Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish

Director Dallas Jenkins (left) and Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus in the wildly successful TV series “The Chosen,” speak with journalists during a press conference on June 23, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican City, Jun 23, 2025 / 13:41 pm (CNA).

“The Chosen” actor Jonathan Roumie said Monday coming to the Vatican is a “humbling honor” and a confirmation for him of the TV show’s continued mission of bringing Jesus Christ to the world.

Roumie, other “The Chosen” castmates, and series creator and director Dallas Jenkins are at the Vatican this week after having just wrapped up three weeks of filming in southern Italy for the Crucifixion scenes of Season 6, out next year.

“The fact we’re here now, sitting at the Vatican… is a testament to, I think, how God wants to continue to further this mission to bring more people to Jesus and to bring Jesus to them,” Roumie, who plays Jesus in the wildly successful TV series on the Gospels, said during a press conference at the Vatican on June 23.

Season 5, Episode 4, “The Same Coin,” will be streamed at the Vatican’s Filmoteca theater on the afternoon of June 23 in anticipation of the entire season being available for streaming in Italy in July.

Roumie will also present Pope Leo XIV with a gift from “The Chosen” during the Wednesday general audience on June 25, a meeting he said would be “extraordinary for so many reasons.”

“When [Pope Leo XIV] was elected, I wept, because I never thought I’d see an American pope in my lifetime,” the Catholic actor said. To get “to communicate to him in our native language this week is just something I never thought I would see in my life.”

Series director Jenkins, an evangelical Protestant, said it was “a tremendous honor” to be at the Vatican. He added that being surrounded by the beautiful art of Rome and the Vatican reminded him how much he wants the show to make the events and people depicted in religious artwork feel real to viewers.

“Jesus is more than a painting, and the church is more than just a building,” he said. “Jesus and the apostles were not just stained-glass windows, but Jesus became man … and these men and women actually lived and actually had a relationship with Jesus … something we can have today.”

Roumie and Jenkins were joined at the Vatican press conference by Elizabeth Tabish (Mary Magdalene), George Xanthis (John the Apostle), and Vanessa Benavente (Mother Mary).

They all talked about the emotional impact of getting to portray their characters, in their humanity and their growth, across five seasons so far.

Roumie said that “in the process of making this show, we didn’t know we would ever go beyond four episodes of the first season.”

“And then to fast forward seven years, and thousands of stories later about how this show has been used by God to change people’s lives — and in some unique, distinct cases, to save people’s lives — humbling doesn’t even come close to describing the understanding of that, the feeling of that: It’s profound,” he added.

The cast and crew on June 22 finished filming Jesus’ crucifixion in Matera in the Italian region of Basilicata, the same location used for Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ.”

Jenkins called the three weeks “the most challenging and difficult we had in filming,” requiring him to surrender everything to Christ.

Roumie noted that since starting the show, many people have asked him if he was looking forward to getting to the Crucifixion scenes, but he would answer, “I can’t think about that, I can’t think about the cross, because we’re not there yet.”

He preferred to stay in the present, concentrating on Jesus’ active, public ministry, and the intimacy between Jesus and his followers. “And if there was anyone in the whole history of the world who was present at all times, it was Jesus Christ,” the actor said.

Talking about Season 5, which is focused on the events of Holy Week, is a welcome break from the intensity of the past three weeks of filming, Jenkins told journalists.

The show’s latest season features some of the most well-known scenes in Scripture, he said, including Judas’ betrayal, when Jesus flips tables in the Temple, the triumphal entrance into Jerusalem, and, most importantly, the Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist.

The director said he hopes the season will provide an “opportunity for many new viewers to come to the show because they recognize these famous moments.”

SENT founder John Cannon speaks at the September 2024 SENT Summit. / Credit: Carollynn Anne/Courtesy of SENT

National Catholic Register, Jun 23, 2025 / 13:06 pm (CNA).

Have an innovative idea for a Catholic-minded startup or ministry?

The SENT Summit may be just what you need to pitch your plan.

The summit is part of SENT Ventures’ broader vision to foster Catholic entrepreneurship in the secular world — fostering faith-driven entrepreneurship and innovation.

SENT Ventures’ fourth annual SENT Summit, to be held Sept. 8–11, expects to draw nearly 400 founders, investors, philanthropists, and nonprofit directors to the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. Now the largest U.S. gathering dedicated to “Spirit-led” Catholic enterprise, the summit pairs conventional business programming — keynotes, small-group breakouts, and sector-specific workshops — with daily Mass, adoration, and evening socials.

The format, organizers say, is meant to keep questions of capital and mission in the same conversation, showing how Catholic social teaching can guide decisions from product design to personnel policy.

A highlight for early-stage founders will be the summit’s third annual SENT “Pitch Competition.” Five finalists, selected on criteria including Catholic values alignment, market timing, and current traction, will present to a panel of venture capitalists and angel investors for the chance to receive a $10,000 grant and more than $50,000 in prizes, including business services. A previous winner, Presidio Healthcare, a pro-life insurance startup and the first of its kind, went on to raise $4 million in seed funding after its SENT appearance.

The deadline this year to apply for the Pitch Competition is July 25. 

Running alongside the startup track, the “Mission Showcase” offers emerging apostolates a similar platform. Up to five ministries will receive a $1,500 cash grant and paid ticket as well as stage time before major Catholic philanthropists. Past presenters range from MetaSaint — a Roblox-based catechetical game that has logged 300,000 users, with Roblox itself having 70 million daily users — to Forge, an Iowa-based men’s formation network that has since expanded across the Midwest and is endorsed by such Catholic figures as theologian Scott Hahn, Super Bowl champion Matt Birk, and New York Times bestselling author Leonard Sax.

The deadline to apply for the Mission Showcase is July 18.

Even those not selected to present should benefit, however, from the world-class coaching and application process, which helps sharpen mission and model.

Attendance has nearly doubled every year since SENT held its inaugural summit in 2022, forcing the first-ever registration cap this year. SENT founder John Cannon told the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, this is because SENT “tries to run world-class events with deep Catholic spirituality — this includes starting every day with Mass and adoration, access to confession, inviting the top entrepreneurial leaders as speakers and presenters, and a strong culture of trying to lift others up.” 

As a former Carmelite monk for seven years before he was called back into the world of business, Cannon holds the firm conviction that business can — in fact, should — be both professionally excellent and integrally Catholic.

The summit is part of a wider SENT Ventures ecosystem that offers year-round masterminds to provide advisement, regional meetups, and mentorship circles aimed at Catholic professionals in startup culture. Cannon’s 2024 white paper “Entrepreneurs of the Spirit” illustrates that lay-led innovation has historically driven periods of great Church renewal — and today should be no different.

SENT’s organizers are showing year over year that their unique showcase of business strategizing and the silence of prayer resonates with Catholic leaders who view entrepreneurship as a vocation as well as a career. There is a great need in the Church to tell more stories of Catholics building businesses and apostolates outside traditional Church institutions.

“It’s not just another conference — it’s a thriving community,” Cannon said. “People often come to get some particular business value or make connections, which happens, but what stays with them is the friendship, the formation, and the sense that they’re not building alone.”

How you can apply

Send a query today.

How you can support sent

SENT Ventures is also actively seeking sponsors to scale these efforts.  

There are three main sponsorship opportunities:

— General summit sponsorship for brand visibility across the entire event

— Pitch Competition sponsorship to support high-growth Catholic startups

— Mission Showcase sponsorship to assist apostolates tackling pastoral and cultural challenges 

Interested parties are encouraged to reach out to Mary at Mary@sentventures.com.

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, and has been adapted by CNA.

In Knock, Ireland, on Sunday June 22, 2025, Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh urged the people of Ireland to “feel inspired and courageous” by the renewed consecration to the Sacred Heart. / Credit: Sean Flynn/Irish Catholic Bishops Conference

Dublin, Ireland, Jun 23, 2025 / 12:36 pm (CNA).

Ireland was reconsecrated to the Sacred Heart on Sunday in the town of Knock on the feast of Corpus Christi. Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, who presided at the events, urged the people of Ireland to “feel inspired and courageous” by the renewed consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

“Do not be afraid — today’s consecration will give you a new heart — a heart of love that can in turn give fresh heart to our troubled world.”

Ahead of the consecration, Martin received an apostolic blessing from Pope Leo XIV, a “pledge of joy and peace” for all who were present.

The archbishop told the faithful in Knock Basilica not to be surprised if they felt a call to go out and confront those “weighty evils that are pressing on the Church of God throughout the world” and “the many dangers encompassing and threatening ourselves near home.”

Ireland was previously consecrated to the Sacred Heart on Passion Sunday in 1873, and for decades afterward, the people of Ireland held a particular devotion to it with the image of the Sacred Heart, commonplace in virtually every Irish home.

Martin spoke to the desire to reconsecrate the country and its people now. 

“We are living in a time of great need for God — for faith, for hope, and for love. Our age presents many challenges to our faith, to our families, and indeed to the deepest core of our humanity. But as a pilgrim people filled with great love and hope in this jubilee year of graces, while recalling the the promises of the Sacred Heart made known 350 years ago to St. Margaret Mary, we have chosen to renew the consecration of our country to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus as its secure refuge from all dangers — visible and invisible.”

“Today we desire to consecrate to the most Sacred Heart: ourselves, our home, our family, our parish, and Ireland our country. We ask the Sacred Heart to have mercy on our suffering world in which he chose to dwell as one of us, to pour out the treasures of his light and love so that, as our late Pope Francis put it, the world may regain the most important and most necessary thing of all — its heart.”

Pointing to the consecration over 150 years ago, Martin said in his homily: “There are many weighty evils, my dear people, pressing on the Church of God throughout the world, and there are many dangers encompassing and threatening ourselves near home. The spirit of irreligion and infidelity is growing strong every day.”

He added: “These words are not mine. They are in fact taken from the pastoral letter of the Irish bishops sent on Passion Sunday 1873 to announce their intention to consecrate Ireland to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Sadly, in many ways the bishops’ words relate to the circumstances of today.”

The archbishop continued: “With God’s help today’s consecration will motivate us to radiate the light of faith, hope, and love, especially to the poor, the suffering, and those who are most in need. It will set us on fire with the Holy Spirit, it will lift up our hearts, and give us like St. Thérèse “a thirst for souls.”

On display at the consecration Mass were four pilgrim Sacred Heart statues blessed by Pope Francis at the Vatican symbolizing Ireland’s historic four provinces. Ahead of the consecration, the pilgrim statues were brought to parishes throughout Ireland, accompanied by Father Shane Gallagher, Father John Mockler, Dom Basil Mary McCabe, and Father Shane Sullivan.

Prior to the Mass of consecration, Father Richard Gibbons, rector and parish priest of Knock Shrine, welcomed the relics of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, St. Claude la Colombière, and Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart to the basilica where they were venerated by the congregation.

One of the keynote speakers at the reconsecration event, Jesuit Father Bernard McGuckian, explained to CNA the historical context for the consecration and Ireland’s devotion to the Sacred Heart.

“The date of consecration at Knock is exactly 350 years since Our Lord spoke to St. Margaret Mary in 1675. In 1873, what happened in Ireland was the people all assembled in their parishes, and the consecration was done parish by parish on Passion Sunday, March 30. It was a unique activity. Ireland had been terribly affected by the penal laws and decimated by famine. One of the promises to Margaret Mary was that those who put up a picture of the Sacred Heart in their homes would be blessed. In Ireland for decades practically every Catholic home would have had a Sacred Heart picture,” he said.

McGuckian detailed the incredible efforts in promoting the devotion in the 19th and early 20th century, in particular by Jesuit Father James Cullen, who as director of the Apostleship of Prayer inspired the countrywide devotion to the Sacred Heart, founded the Irish Messenger of the Sacred Heart and established the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association.

An attack on Mar Elias Church in Al-Duwaileh, Damascus, by a suicide bomber reportedly killed 22 and injured 59 people on June 22, 2025. / Credit: Mohammed Al-Rifai/ACI MENA

ACI MENA, Jun 23, 2025 / 12:06 pm (CNA).

The death toll from the attack on Mar Elias Greek Orthodox Church in the Douailah district of Damascus has risen to 22, with 59 others injured, according to Syria’s Ministry of Health. The attack took place during a Sunday evening Divine Liturgy attended by nearly 400 faithful.

Eyewitnesses reported that two armed men stormed the church. One of them remained outside, firing at worshippers and into the church’s stained-glass windows, while the second tried to enter the church and detonate a grenade. 

Two parishioners, Jiris and Boutros Bishara, intervened and managed to wrestle the explosive device away from the second man, preventing an immediate detonation. However, while being dragged outside, the attacker activated his suicide belt, resulting in a massive explosion that killed and wounded dozens and caused extensive destruction.

This marks the first religiously motivated attack targeting Christians in Syria since the fall of the previous regime more than six and a half months ago, reviving prior warnings and threats against the Christian minority despite earlier assurances of protection after the political transition.

Father Melatios Shtahi of the Greek Orthodox Church, speaking from the crime scene, stated: “Remaining silent about what was once described as isolated incidents has led us to this very moment. I am not surprised.”

The attack drew widespread condemnation from local, international, and ecclesiastical authorities.

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch called on authorities to take full responsibility for protecting places of worship and ensuring the safety of all citizens. Patriarch John X. Yazigi has been in contact with local and regional leaders to “convey this dark image from Damascus to the entire world and demand an end to these massacres.”

The Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchate stated the assault is part of an alarming rise in sectarian tension in Syria and reflects the increasing threats to Christians’ lives and their right to worship freely.

Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II expressed to Patriarch John X his hope for a swift and transparent investigation into the incident.

Maronite patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rai said: “Targeting Christians in the East is an affront to the very fabric of this region, which is now facing existential threats to its civilizations, cultures, and heritage of diversity.”

The Armenian Catholic Patriarchate affirmed that “Christians do not fear intimidation nor surrender to hatred. The blood of yesterday’s martyrs is a resounding cry for truth in the face of injustice.”

Theophilos III, Greek Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem, described the attack as “a barbaric act that is not only an assault on Christians in Syria but also a deep wound to the dignity of all humanity.”

Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III Younan stressed that “this attack is meant to sow division and drive innocent people from their homes. It is a clear act of terrorism plotted by the forces of darkness.”

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

St. Paul’s Hospital, operated by Providence Health Care, has a MAID facility on its campus, operated by the British Columbia government’s Vancouver Coastal Health. / Credit: Terry O’Neill

Vancouver, Canada, Jun 23, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

A government-ordered euthanasia facility, operated by the British Columbia, Canada, government’s Vancouver Coastal Health Authority on the downtown campus of the Catholic-run St. Paul’s Hospital, is now fully operational.

A six-month investigation into the impact of the New Democratic Party government’s MAID (medical aid in dying)-imposition edict also uncovered that planning is underway for another euthanasia facility to be operated by Vancouver Coastal on the site of the new St. Paul’s Hospital on False Creek Flats, which is being built a little less than two miles east of the existing hospital.

Vancouver Coastal is also currently operating MAID rooms in the same buildings that house two Catholic-run hospices in Vancouver.

Providence Health Care, which operates all these Catholic facilities and is under the auspices of the Archdiocese of Vancouver, has long maintained pro-life policies that prohibit abortion and euthanasia from being performed on its premises. However, it was powerless to block these developments.

Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, has deep concerns about the imposition of MAID units alongside pro-life Catholic facilities.

“This is incredibly sad news,” Schadenberg said in an interview. “It’s sad that the unit is now operational. And I’m also incredibly saddened by the fact that the new St. Paul’s will also have a euthanasia clinic attached to it.”

The provincial government forced the euthanasia facility onto the current site of St. Paul’s Hospital in November 2023 in response to persistent death-on-demand activism and mainstream media pressure.

The MAID facility, about the size of a laneway home — a type of detached secondary suite in Canada built on preexisting lots — constructed by Vancouver Coastal at an undisclosed cost, is in an interior courtyard of the hospital, founded 131 years ago by the Sisters of Providence.

The facility opened Jan. 6, a Vancouver Coastal spokesperson said in an email dated April 17.

“The new space provides patients with options for specialized end-of-life care in a way that supports and respects them, their loved ones, and health care providers,” he said.

Called the “Shoreline Space,” the facility is attached to an exterior wall of the western section of the hospital’s Providence Building, facing the courtyard. Public access to the facility from the courtyard is blocked by a locked gate and a 2-yard-high, black chain-link fence.

There is no exterior signage that would give pedestrians using the hospital’s nearby Thurlow Street entrance any hint of the purpose of the green-metal-clad facility, equipped with security cameras and floodlight fixtures.

Inside the hospital, there is also no indication that MAID is provided behind a locked door that has the signage “Shoreline Space. Vancouver Coastal Health.” 

Vancouver Coastal emails, obtained through a freedom of information request, indicate the health authority launched a planning process to insert a euthanasia facility at the new St. Paul’s Hospital, scheduled to open in 2027.

No agency — the British Columbia government, the Ministry of Health, Vancouver Coastal Health, Providence Health, or the Archdiocese of Vancouver — has announced publicly that the new St. Paul’s is being forced to accommodate a MAID facility.

Yet, the text of a Nov. 15, 2024, email from Laurel Plewes, operations director of the Assisted Dying Program at Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) to Jennifer Chan of Providence Health Care (PHC) indicates that such planning is taking place.

Under the subject heading, “Preliminary VCH requirement for MAID space at the new SPH [St. Paul’s Hospital],” Plewes wrote: “Here is a list of preliminary requirements, subject to refinement and additions.”

That list, in bullet form, reads:

“— Internal 2,800 square feet

— We suspect PHC requirement will still remain, and VCH agrees, that the pathway must allow for patients to remain in their PHC bed.

— 5 minutes or less travel time from pharmacy located in SPH

— Ramp or ground-level entry — ramp is not included in square footage above

— Require connections for sewage, water, electricity, and IT connections similar to what is listed in previous partial agreement

— At least two parking spots for staff, easy access for transfer van

— Physical address to support emergency services knowing where to go”

Most emails received in response to the freedom of information request were almost completely redacted, but one with the subject line “Future Planning: MAID spaces,” was sent by Nina Dhaliwal, a “senior project manager” at Vancouver Coastal, to four of her colleagues on Nov. 27, 2024.

It describes the need to connect all the parties to ensure that “future planning for MAID spaces” is being done efficiently. Dhaliwal also asks whether “the MAID team” had an “SOA” (presumably meaning service-oriented architecture) and a “Functional Program.”

Although the email does not mention the new St. Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver Coastal released that information in response to a request for the communications regarding the possible construction of a MAID unit at the new hospital.

Neither Vancouver Coastal nor Providence Health has commented in response to questions about MAID facilities at the new or old St. Paul’s.

Providence Health’s service contract with the provincial government guarantees that it can prevent abortions and euthanasia from taking place within Providence facilities. Patients seeking such procedures are discharged from Providence and transferred to a Vancouver Coastal facility.

Pro-euthanasia groups criticized the arrangement when MAID was legalized in 2016 and then ramped up pressure when, as revealed in an article published in The B.C. Catholic in May 2022, the British Columbia branch of Dying with Dignity Canada launched a multiplatform public relations campaign aimed at forcing the British Columbia government to amend the service agreement in order to compel Providence to allow MAID.

Dying With Dignity called the “forced” transfer of patients to MAID-allowing facilities “cruel and unusual.”

The pressure peaked the next year when news media seized on the case of a Vancouver woman, Sam O’Neill, whose family complained that she was forced to transfer from St. Paul’s to access MAID. In response, the British Columbia government announced what observers called a “workaround” or “end-run” solution in November 2023.

The arrangement called for the province to take land at the St. Paul’s campus on which to create a “clinical space” for MAID to be performed. The space would be staffed by Vancouver Coastal health care professionals and was to be connected by a corridor to St. Paul’s Hospital.

“Patients from St. Paul’s Hospital accessing MAID will be discharged by Providence Health and transferred to the care of Vancouver Coastal Health in this new clinical space,” the release said. The MAID facility was originally scheduled to open in August 2024.

Then-Archbishop J. Michael Miller of Vancouver was quoted at the time as saying the directive “respects and preserves Providence’s policy of not allowing MAID inside a Catholic health care facility,” and the new patient discharge and transfer protocols would be consistent with existing arrangements for transferring patients at other Providence facilities.

However, that did not end the matter. In June 2024, O’Neill’s mother, Dying with Dignity Canada, and a doctor launched a lawsuit against Providence, Vancouver Coastal, and the provincial government, alleging they had denied O’Neill her constitutional right to access MAID.

They seek to have MAID conducted within all provincially funded facilities, such as those of Providence Health Care, which relies on provincial funding for its operating costs. Providence owns the hospitals.

In a formal response to the claim, Providence not only described the St. Paul’s arrangement but also disclosed that at two hospices it operates, May’s Place and St. John, “patients who choose to receive MAID are provided with MAID by a VCH health care provider in a space operated by VCH which is located down the hall from the Providence operated hospice rooms in the same building that houses the hospice.”

But that does not mean MAID is actually being performed within a Catholic facility, said Shaf Hussain, a communications officer with Providence.

Hussain said in a May 30 email to Canadian Catholic News (CCN) that both St. John Hospice and May’s Place Hospice are in buildings and on lands that are not owned by Providence. He said he believes the whole building in which St. John Hospice is located “is leased by VCH.”

“Since September 2013, Providence has been operating a 14-bed hospice in the building and continues to do so,” he said. “In 2021, VCH took some space in the building for its Vancouver Community palliative programming. A room in that space is used for MAID.”

Providence also leases space to operate a six-bed hospice in a building in which “VCH also leases space,” he said. “This space, which they use for MAID, is separate and away from our hospice operations.”

In a follow-up email to CCN on June 17, Hussain said Providence does not present MAID as an option to its patients.

“To clarify, no, we don’t proactively mention MAID as an option to consider,” he said. “We never initiate an offer of MAID.”

“If a patient enquires about it, we contact the VCH MAID team,” he said. “From PHC’s perspective, we ensure the patient is provided information about all [non-MAID] end-of-life options, so the patient can make an informed decision.”

Hussain explained the process Providence staff follow if a patient enquires about MAID, which includes assessing for MAID eligibility by two doctors or nurse practitioners; discussing the patient’s medical condition with them; and discussing services and treatments that are available to relieve suffering, which “may include adjusting a current treatment plan, engaging palliative care services, community support services, or other options.”

“A person does not have to accept any of these services, but it is legally required for a person requesting MAID to be offered care options to address the person’s suffering,” he said.

Dr. Will Johnston, who heads the Euthanasia Resistance Coalition of B.C., said he believes the British Columbia government’s decision to force MAID into previously life-affirming health care settings is a form of totalitarianism.

“This is another example of zealots who won’t allow the population any freedom from euthanasia,” Johnston said. “They obviously control the provincial government … I think it’s totalitarianism, and it shows none of their claimed virtues of inclusion and diversity.”

This story was first published by Canadian Catholic News on June 19, 2025, and has been reprinted here with permission. 

Auxiliary Bishop Luis Manuel Alí Herrera is secretary of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. / Credit: “EWTN Noticias”/Screenshot

ACI Prensa Staff, Jun 23, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Auxiliary Bishop Luis Manuel Alí Herrera, secretary of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (PCTM, by its Italian acronym), contends that instead of a single reparative action, victims of abuse within the Church require “an in-depth process that listens to, welcomes, and accompanies.”

Alí Herrera explained that the harm done to such victims is “disastrous” as it harms “the very image of God, the [victim’s] relationship with the Church, interpersonal relationships, and one’s very identity. A victim sees their life plans and their ability to bounce back damaged,” Alí explained in an interview with “EWTN Noticias,” the Spanish-language broadcast edition of EWTN News.

The auxiliary bishop of Bogotá — who, along with the other members of his team, met with Pope Leo XIV two weeks ago — stated that the voice of survivors is at the center of the Church’s work and that the presence of victims within the commission itself is key to moving toward a true culture of prevention.

“We have victims on the pontifical commission; they are part of it as members. Their voice is essential to knowing how to speak to all victims and survivors, and also to guiding our responses in prevention processes,” he noted.

Since its creation in 2014, the PCTM, led by Cardinal Seán O’Malley, has been one of the Church’s most practical instruments for combating sexual abuse and promoting a culture of prevention.

The prelate shared that his pastoral perspective on this issue changed completely after hearing the testimony of a person who had suffered abuse.

“I had read, studied, and analyzed it. But it’s another thing entirely to be faced with the real pain, the tears, the despair of someone who has been deeply wounded. That transformed me,” he related.

For the commission’s secretary, a key part of the work of prevention begins with adequate psycho-affective formation of a candidate for the priesthood beginning at the very outset of seminary.

“Affective, communal, and sexual formation must be present from the preparatory phase to the end of theological formation. It must be across the board, continuous, and closely connected to the emotional world and interpersonal relationships,” he noted.

Regarding the impact of the abuse crisis on priestly vocations, Alí acknowledged that it has had painful but also positive effects.

“It has had an impact, because many pull back [from considering a priestly vocation] when they see news of cases. But it has also helped, because it has forced us to rethink vocation ministry and recognize that the priest is, above all, a human person, with wounds, crises, and emotions that he must learn to integrate,” the bishop explained.

Impact of Rupnik 

Regarding decisions such as that taken by the shrine at Lourdes, which this past March covered up the murals of the artist and former Jesuit Father Marko Rupnik, who is accused of serial sexual abuse, Alí believes it is necessary to act with discernment and empathy.

“Art can heal, but it can also retraumatize. It’s not about condemning beforehand but rather putting oneself in the shoes of the victims and not triggering their pain with gestures that may be insensitive,” Alí indicated.

With a clear appeal to the entire Church, Alí concluded: True reparation only begins when those who have suffered are truly listened to. “That listening, that closeness, is the first step toward restoring what has been broken: the image of God in each victim.”

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

Smoke from incense drifts in the air at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, California, where the 2025 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage concluded on June 22, 2025. / Credit: Jeffrey Bruno/EWTN

Los Angeles, Calif., Jun 22, 2025 / 23:23 pm (CNA).

The 2025 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage completed its 3,300-mile journey across the western United States on Sunday, having traversed 10 states, stopping in 20 dioceses and encountering thousands of enthusiastic parishioners.

The trek started May 18 in Indianapolis, the site of the 10th National Eucharistic Congress in 2024, and concluded 35 days later at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles. The pilgrimage was an outgrowth of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) three-year Eucharistic revival designed to promote belief in and devotion to the Eucharist among Catholics.

“We’ve had a wonderful reception, and the pilgrimage has borne much good fruit,” remarked Jason Shanks, president of the National Eucharistic Congress (NEC). “The pilgrims who have turned out have been in good spirits.”

The culminating event at the cathedral included Mass celebrated by U.S. apostolic nuncio Cardinal Christophe Pierre, a homily by Los Angeles Archbishop José Gómez, and a procession through the cathedral plaza.

Bishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, who led the USCCB’s Eucharistic revival program, and the auxiliary bishops of Los Angeles participated. The cathedral, which seats 3,000, was full, and the procession ended with Gómez blessing the city of Los Angeles in four directions, Shanks said, “which I hope will bring hope and healing to the city,” the scene of recent civil unrest.

The pilgrimage visited multiple sites of prominence in the archdiocese, including Corpus Christi Parish in Pacific Palisades and Sacred Heart Parish in Altadena, both of which are in the zones of wildfire destruction in Los Angeles’ Jan. 7 Palisades and Eaton fires (Corpus Christi was destroyed; Sacred Heart survived). The pilgrimage also stopped at the first and the last missions established in the Los Angeles area by St. Junipero Serra, Mission San Gabriel (founded in 1771), and Mission Basilica San Buenaventura (established in 1782).

Father Parker Sandoval, vice chancellor and senior director of ministerial services for the Los Angeles Archdiocese, was the main point of contact for the archdiocese and coordinated Los Angeles events with the NEC. He noted that each site at which the pilgrimage stopped was significant, such as of historical importance because they were 18th-century missions or because they were in the wildfire disaster zones.

“The archdiocese has been pleased to participate in the pilgrimage, and our hope and prayer is that the Eucharistic revival spreads far and wide,” he said.

Gómez, Pierre, Cozzens, and the auxiliary bishops participated in other events Friday through Sunday, including the events in the wildfire areas.

“We were there to pray for people and be part of the revival of life in those areas,” Cozzens said. “The people I spoke to told me that they were grateful of God’s presence in the midst of tragedy and for their faith, which has help sustain them in this time of trial.”

Pilgrims reflect on their journey

The pilgrimage traveled with eight young adults, known as perpetual pilgrims, traveling in a van with a trailer. Each diocese in which they made their stops acted as host, offering housing and food. The pilgrims found themselves spending the night in parishioners’ homes, retreat centers, religious houses, and hotels.

Ace Acuna, a perpetual pilgrim active in campus ministry with The Aquinas Institute on the campus of Princeton University in New Jersey, said he became passionate about the Eucharistic revival after attending the Indianapolis congress last year. 

“Everywhere we go people are excited to see us and give us a warm welcome,” he said. “They’re elated that Jesus is coming.”

Like Acuna, perpetual pilgrim Leslie Reyes-Hernandez was moved by her experience at the Indianapolis congress.  Her experience on the pilgrimage this year has been “transformative,” she said, adding that she believes Eucharistic adoration has the power to draw many young people like herself to the Lord.

“Young people are hungry for an encounter with God, and we’ve been blessed to meet many during this pilgrimage,” she said.

Activities at the diocesan stops included Mass, adoration, talks about the Eucharist, and processions. Many also took the opportunity to go to confession.

Pilgrims had to deal with protests

Attendance has been strong at many stops, Acuna related, including a Eucharistic procession to Holy Family Cathedral in Tulsa, which drew 1,800.

The spiritual journey was not without controversy; as many as 50 protestors from the Church of Wells protested the pilgrimage along the route, with their biggest turnout in Oklahoma City.

“They were using megaphones to tell us Catholics were wrong in their beliefs and confronting our participants individually about Catholic practices such as the rosary,” Shanks recounted. “They said they were looking to put the ‘protest’ back in Protestant.”

While additional security was added to protect perpetual pilgrims and surround the Blessed Sacrament, Shanks said he believes the group’s hostility did not adversely affect the pilgrimage.

“For us, this persecution was our Way of the Cross,” he said. “We were allowed to experience in a very small way the suffering of Christ.”

The pilgrims took side trips to sites of service or suffering along the route, such as a soup kitchen or to participate in prison ministry and to the site of the Oklahoma City bombing. Other stops included a visit to the tomb of Bishop Fulton Sheen and the Shrine of Blessed Stanley Rother.

Although the pilgrimage has ended, the work of the National Eucharistic Congress continues, Shanks said. He said he hopes to do more annual pilgrimages, as well as an 11th National Eucharistic Congress in 2029. The NEC is also working to train Eucharistic missionaries who can return to their parishes to share their enthusiasm for Christ in the Eucharist.

Cozzens said he believes the USCCB’s Eucharistic revival program has been “a beautiful evangelistic moment,” adding that he hopes “the essential work of Eucharistic revival will continue through the congress movement.”

The revival has exceeded his expectations for success, he said.

“I said we wanted to start a fire, not a program,” the bishop said. “And, today that fire of the Holy Spirit is burning brightly.”

Pope Leo XIV leads a Eucharistic procession in Rome on June 22, 2025, for the feast of Corpus Christi. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/EWTN

Rome, Italy, Jun 22, 2025 / 13:21 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday called on the faithful to “share the bread” — a sign of the gift of divine salvation — to “multiply hope and to proclaim the coming of God’s kingdom” as he presided for the first time as pope over Mass for the solemnity of Corpus Christi.

On the feast when the Catholic Church especially celebrates the mystery of the Eucharist —namely, the real presence of Jesus Christ in the consecrated bread and wine — the pontiff declared: “Christ is God’s answer to our human hunger, because his body is the bread of eternal life: Take this and eat of it, all of you!”

The pope traveled from the Vatican to the Basilica of St. John Lateran, his cathedral as bishop of Rome, to celebrate the Mass on Sunday afternoon. The Mass was followed by a Eucharistic procession along the city’s streets.

In his homily, Leo XIV reflected on the meaning of the Eucharist and the value of sharing. The celebration took place outside the basilica.

Commenting on the day’s Gospel, which recounts the miracle of the loaves and fishes, the pope noted that by saving the crowds from hunger, “Jesus proclaims that he will save everyone from death.”

In doing so, he established the foundation of the “mystery of faith, which we celebrate in the sacrament of the Eucharist,” the Holy Father said, adding: “Just as hunger is a sign of our radical needs in this life, so breaking bread is a sign of God’s gift of salvation.”

Leo said that Jesus’ compassion for the suffering “shows us the loving closeness of God, who comes into our world to save us.”

He added: “Where God reigns, we are set free from all evil.”

In the face of human finitude, he said, “when we partake of Jesus, the living and true bread, we live for him.”

Referring again to the Gospel miracle, Leo said that the people’s hunger is a profound sign, because “at that hour of need and of gathering shadows, Jesus remains present in our midst.”

When the apostles suggest sending the crowd away, the pope pointed out, Jesus teaches a contrary logic, “because hunger is not foreign to the preaching of the kingdom and the message of salvation.”

The pope continued: “He feels compassion for those who are hungry, and he invites his disciples to provide for them.”

The disciples offered only five loaves and two fish — a seemingly reasonable calculation that in fact “reveal their lack of faith, he said. “For where the Lord is present, we find all that we need to give strength and meaning to our lives.”

Jesus’ gesture of breaking the bread, the pope explained, “is not some complicated magical rite; they simply show his gratitude to the Father, his filial prayer and the fraternal communion sustained by the Holy Spirit.”

“To multiply the loaves and fishes, Jesus shares what is available. As a result, there is enough for everyone. In fact, more than enough,” he said.

The pope denounced current global inequalities and criticized “the accumulation by a few” as a sign “of an arrogant indifference that produces pain and injustice.”

“Today, in place of the crowds mentioned in the Gospel, entire peoples are suffering more as a result of the greed of others than from their own hunger,” he stated.

In this light, he called on the faithful to follow the Lord’s example and to live out this teaching with concrete actions, especially during the Jubilee of Hope.

“Especially in this jubilee year, the Lord’s example is a yardstick that should guide our actions and our service: We are called to share our bread, to multiply hope and to proclaim the coming of God’s kingdom,” he said.

The Augustinian pope also quoted St. Augustine’s description of the Eucharist as “bread that restores and does not run short; bread that can be eaten but not exhausted,” observing that the Eucharist “in fact, is the true, real, and substantial presence of the Savior, who transforms bread into himself in order to transform us into himself.”

The pope referred to the existential root of communion with Christ, saying: “Our hungry nature bears the mark of a need that is satisfied by the grace of the Eucharist.”

Leo reminded the faithful that “Living and life-giving, the Corpus Domini makes us, the Church herself, the body of the Lord.” Quoting Lumen Gentium, the dogmatic constitution of the Second Vatican Council, he added: “All are called to this union with Christ, who is the light of the world, from whom we come, through whom we live, and toward whom we direct our lives.”

Before beginning the Eucharistic procession to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, the pope explained its spiritual and missionary meaning.

“Together, as shepherds and flock, we will feed on the Blessed Sacrament, adore him, and carry him through the streets,” he said. “In doing so, we will present him before the eyes, the consciences, and the hearts of the people.”

Leo concluded with an invitation to all the faithful: “Strengthened by the food that God gives us, let us bring Jesus to the hearts of all, because Jesus involves everyone in his work of salvation by calling each of us to sit at his table. Blessed are those who are called, for they become witnesses of this love!”

Pope Leo XIV speaks to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the Sunday Angelus on June 22, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Jun 22, 2025 / 08:22 am (CNA).

Reacting to what he called the “alarming news” of U.S. airstrikes on nuclear facilities in Iran, Pope Leo XIV on Sunday pleaded with the international community “to stop the tragedy of war before it becomes an irreparable abyss.”

“Today more than ever, humanity cries out and pleads for peace,” the pope said in remarks following his Angelus reflection June 22, adding that the cry “must not be drowned out by the roar of weapons or by rhetoric that incites conflict.”

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Saturday night that the U.S. had “obliterated” Iran’s main nuclear sites with massive bunker-busting bombs. Iran responded by launching a volley of missiles at Israel. Scores of civilians were wounded in a missile strike in Tel Aviv, Reuters reported.

Speaking to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square from a window in the Apostolic Palace, Leo framed the attacks, which have escalated the conflict between Israel and Iran, within the broader context of regional conflicts.

“In this dramatic scenario, which includes Israel and Palestine, the daily suffering of the population — especially in Gaza and other territories — risks being forgotten, even as the urgency for proper humanitarian support becomes ever more pressing,” he said.

“There are no distant conflicts when human dignity is at stake,” he said. “War does not solve problems — on the contrary, it amplifies them and inflicts deep wounds on the history of nations that take generations to heal.”

The pope also evoked the most heartbreaking human toll of violence. “No armed victory can make up for a mother’s grief, a child’s fear, or a stolen future.”

Finally, he renewed his call for diplomacy and commitment to peace: “Let diplomacy silence the weapons; let nations shape their future through works of peace, not through violence and bloody conflict.”

In his catechesis prior to the Angelus on Sunday, the feast of Corpus Christi, Pope Leo XIV focused on the deep meaning of the Eucharist and the value of sharing.

Reflecting on the day’s Gospel, which recounts the miracle of the loaves and fishes (cf. Lk 9:11–17), he said that “God’s gifts, even the smallest, grow whenever they are shared.”

Pope Leo XIV noted that the supreme act of sharing was “God’s sharing with us.”

“He, the Creator, who gave us life, in order to save us asked one of his creatures to be his mother, to give him a fragile, limited, mortal body like ours, entrusting himself to her as a child,” the pope said. “In this way, he shared our poverty to the utmost limits, choosing to use the little we could offer him in order to redeem us.”

God’s generosity is especially manifested in the gift of the Eucharist, the Holy Father said.

“Indeed, what happens between us and God through the Eucharist is precisely that the Lord welcomes, sanctifies, and blesses the bread and wine that we place on the altar, together with the offering of our lives, and he transforms them into the body and blood of Christ, the sacrifice of love for the salvation of the world,” Leo said.

“God unites himself to us by joyfully accepting what we bring, and he invites us to unite ourselves to him by likewise joyfully receiving and sharing his gift of love,” he added. “In this way, says St. Augustine, ‘just as one loaf is made from single grains collected together ... so in the same way the body of Christ is made one by the harmony of charity.’”

The pope was scheduled to celebrate Mass for the feast of Corpus Christi at 5 p.m. Sunday followed by a Eucharistic procession through the streets of Rome.

Despite being Yazidi, a religious minority that has suffered persecution in Iraq, Wael Jejo Khdeida, along with his wife, tends to Mar Odisho Church in northern Iraq without pay and treats it as sacred. / Credit: Ismail Adnan/ACI MENA

ACI MENA, Jun 22, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Though Christians left the northern Iraqi village of al-Nasiriya decades ago, the doors of Mar Odisho Church remain open — thanks to the devotion of a local Yazidi family.

Wael Jejo Khdeida, a young Yazidi man, holds the keys to the church and, along with his wife, tends to the building without pay. Continuing a legacy passed down from his parents, Khdeida ensures that the church is clean, accessible, and respected.

In an interview with ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, Khdeida recalled his parents’ unwavering service to the church before they emigrated in 2012. 

“Before they left,” he said, “they gave me one instruction: Take care of the church. ‘The church comes first — before your own house,’ they told me.” He smiled, adding that they still ask about the church in every phone call, jokingly warning that if he neglects it, they’ll come back to resume the duty themselves.

Despite being Yazidi, a non-Christian religious minority that has suffered persecution in Iraq, Khdeida treats the church as sacred. 

“We remove our shoes before entering, we touch its walls and kiss them in reverence,” he said. “This is a place of holy prayer. We respect all religions and will serve this church until our last breath.”

In 2023, for the first time in 22 years, Mar Odisho Church hosted a Mass again, as the Chaldean Diocese of Alqosh marked the feast day of St. Odisho on the Sunday after Easter. Since then, both Christians and Yazidis have resumed visiting the church, especially on Sundays, lighting candles and seeking the saint’s intercession.

Khdeida noted that Yazidis often come to pray as well — many believing they have received miracles. 

“Women with lactation problems used to come here seeking healing with the blessed oil, and many were cured,” he said. “I even saw a Yazidi woman healed from a skin disease after being anointed.”

He continued: “Many couples who couldn’t have children came to ask St. Odisho’s intercession. One family came back from the diaspora after years away just to fulfill a vow — their son, now a boy, walked into the church with them.”

The last Christian residents of al-Nasiriya left in 2003. While the reasons are varied — including security concerns and migration — the exodus mirrors the broader Christian decline in Iraq.

Still, Khdeida holds out hope. “We want the Christians to come back. They are our brothers. We miss their presence, and we invite them to return, to visit the church, and to bring it back to life with prayer.”

Yazidism is one of the world’s oldest monotheistic religions, and most of its adherents live in Iraq and Syria. Though not a proselytizing faith, Yazidis have long coexisted with Christians and other religious minorities in northern Iraq.

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