Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish

Over 200 young people from Tanzania are traveling to Rome as pilgrims to the Jubilee of Youth, an event that is part of the ongoing 2025 Jubilee Year. / Credit: AMECEA/Vatican Media

ACI Africa, Jul 25, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Over 200 young people from Tanzania are traveling to Rome as pilgrims to the Jubilee of Youth, an event that is part of the ongoing 2025 Jubilee Year. It is a huge number, coming from Africa, where denied visa applications have blocked many youth from participating in the global July 28 to Aug. 3 event.

Father Liston Lukoo, head of the Youth Department of the Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC), told ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, that excitement is high among those set to travel to Rome for the event. 

For many, this is the first time they are setting foot outside their native country, he said. But their biggest anticipation is to visit the Vatican, and if fortunate, shake hands with the new pontiff, Pope Leo XIV.

Asked to describe the mood of those participating in the Vatican pilgrimage, Lukoo said: “Everyone is extremely excited.”

“This is the first time many of these young people are going outside the country,” Lukoo said. “And as you can imagine, going to the Vatican is another story for them. Their biggest excitement, however, is going to shake the hand of the Holy Father Pope Leo XIV.”

The Tanzanian priest gave credit to the Catholic bishops in the East African nation for their mobilization efforts that saw a huge number of young people express their interest to travel to the Vatican for the Jubilee of Youth.

He said that once the event was announced in the TEC plenary assembly, each bishop returned to his diocese and embarked on mobilizing the youth.

Those linked with TEC alone are 54 pilgrims. But other Tanzanian pilgrims have registered to participate through Church groups, individual dioceses and parishes, and even Catholic institutions of learning.

Lukoo is sure that those traveling could exceed 200 — “perhaps 350,” he told ACI Africa.

“We thank God that this year we have a very big number. These 54 [are] just a group, which has been organized by the TEC as a reference point. But we have also a group of about 30 young people traveling from the Archdiocese of Dar es Salaam. We have a group of about 27 volunteers traveling,” the head of the TEC’s Youth Department said.

He added: “There is also a group of about 80 youths representing a lay group. I am told that we have a group of about 10 young people from the Archdiocese of Tabora also traveling to Rome and many other people registered in various parts of Tanzania.”

Lukoo also spoke about various institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life in Tanzania who he said are making their own travel arrangements for their member pilgrims.

“We know of one Catholic school here that is sending 22 of its learners to represent the rest,” he said. “All this representation is why I confidently say that there could be over 300 young people traveling from Tanzania for the pilgrimage.”

On how the pilgrimage is funded, Lukoo said: “This has been more of an individual arrangement. But we also have dioceses and parishes that have done fundraising for their participants. The TEC youth office has also fully funded seven people for the pilgrimage.”

At Dar es Salaam-based TEC, preparation for the Jubilee of Youth in Rome has involved virtual meetings to pray for the success of the pilgrimage and to also get everything ready for participation, including travel documents.

Communication with the participants has been the biggest challenge for the TEC youth coordination office, Lukoo told ACI Africa, and explained: “It has been very difficult for us to pass messages owing to the complexities of our vast country.”

“Coordination was extremely difficult and sometimes we had to send messages over and over to get people to know what had to be done,” he recalled, adding that the other challenge had to do with finances. Many young people struggled to pay for the trip.

“Some of the participants could not meet the financial demand until the last minute. This has been a very big problem for us because we couldn’t get things going until the last person had paid for the trip,” he said.

Lukoo went on to thank the Italian embassy in Tanzania for being “extremely supportive” to TEC and for ensuring that every young person who did his or her part went through the visa application successfully.

“We have had no single problem with the Italian embassy. Everyone who met their end of the deal has gotten their visas,” he said. “The only problem was that the embassy was overwhelmed by our large numbers. Over 200 interviews is not a joke. The embassy has organized interviews with our young people to this day [July 23] and we hope that this last lot will get their visas tomorrow.”

The biggest support to the young pilgrims, however, came from TEC, which provided technical and moral support to the participants.

The young pilgrims, Lukoo said, needed help in getting these documents to the relevant Vatican offices, in acquiring invitation letters, and all other visa application requirements.

TEC has also been journeying with the group spiritually. Lukoo said that some of those traveling, especially from the Archdiocese of Dar es Salaam, will have Mass on Friday, July 25, ahead of their departure for Rome on the same day.

“A large group from TEC will also accompany us to the airport and wave a hand of farewell and a safe journey to us,” the priest said.

He told ACI Africa that the entire group of 54 pilgrims from TEC will board one plane. “There will also be other groups on this plane,” he said. “It will be exciting to have a plane full of these Tanzanians, more than 100 of them.”

According to the official Jubilee of Youth website, several key activities have been confirmed. On Tuesday, July 29, at 6 p.m. local time, a welcome Mass is to be celebrated in St. Peter’s Square.

In the following days, Rome will host numerous cultural, artistic, and spiritual initiatives that are distributed throughout the capital city of Italy under the title “Dialogues with the City.”

Friday, Aug. 1, has been reserved as a Penitential Day, to be celebrated in the Circus Maximus, where pilgrims are to be able to receive the sacrament of penance.

On Saturday, Aug. 2, pilgrims are to move to Tor Vergata. And finally, on Sunday, Aug. 3, Pope Leo XIV is to preside over Mass at 9:30 a.m. before bidding farewell to the young pilgrims who are to return to their respective countries.

In the July 23 interview, Lukoo told ACI Africa that for young Tanzanians unable to participate in the Jubilee of Youth in Rome in person, the TEC Youth Department he heads has organized a series of congresses that they would benefit from locally.

Between June 7–12, the youth congress brought together 1,289 high school students who gathered in Tanzania’s Diocese of Shinyanga.

The next youth congress, scheduled for Aug. 19–24, is expected to bring together over 3,000 Young Catholic Workers in Tanzania who will gather in the country’s Archdiocese of Mbeya.

Thereafter will be the Dec. 26–31 congress, during which Catholic university students are to come together in Tanzania’s Diocese of Iringa.

This story was first published by ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, and has been adapted by CNA. 

Priests participate in Holy Thursday Mass in Wrocław Cathedral in Wrocław, Poland, on March 28, 2024. / Credit: FotoDax/Shutterstock

Budapest, Hungary, Jul 25, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Poland stands out as the undisputed leader in religious vocations in Europe in 2025, with 206 new ordained priests, the highest number on the continent. This recent data from the Polish Catholic Information Agency KAI, reported by the Catholic Herald, shows that while much of Europe grapples with declining ordination figures, Poland’s numbers remain robust, reflecting a deep-rooted commitment to religious life.  

This is particularly evident in the Diocese of Tarnów (southern Poland), which leads the country with 13 new priests scheduled for ordination this year.  

In contrast to much of Europe, where the number of new priests has fallen below replacement levels — leading dioceses to increasingly rely on clergy from Africa and Asia — Poland’s continued leadership in ordinations seems to underscore the resilience of its Catholic identity and religious practices. Such resilience is especially significant given that Poland, like other European nations, faces the pressures of secularization, changing family structures, and a declining birth rate.

The number of diocesan ordinations in Poland has declined slightly, with 141 new diocesan priests in 2025 compared with 153 in 2024, but the picture has remained relatively stable in recent years.

Poland’s strength in fostering vocations can be traced to several key factors that distinguish it from much of Europe.

Foremost among these is the nation’s deeply ingrained Catholic identity, which continues to shape the lives of many Polish citizens. According to the 2021 census, nearly 71.4% of the population identify as Roman Catholic. Though this marks a noticeable decline from the 88% who identified as Catholic a decade earlier, Poland still boasts one of the highest church attendance rates in Europe — 29.5% in 2022 — a vital element in sustaining vocations to the priesthood.

The Diocese of Tarnów, located in southern Poland, remains one of the most religious and traditional areas of the country.

“The Diocese of Tarnów is located in southern Poland, in what was once the Austrian province of Galicia,” Marcin Regocki, managing director of the Auxilium Foundation of the Diocese of Tarnów, told CNA.

“Due to various historical factors, this region remains one of Poland’s most religious and traditional areas today. In fact, the religious life in this part of Poland is often characterized as heavily clerical in nature.” This long-standing popular devotion has allowed Tarnów to remain a fertile ground for priestly vocations. 

Throughout the 20th century, the diocese enjoyed an abundance of priestly vocations, so much so that it became a source of vocations not only for Polish dioceses but also for dioceses in Western Europe, the U.S., and mission territories.

“Historically, Galicia was also a major source of economic emigration to Western Europe and the Americas,” Regocki said. “Even today, priests and nuns from this region can be found serving around the world.” Despite changes in family structures as well as demographic and societal shifts, Tarnów’s religious culture continues to foster a steady stream of vocations. 

A central historical figure in the development of Tarnów’s vocational culture was Archbishop Leon Wałęga, who served as the bishop of Tarnów from 1901 to 1931. Wałęga played a crucial role in fostering priestly vocations, particularly through his devotion to Our Lady of Tuchów, an important Marian sanctuary in the diocese.

Wałęga worked alongside the Redemptorist Fathers from Tuchów to promote devotion to the miraculous image of Our Lady. In 1904, he crowned the image — covered by a silver sheet dress — marking the beginning of a deep connection between the diocese and the intercession of the Virgin Mary for priestly vocations.

The coronation ceremony in October 1904, attended by around 130,000 faithful and 200 priests, became a defining moment for the diocese. Wałęga’s act of entrusting the diocese’s vocations to the care of Our Lady of Tuchów marked a profound spiritual commitment that continued to shape the diocese for years to come.

And this tradition has extended beyond Poland’s borders. For over a century, bishops, priests, seminarians, and laypeople alike have made the pilgrimage from many different countries to seek guidance in their discernment and pray for vocations. 

Reflecting on the future of vocations in Poland in an interview with KAI, Bishop Andrzej Przybylski, delegate of the Polish Episcopal Conference for Vocations and president of the National Council for Vocational Pastoral Care, acknowledged both the opportunities and the challenges that lie ahead.

“In Poland, we are still observing a time when the number of vocations is stable, although still very low compared to the most fruitful years,” he said. “We have had a period of significant vocational growth, and we believe that this should continue. The question is how to welcome those who are now discovering this path and decide to walk it.” 

Przybylski emphasized the importance of creating environments for young people to discern their vocations. “We want to accompany vocations. We believe that God calls people how he wants, who he wants, and according to his plans,” he said. “We, however, want to create a vocational culture, to encourage many young people to discover their vocation.” 

Father Gabriel Romanelli, parish priest at the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Family who was wounded in a recent strike on the church, stands before the altar during a Sunday morning Mass held by the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem at the church in Gaza City on July 20, 2025. / Credit: OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 24, 2025 / 18:13 pm (CNA).

“Thanks be to God more people weren’t harmed,” said Father Gabriel Romanelli in an exclusive interview with EWTN on July 24 in the wake of the July 17 bombing of his parish, Holy Family Church in Gaza, which left three dead and 15 wounded, including himself. 

“It was a shocking experience,” Romanelli told “EWTN Noticias” in the Spanish-language interview, noting that while the parish grounds were struck toward the beginning of the war in December 2023, last week’s attack marked the first time the church itself was hit. The front of the church was hit in a strike that Israeli officials have said was an accident. 

“That iconic cross you’ve seen — it’s about 2 meters [6.5 feet] tall — was heavily damaged,” the priest said of the crucifix fixed atop the church structure. “Shrapnel flew in all directions,” he recounted. 

“The area is quite small, and while we hear bombings daily and metal fragments often fall, there hadn’t been such a severe incident since the war began,” Romanelli continued, adding: “The recent strike has left a deep mark.”

Romanelli sustained an injury to his leg during the strike, which he shared is healing despite “a minor infection.” Of the others injured, Romanelli revealed only two are now no longer in life-threatening condition: one who suffered a punctured leg and another who sustained internal organ damage.

Life inside the walls of Gaza’s only Catholic parish

In the 17 days leading up to the strike on Holy Family, Romanelli described an atmosphere of “intense military activity and heavy bombardment.” Amid it all, he said, those living in the parish strive to “keep some semblance of a routine.” 

Every morning, the priest shared, the residents at Holy Family begin each day at 7 a.m. with silent adoration in front of the Blessed Sacrament. “The children and youth participate in their own way — writing prayers or meditating,” he said. “It’s a miracle they are able to pray for peace amid the chaos.” Morning prayers in Arabic and a Eucharistic blessing follow.

Due to recent escalation, the parish has had to suspend many of its activities, which included games, youth meetings, and educational programs. “Shrapnel was falling so frequently that we couldn’t risk anyone being in the central courtyard, although it’s small,” Romanelli said. 

Holy Family Parish grounds include two homes run by the Missionaries of Charity, the order founded by Mother Teresa, as well as the residences of the priests and sisters from the Institute of the Incarnate Word, a kindergarten and its oratory, a middle school, and an elementary school. 

Romanelli explained that the classrooms have been converted into living spaces, where about 500 mostly Christian refugees now live. “The few Muslims staying with us are terminally ill or disabled individuals cared for by the sisters,” he said. 

While the grounds provide much-needed shelter, Romanelli said the lack of access to proper sanitation or running water in addition to Gaza’s 100-plus-degree weather has made keeping children inside the classrooms, which are inhabited by 10-12 people each, “nearly impossible.” Prior to the escalations, nighttime soccer and basketball games were a staple among the children before prayers. 

While families mostly “fend for themselves” amid the widespread food shortage plaguing the region, the parish cooks for everyone twice per week. The parish relies mainly on solar panels, and the task of purifying water remains ongoing. 

Amid the disruption of daily life caused by the recent strike, Romanelli said religious formation for young people continues, “albeit modestly.” He noted the parish sometimes shows religious films, depending on power availability. Tomorrow, they will watch “the life of St. Rafqa, a Lebanese saint.”

When asked whether the parish could face closure under the current circumstances, Romanelli said: “Where would we go? The Christians here continue to say: ‘We’ll stay with Jesus.’” 

“No one has considered leaving,” he added. “They’ve known from the start there is nowhere else to go. Danger is everywhere, not just in designated ‘danger zones.’” 

Church’s critical role in supplying aid, hope among Gazans 

Catholic agencies alongside other churches were able to provide humanitarian assistance to tens of thousands of families during the ceasefire five months ago. Since most of Gaza is currently under active military operations, “almost no aid has entered northern Gaza,” Romanelli said. 

Caritas Jerusalem and Holy Family Parish have provided medical services to the wider community, operating two makeshift clinics. In total, Romanelli noted, the Church has 10 clinics across Gaza, one permanent and nine mobile. But the lack of supplies limits what they are able to do. 

“There is dire need, particularly for food and medicine,” he emphasized. While some aid has been distributed across southern parts of Gaza, it has yet to reach Gaza City in the north, where the majority of the region’s Christians are concentrated.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzabella, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, was able to enter the city following the strikes but was prevented from distributing aid. “He’s doing all he can to bring relief,” Romanelli said.

“We implore and beg that large-scale humanitarian assistance be allowed in,” the priest said, adding: “Even though some trucks are looted at times, that cannot justify stopping all humanitarian assistance. The more aid comes in, the less likely theft becomes.” 

A message to the international community

In his parting words, Romanelli called on the faithful and the international community to pray and to “speak the truth clearly and with fairness.” With prayer and diplomacy, he said, peace can be possible. 

On a practical level, the priest encouraged those who wish to help to “channel their support through the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem,” which has succeeded in bringing aid to the region in the past. 

“As we walk this way of the cross in Gaza, we cling to the hope that every via crucis ends with the empty tomb — with the Resurrection,” Romanelli said. “Christ suffers now in the innocent. But one day, glory will shine through.”

null / Credit: maxuser/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 24, 2025 / 17:53 pm (CNA).

This week the White House released its plan for artificial intelligence (AI) in the United States, which aims “to achieve global dominance in AI” and promote “human flourishing, economic competitiveness, and national security for the American people.” 

The plan comes as Catholic leaders continue to urge developers to exercise caution when growing and refining the new technology.

The government’s “Winning the AI Race: America’s AI Action Plan” identifies more than 90 federal policy actions within the categories of “accelerating innovation, building American AI infrastructure, and leading in international diplomacy and security.”

The White House announcement laid out the key policies the AI plan will focus on, including sharing technology with allies around the world, developing data centers, and stripping away red tape around AI development.

The government will also focus on “updating federal procurement guidelines to ensure that the government only contracts with frontier large language model developers who ensure that their systems are objective and free from top-down ideological bias.”

Catholic perspective on AI

Charles Camosy, an author and professor of moral theology and bioethics at The Catholic University of America, told EWTN News this week that people need to be “extremely, extremely careful” when using AI, particularly as it continues to advance in the U.S. and abroad. 

Camosy told “EWTN News In Depth” that “we have to create a culture that shapes AI to serve human beings, not the other way around.”

In the midst of AI expanding, Camosy said he is “100%” sure that Pope Leo XIV is aware of the dangers that come with it. Camosy said addressing AI could be the “most ambitious and enduring project” of the pope’s legacy.

At the Vatican in June, Pope Leo said that AI “will certainly be of great help to society, provided that its employment does not undermine the identity and dignity of the human person and his or her fundamental freedoms.”

The pope added: “It must not be forgotten that artificial intelligence functions as a tool for the good of human beings, not to diminish them, not to replace them.”

“He took the name [Leo XIV] to connect himself to Leo XIII, who himself was dealing with the industrial revolution of the late 19th century,” Camosy said. 

“So he’s imagined himself in a situation where he’s saying, ‘We’re undergoing right now a similar technological change that is going to totally transform the culture. How do we respond?’”

“The Church is certainly not going to be able to control AI,” Camosy said. But, he said, Leo XIV will be able to draw from what Leo XIII articulated during the industrial revolution to say “it’s important to have developments of technology, but workers have rights.”

If AI’s presence does become too large within the work realm, Camosy said, “we won’t even think of ourselves as people who need to work or want to work. But as so many popes have said over the years, through Catholic social teaching, work is an integral part of the human experience.”

“It’s how we mirror, in some ways, God’s creative work. And how we reflect God’s image in precisely that way.”

Camosy also highlighted the risks of AI chatbots, which he said can be “super dangerous” because sometimes “people can’t tell the difference often when they’re talking to a human being or a chatbot. And to the extent that we have any sort of confusion about that, that’s really super worrisome.”

“We are flesh and blood, made in the image and likeness of God with a soul that reflects a relationship that can’t possibly be present in a chatbot,” Camosy said.

Humans must be careful with AI and chatbots because they can “absolutely” be a source of evil, especially as they can cause “horrible delusions” to some users. 

“We don’t have to go into some sort of metaphysical understanding of the relationship between the demonic and chatbots to say, ‘Of course it can be a portal for evil.’” 

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has also urged the importance of AI upholding human dignity as it progresses. 

“AI is a tool that, when informed by sound moral principles, can help overcome many of life’s obstacles and improve the human condition,” the bishops told Congress earlier this year.

“But this technology should supplement what human beings do, not replace them or their moral judgments.”

“As pastors entrusted with the care of human life and dignity, we urge lawmakers to heed the call of our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, to help ensure that AI is developed with responsibility and discernment so that it may truly benefit every person,” the bishops said. 

With the technology progressing at a rapid rate, Camosy said: “Thank God we have the Holy Father we do.”

The Catholic Church, he said, “may be the sole countercultural voice speaking out against some of these trends.”

Children’s National Hospital in Washington “paused prescriptions of puberty blockers and hormone therapy” for transgender-identifying youth there in response to a Trump directive. / Credit: Daquella manera/Wikipedia/CC BY 2.0

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 24, 2025 / 17:23 pm (CNA).

Several children’s hospitals across the country that have performed transgender surgeries on minors are halting the procedures in response to President Donald Trump’s executive actions and his administration’s regulatory changes.

Hospital systems and individual hospitals in California; New York; Washington, D.C.; Colorado; Illinois; Pennsylvania; and other states have announced changes in recent weeks in how they treat children who believe they are the opposite sex. Some transgender clinics are shutting down entirely.

One prominent clinic that performed these operations — the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles — shut down on Tuesday, July 22. The clinic is facing an ongoing lawsuit from a formerly transgender-identifying woman who alleges that doctors fast-tracked her into a hormonal and surgical gender transition beginning when she was only 12 years old.

The clinic’s medical director, Johanna Olson-Kennedy, also faced scrutiny last year for allegedly blocking the publication of a taxpayer-funded study because the results failed to find any mental health benefits for children who are given transgender drugs, according to the New York Times.

“Despite this deeply held commitment to supporting L.A.’s gender-diverse community, the hospital has been left with no viable path forward except to close the Center for Transyouth Health and Development,” the clinic announced ahead of its closure.

In California, Stanford Medicine and Kaiser Permanente also recently announced they would halt all transgender surgeries for minors amid new federal rules.

Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., also announced a shift this week, displaying a message on its Gender Development Program webpage that affirmed it would stop prescribing transgender drugs to minors by Aug. 30 “in light of escalating legal and regulatory risks.”

Last week, University of Chicago Medicine displayed a message on its Trans CARE webpage to announce an immediate end to all transgender surgeries and drugs for children “in response to continued federal actions.” The message called the decision “difficult” and added that “this news will have a significant impact on our patients.”

Other hospitals that announced they would conform to the federal rules include the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, New York University Langone Health, and Denver Health.

A major shift in health care norms

Health care systems, including pediatric hospitals, have performed thousands of transgender operations on children across the country in recent years. 

These medical interventions range from surgeries to alter the appearances of the minor’s genitals or chest to make them appear more similar to the opposite sex to puberty blocking drugs and hormone treatments that prevent natural bodily developments that occur during puberty.

The medical watchdog group Do No Harm found nearly 14,000 instances of doctors facilitating “gender transitions” in children between 2019 and 2023 based on publicly available insurance claims.

The dataset — which found nearly 5,750 surgeries — is incomplete because it does not account for uninsured patients, which lead the researchers to believe the number is higher.

In January, Trump signed an executive order to prohibit hospitals that receive Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements from performing transgender operations or providing transgender drugs to anyone under the age of 19.

The policy changes from health care systems and hospitals come as the federal government has bolstered enforcement action against health care providers that have not yet conformed to these rules. The rules have been subject to lawsuits from LGBT organizations.

Mary Rice Hasson, the director of the Person and Identity Project at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, told CNA that the policy shift among hospitals is “good news.” She urged Congress to put a permanent halt to these programs through legislation.

“Over a dozen hospital-based ‘gender’ programs have closed their harmful sex-rejection ‘services’ for kids and adolescents,” Hasson said. “Kids who would have suffered disabling, disfiguring, and sterilizing ‘gender’ hormones and surgeries will be spared — for now.”

Hasson said, however, that the “bad news” is that “not one of these programs has acknowledged the harm done on their watch.”

“They are shuttering these programs for fear of losing federal funds but have not repudiated the barbaric practices that masquerade as ‘gender care,’” she added. “Most of these hospitals are poised to resume these programs if the political winds shift leftward.”

Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk, a senior ethicist at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, told CNA that recent practices from these hospitals, such as transgender drugs and surgeries, “violate human dignity by harming and mutilating the lives of those whose health they are supposed to be serving and protecting.”

“Even though individuals who have undergone gender reassignment surgeries will frequently report in the short term that they are happy and that their surgeries improved their sense of well-being, as time passes, a growing number of them begin to realize the high cost of that tenuous peace and seek to ‘detransition,’” he said. 

“Sadly, in many of these situations permanent and irreversible bodily damage may have already been done.”

Amid the policy shifts, Pacholczyk said hospitals can now “address the real needs of these individuals with compassion by directing them toward supportive psychotherapy that seeks to explore and address any underlying psychiatric issues that may be prompting their desire to gender-transition.”

“Our sex is a given determinant of our innermost being from God, not a personally-negotiable or otherwise ‘reassignable’ [quality], even if we may face significant struggles to accept and fully integrate this remarkable gift,” he said.

Pope Leo XIV delivers the Angelus address on July 13, 2025, from Liberty Square in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, where he is spending a two-week summer break. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 24, 2025 / 15:35 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV in a letter this week encouraged the prior provincials of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) to “listen attentively to the Holy Spirit, who continues to guide the Church in the fullness of truth.”

The pope expressed his hopes and prayers for the Dominicans in the letter addressed to Father Gerard Francis Timoner III, OP, master of the Order of Preachers, on the occasion of the general chapter of prior provincials taking place in Krakow, Poland, July 17 to Aug. 8.

‘The most important assembly’ of the Dominicans

The Dominicans emphasized on their website that the meeting, held at Most Holy Trinity Convent, is “the most important assembly” for the order. 

“The deliberations will be very intensive,” the Dominicans stated, explaining that “the friars will work in commissions and plenary sessions, considering hundreds of proposals submitted from around the world — from individual friars, convents, and provinces. Each of these voices expresses a desire to build unity, faithfulness to the charism of St. Dominic, and an even deeper listening to what the Spirit is saying to the Church today.”

Furthermore, they noted that the meetings held within the framework of the general chapter will bring together diverse perspectives — cultural, linguistic, and spiritual — from friars in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia, and Europe.

“This makes prayer all the more necessary, to open the hearts of the capitulars to the Holy Spirit and help them discover God’s will for the order in these times. We desire that every decision, every word, and every entry in the acts of the chapter be born from prayer, from listening to the Word, and from deep concern for the Church and the world,” they noted.

‘An opportunity for renewal’

In his letter, the pope said: “As you gather during this jubilee year, I trust that these grace-filled days will prove to be an opportunity for renewal, rooted in the hope which never disappoints and in the knowledge that the Lord has called you as preachers to proclaim the good news in the midst of today’s unique challenges.”

“Your chosen theme to address in a more dedicated way your varied forms of preaching to “four publics” — those who do not yet know Jesus, the Christian faithful, those who have fallen away from the Church, and the young people found in these situations — is particularly timely,” he added.

“I pray that your deliberations will enable you to listen attentively to the Holy Spirit, who continues to guide the Church in the fullness of truth,” the pope continued.

Leo XIV also expressed his hope that “this time together will strengthen your commitment to serve the body of Christ in the form of evangelical life chosen by St. Dominic. May your shared experience of fraternity and prayer enhance the bonds of communion that unite you as Dominicans and inspire you to live out your vocation ever more fully as contemplative preachers.”

“In this way, faithful to the charism and the spirituality of your founder, you will surely continue to carry out your mission in the heart of the Church,” he added.

The Holy Father concluded his letter by entrusting the general chapter to Our Lady of the Rosary, who, according to tradition, appeared to St. Dominic de Guzmán — founder of the Order of Preachers — and gave him the rosary, taught him how to pray it, and encouraged him to promote the Marian prayer.

The ‘indispensable foundation’ of the Dominicans

In March of this year, in his Relatio — a report on the current situation of the Order of Preachers, in view of this general chapter — Timoner emphasized that “the form of evangelical life chosen by Dominic is not an adjunct of our apostolic mission; on the contrary, it is an indispensable foundation.”

The report shows a downward trend in the number of professed Dominican brothers, who currently number 5,145 worldwide. A graph shows that after a significant increase between the 1920s and 1960s, when they reached almost 10,000 professed brothers worldwide, a steady decline has been observed in subsequent years.

Timoner emphasized in the Relatio that “Dominican life has various constitutive elements or aspects: religious consecration, common fraternal life, intellectual life, apostolic life, etc.,” noting his surprise that “we sometimes feel the need to ‘balance’ or ‘harmonize’ life and mission, as if there could be a ‘Dominican mission’ that is not rooted and nourished by the ‘Dominican life’ with all its integral elements.”

Spiritually accompanying the general chapter

The Dominicans have invited the faithful throughout the world to “spiritually accompany the chapter,” saying: “Pray for the friars participating in the chapter, that they may be instruments of God’s peace and light.”

They also encouraged people to offer “fasting or the difficulty of daily duties” for this intention, and to ask for “the light of the Holy Spirit for all those who will discern and make decisions.”

“May common prayer ensure that the fruits of the chapter are a blessing for the entire order and the Church,” the Dominicans encouraged.

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

Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City, Missouri. / Credit: eurobanks/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Jul 24, 2025 / 15:05 pm (CNA).

Missouri filed a lawsuit this week against the national Planned Parenthood organization, alleging that the abortion giant has “systematically misled” women about the risks associated with chemical abortion pills.

On Wednesday, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced that his office had filed a lawsuit in state circuit court against Planned Parenthood Federation of America, alleging that the corporation “systematically misled women about the dangers of chemical abortions in order to cut costs and drive up revenue at the risk of women’s health and safety.”

Bailey said the abortion provider promulgates “dangerous claims” about the drug, including claiming that it is safer than common household drugs such as Tylenol.

This is “despite FDA labeling and peer-reviewed studies” showing severe adverse events associated with the pill rising in some cases to the double digits.

Concerns about the safety of chemical abortion pills have been heightened in recent months after a bombshell study in April found that more than 10% of women who take an abortion pill will suffer “serious adverse events,” including hemorrhaging, infections, and other health crises. 

U.S. Food and Drug Commissioner Marty Makary said in June that his agency will conduct a review of the abortion drug mifepristone following that study and several other investigations into the safety of the pills.

The lawsuit alleges that Planned Parenthood violated the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, a state-level consumer protection law.

Bailey’s office said the state is seeking nearly $2 million in civil penalties as well as “up to $1,000 in damages or restitution for every Missouri woman Planned Parenthood provided abortion pills to in the past five years.” The suit is also demanding paybacks into the state Medicaid system.

“The lies must stop. We’re holding the national Planned Parenthood entity accountable for the lies it tells women in Missouri and across the nation,” Bailey said in the release, adding: “No one is above the law, not even Planned Parenthood.”

Though the government has moved in recent months to investigate the safety of abortion pills, President Donald Trump said prior to his inauguration in January that it was his “commitment” to ensure that abortion pills remain available in the U.S.

Chemical abortions account for about half of the abortions in the United States every year.

Abortion advocates have increasingly turned to chemical abortions in the wake of the 2022 repeal of Roe v. Wade. Numerous states have instituted abortion bans after that repeal, though abortion pills have remained widely available.

Pope Leo XIV meets with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on July 24, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 24, 2025 / 14:35 pm (CNA).

Here is a roundup of Catholic world news from the past week that you might have missed:

Pope Leo XIV meets Algerian president, discusses Church life and peacebuilding

Pope Leo XIV on Thursday met with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune at the Vatican, where they discussed the state of the Catholic Church in Algeria and emphasized the importance of interfaith dialogue and cultural cooperation for global peace, reported ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner. 

Tebboune also met with top Vatican diplomats, including Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin. The visit coincided with an Algerian-Italian business forum in Rome aimed at strengthening economic ties through 30 new trade agreements. Tebboune and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced efforts to register sites linked to St. Augustine on UNESCO’s World Heritage list, noting the shared heritage between the two Mediterranean nations.

Egyptian youth head to Rome for global Catholic encounter

Bishop Jean-Marie Shamie of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church in Egypt is leading 58 young Egyptian pilgrims to Rome for the Jubilee of Youth, part of the Vatican’s holy year celebrations, according to ACI MENA.

He described the trip as a profound spiritual journey where youth can deepen their faith, experience the richness of the universal Church, and embrace their missionary role in a secularized world. Set to begin July 28, the Jubilee of Youth is expected to draw half a million young people to Rome. The Egyptian group will walk through the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica, visit important pilgrimage sites like Assisi and San Giovanni Rotondo, and pray with Pope Leo XIV in a candlelight vigil and final Mass. 

German priest sharply criticizes home diocese for LGBT activism 

Father Winfried Abel, a priest of the Diocese of Fulda in Germany, is denouncing his home diocese for participating in LGBT activism, stating in an open letter in German: “I no longer want to be a priest in this diocese!” according to a report from CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner, on Monday. 

Abel stated in the letter that in view of the diocese’s position on LGBT issues, he would no longer call himself a priest of the diocese but a “priest of the Roman Catholic Church.” He continued: “I am really deeply shocked that ‘my’ Catholic Church in this country, which I have served for 61 years, has become so unbalanced that even our bishops no longer know the difference between sexual, erotic, friendly, and divine love … but indiscriminately approve and bless everything that comes under the term ‘love’!”

Nigeria apostolic nuncio denounces exploitation of Eucharist 

Archbishop Michael Francis Crotty, apostolic nuncio to Nigeria, in an interview on Thursday with ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, expressed concern about the growing trend of “commercializing the Eucharist” among Catholic priests in the West African country. 

“The increasing commercialization of the liturgy, where sacramental celebrations, weddings, funerals, and baptism are seen as opportunities for making money, is never to be tolerated in the Catholic Church,” Crotty told ACI Africa. “We call it the holy sacrifice of the Mass. A priest should be holy, and anything that distracts from that needs to be avoided.”

A month after Damascus church bombing, Christian despair deepens

A month has passed since the bombing of St. Elias Church in Damascus, Syria, yet the Christian community still feels abandoned, ACI MENA reported. Beyond increased security presence, no concrete measures have been taken to protect Christians, who have already been reeling from targeted killings, desecration of religious sites, and sectarian violence across Syria.

The March massacres in the coastal Alawite region and recent unrest in Sweida, where Christians and even an American citizen were killed, have only added to fears and heightened the desire among many to flee the country. Despite these grim realities, the Orthodox Church in Sweida has opened its doors to displaced families of all faiths, offering shelter and aid.

Bishop Antonios Saad, who led the relief efforts, emphasized that the Church must serve all humans with unconditional love, seeing the image of Christ in each person. However, state inaction, media incitement, and societal pressures continue to erode hope and deepen divisions, leaving Syria’s Christian presence hanging by a thread.

Elderly Pakistani Catholic man arrested on fabricated blasphemy allegations

A 60-year-old Catholic man, Amir Joseph Paul, has been arrested in Pakistan over claims that he made offensive comments about the Muslim prophet Muhammad, according to an Agenzia Fides report on Tuesday.

The accusations were made by Munawar Ali, a shop owner in Lahore, who, according to Fides, “mobilized local religious leaders within minutes to claim that Amir had made blasphemous statements, which were denied by the accused and the other witnesses present.” Fides noted that local residents testified that the accusation was made due to a “personal grudge related to a sewage dispute between Amir’s home and the complainant’s shop.”

Bishop in Central African Republic fights allegations in sexual abuse case

Bishop Jesús Ruiz Molina of the Central African Republic Diocese of Mbaïki is fighting back against accusations of silence and complicity in an anonymous allegation of sexual abuse involving a diocesan priest, ACI Africa reported on Tuesday.

In a July 18 statement, Molina described the accusations as false, insisting: “I declare that both I and the Catholic Church are firmly opposed to all forms of sexual abuse and that we have always denounced such acts with clarity and rigor.”

He added: “The truth will set you free and peace will be possible if everyone does their part.” Molina further noted that the anonymously accused priest has been removed from his assigned parish and that further steps are being taken to provide support to the alleged victim.

Archbishop Nelson Pérez of Philadelphia (pictured at his installation Mass in 2020) issued a pastoral letter in support of immigrants on July 23, 2025. / Credit: Sarah Webb/Archdiocese of Philadelphia

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 24, 2025 / 14:05 pm (CNA).

Archbishop Nelson Perez of Philadelphia has expressed “sorrow” for and “prayerful solidarity” with the immigrant community as arrests continue to take place across the United States. 

“You are not alone,” Perez wrote to U.S. immigrants in a July 23 pastoral letter. “The Church is a community of faith, and the divine person of Christ, who was forced to flee his homeland as a child, holds you in his compassionate arms.”

Perez called for the support of immigrants as many “came to the United States seeking new opportunities far away from oppressive regimes,” adding that their “presence and contributions to society through hard work and upright living are a blessing to our country and to our Church.”

“Recent news reports detailing the arrest of immigrants throughout the country, including the Philadelphia region, have produced a great deal of fear and unleashed a broad range of other emotions,” Perez wrote. “As the son of immigrants, I have found recent events particularly heartbreaking.”

“I am witnessing your sorrow with great sadness and concern as are people of goodwill from all walks of life,” he wrote.

“As Catholics, we believe our eternal homeland is heaven and that as citizens of earth, the dignity of every person means everyone should have a safe place to live, with the opportunity to work for a just wage,” Perez continued. “No one should be forced to live in fear of unjust persecution.”

The letter acknowledged the need for law enforcement while simultaneously calling for policies that uphold the dignity and respect of the American immigrant community.

“We recognize that our country is rightly safeguarded by law enforcement officials. They uphold the common good by protecting all of us from human trafficking, the exploitation of children, and any other criminal offense against human dignity,” he wrote.

Perez added: “At the same time, we strongly advocate for immigration policies that guarantee the protection of life, liberty, and property of all those who call the United States of America home, natural born citizens and those working toward citizenship alike.”

Since “there is no instant solution to the challenges pervading immigration policy,” Perez said, he urged that parish communities “unite through prayer and social unity with the immigrant faithful under the leadership of parish pastors.”

Perez asked for the intercession of the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph that “Our Lord bless our country with peace and inspire comprehensive immigration reform that respects the law and provides meaningful opportunities for all those who wish to call the United States of America their home.”

null / Credit: Sergi Lopez Roig/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 24, 2025 / 13:35 pm (CNA).

The U.S. Catholic bishops’ 2024 Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa has awarded $2.6 million to support 96 pastoral projects across 32 African countries and multinational regions.

In a July 22 statement, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) said the “boundless growth of the Catholic faith” throughout Africa “can challenge the Church as much as material poverty does.”

The “gifts of American Catholics to the USCCB’s Solidarity Fund” help preserve a “spirit of unity” within the universal Church, the bishops said.

Compared with the 2023 effort, funding has increased by $500,000, expanding grant projects by 28%. 

“The Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa makes it possible for African Catholics to carry out vital spiritual and social ministries,” said Dubuque, Iowa, Archbishop Thomas Zinkula, chairman of the bishops’ Subcommittee on the Church in Africa.

“The African Church gives generously to the U.S. Church as thousands of African priests serve in parishes of the United States,” Zinkula pointed out. 

The Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa was created “as a concrete way for Catholics in the United States to express a spirit of unity with their brothers and sisters in Africa,” the USCCB says.

The U.S. bishops “created the national collections so that, by combining resources, we can more effectively carry out our mission as Catholics.”

The Solidarity Fund last year supported nearly 100 bishop-backed grants, funding projects such as peacebuilding in South Sudan, catechetical training in Zambia, and church administration workshops in Togo.

Also funded was intergenerational teaching in Malawi as well as climate advocacy in Eastern Africa, where parishes are becoming hubs for practical environmental action.

Supported by dioceses across the country, the faithful can contribute year-round through the #iGiveCatholicTogether collection program or participate in their parish’s collection on a date scheduled by the local diocese.