Ss. Cyril and Methodius Ukrainian Catholic Church

Alessandro Allori, “The Presentation of Mary,” 1598. / Credit: Public domain

National Catholic Register, Nov 21, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

It’s easy to conceptualize the presentation of the Lord because we find it in Scripture. Luke’s Gospel tells of the Holy Family’s journey to the Temple when Jesus was 8 days old. According to Jewish custom, Jesus was to be circumcised and Mary purified.

There Mary and Joseph meet the prophets Anna and Simeon, who recognized the child as the Messiah who would bring about the fall and rise of many and become a sign of contradiction and the cause of a sword that would one day pierce Mary’s heart. We celebrate the feast of the Presentation of the Lord annually on Feb. 2.

The presentation of Mary, however, is not found in Scripture. Instead, we learn about Mary’s presentation from accounts that have come to us from apostolic times. What we know is found mainly in Chapter 7 of the “Protoevangelium of James,” which has been dated by historians before the year A.D. 200.

The “Protoevangelium of James” was ostensibly written by the apostle of the same name. It gives a detailed account in which Mary’s father, Joachim, tells his wife, Anna, that he wishes to bring their daughter to the Temple and consecrate her to God. Anna responds that they should wait until Mary is 3 years old so that she will not need her parents as much. 

On the agreed day for Mary to be taken to the Temple, Hebrew virgins accompanied the family with burning lamps. The Temple priest received Mary, kissed her, and blessed her. According to James’ writing, the priest then proclaimed: “The Lord has magnified thy name in all generations. In thee, the Lord will manifest his redemption to the sons of Israel.” 

After that, Mary was placed on the third step of the Temple and danced with joy. All the House of Israel loved Mary, and she was nurtured from then on in the Temple while her parents returned to their Nazareth home, glorifying God.

The celebration of the feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary grew slowly over the years. 

On Nov. 21, 543, Emperor Justinian dedicated a church to Mary in the Temple area of Jerusalem. Many of the early Church Fathers celebrated this feast day, such as St. Germanus and St. John Damascene. In 1373, it was formally celebrated in Avignon, France, and in 1472, Pope Sixtus IV extended it to the universal Church. The Byzantine Church considers Mary’s Presentation one of the 12 great feasts of the liturgical year.

In 1974, Pope Paul VI wrote about this feast in his encyclical Marialis Cultus, saying: “Despite its apocryphal content, it presents lofty and exemplary values and carries on the venerable traditions having their origins in the Eastern Churches.”

The memorial of the Presentation of Mary has been noted in the Church since its early years and yet is easily forgotten or misunderstood. 

Since it’s classified as a memorial and not a solemnity or holy day of obligation, it doesn’t draw much attention to itself other than a special opening prayer in the Mass. With this memorial, we celebrate the fact that God chose to dwell in Mary in a unique way. In response, she placed her whole self at his service. By our baptism, God invites us, too, into his service.

But there’s more to celebrating the presentation of Mary. 

This feast gives us cause for great joy since Mary is truly our mother, given to us by Christ as he hung dying on the cross. Because we are part of her Son’s body, she loves us with as much devotion and tenderness as she loves Jesus. When we celebrate Mary’s presentation, we are giving Mary the honor she deserves and witnessing to her perfect purity as the virgin of Nazareth, the mother of God, and our mother.

Sts. Joachim and Anne surrendered their only daughter to God so that she would be completely free to follow his holy will. Although they loved her dearly, they knew that in the Temple Mary would always be near the Holy of Holies, surrounded by an atmosphere of godliness and grace. She would be instructed in Scripture and the history of the Jewish people. She would be under the guardianship and tutelage of the holy women of the Temple who had given their lives to God. One of them, Scripture scholars believe, was Anna — the woman who prophesied at the presentation of Our Lord. In the Temple, Mary would be completely focused on God and well prepared for becoming the mother of the Savior and mother of the body of Christ.

When we celebrate the presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we remember the tremendous sacrifice Sts. Joachim and Anne made for our sakes. We give honor and respect to the Virgin, who is an example for all of us in our struggle for holiness. It is a privilege and an opportunity to express our gratitude for the gift of a pure, tender, and always-loving mother.

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA's sister news partner, on Nov. 21, 2023, and has been adapted and updated by CNA.

This photo taken on Jan. 15, 2024, shows a Chinese flag fluttering below a cross on a Christian church in Pingtan, in China’s southeast Fujian province. / Credit: Photo by GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 20, 2025 / 17:30 pm (CNA).

The Chinese Communist Party’s “ongoing assault against religious freedom” has national security implications for the U.S., according to co-chairs of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC).

Former Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, who served as ambassador at large for international religious freedom in the first Trump administration, told the commission Nov. 20 that the United States needs to treat China’s religious freedom violations as a national security threat. 

Brownback cited a report listing 10 Catholic bishops detained by the Chinese government. “Ten Catholic bishops,” he said with emphasis, adding: “Do people even know they’re in prison?” Brownback called for China to be sanctioned by the Trump administration, pointing out the regime “has not paid a dime” for its religious freedom violations despite having been designated a country of particular concern (CPC).

Bob Fu, ChinaAid founder and president, told the panel about his experience advocating for religious freedom in China since immigrating to the U.S, revealing that in 2020 his home in Texas was surrounded by Chinese Communist Party agents who threatened his family and children, threatening him to stop his ministry with ChinaAid.

Grace Jin Drexel, the daughter of Pastor Ezra Jin, who was arrested at an underground church last month, recalled her father’s detention, expressing concern for her father’s health and calling on the Chinese government to release him and fellow detainees immediately and unconditionally. 

Since 2018, Drexel’s father has been under an exit ban from China, separated from family in the U.S. for more than seven years, she said, noting his church grew to the largest it has ever been, reaching tens of thousands of people per year who are under persecution prior to his arrest. 

A bipartisan group of senators, including Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, are urging the Trump administration to act on behalf of Pastor Jin.

Adherents to underground churches in China are not trying to subvert the state, Drexel said, but rather are “merely asking to be free from the Communist Party” in the context of worship, where God is at the center. 

Drexel also recalled her own experience of transnational harassment for her advocacy on behalf of her father, saying she received a threatening phone call from someone pretending to be a U.S. federal agent and has been followed and harassed by the CCP throughout Washington, D.C. 

Visibly emotional, she said: “Do not signal defeat of this trampling of human rights with your silence.”

Testifying before the commission led by Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, and Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, other witnesses included Ismail “Ma Ju” Juma, a Hui Muslim human rights advocate, and Bhuchung Tsering, who leads the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) Research and Monitoring Unit.

Protecting U.S. religious freedom

Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Massachusetts, a member of the commission, emphasized the constitutional importance of religious freedom and the need for the U.S. to protect it. McGovern, who is Catholic, said the U.S. needs to protect religious freedom at home first for its position to carry real weight. 

He cited the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts and its effect on the migrant community in the U.S. Catholic Church. He further cited the bishop of San Bernardino, who this past summer granted a Sunday Mass dispensation to migrants in his diocese who feared deportation. “

“Our voice would have more effect,” he said, “if the U.S. protected the religious freedom of people living in the U.S.”

Reem Alsalem (right), the United Nations special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, opposes surrogacy at an Oct. 9, 2025, U.N. event hosted by the Italian government. / Credit: ADF International

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 20, 2025 / 17:00 pm (CNA).

The European Parliament and the United Nations have officially condemned the practice of surrogacy following reports of human rights violations against women and babies. 

Experts gathered on Nov. 19 for a meeting at the European Parliament that included U.N. Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls Reem Alsalem and Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International’s Carmen Correas, who discussed the harms of surrogacy on women and children, according to an ADF press release.

The event, “Surrogacy: An Ethical and Political Challenge for Europe,” followed the release of a landmark report by Alsalem that highlighted widespread human rights violations globally as a result of surrogacy. The event also came after a resolution that stated the EU “condemns the practice of surrogacy … [and] calls on the [EU] Commission to take measures to support ending this phenomenon.”

Italian European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Party Member of the EU Parliament Paolo Inselvini said at the event it has become clear that “a determined European front exists, committed to stopping reproductive exploitation across the globe.” He further emphasized the EU’s commitment to “abandon all ambiguity” and designate surrogacy as “a universal crime.” 

“Surrogacy treats women and children as commodities,” Correas said. “The European Union has taken an important step in acknowledging its inherent harms. We urge policymakers to move swiftly toward a clear, coordinated legal prohibition that protects the dignity and rights of all involved.”

Alsalem’s report was based on nearly 120 submissions in addition to video consultations with 78 people including commissioning parents, surrogacy agencies, and surrogate mothers. Alsalem called for member states to establish a universal ban on surrogacy, criminalizing the practice in all its forms.

Through her consultative process, the U.N. expert found surrogate mothers, who are most often from low-income and vulnerable backgrounds, and their children increasingly endure physical, emotional, and financial exploitation as well as violence and human trafficking.

The report further highlighted the experience of surrogate mothers being pressured into abortions by commissioning parents, including beyond 12 weeks of gestation, “through coercive tactics such as financial incentives, threats of legal action, or the withdrawal of support to both the mother and baby.” This often occurs when the child is found to have a disability, the report said.

In cases where the surrogate becomes pregnant with multiple children at once, commissioning parents may “also enforce a selective reduction,” or the killing of one or more of the undesired babies in utero.

Mary Help of Christians Basilica on the campus of Belmont Abbey College. / Credit: Rnrivas, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 20, 2025 / 16:30 pm (CNA).

Here’s a roundup of the latest Catholic education news in the United States:

Retired Army general, Notre Dame professor to serve as president of Belmont Abbey College

Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina announced that Jeffrey Talley, a retired three-star lieutenant general in the U.S. Army and former tenured professor at the University of Notre Dame, will serve as its new president.

In a Nov. 18 press release announcing the appointment, Talley said the school has a “unique opportunity” to “help young men and women get a rigorous academic experience in a faith-filled environment that’s strong in its Catholic identity so they can go forth in a world that’s become so challenging, so complex, so difficult.”

Talley will assume the position of the college’s 21st president on Jan. 2, 2026. The chair of Belmont Abbey College’s board of trustees, Charles Cornelio, said in the release that the appointment comes after a seven-month search. 

Talley “is a person of deep Catholic faith who understands the mission of the college and will live it,” Cornelio said, highlighting the general’s decades-long history as a Benedictine oblate. 

“Leaders who are balanced both morally and professionally are in greater need than ever before. For this purpose, Belmont Abbey College exists,” Talley said. “I thank God for the opportunity to become part of the Belmont Abbey College family, where together we can bear the light of Christ in the world today.”

Notre Dame professor attempts to distribute contraceptives, Plan B on campus

A professor of gender studies at the University of Notre Dame attempted to use university space to facilitate the distribution of contraceptives and Plan B, according to a Nov. 19 report published by the student-run paper the Irish Rover.

Pamela Butler, who is the director of undergraduate studies for the school’s gender studies department, has reportedly been reserving rooms in violation of university code for the group “Irish 4 Reproductive Health,” according to the Rover.

School guidelines grant the use of university buildings and grounds for “recognized student groups.” The “reproductive health” group — which stated in the report it was “not affiliated with the university in any official capacity” — has been distributing free “resource bags” with condoms, Plan B, and information on abortion services for students in the university’s DeBartolo Hall.

The group also openly advertises the distribution of contraception on Instagram as well as “workshops” hosted on campus on “exploring the principles of pro-choice Catholicism, how Catholic teaching supports reproductive justice, and how these ideas inform advocacy.”

Minnesota Catholic institutions, including schools and universities, hit by pension deficit

The pension fund covering multiple Catholic schools and universities across Minnesota has been hit by an $800 million deficit, threatening retirement resources for thousands of current and former workers.

The pension manager, Christian Brothers Services, is asking employers to make increased contributions to compensate for the massive shortfall, according to a report in the Minnesota Star Tribune, which cited “a big loss in a hedge fund that cratered a few years ago” in 2020 as reason for the deficit.

Christian Brothers Services is a nonprofit organization that operates a church pension plan, one that is not bound by federal pension regulations, meaning pensioners are not eligible for federal payouts if their plans fail, according to the IRS.

The Chicago-based organization manages the pensions of over 40 schools across the Dioceses of New Ulm, Crookston, and St. Cloud, as well as lay workers, and workers at St. Mary’s University in Winona and Minneapolis.

Two schools have since pulled from the plan, according to the local report, while two others are planning to do so.

Pope Leo XIV waves to pilgrims gathered at his general audience on Oct.25, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 20, 2025 / 15:30 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV will hold a historic live digital conversation with American teenagers at the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) on Friday. The faithful across the globe can also tune in to watch the encounter.

The Holy Father will hold the digital discussion with young Catholics amid the Nov. 20–22 NCYC, hosted by the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry.

The pope will speak at 10:15 a.m. ET on Nov. 21 and enter into dialogue with a group of high school students.

People attending NCYC in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium can watch the encounter at the event, but others across the world are able to join online from homes, schools, and parishes.

The exchange will be broadcast via a livestream available on EWTN YouTube. Viewers can also watch through the EWTN app or on EWTN’s cable channel.

This marks the first time that a pope will directly engage with U.S. youth in a live digital encounter at NCYC. More than 40 teens have participated in the dialogue planning process, and five of them will get the chance to speak directly with the Holy Father.

For other news about the pope’s discussion and NCYC, the faithful can stay informed on CNA’s live updates page.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance participates in a fireside chat with Breitbart Washington Bureau Chief Matt Boyle at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium on Nov. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 20, 2025 / 14:25 pm (CNA).

Vice President JD Vance called border security “humanitarian” in response to comments from Pope Leo XIV about immigration policy in the United States.

“Border security is not just good for American citizens,” Vance said in an interview with Breitbart’s Matthew Boyle on Nov. 20. “It is the humanitarian thing to do for the entire world.”

Pope Leo XIV on Nov. 18 asked Americans to listen to U.S. bishops’ message opposing “the indiscriminate mass deportation of people” and urged humane treatment of migrants.

“No one has said that the United States should have open borders. I think every country has a right to determine who and how and when people enter,” the pope said.

Vance said he has followed the Holy Father’s comments closely as “a devout Catholic.”

“You may not know it, judging purely from the comments of some people on social media, but the Catholic Church’s views on this are actually quite clear,” Vance said.

“It’s that, yes, you must treat immigrants humanely,” Vance said. “On the other hand, every nation has the right to control its borders. And obviously, how you strike that balance is very important, but there’s a lot of room there to actually control your own borders for the sake of your own people.”

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) special message affirmed that countries have a “responsibility to regulate their borders and establish a just and orderly immigration system.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church says “the more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner.” 

U.S. bishops said they lamented the conditions in detention centers and lack of access to pastoral care. Bishops also said they “are saddened by the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants.”

Vance said “open borders” do not promote “[human] dignity, even of the illegal migrants themselves,” and cited drug and sex trafficking.

“When you empower the cartels and when you empower the human traffickers, whether in the United States or anywhere else, you’re empowering the very worst people in the world,” Vance said.

“My priority, my charge is to look after the people of the United States of America, and you cannot do that if you’re flooding the country with a ton of illegal immigrants and the drugs and the crime that they bring,” Vance said.

According to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem this year, as of October 2025, nearly half a million immigrants without legal status in the country had been arrested. “70% of those individuals have criminal charges against them or have been convicted of those criminal charges,” Noem said.

The administration provides regular updates on “the worst of the worst” criminals they apprehend among the immigrant population without legal status in the country.

Meanwhile, multiple research studies have shown that overall, immigrants do not commit more crimes than U.S.-born people and are actually less likely to commit crimes. Stanford University economist Ran Abramitzky found that since the 1960s, immigrants are 60% less likely to be incarcerated than U.S.-born people.

A study by the libertarian Cato Institute that reviewed more than a decade of data found that immigrants, including those who enter the country illegally, have a lower crime rate than the native-born population.

For example, in 2023, the incarceration rate for native-born Americans was 1,221 for every 100,000 people. For legal immigrants, it was 319 for every 100,000, and for immigrants in the country illegally, it was 613 for every 100,000.

“Despite obstacles and prejudices, generations of immigrants have made enormous contributions to the well-being of our nation,” the U.S. bishops said.

Alice Kessler and Ellen Kessler attend the Circus Krone Christmas Premiere at Circus Krone on Dec. 25, 2022, in Munich, Germany. The twin sisters ended their lives by assisted suicide at their home in Grünwald, close to Munich, on Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. / Credit: Hannes Magerstaedt/Getty Images

CNA Deutsch, Nov 20, 2025 / 13:18 pm (CNA).

The Federal Association for the Right to Life, an umbrella organization for numerous pro-life organizations, has condemned the “glorification” of the assisted suicide of the 89-year-old Kessler twins.

Alice and Ellen Kessler were German singers and performers who were famous in Europe, especially in Italy, in the 1960s. The twin sisters decided to die together by assisted suicide at their home near Munich on Monday. 

Alexandra Linder, the pro life association’s chairwoman, said: “There is widespread media coverage of this, with many praising the ‘self-determination’ of choosing the time and manner of death oneself rather than waiting for death and perhaps suffering.”

This is “dangerous,” Linder emphasized, because it could cause “people in suicidal situations” to “to kill themselves or have themselves killed. This so-called Werther effect was sadly evident in the suicide of soccer player Robert Enke: After his suicide became known, the number of suicides rose sharply. The media should take much more responsibility when reporting on such incidents.”

On Nov. 17, Tagesschau in Germany reported: “The Kessler twins Alice and Ellen, who became internationally known as singers, actresses, and entertainers, are dead. A spokesperson for the Munich police confirmed an operation in Grünwald near Munich. He did not provide any background information.”

“It was a case of assisted suicide, the German Society for Humane Dying (DGHS) told Bavarian Radio,” the Tagesschau continued. “‘The Kessler twins had been considering assisted suicide for a long time,’ said a DGHS spokeswoman. ‘Alice and Ellen Kessler had been members of the association for some time and had set the date of death themselves as Nov. 17.’”

“A lawyer and a doctor had held preliminary talks with them and came to the sisters’ house in Grünwald on Monday to accompany them as they died,” it said.

The chairwoman of the Federal Association for the Right to Life called for “critical questions about ethics and background” to be asked: “Can a lawyer who does not know the individuals, without appropriate specialist training, assess their mental and physical condition, their history, and their autonomy? Did the two 89-year-old women make this decision without outside influence, without acute pain, without the influence of medication, without fear of loneliness, of the future, of suffering, etc.? Were alternative courses of action sufficiently explained to them, for example, palliative care, attention, therapy options? What role might the people in charge of the euthanasia association have played, given that their interest lies in promoting ‘positive’ examples of death, from joining the organization to deciding to die?”

Linder explained that it is important to know “that the psyche, mood, and will to live can change almost daily, depending on circumstances, the level of pain, and the prospects for recovery. Even who comes to visit on a given day plays a role: a grumpy nurse or a granddaughter with a picture of the sun she painted for her grandmother.”

In Germany, as a wealthy country, “no one has to die alone, in severe pain or suffering, if they do not want to. It is inhumane to abandon people in difficult situations who are contemplating suicide to their fate and to declare their intention to commit suicide as autonomy.”

Eva Maria Welskop-Deffaa, president of the German Caritas Association, also expressed concern that “the extensive reporting and romanticization of the sisters‘ assisted suicide reinforces a social pressure that we have been observing for several years: Older women in particular feel a responsibility not to be a burden on anyone and perceive offers of assisted suicide as a necessary option to consider.”

“Instead of promoting the supposedly easy way out, we need to improve suicide prevention and expand hospice places,” Welskop-Deffaa demanded. “We strongly call for the legal anchoring of suicide prevention measures, such as a ban on advertising for organizations that assist in suicide, along with other legal regulations on assisted suicide.”

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

The National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) meets in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium starting Nov. 20, 2025. / Credit: Robin Marchant/Getty Images

Indianapolis, Indiana, Nov 20, 2025 / 11:34 am (CNA).

The National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) meets in Indianapolis for three days of prayer, community, evangelization, catechesis, and service for Catholic teenagers.

The 2025 theme is “I Am,” and the conference mission is for participants to encounter Christ and be empowered for discipleship. 

NCYC was created by the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry (NFCYM), an organization committed to advancing the field of pastoral ministry to young people in the United States. Founded with the support of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the organization works to strengthen those who accompany young people as they encounter and follow Jesus Christ. 

The conference, from Nov. 20–22, will feature Catholic speakers, daily Mass and adoration, music and worship, breakout groups and workshops, and interactive exhibits with games, vendors, meetups, and live radio shows.

Attendees will also hear from the conference’s two emcees, Gian Gamboa​ and Sister Elfie Del Rosario, FMA. Gamboa​ is a Catholic speaker and musician who helps young people develop a personal relationship with Jesus so they can experience the fullness of the Catholic faith. 

Del Rosario, who has become known as “The Happy Nun,” is a Daughter of Mary Help of Christians, or Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco. She joined the Salesian Sisters in 2009 and serves as the vocations director for the eastern U.S. province. Passionate about engaging with youth, she shares encouragement to bring them closer to Jesus.

Digital encounter with Pope Leo XIV

Attendees can attend Mass on Nov. 20 and start to check out the interactive exhibits and stadium setup. 

Friday will feature the main attraction of the 2025 conference — a digital encounter with Pope Leo XIV. Pope Leo will hold a 45-minute dialogue with young people from across the United States in Lucas Oil Stadium at 10:15 a.m. ET. A livestream of the discussion will be available on EWTN YouTube.

Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, is expected to attend NCYC along with several bishops including keynote speaker Bishop Joseph Espaillat, auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of New York. Other keynote addresses will be from author and missionary Meg Hunter-Kilmer and Sister Miriam James Heidland of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, host of the podcast “Abiding Together.”

Themed exhibits based on the sacraments will be available throughout the weekend and will include interactive projects and acts of service. Vendors tailored to the young audience will be present including Motherboards, a Catholic skateboarding company, and Catalyst Catholic, a ministry helping young disciples, that will help lead a service project aimed to aid the homeless population. 

Breakout sessions and workshops will start Friday and go through Saturday. Students will hear from and hold discussions with missionaries, social media personalities, and musicians.

Teens will talk about family life, social media, discovering God’s calling, and discernment. Sessions also will target an adult audience for ministry leaders and chaperones including discussions on mental health and handling burnout. 

To conclude the conference, attendees plan to gather for a closing Mass on Saturday evening.

St. Joseph Cathedral, Buffalo, New York. / Credit: CiEll/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Nov 20, 2025 / 10:40 am (CNA).

Advocates in New York state are petitioning a Catholic foundation there to help fund major pension shortages and church preservation efforts as well as to help support victims of clergy sex abuse.

In a Nov. 13 letter to the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation in New York City, representatives of the group Save Our Buffalo Churches, sexual abuse victims, and pensioners of the former St. Clare’s Hospital asked the foundation to help the three communities with the “profound hardship” they are experiencing.

Numerous parishes in Buffalo have been fighting diocesan-mandated closures and mergers over the past year. Hundreds of former workers of St. Clare’s, meanwhile, saw their pensions reduced or eliminated starting in 2018 due to major shortfalls. The hospital itself closed about a decade before.

Abuse victims, meanwhile, have “been locked in a legal morass, denied the long-term healing resources and institutional acknowledgment of the harm they endured,” the letter said.

The foundation arose in 2018 after the Diocese of Brooklyn sold the health insurer Fidelis Care. The organization, whose roughly $3.2 billion in assets came from that sale, is named after Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first American recognized as a saint, who founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The letter noted that Cabrini “devoted her life to the people others overlooked,” including immigrants and the poor.

“Guided by that legacy, we ask the foundation to explore emergency relief, stabilization funds, and community support initiatives” to help fund the three groups.

The letter-writers asked for a meeting with foundation leaders “to explore potential pathways for assistance aligned with both the foundation’s mission and the pressing needs of survivors, pensioners, and parish communities.”

Mary Pruski, who leads the Save Our Buffalo Churches group, told CNA that advocates in New York City would be following up with the foundation this week.

“This is a complex project and will bring much peace and healing across [New York state],” she said.

Pensioners with St. Clare’s Hospital are currently in the midst of a lawsuit brought by New York state against the Diocese of Albany for what the state attorney general’s office says was “[failure] to adequately fund, manage, and protect hospital employees’ hard-earned pensions.”

The prosecutor’s office alleges that the diocese “[failed] to take adequate measures” to secure the pension fund, including “failing to make any annual contributions to the pension for all but two years from 2000 to 2019 and hiding the collapse of the pension plan from former hospital workers who were vested in the plan.”

Parishioners in Buffalo, meanwhile, have challenged the diocesan parish merger and closure plan, with advocates securing a reprieve against the diocese at the state Supreme Court in July.

The state high court ultimately tossed the lawsuit out in September, ruling that the court had no jurisdiction over the dispute.

EWTN Spain President José Carlos González-Hurtado. / Credit: Nicolás Cárdenas/ACI Prensa

Madrid, Spain, Nov 20, 2025 / 10:10 am (CNA).

José Carlos González-Hurtado, president of EWTN Spain, has published a new book, “The Scientific Evidence that Jesus Is God,” following the success of his first book on the existence of God, which has already gone through eight editions.

While his first bestseller offered scientific arguments supporting the existence of God, his new work uses scientific arguments to address the five possible options regarding Jesus Christ: myth, manipulated figure, liar, maniac, or Messiah.

In a recent interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, González explained how he became a successful writer talking about science and faith and the providential meaning this has today before going through some aspects of the book.

ACI Prensa: You say in the book that despite considering yourself Catholic and being a practicing Catholic, for a time “faith was not a priority, nor did it serve as a foundation” in your life.

González: I was Catholic, as most Spaniards are, but in the sense that it wasn’t one of the things that defined me. Now, with complete certainty, when I define myself, I say, “I am Catholic.”

What does that mean? That it’s part of your life, that it’s not a jacket or a tie that you put on one day and not the next. That idea of ​​putting on and taking off faith is more Protestant than Catholic. We Catholics believe in the unity of life.

For me, it was a jacket that I put on and took off, and that, at certain times, I didn’t wear.

However, you have reflected and prayed a great deal to be able to distill a wealth of thought and heartfelt reflection on God, his existence, and Christ in two books. What happened?

Living in Israel changed me. I was the CEO of an American company. I was there when the second Palestinian “intifada” [uprising] took place, when the suicide bombings began. My family left, and that’s when I came to the conclusion that we all have to die.

Much later, I began giving lectures on the scientific evidence for the existence of God. One of those lectures became popular online, and then a publisher asked me to [write a book] on it. Neither of us thought it would be a top seller.

Providentially, one of the questions that always came up in the lectures I’ve given about the other book — more than 200 of them — is: “OK, fine, you’ve convinced me that God exists. Now, is Jesus Christ God? Is there evidence that Jesus Christ is God?”

And yes, there is evidence that Jesus Christ is God. Plenty of it. In fact, I often say that the most reasonable thing to believe is that Jesus Christ is God.

Of all those lectures, there seems to have been a special connection with young people. What has that experience been like?

I say what I say. I say it for everyone. Look, whether it gets through more or less, I don’t know. But I don’t have a special message for young people. In fact, I think that’s a mistake, because young or not, we all have a soul and we all have to save it, and each of us is responsible for our own.

What do I think is happening? That people my age, many of us are already entrenched in our ideas. I’m talking, for example, about atheism, about atheists. Atheists don’t just think that God doesn’t exist, but they’ve built their lives around the nonexistence of God. The difference is that I have evidence to support my faith, and they don’t.

Now, for a person that’s 50, 60, 70, or 40 years old, who has built his life around that, it’s very difficult to do a 180: What does that mean for my life? What do I have to change in my life? What will people say about me?

Older people have more inertia to make them not want to change. And young people don’t. So, often, what happens with young people is: “Hey, I’m an atheist, or I’m agnostic, because nobody has told me what you’re telling me.”

The book is proposing in the strongest way that faith is reasonable. That’s audacious, isn’t it?

I’ve noticed that many Catholic scientists are afraid to take the step of acknowledging the evidence that proves their faith. They suffer from learned alienation syndrome, or what’s called learned helplessness. Their heads are spinning with what science has discovered: that they are right, coming from a faith perspective.

These are scientists who lack the boldness to recognize what Nobel laureates have recognized. Max Planck says: “Science imposes God” [leads to the unavoidable conclusion that he exists]. Amfinsen says: “Only an idiot can be an atheist.” Barton says: “Science demonstrates [the existence of] God.”

Science doesn’t disprove God. How could it disprove him if God created science? How could he disprove himself? But that’s not it. It’s a path God has put there for us to reach him.

All I’m doing is presenting the evidence God has given us over the last 50 years. Why now? Because providentially, God has decided: “This is the path for humanity today.”

God has decided: Humanity today can reach him through science. And he provides us with evidence from physics, chemistry, mathematics, cosmology, and biology.

The book begins by demonstrating the historical existence of Jesus. Was that really necessary?

First, methodologically, I want to present all the options. What is Jesus Christ? The options are: He didn’t exist, in which case he’s a myth; he’s a manipulation — he didn’t say what we think he said; he was a liar; he was crazy; or, he’s the Messiah. What I do is present all the historical sources — non-Christian and, moreover, hostile to Christianity — that demonstrate that Jesus Christ exists.

Others say there is only the historical Jesus. In the book, you argue that anyone who says Jesus was “a good man” is taking refuge in “a fraudulent shelter.” In what sense?

Jesus truly challenges you. Once [you know] he exists, you read him or about him. And you say: This guy was special. Then you start looking for alternatives that won’t change your life. The comfortable alternative, like a cozy, dimly lit corner: “Jesus is a guru. He was a good guy.”

Jesus wasn’t a good guy. Jesus wasn’t. Because he didn’t want to be, either. He didn’t want to present himself as “I’m your buddy.”

That’s the fraudulent refuge, I’m sorry, because it’s the one that doesn’t help you take the step. It’s like agnosticism in the first book. Atheism is an affirmation. Agnosticism is the Sargasso Sea, a place where you’re stuck, there are no currents, no breezes. And you can come to the end of your life in that state. And that’s a shame.

Does rejecting him stem primarily from the implication that you’re going to have to change your life?

It depends on the person. I did think about it in the first book: Atheism often stems from pride. Also in the case of rejecting Jesus Christ. Then he’s no more than Socrates or Buddha.

Jesus’ teachings aren’t just about turning the other cheek. Jesus Christ speaks of hell many times. And I know that priests, bishops, and clergy don’t like to talk about it. None of us likes to talk about hell. But it’s true that it’s an integral part of the message of Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ comes to save us. And if he comes to save us, it’s because we can be condemned. 

Science has been championed as something contrary to God. In the book, however, it’s shown to be practically God’s best ally, isn’t it?

This isn’t my own saying; I don’t remember who said it: “Science is opposed to religion as my thumb is opposed to my index finger. And, thanks to both of them, I can hold the spoon.” They are the two branches, two of the paths that lead us to God.

Science begins and develops in Christian environments. Virtually all universities have been founded by clergymen. So, to say otherwise, I think, is somewhat ignorant.

Science has evolved considerably since Voltaire, and, moreover, it is becoming increasingly clear that the origin of both philosophical and scientific thought lies in the same origin: What we call God.

You argue that miracles are evidence that Jesus is God. But one can counter that a miracle involves a leap of faith. How can we explain miracles as proof?

What is a miracle? It is a prodigious and surprising intervention of God in the causes of nature. What does it take to not believe in miracles? Not to believe in God. When someone tells you, “No, I don’t believe in miracles,” that is a proxy for “I don’t believe in God.”

If God exists, are miracles impossible? No. Are they contradictory? No. So, can they happen? Yes. The person who tells you, “God exists and miracles don’t,” is really saying, “I tell God what he can and can’t do.”

Since, as we have defined it, it is a prodigious intervention of God, only God can perform it. If Jesus Christ performs miracles in his own name, in his own name, “I tell you, get up,” then he is saying, “I am God.”

On the other hand, you propose that understanding faith as a gift can be counterproductive for Christians. In what sense?

This is very interesting. If it’s a gift and you lose faith, it means God has taken that gift away. It’s not just a gift. Faith, says St. Thomas Aquinas, is a movement of the intellect instructed by the will and assisted by grace. 

All three things are necessary. I maintain that God will always give grace to all those who have good understanding and an upright will.

St. Thomas Aquinas also said that unbelievers, normally, are not unbelieving due to a lack of understanding. It’s due to a lack of will; it’s because they don’t want to.

If you sincerely say, “I truly want to,” God will give it to you because he wants everyone to come to the knowledge of the truth and for everyone to be saved. And one of the things God does is not lie. When God says, “Ask and it will be given to you,” he’s not lying.

Yes, faith is not just a gift. It’s very dangerous [to say that it is] because it’s like, well, I didn’t get it. You know, it was the lottery, and I was like, ugh, what bad luck I didn’t win.

What’s in your heart about this book that we can’t pass over without talking about it?

The other day I was also asked, “What evidence convinces you the most?”

One piece of evidence is the prophets, the fact it was prophesied 700, 600, 800 years before Jesus Christ what would happen with Jesus Christ and moreover, only happened with Jesus Christ. And we also have proof that they wrote it down centuries earlier. Because sometimes people say, “Oh, well, but that was done to make it all square.” No.

We have the complete Book of Isaiah. The Book of Isaiah was written in 750 B.C., but we have a complete copy from the fourth century B.C., where it mentions that the Messiah will be crucified.

So that we understand each other, Isaiah didn’t know what crucifixion was, because it didn’t exist in the Jewish world, and yet he has a vision: The Messiah will come and the Messiah will be crucified. And that’s exactly what happens with Jesus Christ.

The second piece are the Eucharistic miracles. This is a further step: It demonstrates the divinity of Jesus Christ. But it also demonstrates transubstantiation.

It has been scientifically proven by independent laboratories that the consecrated host has sometimes transformed into living, cardiac tissue that emanates type AB blood and also contains leukocytes.

Faced with this, the atheist, the agnostic, simply ignores it and says no, I’m sure there’s a trick. But look, it’s external universities, independent laboratories that have certified this.

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