Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 31, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) recently sent a letter to federal senators and representatives urging them to defund Planned Parenthood and stop taxpayer money from funding services such as abortions and transgender procedures that “gravely violate human dignity.”

Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, Bishop Robert Barron and Toledo, Ohio, Bishop Daniel Thomas, the chairmen of the USCCB’s marriage and pro-life committees, respectively, wrote the letter last Thursday to “affirm our support for stopping taxpayer funding of the abortion and ‘gender transition’ industries.”

The letter was sent following the announcement that the Trump administration plans to freeze millions of taxpayer dollars from subsidizing abortion services via the federal Title X program.

The bishops addressed the senators on the same day hundreds of pro-life advocates went to Capitol Hill to urge Congress to cut the “funding of the abortion industry in the budget reconciliation process,” the prelates said.

“Necessary, long-standing, and historically bipartisan policies like the Hyde Amendment help prevent public funding for elective abortions themselves,” the bishops said, citing the decades-old rule that forbids federal funding of most abortions.

“Yet Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the U.S. at over 390,000 preborn children killed per year (about 40% of the total), still receives nearly $700 million annually — about a third of its revenue — from taxpayers,” they noted.

The letter further argued that federal funds to Planned Parenthood must be cut not just to limit abortion but also the gender ideology the organization promotes.  

Planned Parenthood is “the nation’s ‘second-largest provider of hormone therapy’ for patients attempting ‘gender transition,’” the bishops said. 

“The off-label use of hormones and puberty blockers has proven to be a lucrative billion-dollar business in an ever-growing market,” they wrote. “Planned Parenthood offers ‘gender transition’ services at nearly 450 clinics across the nation, surpassing the number of its locations that perform abortions.”

Planned Parenthood itself has admitted that most of these patients leave their first visit with a hormone prescription, the bishops noted.

“As the rate of these destructive services has dramatically increased, so too has government funding,” the bishops said. They asked Congress to put the money toward supporting families in need rather than helping harmful services be carried out.

“As you consider how to best steward taxpayer resources in the weeks ahead, we call upon you to stop funding abortion and ‘gender transition’ industries that gravely violate human dignity. Instead, we urge you to prioritize the needs of struggling families so they can flourish,” the bishops said.

Panelists discuss the connection between Catholicism and feminism at a recent Notre Dame conference. From left to right, Rachel Coleman, Deborah Savage, Leah Libresco Sargeant, Erika Bachiochi, Melissa Moschella, Helen Alvare, Abigail Favale, and Angela Franks. / Credit: Jonathan Liedl/National Catholic Register

South Bend, Ind., Mar 31, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Should Catholics identify as “feminists?” A panel of prominent female Catholic thinkers explored the question at a recent conference at the University of Notre Dame dedicated to the Church’s teaching on women, with some speakers embracing the strategic use of the term while others expressed uncertainty.

Those in favor of using the feminist label described it as rhetorical tool for finding common ground with non-Catholic women who might support practices like abortion and contraception but are nonetheless open to pursuing what is good for women.

“It has an instrumental use if we want to establish that we are both on the side of addressing the needs of women,” said Helen Alvaré, a legal scholar and Church leader who has advocated for the need for a “new feminism.”

Philosopher Melissa Moschella offered a similar perspective, encouraging attendees, which included religious sisters and nursing mothers, to call themselves feminists if doing so is useful with a particular audience, “and if it’s not, don’t.”

Abigail Favale, a theologian and the conference’s organizer, said that although she uses the term strategically to connect with various audiences, she is “very ambivalent” about whether Catholics should continue speaking positively about feminism.

Part of that is due to how opposed mainstream secular feminism has become to several important elements of Church teaching, but Favale also cited her own personal experience as a reason for concern.

Raised an evangelical, Favale began identifying as a feminist in college while reading feminist literature and theology. Initially, she said, she engaged with the arguments grounded in her faith but soon found herself “adapting Christianity to secular feminism.”

“It switched so subtly, almost without a conscious decision,” Favale shared, noting that she has seen something similar with Christian students she has taught who strongly associate themselves with feminism.

But other panelists suggested that there is value in Catholics appropriating the feminist label precisely because of the rise of so-called “red pilled” anti-feminist views, including among Catholics. These views, speakers argued, not only reject secular feminism but also recent magisterial teaching on the dignity of women.

“We have to defend women’s full rights and dignity,” said legal scholar Erika Bachiochi, who has argued that 19th-century feminism was motivated by Christian principles. “We have to tell young women today, ‘I’m with you, not with them.’”

And although “trad wife” influences are popular with young Catholic women right now, theologian Angela Franks said staking out a Catholic feminism now will be important in the event of widespread disillusionment with the anti-feminist turn.

“There’s going to be a backlash, and those women or their kids are going to be right back in the radical feminist camp” unless an alternative is provided, Franks said.

Whether the term “feminism” is employed or not, all panelists at Notre Dame agreed about the value of the Church’s ongoing focus on the unique mission of women and the need to promote justice for women in society.

“Women are equal in dignity, and they need specific advocacy because they are different,” said writer and policy analyst Leah Libresco Sargent, who added that the world treats women “like defective men.”

Another point of agreement was on the evangelical value of women embracing their femininity. Theologian Rachel Coleman underscored the importance of “living a joyful Catholic life and being happy you are a woman,” while Deborah Savage, director of the Institute for Men and Women at Franciscan University of Steubenville, encouraged attendees to “not apologize” for being women and to be proud of the gifts they “bring to the table.”

The panel took place in the aftermath of a somewhat contentious exchange of views on the merits of “Catholic feminism” in the Wall Street Journal. 

The debate was kicked off on March 13 when Bachiochi wrote a piece describing St. John Paul II as a “feminist pope.” Carrie Gress, who like Bachiochi is a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, responded on March 20 that John Paul II’s teaching on women has nothing to do with feminist ideology, while Margaret McCarthy, a theologian at the John Paul II Institute, wrote a March 24 letter arguing the Bachiochi had reduced the Polish pontiff to “sound bites.”

At Notre Dame, the panel discussion brought to a close the three-day conference, which was titled “True Genuis: The Mission of Women in Church and Culture.” Coinciding with the 30th anniversary of John Paul II’s 1995 “Letter to Women,” the conference explored topics like “The Female Body and the Culture of Life” and “The Feminine Genius and Catholic History.” Perspectives on complementarity between the sexes and the development of the Church’s doctrine on women were also presented.

Participants in the closing panel also discussed other topics like the importance of women receiving education about their bodies and turning to Mary as a model of femininity and a protective mediator. They also addressed challenges like the rise of gender ideology, social norms that suggest children are oppressive, and anxiety over body image.

The thinkers also spoke about the need for Catholic women to have good mentors and draw inspiration from female saints throughout the Church’s history, from mystics to mothers, foundresses to theologians.

“We need to open up this world of holy women who lived radical lives of service to the Church,” Favale said. “We need a lot of different models of holy femininity.”

Christian families displaced by the violence in India's Odisha state in 2008. / Credit: Aid to the Church in Need

Bangalore, India, Mar 31, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

A team of half a dozen Catholic nuns and lawyers have warned of increasing incidents of opposition to Christian funerals and hate campaigns against the Christian community in an eastern Indian state.

The group sounded the alarm after making a fact-finding visit to several remote areas under the Balasore Diocese in the state of Odisha.

“What we heard from the people in the villages was shocking to us,” Sister Clara D’Souza, a member of the Handmaid of Mary Congregation, told CNA on March 27.

“Our fact-finding report has details of incidents of tribal Hindu groups protesting and objecting to Christian funeral services and even Sunday Mass, starting [before Christmas],” she said. 

“As we released the fact-finding report, a third case of a Christian funeral obstruction happened on March 22,” D’Souza added.

Father Ajay Singh, a member of the fact-finding team, said the trouble for Christians in the Hatigarh area began on Dec. 18, 2024, when Hindu tribal activists demonstrated against the funeral service for a local Catholic, claiming that Christian funeral rites and prayers are against “tribal tradition.”

“However, the timely intervention of the police helped the conduct of the funeral,” said Singh, the former director of the social forum of the local Church. 

Later, the Hindu group — called Mahji Pragaon — created a commotion during a Sunday Mass and the police had to intervene to disperse the aggressors, who alleged that “new people are being converted” when prayer services were held in the church.

The recent fact-finding study found the Hindu group alleged in local newspapers that local Christians were “destroying the traditional culture by embracing and practicing the Christian faith.” 

“This group did not even attend the meeting government officials called to address the issue,” Singh pointed out.

Meanwhile, he said, the anti-Christian campaign spread to the village of Siunaguda in the neighboring Nabarangpur district. 

When 70-year-old Kesab Santa, an evangelical tribal Christian, died on March 2, the Hindu villagers insisted that they would allow “only tribal burial” and that “no Christian funeral [would] be held.” 

Singh said mourners were “unable to take the body for burial in a remote Christian village” and elected to bury the deceased “in the village in tribal tradition.”

When Siban Murmu, a 55-year-old Baptist of Rangmatia, died during a hospital stay on March 20, the body was brought to the village house the next day in the Catholic parish area of Hatigarh.

“Soon a local Hindu group arrived and started protesting against holding a funeral service for Murmu within the village,” D’Souza said. “They said that Murmu had been practicing the Christian religion and therefore should not be buried in the village.”

“Even after senior government officials arrived, the Hindu group did not relent and the dead body remained in the courtyard of the house for two days,” she said. “Finally, officials suggested taking the body to the Baptist church cemetery” about 10 miles away.

The report warned that recent elections in Odisha have “escalated further vulnerable situations of the Christians.”

Singh pointed out that “the sudden spurt in unprecedented anti-Christian propaganda is very much rooted” in the Hindu nationalist BJP winning the state election in Odisha last June.

“Maybe they are trying to create a Kandhamal-like situation by spreading hatred against Christians,” Singh said, a reference to the Kandhamal district, which saw orchestrated anti-Christian violence in 2008 when dozens of Christians were killed, over 300 churches destroyed, and 6,000 Christian houses plundered and torched, rendering 56,000 Christians homeless. 

“We are now living in fear in this area, which had perfect harmony among Hindus and Christians until recently,” Father Francis Kannampuzha, vicar of St. Paul’s Parish in Hatigarh, told CNA.

“There is certainly a clear conspiracy to create trouble and divide among the people on religious lines,” Kannampuzha said.

Priests designated as "Missionaries of Mercy" gather for a special Mass in Rome on March 30, 2025. To date, approximately 1,250 priests have been commissioned by the Vatican to embrace the call in Misericordiae Vultus to be “living signs of the Father’s readiness to welcome those in search of his pardon.” / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Rome Newsroom, Mar 30, 2025 / 16:11 pm (CNA).

The Holy Mass for the Jubilee of Priests instituted as Missionaries of Mercy was celebrated on Sunday at the Basilica of Sant'Andrea della Valle in Rome.

Hundreds of “Missionaries of Mercy” — priests with the authority to “pardon sins reserved to the Holy See” (Misericordiae Vultus, 18) — gathered in Rome’s basilica dedicated to St. Andrew the Apostle to concelebrate Mass with Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization.

In his homily, Fisichella reminded missionaries of mercy priests that they are “special instruments of reconciliation” who offer God’s great love to those who come to the sacrament of confession in search of forgiveness for their sins.

Fisichella encouraged the priests to be confessors who open their hearts and minds to “welcome those who approach us" but to also go out in search of those who are still far from the Church.

Recalling the example of the merciful father who restores dignity to his prodigal son in St. Luke’s Gospel, Fisichella said: “Love forgets sin, and forgiveness forces us to look directly to the future.”

The number of Missionaries of Mercy priests continues to grow worldwide. To date, approximately 1,250 priests have been commissioned by the Vatican to embrace the call in Misericordiae Vultus to be “living signs of the Father’s readiness to welcome those in search of his pardon.” 

Approximately 500 priests from around the world — commissioned as missionaries of mercy during the 2016 Jubilee of Mercy — participated in a variety of spiritual and cultural activities as part of the 2025 holy year dedicated to hope, including training sessions held inside the Vatican and a pilgrimage through the holy door of St. Peter’s Basilica.     

The March 28-30 special jubilee concluded Sunday with a free symphonic concert of “Missa Papae Francisci,” composed by Enni Morricone, in Rome’s Basilica of Sts. Ambrose and Charles on the Corso.

Pope Francis prays during his Wednesday general audience on Feb. 5, 2025, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Mar 30, 2025 / 09:18 am (CNA).

Pope Francis on Sunday encouraged Christians to continue their Lenten journey as a time of healing and faith in Jesus Christ. 

The Vatican released the Holy Father’s Sunday Angelus message while the 88-year-old pontiff continues his convalescence in his Casa Santa Marta home after being discharged from Rome’s Gemelli Hospital a week ago.

In his written reflection on the parable of the merciful father with two sons recorded in St. Luke’s Gospel, the Holy Father said the Pharisees were “scandalized” by Jesus and would “murmur behind his back” because he welcomed sinners.

“Jesus reveals the heart of God: He is always merciful toward all; he heals our wounds so that we can love each other as brothers,” he wrote in his March 30 message.

Encouraging Christians — who are united in God as brothers and sisters — the Holy Father said people should especially “live this Lent as a time of healing” in the Jubilee Year of Hope, adding: “I too am experiencing it this way, in my soul and in my body.”

“Frailty and illness are experiences we all have in common; all the more, however, we are brothers in the salvation Christ has given us,” he wrote. 

In his message, released on the March 28-30 weekend of the special Jubilee of Missionaries of Mercy, the pope also expressed his heartfelt thanks to all who reflect the “image of the Savior” and work as “instruments of healing” through their prayers and action.

Petitions for peace and healing

The Holy Father concluded his Angelus address with petitions for peace in Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, South Sudan, and Sudan.

“Trusting in the mercy of God the Father, we continue to pray for peace,” he wrote.

Speaking about his concern about the political unrest in South Sudan and Sudan, the Holy Father insisted that the international community work together to bring about peace in the two African nations.

“Only in this way will it be possible to alleviate the suffering of the beloved South Sudanese people and to build a future of peace and stability,” he said.

“And in Sudan, the war continues to claim innocent victims, I urge the parties concerned in the conflict to put the safeguarding of the lives of their civilian brothers and sisters first,” he continued.

Turning to “positive events” in Central Asia, the Holy Father thanked God for the ratification of the March 13 country border agreement between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, describing the deal as “an excellent diplomatic achievement.”

The Holy Father concluded his message with a prayer asking the Blessed Virgin Mary — the “Mother of Mercy” — to “help the human family to be reconciled in peace.” 

Catholic Charities USA President Kerry Alys Robinson. / Credit: Catholic Charities USA

CNA Staff, Mar 30, 2025 / 09:02 am (CNA).

Catholic Charities USA President Kerry Alys Robinson will receive the University of Notre Dame’s 2025 Laetare Medal, the university announced on Sunday, with the school bestowing the prestigous award for her “boundless compassion” and “faith-filled service” at the helm of the national charity. 

Established in 1883 and granted annually, the school’s Laetare Medal is named after the fourth Sunday of Lent, “Laetare Sunday,” the date on which its recipient is announced. It is “the oldest and most prestigious honor given to American Catholics,” the school says. 

It is awarded to an American Catholic “whose genius has ennobled the arts and sciences, illustrated the ideals of the Church, and enriched the heritage of humanity.”

Robinson joined the national Catholic charity organization as president and chief executive officer in 2023. She previously served as the founding executive director of Leadership Roundtable, a group that brings together clergy and laity to address the Church’s abuse crisis. 

“I have always loved the Church and held its potential in the highest esteem,” Robinson said on Sunday. “The Church’s explicit religious mission has formed the person I am.”

She noted that Catholic Charities is “the largest humanitarian network in the world” and described herself as “forever committed to its health and vitality.”

The award comes as Catholic Charities affiliates in states around the country have been struggling to maintain services and retain staff amid major budget cuts by the Trump administration. 

Multiple Catholic Charities agencies have been forced to lay off workers and roll back programs amid the budget cuts. Catholic Charities Fort Worth, meanwhile, sued the federal government at the beginning of March after the Trump administration froze tens of millions of dollars in grants for refugee services in Texas. The charity subsquently dropped the lawsuit after the Trump administration began paying out its grants again. 

In January, Robinson herself called on the White House to rethink its decision to slash aid budgets, arguing that Catholic Charities agencies provide “vital services” nationwide including “food pantries for those who can’t afford groceries, child care programs for low-income families, meal deliveries for homebound seniors, job training resources for veterans,” and other programs. 

Notre Dame President Father Robert Dowd, CSC, said in a statement on Sunday that Robinson has “dedicated her career to serving the Church, standing in solidarity with those on the margins so that they may experience the abundant love of God.”

Robinson “inspires us all to dedicate our lives more fully to answering the Gospel call,” he said. 

Past recipients of the Laetare Medal include Catholic Worker founder Dorothy Day, novelist Walker Percy, actor Martin Sheen, and Civil War general William Rosecrans, the latter known in part for his execution of the Middle Tennessee campaign in 1863. 

Robinson is scheduled to receive the award at Notre Dame’s commencement ceremony on May 18. Adm. Christopher Grady, a Notre Dame alumnus and the acting chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will give the commencement address, a choice that has stirred controversy on and off campus because of the university’s history of inviting the president or vice president to deliver the address.

A monumental cross towers above the Valley of the Fallen complex. / Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Madrid, Spain, Mar 30, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

In a statement published by the Archdiocese of Madrid, Cardinal José Cobo defended his role as an interlocutor between the Vatican and the Spanish government in the process of resignifying the Valley of the Fallen, a massive monument dedicated to both sides of the Spanish Civil War.

The statement, issued after the recent change of the prior of the Benedictine community at the historic site, seeks to clarify the agreements reached and the scope of the planned modifications to the monument.

Released just after 10:30 p.m. local time on March 26, the Archdiocese of Madrid’s statement regretted “the leak and dissemination of some recently published information about the resignification of the Valley of the Fallen, within an open process of dialogue.”

The concept of “resignification,” in the case of historical or symbolic spaces such as the Valley of the Fallen, seeks to reinterpret or redefine their meaning in order to adapt them to new contexts, perspectives, or purposes.

The statement from the Archdiocese of Madrid specifies that “to date, the only definitive agreement has been the permanence of the Benedictine community and the non-desacralization of the basilica, as well as respect for all religious elements located outside it.”

However, the statement admits that some type of modification to the church has been agreed upon, but it has not been specified: “Regarding any alterations within the church, they will be studied respecting the liturgical criteria and the purpose for which the basilica was built, guaranteeing independent access.”

The archdiocese also emphasized that “any other aspect related to the resignification is the exclusive responsibility of the Holy See and the government, which are the parties that conducted the negotiations.”

Furthermore, the statement emphasizes that the Spanish cardinal “has participated in this process as a designated interlocutor within an ecclesiastical commission,” which has entailed “an exchange of private notes on how to articulate the resignification of the Valley of the Fallen, always ensuring respect for the religious elements and the permanence of worship in the basilica.”

Finally, the Archdiocese of Madrid emphasized that, “beyond pastoral activity,” Cobo’s role is one of “accompaniment, but without having jurisdiction over the basilica or the religious community residing there.”

The statement came just hours after El Diario published that an agreement had been reached between the Vatican and the Spanish government to achieve the intended political “resignification” of the monument.

This agreement, in whose process Cobo allegedly participated, was reportedly finalized in a meeting between Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Minister of the Presidency Félix Bolaños on Feb. 25 in Rome.

In response to this statement, numerous X subscribers responded with accusations of treason and other forms of accusations against Cobo.

Changes to the interior of the pontifical basilica

The recent replacement of the prior at the Benedictine community, confirmed March 25, is reportedly part of the agreement reached. In addition, it is not ruled out that both the previous prior, Santiago Cantera, and one other monk may be transferred from the community because the Spanish government disapproves of them. 

According to the same information, only the altar and pews are expected to remain untouched, but changes may be made to the dome, vestibule, atrium, and nave, which are part of the Pontifical Basilica of the Holy Cross.

Brief history of the Valley of the Fallen

The Valley of the Fallen, inaugurated in 1959, is a monumental complex built after the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and is located about 30 miles from Madrid. It consists of a basilica situated underground in an excavated space in the mountain, an imposing cross, a Benedictine monastery, a school, and a monumental Stations of the Cross.

Among the monument’s founding purposes are “to pray to God for the souls of those who died in the National Crusade, to implore the blessings of the Almighty for Spain, and to work for the understanding and establishment of peace among men, based on Christian social justice.”

The complex was commissioned by Gen. Francisco Franco, Spain’s longtime head of state and leader of the winning Nationalist side in the bloody conflict with leftist Republican forces.

The controversy over the monument is colored by the fact that Franco supported the Catholic Church, which was caught in the middle and was being severely persecuted by elements of the Republicans. 

Between 33,000 and 50,000 Spaniards from both sides are interred there. In 1975, King Juan Carlos decided that Franco should be buried there. José Antonio Primo de Rivera, the founder of the Spanish Falange political party, who was executed for sedition in the early months of the war, was also buried there. 

Since 2007, the government led by Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE, by its Spanish acronym) implemented a series of measures to resignify the site, which leftist parties decry as a monument to Franco and his dictatorship. 

These measures have been reinforced since 2018 when Pedro Sánchez, also of the PSOE, took office as prime minister in a coalition with communist and separatist parties and heirs of terrorist groups.

In October 2019, the government ordered Franco’s remains to be exhumed and moved to another cemetery, an event broadcast live on public television.

In 2023, the same procedure was followed with Primo de Rivera’s remains, but at the family’s request and in a discreet manner in anticipation of the government’s wishes.

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

The Association of Pilgrimages in Lebanon (APL) unveils its plans for Caminos Lebanon, an innovative project designed to revitalize Christian religious tourism through a unique pilgrimage experience inspired by the renowned Camino de Santiago in Spain, on March 28, 2025. / Credit: Marwan Semaan/ACI MENA

ACI MENA, Mar 30, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Lebanon will soon have its own “camino,” according to the Association of Pilgrimages in Lebanon (APL).

On March 28, the group unveiled its plans for Caminos Lebanon, an innovative project designed to revitalize Christian religious tourism through a unique pilgrimage experience inspired by the renowned Camino de Santiago in Spain.

The launch event, held in Bkerké, the episcopal see of the Maronite Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch of the Maronite Church in Lebanon, gathered prominent figures, including Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, Tourism Minister Laura Khazen Lahoud, and Father Khalil Alwan alongside a diverse audience of clergy, religious leaders, and stakeholders.

Beyond hiking

The Caminos Lebanon project seeks to highlight Lebanon’s rich religious heritage by creating a comprehensive network of pilgrimage trails that connect historical and spiritual sites across the country. 

During the launch, Father Khalil Alwan, president of the APL, articulated the project’s core mission. 

“Lebanon is not just a country of natural beauty and a pleasant climate; it is a land of saints and a land of message,” he declared. Connecting the initiative to the Maronite Patriarchal Synod of 2006, which recognized the importance of religious tourism, Alwan emphasized the spiritual significance of rediscovering mountain trails and the home to numerous shrines, deeply intertwined with the liturgical calendar.

The trail network is ambitious, spanning four distinct routes that traverse Lebanon’s diverse terrain: Religious Mountain Trails will follow historic routes where saints once walked. Cross Trails will connect areas like Tartij, Qartaba, and Smar Jbeil, allowing pilgrims to walk through the Stations of the Cross. Thematic Trails will trace significant religious journeys, including the footsteps of Jesus in southern Lebanon and the Transfiguration Trail on Mount Hermon. Cultural Religious Trails will highlight regions such as Zahle, Ghosta, and Bchaaleh, offering visitors a deep dive into local traditions and heritage.

Roots of the project

What began as a plan for a single route has expanded into a comprehensive exploration of Lebanon’s spiritual landscape. The APL has been working on the ground since 2009, receiving the blessing of the Council of Catholic Patriarchs of the East in 2011. As its research has progressed, it has discovered the depth and diversity of Lebanon’s religious heritage.

Currently, the association has published a booklet in Arabic detailing the 24 shrines along the trails. Alwan hopes to secure funding for an English translation to reach a broader international audience. “This is an open invitation for pilgrims and tourists from Lebanon and beyond to walk these trails and experience their spiritual richness,” he said.

Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi described the project as a powerful spiritual initiative. “These paths are trails of faith and holiness, carrying the essence of the divine message,” he said. “When believers walk these paths, they experience popular devotion, which is the source and strength of faith.”

Tourism Minister Laura Khazen Lahoud framed the initiative as an opportunity for cultural exploration. “The Paths of Lebanon are not merely walking trails,” she affirmed. “They are a spiritual journey and a genuine chance to explore our rich heritage.”

Journey of spiritual unity

Nour Farra Haddad, a consultant with a doctorate in religious tourism and project coordinator of Caminos Lebanon, provided critical insights into the project’s conception. 

Drawing inspiration from the Camino de Santiago, the initiative introduces an innovative “pilgrim’s passport” system. The project showcases Lebanon’s remarkable religious diversity, with over 6,000 religious sites evenly divided between Christian and Muslim landmarks.

The trail network spans 24 shrines, each offering a unique spiritual experience. From the Theology of Waiting in Maghdouche to the Personal Relationship with God in Annaya, the paths promise a deep dive into Lebanon’s spiritual landscape.

“These were pedestrian routes, once traveled by Christ and the Romans,” Alwan explained. “For centuries, the faithful walked them to fulfill vows and pray for personal intentions. Today, this initiative allows both Christians and Muslims to reconnect with these sacred paths, engaging in meaningful spiritual conversations along the way.”

As Caminos Lebanon prepares to welcome its first pilgrims, it stands as a reflection of the country’s rich cultural and spiritual heritage. Alwan closed by noting: “Lebanon is not a desert, as some abroad may believe. It is a land of breathtaking beauty, home to both Christians and Muslims who have lived here for centuries — a landscape waiting to share its sacred stories with the world.”

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

The proposed restoration of the frontage of the Basilica of Sainte Anne de Détroit. / Credit: Pulte Family Charitable Foundation

CNA Staff, Mar 30, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

A major U.S.-based initiative is providing tens of millions of dollars to Catholic parishes and organizations across the country to “restore and endow” Catholic communities around the country “for generations to come.”

The Pulte Family Charitable Foundation earlier this month announced the launch of the Catholic Initiative, described in a press release by the organization as “an innovative, Vatican-approved funding model” to help ensure the continuation of Catholic properties and parishes.

The unique model is “the first of its kind in the world in faith-based fundraising, one that “shifts ownership of church buildings and campuses to a newly created nonprofit organization” created solely for that purpose, the foundation said.

Kevin Doyle, the chief operating officer of the foundation, told CNA in an interview that the initiative plans to start with five projects, all of which share “some similarities” with each other. 

“We’re investing with organizations or parishes or schools where there is already a vibrant community, strong leadership, a strong ethos around the place, and where the community being served from our investment is under-resourced and underserved,” he said. 

The first major project for the initiative is the Basilica of Sainte Anne de Détroit, a historic parish in that city that dates back to the late 19th century. It is among the oldest continually operated Catholic parishes in the United States. 

Doyle said the effort will be “probably about a three-year project.” 

“One aim is to restore this historic basilica,” he said. “We’re not calling it a ‘renovation,’ we’re calling it a ‘restoration,’ to bring back to life what is already a spectacular design.”

“We’ll be restoring the stained glass, fixing the pews, and restoring and modernizing the infrastructure itself,” he said, stressing that the architectural form of the building would not be altered.

“We’re also trying to create more of a campus feel on the property,” he said. “We’re building a plaza out front of the parish and creating more of a campus alongside the basilica with green space and walkways.”

“We want this to be a place where both Catholics and the local non-Catholic community will want to come multiple times a week, and not just for Mass,” he said.

The initiative is further investing in the historic Josephinum Academy of the Sacred Heart in Chicago. Similar to the Detroit basilica, the school dates to the late 19th century; it was founded by the Sisters of Christian Charity. 

“There’s a real opportunity for the school, like St. Anne’s, to become more of a community hub,” Doyle said. 

The program is also offering an endowment for Bulldog Catholic, Father Mike Schmitz’s youth ministry at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, that offers Mass, the sacraments and fellowship to Catholic students there. Schmitz is on the initiative’s board of advisers; the ministry is “dedicated to forming and inspiring the next generation of young Catholics,” the foundation said. 

“Other projects are planned,” Doyle said, adding that the foundation will wait for further endowments before it launches any more restoration and support programs. 

He said the first wave of projects includes a mix of recipients who requested the foundation’s support as well as recipients whom the foundation reached out to. 

In the future “we will have a process and selection criteria that we utilize to prioritize which ones to support,” Doyle said, though “we are probably a couple years away from launching that.”

The foundation is further backing some innovative housing initiatives, he noted. Among them are a southern Florida housing development for residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities and an affordable rental housing development in Immokalee, Florida, for the region’s low socioeconomic population.

All told, the foundation’s housing and Catholic initiatives so far have totaled more than $100 million in commitments.

Regarding the Catholic program, Doyle said earlier this month that the initiative is working at “pioneering a new model of investing in vibrant churches, schools, and parishes in underserved communities, ensuring their long-term sustainability.” 

“This model frees religious leaders and Catholic educators from their financial burdens,” he said, “and allows them to focus on their true mission: serving their parishioners and students.”

Pope Francis looks out at the crowd gathered below his hospital window at Rome's Gemelli Hospital on March 23, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media/Screenshot

CNA Newsroom, Mar 29, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

As hundreds of Missionaries of Mercy gathered in Rome this weekend, Pope Francis commended their distinctive ministry of forgiveness and reconciliation that continues to flourish worldwide.

Approximately 500 priests are participating in a special jubilee dedicated to their role as part of the broader 2025 Jubilee of Hope.

In a message addressed to these priests and written while still in the hospital, Pope Francis expressed his “gratitude and encouragement” for their work as special confessors who possess faculties to absolve certain sins typically reserved to the Holy See.

“Through your service,” the pontiff wrote, “you bear witness to the paternal face of God, infinitely great in love, who calls everyone to conversion and constantly renews us with his forgiveness.”

The missonaries’ March 28–30 gathering included training sessions, communal prayer, and a pilgrimage through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Pope Francis reflected on the profound connection between mercy and hope in his message. “Conversion and forgiveness are the two caresses with which the Lord wipes every tear from our eyes,” he stated. “They are the hands with which the Church embraces us sinners; they are the feet on which we walk in our earthly pilgrimage.”

The Holy Father encouraged these priests to maintain a compassionate approach in their ministry, urging them to be “attentive in listening, ready in welcoming, and steadfast in accompanying those who desire to renew their lives and return to the Lord.”

First commissioned during the 2016 Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, these priests have seen their mandate extended twice by Pope Francis. Their numbers have grown substantially, now surpassing 1,250 worldwide, with approximately 100 serving in the United States.

In Spes Non Confundit, the papal bull of indiction for the 2025 Jubilee Year, Pope Francis wrote that Missionaries of Mercy should “exercise their ministry by reviving hope and offering forgiveness whenever a sinner comes to them with an open heart and a penitent spirit.”

The pontiff concluded his message to the missionaries with a blessing and his customary request: “Please, do not forget to pray for me.”