans have no particular nonreligious identification — down from 24% in 2023— while 6% are agnostics and 7% are atheists.

In 2019, 36% of Americans overall were nonreligious, and as of 2024 the total dropped to 34%.

Statue of St. Peter on St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

CNA Newsroom, Apr 4, 2025 / 06:22 am (CNA).

Pope Francis continues to show “slight improvement” in his respiratory condition as he receives ongoing medical care at the Vatican, according to the latest update from the Holy See Press Office on Friday.

According to the Vatican, the pope’s mood remains positive as his pharmaceutical, motor, and respiratory therapies continue. The Holy See also noted Sunday’s Angelus might be conducted differently compared with recent weeks, with more details expected on Saturday.

The 88-year-old pontiff has improved his respiratory function, mobility, and voice, while recent blood tests indicate a mild improvement in infection markers, Vatican officials said.

Although the pope still requires supplemental oxygen, his need for it has slightly decreased. During the day, he receives standard oxygen therapy, while high-flow oxygen is administered through nasal cannulas at night as needed.

Despite his health challenges, the Holy Father has maintained his working schedule, reported ACI Stampa, CNA’s Italian-language news partner.

On Wednesday, he participated remotely in the Mass by Cardinal Pietro Parolin commemorating the 20th anniversary of St. John Paul II’s death.

Vatican officials indicated it remains premature to discuss the pope’s participation in upcoming Holy Week celebrations.

The next official press briefing on the pope’s condition is scheduled for Tuesday, April 8.

The Vatican has released the planned Holy Week schedule, which begins with Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square on April 13 at 10 a.m. local time.