Ss. Cyril and Methodius Ukrainian Catholic Church

According to Stephen de Silva, St. Albans Cathedral’s longest-serving guide of more than 45 years, religious brothers who lived in the cathedral’s abbey in the 14th century invented the original hot cross bun for both charitable and catechetical reasons. / Credit: Photo courtesy of St. Alban's Cathedral

Rome Newsroom, Apr 18, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

On Good Friday more than 660 years ago, the hot cross bun became part of English culture as well as Catholic history.

The origins of the beloved baked treat traditionally made with currants, spices, flour, and eggs is closely linked to a cathedral dedicated to St. Alban, England’s first saint and martyr.

Located north of London in England’s Hertfordshire county, St. Albans Cathedral stands where the fourth-century protomartyr was executed and buried around A.D. 300. His 1,700-year-old shrine, housed within the cathedral, is believed to be the oldest continuous site of Christian pilgrimage in Great Britain.

According to Stephen de Silva, St. Albans Cathedral’s longest-serving guide of more than 45 years, religious brothers who lived in the cathedral’s abbey in the 14th century invented the original hot cross bun for both charitable and catechetical reasons. The bun was originally called the “Alban bun.”

Oral and written historical accounts suggest Brother Thomas Rodcliffe first baked and distributed the special spiced buns to the poor on Good Friday in 1361 to mark the close of the liturgical season of Lent and the beginning of Easter.

Deliberately baked with the “sign of the cross” to associate it “with Good Friday and Jesus’ death,” de Silva said the popularity of the medieval buns evolved from a local Catholic custom to a British baking tradition that even spread to other countries.

The fact that the hot cross bun has become a recognizable symbol of English culture and a staple of British bakeries all year round is particularly impressive considering its 664-year-old history.

Under the English Reformation, ruling monarchs tried to stamp out Catholic religious practice in the country, including the baking and selling of the spiced medieval buns “seen as a practice from the Catholic traditional past,” de Silva said.

Soon after King Henry VIII cut ties with the Roman Catholic Church and enforced the 1534 Act of Supremacy to declare himself the head of the Church of England, he proceeded with the dissolution of monasteries between 1536 and 1541.

“The dissolution of the monasteries had a huge impact on food for the poor both in St. Albans and elsewhere,” de Silva told CNA. “In the medieval era, St. Albans Abbey owned much of the surrounding land and properties.”

“In 1539, the Abbey lands, including the mill, were seized by Henry VIII, parceled up, and either sold or gifted away,” he said. “The king gave Redbournbury Mill and its income to his daughter, later Queen Elizabeth I.”

Protestant Queen Elizabeth I followed in her father’s footsteps and continued the widespread persecution of Catholics, specifically targeting the Lenten bun that was being baked more frequently and in more places around England.

“There was a Religion Act of 1592 which was enacted to control the behavior and public worship of Catholics,” de Silva told CNA. “We do know that in her reign, there was an attempt to reign in the baking and the selling of these spice buns.”

In the spirit of the times, de Silva said the London clerk of markets issued the edict that allowed the spiced buns — “which would possibly be seen as a practice from the Catholic traditional past” — only to be sold at burials, Christmas, or on Good Friday.

In spite of government-imposed restrictions, local bakers helped carry on the tradition of the hot cross buns. In 1851, nearly 500 years after the story of the Lenten buns was passed down through oral history, the first documented account was written by a baker who said he wanted to follow the Good Friday tradition of Rodcliffe.

As the buns’ popularity continued to rise, an 1862 Herts Advertiser newspaper article tried to highlight the bread’s religious significance.

“The time-honored custom has therefore been observed over the centuries and will undoubtedly continue into posterity, bearing with it the religious remembrance it is intended to convey,” the local newspaper reported.

“Bread is always a food staple, and a special bread associated with Good Friday just has that extra meaning,” de Silva told CNA.

The Mystery of the Brotherhood of San Benito processes through the surroundings of the cathedral of Seville on Holy Tuesday, April 15, 2025. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Joaquín Carmona

Seville, Spain, Apr 17, 2025 / 13:01 pm (CNA).

The Holy Week processions in the Andalusian capital are one of Spain’s most iconic traditions. Every year, members of the confraternities or brotherhoods prepare fervently to be part of this eagerly awaited event, a genuine manifestation of popular piety.

Confraternities and brotherhoods are religious associations that organize the processions and carry the floats on their shoulders.

Renowned worldwide, their images file through the city during Holy Week to the accompaniment of “saetas” (devotional songs) and marching bands. And it only takes a second, that fleeting instant when the gaze of the Virgin or the crucified Christ meets yours, to understand the mystery of our faith.

Following the Holy Week processions in Seville is no easy task. Each step, with their route to the imposing cathedral, turns the map of the city’s historic center into a sort of timed puzzle.

The faithful and tourists navigate the labyrinthine, decorated streets to experience firsthand the spectacle where art and the purest popular devotion converge. As José María Pemán, a native of Cádiz, aptly wrote, during Holy Week, Seville “prays with art.”

Turning to the sound of drums or the canopy, enveloped in incense, swaying to the rhythm of the bell ringers are like small flashes of light that illuminate the soul and invite, in a special way, to reflect on the sacrifice the Son of God made to redeem us.

The crowd raises its gaze as it throngs with heavy hearts and silent tears to the procession, with great respect for the Nazarenes (penitents) who, with their candles, precede the float borne up by a team of men.

The little ones look for their parents among the penitents carrying the cross, while they listen in the distance to the float foreman’s instructions, capturing in their minds the first memories of the best of inheritances.

Every gesture, every float, every instruction is carefully planned, with an almost artisanal precision, just as the golden threads are intertwined in the Virgin’s cloak.

It is a precision that is only threatened by the rain, the only impediment the floats encounter on their route.

The pageantry unfolds with the saeta (devotional song) dedicated to the Virgin of Peace as her image passes through Plaza de España (Spain Square) on Palm Sunday, the swaying of the San Gonzalo confraternity’s float in the Triana neighborhood, the mystery portrayed by the Confraternity of Bitterness in front of the convent of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, the solemnity of Jesus of the Passion on Holy Thursday, and the gestures of reverence toward the Virgin of Hope of Macarena during the “Madrugá” (the night between Holy Thursday and Good Friday).

Each image has its own story and evokes in those fortunate enough to witness it the vivid memory of the passion of Christ, who no longer walks alone.

The wonder is shared and is felt by both the members of the brotherhoods who have grown up under the protection of these images and the tourists who stumble upon them by chance.

Seville, with its brotherhoods, Nazarenes, and saetas, makes the drama of Calvary come alive every Holy Week, as if each procession shouted to the world that Christ is not alone — and neither is his mother.

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

Susan Smith (left) and Marion Calder, co-directors of For Women Scotland, with campaigners celebrate outside the U.K. Supreme Court in London on Wednesday April 16, 2025, after the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act were ruled to refer to a biological woman and biological sex. / Credit: Press Association via AP Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 16, 2025 / 16:05 pm (CNA).

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom ruled on Wednesday that only biological women are protected under Britain’s Equality Act, contradicting prior statutory guidance by the Scottish government. 

Britain’s highest court found in the landmark decision that individuals who have obtained a gender recognition certificate (GRC) of legal transition from male to female are not considered women under the 2010 Equality Act. 

“The unanimous decision of this court is that the terms ‘woman’ and ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex,” said Patrick Stewart Hodge, deputy president of the Supreme Court of the U.K., reading the decision.

“But we counsel against reading this judgment as a triumph of one or more groups in our society at the expense of another,” he added. 

The U.K. court ultimately ruled that “the concept of sex is binary, a person is either a woman or a man,” and that it would be “incoherent and impracticable” to allow persons with a GRC to be categorized as women under the Equality Act.

However, it also specifies that this does not mean persons who identify as transgender are stripped of legal protections as a protected class. Rather, it specifies that the “protected characteristic” of persons who identify as transgender is “gender reassignment” rather than “sex.” 

“It is not the role of the court to adjudicate on the arguments in the public domain on the meaning of gender or sex, nor is it to define the meaning of the word “woman” other than when it is used in the provisions of the [Equality Act] 2010,” the ruling notes. 

The decision follows a long drawn-out legal case between the Scottish government and For Women Scotland, a women’s rights organization dedicated to improving protections for women and children. 

The dispute began in 2018 after the passage of the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018, which sought to counter gender imbalance on public sector boards and included transgender-identifying persons with GRC certificates in the quotas as women. 

For Women Scotland challenged the act in 2022, leading to a drawn-out battle in which the group filed two appeals that were both dismissed before the case ended up in front of the U.K. Supreme Court three years later.

“Today the judges have said what we always believed to be the case: that women are protected by their biological sex, that sex is real and that women can now feel safe that services and spaces designated for women are for women,” For Women Scotland co-founder Susan Smith told those gathered outside the courthouse, according to Reuters.

Author J.K. Rowling, who has been outspoken on the transgender issue, reacted to the ruling on social media: “It took three extraordinary, tenacious Scottish women with an army behind them to get this case heard by the Supreme Court and, in winning, they’ve protected the rights of women and girls across the U.K.”

Father Paul Murphy exits the Central Criminal Court in Dublin on Thursday, April 10, 2025, after giving a victim impact statement in a sentencing hearing for a boy who stabbed him. / Credit: Press Association via AP Images

Dublin, Ireland, Apr 16, 2025 / 12:26 pm (CNA).

An Irish priest whose arm was almost severed in an attack by a 16-year-old boy has publicly forgiven his attacker in a Dublin court. The attack happened as Irish Defence Forces chaplain Father Paul F. Murphy returned to his army barracks after an evening swim. 

During the victim impact statement, Murphy turned around to face the teenager, who told him: “I’m sorry.”

Speaking directly to his assailant during a sentencing hearing, Murphy said: “As a man of faith, I am in the business of forgiveness, and I offer to you, the young man standing accused before me, the forgiveness that will hopefully help you to become a better person.”

During the criminal court hearing in Dublin, Murphy publicly embraced his teenage attacker whose assault left him with life-changing physical and psychological injuries. 

The attack occurred on Aug. 15, 2024, as the priest returned to his barracks in Renvyle after an evening swim. The 16-year-old assailant, who could not be named for legal reasons, approached his vehicle, and when Murphy lowered his window, the teen stabbed him repeatedly with a knife, continuing as the wounded priest drove his car forward. The attacker was disarmed by on-duty members of the Defence Forces who fired warning shots at him.

In his victim impact statement, the chaplain said: “While I can remember each gory detail, I believe the attempted murder lasted only about 90 seconds.”

He continued: “I did not see or hear much news, nor read much online or in the ‘papers,’ but one angle proffered was that ‘the poor priest was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.’ Your Honor, if it wasn’t me, it would have been someone else, and I am convinced, without a shadow of a doubt, that I was the right person, in the right place, and at the right time. That night was filled with blessings.”

“Out of all the members of our Defence Forces, I was best placed to take the knife that night. I feel that I can contextualize the events of 15th August in my life in a way that would be much more difficult for a young soldier starting out in adulthood. And I thank God every single day that the knife tore through my skin, and not through the body of one of my comrades. I consider it an honor and a privilege to carry those scars until my dying day.”

Referencing the significance of the Aug. 15 feast of the Assumption of Mary, Murphy said he felt the intercession of a World War I Irish army chaplain.

“That night was also the vigil of the anniversary of the death of the Irish Jesuit Father Willie Doyle, an army chaplain who was killed in battle in the First World War,” he said. “Investigations are ongoing to see if Father Doyle should be canonized as a saint, and we had been praying for his intercession in our Garrison Church, one hundred meters from where I was attacked. I felt his intercession that night.”

The Dublin Central Criminal Court heard testimony that the boy, who is now 17 years old, supported the Islamic State terrorist group and had been radicalized online. When questioned, the assailant admitted to the premeditated attack. However, he intended to target any member of the Defence Forces; Murphy was not targeted because he was a priest. He said he did it to “protest the Irish Defence Forces work in Mali and all the stuff for Islam.”

Subsequently, the boy apologized to Murphy, and the two embraced and spoke privately at the court hearing. 

Murphy said the incident has caused him to be more vigilant and he is undergoing counseling from a fellow priest who is also a psychotherapist. His left arm, which was almost severed in the attack, is not fully functioning. 

“The attack on me wasn’t personal, so I don’t feel particularly vulnerable, but, with good reason, I cannot rule it out from happening again. Sometimes, when one man fails in a mission, another takes up the mantle, and, with that in mind, I will probably never fully feel free,” he said.

Head chaplain to the Irish Defence Forces Father Paschal Hanrahan said Murphy is involved in every aspect of ministering to his troops. “He is very much a hands-on padre in terms of working with the troops in every aspect of their lives. He is absolutely revered by them,” he said.

As army chaplain, Murphy has made numerous overseas trips over the past decade, including to Syria and Lebanon to visit Irish troops, and is also centrally involved in organizing Defence Forces involvement in the annual international military pilgrimage to Lourdes, France.

“He would have an incredible reputation among the European militaries because of his involvement in that,” Hanrahan said.

Murphy plans to travel to Lebanon soon with the 126th Infantry Battalion.

The Catholic Church in France will welcome a record number of adults into the faith in 2025, with particularly strong growth in the numbers of young adults and teenagers, according to newly released statistics from the country’s Conference of Bishops (CEF). / Credit: French Bishops’ Conference

Paris, France, Apr 16, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

A new survey in France illuminates the surprising pathways bringing young people to the Catholic faith in unprecedented numbers at the coming Easter vigil.

The Catholic Church in France will welcome a record number of adults into the faith this weekend, with particularly strong growth in the numbers of young adults and teenagers, according to newly released statistics from the country’s Conference of Bishops (CEF).

A survey of 900 French catechumens conducted by Catholic media outlets Famille Chrétienne and Aleteia has revealed that social media plays a crucial role in attracting young adults to Catholicism, with 78% saying social media played a role in the discovery or deepening of their faith, while 84% said they follow Christian content creators or “influencers.”

Examples given were Dominican Father Paul-Adrien d’Hardemare, who has 481,000 subscribers on YouTube, and Le Catho de Service, which features a lay apologist named Victor who says his goal is to “motivate a generation of saints to re-evangelize France.” He has more than 200,000 followers on TikTok.

However, 54% said it was a priest, a religious, or a catechist who “helped them the most in their faith journey,” while 32% said it was friends.

A striking finding was that 65% said they did not grow up in a religious family, with 50% claiming they had discovered the faith on their own. Catechumens said they came to the faith initially through personal research (40%), through family (23%), or through friends (14%). About 40% said they had a “founding spiritual experience that pushed them to take their journey further,” the report said.

The French bishops reported that 10,384 adults will be baptized this year on Easter Saturday evening, a 45% increase from the previous year. They will stand alongside more than 7,400 adolescents aged 11 to 17, also considerably higher than the year before.

This continues a trend of increased interest in the Catholic faith among young French people that was also seen over Easter 2024.

“These results, which further exceed the record figures collected last year, are the highest ever recorded since the CEF began this survey more than 20 years ago,” said a statement from the French bishops.

It added that 13 dioceses will more than double the number of baptized adults. As well as the surge in catechumens, the CEF said there had been an increase in the number of adults who were baptized as children and are now choosing to be confirmed in the faith.

The data revealed that the trend in adult baptisms is particularly strong in women and those under 40. The conference said 42% of catechumens this year are in the 18-24 age group and nearly two-thirds of catechumens are female. 

“We can already see it as encouragement from the Lord, reminding us that he is the master of the mission; he is the one who draws us to himself, touches hearts, and reveals himself,” said Archbishop Olivier de Germay of Lyon, who is also member of the Commission for Initiation and Christian Life, in a statement.

“Let us give thanks to God,” he said, stressing the importance of discipleship for the new converts.  

Over the English Channel in the United Kingdom, there is also evidence of a surge of interest in Christianity in young adults and suggestions that online content might be influencing them, too. 

A recent report from the Bible Society, a charity based in England that promotes reading Scripture, found that churchgoing had increased significantly in the youngest adult age group over the past six years, with 16% of 18- to-24-year-olds saying they are monthly churchgoers compared with 19% of those over 65. That makes young adults the second most likely age group to attend church in the U.K., and the trend is particularly strong in young men. 

This year across England there were increased numbers of catechumens and candidates at the Rite of Election at the start of Lent. Anecdotally, many of these new entrants are young men, their interest sparked by social media such as content from U.S.-based Bishop Robert Barron and Father Mike Schmitz. 

Young adults in the U.K. are now twice as likely to attend Catholic churches than the Church of England, as only 20% of churchgoers identify as Anglican compared with 41% identifying as Catholic and 18% as Pentecostal, the Bible Society said.

Father Antonio Aurelio is vicar general of the Trinitarian order. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Rome Newsroom, Apr 15, 2025 / 14:26 pm (CNA).

The Trinitarian order was founded at the end of the 12th century to free persecuted Christians. Today, it continues to quietly and humbly assist those persecuted for their faith.

Among the bustling streets of Rome’s Trastevere neighborhood, a few steps from the Tiber River, stands one of Rome’s oldest basilicas, that of St. Chrysogonus, served by the Trinitarian order — officially known as the Order of the Most Holy Trinity and of the Captives — since 1850. The basilica was built in memory of a Roman soldier who died a martyr after converting to Christianity.

Father Antonio Aurelio, vicar general of the Trinitarian order, explained with conviction in an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, that “we were born to go to the dungeons.” 

In a large hall, under the gaze of all the superior generals of the order whose portraits grace the room, Aurelio — wearing his unmistakable white habit with its blue and red cross — explained why the Trinitarian order marked a turning point in the Catholic Church.

A mission: To liberate Christians

“The founding of the order in 1198 was a unique event in the history of the Church, since until then only monastic life existed,” Aurelio said.

According to Aurelio, St. John of Matha, its founder, created the first order that came out of the convent to help those in need, especially Christians who had been taken prisoner during the years of the Crusades (1096–1291), for whom they paid ransoms and even changed places with.

The Trinitarian order was established with the mission of rescuing and redeeming both Christian captives and Muslims, establishing a new model of religious life centered on action and service outside the monastery. The vicar general also noted that the Trinitarians went to war zones “in the name of peace, not with a weapon but with a cross.”

“They call us redeemers because we follow the same path that the Redeemer follows. He leaves his place, so to speak, of glory and comes down to the world. He goes to seek out the needs, to seek out the weaknesses of man, to free him, to bring him out of that darkness. And the Trinitarians follow the same path. They leave their homes to seek out those in need, to give them the clarity of the God of the day, bringing them out of the darkness of the dungeons,” he said.

In fact, there are currently Trinitarians in the process of beatification, such as Antonio da Conceiçao, a Portuguese Calced Trinitarian, and José de la Madre de Dios and Ignacio Tavares, who died in prison after exchanging themselves for Christian prisoners.

“There were religious who, when money wasn’t coming in and they saw that the prisoners were in dire straits, would take their places, literally offering their lives for the captives,” Aurelio added.

21st-century captives

With a desire to return to the origins of its founding, the Trinitarian International Solidarity (TIS) was founded in 1999. Its mission is to assist persecuted Christians and work for religious freedom.

According to the 2023 World Religious Freedom Report by Aid to the Church in Need, Christians continue to be the most persecuted religious group. A total of 28 countries, home to more than half of the world’s population (51.5%), fall into the “red” category of persecution. Of these, 13 are in Africa, where the situation has seriously deteriorated.

Today, Trinitarians continue their order’s legacy, dedicating their lives to the captives of the 21st century, those who suffer persecution for their faith. The order currently has 54 communities in Europe, 22 in the United States and Canada, 21 in Latin America, 10 in Madagascar, two in India, and two in continental Africa.

In addition to Trinitarian priests, the order also includes Trinitarian nuns and sisters, distributed among houses in Rome and various locations in Spain, as well as lay Trinitarians.

Following St. John of Matha’s example

“Eight Centuries Later” is a Spanish-language documentary that gives voice to and puts a face on forgotten Christians suffering in places like Syria, Nigeria, and northern India but who don’t lose hope thanks to the “silent” help offered by TIS.

“St. John of Matha is one of the most discreet saints in existence; he never spoke of himself,” Aurelio said. Drawing on the founder’s humility, discretion, and silence, the order wanted to make a documentary in which the spotlight is given to those who are suffering extreme situations, today’s captives.

“We wanted them to be the ones to speak. Let them be the ones to express themselves, to tell us,” Aurelio explained.

The documentary reflects the heartbreaking situation of girls in Nigeria, kidnapped and raped by Boko Haram terrorists. It also highlights the abandonment of Christians in Syria, once conceived as the “Switzerland” of the East and now devastated by war, as well as the lack of religious freedom in India. “The Trinitarian family is present there, discreetly, as we say, in silence, but it is present there,” Aurelio emphasized.

For the superior of the Trinitarians, what “is not told does not exist,” although he added that Christians ought to be interested in learning about the reality of their persecuted brothers and sisters without looking the other way.

“We’re so used to our own routines, our own ways, that anything different doesn’t register. In other words, it slides off like water on a raincoat, it doesn’t soak in. And that’s what’s happening in the West, what’s happening in Europe, and what’s happening in the United States,” he lamented.

In this context, he clarified that the Trinitarian order is not a nondenominational, nongovernmental organization (NGO), “but rather we are religious. Our concept is a religious attitude, and since we can’t stop these wars because it’s beyond our power, at least what we can do is not leave the people to fend for themselves, not abandon them.”

Aurelio lamented the relativism in society in developed countries and the lack of “purity of faith.”

“We cannot abandon them. It pains us greatly that the West has such a hard time understanding that there are people who hold fast to the same religion and are willing to give their lives to remain faithful to that religion,” he told ACI Prensa.

When asked about the main motivation that leads to the persecution of Christians or whether there is a common factor among the persecutors, the Spanish priest was clear: “The Christian message is what scares them. Christianity is the only religion that has fostered a democratic context, freedom among people. Where Christians are persecuted, there are essentially dictatorships, and the message of freedom is a message they don’t accept.”

“Christianity,” Aurelio continued, “is the only religion on a philosophical and theological level that looks to the person as he or she is, and therefore seeks his or her well-being.” In Christianity, “one of life’s foundations is freedom.” 

He emphasized that Christianity gives every person a sense of freedom, something that “terrifies dictatorships … Anything that is contrary to the pursuit of the common good of the person, which is Christianity, must be persecuted,” he pointed out.

He also cited the subservience and obedience practiced in some religions, especially Islam. “It is not accepted; the concept of personhood doesn’t exist in these religions. There is the concept of ‘Sunnah,’ a series of regulations that govern social interaction, but the person has no identity,” he maintained.

“It seems like we’re talking a lot about the common good these days,” he said. “That’s a modern idea of ​​the common good, but the first person to use that word was St. Paul, in his letters. This whole desire to look to the person as the center of that freedom, of that well-being, frightens any dictatorship that exists in the world, and, therefore, those who embrace this way of life must be persecuted.”

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

The Diocese of Westminster, which includes much of the capital city London, said it had 252 catechumens and over 250 candidates, making a total of over 500 to be received into the Catholic Church at Easter — the most seen since 2018. / Credit: Diocese of Westminster

London, England, Apr 14, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

This Easter Vigil, the Catholic Church in England is expecting a decade-high surge of new entrants to the faith. There is anecdotal evidence of a particular increase in young men, who say their interest was sparked initially by Catholic apologists on social media and also by the traditional heritage of Catholicism.

Almost all English dioceses contacted by CNA reported a significant increase in both catechumens and candidates at the Rite of Election at the start of Lent compared with last year. Many had not seen comparable numbers for a decade.

The Diocese of Westminster, which includes much of the capital city London, said this year it has 252 catechumens and over 250 candidates, making a total of over 500 to be received into the Catholic Church at Easter — the most seen since 2018.

The adjacent Archdiocese of Southwark, which has a significant evangelization program, saw over 450 adults complete the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) this year, more than the year before. Such levels have not been seen since Pope Benedict XVI allowed groups of Anglican communities to enter into communion in 2011 through the apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus.

“I don’t think it can just be put down to COVID recovery; there seems to be something fresh afoot,” said Mark Nash, Southwark’s director of the Agency for Evangelization and Catechesis. “The Holy Spirit is moving in a very particular way.” 

Although the candidates have a broad variety of backgrounds, some trends he has noticed include young men initially inspired by online U.S.-based evangelists and apologists such as Bishop Robert Barron, founder of Word on Fire; Father Mike Schmitz, a popular speaker, podcaster, and campus minister; Edward Sri, a theologian, author, and speaker; and Trent Horn, a Catholic apologist and podcaster.

Nash has also noticed more from atheistic countries.

“As part of my work, anecdotally, going to a number of parishes, groups I’ve been in, there has been a large number of younger people — particularly men,” he said. “Increasing numbers of Chinese… in Southwark we are blessed with a panoply of ethnicities. It is really is the Church universal; it is massively edifying.”

The diocese published a video of interviews of four candidates who expressed a variety of reasons and motivations for becoming Catholic, including the witness of the early Church fathers, the experience at a Catholic school, and the powerful faith of a young child. 

A musician living a “rock-and-roll life” spoke of feeling drawn to Mary. “I knew that it was something real and strong and pure,” Vedina-Rose said in the video. “Mary gives me so much comfort and love and understanding, and whenever there have been moments where I felt doubt or I felt lonely or I felt rejected all I have to do is call on Mary and I just feel this comfort… I just love Jesus.”

Across England and Wales similar trends are noticeable: 

• The Diocese of Arundel and Brighton, on the south coast, said it had an increase from 60 catechumens and just under 90 candidates in 2024 to 105 catechumens and 105 candidates this year. 

• In the Diocese of Northampton, just north of London, there were 38 adult candidates for baptism and 62 for reception. Yearly statistics show that this is a level not seen since 2014, and apart from a surge in the mid-2000s, these levels are historically high. 

• The Archdiocese of Birmingham, in the midlands, said there were 201 catechumens and candidates at the Rite of Election compared with nearly 130 in 2024. 

In northern England, the Archdiocese of Liverpool had 140 candidates and catechumens this year. Last year it had 110. One attendee at Liverpool Cathedral is Sarah Yates, 21, who will be baptized at the Easter Vigil. Although her parents were not religious, time spent with her grandparents going to Mass laid a foundation for her more recent interest. She credits young people’s increased interest in Catholicism to the internet. 

“I think the rise in social media has led to the increase,” she said. “People can just express any views. If one person in America says something, I can look and then conduct my own research.”

“Personally I don’t like to use social media that much,” she continued, “but with YouTube and Spotify, you can sit in the comfort of your own home, you can learn the entire history of Catholicism — it’s all out there.”

John Withers, the director of WeBelieve, a new festival in England that aims to reach “seekers” as well as Catholics, said he has observed young men drawn to his parish after watching videos on YouTube that progressively interested them in the faith. They began with psychologist Jordan Peterson, then Bishop Barron, then more spiritual speakers such as Father Schmitz. 

“They literally followed that algorithmic journey into the Church,” Withers said. “Society has been ‘spiritual, not religious’ for some time. Now, Christianity — particularly in its ancient forms — is becoming a socially acceptable spiritual option. There is something in the air.”

The increase in those entering the Church appears to have taken place in many different kinds of parishes up and down England. But there has been particular interest in more traditional expressions of spirituality, often at urban-centered Oratories run by a distinct network of priests and founded by St. Philip Neri. 

One priest of the Oratory told CNA: “There is a remarkable resurgence of interest in the faith, especially among young people, and in particular young men. We have a continual stream of interest, such that I would say that there is a new person asking about becoming a Catholic nearly every week.”

“I would say that most of those coming to the Church have no religious background, or almost none,” he said. “It is precisely the lack of purpose and truth in contemporary society that leads them to seek meaning. For that reason then, watered-down versions of Christianity have no attraction.”

One personal story that illustrates this trend is that of Paul Sapper, 27, who works as a communications officer at faith-based legal advocacy organization ADF International, which has defended many of the Christians prosecuted for pro-life work or for conservative values in the U.K. 

Sapper first engaged with Christians at Oxford University and spent time in evangelical churches. He was drawn to the Catholic Church due to its upholding of traditional sexual ethics including contraception. He now attends the Traditional Latin Mass.

He said he believes his generation is increasingly drawn to Christianity in its historic form and that the “hugely encouraging” increase in people at the Rite of Election is a “promising sign that we may be at a turning point and entering a new era.”

“There is a general consensus between people of various worldviews that things are getting worse and that we are in an age of decline in this country and across the West,” he said. “The solution to the crisis we face today is not political or cultural — it’s spiritual, as we are facing a spiritual crisis. As things get darker, more and more people — especially young people — are coming to realize that the light of Christ and his truth shine all the more brightly in the dark.”

“Decline is not inevitable, but our civilization can only be healed by returning to its founding principles, which are based and wholly dependent on the Christian faith and worldview,” he said.

The interest in Christianity is not confined to Catholicism. The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, a Protestant book publisher, said there has been a 87% increase in purchases of the Bible between 2019 and 2024, and there have been anecdotal reports of conversions in some evangelical churches. 

The choir, clergy and guests stand during the ceremony to mark the reopening of Notre-Dame of Paris Cathedral on Dec. 7, 2024, in Paris. / Credit: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images for Notre-Dame de Paris

CNA Newsroom, Apr 12, 2025 / 11:30 am (CNA).

France’s Catholic Church will welcome more than 10,384 adult catechumens at Easter this year, marking a 45% increase from 2024 figures, according to data released by the French Bishops’ Conference.

The French report reveals the highest numbers ever recorded since the survey began over 20 years ago. Even more striking is the demographic shift — young adults now constitute the largest segment of converts.

“The great challenge that presents itself to us now is to make disciples,” wrote Archbishop Olivier de Germay of Lyon in his assessment of the findings.

“We must not simply imagine some procedures for ‘after’ baptism, but our entire parish communities must become aware of their collective mission.”

The 18-25 age group, composed of students and young professionals, now represents 42% of adult catechumens, surpassing the 26-40 demographic that had historically dominated conversion statistics. This youth-driven spiritual awakening represents a significant shift in the Church’s evangelization landscape.

Additionally, adolescent baptisms have surged, with more than 7,400 teenagers between 11 and 17 years old preparing to receive the sacrament. Dioceses across France report a 33% increase in adolescent catechumens compared with last year.

The French Bishops’ Conference intentionally connected this year’s data to the Jubilee of Young People in Rome, describing the event as “a meeting place for young catechumens from around the world.”

The trend mirrors similar developments seen elsewhere in Europe. The National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, recently reported unprecedented attendance at Ash Wednesday Masses across France this year, with churches experiencing standing-room-only congregations and an influx of young people.

“We shattered attendance records,” Father Benoist de Sinety, parish priest of St. Eubert Church in Lille, told the Catholic weekly Famille Chrétienne. “Nearly a thousand faithful gathered at Saint-Maurice Church in the evening — many of them young people attending for the first time.”

An investigation to be published by CNA this coming Monday, April 14, explores a similar trend in the United Kingdom.

This European revival comes as new figures show that a 20-year decline in Christian identification appears to be “leveling off” in the United States.

Pew Research Center data shows 62% of U.S. adults identify as Christian, a figure that has remained “relatively stable” since 2019.

Women continue to outnumber men among catechumens, accounting for 63% of those seeking baptism. The survey also noted an increasing urban trend, reversing the previous two years’ growth in rural conversions.

Particularly notable is the 10-year trajectory: France has witnessed adult baptisms more than doubling since 2015, when only 3,900 adults received the sacrament, compared with this year’s 10,391 — representing a 160% growth over the decade.

The comprehensive report also examined the religious background of catechumens, noting that while most come from Christian families, an increasing number declare themselves as having no religious tradition or coming from non-Christian backgrounds.

A 2021 study revealed that approximately 17% of adult catechumens in France had previous spiritual experiences outside Christianity, including Buddhism, esotericism, or animism.

“Let us not think too quickly that all this happened without us,” Archbishop de Germay concluded in his reflection. “The letters from catechumens clearly show the diversity of ways through which the Lord has passed.”

The exterior of St. Barnabas Cathedral in Nottingham. / Credit: Diocese of Nottingham/Luke Potter

Nottingham, England, Apr 12, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

A new project, the Restoring Pugin Project, aimed at restoring the original design of a popular English cathedral, is seeking to attract people to encounter “a representation of the glory of God.” 

Nottingham’s St. Barnabas Cathedral has been awarded a 1.69 million-pound (approximately $2.2 million) grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund as part of its 2.3 million-pound (approximately $3 million) Restoring Pugin Project, which is a conservation program aimed at restoring Pugin’s original decorative scheme in the cathedral.

Having previously received funding for the Restoring Pugin Project from the National Lottery, the latest substantial grant will enable significant work to be done on the project and to reach a far wider audience.

Augustus Pugin was known as the father of the Victorian Gothic Revival, an iconic style of medieval architecture. Pugin, who famously worked on iconic English buildings such as London’s “Big Ben” and the Houses of Parliament, considered St. Barnabas Cathedral in Nottingham his masterpiece.

Built in 1841, the cathedral is ranked as a Grade II* listed building, which, according to Historic England, is one of three ranks given to “particularly important buildings of more than special interest.” Around 5.8% of listed buildings are Grade II*.

The cathedral is a particularly important building of more than special interest to people in the U.K. and beyond.

There are hopes that the restoration work will help develop further the cathedral’s profile within Nottingham as a place of welcome and fellowship. This was underlined by Bishop of Nottingham Patrick McKinney, who shared his desire for the project to “attract more and more people of all ages and backgrounds, especially local people” to the cathedral. McKinney also said he hopes Nottingham’s “Catholic churches become ever more outward facing.”

The project will also offer a number of opportunities for heritage training and skills development for people of all ages as the project aims to restore the cathedral’s east end to its former glory. Creative ideas to engage people include an innovative video game, Pugin’s Revival; new information panels; touch screens; audio visual materials; and a virtual reality experience.

Restoring Pugin Project Manager Jane Hellings spoke to CNA about the plans for the project to help the cathedral connect with local people and build faith.

“We call it soft evangelization,” Hellings said. “It’s definitely a place of living faith. It’s very much a representation of the glory of God. We’re working with refugees and migrants, pupils who have special educational needs and disabilities. The video game will be rolled out to schools as part of the careers pack, which includes ideas about how to pursue a career in heritage.”

2025 is a significant year, as it marks 175 years since Nottingham’s large Catholic church designed by Pugin was elevated to cathedral status. 

Hellings, who is hoping to engage over 20,000 people in the project, outlined her hopes for people to access faith in a unique way. She said: “A lot of those [visitors] will be coming in to light a candle, [to be] peaceful for a little minute. And others are coming to see what’s on in the cathedral and what has happened, and why [Catholics] do things a certain way — why people bend their knees and bow their heads. Just actually sitting quietly in a separate space helps people to think.”

The Diocese of Nottingham and the cathedral community have been enthused by the National Lottery grant.

“This grant will enable Nottingham’s cathedral to become ever more engaged with the wider population of this city,” McKinney said, adding his hope that visitors will experience a “living faith and peace in the midst of the city and also as a sign of hope in these difficult times we are living through.”

The Friends of Nottingham Cathedral, whose mission involves promoting the mission and ministry of the cathedral in the diocese and in the wider community, encouraged people to visit Pugin’s “masterpiece.”

“The cathedral is one of Nottingham’s best-kept secrets, and Pugin regarded it as his masterpiece,” said Ron Lynch, chair of the Friends of Nottingham Cathedral.

“We’d like more people to come along and find out more about the heritage of this fantastic building, but also to share in the tranquillity that it offers in a busy city center,” he said.

Sophie Andreae, architectural historian and vice chair of the Patrimony Committee of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, paid tribute to the achievement of the Diocese of Nottingham in securing the grant. 

“This is the first major National Lottery Heritage Fund award for a Catholic cathedral in recent years,” Andreae noted in a statement. “The conservation program to restore Pugin’s original decorative scheme will be transformational. Both the Heritage Fund and the Diocese of Nottingham are to be congratulated for their vision and determination to take this project forward.”

Panelists at the “Family Formation and the Future” international conference April 1-2, 2025, at the Danube Institute in Budapest, Hungary, discuss the crises affecting the family. / Credit: Photo ourtesy of the Danube Institute

Budapest, Hungary, Apr 9, 2025 / 13:49 pm (CNA).

As birth rates fall, loneliness rises, and the fabric of social life frays across much of the Western world, the question of how to support family formation has become a political, cultural, and even civilizational challenge.

At the “Family Formation and the Future” conference hosted by the Danube Institute in Budapest, Hungary, April 1-2, experts from the U.S. and Europe explored the complex, intertwined causes behind this unprecedented crisis in the West and proposed ambitious steps to restore marriage as the backbone of society.

The message contained in the panel titled “Marriage, Family, and Public Policy” was clear: Without strong families, societies weaken — and no amount of economic growth or technological progress can compensate for that loss.

The country that hosted these discussions, Hungary, often served as a case study for the participants. With its bold pro-family policies, it has become something of a laboratory — one that other Western nations are increasingly looking to for inspiration. While the country hasn’t reversed all the global trends, its targeted efforts to make marriage and child-rearing more viable have sparked international attention.

Despite their different emphases, the panelists all converged on the idea that the family crisis is real, multifaceted, and politically unavoidable — and that reviving the family is not merely a private concern but a public imperative.

The cost of family breakdown

Fiona Bruce, a former member of Parliament who spent over a decade in the British Parliament advocating for family-friendly policies, opened the session with a stark diagnosis: Nearly half of all U.K. children experience family instability by the age of 5, leading to widespread mental health issues and a surge in state care placements.

Bruce recounted her long campaign for “family hubs” to support parents and communities, lamenting that despite her efforts, the U.K. remains one of the countries with the highest rates of family breakdown and fatherlessness. Her contribution served as a powerful reminder that family decline is no longer theoretical — it’s playing out in real time, with measurable consequences for the next generation.

Pornography and the collapse of family culture

While Bruce exposed the scale of the problem in her own country, Brad Littlejohn, director of programs and education for American Compass, zeroed in on one of its most corrosive drivers: pornography. He argued that the cultural foundations of family life are under attack and that economic support alone can’t mend what moral collapse has broken.

“Conservatives cannot afford to ignore the scourge of pornography,” Littlejohn declared, recalling that opposition to public vice was once central to the conservative movement. “Today’s porn makes the Playboy centerfolds of yesteryear look like child’s play … featuring every kind of degradation one can imagine and many that one cannot, from incest and bestiality to gang rape scenes.”

Citing research that places the average age of first exposure at 11, with some children addicted by age 8 or 9, Littlejohn argued that this content is more than a personal vice — it is an existential threat to civilization.

“Pornography destroys marriages and it keeps marriages from forming in the first place,” he said. “Even more fundamentally … it has warped the very foundations of family life by dissolving the boundary of childhood and adulthood.”

Despite decades of legal setbacks, he noted, momentum is shifting: 21 American states have passed age-verification laws, and an upcoming Supreme Court case may finally impose real restrictions on the porn industry. For Littlejohn, cultural renewal must start with protecting children and reclaiming moral ground long ceded.

Rebalancing the equation: culture and economy

Patrick Brown, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., offered a complementary analysis, claiming that while culture is in fact decisive, economics still matters and badly-designed policy makes things worse. He outlined a pragmatic yet ambitious family agenda rooted in both economic support and cultural transformation.

“Society relies on the contributions of parents,” Brown noted. “Parents are bearing the cost of raising kids individually, but the benefits flow to the rest of society.” He emphasized that family policy should not be seen as niche or sentimental but as a form of social infrastructure, no less essential than roads or schools.

Brown called for expanding the child tax credit, lowering the cost of living, and addressing the “marriage penalty” in U.S. welfare programs, which discourages low-income couples from marrying. But he also acknowledged that policy alone will not be efficient without a deeper cultural shift. In the U.S., he said, marriage is often treated as a capstone, a reward for career success, rather than a foundation for adulthood.

In this respect, he regards Hungary as an interesting model. He highlighted that unlike most of the West, the country has successfully reversed out-of-wedlock birth trends, encouraging marriage and childbearing through deliberate policies. 

“That is a tremendous success story,” Brown told the Budapest audience. “You should all be very proud of that. Americans should examine it, study from it, and learn what benefits can be contingent on marriage.”

Civilizational sadness and the loss of norms

While Brown focused on incentives, Tim Carney, senior fellow at American Enterprise Institute, delved into more existential questions behind declining birth and marriage rates. In the U.S., he explained, the economy has improved since the 2008 crash, yet birth rates continue to plummet, evidence that financial hardship alone cannot explain the collapse in family formation.

Carney argued that the real crisis lies in what he called “civilizational sadness” — a deep, philosophical shift in how people see themselves and others.

“What we call expressive individualism is in fact an anthropology,” he explained, “a belief that as autonomous individuals, our job is to fully realize ourselves and that any connection with other people should be conditional and transactional.”

This worldview, he warned, is not only alienating but also fosters hostility to marriage and parenthood.

“When you ask young people [why they won’t have children], they don’t mention money anymore, or the fact that they’re ‘selfish,’ but claim instead that ‘it would destroy the climate,’” Carney said. “I think that talk about the environment is more of a cover story.”

Even the way cities and transport are structured, he added, discourages family life. In a witty aside, he referred to “car seats as contraception,” citing studies that show how practical obstacles — like needing a bigger vehicle for a third child — discourage parents from expanding their families.

From diagnosis to direction

Beyond the different perspectives, the speakers displayed a shared sense of urgency. They all converged on the fact that the modern West is not naturally conducive to family life, and without concerted political and social effort, its decline will continue. 

The parallel between Hungary and the United States served as a subtle but significant thread. For these experts, while Hungary’s family policy reforms have not yet solved the complex problem of demographic decline, their visible impact on marriage and fertility rates offers a counterpoint to the fatalism that often pervades Western debates.

American decision-makers could learn from them, if not replicate them, they said, and then at least draw inspiration from them.