Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 21, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

Instagram updated restrictions on teen accounts to be guided by PG-13 movie ratings to prevent teenage users from accessing mature and inappropriate content.

In 2024, Instagram introduced Teen Accounts to place teens automatically in built-in protections on the app. Last week, the social media platform announced additional updates to the accounts to only show teenagers content “similar to what they’d see in a PG-13 movie.”

Teens under 18 will be automatically placed into the updated setting and will not be allowed to opt out without a parent’s permission. The new restrictions ban users from searching inappropriate words and from following or messaging accounts with mature content.

Father Michael Baggot, LC, professor of bioethics at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome, said “any change to help empower parents, protect their children, and restrict age-inappropriate content from them is a positive step forward.”

“However, I am concerned because there is quite a difference between static content like a movie that can be thoroughly reviewed by a committee and very dynamic conduct that is performed in social media,” Baggot said in an Oct. 20 interview on “EWTN News Nightly.” 

Social media platforms include forms of cyberbullying, online predators, and artificial intelligence (AI) companions. “Those kinds of dynamic relationships are not necessarily regulated fully with a mere label,” Baggot said.

The updates follow feedback from thousands of parents worldwide who shared their suggestions with Instagram. After hearing from parents, Instagram also added an additional setting that offers even stricter guidelines if parents want more extensive limitations. 

“Parents have a unique responsibility in constantly monitoring and discussing with their children and with other vulnerable people the type of interactions they’re having,” Baggot said. “But I think we can’t put an undue burden on parents.”

Baggot suggested additional laws that hold companies accountable for “exploitative behavior or design techniques,” because they can “become addictive and really mislead guidance and mislead people.”

AI in social media 

Since Instagram recently introduced AI chatbots to the app, it also added preventions on messages sent from AI. The social media platform reported that “AIs should not give age-inappropriate responses that would feel out of place in a PG-13 movie.”

AI on Instagram must be handled with “great vigilance and critical discernment,” Baggot said. AI platforms “can be tools of research and assistance, but they can also really promote toxic relationships when left unregulated.”

Measures to restrict AI and online content are opportunities for parents and users “to step back and look critically at the digitally-mediated relationships that we constantly have” and to “look at the potentially dangerous and harmful content or relationships that can take place there.”

“There should be healthy detachment from these platforms,” Baggot said. “We need healthy friendships. We need strong families. We need supportive communities. Anytime we see a form of social media-related interaction replacing, distracting, or discouraging in-personal contact, that should be an … alarm that something needs to change and that we need to return to the richness of interpersonal exchange and not retreat to an alternative digital world.”

Artist Raúl Berzosa works on the portrait of St. Peter To Rot. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Raúl Berzosa

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 21, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Malaga, Spain-born artist Raúl Berzosa has painted portraits of popes for the Vatican, and his works have graced the covers of booklets at Vatican ceremonies and even the Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum. However, as he himself confessed on X, none had ever hung on the façade of St. Peter’s Basilica.

That honor came this week with the portrait of St. Peter To Rot, which Berzosa painted for the saint’s canonization ceremony on Oct. 19. The Vatican commissioned the Catholic artist to paint the official portrait, which has been displayed since Oct. 17 on the façade of St. Peter’s Basilica. Berzosa considers the work to be a fruit of grace and the culmination of a life dedicated to reflecting the light of faith in art.

Peter To Rot, who was born in Papua New Guinea, served as a catechist and died a martyr for the faith in 1945. He was canonized on Oct. 19 along with six others. 

In 1995, during his trip to Papua New Guinea, St. John Paul II described To Rot’s life as “a beacon shining bright, a signal fire leading you to hold aloft the noble ideals which inspired him: faith in God, love of family, service of neighbor, and unswerving courage in the face of trials and sacrifice.”

Berzosa, 46, renowned worldwide for his realistic style and religious themes, explained to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, that with his work depicting the Papuan saint, he sought to convey the inner light of which the Polish pope spoke.

“If the portrait manages to convey some of Peter To Rot’s bright inner light and helps others strengthen their faith, then the work will have fulfilled its true function,” the Spanish painter said.

“I hope that the faithful see in his gaze not only a martyr but a man full of peace, love for his family, and fidelity to the Gospel,” he added.

For Berzosa, To Rot’s essential witness lies in the conviction that holiness “can be lived out in everyday life, even in the midst of suffering, as in his case.”

The artist said he wanted the lighting effects in the portrait “to emerge from within the face itself, something serene that engages the viewer and seeks to convey hope.” Berzosa also noted that the “light blue and green brushstrokes” create a warm atmosphere, with the color and the overall composition seeking to accompany “this luminous message.”

The challenges of painting the first Papuan saint

“The main challenge was to approach Peter To Rot’s image itself with respect and accuracy. To achieve this, I had some black and white photographs as well as a color portrait based on one of the photographs. All of this helped me create my painting,” he said.

In Berzosa’s portrait, To Rot is dressed in the traditional attire of local catechists: a white shirt and a type of blue wrap.

“When the Japanese threatened the catechists and prohibited any apostolic activity, the vast majority — out of fear — hid the cross. Peter To Rot was the only catechist who continued to proudly display the white cross that identified him as a catechist,” Berzosa noted.

“In one hand he holds a Bible and in the other [open hand he shows] two rings, a reference to his defense of marriage. A cross hangs from his neck,” the artist explained. To Rot wanted to die wearing that cross, which would later be key to identifying his mortal remains. Behind the figure of the saint, the countryside of his native land at the time can be seen.

For the most accurate depiction, the painter researched photographs, traditional clothing, and other local references. 

“Throughout this work, I was assisted by Father Tomás Agustín Ravaioli, vice postulator of the cause,” Berzosa explained.

Portraying a martyr

The artist noted that the lives of martyrs, although often short, are “full of meaning, dedicated out of love and fidelity to the Lord.” He said he always seeks to convey the serenity of these witnesses to the Gospel in the most decisive moment of their lives.

“I try to understand that mixture of strength and peace of someone who gives his life for Christ,” he said.

“When I paint portraits of martyrs, there is a special respect for the person portrayed. Their witness transcends cultures and eras,” he noted.

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

Capella di Santa Rosa, St. Rosalia’s Chapel inside of the Palermo Cathedral, Basilica Cattedrale Metropolitana Primaziale della Santa Vergine Maria Assunta in Sicily, Itay, on May 5, 2022. / Credit: Frank Bienewald/LightRocket via Getty Images

Rome, Italy, Oct 21, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

The murder of a 21-year-old Italian man after trying to break up a fight has prompted two southern Italian archbishops to sound the alarm against the rise of Mafia-style killings among young people.  

At a prayer service Oct. 18 for Paolo Taormina, who was killed one week ago outside the family-owned bar where he worked, Archbishop Gualtiero Isacchi of Monreale, Italy, told the faithful present that their presence was “a sign of resistance and a desire for change.”

“The violent, typically Mafia-like logic of oppression, which some shamefully and unconsciously praise on social media, aims to erase human conscience and dignity, to extinguish hope, and to condemn the person to the resignation of ‘nothing will ever change,’” Isacchi said, according to SIR, the news agency of the Italian bishops’ conference.

Archbishop Corrado Lorefice of Palermo also attended the prayer service, which was held at St. Philip Neri Church, located in the Zen neighborhood, the same area where Taormina was murdered. 

Invoking the memory of Blessed Pino Puglisi, a parish priest who was killed by the Mafia in 1993, Lorefice urged the people of Monreale and Palermo to “take on the challenge” of protecting youth from the influence of the Mafia and gang-related organizations.

“We must shout to young people that criminal organizations do not want their happiness, and we must remember that the center of the city is wherever the person is,” the archbishop said.  

Taormina’s murder is the latest in a series of gangland-style shootings related to a perceived rise in youth violence and organized crime in Monreale and Palermo.

In April, three young men — Massimo Pirozzo, Salvatore Turdo, and Andrea Miceli — were shot and killed after four men — one of whom was 19 years old — shot at a crowd after an argument broke out. Two others were seriously injured in the shooting, which was dubbed “The Monreale Massacre.” 

Taormina’s alleged killer, 28-year-old Gaetano Maranzano, was the son of one of the area’s known drug kingpins and was caught with other firearms after he was arrested at his home.  

At the prayer service, Isacchi said that some may view their gathering to pray for an end to violence as “useless“ or perhaps look at it “with an air of sufficiency and superiority.” 

Nevertheless, “we choose to listen to the faint inner voice that whispers to us: ‘God is there, lying on the ground next to Paolo, Massimo, Andrea, Salvo, to all our sons and friends, victims of senseless armed violence,’“ he said. “It is a voice that calls us, asking us to do our part to stop the violence and restore dignity to every person and every environment.”

Father Giovanni Giannalia, pastor of St. Philip Neri Parish, told SIR that while many singled out the troubled Zen neighborhood as “trivial” and “violent,” there are still “many people willing to do good, and doing it here is more tiring than elsewhere.”  

“Youth violence is worrying: three deaths in Monreale, one in Palermo. The situation is out of control, it’s an emergency,” Giannalia said, adding that everyone, especially priests, who “encounter evil” must fight against it. 

The warnings from Church leaders highlighted concerns regarding escalating violence among young people, particularly in Sicily, where the local Mafia, known as “Cosa Nostra,“ has taken to recruiting young people. 

According to a February report by the “Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime,” a demographic analysis conducted after raids against the Mafia organization found that of 181 individuals arrested, 40 were under the age of 35 and 10 were under the age of 25.  

Following Taormina’s murder, Isacchi and Lorefice issued a joint statement Oct. 14 saying they had hoped that “The Monreale Massacre” would mark a turning point in the region that would end the wave of youth violence.  

“Today, we renew the same hope. We believe that change is possible,” the bishops wrote. “May Paolo’s life become a sign of the transformation of our cities: a seed of rebirth.”

“Let us entrust ourselves to Our Lady of Sorrows,” the archbishops added. “Only she knows how to enter the pierced heart of a mother who holds her murdered son in her arms, but also into the heart of the mother of a son who is a killer. May the mother of Jesus teach us the way of rebirth, love for the little ones, the poor, the children, and for those who have no voice; the way of nonviolence and peace.” 

A commuter waits at the Westchester/Veterans Metro K Line station on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. / Credit: Carlin Stiehl/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 21, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

A controversial ad campaign posted in the New York City subway system has sparked criticism and vandalism over the past few weeks. The print ads are selling an AI companion necklace called “Friend” that promises to be “someone who listens, responds, and supports.”

The device first launched in 2024, retailing at $129. It is designed to listen to conversations, process the information, and send responses to the user’s phone via a connected app. While users can tap the disc’s button to prompt an immediate response, the product will also send unprompted texts. The device’s microphones don’t offer an off switch, so it is constantly listening and sending messages based on conversations it picks up.

CNA did not receive a response to a question from Friend.com about the success of its subway ad campaign and how many people are currently using the devices, but Sister Nancy Usselmann, FSP, director of the Daughters of St. Paul’s Pauline Media Studies who also studies AI, told CNA that “people are turning to AI for companionship because they find human relationships too complicated.” 

But “without that complicatedness, we cannot grow to become the best that we can be. We remain stagnant or selfish, which is a miserable existence,” she said.

Creating ‘Friend’ amid loneliness epidemic 

Avi Schiffmann, the 22-year-old who started Friend.com, was a Harvard student before leaving school to focus on a number of projects. At 18, he created a website that tracked early COVID-19 data from Chinese health department sources. In 2022, he built another website that matched Ukrainian refugees with hosts around the world to help them find places to stay. He then founded Friend and now serves as the company’s CEO. 

Schiffmann and his company first turned heads when an eerie video announcing the new gadget was released in July 2024. The advertisement featured four different individuals interacting with their “friends.” One woman takes a hike with her pendant, while another watches a movie with hers. A man gets a text from his “friend” while playing video games with his human friends. He first appears to be sad and lonely around his friends, until his AI “friend” texts him, which appears to put him at ease.

The marketing video ends with a young man and woman spending time together as the woman discusses how she has only ever brought “her” to where they are hanging out, referencing her AI gadget. 

“It’s so strange because it’s awkward to have an AI in between a human friendship,” Usselmann said about the video ad. 

Hundreds took to the comments section of the YouTube video to respond — mostly negatively — to both the Friend.com ads and the technology. Commentators called out the company for capitalizing on loneliness and depression. One user even called the video “the most dystopian advertisement” he had ever seen, and others wrote the video felt like a “horror film.”

“While its creators might have good intentions to bring more people the joys of companionship, they are misguided in trying to achieve this through a digital simulacrum,” Father Michael Baggot, LC, professor of bioethics at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome, told CNA.

The device “suffers from a misnomer, since authentic friendship involves an interpersonal relationship of mutual support,” said Baggot, who studies AI chatbots and works on the development of the Catholic AI platform Magisterium AI. 

“The product risks both worsening the loneliness epidemic by isolating users from others and undermining genuine solitude by intruding on quiet moments with constant notifications and surveillance. Friend commodities connection and may exploit human emotional vulnerabilities for profit,” he said, adding: “It might encourage users to avoid the challenging task of building real relationships with people and encourage them to settle for the easily controllable substitute.” 

Usselmann agreed. “Only by reaching out in genuine compassion and care can another person who feels lonely realize that they matter to someone else,” she said. “We need to get to know our neighbors and not remain so self-centered in our apartments, neighborhoods, communities, or places of work.”

AI device ad campaign causes stir

In a post to social media platform X on Sept. 25, Schiffmann announced the launch of the subway ad campaign. The post has more than 25 million views and nearly 1,000 comments criticizing the pendant and campaign — and some commending them.

Dozens of the ads have since been torn up and written on. People have posted images to social media of the vandalized ads with messages about the surveillance dangers and the general threats of chatbots. One urged the company to “stop profiting off of loneliness,” while another had “AI is not your friend” written on it.

One person added to the definition of “friend,” writing it is also a “living being.” It also had the message: “Don’t use AI to cure your loneliness. Reach out into the world!”

Usselmann said the particular issue with the campaign and device is “the tech world assuming certain words and giving them different connotations.” 

“A ‘friend’ is someone with whom you have a bond based on mutual affection,” she said. “A machine does not have real affection because it cannot love. It does not have a spiritual soul from which intellect, moral agency, and love stem.”

She continued: “And from a Christian understanding, a friend is someone who exhibits sacrificial love, who supports through the ups and downs of life, and who offers spiritual encouragement and forgiveness. An AI ‘friend’ can do none of those things.”

null / Credit: Ivon19, public domain via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA-4.0)

CNA Staff, Oct 21, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Catholics across the United States are encouraged to participate in the national Respect Life Novena beginning Oct. 22 in an effort to unite in prayer for the protection of the unborn and all those affected by abortion.

The Respect Life Novena is offered annually by the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) and consists of nine days of prayers, Scripture readings, and suggested acts of reparation.

Some of the prayer intentions in this year’s novena include ones for the protection of life from conception to natural death, for those who have undergone an abortion to experience God’s healing and mercy, for those with disabilities to be treated with dignity, and for an end to the death penalty, among others.

This year, the Respect Life Novena will be available on the free version of the Hallow app and a different U.S. bishop will lead the faithful in prayer each day. The bishops taking part include Bishop Daniel Thomas of Toledo, Ohio; Archbishop Alexander Sample of Portland, Oregon; Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia; Bishop Robert Brennan of Brooklyn, New York; Bishop Chad Zielinski of New Ulm, Minnesota; Bishop Barry Knestout of Richmond, Virginia; Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois; Bishop Elias Zaidan, the Maronite eparch of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles; and Bishop Stephen Parkes of Savannah, Georgia. 

Archbishop Samuel Aquila of the Archdiocese of Denver is urging all Catholic Coloradoans to take part in the novena — especially as Colorado continues to expand access to abortion.

On Oct. 25, the fourth day of the novena, Aquila will be leading a Eucharistic procession around Denver’s Planned Parenthood facility — the largest abortion provider in the state. 

“The Respect Life Office is filled with joy and anticipation for the upcoming Eucharistic procession with Archbishop Aquila,” said Jennifer Torres, community engagement coordinator for Respect Life Denver, a ministry of Catholic Charities, in an interview with the Denver Catholic. “This sacred time offers our community a beautiful opportunity to come together in witness and worship, united in our shared mission to be light in a darkened world.”

“As we walk with Christ truly present in the Eucharist, we are reminded that he calls us to be faithful, to carry hope, and to boldly proclaim the dignity of every human life,” she added. “We believe that a deepened devotion to the Eucharist has the power to transform hearts and ultimately renew a culture that too often chooses death over life. We invite all to come as they are, [to] rest and pray with us.”

Earlier this year, the Colorado Legislature passed a measure that mandates taxpayer funding for elective abortions. As part of the new law, an earlier provision in the state constitution that prohibited public funds for abortion has now been repealed; the new law requires abortion coverage for Medicaid patients and Child Health Plan Plus program recipients using state money.  

“The allocation of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds to subsidize the deliberate ending of innocent life and harm of women is a tragedy for Colorado,” the Colorado Catholic Conference, which represents the state’s bishops, wrote April 24. 

The Respect Life Novena can be found here.

A pilgrim prays the rosary at a Marian vigil in St. Peter’s Square, Rome, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 20, 2025 / 17:27 pm (CNA).

A poll released by the Pew Research Center found that most Catholics believe religion has a positive influence on life in the United States, and an increasing number of Catholics believe religious influence on everyday life is a growing force.

The data, published on Oct. 20, found that 71% of Catholics believe religion has a net positive influence on society, while 10% say it has a net negative influence on society. The other 19% said religion has a net neutral or unclear impact on society.

A minority of Catholics believe that religion’s impact on society is growing, but that number is much higher than it was in previous polls. The poll compared responses in February 2024 to responses in February 2025.

Pew found that in 2025, 27% of Catholics believe religion is gaining influence in American life compared with 73% who said religion is losing influence. This is, however, a strong shift from 2024 when only 15% of Catholics believed religion was gaining influence and 82% believed religion was losing influence.

According to the research, 13% of Catholics said their religious beliefs have a great deal of conflict with mainstream American culture, and 42% said their beliefs have some conflict with mainstream culture. About 45% said there is not much conflict between their religious beliefs and mainstream culture. 

The survey also found that 30% of Catholics said loving one’s country is essential to being a Christian. It also found that 65% of Catholics said many religions may be true, while only 19% said only one religion is true. About 13% said “there is little truth in any religion.” 

Influence on U.S. society

According to the Pew survey, the broader American public also has a positive view on religion’s impact on society. About 59% said religion has a net positive impact on society, while 20% said it had a net negative view, and about 21% said religion has a net neutral or unclear impact on society. 

Pew also found that 31% of the broader American public believes religion is gaining influence on society and 68% said it is losing influence in 2025. This is also a shift from 2024, when only 18% said religion was gaining influence and 80% said it was losing influence.

The poll also found a political divide surrounding the public’s views about whether the influence of religion is positive. About 78% of Republicans believe religion has a net positive impact on society, compared with just 40% of Democrats who said the same.

The Archdiocese of Chicago says it removed Father Xamie Reyes from Little Flower Parish in Waukegan, Illinois, Oct. 19, 2025, following allegations of sexual misconduct involving seminarians. / Credit: Tudoran Andrei/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 20, 2025 / 16:57 pm (CNA).

The Archdiocese of Chicago has removed Father Xamie Reyes from Little Flower Parish in Waukegan, Illinois, following allegations of sexual misconduct involving seminarians.  

The archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Blase Cupich, shared “the difficult news” in an Oct. 18 letter to parishioners. Cupich wrote the archdiocese “has received allegations against Father Reyes of grooming and sexual misconduct.” 

Cupich said the allegations against the pastor “do not involve children and youth, but they did involve seminarians.”

“This is a very serious matter,” Cupich wrote. “Father Reyes will live away from the parish pending the outcome of an investigation into these charges.”

The archdiocese reported it is taking all allegations of misconduct seriously and “encourages everyone experiencing it to come forward.” Anyone who chooses to come forward “will be received with dignity and compassion,” Cupich wrote. He also shared with parishioners how to report claims.

While the investigation is pending, Father Ismael Garcia, Little Flower’s associate pastor, will serve as pastor. Cupich wrote to parishioners: “Father Garcia knows the needs of your parish well and with the assistance of your episcopal vicar, Bishop Timothy O’Malley, will ensure that you continue to receive pastoral care.”

“I know that this is unsettling news, but I take seriously the responsibility to ensure those serving you are fit for ministry and that all are kept safe,” Cupich wrote. “I do appreciate your patience as we work to evaluate thoroughly these allegations. Only by doing so can we remain true to our promise to keep everyone safe.”

“I will inform you of any new developments and am grateful for your understanding,” Cupich wrote. “Please know the people of Little Flower Parish are in my prayers.”

Reyes did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Pope Leo XIV meets the president of the Italian Anti-Usury Council, Luciano Gualzetti, on Oct. 18, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 20, 2025 / 15:53 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Saturday condemned usury, a practice that is sometimes an extremely grave sin that speaks to the corruption of the heart of those who see others only as “objects of exploitation.”

Usury can be defined as charging too much interest on a loan, a practice that has existed since ancient times. Traditionally, the Catholic Church taught that the sin of usury was the act of demanding any benefit or profit for the sole purpose of lending. This understanding has evolved over time, and the Church no longer condemns the general practice of lending with interest, as long as it is moderate.

On Oct. 18, the Holy Father received the National Anti-Usury Council of Italy in the Vatican Apostolic Palace. For 30 years, the council has been dedicated to “combating a problem that has a devastating impact on the lives of so many people and families,” according to the Vatican Press Office.

In his address, the pontiff stated that “the phenomenon of usury points to the corruption of the human heart. It is a painful and ancient story, already attested to in the Bible. The prophets, in fact, denounced usury, along with exploitation and every form of injustice toward the poor.”

“How far God is from the attitude that crushes people to the point of enslaving them! It is a grave sin, at times very grave, because it cannot be reduced to a mere accounting issue; usury can bring crisis to families, it can wear down the mind and heart to the point of leading people to think of suicide as the only way out,” the pope said.

Although there are forms of usury that appear to be helpful to those in financial difficulties, in the end it reveals itself “for what it is. The consequences are paid especially by fragile people, such as those who are victims of gambling” or like those facing “difficult moments, such as for instance extraordinary medical treatment or unexpected expenses beyond their means or those of their families. What first presents itself as a helping hand in reality becomes, in the long run, a torment.”

Leo XIV continued, saying “usurious financial systems can bring entire peoples to their knees. Similarly, we cannot overlook ‘those whose usurious and avaricious dealings lead to the hunger and death of their brethren in the human family’ (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 2269): their responsibilities are grave and they fuel structures of iniquitous sin.”

After urging respect for the dignity of all, especially the weakest and most vulnerable, the Holy Father urged: “Either we regain our moral and spiritual dignity or we fall into a cesspool.”

Jesus, Zacchaeus, and a path to conversion of usurers

Pope Leo then referred to the Gospel passage (Luke 19:1-10) in which Jesus meets Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector of Jericho, who “was accustomed to abuse, oppression, and bullying. It was normal for someone like him to take advantage of his position to exploit people and earn money by robbing the weakest.”

“And so Jesus seeks out Zacchaeus: He calls him and tells him that he wants to stay at his house. And then the unthinkable happens: Jesus’ generosity completely takes the man aback and puts him with his back against the wall. Coming to his senses, Zacchaeus realizes that he has done wrong and decides to repay ‘with interest’!” Leo continued.

“No one asked him for so much, not even the Mosaic law. But the fact is that his encounter with Christ transformed his heart, and then everything changed. Only generosity is so effective that it reveals to us the meaning of our humanity,” the pope emphasized.

The pontiff pointed out that “when the pursuit of profit prevails, others are no longer people, they no longer have a face, they are just objects to be exploited; and so we end up losing ourselves and our souls. The conversion of those who engage in usury is just as important as closeness to those who suffer from usury.”

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

Bishops fill St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican for the Synod on Synodality closing Mass on Oct. 27, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 20, 2025 / 15:23 pm (CNA).

The Vatican has recognized an Australian bishop’s synodal plan to restructure the governance of his diocese. 

The Vatican’s General Secretariat of the Synod has officially recognized a pastoral plan laid out by Bishop Michael Kennedy of Maitland-Newcastle that will see the diocese adopting a governance structure that “will operate in synodal mode.”

In an Oct. 14 response to the pastoral letter on social media, the Vatican synodal office posted the letter. The social media post said the bishop invites the faithful to “embrace this vision more fully,” fostering a Church that listens, learns, and acts together in the service of the Gospel.

What’s in the plan? 

According to Kennedy’s missive, titled “Letter on Synodality and the New Diocesan Governance Framework for the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle,” changes will be implemented on four levels. 

First, a diocesan pastoral council will be formed to lead the diocese’s synodal process through the revitalization of its pastoral planning cycle, which the letter said had been paused due to the death of Bishop Bill Wright in 2021. “The pastoral planning cycle allows significant synodal engagement in the future direction of the diocese,” he said. 

“This will be a significant milestone in our synodal journey,” Kennedy added, “but not its conclusion — the synodal journey is ever ongoing.” 

The pastoral planning cycle will also be implemented on a parish level, “adapted to the circumstances of each community,” Kennedy said, noting: “It is intended that the 2025 revised statuses for parish pastoral and finance councils will assist.” 

The diocesan curia will be restructured to reflect synodal “structures of participation.” Namely, Kennedy emphasized that “the governance of the bishops’ role has to be constitutional, follow the laws and customs of our Church, and be consultative (synodal); hearing those who need to be heard before decisions are made, which in some instances also requires receiving consent before acting.” The letter does not clarify what instances would constitute such procedures. 

Lastly, the plan stipulates the formation of “new advisory groups that will adopt synodal working methods.” The groups will include three civil councils and four canonical councils. Among the civil councils will be the bishop’s senior leadership group, a governance council, and a safeguarding council. Canonical councils include a council of priests, pastoral council, college of consultors, and a finance council. 

The advisory groups will provide advice to the bishop and diocesan trustees “for critical discernment” in their respective areas of expertise, Kennedy’s letter said.

A call to action

“In the coming months, we will invite expressions of interest from those who feel called to contribute their insight, skills, and experience as members of these advisory boards and councils,” Kennedy wrote.

“Whether your background is in pastoral life, education, social services, finance, governance, community leadership, or good plain commonsense problem-solving and decision-making,” he continued, “your perspective can help us faithfully serve our communities into the future.” 

The Maitland-Newcastle bishop concluded the letter noting more information about the nature and scope of the advisory groups will be posted to the diocese’s website in the near future. 

“I thank you for your ongoing commitment to the life and mission of our diocese,” he wrote. “Together, guided by the Holy Spirit, we will continue our journey as a local Church, faithful to the Lord” and focused on synodal listening, communion in faith and love, and mission to spread the Gospel.

Seven new saints were canonized on Oct. 19, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 20, 2025 / 14:53 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Monday highlighted the life testimony of the saints canonized Sunday, Oct. 19, as “luminous signs of hope” for today’s Catholics.

“The men and women we proclaimed saints yesterday are luminous signs of hope for all of us, because they offered their lives for love of Christ and their brothers and sisters,” the pontiff said in his address to the pilgrims, representatives of the clergy, and civil authorities who had traveled to Rome to participate in the canonization of the seven new saints.

Leo XIV expressed his hope that the canonization of Venezuela’s first two saints, Carmen Rendiles and José Gregorio Hernández, would be “a strong incentive for all Venezuelans to come together and recognize themselves as children and brothers and sisters of the same homeland, reflecting on the present and the future in the light of the virtues that these saints lived in a heroic manner.”

Pointing to the faith of both saints, the pope emphasized that “God was present in their lives and transformed them, turning the simple existence of a normal person, like any one of us, into a lamp that illuminated everyone with a new light in their daily lives.”

The Holy Father emphasized that these two saints, whose lives can illuminate the present, were “people very similar to ourselves, who lived confronting problems that are not unfamiliar to us and which we ourselves can face as they did, following their example.”

The Holy Father also indicated that “if God is our eternal reward, our work and our struggles cannot end in goals that are not only unworthy and degrading but also ephemeral.”

He also invited his listeners to recognize that “those who live alongside me — like me, like them — are called to the same holiness; I must therefore see them, above all, as brothers and sisters to be respected and loved, sharing the journey of life, supporting each other in difficulties and building the kingdom of God together with joy.”

St. Ignatius Maloyan, a pastor after the heart of Christ

Regarding the Armenian Catholic archbishop St. Ignatius Maloyan, Pope Leo XIV emphasized that he was “a pastor after Christ’s own heart, and in times of heavy difficulties, he did not abandon his flock; rather he encouraged them in order to strengthen their faith.”

He also noted that “when he was asked to renounce his faith in exchange for freedom, he did not hesitate to choose his Lord, even to the point of shedding his own blood for God.”

The Holy Father therefore prayed for the intercession of this saint “to renew the fervor of believers and bring fruits of reconciliation and peace for all.”

St. Peter To Rot, defender of truths of the faith

For Leo XIV, St. Peter To Rot, the first native Papuan saint, offers “an inspiring example of steadfastness and fortitude in preaching the truths of the Gospel when confronted by difficulties and challenges, even threats to our lives.”

The pope prayed that the example of this saint from Papua New Guinea “would encourage us to defend the truths of the faith, even at the cost of personal sacrifice, and to rely always on God in our trials.”

Murdered at the age of 33 in 1945 for defending the sanctity of marriage, he demonstrated, according to the pontiff, “extraordinary courage by risking his life to carry out his apostolate in secret, because his pastoral work was prohibited by the occupying forces during the Second World War.”

St. Maria Troncatti, an example of charity

Regarding the new Salesian saint who dedicated her life to serving the Indigenous peoples of Ecuador, Pope Leo noted that “she cared for the bodies and hearts of those she assisted with the love and strength she drew from faith and prayer.”

“Her truly tireless work,” the pontiff continued, “is an example for us of a charity that does not give up in the face of difficulties but rather transforms them into opportunities for free and total self-giving.”

St. Vicenta Maria Poloni: Perseverance in service to the weak

Pope Leo XIV highlighted St. Vicenta Maria Poloni, founder of the Sisters of Mercy, for her compassion toward the sick and marginalized.

Her example, the Holy Father explained, “encourages us to persist in daily service to the most fragile: It is precisely there that holiness of life flourishes!” he exclaimed.

St. Bartolo Longo and love of Mary in the rosary

Finally, he emphasized that the Italian St. Bartolo Longo “devoted all his energy to works of corporal and spiritual mercy, promoting faith in Christ and affection for Mary through charity toward orphans, the poor, the desperate.”

“Grateful to its founder, may the Shrine of Pompeii preserve and spread the fervor of St. Bartolo, apostle of the rosary. I wholeheartedly recommend this prayer to everyone, to priests, religious, families, and young people,” the pontiff encouraged.

With this prayer, the Holy Father said, “we assimilate the Gospel and learn to practice it.”

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