Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish

Pope Leo XIV waves to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican for his general audience on Wednesday, May 28, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

CNA Newsroom, May 30, 2025 / 23:19 pm (CNA).

Follow our live coverage as Pope Leo XIV, first U.S.-born pope in history, begins his pontificate: Experience history in the making with former Cardinal Robert Prevost.

Pope Leo XIV with Peruvian registrars this Friday, May 30, at the Vatican. / Credit: Courtesy of Andina/Peru News Agency

Lima Newsroom, May 30, 2025 / 19:23 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV has updated his personal information for a new Peruvian national identity document (DNI, by its Spanish acronym), according to that country’s National Registry of Identification and Civil Status (RENIEC, by its Spanish acronym).

According to the Andina news agency, the official Peruvian media outlet, Pope Leo received four RENIEC registrars Friday at the Vatican in a meeting that was not included in the list of audiences released by the Holy See Press Office.

On his previous DNI, Robert Prevost Martínez, the current Pope Leo XIV, had an address in Chiclayo, a city in northern Peru where he was bishop. His new DNI will have his new Vatican address and an updated photograph of the Holy Father, taken Friday by the registrars.

In 2015, the then-bishop of Chiclayo acquired Peruvian nationality and obtained his first DNI. In 2016, he obtained an electronic DNI (with a chip), which does not require renewal due to his age of 69.

With this update, Pope Leo XIV will have the electronic DNI 3.0, which the Peruvian government launched on April 15, and which costs 41 soles, just over $10.

“The electronic DNI 3.0 now has 64 security elements, both on the card itself, made of 100% heat- and UV-resistant polycarbonate, as well as on the cryptographic chip. That’s four times more than the 2.0 version,” the Peruvian government website indicates.

The electronic DNI will allow for digital voting in the upcoming elections. It also serves to access remote digital services and online commerce.

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

Robert Royal discusses his new book “The Martyrs of the New Millennium” during the May 29, 2025, edition of “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo.” / Credit: “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo”/Screenshot

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 30, 2025 / 18:53 pm (CNA).

The whole nature of Chrisitian martyrdom has shifted in the 21st century, according to Robert Royal, author of the new book “The Martyrs of the New Millennium.”

Interviewed on “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo” on Thursday, Royal said that since his last work on the subject, “The Catholic Martyrs of the Twentieth Century,” 25 years ago, the greatest threat to Christians in the world has shifted from totalitarianism to “radical Islam.” 

“This is a point of view that really seeks to create a worldwide caliphate. That’s the word that they use,” he said. “These radical Islamic figures, they think about it as establishing an Ottoman Empire, but not just restricted to Turkey and a few of the lands in the Middle East, but a total empire of Islam everywhere.”

He continued: “This is something that the West, in particular, needs to wake up to,” he said, because despite the defeat of ISIS, “it didn’t go away. It’s transferred itself to other parts of the world, and it will come back with a vengeance.”

Africa

Royal especially pointed to radical Islamism “all across Central Africa, across sub-Saharan Africa.” 

Discussing the plight of Nigerian Christians, he noted that since finishing the writing of his new book last November, he estimates that since then “something on the order of 2,000 and 3,000 Christians have probably been killed by radical Islam.” 

Just this past weekend, an attack by extremist Muslim herdsmen in Nigeria left dozens dead and resulted in the kidnapping of a Catholic priest and several nuns. Hundreds of Jihadist Fulani herdsmen gunned down nearly 40 people, more than half of them Christians, across several villages on Sunday, according to a report by Truth Nigeria, a humanitarian-aid nonprofit that seeks to document Nigeria’s struggles with corruption and crime.

Latin America

“Surprisingly,” Royal said, “organizations that track the martyrdom of priests in particular say that Mexico is the most dangerous country in the world today to be a Catholic priest.” He said that today, persecution of priests in that country “is the result of cartels, human traffickers, drug traffickers, and anybody who steps in front of what those criminal organizations are trying to do puts themselves at risk.” 

In Nicaragua, he said, systematic persecution against Christians similarly stems from corruption from those seeking power. 

“Now it’s not so much a matter of Marxism as it is a matter of a family wanting to control a country in which the Church is the only effective opposition to their tyranny,” Royal observed, referring to the government of Daniel Ortega and his wife, Rosario Murillo. “They’re closing down TV stations, radio stations, and have expelled bishops and priests. It’s an old playbook, but now it’s being used for the sake of a particular family rather than an ideology.”

The Ortega dictatorship has kidnapped, imprisoned, murdered, and forcefully expelled bishops, priests, and religious sisters from the country, shut down Catholic schools and organizations, and restricted religious practice nationwide. 

China

“The situation in China is very discouraging because our own Church made a very bad bargain with a totalitarian regime,” he said, pointing out that while overt persecution has declined in the country, the Chinese Communist Party has continued to restrict the Church. Ten bishops have also been reported missing, he noted. 

“We know that there are images of President Xi inside of churches. There are attempts to rewrite parts of the Gospels to point it in the direction of the Communist Party. They’re being more careful about creating martyrs because, of course, that raises the international temperature against China,” he said. “But they do it.”

“Now we have a pope who was head of the committee in the Vatican who appointed bishops,” Royal said, noting that Pope Leo XIV has also been to the country himself. “It’ll be very interesting to see if he is able to do anything.”

The Vatican renewed its agreement with China on the appointment of Catholic bishops for four more years in October 2024. Originally signed in September 2018, the provisional agreement was previously renewed for a two-year period in 2020 and again in October 2022. 

The terms of the agreement have not been made public, though the late Pope Francis had said it includes a joint commission between the Chinese government and the Vatican on the appointment of Catholic bishops, overseen by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

The West

“We should not consider ourselves exempt from persecution,” Royal said of Christians living in Western countries. “We do have, of course, radical Islamic figures in Europe and in the United States, Australia, all the countries we normally think of as the West.” 

Royal cited the findings by the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe, which records hundreds of anti-Christian hate crimes per year.

“France alone loses about two religious buildings a month,” he said. He also mentioned the cases of pro-life protesters jailed in the U.K. for praying outside of abortion clinics. 

Royal also called for vigilance in the U.S., as sectors of American society also seek to pin “hate speech” labels on traditional Christian beliefs.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York urged state lawmakers to oppose euthanasia in a Wall Street Journal op-ed on May 29, 2025. / Credit: Peter Zelasko/CNA

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 30, 2025 / 18:23 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York is asking state lawmakers to oppose a bill that would legalize voluntary euthanasia, sometimes known as physician-assisted suicide.

In an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal, Dolan wrote that lawmakers should strengthen efforts to “prevent” deaths by suicide rather than establishing a legal method to end one’s own life.

Dolan recounted an experience in which he saw a man on the George Washington Bridge who was “threatening to jump,” saying that onlookers prayed for him and rescuers tried “to coax him back to safety.”

“We all rallied on behalf of a troubled man intent on suicide,” he wrote. “That’s how it is when someone is thinking of taking his own life.”

Dolan noted that the archdiocese runs programs in its schools to help students who might be considering suicide and that the state “spends millions” of dollars on suicide prevention efforts and has bolstered mental health investments under the governorship of Kathy Hochul.

“Which is why I am more than puzzled, I am stunned, when I read that New York lawmakers are on the verge of legalizing suicide — not by leaping from a bridge but via a poison cocktail easily provided by physicians and pharmacists,” the cardinal added.

“I can’t help but shake my head in disbelief at the disparity in official responses,” he wrote. “Our government will marshal all its resources to save the life of one hopeless and despondent man. Yet it may conclude that some lives aren’t worth living — perhaps due to a serious illness or disability — and we will hand those despondent women and men a proverbial loaded gun and tell them to have at it.”

The proposed legislation passed the state’s lower chamber 81-67 last month with support from most Democrats and strong opposition from the Republican minority. More than 20 Democrats joined Republicans in opposition to the bill. The bill is now in the Senate, where some hesitancy within the Democratic Party is delaying a vote.

State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said two weeks ago that “more people have signed on in the Senate than had been over the past few years” and that if the proposal gets support from a majority of the body, “I’ll certainly bring it to the floor,” according to Politico.

In 10 states and the District of Columbia, euthanasia is legal in limited circumstances. Most of those states legalized the practice within the past decade. Euthanasia remains illegal in most of the country.

Under the New York proposal, euthanasia would only be legal for terminal illnesses, but Dolan noted in his op-ed that “many controllable illnesses can become terminal if untreated.”

“In a recent podcast, the Assembly sponsor conceded that diabetics could become eligible if they cease taking insulin, making their condition ‘terminal’ by definition,” the cardinal wrote.

He warned that even though the proposed New York law would have some limits, advocates of euthanasia in states where it is already legal “continue to push for expansion.” He also pointed to Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) program, which “initially looked very much like the New York bill” but has since greatly expanded.

When MAID was first enacted in Canada in 2016, a person needed to be terminally ill to qualify, but in 2021 the country expanded eligibility to include people who are chronically ill, even if their illness is not terminal. Although this only applies to physical illnesses, the program’s eligibility is set to expand in 2027 to include people who have chronic mental illnesses.

The use of MAID in Canada continues to rise annually and now accounts for nearly 5% of all of the country’s deaths.

Dolan noted that some of the Democrats who opposed the bill in the state’s lower chamber “cited fears about how poor, medically underserved communities would be targeted and the danger that unconsumed drugs could be sold on the streets of their districts.”

“The prospects of defeating the bill look bleak, and it’s tempting to give in to hopelessness,” the cardinal wrote.

“But those brave first responders on the bridge didn’t give in; they worked together to stop a tragedy,” Dolan added. “Will state senators or Ms. Hochul step up to protect precious human life? That is my prayer.”

Planned Parenthood announced May 23, 2025, it will close eight facilities in Minnesota and Iowa. / Credit: Ken Wolter/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, May 30, 2025 / 17:53 pm (CNA).

Planned Parenthood has announced the upcoming closure of eight of its abortion facilities across Minnesota and Iowa. 

Planned Parenthood North Central States — which operates 23 abortion facilities across the area — cited budget challenges and impending federal funding cuts as the reason for the closures, which will go into effect by July 1.  

These clinic shutdowns follow recent closures of Planned Parenthood facilities across the country this year, including the only Planned Parenthood clinic in Manhattan as well as four locations in Illinois, four in Michigan, one in California, two in Utah, and one in Vermont. 

Local pro-life advocates celebrated the announcement but said more work is needed.

Kristi Judkins, executive director of Iowa Right to Life, called the closures “a victory” while adding that she still hopes to bring a “culture of life” to the state.

“We will continue to peacefully pray in the 40 Days for Life campaigns in front of the clinics that remain open,” Judkins told CNA. “We will stand ready to engage women and lovingly let them know we are there to help them.” 

Maggie DeWitte, executive director of pro-life advocacy group Pulse Life Advocates in Des Moines, said “we are so incredibly thankful” to hear of the closures. 

“Abortion is not health care and women deserve better,” DeWitte told CNA. 

Planned Parenthood cited “patient needs” and the “broken” health care system as reasons for the closures as well as the recent freezing of Minnesota Title X funds and the U.S. reconciliation bill that could defund the abortion giant. 

“We have been fighting to hold together an unsustainable infrastructure as the landscape shifts around us and an onslaught of attacks continues,” stated Ruth Richardson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States, in a press release.

In Iowa, unborn children are protected by law throughout most of pregnancy. The state also blocked public funding for Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers in 2017. 

While abortion is legal in Minnesota, when the Trump administration temporarily froze Title X funding to Planned Parenthood, the company lost $2.8 million in funding for its Minnesota locations. 

The abortion giant is “restructuring” to develop both online and on-site “care,” according to the press release. 

“We know that many of our patients would have nowhere to turn if every Planned Parenthood health center were to disappear from their state,” Richardson said. “Heart-wrenching and hard decisions today will ensure Planned Parenthood is here for years to come.”

There are 196 community health centers in Iowa that offer women’s health care, according to Charlotte Lozier Institute’s most recent data — which means there are 28 women’s health alternatives for every one Planned Parenthood.

“In Iowa, we have over 55 pregnancy resource centers across the state in both rural and urban areas,” DeWitte said. “Women and families in Iowa can access quality health care and services from these centers.”  

Pregnancy resource centers, a subcategory of community health centers, are organizations specifically designed to support women in crisis pregnancies by offering support, resources, and care, usually at no cost. 

In spite of the Planned Parenthood closures, several abortion facilities remain open in Iowa. 

“We do still have three abortion facilities that will remain open — two in Iowa City and one in Des Moines, so our work will continue until we can see the closure of all abortion facilities in our state,” DeWitte said. 

Both DeWitte and Judkins agreed that there is still work to do. 

“Although we see the demise of brick-and-mortar PP clinics in Iowa, we have much work yet to do,” Judkins said. 

“We must continue to work with our pro-life community so we can influence mindsets to accept a culture of life rather than a culture of death,” she said.

Judkins said she plans to continue the organization’s work on raising awareness of fetal development education, the harm of abortion pills, and the “legitimate trauma from abortion.” 

“We need to make sure Iowans know the answer in a crisis situation is not abortion and there are wonderful people who will gather around them to provide support and necessities,” Judkins said. 

The former Kuper Island Indian Residential School, 1941. / Credit: Public domain

CNA Staff, May 30, 2025 / 17:23 pm (CNA).

Canadian researchers and advocates have published a list of more than 100 priests and religious workers who served in the country’s controversial Indigenous “residential schools” that operated there for more than a century. 

The National Center for Truth and Reconciliation — a nonprofit that collects and publishes information on the Indigenous school system — said in a Thursday press release that it had created “a list of Oblate priests and brothers who participated in the administration and/or operations” of the schools. 

The list was live on the group’s website as of Friday, complete with “personnel profiles and links to the schools where the Oblate members served,” the group said. 

Long a source of historical tension in Canada, the residential schools — the last of which closed in the 1990s — have been criticized for their aim of turning Native American children away from Indigenous culture and forcibly assimilating them to Western ways of life. 

The schools were often underfunded and crowded. Survivors also reported rampant physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, with malnutrition, poor health care, and harsh discipline contributing to high death rates.

Many of the schools’ staff and directors were Catholic clergy and religious. In 2021, the Catholic bishops of Canada issued a formal apology to the Indigenous population of the country for the abuses of the residential school system.

The bishops noted that “many Catholic religious communities and dioceses” were involved in the residential school system, “which led to the suppression of Indigenous languages, culture, and spirituality, failing to respect the rich history, traditions, and wisdom of Indigenous peoples.”

Father Ken Thorson, the provincial of OMI Lacombe Canada, said in the press release that the Oblates were “deeply grateful” for the effort “to memorialize the experiences of residential school survivors.”

“The eventual release of this research and the initial list of Oblate members who worked in the schools marks a meaningful step forward,” the priest said. 

Raymond Frogner, the senior director of research at the National Center for Truth and Reconciliation, said that prior to the center’s work, the files “were dispersed in many unique repositories” throughout North America. 

“We are creating a central source to examine, understand, and heal from one of the longest-serving and least-understood colonial social programs in the history of the country,” he said. 

It was unclear if any of the individuals on the soon-to-be-released list of Oblates had been implicated in any abuse in the school system. The Oblates did not immediately respond to a query on Friday. 

Pope Francis in 2022 issued strongly worded remarks about the system, describing the schools as a form of “cultural genocide.”

In an address to delegates representing nine Indigenous nations of Canada during a visit there, the pope asked that “progress may be made in the search for truth, so that the processes of healing and reconciliation may continue, and so that seeds of hope can keep being sown for future generations.”

On Easter Sunday last year, the Archdiocese of Vancouver signed a “sacred covenant” pact with the Indigenous Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc government at Kamloops, a move Archbishop J. Michael Miller called a “historic” milestone that “forges a new relationship” between native tribes and the Catholic Church.

That pact came about after reports in 2021 of a possible mass grave at the Kamloops Indian Residential School site, though no human remains have been found at that site in the four years since.

About 150,000 Canadian children are estimated to have attended the schools, where more than 4,000 are believed to have died, according to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. 

The United States also ran similar schools in the 19th and 20th centuries. According to the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, more than 526 government-funded and often church-run Indian boarding schools were in operation, and by 1926, nearly 83% of Indian school-age children were attending these schools.

Pope Leo XIV smiles during his first general audience in St. Peter's Square on May 21, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Lima Newsroom, May 30, 2025 / 16:53 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV encouraged the Anabaptist (Mennonite) movement to live with love the call to Christian unity and the mandate to serve others.

The Holy Father made the statement in a message published May 29 by the Vatican and sent to participants commemorating the 500th anniversary of the Anabaptist movement in Zurich, Switzerland.

At the beginning of his message, Pope Leo emphasized that “by receiving the Lord’s peace and accepting his call, which includes being open to the gifts of the Holy Spirit, all the followers of Jesus can immerse themselves in the radical newness of Christian faith and life. Indeed, such a desire for renewal characterizes the Anabaptist movement itself.”

“The motto chosen for your celebration, ‘The Courage to Love,’ reminds us, above all, of the need for Catholics and Mennonites to make every effort to live out the commandment of love, the call to Christian unity, and the mandate to serve others,” Leo XIV emphasized.

Likewise, the pontiff’s text continues, the motto “points to the need for honesty and kindness in reflecting on our common history, which includes painful wounds and narratives that affect Catholic-Mennonite relationships and perceptions up to the present day.”

“How important, then, is that purification of memories and common re-reading of history that can enable us to heal past wounds and build a new future through the ‘courage to love,’” he pointed out.

“What is more, only in such a way can theological and pastoral dialogue bear fruit, fruit that will last. This is certainly no easy task! Yet, it was precisely at particular moments of trial that Christ revealed the Father’s will: It was when challenged by the Pharisees that he taught us that the two greatest commandments are to love God and our neighbor,” the pope said.

“It was on the eve of his passion,” he noted, “that he spoke of the need for unity, ‘that all may be one… so that the world may believe.’ My wish for each of us, then, is that we can say with St. Augustine: ‘My entire hope is exclusively in your very great mercy. Grant what you command, and command what you will.’”

In the context of “our war-torn world,” the pope continued, “our ongoing journey of healing and of deepening fraternity has a vital role to play, for the more united Christians are the more effective will be our witness to Christ, the prince of peace, in building up a civilization of loving encounter.”

Who are the Mennonites?

The Mennonites are an Anabaptist Christian group that originated during the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century.

Their name comes from Menno Simons, a Catholic priest who would become an important theologian of this movement.

Distinguishing features of the Mennonites are their pacifism or rejection of war, their emphasis on baptism in adulthood, and their community life in which they share goods and services and work together to maintain the community.

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

Father Pedro Bismarck Chau was appointed as a new auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey, on May 30, 2025. / Credit: Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 30, 2025 / 16:23 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Friday appointed Nicaraguan-born Father Pedro Bismarck Chau as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey.

The Holy Father also accepted the resignation of 77-year-old Newark Auxiliary Bishop Gregory J. Studerus.

Bishop-elect Chau is a priest of the archdiocese and currently serves as pastor at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, according to a press release from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“I warmly welcome the Holy Father’s appointment of Bishop-elect Pedro Bismarck Chau as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Newark,” Newark archbishop Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin said in a statement.

“His deep faith, considerable pastoral experience, and love for the people of God will be a great blessing to our local Church. I look forward to his contribution as we continue our mission to witness to Jesus Christ,” Tobin said.

Chau was born on July 18, 1964, in Managua, Nicaragua, and is bilingual in English and Spanish. 

In 2004, Chau received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey. He then studied at Immaculate Conception Seminary there and was ordained to the priesthood on May 24, 2008.

After his ordination, Chau worked as parochial vicar at Our Lady of Mount Virgin in Garfield, New Jersey, assisting the parish priest from 2008–2012. 

Chau became very involved in youth programs with the archdiocese, serving as an associate director of the archdiocese’s Youth and Young Adult Ministry and Catholic Youth Organization from 2012–2015.

From 2013–2016, Chau served as the assistant director of vocations for the archdiocese. He also worked as a campus minister at New Jersey Institute of Technology and at the Newman Center at Rutgers University from 2015–2020. During the same time period, he served as pastor at St. John’s Church and St. Patrick Pro-Cathedral.

Chau was appointed to the Priest Personnel Board for the archdiocese in 2017 and served on the board until 2020 when he began his current role as rector of the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart.

The priest later returned to Seton Hall University to acquire a master’s degree in professional counseling in 2021.

Other ministry work of Chau’s includes serving as the chaplain for the pastoral ministry with the Deaf, working as a professor at Immaculate Conception Seminary, and assisting V Encuentro, an organization that carries out missionary work to benefit the Latino ministry in the United States.

The auxiliary bishop-elect will join auxiliary bishops Manuel A. Cruz, Michael A. Saporito, and Elias R. Lorenzo along with Tobin to serve the estimated 1.04 million Catholics in New Jersey.

Pope Leo XIV welcomes representatives of various peace movements to the Vatican on May 30, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, May 30, 2025 / 15:44 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Friday stated that authentic peace “takes shape from the ground up” when the differences and conflicts they entail “are not set aside but acknowledged, understood, and surmounted.”

Pope Leo began his address to members of various peace movements, whom he received May 30 at the Vatican, with the same words he greeted the faithful when he was elected on May 8: “Dear brothers and sisters, peace be with you!”

The pontiff thanked them for launching the “Arena of Peace” meeting in Verona in May 2024. The event was chaired by Pope Francis and attended by some 300 delegates representing associations and movements that participated in the event.

Among the groups and movements present in the Clementine Hall on Friday were Mediterranea Saving Humans, Libera, the Italian Network for Peace and Disarmament, Catholic Action leaders, Doctors Without Borders, and the Focolare Movement.

The Holy Father recalled that, on that occasion a year ago, Pope Francis reiterated that building peace begins by “standing alongside victims, seeing things from their point of view.”

This approach, according to Leo XIV, “is essential for disarming hearts, approaches, and mentalities, and for denouncing the injustices of a system that kills and is based on the throwaway culture.”

Path to peace requires hearts and minds trained in concern for others

He particularly noted “the courageous embrace” between Israeli Maoz Inon, whose parents were killed by Hamas, and Palestinian Aziz Sarah, whose brother was killed by the Israeli army. Both were present at today’s audience.

“That gesture remains as a testimony and sign of hope,” he added. 

“The path to peace demands hearts and minds trained in concern for others and capable of perceiving the common good in today’s world,” the pope continued.

He pointed out that the path to peace involves everyone and that it “leads to the fostering of right relationships between all living beings.”

In an age like our own, “marked by speed and immediacy,” Leo XIV emphasized the need to “recover the patience required for this process to occur.”

In this context, he explained that “authentic peace takes shape from the ground up, beginning with places, communities, and local institutions, and by listening to what they have to tell us. In this way, we come to realize that peace is possible when disagreements and the conflicts they entail are not set aside but acknowledged, understood, and surmounted.” 

The pope therefore urged the peace movement members to promote dialogue with all and to maintain “the creativity and ingenuity born of a culture of peace,” with projects that simultaneously inspire hope.

Nonviolence must characterize our decisions

The Holy Father lamented that “all too much violence exists in the world,” reiterating that, in the face of wars, terrorism, human trafficking, and widespread aggression, “our children and young people need to be able to experience the culture of life, dialogue, and mutual respect.”

“Above all,” the pontiff continued, they need the witness of men and women “who embody a different and nonviolent way of living.” He therefore noted that victims who reject revenge become “the most credible agents of nonviolent peacebuilding processes.”

“Nonviolence, as a method and a style, must distinguish our decisions, our relationships, and our actions,” he added.

He also proposed the Gospel and the Church’s social doctrine as the “constant source of support for Christians in this effort” and also as a “compass for everyone.”

“Because it is, in fact, a task entrusted to all, believers and nonbelievers, who must develop and carry it out through reflection and practice inspired by the dignity of the person and the common good,” Pope Leo emphasized.

In this way, he emphasized that peace rests in the hands of all institutions and therefore invited them to be present “within history as a leaven of unity, communion, and fraternity.”

“Fraternity needs to be recovered, loved, experienced, proclaimed, and witnessed,” the pontiff emphasized before encouraging members of the peace movements to act “with patient perseverance.”

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

2025 Bradley Prize recipient Jimmy Lai. / Credit: Courtesy of the Bradley Foundation

CNA Staff, May 30, 2025 / 14:40 pm (CNA).

Jimmy Lai, the imprisoned pro-democracy advocate and Hong Kong entrepreneur, is the honorary recipient of the 2025 Bradley Prize for his unwavering commitment to free speech, democracy, and journalistic integrity. 

His son, Sebastien Lai, accepted the award on his father’s behalf at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. The Bradley Prize recognizes Lai’s role as a Catholic human rights activist standing against one of the world’s most oppressive regimes.

Imprisoned for over four years and currently in solitary confinement, Lai, 77, faces potential life imprisonment under Beijing’s 2020 national security law, which has stifled dissent and suppressed free speech in Hong Kong. 

“Jimmy’s extraordinary courage and deeply held beliefs in journalistic integrity, human dignity, and democracy are an inspiration to all who value freedom,” said Rick Graber, president of The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. “His sacrifice serves as a beacon of hope for those fighting against tyranny, and we are proud to award him with an honorary Bradley Prize.”

Lai, the founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, has become a global symbol of resistance against what Graber described as the “oppressive, authoritarian rule” of the Chinese Communist Party. 

The former stowaway and child factory worker turned billionaire’s entrepreneurial ventures spanned digital media and retail apparel, but it was his outspoken criticism of the Chinese government’s tightening grip on freedom and democracy in Hong Kong that led to his multiple arrests.

Sebastien Lai told EWTN’s Raymond Arroyo on “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo” on Thursday that he and his family are worried about his father, a diabetic with little to no access to medical care, the sacraments, or natural light in his “more than 1,600 days” in solitary confinement.

“It’s just cruelty what they’re doing to him” in prison, Sebastien said, “and he needs to be released immediately.”

President Donald Trump has said he would include Jimmy Lai’s release as part of ongoing negotiations with China. Sebastien met with members of the Trump administration in March, telling Arroyo he is “hopeful” and is grateful for the president’s “moral clarity” regarding his father’s case.

Though the elder Lai is a British citizen and could have fled, he chose to remain in Hong Kong, advocating for his principles. Sebastien said he has not yet met with Prime Minister Keir Starmer but he is hopeful the British government will help bring about his father’s release.

The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, based in Milwaukee, established the Bradley Prize in 2004 to honor individuals whose work strengthens the principles of American exceptionalism, limited government, free markets, and civil society. Each recipient receives a $250,000 to $300,000 stipend for contributions in areas such as constitutional order, education, and cultural vitality.

Past recipients include economist Thomas Sowell; journalists William Kristol and Charles Krauthammer; Robert P. George; and Mary Ann Glendon, the Harvard Law School professor emeritus who also served as the first woman president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.

Sebastien asked EWTN viewers to write to their elected representatives in Washington asking for Jimmy’s release and to “say a little prayer and light a candle” for his freedom. He expressed hope that Pope Leo XIV, who asked for prayers for the people in China this past Sunday, would also call for Jimmy Lai’s release.

“It is such a clear case of a persecuted Christian,” Sebastien said of his father’s imprisonment. The pope’s support of Lai “would give the people in China hope. It would definitely give my father hope.”

He said his father’s faith is his “pillar,” and although he is physically weak, he is “spiritually and intellectually” strong. “He knows he is doing the right thing by God.” 

The Chinese government wants his father to think that “he’s fighting by himself in his little cell,” Lai said. “But he’s not. He’s fighting for everybody’s freedom.”

“A man’s courage to give up everything he has to fight for what is right reverberates through time,” he said.